A Better Priest (Hebrews 7:21-8:2)

“But He with an oath through the One who said to Him, ‘The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind, You are a priest forever.’  So much the more also Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant” (Heb 7:21-22).  As a priest forever, Jesus is the guarantee of a better covenant than the one associated with the former priesthood.

“The former priests, on the one hand, existed in greater numbers, because they were prevented by death from continuing, but Jesus, on the other hand, because He continues forever, holds His priesthood permanently.  Hence, also, He is able to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them” (Heb 7:23-25).  Salvation through Jesus is complete because He is a priest forever.

“It is fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens; who does not need daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for His own sins and then for the sins of the people, because this He did once for all when He offered up Himself.  For the Law appoints high priests who are weak, but the word of the oath, which came after the Law, appoints a Son, made perfect forever” (Heb 7:26-28).

Letting the Bible speak for itself, we see that Jesus is a better priest and guarantees a better covenant.  The Law, represented by the Levitical priesthood, was powerless and temporary.  The new covenant is eternal and saves completely because its guarantor is Christ, the forever priest, who died once for all as a sacrifice for our sins and now intercedes for us before the Father.  Calling Christ “holy, innocent, undefiled, and separated from sinners” highlights His sinlessness and no need for a sacrifice for Himself.  His death was on our behalf and saves us completely and forever.

Continuing into chapter 8, “Now the main point in what we have said is this: we have such a high priest, who has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a minister in the sanctuary and in the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man” (Heb 8:1-2).

A Better Hope (Hebrews 6:19 – 7:19)

“This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek” (Heb 6:19-20).  Jesus, as the bearer of the new covenant, appeared on the scene as a priest after the order of Melchizedek rather than the order of Levi – priests of the old covenant.

“Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God…is without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, he remains a priest perpetually” (Heb 7:1,3).  Melchizedek, who first appeared on the scene in Genesis chapter 14, is a type of Christ, an eternal priest.  By contrast, the priesthood of Levi – representatives of the old covenant – was temporary.

“Now if perfection was through the Levitical priesthood (for on the basis of it the people received the Law), what further need was there for another priest to arise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not be designated according to the order of Aaron?  For when the priesthood is changed, of necessity there takes place a change of law also” (Heb 7:11-12).

The author asks a rhetorical question and follows it with its logical conclusion.  “If a complete salvation were available through the Levitical priesthood and the Law it represented, what need would there be for a better priesthood?”  Because the Law fell short, there was a need for a better priesthood.  Christ’s priesthood did not depend on “a physical requirement [since He did not descend from Levi, the tribe of priests] but rather was based on His indestructible life [His eternal life as the Begotten Son of God]” (Heb 7:16).  In this regard, He fulfilled the prophesy of Psalm 110:4, “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek” (Heb 7:17).

And with a better priesthood came a setting aside of the old Law and a better hope.  “For, on the one hand, there is a setting aside of a former commandment because of its weakness and uselessness (for the Law made nothing perfect), and on the other hand there is a bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God” (Heb 7:18-19).  We draw near to God through a better hope; a hope we will continue to explore next time.

 

Something Better, Jesus!

If you live in the Houston area, you have no doubt heard the radio call letters KSBJ and their catch phrase “Something Better, Jesus”.  In those three words, our radio friends have captured the essence of the New Testament book of Hebrews.  This book introduces us to the contrasts and comparisons between the Old and New Testaments, the Old and New Covenants, the Old and New Arrangement between God and man.

The book was written to Jewish believers and would-be believers who were teetering on the edge of Christianity.  On the one hand, they had heard and were prepared to embrace the “new life in Christ” message of the gospel.  On the other hand, they still felt the tug of their former life; the comfortable routine of Judaism.  The author, in point-by-point fashion, argues that the covenant ushered in by Jesus is not only completely new, but significantly better than the old covenant.  That Jesus and the new covenant are better is a consistent theme throughout the book of Hebrews.

The letter opens with Jesus proclaimed as the culmination of God’s revelation to man.  “God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.  And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power.  When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Heb 1:1-3).

Jesus is not only God’s final and most complete revelation, but He is God’s best revelation as well.  This theme begins in the very next verse in chapter 1 and continues throughout the book.  “[Jesus] having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they” (Heb 1:4).

Not only is Jesus better than the angels, but by chapter 3 we learn that He is better than Moses.  “Jesus was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses also was in all His house.  For He has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, by just so much as the builder of the house has more honor than the house…Now Moses was faithful in all His house as a servant…but Christ was faithful as a Son over His house” (Heb 3:2-3, 5-6).  That Jesus is better than Moses is a personification of the theme of this book; i.e. the new covenant is superior to the old covenant.

Why is this “better than” line of reasoning so important to the author and his hearers?  Because of the temptation to shrink back to their former faith, the author needed to demonstrate clearly the superiority of Jesus and the new covenant.  What about us?  I doubt many believers today are tempted to go back to Judaism, so how does the “Jesus is better” idea apply to us?

