Lord's Day 12 — Wednesday: Christ Our Priest - The One Sacrifice
Lord's Day 12: The Name 'Christ' - Three Offices
Wednesday — Christ Our Priest - The One Sacrifice
The Catechism
Q31. Why is he called 'Christ,' meaning 'anointed'?
Because he has been ordained by God the Father and has been anointed with the Holy Spirit to be our chief prophet and teacher who fully reveals to us the secret counsel and will of God concerning our deliverance; our only high priest who has delivered us by the one sacrifice of his body, and who continually pleads our cause with the Father; and our eternal king who governs us by his Word and Spirit, and who guards and keeps us in the freedom he has won for us.
Q32. But why are you called a Christian?
Because by faith I am a member of Christ and so I share in his anointing. I am anointed to confess his name, to present myself to him as a living sacrifice of thanks, to strive with a free conscience against sin and the devil in this life, and afterward to reign with Christ over all creation for eternity.
Today's Emphasis
As our only High Priest, Christ has delivered us by the one sacrifice of his body. Unlike the Levitical priests who offered repeated sacrifices that could never take away sin, Christ offered himself once for all—a perfect, complete, and unrepeatable atonement.
Scripture Readings
Hebrews 9:11-12
But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.
Hebrews 10:12-14
But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.
1 Peter 3:18
For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit.
From the Reformers
Belgic Confession (Article 21)
"We believe that Jesus Christ is a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek—made such by an oath—and that he presented himself in our name before his Father, to appease his wrath with full satisfaction by offering himself on the tree of the cross and pouring out his precious blood for the cleansing of our sins."
Reflection Questions
• What comfort do you find in knowing that Christ's sacrifice was offered 'once for all' and never needs to be repeated?
• How does the completeness of Christ's priestly sacrifice free you from trying to add your own works to earn God's favor?
Growing in grace through the Catechism — The Hearthside Team 🔥