Monday, December 21, 2015

Mon.’s Devo - The Ministry of Jesus

Read: Hebrews 1-6
No one knows the author of Hebrew but I have my own theory. I wonder if it is not the conversation that Jesus had with the two men on the way to Emaeus. The Bible says that Jesus explained himself from Moses to then. Hebrews even takes us earlier, back to Abraham but Hebrews is one of the deepest books of the Bible.
Hebrews talks about angels, Melchizedek, the beginning of time and the end of time, and the ministry of Jesus. It says that God didn’t put the world’s future into the hands of angels but into our hands (2:5). Jesus was made a little lower than the angels and crowned with glory and honor and given authority over God’s works and everything was made subject to him. Because he know lives in us, all of that is give to us. Through his death, Jesus destroyed the devil’s power over death and delivered us from death. He became our High Priest who is able to help us when we are tempted.
Hebrews talks much about this “rest” which means an “abode”. It is a position in God where you find peace in spite of your circumstances. The children on Israel couldn’t enter into this place because of their unbelief. So rest comes by faith. According to Hebrews 4, you can listen to sermon after sermon about Jesus and God, but if you don’t start believing and walking in faith, you will never enter into that place of rest that God entered on the seventh day. It is the picture of the last Millennium. It is waiting for us and available today.
Hebrews 5 tells us about the office of the High Priest. He had to be a person who fought sin and temptation himself so he could understand the struggles of his people. That is why Jesus had to come down as a man and experience our fight against sin and lust. Jesus was a priest like Melchizedek who was known as the “King of righteousness.” Melchizedek was a patriarch who chose to be righteous. He was known by everyone around him and even Abraham honored him and gave him tithes. Melchizedek wasn’t a high priest because of his family but because he chose to obey God. He was the forerunner of Jesus and for us. We are all priests to God after the order of Melchizedek.
Lord, help us to walk in faith, always putting You first.

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