Thoughts On Hebrews - Day 10

                                         Hebrews 4:3-11

And yet his works have been finished since the creation of the world. ⁴ For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: “On the seventh day God rested from all his works.” ⁵ And again in the passage above he says, “They shall never enter my rest.”

⁶ Therefore since it still remains for some to enter that rest, and since those who formerly had the good news proclaimed to them did not go in because of their disobedience, ⁷ God again set a certain day, calling it “Today.” This he did when a long time later he spoke through David, as in the passage already quoted:

“Today, if you hear his voice,
    do not harden your hearts.”

⁸ For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. ⁹ There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; ¹⁰ for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. ¹¹ Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.

 

 

              When we look at the Sabbath, and why the Sabbath, 6 things come to my mind. First, like collecting manna, like tithing, God is saying to believers, "Do you trust me or yourself for the provision of your needs? Do you believe that in 6 days I can give you miraculously what you think you need 7 days to attain? Do you believe I can do with your 90% what you think you need 100% to accomplish?" The Sabbath asks us are you trusting God as your Jehovah Jireh?

 

                Secondly the Sabbath is needed, practically speaking, to recharge our batteries. We weren't built for continual work. Exodus states that slaves, animals, even the land needs a rest and so we show our faith when we say, "I trust that the One who made me, Elohim, knows my body better than me, so I will rest it a day because that's what He says to do."

 

                Third, the Sabbath, when we observe it, is saying to the world, "There are a lot of "gods" out there, but I worship the One who created the Earth in 7 days. Since He rested on the 7th day, so do I." When people entice you to go do things on Sunday and miss church, our obedience that comes from faith should say no - we honor God by keeping His command to imitate Him on resting on the Sabbath.

 

              At this point you might think I am a 7th day Adventist teaching the necessity for observing Saturday worship, but no, the 4th thing about the Sabbath is that Christ fulfilled it, so like the ceremonial, sacrificial, dietary, feast laws that all pointed to Christ, when Christ came He fulfilled the Sabbath. However, the above 3 points are still true so whatever day you pick, it is still necessary for a day of rest. On a side note, in America we have a 5 day work week where there is a built in rest on Saturday or Sunday. Therefore, to pick Wednesday evening, for example, or Saturday evening as your time of worship may lead you to not commemorate and set aside a full day of rest where your thoughts are focusing on God. I relate the Sabbath to Mothers Day. One day a year we set aside a day to honor Mothers and it is their day. We celebrate them. Likewise, one day a week we should honor God. Doesn't he deserve that?

 

            Fifth, Hebrews would say, by observing the Sabbath we are saying, I follow the one true faith that says we rest from works salvation. God has done the work when He sent His Son to die on the cross for our sins so rather than work to get His acceptance (which doesn't work), we rest by faith in what Christ has done for us.

          Lastly, observing the Sabbath, should be a weekly remembrance that this is not our home. We are waiting for a final rest, Heaven, and should redirect our efforts, our focus, and our urgency.If we are not observing a Sabbath, chances are the reason is that we are already living for this earth rather than Heaven and this last point may speak to you more than any of the others.

        Pray about this and see what changes you and your family need to make. You might say, this was for the Jews and we are free from the law so lets celebrate our freedom. Remember, God installed the Sabbath at creation, long before the law. He made it for a purpose. He made it for you. Take advantage of it!

Thoughts on Hebrews - Day 9

                        
                                                  Hebrews 3:16 - 4:3

Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? ¹⁷ And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies perished in the wilderness? ¹⁸ And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed?
¹⁹ So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief. Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. ² For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not share the faith of those who obeyed. ³ Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said,

“So I declared on oath in my anger,
    ‘They shall never enter my rest.’”

          This passage has always stuck out to me as the passage against "saying the prayer" and you are "in". After all, how many people do you know of that went forward at a revival, Billy Graham crusade, Judgement House, VBS, or some evangelistic event, and years later they aren't following the Lord? When I did youth group, I had a number of these kids. In fact studies show that at least 70% of youth group kids will leave the church after graduation. Will we see them all in Heaven, though? This passage says no. It says that the Israelites, though they put blood on the doorposts (trusted in Christ's blood for salvation), went through the Red Sea (were baptized), traveled with the Israelites under the cloud and fire (were part of the youth group), fed on manna (read their Bible) - they never really believed deep down and therefore never made it to the promised land (Heaven). Just like the parable of the wheat and tares, there are Christians and non-Christians coexisting in the Church and we can't tell who is who.

