Therefore ….. let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:1-2 NKJV

Praise Jesus for His faithful obedience, for going to the cross for you, and for His continued intercession as our Great High Priest in the Order of Melchizedek (Note).

Note: Melchizedek was king of the city of Salem and also a priest of the Most High God (Genesis 14). He blessed Abraham who had just returned from winning a major battle. Abraham acknowledged Melchizedek’s priesthood by accepting the blessing, and through his giving him a tenth of everything he had taken in battle. This, and Melchizedek’s appearance without recorded genealogy or stated beginning and end indicates that Melchizedek is an archetype, signifying an eternal, sovereign authority. This represents a priesthood before the Leviticus order was ordained. Hebrews 7 tells us that Melchizedek remains a priest forever. All of the Levitical priests died and thus were not priests forever, nor did the Levitical order itself continue. God’s Word tells us that the Messiah is “a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek” (Psalm 110:4, Hebrews 5-7). Whether Melchizedek was a literal human king used by God as a perfect instrument, or the pre-incarnate Christ, the result remains the same. He is the objective mirror against which the Levitical priesthood is found lacking, and by which the Messianic priesthood is established as the final permanent reality.