Concerning the sacrifice and intercession of Christ as our High Priest:

(This is an appendix from my up coming book: The Divine Decrees.  Please get the book to know more!)

          I have taken the time in the first two chapters of this appendix to summarize what John Owens wrote in his book The Death of Death in the Death of Christ.  Along with scriptural support and the help of both Edwards and Owens, I hope most people will have no reason to reject this teaching of particular atonement.

          Although Owens approaches atonement from a different angle than Edwards, still both their arguments have similar points.  Both writers come from the perspective that God wanted to have a specific end produced so that what He most desired to happen would be accomplished.  Thus, God, from all eternity, intended to save a specific amount of people, whom He deemed would  produce the greatest amount of good.  If God did not accomplish this end in saving the exact amount of people He intended from the beginning, then I ask, why pray for God to help you if He can't help Himself?

Chapter 1: *

The Father and Son's foreordained convent and the infallible end they set out to accomplish:

Isaiah 53:11-12,  "By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities. And He bore the sin of many, And made intercession for the transgressors."

         The chief Author of the whole creation and of our great salvation is the eternal blessed Trinity.  The Father delighted in the Son and in the Holy Spirit as They planned out, from a past eternity, the entire creation and the end designed for it.  It had been in our Great God, from a past eternity, to glorify the attributes of His Love, Wisdom, Mercy, Justice, and Holiness.  All creation was brought into being above all things for God's Glory and Worth to be perfectly displayed in an infinitely glorious manifestation.

        1.) God the Father sent His Son and planned by eternal wisdom this marvelous salvation resulting in His Glory being displayed.  2.) God the Son in His incarnation, death, and resurrection was the actual means by which this was accomplished.  3.) By the power of the Holy Spirit, the Son was conceived and lived on Earth.  The Holy Spirit likewise burns the penetrating and beautiful light of God's glorious gospel in the hearts of believers.  Thus, the Triune God[W1] has in perfect precision accomplished all He has desired.  Just as the Psalmist of old said, "God is in heaven; He does whatever He pleases (Psalm 115:3), "Whatever the LORD pleases, He does, In heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deeps."

         There are two clear acts of the Father in the working of our great redemption. Both of these have been devised from His infinite wisdom and counsel.  First, God  sent His Son.  John 13:20, "Most assuredly, I say to you ... he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me." Romans 3:25, [Jesus] is He "whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood."  The Father loves His elected children, thus He "sent his Son into the world ... that the world through Him might be saved" John 3: 16,17.  The second[W1] act of the Father in this redemption is applying the punishment of ours sins on His Son. Isaiah 53:10, "Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin."

          To see better the office of Christ our High Priest, we must see the agreement and promises given from the Father to the Son.  It is important to listen to those ancient and sacred counsels that They took together.

"You are My Son....  Ask of Me, and I will give You The nations for Your inheritance, And the ends of the earth for Your possession" (Psalm 2:7).

Concerning the Father sending His Son to His Priestly office and the foundation for the salvation of the church given in Christ, He says:

 "Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool / Your people shall be [ready] In the day of Your power  / The LORD has sworn And will not relent /  "You[Christ] are a priest forever/ According to the order of  Melchizedek" (Psalm 110:1,4).

          God "appointed" His Son Christ to be "heir of all things," Hebrews 1:2.  Likewise the Father "appointed him" over "His whole house" as our "High Priest" (Hebrews 3:1-6). (See also Acts 10:42; 1 Peter 1:20; and Romans 1:4)  All this was part of God's determined will and counsel "before the foundation of the world"(Eph. 1:4).  This was done so that the proposed end for which God desired would fully and irrevocably be done.  Our God does all He wishes. Psalm 135:6: "Whatever the LORD pleases He does, In heaven and in earth."  Job 23:13: "And whatever His soul desires, that He does."  All wise beings in order to have complete happiness pre-plan and then follow through with this plan.  The result is that they will have the original proposed end that they knew would bring them the most pleasure in the future, which is why 1 Peter 1:20 says that "He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world."   The foreordaining of the Son for bringing about redemption was done so that God might absolutely have a glorious church with Him forever.  This was done with the ultimate aim above all things for the "Glory of God."  This becomes evident as Philippians 2:1 declares "that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."  Furthermore, Christ, being the chief person of the work of salvation, declares openly the chief aim of redemption, "Father, Glorify Your Name" (John 12:27-28).

