When we refer to Jesus Christ, so often we speak of his life, his death, and his resurrection. We say his perfect life that he lived for us. We say his atoning death that he died for us. His triumphant resurrection when he was raised for us.

But now what? Where is this Christ now? Has he nothing else to offer than this great convincing proof of his identity in resurrection, but no more work to perform? Is all now completed?

This morning, I want to broaden and deepen our understanding of the gospel. By default, we think of his life, yes; of his death, yes; of his resurrection as we have over Easter.

But now we are left with an unframed picture waiting for it to be displayed correctly so that it can be adored as the author intended, looked upon, referred to.

And this is why we need to learn of Christ's ascension. Yes, he lived. Yes, he died. Yes, he rose. But now Christ has ascended. Now he is a coronated royal priest for us, and that's what we want to consider this morning.

The gospels and the book of Acts, along with various other New Testament writings, all testify to the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. And then for a period of time, he appeared to his disciples before being bodily ascended to heaven.

We read in Acts 1:1-4, "The first account I composed, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach until the day when he was taken up into heaven after he had by the Holy Spirit given orders to the apostles whom he had chosen. To these, he also presented himself alive after his suffering by many convincing proofs appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God."

Then you come down to verse nine of that same chapter and it says, "And after he said these things, he was lifted up while they were looking on and a cloud received him out of their sight. And as they were gazing intently into the sky while he was going, behold two men in white clothing stood beside them. They also said, 'Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will come in just the same way as you have watched him go into heaven.'"

And so Christ has bodily ascended to heaven. His work on earth in person as a man was at an end. His work on earth from heaven was just beginning. Bodily and localised is now the saviour Jesus Christ in the heavenly realm beyond the sight of eye, seated on his glorious throne as a coronated royal priest and mediator for his church, overseeing the application of the redemption made for his bride.

And it's this aspect of Jesus Christ's office, his priesthood, his mediation that is one of the most critical yet seemingly neglected doctrines in the church today.

But without this doctrine, the Christian is at risk of losing a vitality and an experiential edge to communion with Christ. We must not miss understanding at least the basics of Christ's priestly work for you, believer, even now.

If we do not understand this mediation of Christ, our prayer life will likely stagnate because we forget the living Christ who is stamping all of our prayers and petitions with his own name before the Father.

If we do not understand this priestly ministry, we'll be prone to pragmatism in the church, thinking that it's up to us to muscle in the kingdom rather than saying that Jesus is reigning in heaven, accomplishing his will, building his church by the Spirit of God.

There are a few places more specific on this doctrine than in Hebrews 7, as we've read this morning, and I want to consider just these few verses closely this morning.

The Passing Priesthood

First of all, we want to see here the passing priesthood. Read again with me in verse 23. "The former priests on the one hand existed in greater numbers because they were prevented by death from continuing."

A priest in the Bible is one appointed as a mediator between God and man. As a modern analogy, a lawyer is in a way a priestly kind of mediator in the courts of justice representing their client before the judge. A real estate agent is a priestly-like mediator representing a vendor before the property buyers.

David Schrock, one theologian, says this: "Priests are consecrated mediators between God and his covenant people who stand to serve at God's altar."

That they are consecrated means that they are set apart by God, for God. That they mediate means they facilitate man's approach to God and the worship of God. That they serve at the altar is to say they serve at that divinely designated meeting place, that link between heaven and earth.

And here, the author of Hebrews is going to make a comparison between the former priests of God with the true priest that is Jesus Christ.

He has already stated that Christ is a priest earlier in the letter. Hebrews 3:1, "Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus the apostle and high priest of our confession."

The author of Hebrews spends a great deal of time helping us understand in what way Jesus can be called our high priest.

The obvious reason why an explanation to this is actually needed is given a few verses back from our text in verse 14 of Hebrews 7. Here's the reason why this needs to be examined: "For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah, a tribe with reference to which Moses spoke nothing concerning priests."

So the question is, if Jesus really is the saviour and he is the meeting place between God and man as a true priest, how could this be?

For Jesus was not a son of Aaron of the tribe of Levi. He was a son of David of the tribe of Judah. So in which way is Christ our priest?