           What is it that demonstrates which are believers, those with faith, and which are unbelievers, those without faith who, although they said the prayer, went forward, got baptized, never were truly saved? Verse 2 says "obedience", those with faith obeyed. We tend to shy away from this because we don't want the grace issue to be confused - every false religion in the world teaches that obedience is the way to salvation. We as Christians know that we obey out of love for God and it honors Him who we are already in a relationship with through salvation. The fact remains that obedience is a big part of the Christian life - we are saved to obey. Paul says in Romans 1:5

"Through him we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith for his name’s sake..."

 It is almost as if we are saved to obey. Why would that be? I would think it is because it glorifies God. To live a life representative of His ways and His morality in a world that values self gratification is a counter-cultural lifestyle where people stop and take note of it. To remain a virgin until marriage is a rarity and dumb-founding to the world. To give up your vacation time to go on a mission trip that you are paying for is shocking. You would not believe the number of medical people that have said they wanted to go with me on a mission trip but when they count that cost, they don't. To drive a run down car so you can support an orphanage is not what the innumerable car commercials are telling you to do. To attend church every week instead of sleeping in or going to the lake is weird to the world around us. To stand up for God when it could cost you your job, position, friends glorifies God as an act of obedience to Him. I was reminded of an incident at an 8th grade Beta convention trip to Nashville where in a hotel room full of 8th grade boys, they came upon a pornographic channel. My son Brett said, "We shouldn't be watching this", and walked out. Another boy followed him. At graduation, 4 years later, the dad of the boy who followed Brett, came up to us and thanked us for raising a boy like Brett because he said his son wouldn't have had the courage to leave the room if not for Brett.

         You see, the world notices obedience and it glorifies God. Obedience is the sign that we have identified with God and left the world behind. Obedience is the sign that we have true, not fake faith. Obedience is the characteristic of wheat not tares. If you are living a life of disobedience then there is a good chance that you are identifying with the Israelites that did not make the promised land.

Thoughts on Hebrews - Day 8

                            Hebrews 3:7-15

And we are his house, if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory.
⁷ So, as the Holy Spirit says:

“Today, if you hear his voice,
⁸     do not harden your hearts
as you did in the rebellion,
    during the time of testing in the wilderness,
⁹ where your ancestors tested and tried me,
    though for forty years they saw what I did.
¹⁰ That is why I was angry with that generation;
    I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray,
    and they have not known my ways.’
¹¹ So I declared on oath in my anger,
    ‘They shall never enter my rest.’ ”

¹² See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. ¹³ But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. ¹⁴ We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end. ¹⁵ As has just been said:

“Today, if you hear his voice,
    do not harden your hearts
    as you did in the rebellion.”

     Here we are, nearly 3 chapters into Hebrews and we already have 13 quotes from verses in the Old Testament. The verses quoted in verses 7-11 and 15 are from Psalms 95, which surprised me because I thought they would be from Moses in Deuteronomy. Anyway, they were attributed to the Holy Spirit which is fascinating because now the writer of Hebrews has attributed the scriptures to Jesus in Chapter 1, God the Father in Chapter 2, and the Holy Spirit in Chapter 3! Surely the Bible is the Word of God and surely there is a trinity. Here is what Psalms 95 says

¹ Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord;
    let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
² Let us come before him with thanksgiving
    and extol him with music and song.

³ For the Lord is the great God,
    the great King above all gods.
⁴ In his hand are the depths of the earth,
    and the mountain peaks belong to him.
⁵ The sea is his, for he made it,
    and his hands formed the dry land.

⁶ Come, let us bow down in worship,
    let us kneel before the Lord our Maker;
⁷ for he is our God
    and we are the people of his pasture,
    the flock under his care.

Today, if only you would hear his voice,
⁸ “Do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah,
    as you did that day at Massah in the wilderness,
⁹ where your ancestors tested me;
    they tried me, though they had seen what I did.
¹⁰ For forty years I was angry with that generation;
    I said, ‘They are a people whose hearts go astray,
    and they have not known my ways.’
¹¹ So I declared on oath in my anger,
    ‘They shall never enter my rest.’”

