Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 131:521 (Jan 1974)
Article: The Blood of Jesus and His Heavenly Priesthood in Hebrews Part IV: The Present Work of Christ in Heaven
Author: Philip Edgcumbe Hughes

BSac 131:521 (Jan 74) p. 26

The Blood of Jesus and His Heavenly Priesthood in Hebrews
Part IV:
The Present Work of Christ in Heaven

Philip Edgcumbe Hughes

[Philip Edgcumbe Hughes, Visiting Professor of New Testament, Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.]

[EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the fourth in a series of articles entitled “The Blood of Jesus and His Heavenly Priesthood in the Epistle to the Hebrews,” which were the W. H. Griffith Thomas Memorial Lectures given by Dr. Philip Edgcumbe Hughes at Dallas Theological Seminary, November 14–17, 1972.]

Representation

“Christ,” says the author of Hebrews, “has entered…into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf” (9:24). There in that sublime sanctuary which is the presence-chamber of God Himself the risen and glorified Savior presents Himself, not to claim benefits for Himself, for He is crowned with glory and honor (2:9), but as our representative and mediator to receive for us the eternal blessings which His atoning death has procured. Yet these blessings are not, so to speak, external to or apart from Himself, for in presenting Himself at the throne of grace He presents also those who through divine grace have been made one with Him. It is the union of believers with Christ that ensures their acceptance before God. The royal favor with which he is received embraces at the same time those who are one with and in Him. As Paul says, God “raised us up with him, and made us sit with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (2:6). The Christian’s whole and only status before God is in Christ. True and wonderful though this is, however, the sphere of the Christian’s existence is still here on earth. He is still beset by temptations; he is hampered by weakness and frustrated by failings; he falls

BSac 131:521 (Jan 74) p. 27

short of “the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ” (Eph 4:13); the perfection for which he longs is not yet. He needs a holiness not his own, made available to him by the Lamb of God who has made atonement for his sins and who now interposes Himself as his representative in the heavenly sanctuary. And this is the representation which Christ fulfills as He appears in the presence of God for us.

In the earthly sanctuary the levitical high priest entered into the holy of holies taking with him the blood of the victim that had been slain at the altar of sacrifice. In himself, this high priest had no more right of entry than did the people for whom he was acting, for he,...