Five times in the book of Hebrews the author interrupts his line of reasoning to give out a warning against going back after one has tasted the Lord’s salvation.  These warnings are just as relevant to us today because of the danger of tasting the Lord’s deliverance – His promise to free us from sin’s power – and yet shrinking back to a guilt-based, law-based, consequence-based way of living the Christian life.  These warnings have nothing to do with “losing our salvation”, but have everything to do with going back to old covenant living.  In the next several posts, starting in Hebrews chapter 6, we will explore the superiority of the new covenant and how we are to live into it by going nearly verse by verse through several chapters of this fascinating book.

Merry Christmas from Behind Enemy Lines

At various times throughout church history, Christianity has enjoyed a “home field advantage”; a time when the broader culture was aligned with Christian principles.  Times such as the end of the pagan Roman Empire, Europe at the height of the Reformation, Latin America during the rise of Catholicism, and even the volatile Middle East where Christianity was much in the mainstream for the first 600 years after Christ.  Of course, a home field advantage can have the downside of a cultural form of Christianity rather than the real thing and abuses under all of these favorable systems are well documented.  But as a whole, a culture moving in the general direction of Christian principles and ethics is a good thing.

In the United States, we have enjoyed a more prolonged home field advantage than most nations.  From the first Pilgrims to the Great Awakenings to the rise in church attendance following World War II, Christian ethics and morality have been a priority and value in American public life.  As a child, I attended public grade school where teachers led prayer before class and there was a general cooperation between society and church and school regarding at least the symbols of Christianity if not always the exact lifestyle.

If you have been paying attention lately, you know that our home field advantage is long gone in this country.  Not only are we now the “visiting team”, so to speak, but we are actually more like a resistance movement in Enemy occupied territory.  And for believers in the United States, this is an uncomfortable new reality to come to grips with.  We are alternately angry, sad, and distraught at the new level of profanity overtaking this country.  (Profanity as the opposite of sacred, not as in swearing.)  American culture is becoming profane, in the biblical sense, to its core.  With in-your-face and over-the-top immorality, violence, sexual confusion, and general mayhem abounding in our movies, television shows, video games, advertisements, and entertainment, in general, and people still have the gall to say that a nativity scene is “offensive”?  Are you kidding me?

When we look at the world wide picture, we soon realize that this departure from Christian norms is nothing new.  It is as if Satan has annexed the U. S. to his already existing territory.  Europe is in a long cold winter of post-Christianity.  Africa, despite decades of education and aid, is mired in gender injustice and corruption and continues in the centuries-long tradition of fatalism regarding death, disease, children, and life as a whole.  Palestinian believers are squeezed by the Israeli occupation on one hand and the rise of militant Islam in their territories on the other.  Even in heavily Catholic Latin America, religious symbols are disappearing.  Just this week, I received a Christmas card from a friend in Uruguay in which he commented on this new reality in his country:  “Christmas Day” has become “Family Day” and “Holy Week” has become “Tourism Week”.  Small change, but multiplied many times over, I don’t think there can be any doubt that Satan has the current home field advantage throughout most of the world.

And to be honest, this has probably, more often than not, been the case throughout the history of the world.  (For my overseas friends who are rolling their eyes at this angst of Americans when their present countries have been like this for decades, I apologize.  This is new territory to us.)  So, should we take our ball and go home and huddle together waiting for the end to come?  What are our marching orders in Enemy occupied territory?  We will answer that question with a trip to our hymnal, a sci-fi children’s book, and Burkina-Faso, West Africa.

Our marching orders are to proclaim truth and practice love.  It is that simple.  Jesus said, “Satan was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him.  Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (Jn 8:44).  Deception as in “the deceiver of the whole world” (Rev 12:9) is Satan’s standard operating procedure.  Our defense against this deception that has taken the world captive is the truth.  Jesus – the Way, the Truth, and the Life – said, “You will know the truth and the truth will set you free” (Jn 8:32).

When the Jews responded with, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never yet been enslaved to anyone; how is it that You say, ‘You will become free’?”, Jesus continued, “Truly I say to you everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin.  The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever.  So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed” (Jn 8:33-36).  The message of hope for a “world in the grip of the evil one” (I Jn 5:19) is God’s truth; the truth that sets us free from sin’s power.  Truth is not just about knowledge.  God’s truth is to experience deep in our core His incredible promise of a life set free from sin’s power.

Martin Luther captured this theme in the hymn, “A Mighty Fortress is our God”.

“And though this world with devils filled should threaten to undo us,
We will not fear for God hath willed His truth to triumph through us.
The Prince of Darkness grim, we tremble not for him;
His rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure;
One little word shall fell him.
That word above all earthly powers, no thanks to them, abideth.
The Spirit and the gifts are ours through Him Who with us sideth.
Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also;
The body they may kill; God’s truth abideth still,
His kingdom is forever.”

The word that “fells the devil” is the word of truth, God’s truth.  In this world of spiritual and moral confusion, we must consistently present the truth about God, the truth about man, the truth about sin, and the truth about salvation, rescue, and deliverance.  One truth that I feel is particularly needed for our day is the promise of power that comes with the new birth.  The power of of a new creation, a new nature, a new identity, a new Spirit, and a new heart.  The Christian life is not about life improvement, it is about a life brand new; a life of the heart set free.

