Jesus, Source of Eternal Life

When I was growing up, the magic eye books were a really big thing. I don't know if you remember those. They were kind of computer generated images with lots of colors and some sort of pattern. And if you looked at them just the right way, if you crossed your eyes or didn't cross your eyes, or if you focused deeply or didn't focus at all, whatever, nobody could exactly say exactly what you had to do. But if you looked at it the right way, you could see the 3D image that was actually embedded in that sea of color and pattern. And once you saw that image, you really couldn't unsee it. You could always look back at it and see that image there. And I think that is something that we find intriguing, that something could be right there, right in front of us, right before our eyes, and yet we could not see it. In fact, it was very frustrating to stare at one of those images and not be able to see what was there. I hope you remember that. This is one of the reasons I think the Bible can be such an interesting book, an intriguing book for us. Because one of the main ways that we understand the Bible in its Old and New Testaments is to think of mysteries that were hidden and now revealed. So God has placed hints and clues all throughout the Old Testament. And it seems like until Jesus came, he died, he was raised from the grave, nobody really saw those hints, those clues, what those images were pointing to. Only then did the mysteries become clear. And so often what we find in the New Testament is God, through the authors of the New Testament, actually pulling back the curtain or bringing the image into focus, if you will, so that we can clearly see in the Old Testament what we couldn't see before. And so this morning, we're going to be spending a lot of time thinking extensively about one of those particular images, one of those mysteries in the Old Testament. And we're going to be in Hebrews chapter 7. That's on page 1004 of your Pew Bibles. If you're here with us and you're not normally here, if you don't have a Bible, we invite you to take the one in front of you. Read it. It is God's word. It is the word of life. And so as you're finding page 1004, Hebrews chapter 7, just to bring you up to speed, we're continuing a series through the book of Hebrews. So this isn't something I just stumbled across this week and thought, oh, the church has got to hear about this. This is a series I started back at the end of last year, preaching through the book of Hebrews periodically. And so this is how far we've gotten in the book. We're in chapter 7. And to fill you in, Hebrews is a sermon in letter form written to first century Jewish Christians. And the audience seems to be tempted to go back to former ways of worship, to go back to the temple and the sacrifices and the priesthood and the law and all of those things. And we don't know exactly why that is. Maybe it was just because it was more comfortable and familiar with them. Maybe it was because it was culturally acceptable and actually allowed them to avoid persecution from the Roman empire. But whatever the reason is, the author is crystal clear that that move to move away from Jesus Christ back to the law is deadly. It is deadly. To walk away from Christ is to abandon all hope of salvation. And so it's a message for us just as much as it was for those first century hearers. The author has reminded them and us that God has spoken finally and authoritatively through his son. Jesus is the only source of salvation, the only source of rest. He warns us about the dangers of drifting away from God, of disbelief, of not believing what God has said. And so in chapter five, he began the section that we're in now, explaining Jesus's role as the high priest and as the only source of real, true, eternal help for us. And so this is where he first brought up Melchizedek, and that's where he wanted to go. That's where we're picking up this morning, but he stopped. He had to interrupt his flow, his argument, to address his chief concern with the church. And that was that they were becoming dull of hearing. That the message of the gospel, the message of who Jesus is and what he's done can be something that we know and understand and yet discard, forget about, ignore. And he won't let them do that. He won't see them fall away because of that. And so for them and for us, assurance is only found by persevering in our faith in Jesus Christ. And so we find ourselves really in the central argument of the book of Hebrews that the old covenant system was given with an expiration date. It was made to expire. It was made to go away. That salvation was never found in the law. This morning we're going to look specifically at the priesthood and how it fits into all of that. And what I hope that we see this morning as we study this is what you and I need most is access to God. What we need most is access to God and that access is only available through Jesus Christ. So let's read Hebrews 7 together. For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham, returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him. And to him Abraham apportioned a tenth part of everything. He is first, by translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then he is also king of Salem, that is, king of peace. He is without father or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God, he continues a priest forever. See how great this man was to whom Abraham the patriarch gave a tenth of the spoils. And those descendants of Levi who received