What is the purpose of Jesus interceding for us in heaven?

It is sometimes said, this means His appearing for us on the question of sin. It is nothing of the kind. Intercession is going and addressing yourself to a person, on behalf of another, to get anything you want for that one. It is the same word in Romans 8:26 and 34; the Spirit works in our hearts, but He does not appear anywhere for us. But Christ is standing in the presence of God, and He is the One who is actively engaged in obtaining for us all that we need. It is not that we go to Him, but that He goes to God for us. He is our righteousness there, He has made propitiation, and therefore He can use the grace that is in God, according to His knowledge of all that is in God, and of our weakness too, to bring down to us complete and needed grace. That is the place He is in, and He ever liveth to carry on this constant service on our behalf. He is our servant in that way.

Our Lord in the glory as our great High Priest is deeply concerned about our need. He is constantly saving us from the ten thousand difficulties and perplexities which cross our path. In this way He saves us to the uttermost, or right on to the end. Having saved our souls, saved us from the wrath to come, He saves us day by day from the things of men, and Satan, and the world, which sometimes threaten to swallow us up. For this, too, He is ever living to intercede for us. His intercession then as our High Priest is not about our sins, but about our need. We are therefore enjoined to "come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." (Heb. 4:16.)

Oh how precious is the fact that Jesus, having saved us from the wrath to come by the blood of the cross, is now pleading for us in heaven about our present need! As the Captain of our salvation, He is leading us on our way, and, unlike other captains, has actually gone before His soldiers to break down every impediment for them, and now as our great High Priest ever intercedes for us with God. He never forsakes, never forgets us, never slumbers nor sleeps, but is always active on our behalf, ever merciful and faithful, ever living to make intercession for them that come unto God by Him. He will thus carry us through every difficulty thrown in our way by men and Satan, and bring us off more than conquerors through Him that loved us.

From whichever way we view the ways and counsels of God, whether for His own glory, the blessing of men, or the overthrow of all evil, we see that the exaltation of Christ is a necessity. Take these ways of God on their most simple and elementary ground; that of our blessing. The answer to the challenge, "Who can lay anything to the charge of God's elect?" is "It is God that justifies." But everything that He does must be according to eternal justice, and how can He justify the ungodly? The answer is "It is Christ that died"; by His death a full expiation was made for all our offences. But how do we know that? "Yea, rather, that is risen again." His resurrection is God's seal upon the value of His death; the proof that the price paid in it was sufficient. Had it not been, death would have held Him as its prey for ever and even the power of God could not have raised Him. But there is more than resurrection. "Who is even at the right hand of God." His exaltation is the declaration of God's entire satisfaction and delight in His work which He accomplished for us. The believer's Substitute and Representative is at the right hand of God. Could He have been there if one sin had remained on Him? Impossible! Yet on the cross He was delivered for our offences; there He was made sin for us; there the Lord laid upon Him the iniquities of us all. Nothing else like His exaltation to the Father's right hand could prove how completely He has borne away "sin's heavy load" for us. The devil himself could not prevent that exaltation and can say nothing against it, and consequently he cannot bring any charge against us for whom Christ suffered and died. But further, "Who also makes intercession for us." If He died and rose again for our justification, He lives and intercedes for us that we might live as justified people.

It is not said, as supposed, Christ is able to save us from our sin, because He ever lives. But He carries through all the snares, difficulties, dangers of the way, and Satan's power - restoring our souls if we have failed; grace to help in time of need, as well as restoration - because He ever lives to make intercession for us, is on high immutably to carry on our cause. For we go through the conflict of good and evil, and have to overcome, though nothing is imputed and we are sure to be kept to the end; but we need to be kept. He will deliver us from every evil work and preserve us to His heavenly kingdom, but we must be delivered.

Another contrast is brought before us in verses 23 and 24. Aaron and his descendants exercised their office one after the other and died. The Lord Jesus abides for ever and consequently His priesthood is unchangeable, that is, it never has to be transmitted to another. The happy result which flows from this is stated in verse 25. Those that avail themselves of His priestly services, coming to God by Him, are saved "to the uttermost," or, "completely," because He always lives to make intercession for them. The salvation here spoken of is that daily, momentary salvation from every adverse power, which every believer needs all the way home to glory.

