JESUS CHRIST, OUR HIGH PRIEST (Part I)

JESUS CHRIST, OUR HIGH PRIEST (Part I)

Acting in His gracious capacity as High Priest, Jesus Christ fulfills three distinct functions to totally secure our redemption from sin and our eternal salvation.  First of all, Jesus Christ, The Anointed One, is our Atoner.  Secondly, Jesus Christ is our Mediator.  Thirdly, Jesus Christ is our Advocate.  Let us carefully explore all three dimensions of His High Priestly function in order to fully appreciate what He has accomplished on our behalf.

John the Baptist, the forerunner of Jesus Christ, hailed Jesus Christ as “the lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29)  In this capacity, Jesus becomes our Passover lamb.  That is, He vicariously suffers and is slain for us, thereby redeeming us from the power, practice and penalty of sin.  Thus, the Prophet Isaiah depicts Him as the suffering servant.  It is important to note that He did not suffer due to His own sins since He had none; but rather, He bore our sins on Calvary’s cross.  Jesus Christ “was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5)

Jesus Christ accomplished all of this in the scope of eternity, both before and “since the foundation of the world.” (I Peter 1:20)  Yet in due time, He “appeared” in the world “to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.” (Romans 5:6 and Hebrews 9:26)  It is important to recognize that WE sinned.  Through father Adam, the entire human race departed from full and free fellowship with our Creator, and the scriptures declare that “the wages of sin is death.”  Nevertheless, we are eternally grateful for “the gift of God,” which is “eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23 and John 3:16)  Through Him, a just and righteous God completely covered our sin issue and our sin debt.  Isaiah says it so succinctly.  “All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned everyone to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:6)

Just as the high priest of Israel would enter into the Temple Holy of Holies annually to atone for the sins of the people by sprinkling the blood of a pure and blemishless lamb on the mercy seat (Leviticus 16), Jesus Christ became our High Priest and settled the sin issue for time and eternity by the offering of Himself. (Hebrews 9:11-15; Hebrews 10:1-17)

By the substitutionary shedding of His blood and the offering of His own life, Jesus Christ became the atoner for our sins and the open door to our salvation. (Hebrews 9:21-23)  He alone accomplished what the Old Covenant high priests never could, that is He permanently purged and purified us from sin and its condemnatory effects, establishing a New Covenant based solely on grace and truth. (John 1:12-17)  Jesus Christ, “the last Adam,” radically reversed the sinful curse that enshrouded humankind due to the sinful disobedience of “the first Adam.” (I Corinthians 15:45-47)  Through Jesus Christ, we are absolutely restored to AT-ONE-MENT with The Father…“by grace…through faith.” (Ephesians 2:8)

Romans 5:12;17-19

¹² Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

¹⁷ For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)

¹⁸ Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.

¹⁹ For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.

Jesus Christ, our atoner, liberated us from sin and its ill effects 1) by bearing it in His own body, and 2) by removing it far away from us, “as far as the east is from the west.” (I Peter 2:24 and Psalm 103:12)  Stay tuned…more to come tomorrow.  Until then, sisters and brothers, be continually blessed!