the priestly office have a commandment in the law to take tithes from the people, that is, from their brothers, though these are also descended from Abraham. But this man, who does not have his descent from them, received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. It is beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by the superior. In the one case, tithes are received by mortal men, but in the other case, by one of whom it is testified that he lives. One might even say that Levi himself, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, for he was still in the loins of his ancestor when Melchizedek met him. Now if perfection had been attainable through the Levitical priesthood, for under it the people received the law, what further need would there have been for another priest to arise after the order of Melchizedek, rather than the one named after the order of Aaron? For when there is a change in the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the law as well. For the one of whom these things are spoken belong to another tribe, from which no one has ever served at the altar. For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah, and in connection with that tribe, Moses said nothing about priests. This becomes even more evident when another priest arises in the likeness of Melchizedek, who has become a priest not on the basis of legal requirement concerning bodily descent, but by the power of an indestructible life. For it is witnessed of him, you are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek. For on the one hand, a former commandment is set aside because of its weakness and uselessness, for the law made nothing perfect. But on the other hand, a better hope is introduced through which we draw near to God. And it was not without an oath. For those who formerly became priests were made such without an oath. But this one was made a priest with an oath by the one who said to him, the Lord has sworn and will not change his mind. You are a priest forever. This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant. The former priests were many in number because they were prevented by death from continuing in office. But he holds his priesthood permanently because he continues forever. And consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. He has no need like those high priests to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself. For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a son, who has been made perfect forever. Amen. We'll look at three sections this morning, another priest, a needed priest, and a perfect priest. So three different perspectives on the priesthood here. So first, another priest in verses one to 10. So we're introduced to this character, Melchizedek. The author is going back to an event that happened relatively early in the Bible, in Genesis 14, which Mike read for us earlier. And just to get a little bit more context, God has singled out this person Abraham, Abram, as he's called there, and he's promised to bless him, to make him a great nation, to give him a land, to make him a blessing to all the people groups, all the peoples of the earth. So God called Abraham out of the place where he was living in Haran. He called him to move to Canaan. And Abraham brought his family and particularly his nephew Lot with him. And what happens is God is blessing them. Their possessions are so great. Their herds are so great that the herdsmen are fighting. It's causing conflict. And so they separate. And during this time, there's a war between the kings or the chiefs of the peoples in this region. And so Lot kind of gets caught up in the middle of it and he gets captured. And so Abraham leads this sort of special forces raid since the invaders running away, he rescues Lot and he inherits all the spoil from the war. And so that's what's happening in the background here. And then that's what leads to this kind of unexpected, this sort of random scene in Genesis 14, this blessing that comes from this character Melchizedek. Now, if you're just reading through the story, it doesn't really stand out that much. It's sort of odd, but you can just kind of go past it, and it is what it is. There are two kings mentioned there. There's the king of Salem, who blesses and celebrates with Abraham, and then there's the king of Sodom, who seems to kind of try to manipulate Abraham. And it's not surprising that that would happen, given, in a couple of chapters, what's going to happen with Sodom and Gomorrah. It's not a surprise that their king is a rather shady fellow. But the event can kind of just seem inconsequential, especially if you're doing the McShane thing and it's early January and it's 6 a.m. and you're sipping your coffee reading Genesis 14, it doesn't jump out that something really, really important is happening here. But the author of Hebrews won't let us overlook Melchizedek. Because see, for Jews, everything is going back to Abraham, right? Abraham is the greatest. He's the origin of Isaac and Jacob and Moses and Aaron and Joshua and David. Everybody who's anybody in the Old Testament finds his way back to Abraham. The temple, the priesthood, the law, everything that we know is dependent upon Abraham. And yet right here, at the beginning of the story of Abraham, what the whole rest of the Old Testament is gonna be about, we're introduced to this character who is greater than Abraham. It should have made the average Jew reading through the story sort of scratch their head, who is this guy? Who's this guy that