9/21/25
Rev. Clint Smith
Sermon Direct Link
Hope is a powerful word. In the darkest nights and through our toughest struggles, we, as humans, cling to hope. There are still those who use hope as wishful thinking, like saying, “I hope so.” Biblical hope is confident expectations, a firm assurance about things that are unclear or unknown. A better hope.
God revealed this better hope through the coming of Christ and His eternal priesthood. This hope is rooted in Christ’s power to save completely and in His ability to bring us near to God. As believers, we are firmly anchored in the person and finished work of Jesus Christ.
If perfect fellowship between God and the worshiper had been achieved through the Levitical priesthood, from which the Law came, there would not have been a need for another priest to arise, like Melchizedek.
The writer of Hebrews presents this dilemma: When the priesthood changes, the law concerning the priesthood must also change. The One to whom these things refer did not come from the priestly line of Levi, but from a different tribe, from which no one has ever served at the altar.
It is evident that our Lord descended from the tribe of Judah, a tribe about which Moses said nothing regarding the priesthood. This becomes even more striking when another priest arises in the likeness of Melchizedek, one whose priesthood is not founded on legal or physical requirements of ancestry, as with the descendants of Levi, but upon the foundation of an indestructible and eternal life. This is not of man, but of God, eternal, unshakable, and divine.
God spoke of His eternal Priest in Psalm 110:4, proclaiming to the world, that Christ is the Great High Priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek.
On the one hand, the former commandment is set aside because it was weak and ineffective, unable to justify the sinner before God, for the Law made nothing perfect. On the other hand, a better hope was introduced, through which we now continually draw near to God. This better hope is in Christ Jesus.