Confidence in Christ: Our Great High Priest

 

Summary

In our exploration of Hebrews 4:14-5:10, we delve into the profound confidence that the gospel offers us. This confidence is rooted in the person and work of Jesus Christ, our great high priest. Unlike the medieval period, which was marked by a lack of assurance and reliance on human intermediaries, the Reformation brought a renewed focus on the sufficiency of Christ. The author of Hebrews addresses Christians who are weary and discouraged, reminding them of the steadfastness found in Christ. We are encouraged to hold fast to our confession, which is not merely a set of beliefs but a deep trust in the finished work of Jesus.

The passage highlights the unique role of Jesus as our high priest, who has passed through the heavens, signifying His completed work of atonement. Unlike the repetitive sacrifices of the Old Testament, Jesus' sacrifice was once and for all, satisfying divine justice. This gives us confidence in His priestly work, knowing that our salvation is secure in Him. Furthermore, Jesus' compassion is emphasized. He sympathizes with our weaknesses, having been tempted in every way yet without sin. This assures us that He understands our struggles and stands ready to offer grace and mercy.

The Reformation's emphasis on "solus Christus" (Christ alone) is a call to look beyond ourselves and our achievements, and to place our trust entirely in Jesus. This confidence is not self-derived but is a gift of grace, allowing us to approach the throne of grace boldly. The medieval church's barriers to grace are dismantled, and we are invited into a direct relationship with God through Christ. This is the essence of the gospel: a call to embrace Jesus, to draw near to Him, and to find our identity and assurance in Him alone.

Key Takeaways:

- Confidence in Christ's Priesthood: Jesus, our great high priest, has completed the work of atonement, passing through the heavens and securing our salvation. Unlike the Old Testament sacrifices, His was once and for all, providing us with a firm foundation for our faith. [13:25]

- The Compassion of Christ: Jesus sympathizes with our weaknesses, having experienced temptation yet without sin. His understanding and compassion assure us that we can bring our struggles to Him, knowing He offers grace and mercy. [24:48]

- The Reformation's Call to Solus Christus: The Reformation emphasized Christ alone as the source of our salvation, moving away from reliance on human intermediaries. This shift invites us to place our trust entirely in Jesus, finding confidence in His finished work. [18:44]

- Direct Access to God: Through Christ, we have direct access to the throne of grace, dismantling the barriers of medieval sacerdotalism. This access is a profound privilege, allowing us to approach God with confidence and assurance. [40:47]

- Holding Fast to Our Confession: Our confession is not just a set of beliefs but a deep trust in Jesus' finished work. We are called to hold fast to this confession, finding our identity and assurance in Christ alone. [46:32]

Youtube Chapters:

- [00:00] - Welcome
- [00:43] - Introduction to Hebrews 4
- [01:48] - The Role of the High Priest
- [03:48] - Confidence in the Gospel
- [05:22] - Exhortation and Encouragement
- [06:14] - The Danger of Drifting
- [07:57] - Holding Fast to Our Confession
- [10:49] - Confidence in Christ's Priestly Work
- [13:25] - The Ascension of Christ
- [15:57] - The Significance of the Ascension
- [18:44] - Solus Christus: Christ Alone
- [23:58] - Confidence in Christ's Compassion
- [30:55] - The Humanity of Christ
- [39:08] - Confidence in the Gospel of Christ
- [46:32] - Closing Prayer and Reflection

Study Guide

Bible Study Discussion Guide

Bible Reading:
- Hebrews 4:14-5:10

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Observation Questions:

1. What does the author of Hebrews mean when he refers to Jesus as a "great high priest who has passed through the heavens"? How does this relate to the Old Testament high priest's role? [13:25]

2. How does the sermon describe the difference between the medieval church's approach to grace and the Reformation's emphasis on "solus Christus"? [18:44]

3. In what ways does the sermon highlight Jesus' ability to sympathize with our weaknesses? What examples are given to illustrate His compassion? [24:48]

4. What does the sermon suggest about the significance of Jesus' ascension and how it is often overlooked in Christian doctrine? [15:57]

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Interpretation Questions:

1. How does the concept of Jesus as our high priest provide a foundation for confidence in our faith, according to the sermon? [10:49]

2. The sermon mentions that Jesus was tempted in every way yet without sin. How does this understanding of Jesus' humanity and divinity impact our view of His compassion and ability to help us in our struggles? [23:58]

3. What does the sermon imply about the dangers of relying on human intermediaries for salvation, and how does this contrast with the direct access to God through Christ? [40:47]

4. How does the sermon interpret the call to "hold fast to our confession"? What does this mean for the believer's daily life and faith journey? [07:57]

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Application Questions:

1. Reflect on a time when you felt discouraged in your faith. How can the understanding of Jesus as your high priest who sympathizes with your weaknesses encourage you in those moments? [23:58]

2. The sermon emphasizes the Reformation's call to "solus Christus." In what areas of your life might you be relying on your own efforts or other intermediaries instead of placing your trust entirely in Jesus? [18:44]

3. How can you practically "draw near to the throne of grace" in your daily life? What steps can you take to cultivate a deeper relationship with God through Christ? [40:47]

4. Consider the idea of holding fast to your confession. What specific beliefs or truths about Jesus do you find most challenging to hold onto, and how can you strengthen your commitment to them? [07:57]

5. The sermon discusses the significance of Jesus' ascension. How can you incorporate the reality of Jesus' exalted position into your worship and daily life? [15:57]

6. In what ways can you demonstrate the compassion of Christ to others, knowing that He understands and sympathizes with human struggles? [24:48]

7. The sermon warns against the danger of drifting away from faith. What are some practical ways you can stay anchored in your faith and avoid spiritual drift? [06:14]

Devotional

Day 1: Confidence in Christ's Completed Work
The confidence we have in Christ's priesthood is rooted in His completed work of atonement. Unlike the Old Testament sacrifices that were repeated endlessly, Jesus' sacrifice was once and for all, satisfying divine justice and securing our salvation. This assurance allows us to stand firm in our faith, knowing that our salvation is not dependent on our efforts but on His finished work. As our great high priest, Jesus has passed through the heavens, signifying the completion of His atoning work and His ongoing intercession for us. This gives us a firm foundation for our faith, enabling us to hold fast to our confession with unwavering confidence. [13:25]

Hebrews 9:24-26 (ESV): "For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself."

Reflection: In what areas of your life do you struggle to trust in the sufficiency of Christ's completed work? How can you remind yourself today that your salvation is secure in Him alone?


Day 2: The Compassionate High Priest
Jesus, our high priest, is not distant or detached from our struggles. He sympathizes with our weaknesses, having been tempted in every way yet without sin. This profound compassion assures us that we can bring our struggles and burdens to Him, knowing that He understands and stands ready to offer grace and mercy. His empathy is not just theoretical but deeply personal, as He has walked the path of human experience and emerged victorious over sin. This understanding invites us to approach Him with confidence, knowing that He is both willing and able to help us in our time of need. [24:48]

Hebrews 2:17-18 (ESV): "Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted."

Reflection: What specific struggle or weakness are you facing today that you need to bring to Jesus? How can His understanding and compassion encourage you to seek His help?


Day 3: Solus Christus: Christ Alone
The Reformation's emphasis on "solus Christus" calls us to place our trust entirely in Jesus, moving away from reliance on human intermediaries. This shift invites us to find confidence in His finished work, recognizing that our salvation is not based on our achievements but on His grace. By focusing on Christ alone, we are reminded that He is the sole source of our salvation, and we are encouraged to look beyond ourselves and our efforts. This perspective frees us from the burden of self-reliance and invites us to rest in the sufficiency of Christ's work on our behalf. [18:44]

Colossians 1:19-20 (ESV): "For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross."

Reflection: Are there areas in your life where you are relying on your own efforts rather than trusting in Christ alone? How can you shift your focus to rest in His sufficiency today?


Day 4: Direct Access to the Throne of Grace
Through Christ, we have direct access to the throne of grace, dismantling the barriers of medieval sacerdotalism. This access is a profound privilege, allowing us to approach God with confidence and assurance. No longer do we need human intermediaries to mediate our relationship with God; instead, we are invited into a direct and personal relationship with Him through Jesus. This invitation to draw near to God is a testament to the transformative power of the gospel, which breaks down barriers and opens the way for us to experience His presence and grace in our lives. [40:47]

Ephesians 3:11-12 (ESV): "This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him."

Reflection: How can you take advantage of the direct access you have to God through Christ today? What steps can you take to deepen your relationship with Him?


Day 5: Holding Fast to Our Confession
Our confession is not just a set of beliefs but a deep trust in Jesus' finished work. We are called to hold fast to this confession, finding our identity and assurance in Christ alone. This involves a commitment to remain steadfast in our faith, even in the face of challenges and doubts. By anchoring our identity in Christ, we are empowered to live out our faith with confidence and assurance, knowing that He is faithful to sustain us. This call to hold fast is an invitation to continually renew our trust in Jesus and to find our ultimate security in His unchanging promises. [46:32]

Hebrews 10:23 (ESV): "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful."

Reflection: What does it mean for you to hold fast to your confession of faith in Christ? How can you actively reinforce your trust in His promises today?