blesses Abraham? And so let's look carefully at what the author of Hebrews is saying. For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him. And to him, Abraham apportioned a 10th part of everything. So that's just reviewing the facts of the story from Genesis 14. Melchizedek is a king and a priest, as if that's just kind of information to be thrown out there. He met Abraham, he blessed him, and Abraham paid a tithe to him. So the author starts to work through and tie these things together. So in verse 2, he is first, by translation of his name, King of Righteousness, and then he is also King of Salem, that is, King of Peace. So this is just what the man's name means. Melchizedek is a compound word, melech and zedek, King and Righteousness, King of Righteousness or Righteous King, that's what his name means, and he's also the King of Salem, or as the Hebrews would say it, shalom, the King of Peace. King of righteousness, king of peace. The author of Hebrews is saying, does that sound like anyone you know? Verse three, he's without father or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God, he continues a priest forever. So this is really interesting, isn't it? He has no origin, he has no genealogy, and there's some people that think that this is referring to a pre-incarnate second person of the Trinity, a pre-incarnate view of Jesus. I don't think that's what it's talking about. I think that actually raises more questions than it answers. I think what the author, the point that he's making is a literary point. There's no reference in Genesis in the story to a father or a mother. There's no birth or no death. And that's just not saying that we don't, it's not that it's just saying we don't have that information, right? If you read the book of Genesis, anyone who matters, anyone who has any significance in Genesis is significant because of whose son he is, right? Everybody is connected back. And so you think about chapter five. This person was this old, he had a son, he lived this long and he died. This person was this old, he had a son, he lived this long and he died. Everything in Genesis is about origin, it's about genealogy. That's the refrain over and over again from Adam to Noah to Abraham, Abraham to every single Jew that lived. It's about this genealogy and about this connection. And so to be introduced in the text in Genesis with no mention of father or mother or birth or death should make him either a really insignificant character in the narrative or the most important character in the narrative. Further, he simply stands as the priest of the Most High God, right? The author is about to unpack this Levitical priesthood, which is a big word that just means he's a son of Levi. It's the priesthood instituted in the Old Testament by God through the sons of Levi. So the Levites were the priests. And so then when we say Levitical priesthood, that's what we're talking about. How every priest under the Old Covenant served because his father was a direct descendant of Aaron. He was a Levite. and his mother was a pure Jew. That was the qualifications for the Levitical priesthood. But Melchizedek, we don't know anything about his father. He is simply a priest because the text says he is a priest. And so as such, he resembles the Son of God. He resembles the Son of God. And it's important that we hear that very carefully, because he's not saying the Son of God resembles him. So the author of Hebrews didn't comb the scripture to look back for an obscure reference and then build a theology out of that reference. That's not what he's saying. He's saying that Melchizedek 2,000 years before resembles Jesus. Melchizedek is a tiny glimpse into God's plan, what he was going to do all along. Melchizedek is like Jesus. And this is a helpful reminder for us as we're understanding the Bible as we're using the Bible to remember that the whole Bible, the whole narrative, the whole story is about Jesus. Whether you're teaching a two-year-old Sunday school class or the 80-year-olds, whether you're giving marriage counseling or career advice, whether you're thinking about motherhood or missions, you aren't using the Bible right if you're not connecting what you're talking about to the larger story of God's plan to save his people through Jesus. Every story is ultimately about him. So let's keep going in verse four. See how great this man was, to whom Abraham the patriarch gave a tenth of the spoils. And those descendants of Levi who received the priestly office have a commandment in the law to take these tithes from the people, that is, from their brothers, though these are also descended from Abraham. But this man, who does not have his descent from them, received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. It is beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by the superior. In the one case, tithes are received by mortal men, but in the other case, by one of whom it is testified that he lives. One might even say that Levi himself, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, for he was still in the loins of his ancestor when Melchizedek met him. The point of this whole section is in verse four. See how great this man is. See how great Melchizedek is. His greatness, we see, is illustrated in two ways. First, because Melchizedek blessed Abraham. So that's straightforward from verse seven. The inferior is blessed by the superior, Abraham blessed Melchizedek, therefore Abraham is inferior to Melchizedek. It's just what it says, straightforward. Second point, Abraham