Memorial Drive
12/21/14
WHAT CHILD IS THIS? Christ as Priest
Various Texts
WHO is this Christ-child whose birth we celebrate, and WHAT is He all about?
… THE GREAT PROBLEM OF ALL MANKIND: Sin and Separation
Designed for relationship!
… Sin Has Separated Us From a Holy God and Robbed Us of the Very Thing We
Have Been Created For
Relationship with God is our purpose and desire! Separation is the reality!
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Adam and Eve – From “face-to-face” to banishment from garden
Moses on the Mountain – “I am full of fear and trembling.”
Moses In the Camp – “Cover your face!”
Moses Wants to “See God” – “My face shall not be seen.”
Worship Realities – A dividing curtain and limited entrance to God
Righting a Tipping Cart – Right motives! Separation the reality!
So how is it ever possible then that a Holy God who is unchangeable in His nature and
character should ever again be approachable and enjoyable -- which was always His intent
for us – by those of us who are numbered among sinful, fallen men?
… THE GREAT DIVINE SOLUTION: Christmas and the Incarnation
“Our situation was truly deplorable, unless the Divine Majesty itself would descend to us; for we could not
ascent to it. Thus it was necessary that the Son of God should become Immanuel, that is, ‘God with us’.”
(Reformation Leader John Calvin)
“How could a Divine Person enter the place of subservience and (come under) the Law’s demands? And again,
how could a Divine Person suffer and die? This seems an insolvable problem, yet Divine Wisdom provided a
glorious solution. One of the Eternal Three, without in anywise ceasing to be God, took upon Himself the form
of a Servant and became a Man. The Divine incarnation was undertaken in order to accomplish sin’s expiation
(satisfaction of what was wrong ). The eternal Word’s becoming flesh was a gracious means to a glorious end;
it was that He might mediate between God and His people.” (Arthur Pink)
... The Need for a Mediator
“mediator” – “occupying a middle position in order to intervene between 2 parties”
... The Role and Responsibility of the Old Testament Priest
“The reason there are priests in the Old Testament is that priests are needed to intercede for us with God. They
enter the holy place where we are not allowed to go. And they take sacrifices for us so that our sins will be
forgiven.” (John Piper)
A priest acts as a “mediator”, representing both God and man!
There is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, THE MAN CHRIST JESUS.”
(I Timothy 2:5)
… Christ, Our Great High Priest
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“… we have A GREAT HIGH PRIEST who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God …” (Heb.
4:14)
“… no one takes the honor (of being priest) to himself, but receives it when he is called by God, even as Aaron
was. So then Christ did not glorify HIMSELF so as to become a high priest, but He (God the Father) who said to
Him, ‘You are my Son, today I have begotten You’; just as He says also in another passage, ‘ YOU ARE A
PRIEST FOREVER …” (Heb. 5:4-6a)
… TWO NECESSARY QUALIFICATIONS OF OUR “MEDIATOR” HIGH PRIEST
... The Mediator Must Be a Man
… He Must Represent Man in OBEDIENCE Rather than in Sin
“Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to
all men, because all sinned—“ (Rom. 5:12)
“Therefore, AS one trespass led to condemnation for all men, SO one act of righteousness leads to justification
and life for all men. For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s
obedience the many will be made righteous.” (Romans 5:18-19)
“But the free gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one the many died, much more
did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the ONE MAN, JESUS CHRIST, abound to the many.” (vs. 15)
ONE HAD TO BE “MAN” TO REPRESENT MANKIND!
“… who though He was in the form of God did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied
Himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born IN THE LIKENESS OF MEN. And being found IN
HUMAN FORM, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” (Phil
2:6-8)
“He had to be made LIKE HIS BRETHREN in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high
priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation (satisfaction) for the sins of the people.” (Heb. 2:17)
“By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that JESUS CHRIST HAS COME IN THE
FLESH is from God; and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the
antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world.” (1 Jn. 4:2-3)
… The Mediator Must Be Divine
“He who makes atonement for others must himself be entirely free from that which renders the atonement
necessary. That which made atonement necessary was sin. The Redeemer must be sinless otherwise he would
require redeeming himself … a sinner cannot expiate (satisfy) his own sins, much less be a savior of others.”
(Arthur Pink)
“For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted
in all things as we are, yet without sin.” (Hebrews 4:15)
John Piper writes: “… the whole message of Scripture is designed to show that no human being, no
creature, could ever save man—only God himself could; and only someone who was truly and fully
God could be the one mediator between God and man.” (Piper, Logos, Sermons)
Conclusion … “Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him,
since He always lives to make intercession for them.” (Hebrews 7:25)