Monday, January 15, 2018

2018.01.15 Hopewell @Home ▫ Hebrews 7:11-16

Questions for Littles: Through what did perfection NOT come (v11)? Under what did the people receive the law? If perfection were through the Levitical priesthood, what would not have been needed? What was changed, when Jesus was acknowledged as the begotten Son of Psalm 2 and 110 (v12)? What else was changed, of necessity? Who belongs to another tribe than Levi (v13)? What had no man from that tribe done before? Who made this change of priesthood and law evident by arising from Judah (v14)? How much did Moses speak of Judah, concerning the priesthood? What made the change of priesthood and law far more evident (v15)? According to what did our Lord NOT come as a priest (v16a)? According to what DID our Lord come as a priest (v16b)?
The Scripture for the sermon this week dove even deeper into what it means for our walk with God that Jesus is “priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.” In last week’s passage, we heard that Jesus’s new priesthood gives us a surer hope. In this week’s, we hear that Jesus’s priesthood produces full and final access to God in worship. And in next week’s, we will hear that Jesus’s priesthood secures a better covenant.

The ceremonial law, which God gave through Moses, did not bring in perfection. That is to say that it could not accomplish the final, full, and complete relationship that God intended to form between Himself and His people.

Jesus, the new Melchizedekian Priest, shows that the ceremonial law that the people received under the Levitical priesthood was a temporary measure (v11). The ceremonial law taught the people how to be ready and clean and acceptable to draw near to God. The ceremonial law provided the way in which they could draw near to God. The ceremonial law taught them what to do when they were there.

So, it’s not surprising that this ceremonial law was precious to the people, along with the Levitical priesthood and the order of Aaron. These are great blessings. But they were imperfect. The Levites and priesthood of the Old Testament could not fully or finally bring the people near to God.

When the Jesus’s new priesthood appears, then all of these change: how to be acceptable for worship, and where to go for worship and what to do there. God made this abundantly clear, because our Lord arose from Judah (v14).

There was no command to any human to ordain Jesus (16a). Instead, there is something far superior: an endless life (16b). How long will Jesus’s blood and righteousness be what makes us acceptable as worshipers? As long as Jesus’s life!

How long will the right way of worshiping be with Jesus as the preacher, and Jesus leading the singing, and Jesus receiving the tithe, and Jesus pronouncing the blessing? As long as Jesus’s life!

Christian worship is no longer tied to a particular building, with particular furniture, and clergy of a particular ethnicity. It is tied to our great Priest in glory, and His endless life!
How does the simple worship of the NT show that Jesus is better than all the priests that ever came before Him? What happens when we fancy-up worship again ourselves?
Suggested Songs: ARP110B “The Lord Has Spoken to My Lord” or HB368 “My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less”

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