Jesus Christ is the Ultimate High Priest!

Dear Believer in Christ Jesus,

Are you still having a hard time living up to God’s expectations? Maybe you have wandered away recently…. Feeling overwhelmed with guilt? Yes, sin is some pretty nasty stuff.... I have a suggestion though. Many Believers have discovered how High Priest Jesus Christ is able to provide aid as well as ‘first aid’ for Christian living. Turn to Christ; I am certain you have been on His mind.
God said, “Seeing then that we have a GREAT High Priest....” This is a referral to and description of the Lord Jesus in light of His Person, position, purpose, and propositions (Heb. 4:14-5:10). God has obviously set forth Jesus Christ—Our Great High Priest—as the key communication of vital spiritual aid for Christian living in desperate times.  Accordingly, Hebrews 4:14, 15 affirm that Jesus is able to sympathize with us in our frailties and weaknesses and it is crucial for us to realize this deeply within. We cannot live like Christians without Him and His important ministry to us. Therefore, He resides in the very presence of Almighty God representing us and interceding for each of us as we journey on. Through Him God fully accepts us; however, we remain quite flawed and imperfect in our adherence to God’s will. His service as High Priest bridges the great chasm between our being declared righteous and our actually living righteously. Jesus’ role as High Priest is fundamentally vital for me and you as we navigate through this world! How then should we respond to this extraordinary divine provision?

First, accept the Lord Jesus as your “great High Priest” (Heb. 4:14) and rely on Him to provide grace, understanding, empathy, mercy, and assistance as you require these for your spiritual journey. Unfortunately, people, even well-meaning Christian people, will let you down or disappoint you at times. If all the truth is told, so will you. In the interest of complete transparency, we have let ourselves down far more than another person could possibly do so. In contrast, our ultimate high priest never will fail us by any margin; in fact, He cannot fail us when we genuinely trust His promises. Our Lord is conspicuously postured to wisely dispense to His people in real-time whatever spiritual resources (Eph. 1:3, 4) we need to live up to His expectations in our respective ventures. Wherever His incredible will guide us, He obligates Himself to provide accordingly. Therefore, turn to Christ when you sense you are failing while resisting evil, when your conscience repeatedly thunders with soul-quaking guilt, when your mounting shame compels you to retreat and hide forever. Even when we resort to hiding behind a smile, friends, activities that salve our conscience, denominational titles, church positions, new outfits, cars, or a new address; there is no hiding from the God who knows all and still loves us. Still the shame in our soul has a way of finding, haunting, and pushing us to the very edge of insanity if we fail to acknowledge our ultimate high priest. It is past time to throw off our ‘fig leaves’ kneeling transparently before a holy God with honesty in our hearts and on our lips.  No excuses please--we cannot hoodwink God (Gen. 3). As God made provision for a fallen and guilt-ridden Adam and Eve (Gen. 3:21), He has already made provision for me and you.

Secondly, look, therefore, to High Priest Jesus when you feel too small, weak,  inadequate, inexperienced, untalented, insignificant or far beyond your comfort zone. Run to Christ even as the very last fibers of your strength are taring away; it is not too late for Jesus to make a difference. Return to Him if you have been wallowing and wandering around in the darkness away from the Father's house for an embarrassingly long time. Believe this unmistakable biblical truth: it is the astronomical credentials of Christ, your ultimate priest, that affords you access to a holy God. Never your own! God will strengthen you to continue and overcome the temptation to quit or sin. In addition, He will restore you to fellowship with Himself based on who Jesus is, what He has done, and what He is doing (1 John 1:1-2:2). Yes, you must live for a season with the consequences of your choices, but God can supply grace to help you with this as you rely on Him. Neither the journey onward, nor the journey back to genuine discipleship will be easy. Yet, they are still worth the struggle, energy, time, and pains. Besides this sin destroys everything it gets its clutches into. Most importantly, God is extremely worthy of the glory for orchestrating your triumph through Christ. Because of the countless failures behind us, and for the numerous challenges before us there is real spiritual help available in Jesus Christ. Never ever, ever, forget, “we have a GREAT High Priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God” (Hebrews 4:14–5:10).