The answer of the author here is very simple. He says the priesthood established by God under the old covenant through the sons of Aaron, the tribe of Levi, it was not a permanent arrangement, but a symbolic arrangement. The Levitical priesthood was a passing priesthood. Christ belongs to a different order of priesthood which supersedes and brought to an end that former priesthood.

Hebrews shows us this in a whole variety of ways. I want to give you three.

The first one is here in verse 23, and it is that the priests of the Levitical order were mortal men. A priest, you see, would be called and appointed. He would serve, and then he would die. And another would take his place, and he would serve, and then he would die as well. But man's needs required a permanent priesthood to be held. And the author of Hebrews is saying what was appointed through the law could bring no permanency. It was just the cycle of a man appointed, a man serving, a man dying, and the cycle begins again.

A second reason why is that the priests themselves were sinful. In Hebrews 7:27, the point is made that the Levitical priest under the old covenant had to make atonement for their own sins before they could approach God and make animal sacrifice for the sins of the people. They were themselves sinful priests. They had to go through a washing ritual before they as sinners could be reckoned ceremonially clean to enter into the presence of a holy God. We need a mediator, however, who himself was without sin.

A third reason is that the priests of the Levitical order had to continually make sacrifices. They themselves died, and they themselves had to continually make sacrifice year after year after year. This is the point of Hebrews 10:1-4. The sacrifices must be made repeatedly because they could not cleanse the sinner from sin. They were symbolic of what was required, but themselves could not accomplish true atonement. A once-for-all sacrifice was required. The old Levitical order could not provide it. It could only represent it. The Levitical priest offered up the blood of bulls and goats, but not a single drop of animal blood can atone for man's sins.

So the stage is set in the passing priesthood. The stage is set for a priest who could live forever; a priest who was himself without sin; and a priest who could make a once-for-all sacrifice and sit down, never to rise again to make a sacrifice.

The Permanent Priesthood

And so we come to our second heading, which is the permanent priesthood. Here we see that Christ excels and fulfils what the priests under the law in their weakness had failed to do. Read again in verse 24, "But Jesus, on the other hand, because he continues forever, holds his priesthood permanently."

So now the author of Hebrews makes the statement that Christ Jesus now presently in his ascension after he was raised holds his priesthood permanently. So he says, "but Jesus", he is a priest, a mediator without any of those failings as those old covenant Levitical priests. He's the intercessor promised; the intercessor we needed; and the only intercessor that is given to man.

And so even now he holds office permanently. There were many before him whose office was but a shadow and a type of what Christ would fulfil. Now Jesus has come, there shall be no priests as before after him because his priesthood is permanent. The cycle has stopped. It has ended upon Jesus.

The apostle Paul says in one Timothy 2:5, "For there is one God and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus."

But though I've shown you the weakness of the Levitical order, those three areas there; our own mortality; the fact that they had to continually make sacrifices, and so on. Though I've shown you that weakness, what is the mechanism in the New Testament where Jesus can truly be considered a priest permanently forever? Because Jesus is still from the tribe of Judah. He's still not a son of Aaron.

The answer according to Hebrews is this man named Melchizedek.

Who is Melchizedek, you ask? Well, in Genesis 14, we encounter this man named Melchizedek who was a priest of the most high God, our God, and he's called the king of Salem, which incidentally is the site later to be called Jerusalem.

Look at the text again, but go up to verses one to three of Hebrews 7. "For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham as he was returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him to whom also Abraham appointed a tenth part of all the spoils, was first of all by the translation of his name king of righteousness and then also king of Salem, which is king of peace without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the son of God, he remains a priest perpetually."

Furthermore, the author of Hebrews is making the point that Melchizedek's royal priesthood and intercession was superior to that which the Levites had. For even Abraham deferred to Melchizedek. In verse 10, that's the point here. "For he, that is Levi, was still in the loins of his father Abraham when Melchizedek met him."

In other words, quite simply, this priest Melchizedek of a different order to the tribe of Levi and the sons of Aaron; he is a greater priesthood, and it is this priesthood to which Christ himself is given office. Christ is a priest of this order and likeness to Melchizedek. It is in this way that Jesus holds his priesthood permanently.

