Christ, The Priest: Intercession

Christ, The Priest: Intercession

Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them….

Hebrews 7:25

Integrally connected to the function of Christ’s Priesthood is His Intercession for His people. As we said before, the priest acts toward God on behalf of the people. In His Mediatorial function, as the High Priest of His people, Christ acts, in every way necessary toward God for His people. This is particularly evident in His perpetual Intercession. The writer of Hebrews declares, ‘For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us…’ Our text for today tells us what He is doing there. ‘Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.’ This has an abundance of practical value for us especially regarding prayer. The writer of Hebrews puts it this way. ‘Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.’ It is important for us to understand that God hears our prayers based upon the Intercession of Christ. What is also important for us to understand is that He ‘ever lives to make intercession.’ This gives us tremendous confidence to approach the Throne of Grace with boldness. We can pray with confidence, knowing that God does not hear us simply because we are good, or fervent, or even persistent. All these things have their place, but God hears us because of Christ, and the power of HIs Intercession. This is tremendously encouraging. It enables us to pray boldly and fearlessly. Today, let us pray, expecting that God will hear us for the Sake of Christ. He Intercedes for us. His Intercession cannot fail.

Our Gracious and Loving Savior,
we rejoice in Your Continual Intercession for us.
We praise You that because of Your Intercession,
we always have a hearing before the Eternal Throne of the Living God.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning