Great High Priest (Part 2 of 2)

Devotional

Day 1: Rummaging in the Dustbin of Forgiven Sin

When guilt resurfaces like rotten scraps from yesterday’s trash, Jesus invites us to walk free. His sacrifice doesn’t just cover sin—it erases its record. The accuser wants believers to dig through old failures, but Christ’s blood declares them gone. God chooses to forget what grace has buried. Freedom comes not from self-forgiveness but trusting the One who says, “I have no record of that at all.” [08:31]

“And their sins and lawless deeds I will remember no more. Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.” (Hebrews 10:17–18, ESV)

Reflection: What specific regret or shame still feels “unforgivable” to you? How might Christ’s declaration over your past change how you carry that burden today?

Day 2: The Taxi Driver’s Endless Loop vs. Christ’s Finished Work

Religious striving resembles a taxi line—endless cycles of effort with no lasting relief. Priests repeatedly offered sacrifices, but Jesus sat down. His final “paid in full” over sin broke the hamster wheel of earning approval. The cross wasn’t a down payment; it was the receipt. Rest begins where human effort ends, at the throne of the One who needs no repeat performances. [04:58]

“And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God.” (Hebrews 10:11–12, ESV)

Reflection: Where are you still “waiting in line” spiritually, acting as if Christ’s work wasn’t enough? What would sitting down in His finished work look like this week?

Day 3: Checkmate Over the Accuser’s Empty Threats

Satan’s accusations are like a chess player denying checkmate—all bluster, no power. The cross declared his defeat, though skirmishes linger. Jesus didn’t just weaken evil; He disarmed it. When shame whispers “you’re still guilty,” believers point to the empty tomb, not their track record. Victory isn’t a hope—it’s a settled fact signed in blood and sealed by resurrection. [14:45]

“He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in Him.” (Colossians 2:15, ESV)

Reflection: What accusation feels most persistent in your life? How does Christ’s checkmate over the accuser reshape how you answer that lie?

Day 4: Sins Sunk in the Sea of God’s Forgetfulness

Human memory clings to failures like barnacles on a ship. God’s forgetfulness sinks them into oceanic depths—no sonar can retrieve them. When believers fixate on old sins, they distrust the Judge who says, “Case closed.” The cross didn’t make sins hard to find; it made them impossible to recall. Peace comes not from perfect behavior but perfect erasure. [12:16]

“As far as the east is from the west, so far does He remove our transgressions from us.” (Psalm 103:12, ESV)

Reflection: What failure do you struggle to believe is truly “east from west” forgiven? How might living as if God forgot that sin change your relationships or choices?

Day 5: Names Graven on the Priest’s Pierced Hands

Jesus’ intercession isn’t a reluctant duty—it’s a delighted advocacy. His scarred hands eternally bear His people’s names, not their sins. When believers stumble, Christ doesn’t beg the Father for mercy; He shows His wounds as the receipt. Prayer isn’t groveling before a skeptical Judge but approaching a Father who sees the Son’s hands first. [19:21]

“Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.” (Romans 8:33–34, ESV)

Reflection: How would praying shift if you pictured Jesus actively showing the Father His wounds on your behalf right now?

Sermon Summary

Hebrews presents first-century Hebrew Christians no longer going through the same motions, no longer leaning on the same rituals, and asking, “What are they to do now?” The text answers by setting before them Jesus Christ, phenomenally approachable and utterly reliable, the great high priest who is both faithful and merciful when Satan accuses and even when the heart condemns.

Christ has done all that is necessary in relation to God. His active obedience fulfilled all righteousness; the lawbreakers stand over against the lawkeeper, and Jesus fulfilled the law in every dimension. His passive obedience bore the penalty that lawbreaking deserved. The great exchange stands at the center: he became sin so that sinners might become the righteousness of God in him, a righteousness God requires, achieves, declares, and bestows on all who believe the gospel.

Christ has done all that is necessary in relation to sin. Hebrews contrasts the priests who stood day after day, going round and round, offering the same sacrifices again and again, never sitting because the work was never finished. Those sacrifices could picture what Christ would perform, but they could not perform what Christ procured. Jesus offered himself once for all, and that is the antidote when the devil tries to get believers “rummaging around in the dustbin of forgiven sin.” God says, “Their sins and their lawless acts I will remember no more,” because he can deliberately forget what guilty consciences cannot set aside.