But our truth must be expressed in love.  Love is the antithesis to Satan and the world system he rules.  Love is the opposite of Satan’s character and action.  Love is the mark of a Christ follower.  When we practice love, we not only emulate our Father and His Christ, but we also offer the world something unique, something Satan can never acquire, something over which Satan has no control.  When we see our home field advantage disappearing, we are tempted to try to grab it back through political rhetoric, anger, hand-wringing, intimidation, and insult.  But these are empty weapons in our war with the devil.  Our only weapon of first and last resort is love.

In the children’s sci-fi classic, A Wrinkle in Time, Meg and Charles Wallace go to the planet of Camazotz to search for their missing scientist father.  Once there, the young Charles Wallace is captured and eventually captivated by the evil IT.  Meg, his tween-age sister, is fended off in her rescue attempt of her brother by Charles declaration that she has nothing, no power, that IT does not already possess.  In her back and forth confrontation with Charles and IT, Meg discovers that she does have something to offer.  Love.  Love is the answer to Charles’ rescue.

“Charles, I love you” Meg proclaims.  “My baby brother who always takes care of me.  Come back to me, Charles Wallace.  Come away from IT.  Come back, come home.  I love you, Charles.  Oh, Charles Wallace, I love you.”

Meg’s love set Charles free, and before long they are back in their front yard united with their family.  God’s love, shining through us, is our best weapon to help people break free of Satan’s power.  “Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth” (I Jn 3:18).

It’s easy to become discouraged when we see and experience Satan’s world-wide influence.  But take courage, the body of Christ is not dead.  His literal body sits at God’s right hand interceding for us, His children.  And His body on earth – his literal physical representation to the world – is us, His children.

In Burkina-Faso, our daughter and son-in-law clearly landed behind Enemy lines when they settled in the capital city of Ouaugadougou.  But rather than be overwhelmed by poverty, gender injustice, and corruption, they stepped back and listened to the voice of their Captain.  Annie wrote in a recent email about her desire to assist women in maternal care.

“God is helping me each day to overcome my fears in the reality of the graphic nature of maternal care in the third world.  It’s something you have to slowly get used to….not desensitized to, but just “able” to see it, and see through to how to help instead of becoming paralyzed by the overwhelming nature of it all.  He works on my heart a little each day as I think and pray more and more about it.  When the flood of how big this issue is wants to wash over my heart, I remember God is big, loves each woman on an individual level, and I think about this quote from Mother Teresa:

” ‘I never look at the masses as my responsibility; I look at the individual.  I can only love one person at a time – just one, one, one.  So you begin.  I began – I picked up one person.  Maybe if I didn’t pick up that one person, I wouldn’t have picked up forty-two thousand….The same thing goes for you, the same thing in your family, the same thing in your church, your community.  Just begin – one, one, one.’  Mother Teresa.”

The power of love is a power unique to the church.  It is a power the world knows nothing of and is powerless to stop.  It is a power that is being exercised a million times over across the world by your brothers and sisters in Christ.  And it is a resistance movement that is literally “destroying the works of the devil” (I Jn 3:9).

May I encourage you?  Do not give up hope.  We are called not only to keep up our hope, but to be the hope as well.  We are the last great hope for this world, not we in ourselves, but “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col 1:27).  Jesus came on that first Christmas as the hope of the world.  He has left us – you and me – on this planet to be His physical presence in the world.  By virtue of Christ in us, we are the hope of glory for the world.

Merry Christmas from your friend in the resistance movement.  Keep the flame alive!

Is Everyone Included?

Last post we focused on the corporate church situation.  Now let’s bring this idea of celebrating diversity in the church down to a personal application.  If you are like me, certain personalities rub you the wrong way.  Certain individuals strike you as difficult people.  In my former selfish approach, I usually avoided these people, hiding behind my introvert nature.  But by God’s grace, I have opened up to the diverse variety of personalities that are the body of Christ.  I have discovered that it is so easy to be blind to our own personality quirks but quick to notice something amiss in others.

Two things have happened as I have moved out of my comfort zone.  First, my life has been enriched by this interaction.  My church experience has a new fullness as I embrace all the personalities, gifts, and talents that make up the body.  I see more value in other’s gifts.  Just as we are often most comfortable with folks of our personality bent, we can also slip into the idea that giftedness like ours in not only most comfortable, but actually most valuable to the body.  But when I read the Word it becomes clear:  the body needs all the gifts.

The second result is that I am now more sensitive to and able to encourage my new friends.  Certain personalities on both the quiet and loud end of the spectrum are unfortunately often avoided in our church situations and I believe we should go out of our way to draw these people in.  A legitimate and felt need in our community of believers is to “know and be known”.  And it is incumbent on us in the church to make sure this is happening.  Can I encourage you?  Go out of your way to befriend the person God brings in your path.  Let your smile, body language, and greeting say, “I am glad you are here.  I am glad I saw you this morning.  I am glad you are in my life.”

You know, one of the things Jesus was accused of over and over again was that He was too inclusive.  Let’s join Him in his inclusive message and actions and celebrate the diversity of His beautiful body – the church!