12. A Better Way to Peace

LONNIE: Welcome to Exploring the Word. Thanks for joining us as we dig deeper into the riches of the Bible. Jeannie, what’s our question for today?

JEANNIE: Well, Lonnie, we get a lot of questions from Discover Bible students that relate to the idea of Jesus serving as our High Priest in heaven, questions about what that means. Some wonder why He has to do that, isn’t just dying for our sins enough?

LONNIE: The Bible does present Jesus as a high priest, doesn’t it? A special kind of high priest.

JEANNIE: And people want to know what that role means for us. We associate priests, I guess, with ceremonies and rituals that are in the past, done away with. We live by faith now, so . . .

LONNIE: And Christians believe that the atonement, Jesus’ sacrificial death, dealt with sin period, end of story. So what could Jesus possibly be doing now as some kind of high priest?

JEANNIE: Surely He’s not offering sacrifices.

LONNIE: Right. So Jeannie, let’s get into our Bible study.

Let me first tell you a story about a man named Fred, sitting in jail after many losing battles with drugs. But Fred had just committed his life to Christ and he was trying hard to go straight. He began studying the Gospels each day and the words of Jesus were really sinking in.

But then one afternoon he heard that a buddy named Manny had some heroin. Manny had persuaded his wife to smuggle a little in during one of her visits. The guys were planning to get loaded.

Well, Fred felt that terrible pressure, that push back to the old life. All the old impulses fired up again.

Fred prayed in desperation. He told God how weak he felt. He honestly didn't think he could withstand the call of the old habit.

Fred went to lunch that day trembling. Then he attended chapel service. Back in his cell he climbed on his bunk and began reading the gospel of John. After a while he fell asleep.

Hours later Fred awakened to the sound of his buddies talking about what good stuff that was.
"What do you mean?" he asked, "What happened?"

His cell mates looked at him through glazed eyes. Everyone had been so excited about shooting up they'd forgotten about Fred.

But there was a little something left, something they called "a wet cotton." That bit of leftover heroin could give him a bit of a rush, and his buddies offered it to him.

Fred had to make a hard choice. But now he had something going for him. Suddenly this ex-junkie felt that Christ had been with him right in the cell. This is how he put it, “Why did I lay down to read and fall asleep this day of all days? If I'd been awake I'd have taken the drugs. It's just a kind of reflex."

But instead, he'd been rescued. And Fred realized there in his cell that God had something better to offer than a wet cotton. He told his buddies he didn't want it. As they stared in amazement he said, "I'll never shoot again."

Did God have something better for a junkie named Fred? You bet He did. This young man kept his promise; he quit drugs for good; God was holding on to him. He kept going forward. Fred entered the gospel ministry and started a beautiful family. He found something a thousand times better than the old life he'd known.

Today we’re going to talk about something better, something better for all of us. And we find it in the book of Hebrews. The thrust of this wonderful book can be summarized by that one word, “better.” That’s why we asked you to look it up in your homework assignment. How did that go? Did you see how “better” is used throughout Hebrews? We hear of a better hope, better promises, a better covenant, better sacrifices and a better country. And all of this centers around showing us why Jesus is a better high priest.

That is, why He’s a better mediator, a better way to get to God, a better way to find peace, than anything else we can try.

We often try to find peace in all the wrong ways---maybe not through heroin, like Fred, but through all kinds of things that seem like short-cuts: sex, money, power or partying. It’s so easy to fall for substitutes, for the flashy things that promise happiness right now. But God is saying, through the book of Hebrews, there’s something better for you, something more long-lasting, something that truly brings peace.

So have your Bibles open to the book of Hebrews, and we’ll discover just how “better” life can be.

The book of Hebrews begins with a very bright picture of Jesus Christ. It throws a spotlight on Him. In fact, look at the first few verses of chapter one. Packed into verses one through four you'll find these pictures of Christ:

Heir of all things
The one through whom God made the worlds
The brightness of God's glory
The express image of His person
The one upholding all things by the word of His power
The one who purged our sins
Who sat down at the right hand of God's Majesty
So much better than the angels
Obtained a more excellent name

That's quite a resume isn't it? Chapter one goes on to exalt Christ, stating: His throne is forever and ever; the heavens are the work of his hands. It presents Jesus as the creator of the universe.

Chapters 2 and 3 describe how this faithful Son of God worked heroically for our salvation, single-handedly destroying the power of death over us.

Now, did you catch the word “better” in what we read? Back in the first few verses of chapter one? See it? Yes, verse four. Here’s our first “better”: “so much better than angels.”

What is the writer of Hebrews getting at? He’s showing us that Jesus isn’t just a glorified heavenly being. He isn’t a created being. He’s better than any angel could be. Jesus is perfect. He’s the brightness of God’s glory. Jesus is a better High Priest, a better mediator, because He’s perfect.

