In His ascension Christ was made the High Priest in the heavens to bear us in the presence of God, to care for all our needs, and to offer the incense at the golden altar for the carrying out of God’s administration; Christ was inaugurated into His priestly office in His ascension.
What a Christ we have!
His ascension is so significant and applicable to our experience day by day. Behind the physical scene before our eyes, there is a spiritual scene, a hidden reality, that takes place concurrently.
We believers in Christ are those who live not only in the seen human history but even more, we live in the unseen divine history, even cooperating with God to write His history and be part of His history in humanity.
The Lord Jesus didn’t just come two thousand years ago to accomplish redemption and then went to the heaven and now we’re here on earth trying our best to please Him and do what the Bible tells us to do.
Much more than this, when Christ came, He made Himself one with us and made us one with Him.
We are so intimately joined and related to Him that He is the vine and we’re the branches (John 15:4-5) and He is the Head and we are the Body of Christ. Wow.
Whatever He went through, whatever He accomplished, and whatever He is doing right now, it is all for us to share in and participate.
The key, however, is not our mind to understand these things but even more, it is our spirit.
We need to exercise our spirit. When we exercise our spirit to contact the Lord in the morning, we enter into the divine history within the human history.
When we exercise our spirit to read and pray over God’s word, we enter into a spiritual reality of what God wants to do for us and in us.
Throughout the day we need to exercise our spirit, in big things and in small things, to enjoy and experience Christ.
In particular, we want to enjoy and experience Him in His ascension.
He has been exalted far above all things, and He is constantly transmitting all that He is and has accomplished into us.
May we be open to His divine transmission continually, and may we enjoy and experience Him with all that He is in His ascension.
He has been given by God to be Head over all things to the church.
There’s a transmission from the ascended Christ, our Head, to us.
We simply need to be open to Him and deal with all hindrances in our being.
As we open to Him and exercise our spirit, He can transmit all that He is and has accomplished into the church, and the church will be filled unto all the fullness of God for His corporate expression! Amen!
In His Ascension Christ was made the High Priest in the Heavens to Bear us in God’s Presence and Care for all our Needs
Heb. 4:14 tells us that Christ is our great High Priest who has passed through the heavens; in His ascension, Christ was made the High Priest in the heavens to bear us in the presence of God and to care for all our needs.
In His ascension, Christ was inaugurated into His priestly office (Heb. 2:17-18; 4:14-15; Psa. 110:1-4; Heb. 5:6; 7:26).
First, He came to us through incarnation to bring God to us, and then, He went back to God through resurrection and ascension to be our High Priest to bear us into the presence of God and care for all our needs for our good.
He not only went to the heavens; He passed through the heavens and is higher than the heavens, even far above all the heavens (9:24; Eph. 4:10).
He was inaugurated in His ascension in His priestly office, and now Christ is the High Priest bearing us before God and caring for all our needs.
In the Old Testament, we see that the priests bore the people of Israel before God, and then they brought God’s message and His speaking to God’s people.
This is what Christ does; on the one hand, He always lives to intercede as our High Priest, and on the other hand, He brings God to us to minister what God is into our being.
In the book of Revelation in 1:13 we see Christ as the Son of Man walking among the golden lampstands, clothed with a garment reaching to the feet.
He was dressed as a High Priest, and He was caring for the churches by adding the oil and trimming the wicks.
On one hand, He’s the High Priest moving in the churches to care for them, and on the other hand, He’s the High Priest interceding in the heavens for the churches.
Such a High Priest is what we need. He’s higher than the heavens, but He is touched with the feeling of our weaknesses, so we can come forward to Him, for He has been tempted in all respects like us, yet without sin (Heb. 4:15).
Right now in His ascension Christ is the High Priest walking among the churches to see their situation, bring them before God in prayer and intercession, and bring God to the churches and to all the saints to care for their need.
He is not only the King of kings and the Lord of lords; He is also our High Priest.
He is not only the Head of the Body, our ascended Head to whom we hold and with whom we’re joined in spirit; He is also our High Priest caring for our needs and bringing our case before God.
He cares not only for the churches in general but even more for each and every one of us as the members of His Body in particular.
He comes to us to minister God to us and to bring us to God.
In Rev. 8 Christ is revealed as the Priest offering the incense at the golden altar; here He is “another Angel” that came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer, and much incense was given to Him to offer with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne (v. 3).
