Hebrews 4:14-16

Summary retelling of Hebrews 4:14-16

We have a great high priest – Jesus Christ.  He has seen the heavens.  He is the Son of God.  Because of Him, we should hold onto our confession of faith.  We don’t have an unapproachable God; we have a high priest who can know our temptations because He Himself was tempted.  Because we are in Christ, we should approach the throne of grace with confidence.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Jesus has seen – or passed through – the heavens.  He’s been with God.  He knows what life is like in the real presence of God.  What is really awesome in all of this is that in spite of knowing how great heaven was and how sinful the earth is, He still came here.  In spite of being the Son of God, He still came for our sake.  Jesus did what we could not do for ourselves. 

Why would we want anything else but Jesus?  What do you think it was like for Jesus to leave the Father and come to earth?

Second Thought:

Jesus Christ was tempted.  He knew the real presence of Satan and He was offered dominion over this world.  He could have succumbed to temptation even once – but He did not.  He looked temptation into the eye and chose God instead.  He desired the ways of God more than the ways of humanity.

What does it mean to you to know that Jesus was able to resist temptation?  If Jesus resisted temptation, how do you think He can help us resist temptation?

Third Thought:

We can approach the throne of grace with confidence.  We know that we are guilty.  We know that we do not deserve mercy.  We know that we have no right to even be in a relationship with God.  However, we are in a relationship with Him.  We can have grace and salvation.  We can come to God and know that He will forgive us because of what Christ has done for us.

What does it mean to you that you know that you have forgiveness?  How confident are you about your relationship with God and the salvation contained within?

Passage for Tomorrow: Hebrews 5:1-4