And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him, called by God as High Priest. . .

The author of Hebrews paints a contrast between high priests, having the usual human weaknesses, and the Son, Christ, who has been perfected forever. That’s Hebrews 7:28

Perfect forever. That phrase is full of meaning in the book of Hebrews. Let's look at chapter 7, verses 24,25

“But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. Therefore He is able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He ever lives to make intercession for them.”

Human intercessors may rise and fall. Jesus continues forever. Jesus is the same, today, yesterday, forever.
Why is that so important? Because many people try too hard to be perfect, or be seen as perfect. They try to follow all the rules. They try to do all the acceptable things. They try to live up to expectations. And guess what? They’re never quite good enough.

Listen to Hebrews 7:19:

“. . . for the law made nothing perfect; on the other hand, there is the bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God.”

That better hope is Jesus, Jesus our perfect High Priest.

The first thing we need to understand, if we are ever to find peace, is simply this: Jesus is perfect, we’re not.

A motorist came up on a large truck that had crashed into a bridge and got jammed under it. He stopped and asked the truck driver one of those silly questions, “Are you stuck?”

The truck driver was so annoyed he answered, “No I was delivering this bridge and lost the address.”

Well sometimes we do pretend like we’re delivering the bridge don’t we? No, this isn’t an accident. I didn’t mess up.

You’re not perfect, OK? Accept that fact. You make mistakes. You can’t fulfill the law on your own. Accept the fact that you need someone to intercede for you before a holy God. That’s the first step to finding something better, something better than the constant struggle to be seen as good enough.

Now let’s move on to our second “better.”

Look at Hebrews chapter eight. The author expands on his picture of Jesus as perfect. In verse one he says Christ is seated at “the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens.” Christ is interceding in heaven itself for us.

And now look down to verse 6:

“But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as he is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises.”

Jesus is Mediator of a better covenant.

Better covenant, better promises. What does that mean?
It means a better contract, a better agreement. A covenant boils down to---If you do this, I’ll do that. And Hebrews is talking about a contract between us and God. If we do this, God will do that.

What is the “that” we want God to do? Well, it’s acceptance; it’s peace; it’s a sense of belonging; it’s a home in heaven. It’s the whole package called salvation.

So what is the “this” we do? There’s the problem. We try to do all kinds of things to get on God’s good side. We try to do all kinds of things to earn God’s favor. We try to make God like us. But we keep messing up, falling backwards, and having to start all over again.

Hebrews pictures this as living under the old covenant, the old contract, where people offered sacrifices over and over and over. People get stuck in the old covenant by trying to do more to be accepted. Pray more. Read the Bible more. Go to church more. These are good things. But doing them to be accepted is a bad thing. It will never bring us peace. It’s like trying to pay down the national debt by saving coins in a piggy bank. It’s not going to happen.

Jesus the High Priest offers us a better covenant, a better deal. What is that? Look at Hebrews 10:10:

“. . . we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”

Here’s Jesus’ new contract. He dies for our sins. We accept that gift. And it’s done, finished. We’re in. We’re accepted. We’re home free.

The better covenant is about once and for all, not over and done.

Jesus made one perfect sacrifice and that’s all we need. We don’t need to try to earn God’s acceptance over and over. We’ve got it---with this better covenant.

Hebrews emphasizes this repeatedly. Listen to Hebrews 10:14:

“For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.”

Perfected forever. It’s not something we have to work toward. It’s not something we have to prove we are worthy of. It’s something we are given right now, once and for all.

Jesus, our heavenly High Priest, has made a better covenant, based on better promises, based on a better sacrifice. That’s how we find peace with God.

Now let’s move on to our final “better” in Hebrews.

Toward the end of this book, we find pictures of a better future. Hebrews chapter 11 lists some of the heroes of faith down through history, some of the individuals who based their lives on God’s better promises and better hope. By faith Noah prepares an ark for a flood no one had ever witnessed before. By faith Abraham travels to a land he had never seen before. By faith Moses chooses to help the enslaved Hebrews rather than enjoy the treasures of Egypt.

And in verse 13, the writer declares that all these people confessed that they were “strangers and pilgrims on the earth.” And they were seeking a homeland, verse 14. Now let’s read verse 16:

“But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.” Hebrews 11:16

People of faith can lay claim to a better country, a heavenly country.

People who have Jesus as their High Priest, can be confident of this better country, confident that God is preparing a city for them.

Hebrews 11 describes some of the tough times these heroes of the faith went through. Some were persecuted. Some were killed. But they are still described as overcomers, as those who triumph by faith.

What this inspiring chapter shows us is that our security is there, not here.

We can’t rely on our circumstances to bring us peace. We can’t rely on our possessions, however many we may acquire, to bring us satisfaction. Even a secret Swiss bank account won’t do it. Friends, we’ll always be lost here on earth until we find a home in heaven.

