God is Able
Hebrews 7:
24 But Jesus lives forever and continues to be a Priest so that no one else is needed.
25 He is able to save completely all who come to God through him. Since he will live forever, he will always be there to remind God that he has paid for their sins with his blood. (Living Bible)
Before the Lord Jesus Christ came into the world, the people of God in the earth had generations of priests who offered sacrifices to God on their behalf. All these priests died and were replaced by others as time went on.
But when the Lord Jesus came on the scene, He became the permanent Priest for us. This is because Jesus was a sinless human being.
So when He allowed evil people to kill Him on the cross, He did not remain dead in the grave. He came back alive from death in a new quality of human body. And that new body will never die.
Therefore, Jesus Christ will be our High Priest before God forever!
Now we need to consider what our High Priest does for us.
Verse 25 quoted above lets us know that the Lord Jesus is "able to SAVE completely all who come to God through him."
What does it mean "to save" you ask? The kind of saving Jesus does is to
forgive our sins,
heal in all areas that are dis-eased,
deliver from evil and disaster,
protect in adversity and danger,
preserve and keep safe,
provide for in spirit, soul and body,
make whole from the effects of sin
give us access to God's presence without shame.
In other words this is a promise that covers every aspect of our life: past, present and future.
We have to remember that Jesus now lives forever, since He's come back from the dead. He's at this moment, representing us in God's presence.
The Bible says that he will always be there to remind God that he has paid for our sins with his blood.
This is very important, because without His doing that, we would have no access to God at all, never!
God cannot tolerate sin in His holy presence. Nor can we impress Him with all the "good" things we do to make up for all the "bad" things we've done.
Luke 18:
9 Then Jesus told this story to some who boasted of their virtue and scorned everyone else:
10 "Two men went to the Temple to pray. One was a proud, self-righteous Pharisee, and the other a cheating tax collector.
11 The proud Pharisee 'prayed' this prayer: 'Thank God, I am not a sinner like everyone else, especially like that tax collector over there! For I never cheat, I don't commit adultery,
12 I go without food twice a week, and I give to God a tenth of everything I earn.'
13 "But the corrupt tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed, but beat upon his chest in sorrow, exclaiming, 'God, be merciful to me, a sinner.'
14 I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home forgiven! For the proud shall be humbled, but the humble shall be honored."
(Living Bible)
The self-righteous guy was trying to impress God with how his "good" deeds would out-weigh his "bad" words and actions.
Apparently God is not impressed with arrogance, because the Lord Jesus says it was the man who acknowledged his sins who returned home forgiven!
God isn't impressed with "good" actions. It just sounds like excuses and arrogance to Him.
The Lord Jesus Christ is our High Priest forever! He can save us completely if we will trust Him completely!
Prayer:
Heavenly Father,
today I give up trying to impress You with how my "good" deeds outweigh my "bad" deeds.
I believe with all my heart that Jesus is able to
forgive my sins,
heal all areas in me that are dis-eased,
deliver me from evil and disaster,
protect me in adversity and danger,
preserve me and keep me safe,
provide for me in my spirit, my soul and my body,
make me whole from all effects of sin,
bring me into God's presence without shame.
Lord Jesus Christ, I put my past, my present and my future into Your mighty hands today.
Make me like You, Lord Jesus, Amen.