paid a tithe to Melchizedek. So according to the law, the tithe was something established for the Levites because they served in the tabernacle, they didn't get their portion of the land and so the rest of the tribes brought a tenth of what they had and that was the Levites' wage for their service to God. And the point that the author's making here is that the tithe is dependent upon the whole system established by the law for the children of Abraham. So the Levites were descendants just like the rest of the Israelites. Everything stayed in-house, if you will. But in Melchizedek, Abraham, the prototypical Israelite, paid to Melchizedek. The money went out. And so I think this gets to a deeper significance what the author is pointing to this morning. The Levites were the one tribe who served God in a particular way. So it wasn't a restriction. It wasn't punishment for them. It was actually a special privilege. They got to be the priest. Only they got these certain rights and responsibilities. So they got to serve God directly. They were the only ones allowed to come near the tabernacle. They represented the people before God. Spiritually, they had a better connection with God than the rest of the nation. And so they spiritually were superior to the rest of the Israelites. But the fact that Abraham paid a tithe to the priest, Melchizedek, says there was someone who was spiritually superior to him. That's the point the author is making. And so it causes us to ask, And it brings attention to what the Jews maybe hadn't ever considered, is even Abraham needed priestly representation. So the whole law, everything in the Old Testament, stems back to Abraham, and yet right at the beginning of Abraham's story, there's somebody spiritually superior to him. That's the point he's making. And so the author of Hebrews is showing them something that they should have seen all along. It was right under their noses. In Genesis 14, we see a king priest who is greater than Abraham. And it reminds us of Jesus' words in John chapter eight, before Abraham was, I am. Now, before we move on, friends, I just want us to bask for a moment in the glory of God's sovereignty. I don't know where you are this morning, I don't know what's on your mind, I don't know what you're struggling with or what you're worried about. We all have health concerns, we have family, relationships, finances, jobs, but I do know that God is sovereign over every single bit of it. So let's just think for a moment about God's plan, okay? 2,000 years from Adam to Abraham, 2,000 more from Abraham to Jesus, 2,000 more from Jesus till today. All the stories, all the sacrifices, all the things in the Old Testament happening, being fulfilled in Christ, who commissioned the apostles, who went and evangelized and established churches so that each one of us who are here today heard the gospel and believed. And I don't think God has done all of that for it all to fall apart in 2016. I just refuse to believe that, no matter what blog you may be reading. God is sovereign over history and over our individual lives, and of course, that's not a promise of material prosperity or health in this life, but it is a promise that God knows who are his, and that he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to him through Jesus. Like we heard in Psalm 8 last week, it should leave our heads spinning that God is mindful of us. It should cause us to wonder and marvel in worship, but it should also give us great confidence and security in the gospel. God loves us and God is for us. So brothers and sisters, let's just relax a little bit. If we're not where we are, where we thought we would be, where we wanted to be this morning, rest assured that we are exactly where God wants us to be. And the question we need to ask ourselves is how can we be faithful right here, right now? Point two, a needed priest. A needed priest. So here we consider that the introduction of Melchizedek asks us, where is this other priest coming from? So let's look at 11 through 19. Now if perfection had been attainable through the Levitical priesthood, for under it the people received the law, what further need would there have been for another priest to arise after the order of Melchizedek, rather than the one named after the order of Aaron? For when there is a change in the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the law as well. For the one of whom these things are spoken belong to another tribe, from which no one has ever served on the altar. For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah, and in connection with that tribe, Moses said nothing about priests. This becomes even more evident when another priest arises in the likeness of Melchizedek, who has become a priest not on the basis of a legal requirement concerning bodily descent, but by the power of an indestructible life. For it is witnessed of him, you are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. For on the one hand, a former commandment is set aside because of its weakness and uselessness. For the law made nothing perfect. But on the other hand, a better hope is introduced through which we draw near to God. So we see the fact of another priest is a problem, right? Melchizedek is mentioned twice in the Old Testament, once in Genesis 14, and again in Psalm 110, which is what we read earlier, and it's what's been on the authors of Hebrew's mind for quite a while, really since chapter one. And we can see that he's explaining the quote of Psalm 110 verse four in verse 17 of Hebrews