Today's Passage - Hebrews 5:1-2

Hebrew 5:1-2 Every high priest is selected from among the people and is appointed to represent the people in matters related to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray, since he himself is subject to weakness. First, a high priests is called upon by God. If a person is called upon by God to serve Him, then that person should not be judged in accordance to the criteria of men, but rather the criteria of God. People often judge whether others are worthy of God's calling using criteria of men: appearance, education background, and personal status. Those who are called upon by God are those who understand God's will in their hearts. Second, a high priest comes in front of God representing people. In Old Testament, people could not come into the presence of God because of sins. The reason for high priesthood is to represent sinners in front of Him. From the point of men, a high priest's duty is terrifying: bearing the sins of all people, he comes into the presence of God asking for forgiveness. That's why a high priest has to cleanse himself before entering the most holy. He cleanses not only his body, but also his heart, so that he will not be struck down by God in the most holy. Third, a high priest presents offerings for others. Since a high priest comes into the presence of God bearing sins of others, he has to present offerings for those sinners. Leviticus chapter 1 through 5 mentioned five kinds of offerings. Those are: burnt offerings, grain offerings, sin offerings, guilt offerings, and fellowship offerings. These offerings are sometimes for dedication offering, sometimes for giving thanks, sometimes for our sins, sins that we have committed whether intentionally or unintentionally. The duty of a high priest is to present those offerings for us, so that we receive peace and grace through God's forgiveness. Fourth, He will deal gently with those who are ignorant and with those who are astray. "Deal gently" means tenderness and forgiveness. In Bible, we are often likened to sheep, the animal that gets frightened and lost most often. We often live in ignorance and lost. As such, when we are young, we often proclaim that we are the lost generation. When we reach middle age, we cry out "middle life crisis", the stage in our life when we find out that all we have strived for in the past have lost meaning to us. Suddenly, we come back to the same question we faced when we were young: "What's the purpose of life?" Even when we reach old age, we ask the same question: "What on earth do I life for?" What a high priest have prepared here is the work of Jesus Christ. Our lord emphasizes our ignorance and lostness. He emphasizes with us full of tenderness and forgiveness. As long as we come to the Lord, He will understand and help us in all we ask. Praying with Pastor Tong Liu Lord, we thank you. You are the high priest in our lives. You carried for us all our weaknesses and you bore all our sins. Today we bring our prayers to you. You surely will provide us your glorious richness. I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen Shekinah Glory - ROLCC Building Expansion Project - Follow us on our Facebook page!