In the New Testament book of Hebrews there is a glorious picture of God and the plan of salvation. I would dare say that what God is doing in heaven right now is just as important as when Jesus “made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:7-8). Yes, the Apostle Paul who wrote that also tells us in 2 Corinthians 5:21 that God made Jesus “sin for us.” When Jesus was crucified, though He “knew no sin,” He became sin for us.” Why? The answer comes in the same verse, that sinful human beings may be saved and “become the righteousness of God in Him.”
Now how is that going to happen? How can a leopard change his spots? How can sinners become righteous? The answer of course is through believing in Jesus. Believing in everything about Jesus that the Bible has revealed to us. He is Creator. He is Savior. He is Lord. And He is also our High Priest, “Who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man” (Hebrews 8:1-2).
Since He is Lord, that means those who believe in Jesus will obey Him. For He said, “If you love Me keep My commandments” (John 14:15). But, I’m going to need some help with that. How can I keep His commandments?
This is where it is so important about what Jesus is doing right now in heaven, serving as our High Priest. As High Priest, Jesus can fulfill the promise which is given to those willing to obey Him. Jesus promised us that He would send us “another Helper,” who is called the Holy Spirit, who will abide with us forever. He will abide with you! And, it is in Jesus’ very important role as our High Priest where He is able to send us the Holy Spirit and also Himself to make intercession for us; and, why He can also say, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 7:25; 13:5).
Do you believe that sending the Holy Spirit and Jesus Himself serving in heaven as High Priest is important? I do! It is as important to our salvation as when Jesus died on the cross. For without the Holy Spirit to “guide you into all truth,”where would you be today? Those of you who believe in Jesus, that is. And without the Holy Spirit to “convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment,” what chance would any lost sinner have to come to Jesus and find salvation? (John 16:13, 16:8). And without Jesus Himself interceding for you now, pleading His shed blood on your behalf, how can anyone hope to be saved and be made righteous?
Thank God for the resurrection. It is at the resurrection of Jesus when He went back to heaven to begin His role as our High Priest. And, He sent the Holy Spirit to serve believers here… right here on this sin polluted earth. Yes, right now in heaven Jesus serves as our Advocate, for the Apostle John tells us,“If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father,” who also, “if we confess our sins, is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness “(1 John 2:1, 1:9). Jesus now serves in heaven, sitting at the right hand of the Father. He is our High Priest, who “always lives to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:25). And think about this, the Father is sitting together with Jesus. “The Father Himself loves you” as Jesus said, and proves it by sitting with Jesus as He is making intercession for us. For you!
“As a priest, Christ is now set down with the Father in His throne. Upon the throne with the eternal, self-existent One, is He who ‘hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows’ (Isaiah 53:4), who ‘was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin’ (Hebrews 4:15).…” “His intercession is that of a pierced and broken body, of a spotless life. The wounded hands, the pierced side, the marred feet, plead for fallen man, whose redemption was purchased at such infinite cost” {White, E. G. (1973). God’s Amazing Grace (p. 69), Review and Herald Publishing Association}.
It is this Jesus who is called the Son of Man and the Son of God, who “before the world was” had equal glory to the Father and alongside the Father “made the worlds” (John 17:5, Hebrews 1:2), the Father and the Son working together in the creation of all things, living and non-living. It is this Jesus who serves us now, advocating for us, interceding for us, making our prayers, yours and mine worthy before the Throne of God. So, let us believe the promise and, “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,” and, “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:14, 16).
Prayer: Dear Father, we acknowledge Your power and majesty is so far above our limited comprehension. Yet, we are privileged to bow before Your throne O God, where Jesus now sits as our Great High Priest, where He does in fact make intercession for us even now. We come to You now in prayer on behalf of our Churches, our families, and our neighbors and even the stranger who may be within our midst. Hear our prayer O LORD.
Gracious Father and Jesus our Savior and Lord, we give thanks to You for the wonderful things You have done to accomplish our salvation. You are worthy of all praise, honor and glory. Please accept our worship, though we are unworthy. Thank You Jesus for making atonement for us even now. Teach each one of us to search our own hearts, that we may confess and forsake our sins before Your throne of grace. Thank You Jesus for helping us even to do that.
Truly the Holy Spirit is given to us to guide us and cause our thinking to be corrected, so that we may know and believe Your promise to us, that when we confess and forsake our sins, we will be forgiven because our faithful Advocate, Jesus will plead His blood in our behalf. Hallelujah! We pray for the Holy Spirit’s help in order that we will not yield our minds to the sophistry of the Adversary; rather, we pray that we will yield our minds only to our great Advocate who pleads for us to overcome through His sufficient grace. Thank You also for the ministration of the angels to help us. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Last Day's Grace 