 The part I highlighted in blue is the part that the author of Hebrews is emphasizing when he is telling the readers that the Israelites saw the plagues, they crossed through the sea, they fed on Manna, drank water from a rock, were led by a pillar of fire and a cloud, saw the glory of God descend and heard His voice from Mt. Sinai - yet they fell away due to unbelief. He is saying, "Don't let that happen to you; only those holding firmly till the end will be saved." The author is warning them that they started out with Jesus and realized the wonders of Him and the salvation the New covenant offers, and now they were drifting back to the Old Covenant which doesn't save. Why would they do that? As I have been studying Exodus and now Hebrews I see some things to watch out for in our lives.

    First, we have to avoid the "what have you done for me lately" mindset. The Israelites lived from trial to trial and each time when God was "slow" they forgot everything He had done in the past and doubted Him. We too can get so weighed down in trials that we forget what God has done for us in the past and doubt Him in the present. David would say, 

          "Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord;

           let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation..."

 Like David, we should be so astounded by our salvation that it consumes our life with worship. At least 3 times in the New Testament when Jesus is asked for a sign that He is who He says He is, points to the sign of Jonah which is symbolic of His death, burial, and three days coming out. If God never did another thing for us, we should only say, "That's OK; He has already done too much." Why didn't the Israelites feel that way? After all they were taken out of Egypt where they were slaves, beaten, their children drowned in the Nile, and Exodus says this about their condition;

The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God. 24 God heard their groaning ...and was concerned about them. The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. 8 So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land... 9 And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. Moses and Aaron brought together all the elders of the Israelites.... And when they heard that the Lord was concerned about them and had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshiped.

It seems that over time they forgot how bad Egypt was. All they could remember is living by the water eating leeks and onions. Do we forget how miserable it was to be in the world, living without hope and being a slave to sin? Yes we do, and because of that we need to remind ourselves daily of our great salvation and remind fellow believers of it. My late brother in law used to say, "Marriage is like 2 flies on a window pane; the one on the inside wants to get out and the one on the outside wants to get in." Ha, human nature - and we need to be aware of it and fight it, not just alone but with fellow brothers and sisters.

           The second thing to watch out for, if we want to continue to the end, is living off of someone else's relationship with God. Notice David says, "For He is OUR God..." Notice the ownership there. The Israelites talked about God as the God of Moses and had no relationship with Him. If you know someone and have a relationship with them and love them and know they care for you, you don't quickly give up on them. I think about our new president how quickly he is done with people. If they let him dow, they are fired. Why is that? Because his relationship with people is totally based on how they can help him - if they don't, they are gone. How many people have that kind of relationship with God - yah, He's great as long as my life is going good but if it isn't He's fired. David reminds us that He is the one who made us - our next breath is dependent on Him. We are dumb sheep and He is the shepherd leading us. David would say, "You have it all wrong; God doesn't exist for you but you exist for and because of Him."

            Today, remind yourself and someone else of your great salvation and your home in Heaven awaiting and remember all the bad things about your previous life without Christ. Also come to grips with the areas in your life which aren't surrendered to the Lordship of Christ. He doesn't live to make you happy, You live to make Him happy. If you get that right, Joy is the result.

Thoughts on Hebrews - Day 7

                                                     Hebrews 3:1-6

Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, whom we acknowledge as our apostle and high priest. ² He was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God’s house. ³ Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself. ⁴ For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything. ⁵ “Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s house,” bearing witness to what would be spoken by God in the future. ⁶ But Christ is faithful as the Son over God’s house. And we are his house, if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory.


         What do you fix your thoughts on? Is it everything in this life or the future life? When is the last time you thought about Jesus or Heaven? It is not surprising that we miss opportunities to share the gospel and miss divine opportunities due to the fact that we weren't thinking about Heaven but rather our job, our schedule, our children, our debts, our broken things we need to get fixed, etc. If we had been thinking about eternal things and this person popped into our space, maybe the opportunity would have been seized and not missed. This is how the greek word from which "fix your thoughts on" is used in approximately all 10 times it appears in the New Testament. It basically means to take your eyes off something, usually yourself, and turn them towards and deeply contemplate on another object.