seven. You were a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. So in Psalm 110, God promises there will be another priest like Melchizedek. That's the point he's making. So let's just put ourselves in their shoes a minute. Remember that a priest is someone who represents people before God. In chapter five, we looked at the priesthood, saw that he had to be appropriately qualified, he had to have this humble disposition, he had to perform the function of making atonement for the people, taking their sins away so that God could be in a right relationship with his people. That's what a priest does. And a priest has a really significant role in the Old Covenant. Often I think we can, we sort of think of the law in three different categories. Most of you have heard this before. We think of the moral law, so the Ten Commandments and things flowing out of that. The civil law, which are the things that govern the nation of Israel, their relationships with one another, how they could go to war and all those kind of things. And then the ceremonial law, the sacrificial system. And I think most of us are used to reading about the priesthood and just sort of categorizing it with those sacrificial, the sacrificial, the ceremonial aspect of the law. But if we think about what the priesthood represents, it's really actually at the heart of the whole system, right? The whole Old Covenant hinges on the priestly sacrifices making purification for all the sins, not just the ceremonial sins, but all of the sins. And so the priesthood, the Levitical priesthood in the Old Covenant is a really big deal. But here we have Psalm 110. And the fact that it exists and that it promises another priest after the likeness of Melchizedek introduces a problem for those who are going to look to the Old Covenant for salvation. It's a problem of sequence. Verse 28 makes this clear. The word of the oath, which came later than the law. So Genesis 14 says Abraham was a priest, I mean, Melchizedek was a priest before Abraham was anyone special, right? And then the whole story of Genesis unfolds with all of God's work and Abraham's family fulfilling all the promises and Isaac and Jacob and so on. There's 400 years from in Egypt, then there's the Exodus somewhere around 1500 BC, and then 500 years later, David comes along, he's the king of Israel, things are going great. Seems like everything is getting in order. And then David, at the very height of the old covenant system, God's king over God's people, David, reflecting upon all that God has done under the inspiration of God's Holy Spirit, writes Psalm 110 about a king who will also be a priest after the order of Melchizedek. So you see, that's a problem, and you can hear the panic in the Jewish mind. How can there be another priest? How can Jesus be the priest if he's not even a son of Levi? That sounds like you're talking about a whole different system. And the author of Hebrews says that's because God is talking about a whole different system. A priest after the order of Melchizedek is a different kind of priest. It's a priesthood, as he says, not on the basis of legal requirement concerning bodily descent, but by the power of an indestructible life. See, Jesus' qualification as High Priest isn't because He was born into the tribe of Levi. It doesn't fit the existing structures. It's a reset. It's a whole new system. Jesus is a different kind of priest. He's a priest like Melchizedek. And so then we see the reason for another priest that verse 11 makes clear as well. So there's the fact of another priest, now the reason for that priesthood. It says a new system was needed because the old one didn't work. It couldn't make anyone perfect. So verse 18 tells us a former commandment is set aside because of its weakness and uselessness, for the law made nothing perfect. Set aside is legal language, talking about an annulment or an official cancellation. And so there you have the author of Hebrews under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, talking about the law, the Old Testament, and calling it weak and useless. It's canceled. It's annulled. I wonder if you're here this morning, is that how you're used to thinking about the Old Testament? Now we should be careful. We want to affirm what the text is affirming and not deny something the text is not denying. The author is not saying that the Old Testament is garbage to be discarded, that we rip out of our Bibles and throw away. His argument is based on the Old Testament. So it's not saying that, but what he is saying is that the law is weak and useless as a means of salvation. It's the same argument that Paul makes in Romans. The law is good and holy. It tells us who God is, it tells us what he requires of us, but it makes a terrible savior, because we can't do it. We can't live up to it. The law does a great job of exposing us as sinners. Paul says that it shuts all our mouths before God because we're all guilty as law breakers. And early, the writer of Hebrews says that God's law, God's word is a living and active sword that pierces and divides us to the very core. Before God's law, we are naked and exposed, literally pinned down and choked. We have no defense, nothing we can do about it. The law crushes us. And so the whole priesthood and sacrificial system established by the law cannot save us. All it does is pile more and more weight upon our already crushed and broken backs. It kicks us while we're down. So it says, oh, you sinned? Well, make a sacrifice. Oh, you sinned again? Make another sacrifice, and