That’s the security a perfect High Priest in heaven offers us.

Whatever may be happening around us, we may be assured there’s an eternal kingdom waiting.

Circumstances are always up and down; our place in heaven can be secure.

The people around us will build us up and tear us down; God’s gracious regard is always the same.

The very last verse of Hebrews 11 reinforces this point. After talking about some of the heroes of faith “of whom the world was not worthy,” he says, verse 40:

“God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us.”

God has provided something better. And we’ll all be made physically and spiritually perfect together. Those who have died in faith down through history will hear the same trumpet sound that the living do. They will be awakened from their graves. They too will rise to meet the perfect High Priest who now appears as glorious Lord in the clouds.

Each of us can look forward to that. Each of us can find that peace, starting right now, here on earth.

It begins in a relationship with Jesus Christ, our perfect High Priest.
It begins when we cheerfully admit that He’s perfect and we’re not.
It happens when we accept a better covenant, when we accept the fact that Christ died once and for all for our sins.

And it is solidified when we grasp the hope of a better country, a place where we will always be with the glorious Christ.

JEANNIE: You know when I was growing up this idea of Jesus as a High Priest in a heavenly sanctuary just seemed so complicated. It was as if people were trying to transfer all those rituals and ceremonies of the Old Testament up into heaven.

LONNIE: I think we’ve often made it far too complicated when the basic truth is that Jesus is interceding for us to make our place in heaven sure.

JEANNIE: And now I get that. I understand that it’s wonderful good news; it’s not just some more details of the plan of salvation that are hard to understand. This picture of Jesus as our High Priest is really one more way to appreciate what He’s done for us, to appreciate what He’s done to save us.

LONNIE: It gives us assurance that we have nothing to fear even standing before the throne of God Himself. There’s our Mediator there, our intercessor, sitting at the right hand of the Almighty.

You know, another theme that’s very striking in the book of Hebrews is this: perseverance. The author talks about that a lot—as part of the “better” way to live.

Hebrews was addressed to Jewish believers, as the name suggests. And remember that in the early church, almost all believers were Jews. Well,
Hebrews shows us that these people were starting to feel great pressures. The religious culture around them wasn't sympathetic to the radical claims of Christ. Some were tempted to go backwards, backwards into the old traditions, the old covenant. It was much easier to simply fit into familiar customs than endure ostracism.

And so the writer of Hebrews warns them about the danger of losing their spiritual energy, of falling away. In Hebrews 10:36 he says, “For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise.”

Hang in there. Persevere. Hold fast to your faith. That’s a big theme in Hebrews. And it’s a message we need to hear today. Because our environment doesn’t always reinforce our faith. Our surroundings sometimes drain our spiritual energy. So sometimes we have to push back. We can’t just drift. We need to be intentional in living under a better covenant. We need to be deliberate in grasping better promises.

Hebrews does give us warnings. But it gives them in the context of hope. Look at Hebrews 6:9. The writer has just pointed out that spiritual life can wither away. But then he says:

“But, beloved, we are confident of better things concerning you, yes, things that accompany salvation. . .”

Having better promises and a better covenant, the author is confident of better things. And he gives one of the most powerful appeals in the Bible. It’s found in Hebrews 12. Just after he’s given his list of wonderful heroes of the faith in chapter 11, he writes this in Hebrews 12:1,2:

“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. . .”

Run the race with endurance. Run the race with perseverance. Keeping your eyes on Jesus, the author of faith, the perfect High Priest in heaven.

Friends, the book of Hebrews is about the long haul. It’s about sticking with it. That’s the call. That’s the expectation in the light of such a wonderful new covenant.

Are you in it for the long haul? Are you serious about your faith? It’s something to consider as you read this powerful book. We can have such peace right here on earth, when we accept our home in heaven. But it doesn’t happen without our consent. And we can’t put our faith on automatic.
I encourage you to stay in the race, to be intentional in the way you nurture the life of the spirit. I encourage you to run with perseverance and keep your eyes on Jesus. Those promises are worth hanging on to. That faith is worth fighting for.

Let’s pray.

Dear Father, thank You for our Mediator, the One who assures us a place in heaven, Jesus Christ. Please keep us moving forward in faith. Please enable us to run with a clear focus, to run with perseverance. Please help us never, ever to let go of those precious promises, that better covenant, that blessed hope. Thank You for giving us such wonderful assurances. Thank You for expecting better things of us. We commit ourselves in Jesus’ name, amen.

JEANNIE: It’s time for our homework assignment again. Next week we’ll be talking about the judgment and we’d like you to look at a picture of the judgment Jesus painted in Matthew 25:31-46.

LONNIE: So read that passage for next week and start thinking about how the judgment relates to the gospel. Can the judgment be good news? Remember, Matthew 25:31-46.

Until next week, God bless you and yours. And remember, never stop exploring the Word.