Quotes

"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. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has being tempted as we are, yet without sin. 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." [00:01:11]

"Confidence. Confidence in the gospel, confidence in Christ, confidence in the atonement, confidence in the means of grace; those are all Reformation themes, and in some respects, all issues that were lacking in the medieval period. The author of Hebrews is dealing with discouragement, the discouragement that perhaps is an occupational hazard of some Christians. Well, he's addressing war-weary and battle-fatigued Christians." [00:04:12]

"Well, hold fast your confession. Hold fast to what you believe of the courage of your convictions, biblical convictions, gospel convictions, convictions about Christ, convictions about our great high priest. And I want us to see three things here. The first is confidence in the priestly work of Christ, confidence in the priestly work of Christ. 'Since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens.'" [00:10:33]

"Now, the author of Hebrews says, 'I want you to consider our great high priest, even Jesus, the Son of God who has passed through the heavens.' And it is a kind of metaphor, it is a kind of encapsulated condensed form of saying, 'I want you to think of Jesus in the totality of all that He is done in His incarnation and life and obedience and death upon the cross and burial and resurrection and ascension as He passed through the heavens and ascended to the right hand of God.'" [00:13:04]

"And elsewhere in Hebrews in chapter 7 and in chapter 9 and again in chapter 10, the author of Hebrews insists that all of this He did once, that He offered up Himself once to God, hapax, once, once and for all. There is no repetition as in the Old Testament symbolism of the great high priest on the Day of Atonement. He did this once, once for all." [00:17:18]

"And in one sense it is about a great view of Christ, solus Christus, a great view of Christ, in Christ alone, not in human priests, not in the shadows and shackles of medieval sacerdotalism and priestcraft, but in Christ, in Jesus alone confidence that emerges, that issues out of our union and communion with this risen and ascended Christ, confidence in His substitutionary atonement, confidence that He has satisfied all of the demands of divine justice on our behalf, satisfied all that the law requires." [00:18:02]

"Confidence in the priestly work of Christ. Well, that is a good way to start the day, isn't it, on a Saturday morning? Where is your confidence this morning? Some of you have lost your confidence. Some of you have lost that spiritual joie de vivre. That comes from the ministry of the Holy Spirit that witnesses with your spirits that you are the children of God and that you are in a sense untouchable, that you can say to Satan when he knocks on the door and asks, 'Are you there?' and you can say that you are not, 'That person doesn't live here anymore,' as Luther once said, 'A man in Christ lives here now,' in union and communion with the risen, ascended Lord Jesus Christ who has passed through the heavens." [00:22:59]

"Confidence in the compassion of Christ. '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.' This Jesus, the Son of God, who is He? Well, He is a Jesus who became incarnate. He always was God. There never was a time when He was not God, but He became flesh. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary. He took on flesh and blood. He had a human body, a real body, and a reasonable soul, a human mind." [00:23:58]

"Confidence. Confidence in the priestly work of Christ, confidence in the compassion of Christ. My dear friend, the medieval sacerdotal system was a system built on fear and guilt. And what did the Reformation bring? It brought confidence that I can stand in union and communion with Jesus Christ and know with absolute certainty that I can bring to Him every trial, every difficulty. I can know with absolute certainty that He hears me." [00:38:44]

"Let us draw near, let us embrace the Lord Jesus. Let us come to Him. That is the exhortation of Hebrews. You can go to Him, the priesthood of all believers, that you have a right of access into the very presence of Almighty God through the finished work of Jesus Christ. What are you to do with all this knowledge? 'Let us hold fast our confession.' What are you supposed to do with this confession? What are you supposed to do with these truths? You come to Him. You go to Him. You fly to Him. You look to Jesus. You have confidence in Him. That is the gospel." [00:41:04]

"My dear friend, you don't have the right or the ability to forgive yourself. Only God can do that. Only God can grant forgiveness. And that is what you get, you see; whatever it is, whatever sin, whatever it is that you are feeling guilty about, whatever transgression, no matter how heinous it is, when you look full into the face of the Lord Jesus, when 'Christ is the mirror of your election,' as Calvin would say, there is forgiveness with God that He may be feared. He takes ruined sinners like you and me and He forgives on the basis of what His Son has done on your behalf and mine." [00:42:40]

"There is an incredible diary, an account in the sixteenth century in Geneva. It was one of the records that was discovered in the records of Geneva of a man who had lived in Geneva before the Reformation came. And he was born in the early 1500s and was a Roman Catholic, of course, when St. Peter's where Calvin was the preacher, where St. Peter's was a Catholic church. And he describes what life was like as a young boy, as a teenager attending St. Peter's in Geneva and attending all of the Catholic rituals and the holy days and carrying the images of the saints through the streets, and so on, and going to a service, a celebration of the Mass in St. Peter's in an echoey room in a language that couldn't be understood where there was no participation on the part of the congregation whatsoever." [00:44:11]

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Transcript
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