Grace Baptist Church, Nokomis, IL.

Text:

One of the most sobering questions we can ask ourselves is, “Am I acceptable to God?” It’s not a question that we should answer flippantly. It requires us to contemplate our sinful nature, and God’s holy nature. Christ’s sacrifice, and our response to His sacrifice.

On one level, we have to admit that we’re not acceptable to God. And there’s nothing we can do to be acceptable to God. We’ve all fallen short of what God wants us to be. Yet even on this basic level, much of the world today comes to the wrong conclusion. The world says, “Just be yourself.” Even many churches today preach God’s love, but not His holiness.

The high priest in the Old Testament was the only person to enter the Holy of Holies, and that only once per year. And when this was to happen, he was to go through a series of actions before he entered so that he would be acceptable before God. He had to be physically clean. He had to wear certain clothes. He had to offer certain sacrifices. He had to perform certain routines. He had to do all these things because that was the place God chose to represent His presence. God will not allow sin to be in His presence. So Aaron’s own sin kept him from entering on his own terms, so he had to cleanse himself first, and offer sacrifices for himself first. I imagine that first time that Aaron did all these things, and entered into the Most Holy Place, he did so with much fear. He knew he was a sinner. He had to have wondered if he would be accepted by God, allowed into God’s presence.

And we, too, have wondered the same thing about ourselves. But since Christ died on the cross, all who embrace Christ not only have access to God’s presence, but we go there confidently, as we are destined to be in God’s presence for all eternity.

Read Hebrews 6:19-20

I’m going save talking about Melchizedek for next week. Chapter 7 goes into more detail about how Melchizedek relates to Christ. This morning I’d like to focus on Jesus, and what He’s done for us.

These two verses paint a vivid picture of how our souls are anchored to Heaven. When we throw an anchor out of a boat, it keeps the boat from drifting. That’s the whole point of an anchor. It keeps the boat in the place you want it to be. When we know Christ as Savior, our anchor is in Heaven. Rather than throwing an anchor out of a boat, the image is of Jesus taking our anchor, which is attached to us, and taking it to Heaven, into the very presence of God. And because Jesus has done that, we will not drift from salvation. Instead, Jesus is steadily pulling us upward. And one day, we will be reunited with Jesus, and in the presence of God for the rest of eternity. That’s the picture, now let’s see how we get there.

Jesus has made it possible that we have a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul (v. 19a). He made it possible that we not be tossed about about life’s storms. The two words used in this verse to describe the anchor mean basically the same thing: sure and sure. Our soul is surely anchored to Christ, who is in Heaven waiting for us. We are immovable. The writer of Hebrews is describing just how confident we ought to be in Christ. So that when trials come, we can say, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” And when the tempter comes, we can say, “Greater is He who is in me that he that is in the world.” And if we ever have a doubt about our eternal security, we can quote Jesus with confidence, saying, “My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.”

Jesus gives us hope (v. 19b). This hope is our sure and steadfast anchor. Jesus is the One who gives us this hope. Remember, last week we talked about how God always keeps His promises. God not only promises us eternal life, but He promises that He’ll keep His promise. “So that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.”

We have a sure hope in Christ. We have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope of Heaven, because it’s a hope that we can count on. God’s promised it to us! And God always keeps His promises.

So Jesus will usher us into the very presence of God (v. 19c). This is alluding to the Holy of Holies. It’s the place Aaron had to be very careful about entering. It’s the place that represents the very presence of God. But in this instance, it’s not just talking about going to a place that represents God’s presence, but going literally into God’s presence! But now, because Christ has died for us, it’s a place open to all who trust in Him, who have fled for refuge to Christ.

And now, Jesus is waiting for us in Heaven (v. 20a). He is our forerunner. Jesus went to that place first, so that we might follow Him. He took our anchor and planted it in Heaven, and now He’s gently reeling us in. This is only possible because of what Jesus has done for us, on our behalf. Since we’re not acceptable to God because of our sin, Jesus died for our sin. In doing that, He made us acceptable to God. This happens to everyone who takes refuge in Christ.