            Lets us, therefore, marvel at the divine wisdom involved in the inauguration of Christ to His office by the Father.  Isaiah 49:6, "Indeed He says, 'It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob, And to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also give [send] You as a light to the Gentiles, That You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth."

             The decree of the Father inaugurating His Son for the purposed end is a dual promise.  The first promise is the Father giving His Son for His church as a mediator, king, and Priest, for Genesis 3:15 says the following concerning this irrevocable promise: "The seed of woman shall break the serpent's head."  Also, "the scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, till Shiloh [the one to whom it belongs] come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be" (Genesis 49:10).  The second promise is the Father giving the guarantee and pledge of His Son's triumph.  This consists of the mediator office of Christ, especially with all its good being inevitably bestowed on His beloved church without fail.  The promise given in Isaiah 49:6 from the Father to His Son (before the creation of the world) is then confirmed and set in motion with Abraham: "I will bless... And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed" (Genesis 12:3).

           Isaiah 50:7, " For the Lord GOD will help Me; Therefore I will not be disgraced; Therefore I have set My face like a flint, And I know that I will not be ashamed. He is near who justifies Me; Who will contend with Me? Let us stand together. Who is My adversary? Let him come near Me.  Surely the Lord GOD will help Me."

            Therefore, it is with this confidence in His Father's promises and covenant to Him that He "committed Himself to Him that Judges righteously" 1 Peter 2:23.  It was this assurance that Jesus Christ was went as a "lamb to the slaughter."  Therefore, what was the ground of His confidence regarding the triumph of this great redemption in relation to His great undertaking and suffering and of the proposed end being successful? It was in the Father's covenant and treaty of "love" to Him.  Jesus Christ testifies of the Father's promise to Him:

"I will put My trust in Him"

"Here am I and the children whom God has given Me"

(Hebrews 2:13; Isaiah 8:18).

         Again, the confidence of Jesus Christ was in His Father's promise that the success of the purposed end would be accomplished.  All of this was in the Father's covenant to Him.

        Isaiah 49:6, "Indeed He says, 'It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob, And to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles, That You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth

        Isaiah 53:10-12, "Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, And the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand....  By His knowledge, My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities.... He bore the sin of many, And made intercession for the transgressors."

        Therefore, the question must be asked, "What was this end that our beloved Savoir wanted to come to the children whom the Father gave Him?" Our Savoir wanted none other than our salvation:

          John 17:24, "Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world."

            What did our Savoir endure to see to this end for which He wanted so badly to happen?  This end was that all the good He intended to come to His children would be successful, without fail! First, we were under a curse; therefore, "Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us," Galatians 3:13.  Second, we were people bound and lost in sin; therefore, "the [Father] made [Christ] who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Corinthians 5:21).  Likewise, we were in our natural state darkness itself, "without hope"; therefore, (Ephesians 2:13) "now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ," and (Ephesians 5:8) " you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord." (Colossians 1:13) "The [Father] has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins."  Thirdly, we were sons of the Devil and of disobedience; therefore, "God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons"  (Galatians 4:4-5), and " [The Father] in love having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will"(Ephesians 1:5).  (See also 1 John 3:8.)

