Look inside this book.Where the Bush is Burning: A Daily Devotional by [Thomas Tice]

Tag: Hebrews 7
‘An Unchanging Priesthood’

‘An Unchanging Priesthood’

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‘An Unchanging Priesthood’

But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood.

Hebrews 7:24

The priesthood of Christ is an unchangeable priesthood.  This is an invaluable fact for us to understand and embrace.  The value of it to us is that as we look to Christ as our High Priest. We rely on Him to accomplish all that is necessary to bring us into a right relationship with God.  This is exactly what Christ does by virtue of His perfect life and His atoning death.  The continuation of that active and passive obedience appears in His perpetual intercession to which the writer of Hebrews refers in verse 25, ‘Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.’  It was the occupation of the ancient priests, and most particularly the High Priest of the Aaronic priesthood, to act toward God on behalf of the people.  In that respect, he was an intercessor, and as such, a type of Christ.  Now that Christ has appeared, as the High Priest of His people, ‘after the order of Melchizedek,’ the old type is no longer necessary.  Christ fulfills, in every respect, the requirements of the priesthood.  Therefore, we recognize Him as our High Priest, Who has offered Himself as the Perfect Sacrifice, and ‘ever lives to make intercession for us.’  Let us spend time today dwelling upon Christ as our High Priest, and upon the unchangeable priesthood which He exercises on our behalf.

Our Gracious Master and Our God,
we rejoice that You are the only High Priest
of which we stand in need.
We praise You, that by Your once-for-all sacrifice,
You have made us acceptable to God.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning
Christ, The Priest: Intercession

Christ, The Priest: Intercession

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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
Christ, The Priest: Our Sacrifice

Christ, The Priest: Our Sacrifice

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Christ, The Priest: Our Sacrifice

For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens; who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people’s, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself.

Hebrews 7:26-27

Sacrifice is integral to the priesthood. As we look back over the ancient Aaronic priesthood we find sacrifices of every stripe and variety. The whole of the worship of the Tabernacle and of the Temple, which followed it, was full of sacrifices. The writer of Hebrews is building a case for the superiority of the Priesthood of Christ, over the ancient Aaronic priesthood. To that end, he both compares and contrasts the ancient sacrifices with the Sacrifice which Christ made of Himself. Our text for today is his conclusion. His conclusion is that Christ’s Sacrifice was a once-for-all sacrifice, which needs never to be repeated. This is critically important for us to grasp. With regard to our atonement, Christ, the Perfect Priest has offered Himself as the Perfect Sacrifice for sin. This makes all other sacrifices no longer relevant or necessary. The writer of Hebrews will go on, at some length to continue to press his point. He 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; not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another.  He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.’ All of our hope for forgiveness of sin, all or our reconciliation with God, all of our acceptance with Him, rests upon the once-for-all Atoning Sacrifice of Christ. This is why we make much of Christ, His Person and His Work. ‘Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.’ Today, let us meditate upon Christ, Our Perfect Priest, and His Perfect Sacrifice for us.

O, Christ Our Great High Priest,
we rejoice that You have been willing to give of Yourself completely,
that we might be completely free,
from all our sin and shame.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning
Christ, The Priest Forever

Christ, The Priest Forever

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Christ, The Priest Forever

But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood.

Hebrews 7:24

As we continue our meditations upon Christ, the Mediator, we come today to consider Him in His function as the High Priest of His people. Whereas the Prophet speaks to people on behalf of God, the Priest acts toward God on behalf of the people. The Old Testament priesthood began with Aaron, the elder brother of Moses, whom God appointed as the first High Priest. The priesthood of Christ, however does not come from the Aaronic Order rather, Hebrews 7 makes clear, the Priesthood of Christ arises from the Order of Melchizedek. Melchizedek is a somewhat mysterious character who appears in Genesis 14. He appears, almost out of nowhere to Abraham, who was returning from his rescue of Lot out of the hands of marauding chieftains. Melchizedek means, ‘King of Righteousness,’ The Scripture also identifies Him as ’King of Salem,’ which means, ‘King of Peace.’ It is frankly difficult to avoid the implications that his appearance is a Christophany, a pre-incarnate appearance of Christ. Prior to our text today, Hebrews 7 asserts , of Christ, ‘And it is yet far more evident if, in the likeness of Melchizedek, there arises another priest who has come, not according to the law of a fleshly commandment, but according to the power of an endless life. For He testifies: “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”’ What we should draw from this, in conjunction with our text for today, is that Christ is our Priest, of a higher Order than that of the Old Testament. This guarantees for us a Perpetual Representative, Who shall never cease to act on our behalf before the Eternal God.

O, Christ, our Great High Priest,
we rejoice that You never fail to act on our behalf.
We praise You, that You will forever succeed
in all that you attempt on our behalf.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

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