A Better Priest

Reposted from raystedman.org

A daily devotion for December 16th

Read the Scripture: Hebrews 7:1-25

Now if perfection was through the Levitical priesthood (for on the basis of it the people received the Law), what further need was there for another priest to arise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not be designated according to the order of Aaron? For when the priesthood is changed, of necessity there takes place a change of law also. For the one concerning whom these things are spoken belongs to another tribe, from which no one has officiated at the altar. For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah, a tribe with reference to which Moses spoke nothing concerning priests. And this is clearer still, if another priest arises according to the likeness of Melchizedek, who has become such not on the basis of a law of physical requirement, but according to the power of an indestructible life. Hebrews 7:11-16

One thing clearly marked the fact that the old priesthood was no longer acceptable as help for men. It was the appearance of a new priest with a different address and a different ancestry. If the old priesthood went, the Law had to go too. This new priest had a quite different address; he came from the tribe of Judah instead of the tribe of Levi. Judah was not a priestly tribe at all, but a kingly tribe. The new priest was a king. If God recognizes Christ as a priest, then the Law which was part of the old priesthood has been set aside.

Also, the new priest has a different ancestry. It was not necessary for him to trace his genealogy back to Abraham. No, as a priest he has no genealogy, he ministers in the power of an endless life. He had no beginning and no ending. Therefore the Law, which is only temporary, must go. It had an inherent weakness in that it could not supply what the flesh in its frailty lacked. Every priest, every psychiatrist, every counselor, whether he realizes it or not, is continually working with the Law. How? By seeking to relate people to reality. That is what the Law is, the revelation of reality. It is the way things are. Any knowledgeable counselor tries to help the people who come to see things as they are, but that is sometimes a very difficult help to render.

Under the old order, a man would take a sacrifice to the priest and the priest would offer it, thus for the moment at least, removing the guilt of the act. Though the problem remained, the guilt from it was removed. That is what the modern counselor does. He attempts to dispel guilt by helping his client see his problem in a different light. If he is a Christian counselor, to help him to see that God has already forgiven him in Christ and thus to remove guilt. But the basic problem essentially remains, if resolving guilt is all that is done. The psychiatrist may rearrange the problem so it does not grate so strongly upon others, but the problem remains. As C. S. Lewis puts it, No clever arrangement of bad eggs will ever make a good omelet.

Self-discovery is the end of the line as far as the human counselor can go. But what lies beyond that? If you do not go any further, eventually, despair! This is what Paul reflects in Romans 7, Oh, wretched man that I am! Who can set me free from this body of death? (Romans 7:24) That is where this word of Hebrews comes in. There is a Priest who can go further. What the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God, sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, judged sin in the flesh, that the righteousness that the law demanded might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit (Romans 8:3-4). That which is worthless, weak, and useless, has been set aside and a new hope introduced which brings us near to God.

Thank you, Father, that what I could not do in myself, and what no counselor or priest could do for me, you have accomplished through your Son.

Life Application: What inherent weaknesses in the Levitical Law are met in the Priesthood of Jesus? How can we move beyond the futility of mere self-discovery to inner conflict resolution? Are we led in the triumphal procession of Jesus Christ, both Priest and King?

We hope you were blessed by this daily devotion.

From your friends at www.RayStedman.org

Stairway To Heaven - Pete Garcia

Republished from omegaletter.com
Witnessing Tools
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Pete Garcia 

''I find no fault in Him.''...You can find fault in anyone else, but you can find no fault in Jesus.  Holy, harmless, undefiled, sinless: there He is!  Christ is God's way to man; Christ is man's way to God.  Christ is the true Jacob's ladder.  By Him the penitent sinner, the believing soul, the redeemed child of God may come unto the Father and enter into the house of many mansions."~George W. Truett

Since the beginning of time, mankind has been promised everything under the sun, to include god-hood, if they could only meet God halfway in the salvation process.  Cain sought it in his vegetable offering.  The Israelites sought it in adhering to the law, while the pagan world sought it in worshiping everything from pieces of wood, to the constellations in the heavens.

Everything has been tried and found lacking outside of the Bible's prescribed method of saving mans immortal soul.  There is only one bridge which gaps heaven and earth, and that man is Jesus Christ.

Since the Garden of Eden, those who worshipped Jehovah looked forward to the day a Messiah would come:  Eve was promised this, Abel understood it, Enoch preached it, Noah experienced a type of it, Job knew it, and here, Jacob dreamed of it.