Christ has done all that is necessary in relation to Satan. The devil remains evil and active, but he is a defeated foe. The victory has been declared, even if skirmishes continue, and the chessboard is already checkmate. Satan may still move pieces, but he cannot alter the outcome.

Christ accomplishes all of this in perfect unity with the Father. The Father did not force an unwilling Son, and the Son did not persuade an unwilling Father. The Father gave the Son, and the Son gave himself, both taking the initiative together to save sinners.

Christ sat down because his finished work was complete, and Christ still serves because his priesthood is permanent. Hebrews says he ever lives to make intercession, not as one being re-sacrificed, but as the very embodiment of the once-for-all sacrifice. His people may hold firmly, approach confidently, and rest securely because they belong, body and soul, in life and death, to their faithful Savior, Jesus Christ.

Key Takeaways

1. Christ silences the accusing devil Satan loves to drag forgiven sinners back into old rooms and old rubbish bins, making shame sound like truth. Hebrews answers that accusation not by asking the believer to feel better, but by pointing to the finished priestly work of Jesus. The conscience needs more than encouragement; it needs a high priest whose sacrifice has actually dealt with sin. [08:31]
2. God remembers forgiven sins no more Divine forgiveness is not God pretending that sin was small; it is God honoring the blood of Christ as fully sufficient. Human memory may keep bringing back what grace has already removed, but God has “no record of that at all.” The believer’s peace rests not on the ability to forget, but on God’s covenant promise to remember no more. [10:43]
3. The cross is already checkmate Satan’s activity is real, but his future is not uncertain. Christ’s once-for-all sacrifice has declared the outcome, even while skirmishes remain on the board. Spiritual warfare becomes distorted when Satan is denied, but also when Satan becomes the center of attention rather than the defeated enemy beneath Christ’s feet. [14:33]
4. The Father and Son save together The atonement must never be imagined as an angry Father punishing a reluctant Son, or a merciful Son twisting the Father’s arm. The Father gave the Son, and the Son gave himself, in one united purpose of mercy. Salvation comes from the undivided will of the triune God, not from tension inside God. [16:16]
5. Finished work, permanent priesthood Jesus sat down because nothing more needed to be offered for sin, yet he still serves because his priesthood never ends. His intercession is not a repeated sacrifice, but the living presentation of the sacrifice already accomplished. Confidence before the throne of grace grows where the heart holds firmly to that completed and continuing work. [18:49]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[00:55] - First-Century Christians and a Reliable High Priest
[02:16] - Christ’s Obedience Before God
[03:44] - The Great Exchange of Righteousness
[04:44] - Priests Standing Day After Day
[07:32] - The Accuser and Forgiven Sin
[08:46] - God Remembers Sin No More
[11:33] - “My Sins Are Gone”
[13:13] - Christ’s Victory Over Satan
[15:26] - Father and Son United in Atonement
[17:23] - Finished Work and Ongoing Intercession
[20:43] - Hold Firmly, Approach Confidently, Rest Securely
[21:43] - Heidelberg Comfort in Life and Death

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
Hebrews 10:12-14, 17 (ESV)
12 But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. 14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. [...] 17 then he adds, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.”

2 Corinthians 5:21 (ESV)
21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Observation Questions

In Hebrews 10:12, how does the writer contrast Jesus’ sacrifice with the work of the Old Testament priests?
What does it mean that God “will remember their sins no more” (Hebrews 10:17), and how does this differ from human forgiveness?
The sermon compared Satan’s defeat to a chessboard already in “checkmate” ([14:33]). What imagery does Hebrews 10:13 use to describe Christ’s ultimate victory?

Interpretation Questions

Why is it significant that Jesus “sat down” after his sacrifice (Hebrews 10:12), and how does this relate to the idea of a “finished work”?
How does 2 Corinthians 5:21 explain the “great exchange” mentioned in the sermon, and why is this exchange necessary for believers?
The sermon emphasized that Satan is a “defeated foe” even though spiritual battles persist ([14:33]). How does Hebrews 10:13 reconcile the tension between Christ’s victory and ongoing struggles?
Why does the unity between the Father and Son in salvation matter (e.g., “the Father gave the Son, and the Son gave himself” [16:16]), and how does this refute misunderstandings about the atonement?

Application Questions

When guilt over past sins resurfaces, how might you actively remind yourself of Hebrews 10:17 instead of “rummaging in the dustbin of forgiven sin” ([08:31])?
The sermon said believers’ peace rests on God’s promise to forget sins, not their ability to forget ([10:43]). How could this truth reshape how you counsel someone struggling with shame?
In what practical ways can you “hold firmly” to Christ’s finished work (Hebrews 4:14) when facing temptation or spiritual opposition?
How might recognizing Satan as a “defeated foe” ([14:33]) change your approach to fear, anxiety, or spiritual warfare?
The Heidelberg Catechism says believers belong to Christ “body and soul, in life and death” ([21:43]). How does this truth influence your daily priorities or sense of identity?

Sermon Clips

And this is a recurring theme already for us in these talks, the great exchange. He became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in him. A righteousness that God requires if ever we are to stand before him. A righteousness which God achieves in the once for all sacrifice of his son. A righteousness which God declares in the proclaiming of the gospel and a righteousness which God bestows on all those who believe the gospel. [00:03:44]

When we talk of the Father's plan and the Son's sacrifice, we should not have think of the Father laying on the Son an ordeal he was unwilling to bear. Nor of the Son extracting from the Father a salvation he was unwilling to bestow. It is true that the Father gave the Son. It is equally true that the Son gave himself. [00:16:24]

Christ in his active obedience did everything that the law required. We are lawbreakers, he is the lawkeeper. He fulfilled the law in every dimension. He was without sin. And in his passive obedience, he then bore the penalty that our lawbreaking deserves. [00:03:10]

And God will say to you, 'Please stop. I have no record of that at all. I have no record of that at all. Because he puts our sins as far away as the east is from the west. Infinity. What a great high priest. [00:10:41]

That in Jesus as our great high priest, he has done all that is necessary in relationship to sin. And hence the wonderful quote, "Their sins and their lawless acts I will remember no more." Because of who he is, he is able to do, by his choice, what we actually cannot do. Namely, deliberately forget. [00:08:39]

You can make as many moves on the board as you choose, but you cannot alter the outcome. Now, that is true in relationship to the evil one. That Christ as our great high priest has done all that is necessary in relationship to Satan. [00:14:52]

And even when our best friends are unreliable, and even when Satan accuses us, and even when our own hearts condemn us, Christ as our great high priest is both faithful and merciful. [00:01:57]

He is not there, uh being re-sacrificed. He is not there pleading a work that is an ongoing work. He is there as the very embodiment, as the very completion, as the very fulfillment of that once-and-for-all sacrifice that he has accomplished on behalf of sinners. And in his ongoing ministry as great high priest, our names are graven on his hands, and our names are written on his heart. [00:19:40]

Again and again, the process continues. Round and round they go. If that was able to make atonement for sin, all of that would have dealt with it and we would be finished and done. No, says the writer, but since it never could, since it could picture what Christ was to perform, but could not perform what Christ procured, it must be that this great high priest would make sacrifice for sin in the giving of himself. [00:06:50]

Fifthly and finally this Jesus who sat down because his work was complete stood up again. This Jesus who sat down because his work was finished is still at work. Hence the theologian speaking of the finished work of Christ as great high priest and the ongoing work of Christ as great high priest. [00:17:23]

So, let us neither deny his evil influence nor become preoccupied with it. But let us again look at the great spiritual battle in which we engage in light of the great high priesthood of Jesus. [00:15:07]

And the devil, who is our who is the accuser of the brethren, comes to us routinely and tries to say, and sometimes in the strangest times and out of the blue and sometimes in church when our minds wander, and he says, "You know, aren't you the one who did such and such? Aren't you the one who said such and such? You're here singing these songs. You're here preaching these sermons. Aren't you the character that acted in such a bad and wrong way before?" [00:07:52]

And here this book comes to them and he says, "You know, you have in the Lord Jesus Christ one who is phenomenally approachable and utterly reliable because he has become like his brothers in every way in order that he might fulfill this purpose under God." [00:01:13]

And the wonder of what has happened there in that is just unquantifiable and a source of great encouragement to those of us who know ourselves to have sinful hearts and to reflect sometimes on our lives before Christ that were full of all kinds of badness and nonsense and disreputable stuff. [00:07:25]

Not of the taxi driver, but of the priestly function. They went in, they performed their religious duties. Having come, their number has come up, they're at the front of the line, it's their turn, they do it, and then immediately they go and they take their place at the end of the line. [00:06:31]

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