May 12
7
Doctrinal Standard #25 (Week 1 of 3)
- Q. How is Christ a priest?
- A. As a priest, Christ offered Himself up once as a sacrifice for us to satisfy divine justice and to reconcile us to God, and He continually intercedes for us.
Memory Verses
- “For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified” (Hebrews 10:14, ESV)
Scripture
- Study Passage: Hebrews 10:11-25 (more context read Hebrews 8-10)
- Support Passages: Hebrews 5:1-10, 7:1-28, 9:11-15, 12:24
- Bible Story: Leviticus 16
Thoughts
- In the Law (first five books of the Old Testament) God had established a priesthood that would perform specific acts of worship before God on behalf of the people. While people were able to worship God, it had to be done through a mediator, a priest. The same is still true today. We no longer depend on another human to bring us to God, we look to Jesus Christ our eternal high priest. Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the priesthood of the Old Covenant. The priests and various ceremonies of the Old Testament pre-figured and gave a physical representation of what Christ would do in the spiritual. We no longer depend on the weakness of man to bring us before God but we have the power and perfection of Jesus Christ as our High Priest who continually intercedes on our behalf.
- Israel was given various feasts or holidays to observe throughout the year. The New Testament explains that these feast along with the rest of Law and Prophets all point to Jesus Christ. I believe that the Lord gave Israel these feasts or holidays as teaching tools to explain spiritual truths in a physical and tangible way. Hebrews chapter 8-10 explains this beautifully by showing how Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the Day of Atonement found in Leviticus 16. I strongly encourage you to first read Leviticus 16 and then Hebrews 8-10.
Discussion Questions
- What did the priest do in the Temple and Tabernacle?
- What does it mean to mediate or intercede?
- Why do you think God established a priesthood?
- Do we still need a priest to worship God?
- Who is our High Priest? (John 14:6)
- If Jesus Christ is our Priest what does He do for us?
