We Have an Intercessor
Scripture Reading: Hebrews 7:15-28
Key Verses: Hebrews 7:24-25
Because Jesus lives forever, His priesthood lasts forever. Therefore, He is able, once and forever, to save those who come to God through Him. He lives forever to intercede with God on their behalf.
If you took the time for today’s Scripture Reading, then you read about the priesthood in the Old Testament. Before Jesus, the priest would serve as the people’s only hope of forgiveness and only hope of being right before God. However, all priests also died at some point, leaving the people without hope.
The Hebrew writer reminds us that Jesus came to end our dependence on a priest to be right before God. Jesus became the priest that lives forever and “therefore He is able once and forever to save those who come to God through Him” (Hebrews 7:25). This is the essence of the Good News of the New Testament. All people are loved and wanted by God. God’s love for this world is so strong that He sent Jesus to walk among us to show us a new and better way to have peace with God.
The last part of our Key Verses for today is a great encouragement to all who have come to God through Jesus: we have an intercessor. Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father, and is our advocate. It is Jesus that intercedes for us. He sees our weaknesses and problems. He talks to the Father about our needs.
You are never alone in your battle with your fleshly cravings and the devil’s constant efforts to destroy you. The devil can temporarily hide God’s presence from us, but He can’t separate us from God’s presence.
As an example, think about a cloudy day. We can’t see the sun, but we know it is there behind the clouds. The devil makes sure that all of us have cloudy days during which we can’t really feel or sense God’s presence. But as God’s children, we can hold on to the truth that God never forsakes His children. He is always with us!
Remember that the main job of a priest was to offer sacrifices to God to cover the sins of the people. It was the sins of the people that made the office of the High Priest necessary.
The Apostle Paul reminds us in Romans 3:23-25: “everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when He freed us from the penalty for our sins. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed His life, shedding His blood”.
Father, I believe in Jesus and the work He accomplished for me. In Jesus’s Name I pray, amen.