Our Great High Priest

1 For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, 2 and to him Abraham apportioned a tenth part of everything. He is first, by translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then he is also king of Salem, that is, king of peace. 3 He is without father or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God he continues a priest forever. 4 See how great this man was to whom Abraham the patriarch gave a tenth of the spoils! 5 And those descendants of Levi who receive the priestly office have a commandment in the law to take tithes from the people, that is, from their brothers, though these also are descended from Abraham. 6 But this man who does not have his descent from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. 7 It is beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by the superior. 8 In the one case tithes are received by mortal men, but in the other case, by one of whom it is testified that he lives. 9 One might even say that Levi himself, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, 10 for he was still in the loins of his ancestor when Melchizedek met him.

Repent of sin to Gain Peace with God

As we take a look at the first part of the scripture we are learning from today, we can see it says according to translation that Melchizedek was first a king of righteousness.

Hebrews 7:1–3 ESV

In order for us to have peace with God, we must first repent of our sin. Why? Because God is a God of righteousness. He cannot look on sin. In order for us to have peace in our lives and be able to follow our God’s leading we must confess our sin. This is something which should be something we do daily. Even though the blood of Christ is sufficient to cover our sins, we must daily confess our transgressions when we mess up.

Those who have never accepted the gift of salvation will continue to live in sin. What does the Bible have to say about those who live in sin?

Romans 6:23 ESV

23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Galatians 5:16–17 ESV

16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.

Romans 3:10 ESV

10 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one;

Our study on Wednesday night’s has been on evangelism. One of the things our lessons stressed was all of humanity started at the same place. We all are sinners and come short of the righteousness of our God. Because of this, it is very important we be mindful of what we do and think of how our actions can not only cause harm to our relationship with God, but can also cause harm to our witness of what Christ did for us on the cross. As Christians, we are called to be different.

Romans 12:2 ESV

2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

How do we renew our minds?

You need to spend time in His Word.

Not just reading it. I can read a book and enjoy it very much. The Bible is not for entertainment and not something which is simply to be read to check something of your list that you do in the morning. You need to spend time meditating on His Word and how it should impact your life. Get a devotional book to help you if you need or a Bible study. There are so many things out there which are available to you now that are online. Just make sure the author is credible. I always read about the author and their background before I get into the study. I’ll also ask others here if they know the author and are familiar with their studies.

You need to spend time in prayer.

What do you need to do while you are spending time in prayer? You need to thank God for who He is and what He means to you in your life. This is you worshiping God in the morning and each day of your life. You need to confess your sin. You need to let God know of the sin you are aware of and ask forgiveness. Allow the Holy Spirit to convict you of those sins. Remember our Father is willing to forgive us of our sin.

1 John 1:9 ESV

9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

After confessing your sin, thank God for the prayers He’s answered. After this, bring your requests to Him, for you and your loved ones. Whatever you have to bring to Him, do it now.

Finally, and the prayer in thanksgiving again. We have a such a gift in prayer and so many things we can use it for.

Touching really quickly on verse 3.

This simply means there isn’t any genealogical record of Melchizedek in scripture. We also don’t see him hand off his priesthood to any relatives or any one else. It says he resembles the Son of God in this. Don’t read any more into this other than that. However, it does set up how we should look at Christ.

Consider the Greatness of Christ

Hebrews 7:4–10 ESV

4 See how great this man was to whom Abraham the patriarch gave a tenth of the spoils! 5 And those descendants of Levi who receive the priestly office have a commandment in the law to take tithes from the people, that is, from their brothers, though these also are descended from Abraham. 6 But this man who does not have his descent from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. 7 It is beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by the superior. 8 In the one case tithes are received by mortal men, but in the other case, by one of whom it is testified that he lives. 9 One might even say that Levi himself, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, 10 for he was still in the loins of his ancestor when Melchizedek met him.

Who was Abraham?

Abraham was the father of the Jewish people. He is the one they will trace their entire people from. We as Gentiles (yes, that is who we are), could trace our genealogy all the way back to Adam and Noah. He is one of the most important figures in the Jewish faith. He is their patriarch.

Abraham paid a tithe to a person who will not be a part of the Jewish faith. Abraham, who was called by God to leave his country and go establish an entire heritage/group of people/faith all on his own, paid a tithe to Melchizedek.

Melchizedek was held in very high esteem. Once again, his name meant righteousness and the city or area he was ruler over, Salem, meant peace. The other rulers of that area held him in very high esteem.

It fits that you would pay tithes to the superior and the superior would be the one to bless you.

Jesus brings the New Covenant

2 Corinthians 5:19 ESV

19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.

When Jesus came into the world and died for our sins and rose on the third day, He established the New Covenant for us. God, through the sacrifice of His Son, provided a way for us to be reconciled with HIm.

This was so we could be made righteous in His sight and He would be able to look on us.

In this scripture and Melchizedek, we are reminded that our High Priest is superior over the priests who were established by men. Yes, God directed Moses to name Aaron or Levi and his family to be the priests for the Jewish people. However, our High Priest was placed in the position by His heavenly Father. There will never be another like Him. He in the same order as Melchizedek is King and Priest and He will serve in this role without end.

Jesus is our High Priest who was established by God

How much greater is the High Priest than all that has been established before?

Our High Priest is Jesus Christ, Son of our Living God.

Our High Priest, actually paid the price for our sin through His sacrifice made on the cross.

Our High Priest, conquered death on the third day and rose from the grave.

Our High Priest bridged the gap between us and His Father.

Our High Priest will be our defender on the day of judgement and His Father will recognize the price that was paid for our sins and will to welcome us into His kingdom because we have been made righteous through this sacrifice