There is no greater privilege in the world than being a Christian.
That is no over-statement.
Many people think that you are best off if you manage to own you own home, or if you have a good job, or if you have a good family. The reality is that none of those things comes a patch on being a follower of Jesus Christ.
This morning, we are beginning a mini series of sermons. Over the next 4 weeks we’re going to be looking at this short paragraph from Hebrews chapter 10. I want us to spend a month soaking ourselves in these verses because they take us right to the heart of the privilege of being a Christian, and how we can live in the light of such great blessings.
If you glance down at that paragraph, Hebrews chapter 10, verses 19 to 25, you’ll see that it has a very simple shape. Verse 19: Since we have. Verse 21: Since we have. Therefore, verse 22: Let us draw near. Verse 23: Let us hold fast. Verse 24: Let us consider. Verses 19 to 21 draw together the great blessings we have. How good it is to be a Christian. Then verses 22 to 25 draw out the implications. Let us live in the light of what God’s done for us.
The implications come next time. And so today we look just at verses 19 to 21. There is no greater privilege in the world than being a Christian.
And these verses spell out for us two massive privileges that we have.
We have access to God, because Jesus died
The first privilege is that we have access to God because Jesus died. We have access to God because Jesus died.
Verse 19: Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places.
This needs a little explanation, but once you see what he’s saying it’s absolutely stunning!
Verse 20 speaks of a curtain. He’s referring back to the tabernacle, the tent that Israel were told to build when they lived in the wilderness. They all lived in tents, and this special tent would allow God to live amongst them.
But this was a tent they could not go into. The entrance had a curtain across it. And then inside another curtain divided it into two. Only the priests could go into the tent at all. The inmost bit was strictly out of bounds except to the current serving high-priest. He could go in, once a year only, after very careful preparations.
The whole structure was a massive “no entry” sign. God is holy. He is pure. He is perfect… We are sinful. We are flawed. And so we can’t go in. The way to God is closed. Yesterday morning Heverham Road was shut. The fire brigade put a big “Road Closed” sign at the bottom of church lane. You can’t come through.
What this verse says is that Jesus’ death, his flesh, his blood opened the way through the curtain. Now we can go into where God lives. It’s a new and living way. It’s new because it’s not just the old tent with its rules; this is something Jesus has done once and for all. It’s living because when you can enter the presence of God himself, you discover life itself.
And notice that Jesus has given us access to the holy places. Plural. Following the picture of the tent, we don’t just have access to the outer half; we can go right to the inside. To the bit that only the high priest could go. To the bit that, actually, only Jesus could go. We have the same access to God now, that Jesus has.
That is the most extraordinary privilege. We only think it isn’t if we forget the “no entry” sign that used to be there. If we forget that we are sinful and God is holy. If we forget that it took the blood of God’s own son to open this entrance.
If I tried to visit the Olympic Park this afternoon, I wouldn’t get in. I haven’t got a ticket. If I tried to get into the royal box, I certainly wouldn’t get in. It’s heavily guarded. It’s for royalty. I’m just a citizen. What Jesus did is as if someone has opened up a way for me to walk straight into the royal box. There’s a path wide open.
And so it is for us for all who know and follow Jesus Christ. The way is wide open. Verse 19 says we have confidence to enter the holy places. That is true objectively. We have confidence in the sense that we have every right to enter. Which means it can be true subjectively as well. We can have confidence, and boldness to enter the presence of God.
We can enter his presence now. Whenever we turn to pray, we enter those holy places. Whenever we gather together in worship, we enter those holy places. We can do so with complete confidence. But even more than now, we can look forward to the day when we will physically enter God’s holy places. For the Christian, the day we die is the day we go to be with Jesus. If we know Jesus now, we can face our own death with courage and boldness: Jesus’ blood gives us complete confidence to enter the innermost part of God’s throne-room.
So there’s one massive privilege: We have access to God because Jesus died.
We have a perfect priest, because Jesus lives.
There’s a second here, though. We have a perfect priest, because Jesus lives. We have a perfect priest, because Jesus lives.
Verse 19: Since we have confidence to enter the holy places. Verse 21: Since we have a great priest over the house of God.
We have confidence to enter, because Jesus died to open the way. But Jesus did not stay dead. He is alive today, and so we have a great priest.
Priests in the Old Testament were many things, but fundamentally they represented the people to God, and they represented God to the people. And so Jesus is now in heaven, where he represents us before his Father, and he represents his Father to us.
Representing his Father, he’s able to give us all that we need. Because he’s human, he understands us perfectly, and he makes sure that we have all we need in life. But he also represents us to God. The fact that he is in heaven proves that we have a right to be there as well. We can have absolute confidence that God will welcome us into his presence, because our representative is already there.
Going back to me trying to break into the royal box for the closing ceremony, Prince William does have a right to be there. Imagine Prince Charles is watching the games with the Queen on his left. He’s saving William a seat. The fact that he is there means that he can be sure the Queen would welcome him in person when he arrived. In the meantime, he’s able to ask any favours he might need from the Queen, and she’s able to give him anything he needs.
We have Jesus in heaven. He’s there as our priest. He makes sure that everything we need from God we will get. And he’s there to represent us, so that we can be absolutely sure of a warm welcome.
Conclusion
Two massive privileges: We have access to God because Jesus died. We have a perfect priest, because Jesus lives.
Access to God and a perfect priest. It doesn’t matter what religion someone follows. These are two things that almost everybody longs for, deeply. We long to know that God accepts us, blesses us, and will welcome us. We long to have someone who is close to that God who can represent us and assure us of his favour.
The fact that Jesus died and rose again means that we can have those things we long for. We can have access to the one true God. We can have the perfect priest to represent God to us and us to God.
So let’s enjoy these great blessings.
And let’s not look anywhere else for what Jesus has already given us.
He’s procured us access to God, and yet we want it so badly that that doesn’t stop us trying to get it elsewhere. It’s as if the way to the royal box at the Olympic Stadium is wide open, but we’re still trying to break in through a back entrance. Some people try to earn a place through good deeds, or through acts of kindness. Some people try to earn a place through religious practices, holy Communion or self-denial. There’s nothing wrong with acts of kindness or coming to a church service. Indeed they’re good things. But they’re useless as a back entrance into God’s presence.
Jesus is our great high priest. He’s the perfect priest. And yet we want a priest so badly that that doesn’t stop us trying to find others. Some people look to the clergy to act as their priests. I can do a lot of things, but I cannot represent you in the presence of God or represent God to you. I’m no more a priest than anyone else here. But Jesus is, and he’s the best you’d ever find.
Other people look not to the clergy but to their Christian friends. “I’m only a shallow Christian,” they say, “but my cousin is closer to God than I am, so I always ask them to pray for me.” Well, please do ask your Christian friends to pray for you, and please pray for them. But not because you need them as priest. Jesus lives, and he’s with God as your high priest.
There is no greater privilege in the world than being a Christian.
That is no over-statement.
Over the next 3 Sundays, we’ll see how we can live out this privilege.
But having the way wide open to enter the presence of God, and having the ideal priest sat beside God, is as good as it gets. And because Jesus died and rose again, that’s exactly what we’ve got.