Hebrews 2:17

Hebrews 2:17

The faithful High Priest

Jesus the Christ came to us from heaven, from His Father’s domain, a place inhabited by possibly millions of angelic beings. He came from a different realm, a spiritual dwelling place where God the Father is exalted by beings who do His bidding. God’s agenda was not to save the heavenly realms but to do something extraordinary for the citizens of earth, to liberate men and women, to break the stranglehold of sin over mankind, to cancel the power of death. 

It was clear that to achieve this, someone had to come to the earth to carry out the mission of redemption, Jeus was the One who was both qualified and who was willing and able  to carry out the mission. He came to us in the role of a priest, a position that was already familiar to God’s chosen ones, the Jews. They had appointed High Priests for centuries and understood the purpose and function of these men. A High Priest was the head of the sacred order of men who served the Lord on earth, and it was only the High Priest who could enter the presence of God, once a year, to make atonement for the sins of the people. Atonement included the shedding of a lamb’s blood which was offered to God as a replacement for the lives of the nation, to cover their sins and to turn away His wrath against the lawbreakers. The lamb was a substitute for the people; its blood was offered in place of the blood of the individual sinners. God accepted the role of the High Priest and also the blood of the sacrifice.  Jesus, the Son of God, came to us to fulfil both roles, He was a faithful High Priest but also a pure and holy Lamb. So much so that His sacrifice was only required once and it was sufficient to cover the sins of all people for all time! What other God or what other so-called religion, what other philosophy or theology offers us something that compares to this? What a God! What a High Priest! What a sacrificial Lamb! What an Atonement!

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