JESUS CHRIST, OUR FAITHFUL HIGH PRIEST
Hebrews 5: 1-7; Hebrews 8:1-6
Many times, Christians fail to understand that the order of priesthood we were called to has changed. We still relate with Christ as if He is a priest in the order of the Levitical priesthood. The good news is that the priesthood of Christ is superior to the Levitical priesthood. Jesus Christ is now a perfect High Priest, Hebrews 5:9 records that, In this way God qualified him as a perfect High Priest, and he became the source of eternal salvation for all those who obey him.
In the old Levitical priesthood, the priests were themselves imperfect and they couldn’t offer perfect sacrifices. It was such that, each time, they approached the Holy of Holies to offer sacrifices on behalf of people, they entered with doubts and fears because of their sins. But Christ who was made perfect by His sufferings (Hebrews 5:8) entered the temple in heaven and offers a perfect sacrifice for us to secure our salvation as long as we obey him (Hebrews 5: 8).
In the Levitical priesthood, only the High Priest could enter into the inner sanctuary to offer sacrifices to God. However, in Christ, we all have access, and we can all see God face to face. This is because Jesus entered so we can all go in, Hebrews 6:19-20.
The Levites became priests by meeting the physical requirement of being a priest, but Jesus was made a priest by the power of the resurrection, Hebrews 7:16. This is the life that Christ shares with us. It is by this life that our mortal bodies are quickened, Romans 8:11.
This means that as a Christian, you should be bold to approach God, and be bold in the place of prayer. You have a High Priest who is perfect, and who knows your weaknesses. Your High Priest is Christ who loves and died for you. You should be bold in prayer because you have been granted eternal access to the throne of God and you can stand before God without shame or fear because of the perfect sacrifice of the perfect High Priest. PRAYER: Thank you Jesus for the access you secured for me.
