Some time ago, I began blogging on our Sunday sermons to help myself review; today, I’m continuing that by covering our June 21 sermon, on Hebrews 7:26-28.

As before, I won’t summarize the sermon, since you can stream it if you want to hear yourself, but will focus on what I take away from it.

Here, Christ is described as having three key qualifications:

  1. Holy – the word here is not the same word “hagios” as used so often to describe as set apart, but rather describes being perfectly obedient. No human is this. Only Christ is holy in this way, and only he could bring us to God.
  2. Innocent – without evil, harmless, not duplicitous. Everything we do is tainted by our own sin, our sinful heart, our designs which in themselves are less than perfect. Even if we join an outward cause which is good, such as the fight against racism, even that will be tainted by our pride, bitterness, desire for recognition and so on. We create a cause and ask God to join us in it, when we need to see what God’s plan is and join him in it. Only Jesus was truly without any evil whatsoever.
  3. Undefiled – continuing in purity.

These three words essentially encapsulate everything – external purity, internal purity, and continuing in those forever.

In our own selves, we should be afraid even to be in God’s presence. Sin is deep – it goes so deep – that we need a high priest like this who can fundamentally change us. In our arrogance we tend to think that if we just change some things – in our society, in our lives, etc., or disciple people better, or… – then we can change things. But true, lasting change only comes from the work of God in people’s hearts, from being born again. That’s the only real power to truly change anything, though it seems foolish to those who are perishing. Christ’s mediation is necessary, he is the only way to salvation.

This sermon was very fitting to the times, as people are lately highlighting all kinds of problems in our world and in society, and looking in many different directions for solutions. It’s important that I be absolutely clear that Christ is the only lasting solution, the only real hope for our world.