Class Outline:

Sunday December 13,2020

 Ephesians 4:4-6, One hope of your calling: Our calling points to heaven, the Book of Hebrews, part 2.

 

Our eternal destiny is heaven, God’s habitation, house, temple, sanctuary.

 

Resurrected humanity of the Son of God entered heaven, promoted to the Father’s right hand.

 

The kingdom of God would now be composed of men who would be in union with the promoted King.

 

And before we get there, our King intercedes for us.

 

The astounding truths of our election, our regeneration through faith in Christ and our blessings from Him contribute greatly to our hope.

 

Luk:12

12:26 "If then you cannot do even a very little thing, why do you worry about other matters?

 

In HEB 4:14-16, our great high priest passed through the heavens, received all honor and authority, and from there He sympathizes with our weaknesses and encourages us by His presence as our Advocate to draw near to the throne of God with confidence that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need.

 

In HEB 9:11-28 we find that where Christ is in heaven there is a perfect tabernacle, which is our house with Him, not made with hands, not of worldly creation, of which the earthly tabernacle of Israel was a copy.

 

COL 3:1-4

If then you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. 3 For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.

 

Glory is another word that is so often associated with our election. It is the glory of Christ Himself, of heaven that He in some way transformed to be the home of men through His own sacrifice on earth.

 

There is a point where we Christians become overly concerned with the affairs of the earth. We cannot completely ignore them but we can easily become overly concerned about them. We are to be occupied with Christ - keeping our eyes fixed upon Him.

 

God controls the affairs of the earth. We are not disconnected from the world. We are to stand for our God given rights and use our procedural rights (laws, courts, right of expression) to defend them for ourselves, our families, and our communities. We are to influence our neighbors and communities for good as ambassadors for Christ. But when the affairs of men, so often unjust and evil, begin to occupy a prominent position in our hearts, hearts that are for Christ alone.

 

HEB 9:23-24

Therefore it was necessary for the copies of the things in the heavens to be cleansed with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us;

 

The earthly tabernacle and the people in Israel were ceremonially cleansed with animal blood, but the believers in the church are thoroughly and forever cleansed by the blood of Christ. By His own blood, Jesus entered the holy place in heaven once and for all.

 

The sons, made so by the work of Christ, remain in the house forever, JOH 8:35-36.

 

This is our calling. There is only one type of life in the house of God and it is holy. Every believer has been made to this type of humanity, the new humanity, resurrected and in union with Christ.

 

Besides holy as a description, another word is commonly used with Christ’s house, is glory. To all who reside in His house, beholding its majesty and their own meritless blessings for being a member of it, they glorify Him who built it - the Chief Cornerstone.

 

He lives to intercede for us. He is our High Priest and King, appointed to His inherited house forever.

 

HEB 7:23-25

And the former priests, on the one hand, existed in greater numbers, because they were prevented by death from continuing, 24 but He, on the other hand, because He abides forever, holds His priesthood permanently. 25 Hence, also, He is able to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.

 

We also trace His intercession for us to the end of the fourth and final Servant Song given by Isaiah.

 

ISA 53:12

Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great,

And He will divide the booty with the strong;

Because He poured out Himself to death,

And was numbered with the transgressors;

Yet He Himself bore the sin of many,

And interceded for the transgressors.

 

In the hope of our calling, we should not forget that we are priests and our High Priest continues His priestly function for us in heaven.

 

Perhaps we get a glimpse of this aspect of Him when He prayed for Peter.

 

LUK 22:31-32

"Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat; but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers."

 

Also, His prayer in Joh 17 may be indicative of what His intercession may look like.

 

HEB 7:26-28

For it was fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens; 27 who does not need daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins, and then for the sins of the people, because this He did once for all when He offered up Himself. 28 For the Law appoints men as high priests who are weak, but the word of the oath, which came after the Law, appoints a Son, made perfect forever.

 

Three times in Hebrews we are told that when Christ ascended, He was seated at the right hand of God (8:1; 10:12; 12:2), which is a state described in HEB 2:9 as “crowned with glory and honor.”

 

No Jewish high priest ever sat while executing his office. They were never kings who sit in authority of the state. Our exalted High Priest is both King and Priest. In Him, throne and sanctuary are not in conflict.

 

HEB 8:1-6

Now the main point in what has been said is this: we have such a high priest, who has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, 2 a minister in the sanctuary, and in the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man. 3 For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices; hence it is necessary that this high priest also have something to offer. 4 Now if He were on earth, He would not be a priest at all, since there are those who offer the gifts according to the Law; 5 who serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, just as Moses was warned by God when he was about to erect the tabernacle; for, "See," He says, "that you make all things according to the pattern which was shown you on the mountain." 6 But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, by as much as He is also the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises.

 

2Tim

2:3 Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.    2:4 No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.    2:5 Also if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not win the prize unless he competes according to the rules.    2:6 The hard-working farmer ought to be the first to receive his share of the crops.