Connected with this we have another passage: "He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them" (Heb. 7:25). Though here we have the Priest, yet it is in connection with the intercession of which the golden altar speaks. His people are contemplated as in the wilderness, subject to every form of temptation, trial, or assault of Satan; but "He is able," His power is complete, therefore He saves "to the uttermost," completely, to the last step of the wilderness trial, them that come to God by Him. "To the uttermost" does not mean the depths in which the vilest of sinners may be — precious fact as that is — but completely, to the end, no matter what the future may have in store for us. Thus the altar of incense, speaking as it does of the glory of Christ, is also a pledge of His people's eternal security. Significantly their praises are connected with this.

"Wherefore He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come 'unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them." We may observe here how vitally the perpetuity of our salvation is bound together with the perpetuity of His Priesthood. This is salvation in its fullest and all-inclusive character, not simply the initial salvation of the soul, nor present salvation from the evils and pitfalls that beset the Christian path; but both of these, beside future salvation out of this world and for eternal glory. Blessed fulness indeed, and dependent utterly upon Him who "ever liveth to make intercession." Does this mean eternally dependent? Indeed so: and we should not want it to be otherwise, for it is dependence upon One eternally dependable.

Verse 25. "He is able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him." We do not come to Him (the Priest), but He goes to God for us, and we go to God by Him. As Lord, we came to Him; but as Priest, not. He intercedes, and brings us back when we have failed. He is watching always - thinking of us when we are not thinking of Him.

Verse 26. "For such an High Priest became us," etc. Why this? It became us! The Jews had worship on earth; we go higher than the heavens. Our priest is there, on the right hand of God. That stamps the character of our worship. "Higher than the heavens" is the place of our worship. In the fullest sense He sanctified Himself (John 17) when He went up on high. Instead of a priest joined with us in the place of sin or its consequences (which could not be - He was holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners, but bore the sin on the cross) He is taking our hearts out of the present world to the scene where He is. The thing that fits Christ for the exercise of His priesthood is, that He can take me where sin is not. He has borne my sins. Sin was not put away under the Jewish service; but such is not the character of our relationship with God. We are dead - dead to sin; you cannot connect it with your place on earth. He is gone "higher than the heavens." We have no other connection with God than that in Christ, out of the flesh (not physically, of course, for we have the treasure in earthen vessels). Christ made "higher than the heavens" "became us." There is a great deal in the world that is undermining this. Men say we are not dead to sin, and are associating themselves, not dead, with Christ. This is all false. If not dead, I have no associations with Christ at all. The veil is rent, sin is put away - sin in the flesh is condemned - we are dead. I see more and more daily of the danger and conflict there is in connection with this, and the effort to bring our association with Christ down to flesh. He is risen. We have association with Christ in heaven. Our citizenship is there. Most blessed comfort for us it is, that all I have to go through here, Christ has gone through. He passed through all, "tempted like as we are, without sin." "He ever liveth to make intercession for us," while our hearts are associated with Him through the power of the Holy Ghost.

Let us not leave verse 25 without noticing that in it believers are described as those "that come to God by Him." It is a very prominent thought in this epistle that the Christian has boldness and liberty to come to God, whereas in the former dispensation all true access to God was forbidden. These words also indicate that the great objective in all Christ's priestly service is to bring us to God, and to maintain us there. On the one hand there is no access to God save BY HIM. On the other, all His compassionate service on our behalf, sympathizing, succouring, saving, is a means to an end. The end being this, that thereby lifted above the things that otherwise would overwhelm us, we might be maintained in the presence of God.

But He is also the Advocate “If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (1 John 2:1). The high Priest has to do with our infirmities, succouring, sustaining sympathizing. The Advocate has to do with the believer when he sins. There can be no sympathizing with sin. But if the believer sins, how touching it is that we are not given up by the Lord. On the contrary He is active for our recovery. Surely it is the ministry of our Lord so dealing with the sinning saint that repentance takes place, and confession is made, and full restoration to communion with the Father is effected. It is not a question of the sinner and God, but of a saint and the Father, not for the obtaining of salvation, but for the restoration of communion. The principle is seen in Psalm 51:1—“Restore to me the joy of Thy salvation”—not restore to me Thy salvation, but “the joy of Thy salvation.” It may be discipline may come in to this end.