Immerse: Messiah - Flipbook - Page 385
4:5–5:5
H e b re w s
373
seventh day: “On the seventh day God rested from all his work.” But in the
other passage God said, “They will never enter my place of rest.”
So God’s rest is there for people to enter, but those who first heard this
good news failed to enter because they disobeyed God. So God set another time for entering his rest, and that time is today. God announced
this through David much later in the words already quoted:
“Today when you hear his voice,
don’t harden your hearts.”
Now if Joshua had succeeded in giving them this rest, God would not have
spoken about another day of rest still to come. So there is a special rest still
waiting for the people of God. For all who have entered into God’s rest
have rested from their labors, just as God did after creating the world. So
let us do our best to enter that rest. But if we disobey God, as the people
of Israel did, we will fall.
For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest
two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. Nothing in all creation
is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and
he is the one to whom we are accountable.
So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus
the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe. This High Priest of
ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we
do, yet he did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious
God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us
when we need it most.
Every high priest is a man chosen to represent other people in their
dealings with God. He presents their gifts to God and offers sacrifices for
their sins. And he is able to deal gently with ignorant and wayward people
because he himself is subject to the same weaknesses. That is why he must
offer sacrifices for his own sins as well as theirs.
And no one can become a high priest simply because he wants such an
honor. He must be called by God for this work, just as Aaron was. That
is why Christ did not honor himself by assuming he could become High
Priest. No, he was chosen by God, who said to him,
“You are my Son.
Today I have become your Father.”
