Conceiving of a Love, High Priesthood, and Sacrifice in Hebrews
The book of Hebrews does not present us with a maze of rituals or a mere warning against falling away. Rather, it unveils the staggering reality of Christ as our High Priest—the fulfillment of God’s everlasting covenantal love. This is not a secondary doctrine, nor is it a matter of private interpretation. To mishandle the high priesthood of Christ is to undermine the very foundation of justification, inheritance, and sonship. Hebrews calls us to move beyond the elementary, to set aside spiritual dullness and preconceptions, and to lay hold of the mature, covenantal realities that Christ has secured.
From Milk to Meat: The Call to Maturity
The writer of Hebrews confronts us: “You have become dull of hearing” (Hebrews 5:11). This is not a gentle suggestion but a rebuke. Remaining on a diet of spiritual “milk"—the elementary principles—is not a mark of humility but of immaturity. Milk is for those who are content with the basics, who circle endlessly around questions of judgment, repentance, and personal assurance. But the “meat” is the deeper revelation of Christ’s high priesthood, the finished work that brings us into the heart of God’s eternal purpose.
To remain content with milk is to forfeit spiritual maturity. It is to remain in fear, never grasping the profound realities of our access to God, our corporate identity in Christ, and the restoration of our intended value. The mature, those who hunger for meat, are those who move into the fullness of what Christ’s priesthood means: not just forgiveness, but participation in the eternal life and love of God.
The Everlasting Covenant Fulfilled
God’s promise to David’s seed was not a temporary arrangement but an everlasting covenant (2 Samuel 7:12-13; Psalm 110:4). This covenant finds its fulfillment in Christ, who is established as the eternal High Priest—not according to the fading order of Aaron, but after the order of Melchizedek. This is a priesthood grounded in the power of an endless life, not in the weakness of the old covenant. To miss this is to miss the very foundation of our hope.
Christ was not thrust into this office unprepared. He was trained through suffering, learning obedience so that He could become a sympathetic High Priest (Hebrews 5:8). His suffering was not punitive but formative, equipping Him to minister to us with perfect empathy. This is the only priesthood that can truly represent us before God, because it is rooted in God’s own covenantal faithfulness and love.
The Blood of Christ: More Than Atonement
The blood of Christ does not merely deal with sin; it accomplishes God’s original intention for humanity. In Christ, we are restored to the dominion, corporate identity, and eternal life that God purposed from the beginning (Genesis 1:26-28; Ephesians 5:22-33). We are not isolated individuals, but a corporate entity—His body, His bride, joined to Him in an unbreakable union.
To reduce the blood of Christ to a mere solution for guilt is to rob it of its power. It is the means by which we are brought into the feast of God’s love, the Tree of Life that nourishes and sustains us eternally (Genesis 2:9; Revelation 22:2). Here, the value of human life is not measured by performance, but by God’s own eternal love—love that grants immortality and makes us joint heirs with Christ (Romans 8:16-17).
The Feast of God’s Love and the Restoration of Value
God’s love is not a reaction to our need but the very foundation of His dealings with us (1 John 4:8; Ephesians 1:4). In Christ, He has bestowed eternal value on human life, not as a concession but as a fulfillment of His eternal purpose. Christ’s obedience and sacrificial ministry open the way for us to enter the holiest place, to enjoy intimate fellowship with the Father, and to be restored to our intended purpose as sons and heirs (Hebrews 10:19-22).
This is not a theoretical privilege. It is the reality for all who embrace the finished work of Christ. To reject this, to cling to spiritual dullness or to remain fixated on elementary principles, is to forfeit the riches of our inheritance. It is to remain outside the feast, never tasting the fullness of God’s love or the restoration of our value in His eyes.
What Is Lost If We Accept the Error
If we accept a lesser view—if we reduce Christ’s priesthood to mere ritual, or His blood to a temporary fix for guilt—we lose everything that matters. We lose the assurance of justification, the boldness of sonship, the inheritance of eternal life, and the restoration of our corporate identity in Christ. We are left with a religion of striving, fear, and distance from God, rather than the intimate fellowship and dominion He intended.
This is not a secondary issue. To accept the error is to collapse the very logic of the gospel. It is to abandon the finished work for a treadmill of performance, to trade the feast of God’s love for scraps of self-effort. The high priesthood of Christ is the linchpin of the new covenant—remove it, and the entire structure of salvation falls.
The Only Way Forward: Embrace the High Priesthood
The call of Hebrews is urgent and uncompromising: move beyond the milk, lay hold of the meat. Embrace the high priesthood of Christ as the fulfillment of God’s everlasting covenantal love. Here, and only here, do we find spiritual maturity, eternal value, and the restoration of all that was lost. Anything less is not merely inadequate—it is fatal to the gospel itself.
Let us not be found among those who are dull of hearing, content with shadows and preconceptions. Let us press on to maturity, laying hold of the finished work, the eternal priesthood, and the love that restores us to God’s original intention. This is our inheritance, our sonship, and our life.