In Rev. 1 Christ is the Priest caring for the lampstands and in ch. 8 He is Priest offering incense to God.
To the world and the universe, Christ is the Administrator over the whole universe (ch. 5).
But to us, the church, He is our High Priest who is living, working, and ministering as a priest.
He is caring for us, interceding for us, bringing our case before God, and ministering all that God is and has into us.
We need to see a vision of Christ in His ascension and realize that, as the High Priest, He cares for our needs and brings us before God in prayer so that we may live a heavenly life on earth for the fulfilment of His purpose.
Lord Jesus, praise You for being our great High Priest who has passed through the heavens! Hallelujah, Jesus, the Son of God, is our High Priest, caring for us in love and bringing our case before God! Thank You, Lord Jesus, for being our High Priest. You see our needs. You know our case. You care for us. We open to You. We love You. We open to Your loving care. Minister to us today. Minister the heavens and the heavenly things to us for the sake of the church. Thank You for caring for us individually and for the churches corporately. May we all be open to Your care as the High Priest. Amen, Lord, thank You for walking among the churches as a High Priest caring for the churches in love. May all the churches open to Your supplying the Spirit and trimming anything that is negative. Hallelujah for our High Priest who intercedes for us according to God and cares for all our needs!
Christ as our High Priest Bears us and Cares for our Needs, and His Care is Always Positive
If we read Heb. 4:15 we will be very much encouraged, for here we see Christ as our High Priest caring for us.
We don’t have a High Priest who cannot be touched with the feeling of our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all respects like us, yet without sin.
In His ascension, Christ is our High Priest, and He cares for us with feeling, with much tenderness, for He knows what we go through, He understands our situation, and He is touched with the feeling of our weaknesses.
Sometimes we cannot feel others’ weaknesses, for we think we’re stronger; the Lord is not this way, but He’s touched by the feeling of our weaknesses.
![And in the midst of the lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment reaching to the feet, and girded about at the breasts with a golden girdle. Rev. 1:13 Who is he who condemns? [It] [is] Christ Jesus who died and, rather, who was raised, who is also at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Rom. 8:34](https://i0.wp.com/www.agodman.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/And-in-the-midst-of-the-lampstands-One-like-the-Son-of-Man-clothed-with-a-garment-reaching-to-the-feet-1-683x1024.jpg?resize=400%2C600&ssl=1 "And in the midst of the lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment reaching to the feet, and girded about at the breasts with a golden girdle. Rev. 1:13 Who is he who condemns? [It] [is] Christ Jesus who died and, rather, who was raised, who is also at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Rom. 8:34")
He ministers to all the churches and He cares for each and every believer in Christ individually. What a High Priest we have!
We think we know what’s good for us, and we may think that we know what we need, but the Lord may think differently.
He cares for us in His heavenly ministry according to what He knows is good for us.
He causes all things to work out for good for us, those who love Him (Rom. 8:28-29).
For example, we may think that, now that we are Christians, we should be wealthy and have many material things.
However, the Lord may allow us to be poor and deprived of many things.
This is His loving care for us as our High Priest. We may desire to have children who love the Lord and are proper human beings, serving Him.
But the situation concerning our children may turn out to be much different from what we desire.
Our desire is good, but the Lord may have a different thing in mind concerning us.
He knows what is best for us.
We may complain to Him and argue with Him, and we may murmur against Him; however, Christ as our High Priest bears us and cares for our needs according to God, and His care for us is always positive.
All the aspects of our human life and church life have to do with Christ’s ascension.
It is in His ascension that He is the High Priest who bears us, cares for us, and intercedes for us.
He is holding us, He is taking care of us in the best possible way, and He bears us.
We may think, however, that we need this or that thing, or we may need a bigger house or a better car.
We may buy a car and think that, for the money we invested in it, the car should last for a long time; however, the Lord’s opinion on this matter may not be the same as ours.
This doesn’t mean that we need to be reckless or not care for the things He has entrusted us; we simply need to see that Christ as our High Priest cares for us according to God, and His care for us is always positive, even when we don’t think it is that positive.
We may go to the Lord and complain to Him about our situation, and He may not answer us; whether He answers or not, we need to trust in His loving care for us.
In Luke 7:22-23 John the Baptist sent some of his disciples to remind the Lord about his situation in prison, but the Lord simply said that, even though He makes miracles for others, He may not do one for John the Baptist, so he should not be stumbled in Him. Wow.