"At sundown he arrived at a good place to set up camp and stopped there for the night. Jacob found a stone to rest his head against and lay down to sleep.  As he slept, he dreamed of a stairway that reached from the earth up to heaven. And he saw the angels of God going up and down the stairway.  At the top of the stairway stood the LORD, and he said, “I am the LORD, the God of your grandfather Abraham, and the God of your father, Isaac. The ground you are lying on belongs to you. I am giving it to you and your descendants."  Genesis 28:11-13 (NLT)

They looked forward to the day a Messiah would come, today we look back.  The fulcrum of history pivots entirely on what Christ did on the cross.  He, the only perfect man, died a brutal death He did not deserve as a sacrifice for the rest of humanity.  His death was payment in full, once for all time, on behalf of mankind who had no way of achieving it for ourselves.

Religion and Philosophy

And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.” Genesis 11:4

The best man could do was at the Tower of Babel.  Babel not only put on display the arrogance and pridefulness of mankind, but laid the foundation for mans future attempt at saving himself.

The world is full of religions and philosophies that promise paradise, for only a little obedience.  They say, if you do this or that, you may gain entrance.  Join our group they say, for only we are enlightened and know the 'real' truth.  If you join, you soon find yourselves busy, trying to follow their rules and  regulations.  You might feel good about yourself at first, thinking your doing your part for the higher good, but when all your best efforts fail to remove that emptiness, it will consume you.  Their enlightenment, does nothing to lift the burden of sin that you must still carry around.  You will find as much meaning in a works-based salvation as does a hamster find freedom on an exercise wheel. 

Pride

This world, outside of Jesus Christ, at best can only offer what creature-comforts fortune and fame in this life.  It has no authority or power in the next, so through the use of rather effective propaganda, it has made the central slogan in humanity to date, 'get what you can, while you can'.

This propaganda comes wrapped in many different packages: patriotism, wealth, piety, fame, and renown to name a few.  If for nothing else, you want to feel as if you've led a life of accomplishment, with a tombstone that bears: 'here lies ____, a man/woman of vision'.  You may want to be remembered as having died a hero, or having left behind something that benefits mankind.  Maybe your name was made in academia, having achieved a level of elevation that your thoughts and opinions somehow carry greater weight than the average man.  Whatever pursuit you have sought out for yourself in this life, without Jesus Christ as your foundation, what good does it do you?

"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" Mark 8:36

Jesus Christ

Christianity on the other hand, is God reaching down to mankind and bridging the gap between Heaven and Earth through Jesus Christ

Christianity says that mankind could never be good enough to do it for themselves, because it is impossible.  We miss a vital ingredient in meeting God's perfect standard of righteousness.  The law was given so that mankind could realize the extent of his/her sinfulness.  A good example of the purpose of God's law would be the bathroom mirror, soap, and water.  The bathroom mirror, like the law, was meant to show man how sinful and decrepit he really was.  If you had no mirror, you would have no way of knowing how dirty you really were.  Yet, the mirror has no ability in and of itself to clean you, it can only expose the filthiness.  The blood of Jesus Christ then is like the soap and water, applied once, forever makes you acceptable in the sight of God.

The law, good works, personal righteousness, and morality are good things, but they can't bridge the gap between God and man, because a man by nature is sinful, and God perfect.  There needed to be something (or someone) who could close the space, being both.  Jesus was fully human, and also fully God.  He could not be an acceptable sacrifice on behalf of mankind if He were any less, or any more than He was.  That is why belief in the Virgin birth, sinless life, and resurrection are vital to believing in who Jesus was.

If you take any of those away from who you believe He was, than He would not be sufficient.  He would be 'another' Jesus incapable of saving your soul.

The Mormon's, Jehovah Witnesses, Muslims, and any other group who replaces the Jesus of the Bible with another Jesus, might be morally holy, pious, and admirable people, but still fall short of God's standard of perfection, therefore, doomed like the most heinous of the wicked to spend an eternity separated from God.

It might seem completely unfair to man, who has been taught so long that he must earn his keep, that he has no real ability to affect his or her own salvation.  It is unfair.  God did all the work.  All we can do, is what Christ said we could do to be saved...that is to believe in who He is and accept that sacrifice in our stead.

Although we don't fully comprehend God's plan for mankind, we know He desires to spend eternity with those, who by freewill, choose to know and love Him.  God knows who will come to Him, and yet, has left the door open to all which to my tiny, feeble mind, still seems incomprehensible.

Why would God, who spoke the universe into existence, be mindful of me?  I know, that someday, this will make sense.  For now, I am just grateful that I do know Him as Lord and Savior.  But I'll leave you with this excellent example from Dr. Harry Ironside,  that maybe puts this into a little bit of perspective.

“This illustration is of the sinner coming to the door of salvation (John 10:9). Above the door was a sign which says, "Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely" (Revelation 22:17). The sinner responds to this gracious invitation, trusts Christ and he is gloriously saved. He now turns around and looks at the door through which he had just entered. He sees above the door another sign which says, "Chosen...in Him before the foundation of the world" (Ephesian 1:4). Both are true. Both are taught in the Bible. Both must be believed.”

About Pete Garcia