Jesus Our Great High Priest

*Thoughts from Wai Ling's message at Sky Camp 2011*

"Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.

"Such a high priest 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. For the law appoints as high priests men who are weak; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever.

"The point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, and who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by man... But the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, and it is founded on better promises." - Hebrews 7:23-8:2, 6 (NIV)

The resurrection is not an afternote to the cross, as if the cross in itself was sufficient to save us and the resurrection merely demonstrated God's power. The cross in itself is necessary but not sufficient to save us.

"And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins." - 1 Corinthians 15:17 (NIV)

Furthermore, the resurrection is not so much a demonstration of God's power (although it is that) as it is the defeat of death, the reversal of the Edenic curse, the turning point of history, the launchpad for new creation.

According to Romans 4:25, Jesus was raised to life for our justification. According to 1 Corinthians 15:20, Jesus was raised from the dead as the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. According to Hebrews 7:23-8:2, 6, Jesus has a permanent priesthood (as the mediator of the New Covenant) because He lives forever.

No resurrection = no New Covenant!

*****

"Do you not know, brothers - for I am speaking to men who know the law - that the law has authority over a man only as long as he lives? For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law of marriage. So then, if she marries another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress, even though she marries another man.

"So, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God. For when we were controlled by the sinful nature, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, so that we bore fruit for death. But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code." - Romans 7:1-6 (NIV)

The cross marks the end of the Old Covenant and the resurrection heralds the start of the New Covenant. Both are necessary to save us; neither in itself is sufficient.