       Practically speaking, how do we do this because this does seem to be the key to living a life pleasing to God? First of all, the easiest way, the way with no memos etc., is to fall in love with Jesus. I have two children now who are dating and I wouldn't even begin to know if they are in love, but from what I have seen, they don't have to be reminded to contemplate and think deeply about the people they are seeing. In the same way, if Jesus becomes the love of our soul, our minds will automatically go to Him all day long. How we fall in love with Jesus is beyond the scope of this blog but is certainly a lifelong pursuit to be chased after with all we have. Secondly, a morning quiet time will give you words from God to meditate on throughout the day. For example, I've been writing this blog for a week now because I have been contemplating on what it means to "fix my thoughts on Jesus" and how that practically happens for me. Third, place reminders around you that you will see. You could put sticky notes that say "Heb. 3:1" or "FYT's" or write it on your hand, wear a bracelet or band, anything to draw your attention back to Jesus throughout the day. You could set your phone to beep every hour. Back in the day they had watches that beeped every hour and although it annoyed everyone in hearing distance it was a practical tool to remind you to fix your thoughts throughout the day. Lastly, tell friends to keep you accountable and text you throughout the day and vice versa.

       There is a famous book called Practicing His Presence that delves deep into this whole topic so if you want to contemplate more on this vital aspect of the Christian life, I recommend you pick one up or Kindle it.

Thoughts From Hebrews - Day 6

                                                             Heb. 2:14-18

Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— ¹⁵ and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. ¹⁶ For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. ¹⁷ For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. ¹⁸ Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.


       Growing up in a Christian family and living my whole life under the Christian world view, I have a hard time getting into the unbeliever's mind. The Bible tells me lots of things about them that I have to believe are true because the Bible is true, yet I take it by faith because I don't have "insider information". For example, Romans 1 says that nonbelievers know God is true and real but they suppress it and deny it. It goes on to say that they know right from wrong even though they may claim there are no moral absolutes. Paul even goes so far as to say that they know the things that they are doing deserve death, yet they do them and encourage others to. That is some insider information that is hard to fathom because the world sure has suppressed that knowledge to the deepest recesses of their minds as judged by the lifestyles we see today.

     The writer of Hebrews gives us some more insider information that I have an easier time relating to - "their lives are held in slavery by their fear of death." Fear of death is probably the number one fear in this world as evidenced by most polls. As I mentioned last blog, the most successful, if numbers are the bar of success, method of evangelism is to appeal to people's fear of death and promise them Heaven. We have done judgement house at our church and seen huge numbers of conversions as we put people face to face with death and Hell. Of course they choose Heaven and eternal life - who wouldn't! I tend to shy away from this method because it causes self centered conversions, yet as I reflect on my testimony, that's how I was saved. So in chapter 2, the author of Hebrews has referred to salvation as "the world to come" and "freeing those from the fear of death", therefore who am I to say presenting salvation in that way is wrong?

       Knowing that to be the case, coming up with creative ways like Judgement House or Heaven's Gates, Hell's Flames should be pursued. For me, as a doctor, to even mention death would freak my patients out. "Before I operate on you, do you know where you are going if you die?" I'm pretty sure all I would see is the backs of their hospital gowns, which isn't much, as they try to get as far away from me as possible. Also to go up to someone in the mall and say, "Are you afraid of dying?" would probably get security on you in a hurry. However, in proper contexts, this is an appropriate and effective means of evangelism. Our church used the F.A.I.T.H. method which had the diagnostic question, "In your personal opinion, what does it take for a person to get to Heaven?", and I have done E.E. which has the question, "When you stand before the Lord someday and He asks,'Why should I let you into My Heaven?', how would you respond?" We somehow need to lead into that kind of conversation, and certainly not steer away from Hell and judgment from the pulpit since Jesus discussed this a lot.

Thoughts From Hebrews - Day 5

It is not to angels that he has subjected the world to come, about which we are speaking. ⁶ But there is a place where someone has testified:

“What is mankind that you are mindful of them,
    a son of man that you care for him?
⁷ You made them a little lower than the angels;
    you crowned them with glory and honor
⁸     and put everything under their feet.”