![And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to [His] purpose. Because those whom He foreknew, He also predestinated [to be] conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the Firstborn among many brothers. Rom. 8:28-29](https://i0.wp.com/www.agodman.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/And-we-know-that-all-things-work-together-for-good-to-those-who-love-God-to-those-who-are-called-1-683x1024.jpg?resize=400%2C600&ssl=1 "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to [His] purpose. Because those whom He foreknew, He also predestinated [to be] conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the Firstborn among many brothers. Rom. 8:28-29")
Similarly in John 21:18-22, the Lord revealed to Peter what kind of death he would have to glorify God, and when Peter asked about John, the Lord said, What is this to you? You follow Me.
Our situation may be quite different from others’ situation, and our limitations may be increasing instead of decreasing.
Even in our function we may be limited, though we may want to serve God and be useful to Him; may we realize that the Lord’s care for us is always positive.
The Lord knows the reason for which things happen to us and He knows why we go through things.
We are subjectively and intimately involved with our situation and our problems, and many times we do not like what is happening to us and may complain to God.
One day, however, we will see the Lord and worship Him, and we will offer Him many thanks for His loving care for us.
We will have the realization that Joseph had in the Old Testament concerning his brothers, that even though they meant it for evil, God caused it to work for good.
Even the unpleasant and evil things that happen to us or come our way work out for good for us, if we just love the Lord and open to Christ as our High Priest.
We simply need to open to Him and enjoy Him, allowing Him to minister to us and care for us. It is good to offer Him thanks for His care for us even today, telling Him,
Lord Jesus, we love You as our great High Priest. We open to Your loving care for us as our High Priest. Thank You for caring for us in love according to God. Though we may not agree with or like the things coming our way or happening to us, we just love You! You are touched with the feeling of our weakness, and You understand us thoroughly. We open to You, Lord, and we open to Your loving care. We believe that Your care for us as the High Priest is always positive. We believe that all things are working for good toward us, for we love You and are called according to Your purpose. Keep us coming to You concerning all things. Keep us opening to You concerning our needs. Oh Lord, forgive us for complaining to You about our situation. Forgive us for fighting back or resisting You in Your care for us and Your arrangement for us. Save us from being stumbled by the way You deal with us and care for us. Oh Lord, You know the reason that things happen to us. We trust in You, our great High Priest. We trust that Your care for us is always positive. We love You!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by brother Ron Kangas in the message for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Luke, pp. 658-661, by Witness Lee, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Laboring on the All-inclusive Christ Typified by the Good land for the Building up of the Church as the Body of Christ, for the Reality and the Manifestation of the Kingdom, and for the Bride to make Herself Ready for the Lord’s Coming (2023 Winter Training), week 7, entitled, Knowing the Ascension.
- Similar articles on this topic:
– Two Vital Means to Effective Prayer—the Blood and the Name of Jesus, via, Holding to Truth in love.
– The New Testament Priesthood, via, AgeTurners.
– The ministry of Christ in His ascension, article via, Affirmation and Critique.
– The Merciful and Faithful High Priest Brings Us Forward to New Jerusalem, via, New Jerusalem blog.
– Responding to the Intercession of Christ as the High Priest in His Heavenly Ministry, outline via, North America Chinese-speaking work.
– Jesus Truly Cares and Fully Understands, via, Bibles for America blog.
– The great High Priest, a portion from, The Experience and Growth in Life, Chapter 10, by Witness Lee.
– Christ, the Cross, and the Church, via, Shepherding Words.
– Melchizedek and the Royal Priesthood, via, Living to Him.
– The Lord Jesus being our High Priest, a portion from, Gospel of God, The (2 volume set), Chapter 16, by Watchman Nee.
