Hebrews 4 -- Why WE Have It So Much Better

The writer continued to explain to Jewish Christians why the new system was so much better than the old one.  They knew that common people could not approach the mercy seat on the ark in the Holy of Holies where God resided when they needed Him.  Only the High Priest could do that, and only on one day each year.

But with Jesus as our Great High Priest, “as believers in Jesus Christ, we can run to our High Priest at any time, in any circumstance, and find the help that we need … When He was ministering on earth in a human body, He experienced all that we experience, and even more.  After all, a sinless person would feel temptations and trials in a much greater way than you or I could ever feel them.  Christ was tempted, yet He did not sin, and He is able to help us when we are tempted.  If we fail to hold fast to our confession of Him, we are not proving that Jesus Christ has failed.  We are only telling the world that we failed to draw on His grace and mercy when it was freely available to us,” my commentary explained.

“God sees our hearts,” it continued, “but we do not always know what is there.  God uses the Word to enable us to see the sin and unbelief in our own hearts.  The Word exposes our hearts, and then, if we trust God, the Word enables our hearts to obey God and claim His promises … In the Word we see God, and we also see how God sees us.  We see ourselves as we really are.  This experience enables us to be honest with God, to trust His will, and to obey Him.”

Father, thank You for my Great High Priest!  Thank You that I can run to Him at any moment, and that because I trust Him I can receive the grace and mercy I need to survive my temptations without sinning.  And I can know that He’s experienced what I’m experiencing, in even a much greater way, and yet He did not sin.  Please use that to help me not to sin!

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford