“The Bringing In of a Better Hope”

Hebrews 7:19-25

There is no hope in the law, because the law provides no perfection. There is no peace in the law, because the law can only condemn. But the gospel gives us a better hope than could ever be found in the law. That hope is “a good hope,” – “a blessed hope,” – a hope that “maketh not ashamed,” because that hope is Christ! Blessed is that person who has learned to look to Christ alone for the whole of God’s salvation, the whole of his acceptance with the holy Lord God.

Acceptance

The whole of our acceptance with God is in Christ. It is the Person and work of Christ alone, which makes us acceptable and accepted with the thrice holy Lord God.

The whole of our assurance before God is in Christ. Be sure you understand this. Our relationship with God does, in great measure, determine what we do; but what we do does not in any way, or to any degree, affect our relationship with our God.

The whole of our security in grace is in Christ. We are in Christ. We are accepted, because Christ is accepted. We are secure, because Christ is secure. We are holy, because he is holy. We have no sin, because he has no sin. He put away our sins. Therefore, God will not charge his elect with sin, at any time, or for any reason (Rom. 4:28).

“Near, so very near to God, Nearer I cannot be,

For in the person of His Son I am as near as He.

Dear, so very dear to God, Dearer I cannot be,

For in the person of His Son I am as dear as He!”

Good Shepherd

Christ is our Good Shepherd. As such, he gave his life for his sheep. He seeks his sheep, each one of them and every one of them, until he finds it. When he finds it, he lays it on his shoulders and carries it all the way home. The Good Shepherd knows his sheep. He calls them by name. He leads them, feeds them, protects them, and preserves them. He gives them eternal life and declares, “They shall never perish!” My heart rejoices in the knowledge that Christ is my Shepherd and I am his sheep (John 10:1-30).

Substitution

The Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is our Substitute. He lived in righteousness and died in shame as the Representative of his people. Substitution is the basis of hope for fallen man, -- the foundation and essence of the gospel, -- the message God’s servants are sent to declare, -- and good news for guilty sinners. “In due time, Christ died for the ungodly…Who his own self bear our sins in his own body on the tree” (Rom. 5:6; 1 Pet. 2:24). For my own heart there is nothing so deep and mysterious, so profound and awesome, so wonderful and inspiring, so full and joyful, so comforting and assuring as the glorious, God honoring, gospel doctrine of substitution. Indeed, substitution is the very fabric from which all biblical truth is made. How I rejoice to know and to declare, "He hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."

High Priest

Christ is our great High Priest. He has our names engraved upon his heart. “By his own blood, he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.” The Lord Jesus Christ deals with God on our behalf. He makes intercession with the Father for us. He who entered into heaven as our Forerunner and sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on High is Christ, our great High Priest.

This great High Priest is God; but he is also a man, a man touched with the feeling of our infirmities. He knows our trials, temptations, and troubles. He knows our weaknesses and our woes. And he sympathizes with us. He intercedes for us, pleading our cause with the Father. Christ is a Priest we can safely trust. His sacrifice has been accepted in heaven (Heb. 10:1-14).

Advocate

The Son of God is our Advocate with the Father (1 John 2:1-2). What could be more blessedly consoling to sinful men and women? The Son of God is our Advocate with the Father. “We have an Advocate with the Father!” He is a gracious, loving Advocate, -- a righteous Advocate, -- a full time Advocate, and an effectual Advocate

Do you see how anxious the Holy Spirit is for believing sinners to enjoy the comfort and assurance of our souls’ salvation? He not only tells us what Christ has done, is doing, and shall yet do for us, he uses metaphor after metaphor to assure God’s believing people that all is well between us and our God.

Surety

Among the many descriptions used in Holy Scripture to describe our Savior’s glorious person and redemptive work, none can be more instructive, consoling, and assuring than that which is spoken of in Hebrews 7:22. Here the Holy Spirit tells us that the Lord Jesus Christ is our Surety, the Surety of the everlasting covenant. As Judah became surety for Benjamin (Gen. 43:8-9), the Lord Jesus Christ became Surety for God’s elect in the covenant of grace. That is to say, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, willingly, voluntarily assumed the total responsibility of our souls before his Father, making himself honor bound to save us!