– He understands you thoroughly, a new hymn via, Hymnal.net. - Hymns on this topic:
– Thou art the Priest from us to God, / The holy Priest for us, / Like Aaron called of God from men, / For us Thou servest thus. / In love Thou bearest us to God, / The great High Priest to serve; / With love Thou intercedest there / And dost with strength preserve. / Thou art the Priest from God to us, / The royal Priest of God; / Like Salem’s King, Melchisedec, / The minister of God. / With bread and wine Thou cam’st from God / To us in time of need; / Thou cam’st with God that we in Him / Might fully share indeed. (Hymns #193 stanzas 4-5)
– The great high priestly robe He wears, / For every church He fully cares: / He trims the lamp, the oil supplies; / He makes them burn, flames in His eyes. / A golden girdle on His breast— / His work is done, and from His rest / He unto all the churches pours / Himself in love, the treasure store. (Hymns #1184 stanzas 3-4)
– Our Lord was constituted priest / To be a real life-giver; / Life is the nature of this One / Who can from self deliver: / His life is indestructible, / By it He saves us to the full: / Praise God, He’s fully able! / His life is fully qualified / To bring us through to glory; / Were it not for His tested life,v’Twould be another story / His life was fully tried on earth, / To crucifixion from His birth: / He passed through death and Hades. (Hymns #1130 stanzas 3-4)
About aGodMan
Life-study of Luke, second edition, pp. 658-661, by Witness Lee, second edition, pp. 658-661
Gospel of God, The (2 volume set), Chapter 16, by Watchman Nee
Dear brother, we have a great High Priest who can be touched with the feeling of our weaknesses; He did not sin, but He was tempted in all respects like us.
He is in ascension caring for us, and His care as the High Priest is always positive.
To the universe, He is the Administrator, but to us, He is the High Priest caring for us in love and ministering life to us.
May we open to Him and thank Him for His care for us, even when this involves us losing or having things not go our way.
Aaaaameeen! Aaaaameeen brother!
Praise the Lord who in His ascension is our High Priest who cares for all our needs and sympathizes with our weaknesses!
Oh, He’s interceding in the heavens for the churches and moving in the churches to care for them! Hallelujah!
Amen!
We open to You, Lord Jesus!
We thank You for Your care for the body in Your heavenly ministry!
Having therefore a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast the confession. Heb. 3:14
Praise the Lord! 😃🙌🙋🏼
https://youtu.be/GBi-HGbqtKI?si=MVushKl7Ha3ihfwB
https://youtu.be/yS0ivLbkYXk?si=R9SuaqyuMwfxnEyQ
In ascension, our Christ is the great HP who is taking care of all our needs, and He is also the Administrator over the whole universe.
He knows our every need and He is bearing us, holding us and taking care of us.
He allows situations & circumstances that are the best for us — even if we don’t always feel that way.
Such a wonderful person…in my morning today with Him has been so sweet.
It’s an honour to be a slave of Christ.
We have such a great High Priest who, having passed through the heavens in ascension, appears before the face of God for us.
He is both interceding for us and caring for us in the churches, trimming the wicks and dressing the lamps so that they may shine brighter.
As such a one He knows what is best for us.
We may not understand how things turn out regarding our possessions or our children but the Lord knows what is good for us according to His administration.
Praise the Lord, dear brother.
What a wonderful High Priest we have. We do not know what is good for us, but the Lord knows. He knows what is needed for our life on earth. Hallelujah.
Enjoy your day in Him. Jesus Christ is Lord. Amen.
Notes from the Recovery Version Bible
Listen to the audio version of this article via,
Youtube:
https://youtu.be/YLDNyxhzep4
Rumble:
https://rumble.com/v4uapn6-christ-is-our-high-priest-caring-for-us-in-love.html
Amen! Thank You Lord for Your intercession and care for us according to Your will and purpose!
Amen, yes, Lord,we thank you for caring for us as our high priest and taking care us in love.
05/10/24 Knowing the Ascension (Week 7, Day 5)
Hebrews 4:14 says, “Having therefore a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast the confession.” Christ was sent from God to us through incarnation to be our Apostle. Then He went back from us to God through resurrection and ascension to be our High Priest to bear us in the presence of God and to care for all our needs.
The main function of Christ as the believers’ High Priest is to minister God into them. We need our High Priest to minister God into us. We should forget our environment, weaknesses, troubles, and even ourselves and remember that Christ is our High Priest ministering to us.
According to the Old Testament, whenever the high priest went into the presence of God in the Holy of Holies, he bore upon his shoulders two onyx stones in which were engraved the names of the children of Israel (Exo 28:9-12). He also wore the breastplate in which were set twelve precious stones engraved with the names of the children of [606] Israel (Exo 28:15-30). This signified that the people were on the shoulder and breast of the high priest. Now Christ, our High Priest in the Holy of Holies in the heavens, bears us before God. As He bears us in the presence of God, He ministers God into our being.
According to Hebrews 4:14, Christ is a great High Priest. The word “great” here means excellent, wonderful, glorious, most honorable. Christ today is an excellent, wonderful, glorious, and most honorable High Priest. As such a great High Priest, He is great in His person, for He is both the Son of God and the Son of man. He is also great in His work and attainment. His attainment is so high that He has entered into the Holy of Holies in the heavens and has been crowned with glory and honor (Heb 6:19; 9:24; 2:9).
Hebrews 4:15 continues to say, “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot be touched with the feeling of our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all respects like us, yet without sin.” This verse indicates that, as our High Priest, Christ has been tried in all respects like us but without sin. Because He has been tried, He is qualified and able to help us who are being tried (Heb 2:18). Because He suffered trials without being touched by sin, He is equipped to help us pass through trials and to keep us from any entanglement of sin.
Furthermore, as the One who has been tried in all respects like us, our High Priest, Christ, is able to sympathize with our weaknesses. He is easily touched with the feeling of our weaknesses and quickly enters into a fellow-suffering with us. Whatever happens to us and whatever suffering we may have, He feels it with us and sympathizes with us.
More concerning Christ as the believers’ High Priest is revealed in Hebrews 7. Christ’s priesthood is divine. For Him to be divine is a matter of constituent, a matter of His having the necessary, basic element that constitutes Him our High Priest. Christ’s divinity constitutes Him a High Priest who is living and full of life so that He may be able to continue His priesthood perpetually.
With Christ as the divine High Priest there is no death, for He has conquered, subdued, and swallowed death. Wherever He is, there is life. Having passed through incarnation, human living, crucifixion, and resurrection, Christ is fully equipped and qualified to be our High Priest. In this High Priest there is not only no sin but absolutely no death. Death has been completely swallowed up by His divine life.
Christ has not been constituted the High Priest according to the law of letters but according to the power of an indestructible life (Heb 7:16). Therefore, as our High Priest Christ takes care of us with His indestructible life. In His indestructible, eternal life we participate and enjoy Him as our High Priest.
Hebrews 7:25 tells us that our High Priest is able to save us to the uttermost. The Greek word translated “uttermost” also means completely, entirely, perfectly, for all time and eternity and to the end. Because Christ lives forever, He is able to save us to the uttermost in extent, time, and space.
Hebrews 7:25 indicates that Christ is able to save us to the uttermost because He is always living to intercede for us. As our High Priest, Christ undertakes our case by interceding for us. He appears before God on our behalf, praying for us that we may be saved and brought fully into God’s eternal purpose. He intercedes for us constantly, knowing how easy it is for us to fall and, once we have fallen, to remain in our fallen state. Truly we are saved by His intercession. God has appointed Christ to take care of us, and He is now caring for us by interceding for us. He is interceding for us, and He will save us to the uttermost.
Hebrews 7:26 says, “Such a High Priest befits us, holy, guileless, undefiled, separated from sinners, and become higher than the heavens.” As the One who is holy, guileless, undefiled, and separated from sinners, Christ is the perfect One, and He surely befits us. Moreover, in His ascension He has passed through the heavens. Now He is not only in heaven but is also higher than the heavens, far above all the heavens (Eph 4:10). Because our High Priest is higher than the heavens, He is able to rescue us and save us to the uttermost.
A song that really matches and strengthens the message of this article is, He Understands You Thoroughly via, https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/ns/210
1. He understands you thoroughly;
There’s nothing He does not know.
All your problems and weaknesses
Don’t say it isn’t so!
He’s your Helper, sympathizing.
He’s the Spirit. Don’t neglect Him.
He’s praying for you
And sustaining you.
2. He gives support and comforts you,
Interceding night and day.
And when you’re weak He groans for you
With words you cannot say.
He’s the Spirit, interceding.
He’s the Spirit. Don’t neglect this
Wonderful One,
Who is praying for you.
3. So many times we are so weak,
But Someone deep within
Supplies the very help we need,
And we’re upheld by Him.
He says, “Don’t be disappointed.”
He knows all your fears and failures;
He’s praying for you
As no one else can do.
Sing along via,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98FX3YKwpb4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mQ8AMjwbMI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7WbctH5Dt8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F121Y1XcXM4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFosV3I44ys
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=is-21-kK8d0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfTvPZzrU8c
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSVbbnof-08
[HWMR-Week 7 Day 5]
Ameeen!!!
Praise the Lord, our great, merciful, and faithful High Priest!!!
Amen, Lord Jesus, we thank you for your care for us.