another, and another, and on and on and on until you realize you don't have the resources. You don't have enough animals. You don't have enough money to buy the animals to atone for your sins. And even if you somehow did manage to come up with them, You still can't solve the problem. You still can't change. Why can I not stop lusting and coveting and lying and getting angry and rejecting authority and being lazy? Why do I not love God and honor him and give thanks to him? Friends, see and feel the hopelessness of that system. No one is getting perfect. No one is getting closer to God. And that's the human dilemma. That's where we all find ourselves. We aren't perfect. And in order to relate to God, we have to be made perfect. And so friends, let's also just acknowledge that this isn't an indictment of a particular system, but on all of our efforts to be made righteous on our own before God, to be accepted on the basis of our works. So just think about it, if the law wasn't good enough, the law isn't just an arbitrary standard that somebody came up with, right? God gave the law to the Israelites. It wasn't our best guess as to what may please God, it was God's revelation of himself. And so if that is weak and useless as a means of salvation, then what are all of our other attempts at self-righteousness? Imagine if you were going in to take a final exam in the hardest class you've ever taken, and the teacher gave you a study guide that had all the answers on it, and you still failed that test miserably. Would you have had any hope of doing any better without the study guide? Of course not. Of course not. And yet that's exactly what all of our attempts at religion and works and self-righteousness are like in God's sight. There is one God. He has spoken. And that's been the point throughout the book of Hebrews. If we ignore him, we have no hope of salvation. But if even our best efforts fall short, where does that leave us, friends? What leaves us in need of a new system. Verse 19 says, a better hope is introduced through which we draw near to God. And so what the author of Hebrews is showing us is that this has been God's plan all along. The Old Testament was temporary by design. Jesus is not plan B. It's only when we feel the futility of our own efforts that we can celebrate the greatness of our Savior. Because under this new system, through this new priest, we can actually draw near to God. Jesus's substitutionary death and resurrection actually removes our sin once and for all so that we can approach God's throne, the throne of the universe, as the throne of grace. Being able to draw near is not something that has always characterized God's relationship with his people. In the Old Testament, drawing near was the exception rather than the rule. So even in Numbers 18, only the Levites were actually permitted to approach the tabernacle. The rest of the nation, forbidden. There are a few exceptions to this rule, but the predominant message about God's relationship with his people in the Old Testament is fear and distance. But through this new priest, we are actually cleansed and purified so that we can all draw near, and we can all draw near with confidence. This is why Christians have a better hope. We have a better reason for our hope because our hope is established on the work of our great high priest. Through him, we have direct and lasting access to God. So Christian, do you know that this morning? Do you know that you have unhindered access to God Almighty as God the Father? Sometimes we think it's more spiritual to create sort of barriers for ourselves. We avoid church or we skip the Lord's Supper because we feel guilty. We give a little more money or we try to serve someone to compensate for something wrong that we've done. But see, friends, that is slipping back into those old forms of religion that actually deny the all-sufficient work of Christ our Savior. Of course, we don't yet experience the fullness of his presence, that we one day will. This is a reality that we talk about as already and not yet. So Christ's resurrection and ascension ensures that we too will one day be raised and glorified and ushered into the very real and full presence of God, where our sin will be removed, where there's no more pain or tears when we see God face to face. That's the day that we long for as his people. But we do get to experience God's presence now as we take hold of the realities of the promises of the gospel. We know that Christ sympathizes with us. He invites us to approach the throne with confidence and to ask for mercy and for grace. We are adopted as God's children and as such we can pray to a father who loves us, who cares about us, who knows what we need even before we ask it. So we don't have to manipulate him or impress him. We simply make our requests known to him with thanksgiving and trust that he always has our best in mind. So if you're here this morning and you're not a Christian, we are so glad that you're here with us. We are thankful that you have gathered to see and hear what we believe, what we do as God's people. But this message is the most important message that you can hear because God made all of us for a perfect relationship with himself. And we broke that, we failed, we rejected Him. And that's the state that we live in now is sin. We are in rebellion against Him because of our failure to love and worship Him and honor Him as God. And there's no way to fix it yourself. No amount of your good works, nothing that you can do can bring you back to God. And