The Perpetual Priesthood

So now we come to bring it all together to our third heading: the perpetual priesthood. Verse 25, "Therefore, he is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through him since he always lives to make intercession for them."

To understand the perpetual priesthood of Christ, consider this question with me. What does Jesus as our priest offer to sinners; offer to his people continually? For the author is promising here that the mediator we need is Jesus and he can save those who draw near to God through him. But what exactly is this offer really?

I've got three ways that I want to show you how Christ serves permanently and perpetually as the believer's mediator and intercessor.

Firstly, his perfect sacrifice. What Christ offers every sinner who desires to come to God through him is a finished and perfect atonement for their sins, which has ongoing ramifications for our Christian lives. It is in this way that Jesus perfects what was the primary role of the priests in the Old Testament. Their primary role was to make sacrifice on behalf of the people. But Jesus' perfect sacrifice is himself. It's his own body. It's his own blood rendered at the offering place on that altar, which was the cross of crucifixion.

It was required, you see, that the high priest year after year on the Day of Atonement, he would enter that inner sanctuary of the temple and the tabernacle, and there he would sprinkle blood upon the mercy seat where the ark of the covenant was laid.

But first, because the former priests were fallen sons of Adam themselves, they had to wash and bathe in water as a symbol of ritual purity required to be in the presence of God. First thing, they would sacrifice for their own sins, for the sins of their household, then they would make atonement for the people following.

But friends, your priest, our royal priest, King Jesus, has finished this work. He himself was without spot or sin, without blemish, and he makes his entrance into the presence of God in heaven for us permanently because he was acceptable to God.

What Jesus did for us moved us away from the shadows and types into the substance and the anti type.

Not only was Christ our priest without sin, but he himself was the sacrifice. He was the priest who came to the altar, and he was the sacrifice slain upon the altar as well. He was his people's representative that day when he died on the cross. Because he was a sinless man, a perfect man, an undefiled man, he was capable of taking upon himself the punishment for our transgressions.

In Hebrews 10:10, it says, "Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices which can never take away sins. But he, that is Jesus, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God."

And dear friends, what this once-for-all sacrifice of Christ means is that we never have to fear the eternal consequences of our sin if we have believed upon him as our substitute. For his once-for-all death is always there for the believer.

And even when we sin as Christians, we can come before that throne of grace boldly pleading the blood of Christ again and again, for the sacrifice remains. No one can remove its effectiveness for us. We always have Christ as an advocate there, and we plead the blood of Christ for our sins.

Consider just how personal the atonement of Christ is, friends. In the Old Testament, the high priests would bear the names of the tribes of Israel on their clothing into the sanctuary, into the Holy of Holies. In Exodus 28, it says, "Aaron shall carry the names of the sons of Israel in the breastpiece of judgment over his heart when he enters the holy place for a memorial before the Lord continually."

Bearing the names of his people into the holy place!

Friends, this is what Jesus Christ has done for you. If you are in him, he has carried the names of his children to his cross and entered into heaven bearing their names. Our names were written upon his heart and he cried out in love for the redemption of sinners. He gave himself for his church. And he comes and he says, let their transgressions be laid upon me. At the mercy seat in heaven, he pleads, I offer my righteousness and my unblemished life for them. Christ's perfect sacrifice, friends, it is there for you to claim each day of your life. Plead that "there is no more condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."

A second way that Christ is our great high priest is through his perfect intercession. The idea of intercession in the Bible means to mediate; to plead; to pray. Under the old covenant, the high priest would bring incense into the presence of God in the inner sanctuary of that tabernacle, the temple. Leviticus 16:13, it says, "He shall put the incense on the fire before the Lord that the cloud of incense may cover the mercy seat that is on the ark of the testimony. Otherwise, he will die."

The smoke of the incense symbolised the prayers of the people rising before the Lord as an aroma of worship. And it also provided a symbolic cover of the mercy seat, protecting the high priest, as it were, from the immediate presence of God, which no sinner can bear.

Prayers and incense are closely associated in the Scripture. David says in Psalm 141, "May my prayer be counted as incense before you."

