The Throne of Grace - Hebrews 4:14-16

Jesus the Great High Priest - Hebrews 4:14-16

14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven,Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. 16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

In chapter 4, the author of Hebrews starts by talking about the Sabbath rest of God.  We all know that on the seventh day God rested from all His work of creating the world and all that exists.  One commentator summarizes it like this,

"The idea is carried on without pause from Hebrews 3, that unbelief kept the generation that escaped Egypt from entering Canaan. The promise remains of entering His rest, and we can enter into that rest by faith. Unbelief will make us fall short of the rest God has for us." 

I think that captures it pretty well. While in a sense, we have found rest in Jesus' through what he did on the cross, we will only enter our final resting place when we finish this life.  But like the Israelites, the author does not want us to fall short.  The key difference between the Israelites and the followers of Christ is that we have an "advocate".  We have a great High Priest, who has gone into heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father to intercede for us.  Yet for our part, we need to hold fast and firm to the faith we profess.  We have two truths that help us to finish well and enter that rest.

First, Jesus empathizes with our weaknesses.  Jesus is not aloof to suffering.  He knows temptation.  He was tempted in every way so he can relate to what we are going through. He walks through our valleys with us.  He will never leave us or forsake us.  So we have that going for us.  

Second, we can approach God's "throne of grace" with boldness not timidity.  Discouraging us from boldly going to Jesus is Satan's chief strategy.  

As Guzik says, "The throne of God is a throne of grace. When we come, we may obtain mercy(this is not getting what we deserve) and find grace (this is getting what we don’t deserve) in our time of need."

We all know life is hard. Being a Christian doesn't make it necessarily any easier.  But as a follower of Christ thank God we have grace. Thankfully our Lord and Savior knows us and understands our weaknesses.  Go to the throne of grace today with whatever you need.  There is no prayer to small for the one who loves you and gave his life for you!