so you and me and everyone else are dependent upon God Himself to save us. to understand that only through Jesus can we have forgiveness, can we have life, that Jesus' life is exchanged for our life. His death stands in the place of our death. His resurrection assures of our own resurrection. And God invites all of you to come in faith and repentance, believing, trusting in Jesus, turning away from your sin to be saved and to be brought to him. So if you don't know that, if you don't have confidence in that truth this morning, please don't leave without talking to someone about it. What is it that makes Jesus the source of such a better hope? Well, that brings us to our third and final point this morning, a perfect high priest in verses 20 through 28. So Psalm 110 is highlighting Jesus' superiority as high priest because of his permanence. You are a priest forever. That's what makes him so different. So we see the basis for his permanence in this oath in verses 20 to 22. And it was not without an oath For those who formerly became priests were made such without an oath, but this one was made a priest with an oath by the one who said to him, the Lord has sworn and will not change his mind. You are a priest forever. This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant. The author of Hebrews has mentioned the oath twice already, an oath, the concept of oath. So in chapters three and four, he made an oath to keep the Exodus generation out of the promised land. I swore in my wrath, they shall not enter my rest. And so they spent 40 years waiting to die in the wilderness so that their children could take the promised land. And then in chapter six, we read God's promise to Abraham was confirmed with an oath, swearing by his own name that he would give him offspring as numerous as the sand and the stars. And so as we think about an oath, as we think about a promise, someone's promise is as good as his character. So we know that when God swears an oath, it's as good as done. When God swears an oath to, when God the Father swears an oath to God the Son, the Son is established and sealed as a high priest forever. And this means Jesus is not just an improved version of the former priesthood, but he's an entirely different kind of priest. He's the priest of a new covenant age. And so Jesus is the guarantor of a new and better covenant. The guarantor is a legal term. It means he is assuming the complete responsibility for someone else's debt. So as the forever priest, Jesus, and Jesus alone can guarantee its eternal effectiveness. So this is a better covenant. Let's see why. And that's the effect of the permanence in verses 23 to 25. Jesus actually has power to save. The former priests were many in number because they were prevented by death from continuing in office. But he holds his priesthood permanently because he continues forever. Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for him. The former priests were many in number because they were prevented by death from continuing in office. Even the best and the most faithful priest died. And so there's a need for more and more sons of Levi to come into that role who also die and then more come along and so on and so on and so on. And so just like the law and the sacrifices, if there was any shot with a relationship with God, it was through the litical priests, right? They were the ones that were designated by God for that particular service. And so if they weren't good enough because they died, just think of the fruitlessness of our various efforts to find hope and purpose and meaning through other human relationships. The most passionate romance will always end in a funeral, if not before. The most dynamic political leaders will die even if they never disappoint. And even friends, your pastors, we make terrible saviors. The five men that we just voted on and brought on board last week will fail you just like the rest of us will. And even if God is extraordinarily kind to us and we have a 50-year relationship of ministry and mutual encouragement and life together, that ministry will one day end with Sam Crosby's funeral or Keith Goad's funeral or any of the other nine of us' funerals. That's why we find hopelessness at the heart of our existence. Hope cannot be found in a person in this life, only in the one who never dies. And so you see, friends, there was no funeral for Jesus because there was no time to organize one because he broke free. The chains of death couldn't hold him. He was gloriously raised and ascended to the right hand of the Father. He is the Son of God. He is eternal and immortal. He has conquered death and destroyed the one who has power over death. He is raised triumphant and glorious with angels and powers and authorities subjected to him. And as verse 24 says, Jesus continues forever. He is God. He has an indestructible life. Death did not prevent Jesus from serving. It actually perfected his service. His death was the once and for all sacrifice that actually removed God's wrath against our sin. His perfect life meant that death could not hold him, and so he was raised as the new king of humanity. And as the resurrected priest, friends, he is able to save to the uttermost. This is a declaration of his absolute power to save. The law made nothing perfect, but Jesus actually perfects his people. Jesus lacks nothing that he needs to save you. His salvation is complete. His salvation is for all of those who draw near to God through him, because he always lives to make intercession for them. So Jesus' work of