2002-01-01
Good Morning Dear Ones,
No one who reaches adulthood goes through their entire lives without at some time experiencing loss, disappointment, illness, or some kind of difficulty. However, a loving Abba doesn’t leave those who believe to suffer these trials abandoned or without help. This help is available to anyone who is willing to seek it. It is available to those new in the faith, just as it is to those who are mature in it. I believe it is available at times to those who have not yet come to faith but are on the way to it, even if the individual doesn’t know that is the path a sovereign Lord has him on. Yesterday, I promised to share citations that really show Him as providing this kind of help. The point of this series of messages has never strayed from demonstrating how through our obedience to God, He is able to reveal His attributes, bless our lives, and carry out His work through us.
During His ministry on earth Christ actually foreshadows the task the Father will have Him take on once the Son is back in heaven after the ascension. MT 11: 28-30, “Come to Me, all of you who are tired from carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke and put it on you, and learn from Me, because I am gentle and humble in spirit; and you will find rest. For the yoke I will give you is easy, and the load I will put on you is light.” Please understand that by saying this, I am very cognizant of the basic message that Christ asks us to take our burdens to Him, in the confidence we can rely on Him. Also, I have not forgotten that Christ’s most important God-commissioned task was as our Redeemer. However, the Father whose knowledge of all things is perfect knows that we need an Advocate and Intercessor to carry our concerns to Him.
Anyone who has read the Scriptures knows that there is a priesthood that is higher than that of Aaron. This is a priesthood of the Most High God that was first mentioned in GN 14: 18-20, “And Melchizedek who was king of Salem and also a priest of the Most High God, brought bread and wine to Abram, blessed him, and said, ‘May the Most High God, Who made heaven and earth, bless Abram! May the Most High God, Who gave you victory over your enemies, be praised!’ And Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of all the loot he had recovered [at Chedorlaomer].”
Now, let me make the connection between this priesthood and the special task Christ does for us in heaven. HE 4: 8-10, “But even thought He was God’s Son, He learned through His suffering to be obedient. When He was made perfect, He became the source of eternal salvation for all those who obey Him, and God declared Him to be High Priest, as the successor of Melchizedek.” HE 4: 14-16, “Let us hold on to the faith we profess. For we have a great High Priest Who has gone into the very presence of God-Jesus, the Son of God. Our High Priest is not One Who cannot feel sympathy for our weaknesses. On the contrary, we have a High Priest Who was tempted in every way we are, but did not sin. Let us be brave, then, and approach God’s throne, where there is grace. There we will receive mercy and find grace to help us just when we need it.” How can we miss the profound compassion that our Father has for us in sending His Son? Christ lived, as we do, faced with temptation and trials, then died on the cross for us as a sufficient Offering to open the way to eternal forgiveness for us. His life on earth prepared Him to understand our deepest needs and to carry them to the Father.
God knew that saying this only once in the Scriptures was not enough. He knows that the limitations on our ability to perceive things as He does required further explanation. So, He inspired to author of the book of Hebrews to bring it up again in HE 8: 1-2. “The whole point of what we are saying is that we have such a High Priest, Who sits at the right of the throne of the Divine Majesty in heaven. He serves as a High Priest in the Holy of Holies, that is, in the real tent which was put up by the Lord, not by a man.” In HE 8: 6, we are shown the contrast between the limitations under which Levitical priests worked (the old covenant) and the freedom of this Most High Priest (under the new covenant). “But now, Jesus has been given priestly work which is superior to theirs, just as the covenant which He arranged between God and His people is a better one, because it is based on promises of better things.” With an understanding imparted to us by the Holy Spirit of these citations, we can know beyond the shadow of a doubt that there is a way for God to hear our prayers. That is why it is so important for us to take our burdens to the Son. Of course, we should pray about more than just our burdens. I find it very encouraging to know what we learn in the Scriptures about this system for help that is in place in heaven. It helps me to know that even if my own prayers haven’t all been answered yet, that God has definitely heard them.
Let me conclude this subject with a citation from 1 Timothy that is about being saved, but which reveals God’s attitude toward us in a way very meaningful to this discussion too. 1 TIM 2: 5-6, “For there is one God and there is One Who brings God and mankind together, the man Christ Jesus, Who gave Himself to redeem all mankind. That was the proof at the right time that God wants everyone to be saved.” Jesus Christ really does bring God and mankind together. Praise the Lord! We are blessed when we really come to know this. We can be confident that when we take our burdens to God in prayer, He hears us and our Advocate & Intercessor in heaven makes sure of that. We are not alone and abandoned when the troubles of our lives come to us. We will not be defeated, because we can have the faith to rely on Him. He is the Victor!
PRAYER: O Lord, there are times when we feel so weighed down by the pain of our troubles that we need to be reminded of the love You have for us. We need to be assured that You hear our prayers and have not left us alone. That is why you assigned the Son the task of being our Advocate and Intercessor in heaven with you. You equipped Him with the authority to carry out this assignment by making Him our very own High Priest as a successor to Melchizedek. You revealed this system to us in the Scriptures to allow us to be assured You hear every prayer we offer. When we obey you by taking our burdens to Him in prayer, You reveal the compassion, love, and patience for us that You have. You also show us how important to You that we are. For this You deserve our humble adoration, worship, praise and thanks. We offer these things to Your glory in Christ’s name, amen.
I hope you are feeling encouraged by these citations to go to your Father in humble prayer and to know that He cares so deeply about you. Your prayers are important to Him as is your obedience to Him. His arms are outstretched to you, and You are very close to His heart. You are also close to my heart and Peter’s.
Grace, Love, and Peace Be Yours,
Lynn