But consider now Christ who makes this intercession, this prayer, this pleading, this mediation on behalf of his people. His words, his prayer for us when he prayed on the cross, "Forgive them, Father," they rise up before the Father as like a shield for the sinner that we may not die. Christ is like the great high priest with the incense in hand bringing our prayers and petitions to the Father so that through him they may be offered.

Have you considered, Christian, the prayers of Christ for you? Have you thought about what Jesus said to Simon Peter the night he was betrayed when he was thinking about his people rather than himself? When he said, "Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail."

Christ prays for us. We have a priest who even now prays for us. He's pleading our cause. He cares for our souls, and he does perfectly intercede for his people by name. In John 17, called the high priestly prayer of Christ, Jesus says of his people, before the Father, for us, he says, "I ask on their behalf. I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom you have given me, for they are yours."

What a comfort, Christian. What hope; what consolation to know that there is in heaven now Christ Jesus interceding as my surety and my divine aid to call upon. And I know that I shall always be heard at that throne. There shall always be a hearing for my prayers because of his prayers for me, both in my joyous worshipping and my darkest depressions and the expression of my fears. All of it is before him. And Christ lives; Christ ascended; and Christ now pleads for me. That is our cry because of our great high priest.

Robert Murray McCheyne gives one of the best quotes you will ever hear on prayer. He says, "If I could hear Christ praying for me in the next room, I would not fear a million enemies. Yet the distance makes no difference. He is praying for me."

Consider thirdly, his perfect blessing.

Christ blesses us as our great high priest. Because now he intercedes, friends, every spiritual blessing is ours in Christ Jesus. Ephesians 1:3 says, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ."

One of the core roles of the priests in the Old Testament, as we've considered already, one of their core roles was to bless the people on behalf of God. God is a God who loves to bless his people and mediate such blessings through a priest. You know the Aaronic blessing well: "The Lord said to Moses, "Speak to Aaron and to his sons saying, thus you shall bless the sons of Israel. You shall say to them, 'The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance on you and give you peace.'" So they shall invoke my name on the sons of Israel and I will bless them."

Aaron would do so after the atonement was made for his people. Leviticus 9: "Then Aaron lifted up his hands towards the people and blessed them, and he stepped down after making the sin offering and the burnt offering and the peace offering."

It's interesting when you observe the way that Jesus ascended bodily to the Father, that we have this echo of Aaron and his hand outstretched and blessing as he departs. Luke 24:50, "And he led them out as far as Bethany. He lifted his hands and he blessed them. While he was blessing them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they, after worshipping him, returned to Jerusalem with great joy and were continually in the temple praising God."

The idea here is that as Jesus departs to heaven to be seated until the end of the age as our priest, as he leaves he blesses. And as he was ascending, he was still blessing. And he never stops. He never has. When we know Jesus, he is the perfect priest who brings his blessing to us. And now through his mediation, we can have full communion and access to God. There's no longer any barrier between you and the Lord. You can come to him through your priest, the Lord Jesus Christ. So we know that all will be well with our souls so long as his hand of blessing and his heart bearing our names remains in heaven for us.

It's said that in one of Israel's battles, so long as Moses' hand remained stretched up, Israel would prevail over their enemies. But as soon as Moses' hand fell down, their enemies would begin to prevail over them. What a picture this is of our greater Moses and greater priest, Jesus Christ, through whom we have the victory in life and death. His hand is raised towards us. We shall prevail. We shall overcome. We shall be brought safely through to Canaan's side because his hand is outstretched in blessing towards us, and he shall never let it fall. His blessing is divinely authoritative. His hand for us remains upright. His spiritual blessings and enablement and power for the Christian life are all yours now through him.

Conclusion

As a word of conclusion, you know, in the world, in a way of speaking, there are many altars; many priests combating for our attention; many places the world and Satan would love us to be devoting ourselves to in worship. Friends, we must come again and again and again to this great high priest that we have. Never leave him. Never turn our backs on him. Never be distracted by the altars of worship this world is presenting for us to come to in exchange for him.

See the cross where Christ gave himself for you. Cast your eyes then on the empty tomb where he was raised. But then rejoice knowing that he is in the presence of the right hand of the power on high as your priest now and forever. There is none to compare with him. There is nothing you can give your life to but him that will ever bring you the fullness of joy that is in knowing our Lord Jesus Christ.