The whole Bible from cover to cover is all about Jesus. I watched a video with Pastor Jack Hibbs and Dr. Frank Turek and something that Dr. Turek said stood our for me. He said that Salvation is #1 and the Gospel is everything…
“Paradise lost in Genesis, paradise regained in Revelation. Everything in between is the story of redemption. Jesus is the lamb who takes away our sins when we trust in Him to be with Him forever.”
Dr. Frank Turek (the full video is embedded below)
In the Book of Hebrews, the writer is speaking to Jewish Christians — what today would be consider Messianic Jews. That’s why he quotes a lot of scripture from the Old Testament. That’s what they knew. The New Testament as we know it was being written at the same time! It hadn’t been compiled yet into the canon that we have today.
I’ve quoted Hebrews 7 before because of the important point it covers — Jesus is the only mediator between us and God — thus, Mary is not! We also went over how Jesus, more than likely, WAS the Melchizedek who met Abram in Genesis. Let’s go over what Hebrews 7 has to say…
Hebrews 7
This Melchizedek was king of the city of Salem and also a priest of God Most High. When Abraham was returning home after winning a great battle against the kings, Melchizedek met him and blessed him. 2 Then Abraham took a tenth of all he had captured in battle and gave it to Melchizedek. The name Melchizedek means “king of justice,” and king of Salem means “king of peace.” 3 There is no record of his father or mother or any of his ancestors—no beginning or end to his life. He remains a priest forever, resembling the Son of God.
4 Consider then how great this Melchizedek was. Even Abraham, the great patriarch of Israel, recognized this by giving him a tenth of what he had taken in battle. 5 Now the law of Moses required that the priests, who are descendants of Levi, must collect a tithe from the rest of the people of Israel, who are also descendants of Abraham. 6 But Melchizedek, who was not a descendant of Levi, collected a tenth from Abraham. And Melchizedek placed a blessing upon Abraham, the one who had already received the promises of God. 7 And without question, the person who has the power to give a blessing is greater than the one who is blessed.
8 The priests who collect tithes are men who die, so Melchizedek is greater than they are, because we are told that he lives on. 9 In addition, we might even say that these Levites—the ones who collect the tithe—paid a tithe to Melchizedek when their ancestor Abraham paid a tithe to him. 10 For although Levi wasn’t born yet, the seed from which he came was in Abraham’s body when Melchizedek collected the tithe from him.
11 So if the priesthood of Levi, on which the law was based, could have achieved the perfection God intended, why did God need to establish a different priesthood, with a priest in the order of Melchizedek instead of the order of Levi and Aaron?
12 And if the priesthood is changed, the law must also be changed to permit it. 13 For the priest we are talking about belongs to a different tribe, whose members have never served at the altar as priests. 14 What I mean is, our Lord came from the tribe of Judah, and Moses never mentioned priests coming from that tribe.
Jesus Is like Melchizedek (Jesus IS Melchizedek)
15 This change has been made very clear since a different priest, who is like Melchizedek, has appeared. 16 Jesus became a priest, not by meeting the physical requirement of belonging to the tribe of Levi, but by the power of a life that cannot be destroyed. 17 And the psalmist pointed this out when he prophesied,
“You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.” [Psalm 110:4]
18 Yes, the old requirement about the priesthood was set aside because it was weak and useless. 19 For the law never made anything perfect. But now we have confidence in a better hope, through which we draw near to God.
20 This new system was established with a solemn oath. Aaron’s descendants became priests without such an oath, 21 but there was an oath regarding Jesus. For God said to him,
“The Lord has taken an oath and will not break his vow:
‘You are a priest forever.’”[Psalm 110:4]22 Because of this oath, Jesus is the one who guarantees this better covenant with God.
23 There were many priests under the old system, for death prevented them from remaining in office. 24 But because Jesus lives forever, his priesthood lasts forever. 25 Therefore he is able, once and forever, to save those who come to God through him. He lives forever to intercede with God on their behalf.
26 He is the kind of high priest we need because he is holy and blameless, unstained by sin. He has been set apart from sinners and has been given the highest place of honor in heaven. 27 Unlike those other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices every day. They did this for their own sins first and then for the sins of the people. But Jesus did this once for all when he offered himself as the sacrifice for the people’s sins. 28 The law appointed high priests who were limited by human weakness. But after the law was given, God appointed his Son with an oath, and his Son has been made the perfect High Priest forever.
Hebrews 7 NLT
Jesus is a Priest and a King!
He was a priest unlike the Levites — one mysteriously sent by God. The writer quotes Psalm 110, a prophetic psalm, significantly referring to the Messiah (Jesus) as a priest in the order of Melchizedek. Let’s take a look at Psalm 110…
1 The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit in the place of honor at my right hand
until I humble your enemies,
making them a footstool under your feet.”2 The Lord will extend your powerful kingdom from Jerusalem;
you will rule over your enemies.
3 When you go to war,
your people will serve you willingly.
You are arrayed in holy garments,
and your strength will be renewed each day like the morning dew.4 The Lord has taken an oath and will not break his vow:
“You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”5 The Lord stands at your right hand to protect you.
Psalm 110 NLT
He will strike down many kings when his anger erupts.
6 He will punish the nations
and fill their lands with corpses;
he will shatter heads over the whole earth.
7 But he himself will be refreshed from brooks along the way.
He will be victorious.
Jesus is Our High Priest
I discovered an interesting Bible Study in the YouVersion Bible app that comes from a Christian ministry in Malaysia. Asian cultures are predominantly pagan — very much like the Roman Catholic Church.
Anyone raised on the Old Testament would feel the importance of the priest, whose role was instituted in the Law. The priest offered sacrifices to God as prescribed. Not just anybody could be a priest. The Law stated he had to be a descendant of Aaron and Levi. So now in declaring how Jesus is a superior priest to Aaron’s sons, the writer of Hebrews tells us two things about the superior institution of Jesus’ priesthood. The first is that, He is a priest of an order, the order of Melchizedek, which was before and greater then Aaron. He is a priest who is also a king of righteousness and without beginning or end. Second, His appointment is not by genealogy but was given to Him by an oath from God, something in which it is impossible for God to lie.
Having shown us our need for a priest, the writer brings us now to consider how wonderful a priest Jesus is. Unlike other priests, Jesus lives forever and needs no successor. His sacrifice of himself once for all never needs to be repeated.
Jesus is able to save us in every situation, because He always lives to intercede for us.
Hebrews coming to Christ had to deal with their past ties with priests and sacrifices.
https://su.org.my/
Similarly, Catholics, who have been raised, like I was, under rules, sacraments, rituals, priests, Mary, saints, etc., have to accept the fact that all that “religion” is not necessary. All we need is Jesus!
Jesus didn’t suffer and die on the cross so that we could have religion! He died taking our sins away so that when we repent and believe in HIM, we are saved and have a personal relationship with God through Him.
Jesus saves us fully and completely. Only through Jesus can we have the fullness of His salvation! Once saved by Jesus, you are saved for all eternity!
If you’re not sure if you’re saved or not, if you truly want to be born again and have the assurance of salvation, receive the Holy Spirit, feel His Shalom — a peace that surpasses all understanding, and get a 1-way, non-stop ticket to Heaven after you die, or that you won’t be left behind at the Rapture, which can happen at any moment, this is what you have to do…
