Salvation & Confidence

The author of Hebrews writes for people who heard the OT as they grew up. He explains the gospel in OT terms. He proclaims that Jesus, our great high priest, ascended to heaven and he invites us to approach God’s throne of grace with confidence.

The author is aware of the barriers b/t humanity and God. Ever since Adam & Eve were escorted out of the Garden of Eden and cut off from God’s presence for disobeying God’s instructions, human sin makes it uncomfortable to approach God b/c God is majestic, holy, and altogether righteous.

You get a sense of God’s holiness in Isaiah 6, when Isaiah describes his vision of God in the temple:

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty;

the whole earth is full of his glory.”

At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.

“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LordAlmighty.”

Isaiah 6:1–5 (NIV)

God is so pure, so righteous, and so holy, it’s uncomfortable. Sin-stained people can’t safely be near God.

If you grew up on these Bible stories (and some of you did), the news that you can approach God’s throne of grace with confidence is good news!

Jesus’ ascension to heavenly glory is an essential part of the gospel. Author of Hebrews mentions 2 of the many things which believers gain from Jesus’ ascension:

1. Jesus is the source of eternal salvation

2. Confidence to approach God – particularly in prayer.

1st Salvation: Jesus “became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him” (9).

How did Jesus become the source of salvation?

Our passage from Heb. 5:1 says the job the high priest is to: “to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins.”

Perhaps you remember from the OT book of Exodus how Moses and the Israelites put together the tabernacle at the foot of Mt Sinai. In ch. 9, the author of Hebrews describes it:

In its first room were the lampstand and the table with its consecrated bread; this was called the Holy Place. Behind the second curtain was a room called the Most Holy Place, which had the golden altar of incense and the gold-covered ark of the covenant.

Hebrews 9:2b–4a (NIV)

He also describes how the high priest atoned for people’s sin:

When everything had been arranged like this, the priests entered regularly into the outer room to carry on their ministry. But only the high priest entered the inner room, and that only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance.

Hebrews 9:6–7 (NIV)

Jesus is both like & unlike the high priests described in the OT.

Knowing our need for grace and forgiveness, Jesus became human to enter the world he created. He grew up as a child in a busy household, first in Egypt, then in Nazareth. He endured the usual squabbles with brothers and sisters, cousins, and neighbours. He dealt with the challenges of other people cheating at sports and games with his brothers and friends.

Jesus wasn’t always a Rabbi. He experienced the awkwardness of learning reading, writing, and arithmetic w/ classmates. Like other teens and young adults in town Jesus learned a trade and navigated relationships with the guys and girls of Nazareth. He faced peer pressure and bullies and being invited – or not invited – to parties. He knows what life is like in a sin-stained world.

Although Jesus is 100% God, he is also 100% human. The author of Hebrews makes a point of writing:

We do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.

Hebrews 4:15 (NIV)

Amazingly, Jesus didn’t give in to peer pressure.

He didn’t stoop to the level of the bullies and mean kids he faced. It’s true: TV and internet didn’t exist in his day, but Jesus was tempted in EVERY WAY just as we are—yet he did not sin.

B/c Jesus was holy and righteous like his heavenly Father, he did not need to atone for his own sin. Later in Hebrews, we read how Jesus provides salvation no other priest can offer:

Such a high priest truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself.

Hebrews 7:26–27 (NIV)

When Jesus was crucified, his sacrifice covers all our sin. When Jesus bled from his head, his hands, his feet, that blood covers our guilt and makes it possible for all who believe in Jesus as Saviour to be purified from sin. Jesus atones for all your sin.

Three days after Jesus died, he rose from the grave. His resurrection assures us that Jesus is victorious overs sin and death. It assures us that by faith, we too will be raised to life.

40 days later, Jesus ascended into heaven. The author of Hebrews says that Jesus continues his high priestly role before God’s throne of grace. Jesus continues to intercede for us. He is the mediator who intervenes on our behalf.

That gives us confidence. Take a minute to soak it in.

For the first time in years beyond count, a human being, like you and me, is standing in the throne room of God w/o shame, w/o fear, w/o guilt. It’s the assurance that we will be admitted into God’s presence as well.

Remember how Esther was afraid in the OT book of Esther to approach her husband, King Xerxes. Maybe you have similar fear in approaching the throne of God Almighty.

Because Jesus has saved us from sin and death, we can stand before God without fear or shame. It’s an invitation the author of Hebrews extends in today’s passage:

Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Hebrews 4:16 (NIV)

You are welcome to approach God’s throne of grace (and expect to receive mercy) with confidence. With reverence – always.

When Jesus’ disciples ask him to teach them to pray, Jesus teaches them with an example. It’s become well-known as the Lord’s Prayer. Do you remember the first line?

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.

Of course, our conversation with God is tempered with reverence and awe. Through Jesus, the God of all creation has become our Father. He is our heavenly Father b/c he adopts you as his dearly loved child.

The first petition of the Lord’s Prayer is that our Father’s name is hallowed – that our heavenly Father is not disrespected, that nobody badmouths our Father’s honour, reputation, and the holiness of his name.

Addressing God as “Father” is intimate. It is possible to call God “Father” b/c Jesus has brought reconciliation b/t you and his loving Father. Jesus invites you to address his heavenly Father as “our heavenly Father.” It’s possible to enjoy the kind of intimacy that Adam & Eve enjoyed in their daily walk & talk with God in the Garden of Eden in the cool of the day.

But now here’s the question: since you can approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, do you?

Do you talk to your heavenly Father?

Do you confidently approach his heavenly throne?

What’s the use of having privileges of talking to God but never taking advantage of them?

Do you pray outside of Sunday morning worship services?

Do you teach your children to pray?

Do your habits and example make your children and grandchildren want to pray too?