May 27, 2001

January 13, 2002

Hebrews 4:14-16

Our Relationship with God the Son:

Uncovering the Truth about Our Greatest Cheerleader

Introduction

Illustration – From Homiletics Online: Sherlock Holmes and Watson were on a camping and hiking trip. They had gone to bed and were lying there looking up at the sky. Holmes said, "Watson, look up. What do you see?" "I see thousands of stars," Watson replied. "And what does that mean to you?" "Well, I guess it means we will have another nice day tomorrow. What does it mean to you, Holmes?" Holmes replied, "To me, it means someone has stolen our tent."

Context – Like Watson, we’d better be very careful about what we perceive to be true. Why is that?

Our Misconceptions

Well, we tend to be very talented at incorrectly perceiving life. Soren Kierkegaard wrote, Perception is reality, and that’s how we tend to think. We believe that whatever we see as being true is true, and that nothing else could be. That’s okay if our perceptions do match up with reality, but if they don’t we find ourselves in a lot of trouble. Let me give you an example. Suppose it is my perception that my Geo can outrun a police cruiser, so I go through a red light because it’s an inconvenience. I can believe all I want that my Geo is up to the task, but when the officer has me cut off after the first half-mile, I discover that my misconception has me in a lot of trouble.
The same thing is true with our misconceptions about who Jesus is. We waver in our belief of Him. It’s easy for us to think of Him as just another guy because He came to earth in fully human form. We don’t understand the divine nature blended with human nature in one Man. We have to try to make this look logical, so we begin to think of Him as just another guy who God allowed to make it through life sin-free or as somebody who just did some good stuff. The Historical Jesus movement has done a lot of damage in this area. The problem is when we think of Him like that we dramatically limit what we think He can do in our hearts and lives.
Likewise, we do a lot of damage when we think of Him as being so divine in nature that He could not possibly have been fully human. I mean, how can a deity relate to what I go through every day?! As I mentioned a few weeks ago, there was a group called the docetists who believed that Jesus only appeared to be a man. The truth that Jesus came both as fully God and fully man has to penetrate and change our perceptions. We’ll never totally understand this truth, but when we keep it in our hearts and minds, then the passage we’re looking at today makes all the sense in the world.

Scripture Passage

Hebrews 4:14-16, from The Message – Now that we know what we have – Jesus, this great High Priest with ready access to God – let’s not let it slip through our fingers. We don’t have a priest who is out of touch with our reality. He’s been through weakness and testing, experienced it all – all but the sin. So let’s walk right up to him and get what he is so ready to give. Take the mercy, accept the help.

A couple of "so what’s" come out of that passage. The first is "what’s a high priest?" The second is "how can He help me?" That’s what we’re going to figure out today.

What’s a High Priest and How Can He Help Me?