intercession describes His active, His representative ministry on behalf of us right here and right now. He can't die, He doesn't sleep, He doesn't grow weary. He is always in the presence of God the Father as our advocate, a reminder of all that He is for us, a reminder that His death was our death, that His power is at our disposal. Sin and guilt and fear and death have all been answered by his blood, so we can continue in this life with joy and confidence and assurance that God the Father loves us and is for us. Let that sink in, Christian. Jesus is able to save to the uttermost. No objection that you can raise is legitimate. Nothing from your past, no current struggle, no weakness, no imperfection is so great that the power of Christ cannot overcome it. All he requires of us is that we believe in him, that we come to him and ask him to be cleansed and healed and strengthened. That is good news, friends. Verse 26, for it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. He has no need like those high priests to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself. And so as we conclude this section, we're reminded of something we thought about in chapter two. There we saw that it was fitting for God to make the founder of our salvation perfect through his suffering. It was the only way to bring many sons to glory by his being identified with us as a man, dying as a man, and then being raised as the representative man of the new race. And here we see that it was fitting to have such a high priest. In other words, he is perfect. He is exactly the kind of priest that we need. With respect to his character and his qualifications, he is holy. He's innocent and unstained. He is perfect. He is without blemish. With respect to his location, he is separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens. He is ascended to the throne of God. He performs his priestly service in the very presence of God. Unlike the former priest, he doesn't need to sacrifice for himself. His sacrifice was once for all. The blood of the Lamb of God offered in perfect obedience to God the Father. Not only was it a unique sacrifice, but as a once-for-all sacrifice, it was definitive and unrepeatable. And we'll be thinking more about that in weeks to come. Verse 28, for the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a son who has been made perfect forever. And this verse really summarizes everything that's been said in chapter seven and really all the way from chapter five. The oath has replaced the old covenant law. The former priests served in weakness. They themselves were sinners. Their sacrifices were unable to perfect, but the son has been made perfect forever. He has been tempted. He's been slaughtered. He's been raised to the right hand of God. And as such, he is completely qualified for the work of eternal intercession. Finally, the former priests were men. They died. But the sun reigns forever. And this takes us all the way back to the beginning of the book of Hebrews. The sun is the complete, the final, the authoritative word from God. He's the creator and upholder of the universe. He's now the heir of all things. He's seated at the right hand of the majesty on high. And so we see there the glory of Jesus as our great savior. He is sovereign and he is merciful. And we desperately need both. Because sovereignty without mercy leaves us undone. We cannot stand under the weight of his holiness, his perfection and his power. And mercy without sovereignty is useless. Because mercy is no good without the power that backs it up to actually do something effective with it. But in Jesus we have mercy and sovereignty meeting in the great priest. So friends, see the beauty of God's plan to save his people. Our sinfulness is surpassed by the greatness of Christ, our Savior. He is the one we need if we are to get to God. And so the author asks his first readers, why would you think for a second about returning to the law, about going back? It's like trading your iPhone for the Pony Express. It's pointless, it's useless. And he asks us, Christian, what will you turn to this week for your identity, for your security, for your peace, for your comfort, for joy. Only Jesus has the words of life. Only Jesus brings us to God. And so each of us are confronted with this reality this morning. We need God. Our sin keeps us from God. So we're left with a choice. We can either ignore our sin, we can justify our sin, we can run away and we can die without God and suffer his eternal wrath. or we can agree with God about our sin. We can come to Him through Jesus. We can ask for forgiveness and we can live in the joy of God's presence forever. Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, we praise you this morning that you are the God of history. We praise you that you bring about your purposes from beginning to end and we praise you for Jesus Christ, who is the Alpha and the Omega. We know that we only find our identity, our meaning, our purpose when we find it in Him. And we thank You that You have made that so clear in Your Word. We praise You this morning that Jesus is our great Savior. We pray that we would see and savor Him in His perfection as our High Priest. And we pray that we would experience His power as we go about another week Another week of trials, another week of distractions, another week of, of striving. Father, may we find comfort. May we find hope. Maybe we find grace to help as we draw near to the throne and find a sympathetic and perfect priest. We pray this in Jesus name. Amen.