The High Priest Forever
This is the time of season for gathering, exchanging gifts, parties, get-togethers with family, travel, and if we are not careful we can become so busy we miss why we celebrate. We can easily forget that Jesus is the reason for the season. We hear that phrase quite a bit this time of year with good intentions to remind us of Christ, but like anything, when we hear something over and over it can lose its weightiness. So that begs the question, why is He the reason for the season?
Hebrews 4:14-16
14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
The Levitical Priests were there to offer sacrifices to cover the sins of Israel (Leviticus 4). The priests were sinners themselves. Every priest offered the same sacrifices over and over which did not take away sins. Christ came to this world to be the one-time sacrifice for all, for the removal of sins (Hebrews 10). That is how potent and powerful His sacrifice was. And now that He has passed through the heavens and is at the right hand of the Father, He is operating in His high priestly duties.
His life was all about purposefully emptying Himself of His deity, His old nature (Philippians 2). He attached Himself to a human body in order to do the will of God (Hebrews 10). He did not do or say anything without first hearing from the Father (John 5:19, John 12:49). His action of emptying Himself was to position Himself to allow the Father to initiate every word and act. He did that perfectly so He can perfect it in us (Hebrews 12). While He perfects it in us, He also intercedes for us (Romans 8:34). He prays for us because as High Priest He desires to see faith perfected in us. He is the only one that can do it because He experienced it in victory. His life through us is our victory.
He was tempted like we are but without sin. Our old nature desires to be lord of our life. Christ’s old nature was deity and as a human relying on the Father, He did not count equality with God as something He was to attain. As a human He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to only one, the Father. That lifestyle of emptying Himself of the old nature was perfected by Christ, all the way to the cross. This is where He fully experienced His sympathy for us. This is where He bore the full weight of all sin of all mankind, from the beginning to the end. The first time He ever experienced sin was when everyone’s sin was placed on Him in just an instant on the cross. Christ could have saved Himself from the intense physical, emotional, and spiritual suffering He was going through on the cross. But He remained in obedience as He knew no sin and then in a moment He became sin (2 Corinthians 5:21).
In our own lives we have this deep want for strength over particular sins. We attempt to pull ourselves out of it but that leads to more failure. The template that Christ lived was the opposite of that. He went to the Father for everything and waited to hear what to do before doing, to hear what to say before saying. That is His call for us. To approach the Holy Spirit and the Word of God as the only source before doing anything or saying anything. That is what it means to deny ourselves and take up our cross (Matthew 16:24-26). This is what emptying looks like. Emptying ourselves is letting Him live through us and that is the only way. He is faithful and able to carry this out in us because He did it in victory. This is why He is the High Priest forever (Hebrews 6:19-20). The high priests in the Levitical order could not accomplish removal of sins.
When our hearts are in the posture of submission to Him and His voice and His word only, that is when He comes in mighty power to live through us as Lord rather than us trying to live as lord. We crash and burn when we try to be the lord of our own lives. Will we fail at submitting to Him? Yes. But the continual move of our heart into a posture of submission to obey Him because we love Him is His desire and its His will.
We are able to approach His throne of grace. We do not deserve to be able to draw near. But His desire is that we do so every moment of every day in any situation. He wants to transform us fully and completely. This is the walk of sanctification. This is a lifelong process which is full of His kindness. We do not deserve that gift, for we deserve the death that He died. But He died in our place. This New Covenant life we live is more of how we die. Do we die in our sin nature or do we die to our sin nature? This is the interaction that happens when we approach the throne of grace. He gives us power to exchange death in the old nature to dying to the old nature. We experience His readiness to help us, His mercy, at this throne of grace. This is the fellowship of God that He desires with us. This is the humble faith of a child believing the Father can do anything! Do we live like that?
The reason for the season is Christ. He had to come down from heaven to earth as a man and experience life as a human, like all of us. He had to empty Himself. He had to rely on one source: the Father. It was the only way to show us that a human can obey the Father. He did it in victory. He is the High Priest forever. Christ wants to continue this lifestyle of love and obedience in every believer and He is the only one that is able to. This is why we celebrate Christmas. Christmas is the beginning for us to experience a lifetime of deep intimacy with Christ, who forms Christlikeness in us.