Jesus Christ Our Great High Priest

Jesus Christ has taken the nature of humanity upon Himself forever. That He might be a high priest forever, to make intercession for us forever.

In Hebrews 1, He made – “having made purification for sins, He sat down”. The priests in the Old Testament never were allowed to sit down while they were at work. They had no chairs in the Temple. They had no chairs in the Tent. They had no chairs in the Tabernacle. Why? Because their work was never done. 

But what the author of Hebrews says is: Christ offered Himself and sat down. Done! It’s finished! The work is complete. And it doesn’t change. He is forevermore the same. The victorious Priest King. His work is done. One sin, and Adam and Eve fell. One sin destroyed mankind. One sin will put you in hell. One unforgiven sin. Jesus Christ came with a superior covenant that’s guaranteed by His blood. 

And you see, it’s a promise not made between us and God. It’s a promise made between the Father and the Son. Where the Son says, “I will die for them. I will pour out My blood to unleash the power of the Spirit of God into their life, and to allow them to be forgiven for the sins that they’ve committed against God.” And Christ says, “I will come, I will be their sin bearer, I will be their Priest, I will be their sacrifice. I will purchase for them redemption. I will purchase eternal life. I will be crushed under the wrath of God. I will drink the cup of punishment that they deserve to drink. I will take it on Myself, and I will come under the Law, and I will keep that Law in their place, so that they can be blameless when their sin is charged to Me, and I suffer under it, and My righteous law-keeping is given to them, so that they might be counted righteous in the courtroom of God.” 

That’s what happened. And Jesus said: “I will give Myself. A body You have prepared for Me. And I need to become a man. And though I am equal with God, I count it not robbery at all being counted equal with Him.” But He set His glory aside, and He came down. And He came down as a servant, and down as a man. And He poured out His life and took that obedience to the cross. And God crushed Him there. And thereby He is a High Priest now that has done a work. 

And we rest. And we can rest. Because this covenant says that by faith in Him… Just “Lord, I trust that You, You have kept the Law for me. And You have paid what my sins deserved. And I trust that You will give me Your Spirit, You will transform me, You will give me a new heart.” My trust is all in Him and what His blood has done. He is a help to those who are being tempted, and He is victorious, He can help, He’s laid down His life. He has help for the sinner. You can be ever so vile, ever so filthy, have committed ever so grave of sin, so many of them that you can’t count, and they’re heaped up on your shoulders, and they’re gonna drop you into the lowest parts of hell, but this work that this High Priest has done has made propitiation. That means total removal of wrath. It’s all wiped away. 

That’s what forgiveness is all about. All of it. All your sins – past, present and future – are forgiven in their entirety. Propitiation has been made. But He had to become a man. But having become a man, this priesthood doesn’t change forever. You think about this: He’s going to wear His humanity forever. He saves those who come to God through Him to the uttermost because He as a man, and as a victorious High Priest, being made like us in every respect, He’s like that forevermore. He has taken the nature of humanity upon Him FOREVER. That He might be a High Priest FOREVER. To make intercession for us FOREVER.