            The aim of the Father and the Son in Their pre-creation covenant was the actual achievement, not just the intention of bringing in sons and daughters to be with Them forever.  When Christ died for us, He did not only aim for our good but directly died in our place.  The sacrificing of the lamb by the high priest in the Old Testament did not merely aim at appeasing God's anger of the people.  Instead, it reliably appeased God's anger, because the lamb died in their place.  Moreover, in hope the people looked for in faith the promised future sacrifice that would eternally pacify God's anger.  The act of the high priest in the sacrificing and interceding did not merely bring the possibly of temporarily appeasing God's anger of the people, but directly took the punishment of the people as the animal died in their place.  Not one time is there recorded in the Old Testament of a High Priest, when faithfully and righteously serving his office, after following the law with the sacrificing and intercession, that it turned out unsuccessful in appeasing the Lord's anger.  How unnatural then to say that God heard these sinners and that Christ was unsuccessful in His request that everyone whom He died for would infallibly be with Him.

      Psalm 130:3, "If You, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?"

Isaiah 53:6, "All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all."

         Therefore, Jesus Christ, being appointed to High Priest by the Father, suffered and was a direct substitute for all the sins of the elect.  "If [not], why then, are not all [mankind] freed from the punishment of all their sins?  You will say, Because of their unbelief, they will not believe."  But this unbelief, is it a sin or not? [John 16:9, "sin, because they do not believe in Me]   If [unbelief is] not [a sin], why should they be punished for it?  If it be, then Christ underwent the punishment [as the substitution lamb] due to it.  If [Christ did die for the sin of unbelief], then why must that hinder them more than their other sins for which He died, from partaking of the fruit of his [substitution] death?  If He did not [die for the sin of unbelief], then did He not die for All their sins? Let them choose which part they will." *

Chapter 2:

Concerning Christ's part in His voluntary act of High Priest:

NIV Hebrews 10:7

"Then I said, 'Here I am.... I [Christ] have come to do your will, O God."

Psalm 40:6-8,

"Sacrifice and offering You did not desire; My ears You have opened. Burnt offering and sin offering You did not require. Then I[Christ] said, "Behold, I come; In the scroll of the book it is written of me. I delight to do Your will, O my God, And Your law is within my heart."

         There are many, many statements in the New Testament concerning Christ Himself, which are only pertinent and intelligible in the light of His having acted in fulfillment of a covenant agreement with the Father.  For example, in Luke 22:22 we find Him saying, "And truly the Son of man goes as it was determined:" "determined" when and where but in the everlasting covenant!  Plainer still is the language in John 6:38,39: "For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me: and this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day."  Three things are there to be seen: (1) Christ had received a certain charge or commission from the Father; (2) He had solemnly engaged and undertaken to execute that charge; (3) The end contemplated in that arrangement was not merely the announcement of spiritual blessings, but the actual bestowal of them upon all who had been given to Him.

           Again, from John 10:16 it is evident that a specific charge had been laid upon Christ. Referring to His elect scattered among the Gentiles He did not say "them also I will bring," but "them also I must bring."  In His high priestly prayer we hear Him saying, "Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me, be with me, where I am" (John 17:24).  There Christ was claiming something that was due Him on account of or in return for the work He had done (v. 4).  This clearly presupposes both an arrangement and a promise on the part of the Father.  It was the surety putting in His claim.  Now a claim necessarily implies a preceding promise annexed to a condition to be performed by the party to whom the promise is made, which gives a right to demand the reward.  This is one reason why Christ, immediately afterward, addressed God as righteous Father, appealing to His faithfulness in the agreement. (A.W. Pink, The Everlasting Covenant)

          Our representative Jesus Christ accomplished the saving of the church.  The Father deemed all other ways as lacking.  Therefore, what was the response of the Lord Jesus Christ to this work given to Him by His Father?  "Behold ... I delight to do your will," Psalm 40:8.  Christ with His love and voluntary sacrifice took up the office of High Priest to redeem for Himself and His Father a Glorious church.  This office of being a mediator and High priest was forged of three parts: (1) the incarnation in becoming one of us, (2) His suffering as being the eternal Passover lamb, and (3) His intersession as a High Priest in the Holy of Holies.

