Week 7 October 1 EEK FORGIVENESS Background Passage: Hebrews 4:14-5:10 Lesson Passage: Hebrews 4:14-5:10 BIBLICAL TRUTH Because of what Jesus has done as the Son of God, Christians can receive God's mercy and grace by confess- ing their sins. KEY BIBLE VERSE Hebrews 4:16 PRONUNCIATION AID Melchizedek [mel KIZ uh dek] STOCKY TE/FUNCHSTOCR/CD/HANDSS ON/RE CA a church service | once heard a man leading a public prayer, saying, “Lord, forgive us our sins if we have committed any.” I could not believe what I was hearing! To say that we have committed xo sin goes against John’s word: “If we say, ‘We have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (see | John 1:8). Obviously this man had “defined” himself out of sin. This, however, did not do away with sin or our need to confess it in our daily lives. Too often we think of sin as something we confess once, perhaps as a child in church. When we became Christians we confessed the sin of unbelief—a one-time confession. The daily sins in our lives, however, must be continual- ly confessed. Until and unless we see this, our unconfessed sin separates us from the God who loves us and wants to forgive us (see Isa. 59:2; 1 John 1:9). Today's words from Hebrews acknowledge that Christians sin from time to time. When we confess our sins, we receive God’s mercy and grace based on what Jesus did as God’s Son. Also, God wants us to pray daily for forgiveness. If you are trying to handle sin on your own, you are destined to fail. The writer of Hebrews addressed this problem with clarity and forcefulness. We can be forgiven, but only as the result of confession and the mercy and grace of God. MEM Seek Forgiveness1. What three facts about Christ make Him the Person to help us in ‘temptation? (4:15) 2. What three aspects of the High Priest were completely fulfilled by ‘Christ? (5:1) 3. Eternal salvation can be ours if we are. - (5:9) BACKGROUND PASSAGE OVERVIEW The author presented Jesus’ priesthood as the basis of our hope. He had already shown that Jesus is superior to angels and leaders; here he showed Jesus as superior to Aaron and the Levitical priesthood. The law of Moses made provision for a high priest to mediate between God and man. The author explained why and how Jesus is the perfect High Priest. The similarities and differences in the priesthoods of Aaron and Jesus are compared. Central to this discussion is the role of Jesus as both High Priest and sacrifice. Two essential qual- ifications for any priest are: (1) he must be taken from among men in order to be sympathetic with men, and (2) he must be appointed by God. Jesus fulfilled both and more! We see glimpses of Jesus’ life in these verses, but the author focused on the Gethsemane experience (see Mark 14;33-36; John 12:27). Jesus participated totally in the suffering of hu- manity and thus was perfected to become a compassionate High Priest. His obedience to God’s complete will and the eternality of His high priesthood are clearly portrayed. As our High Priest, Jesus brought salvation to all who obey Him. Our previous lesson gave the context for the author's say- ing there is nothing hidden “from Him to whom we must give an account” (4:13). Thus he affirmed that God knows about our sins. Because He knows, we need to confess them in order to be forgiven. The question is, “Where do we confess?” The reformation, which changed the course of Christian history, brought reform to the Catholic Church and birthed new groups of believers. One of these was the Anabaptists, forerunners of modern Baptists. Three dominant streams of thought ran through the reformation movement: no sacrifice but Calvary, no priest but Christ, and no confessional but the throne of God. The entire concept of the High Priest takes into account these reformation themes. Week of October? [EMWHERE WE CoNrESS (HEB. 4:14-16) 14 Therefore since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens— Jesus the Son of God—let us hold fast to the confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympa- thize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tested in every Way as we are, yet with- out sin. 16 Therefore fet us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us at the proper time. KJV 14 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. 15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infir- mities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet with- out sin. 16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. Verse 14, Three statements about Christ, our High Priest, are made in this verse. First, He is great, not only in character but in His work. This delineates Him from all other priests. No doubt some claimed Christianity had no priest like Aaron. Second, our Lord has passed through the heavens. The word for heaven here is plural, suggesting to some the Jewish concept of ascending series of heavens. Paul once stated that he was caught up into “the third heaven” (see 2 Cor. 12:2), Probably this was intended to contrast the limited entrance of the Aaronic priesthood within the veil to the unlimited access of Jesus, our High Priest, into the very presence of God. Aaron’s ministry was limited to an earthly sanctuary, while Jesus was limited by neither time nor space. Third, our High Priest is named Jesus the Son of God. The writer wanted to establish without question that our High Priest is none other than the historical Jesus. The former of these two names had already appeared in Hebrews (2:9; 3:1), identifying the humanity of Jesus. The Son of God is used for the first time in this verse with reference to the divinity of Jesus. Thus, the humanity and the divinity of Christ are wed- ded together, making Him the great High Priest. UM Seek Forgiveness