Jesus’ role in our salvation is from start to finish. Unless we embrace that He has done it all, we will be left with an impossible task of maintaining our faith. Praise the Lord – we are saved by His faithfulness!
Observations:
- The terms “Apostle” and “High Priest” are introductory references
A. “Apostle” is a reference to Moses / “High Priest” is a reference to Aaron
B. “Apostle” references the incarnation / “High Priest” references the ascension
C. “Apostle” references ruling authority / “High Priest” references ministerial authority - Jesus’ faithfulness is the source of our confidence
- God’s people are referenced as God’s house
- “Hold on to” means stay with Jesus
Conclusions:
- Jesus’ incarnation is a requirement of God’s sending
- Jesus fulfills both of His roles with complete faithfulness to God
- Jesus is the owner/inheritor of God’s house of which Moses was only a servant
- We prove to be a house of God’s possession when we remain with Jesus
Application:
- Look to Jesus for…
A. His Faithfulness
B. His Possession
Exodus 3:10-12
“So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.” But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.”
John 8:42
“Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come here from God. I have not come on my own; God sent me.”
1 John 4:9
“This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.”
Zechariah 6:12-13
“Tell him this is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Here is the man whose name is the Branch, and he will branch out from his place and build the temple of the Lord. It is he who will build the temple of the Lord, and he will be clothed with majesty and will sit and rule on his throne. And he will be a priest on his throne. And there will be harmony between the two.’”
Philippians 3:7-9
“But these assets I have come to regard as liabilities because of Christ. More than that, I now regard all things as liabilities compared to the far greater value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things—indeed, I regard them as dung! —that I may gain Christ, and be found in him, not because I have my own righteousness derived from the law, but because I have the righteousness that comes by way of Christ’s faithfulness —a righteousness from God that is in fact based on Christ’s faithfulness.
1 Corinthians 3:16
“Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?”
John 15:5-7
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”
1 John 2:19
“They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.”
Hebrews 12:1c-2c
“Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.”
Hebrews 6:19-20
“We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.”
Hebrews 10:23
“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.”