In the Jewish religion, the high priest was the only one God permitted to enter what was called the "Holy of Holies," the inner room in the temple where the ark of the covenant was and where the presence of God stayed. The high priest was also the only one authorized by God to make the annual sacrifice for all the intentional and unintentional sins of the people. This annual sacrifice, which included the burning of incense in the Holy of Holies, made sure that no sin was left without a sacrifice. So other than his regular daily duties of running the temple and receiving sacrifices, the main role of the high priest was to serve as a mediator between God and man. The high priest pleaded man’s cause in God’s court, asking for mercy and forgiveness on man’s behalf.
Think about Jesus in that role. He not only is the sacrifice for all of our sins, but God has appointed Him as our high priest. His blood allows God to see us as redeemed sinners, rather than as sinful, prideful, self-reliant criminals awaiting judgment. Think about what the writer of Hebrews wrote – We don’t have a priest who is out of touch with our reality. He’s been through weakness and testing, experienced it all – all but the sin. Let that soak in for a minute. Jesus, our high priest, lived with all of the human weaknesses and all the temptations we live with, so He can completely identify with us. When we’re tempted to lust, or to be proud, or to be selfish, or to be greedy, or to envy, or to use people – the list could go on and on – Jesus understands completely how we feel and think. He experienced all of that temptation Himself. But there’s a difference – Jesus never once gave in to temptation. He never sinned. So not only do we have a high priest who relates to every weakness and temptation we experience, but He is able to help us make it through every one of them WITHOUT SINNING. Living in disobedience to God does not have to be the defining mark of our lives. Jesus came so that we can be free from sin.
So how do we get the help He offers? So let’s walk right up to him and get what he is so ready to give. Take the mercy, accept the help. All we have to do is ask for help, and then do what He tells us. This is such a critical part of our relationship with our Savior that we’ve got to get our thinking right in this area. If we see Jesus as only a cheerleader in our fight against temptation, we’ll lose every time. But if we put that misconception behind us and see Him as the only One who can help us make it through without sinning, we’re halfway to victory. The other half is asking Him for help and then doing what He tells us to do.
Hebrews 5:7-10 explains this truth more completely. While he lived on earth, anticipating death, Jesus cried out in pain and wept in sorrow as he offered up priestly prayers to God. Because he honored God, God answered him. Though he was God’s Son, he learned trusting-obedience by what he suffered, just as we do. Then, having arrived at the full stature of his maturity and having been announced by God as high priest in the order of Melchizedek, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who believingly obey him. Our relationship with Jesus will never be any better than our perceptions allow it to be. Likewise, our relationship with Jesus will never be any better than our obedient belief allows it to be. God put Jesus through everything we go through so that He can not only be the sacrifice for our sin, but also so that He can help us live our lives free from sin. All we have to do is ask Him for help, and then obey Him. Jesus is our Friend and Mediator before God. He’s our everything.
Illustration - Timothy Brown, in Perspectives magazine ("God Is in Every Frame," Perspectives, May 1997, 24), wrote, I remember a trip to the hospital just a few years ago. I was there to visit a beautiful young man from Spring Lake, Michigan, whose life was being robbed one blood cell at a time by a vicious and unrelenting leukemia. Because he was so weakened, I knelt next to his bed to look at him eyeball to eyeball. I said quietly, "Hi, Tim," and he responded faintly, "Hi, Tim." There followed an awkward pause because I didn't exactly know what to say. The long, dark shadow of death has a way of muffling through much of our otherwise meaningless "chitchat." Finally, Tim broke the deafening silence by saying gently, "I have learned something." Now I knew at least this much -- you never trifle with the last words of a dying person, so I said, "Tell me, what have you learned?" He said, again very faintly, "I have learned that life isn't like a VCR." Perplexed, I said, "I don't get it. What do you mean?" He said, drawing his next breath in pain, "Life isn't like a VCR -- you can't fast-forward the bad parts." As I knelt there, fighting back the tears and trying to take it all in, he interrupted my awkward silence again by asking, "You know what else I learned?" I said, "No, I really don't. Please tell me." "I have learned," he whispered, "that Jesus Christ is in every frame, and right now it's just enough." Jesus is in every frame of our lives, and He’s more than enough to help us make it through.

Conclusion

Please bow your heads and close your eyes. Have you been allowing misconceptions about who Jesus is and how we can relate to Him to keep you from asking for His help in overcoming temptation and then obeying Him? Have these misconceptions kept you from receiving His great sacrifice of Himself and asking Him to come into your heart and life as your Master and Savior?
We’re going to spend a few moments of quiet time. Spend this time talking in your heart and mind with Jesus. Tell Him about any misconceptions you’ve had about who He is and what He wants to do in your life. Repent of those, changing your thinking and your actions, and tell Him about your repentance. Ask for His forgiveness. Ask for His help in overcoming temptation. Ask Him to remind you to come to Him when you’re struggling with weakness and temptation. Then tell Him what you’re going to do when He speaks to you. Let’s spend some time talking with Jesus right now.
Now if you’ve been struggling with misconceptions about Jesus to the point that you haven’t asked Him into your heart and life, and you’d like to do that this morning, please pray with me. Dear Jesus, Master and Savior, I know that I’ve spent my life doing what is wrong in Your sight and that I need forgiveness for my sins. I believe that You died for my sins. I want to turn from my sins, to change my thinking and my actions. I now invite You to come into my heart and life and change me. I want to trust and follow You as my Master and Savior. In Jesus’ name. Amen. If you prayed that prayer this morning, please come see me after the service and I’ll get you started on your new life with Jesus. Now let’s all pray together.