Psalm 2:8:

"Ask of Me, and I will give You The nations for Your inheritance, And the ends of the earth for Your possession."

This absolute promise was given to Christ by the Father concerning Their eternal counsels in saving a glorious Church.  Christ responses in Psalm 40:6-8: "I delight to do your will."

Hebrews 9:15-27:

15. And for this reason, He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, ... that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.

16. For where there is a testament [Will or Covenant], there must also of necessity be the death of the testator [the person who the will belonged to.

17. For a testament [Will] is in force after men are dead, since it has no power at all while the testator lives.

18. Therefore, not even the first covenant was dedicated without blood.

24. For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us;

25. Not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another --

26. He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.

28. So, Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many.

          Here in Hebrews 9:15-17 we are told that Christ had a will or last testament.  It was addressed to the Father and was to be implemented after He died, as do all wills.    Therefore, Christ did give a response to the Father's question, "Ask of me, and I will give you the nations."   It was written in His will, His last testament.  It was written in the everlasting covenant of grace contracted between Him and His Father.

        Therefore, Christ our High Priest died for the children whom God gave Him.  The Father and the Son entered in a covenant of Love, which had a specific end for which they aimed.  The Father asked and the Son replied in His will and testament whom He waned to be with Him forever beholding His Glory.  It is in light of this "Will" given by Christ (verse 24), who "appeared in the presence of God for us," for whom He did this suffering and intersession: "To bear the sins of many" (Ver. 28).

               If Christ in the fulfillment as our High Priest died and then interceded for all, then surly the entire world would be in Heaven, right?  For Christ says, "You [Father] always hear Me."  If Christ did pray for all mankind to be saved and they are not, then 1 Corinthians 13:8 is wrong. In this light love did fail.  If the Son interceded for all in the presence of God the Father, in the throne room of heaven, and the Father  denies this request, it must for two reasons: (1) The Father does not love the Son enough to grant this intercession, or (2) for lack of power and wisdom, the Almighty Father cannot Grant His Son's request.  This is ridiculous, for God "does all He pleases" and the Father "always" hears Christ.

         The intercession of Christ is His appearing to God for us where He demonstrates His scarred body in God's presence.  He does this until His prior suffering has its full success, when all the children God gave Him are before Him face to face for, "He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them" (Hebrew 7:25), and "Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us"(Hebrews 11:9).

         Therefore, all the saints who are in heaven are the "many" which the Father gave His Son before time began.  John 17:24: "Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am."  Notice Christ did not "desire" or intercede for the mere possibility but interceded to the Father that all those of whom the Father gave Him would be with Him absolutely.

           The blood stained cross of Christ being the foundation for His intercession produced every possible good, by merit of completing His assignment, to the ones the Father gave Him.  The sacrificing and intercession of Christ are one entire means for producing the same end.  For without blood shed, there is no forgiveness of sins.  Thus, through His suffering, Christ interceded for all their good His blood purchased.  The outcome in prevailing in His intersession (for the Father always Hears the Son) is that everyone for whom Jesus Christ died will infallibly receive the good, which the Father and Christ aimed at giving them before the world began, without one failure or person falling through cracks.

*The first two chapters of this appendix are a close following from the argument of John Owens in his book titled, " The dDeath of dDeath in the dDeath of Christt", (Ch. 3,4,7), printed by Banner of Truth Trust, 2002.  At timestimes, I follow Hhis reasoning, grammar formatting, and scripture fairly close at other times I do not.  This book of John Owens' is one of the best I have read on the Gospel ,and I hope that I will inspire you to read his book. - Also found in "The works of John Owens, Volume 10", Banner of Truth Trust.

*(John Owens, The Death of Death in the Death of Christ, page 62, printed by Banner of Truth Trust, 2002, P.O. Box 621, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, 17013, U.S. (or) A 3 Murrayfield Road, Edinburgh, EH12 6EL U.K.).