In putting everything under them, God left nothing that is not subject to them. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to them. ⁹ But we do see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

¹⁰ In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered. ¹¹ Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters.¹² He says,

“I will declare your name to my brothers and sisters;
    in the assembly I will sing your praises.”

¹³ And again,

“I will put my trust in him.”

And again he says,

“Here am I, and the children God has given me.”


         Once again the author is making his points by using the Old Testament and this time he is attributing, in verses 12 and 13, the words of David in Psalms 22:22 and Isaiah in Isa. 8:17,18, to Jesus as if Jesus said them. He did the same thing in the previous passage only he attributed those verses to God the Father. That tells me 2 things. Number 1, the Old Testament is  inspired by God - the writers are writing God's words. Secondly, that Jesus and the Father are interchangeable - that they are one. The author says God sometimes and he says Jesus sometimes and doesn't see that as a problem because God and Jesus are one.

       So what is Hebrews saying to me this morning? There is very little about Heaven in the Bible probably because we couldn't handle it. We just know it is going to be amazing. Here in Hebrews, the author equates salvation with the world to come - the New Heaven and the New Earth. I am hesitant to do that too much because of the misuse of that. It seems, here in the Bible Belt, everyone gets saved to get their ticket to Heaven. It's like they get their Monopoly card - "Get out of Hell Free, Do not Pass Go"

                       

 

It is so hard to tell people that salvation is a restored relationship with God. When we talk to the people in our classes about the importance of leading their kids to salvation, they actually have said, when their kids got saved and baptized, "Well, that's one, two to go" as if that is it - they are saved and going to Heaven and their job is done with that one. I even know 2 families this summer whose kids got saved and baptized and they haven't been back in Church since.

 

Nonetheless, the author, when referring to salvation tells us about the world to come and it seems we will have positions of leadership or authority where angels and everything else(???) in Heaven will be subject to us. I'm not sure what that means but it does imply that we won't be playing harps and just be singing at Jesus' feet for all eternity but we will have jobs.

 

Secondly, it says we will be made perfect. We were just studying in Exodus 15, the name Jehovah Rapha - the healer who restores us back to the condition we were meant to be. We, in Heaven, will finally be free of the flesh and not want to sin nor be capable of it.

 

Lastly, Jesus will present us to God the Father, as His bride, His Children, His family. He will say, "Here they are - here are my kids - aren't they amazing." It's like our kids bringing their future spouse to meet us and the excitement and love on their faces - Or posing for family pictures to show off what a great family they have. The thing is, we are already children of God and we need to show off for our proud Father. I regret now the sour faces I made or anger at being dressed up to meet people as my parents paraded us to company's or relative's houses. Why wasn't I humble and proud to represent my parents well and give glory to them? What a jerk I was! Well, I can make up for it by giving glory now and representing my Heavenly Father and my firstborn brother as best I can. Let's start showing off today.

Thoughts From Hebrews - Day 4

                                                    Hebrews 2:1-4

We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. ² For since the message spoken through angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, ³ how shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. ⁴ God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.


         The writer of Hebrews is continuing on with the thought from Chapter 1 that if Jesus is far superior to the angels, then it follows that His words, the gospels, the writings that the Hebrew churches are reading and hearing from, are far more to be relied on than the Law which they attributed to angels. Not only that, but since it was very difficult to change from one way of life - offering sacrifices, temple worship, dietary laws, special days, possibly even Sabbath worship - to a life of freedom where Christ has fulfilled all those, God gave them special grace by providing signs, wonders, miracles, and sign gifts to confirm that Christ's new "wineskins" replaced the old. My thought is that since we now have the word of God and we don't need that extra grace or proof, we shouldn't expect the same miracles and signs and wonders that were seen in those days.

      I see several potential pitfalls that the writer of Hebrews is trying to thwart. First the danger of falling back into the Old Testament way of living. Paul noticed the same thing with the Galatians and the whole thrust of that book was to warn them of the chains of the law, the purpose of the law, the fulfillment of the law and the freedom from the law. The writer says, be careful so you don't drift back into that. I see this happening with a friend of mine who was delivered from 7th Day Adventism and even had a Bible verse on his license plate Gal 5 1

"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery."

However after 20 years of going from church to church, trying to find one he fit with, the dietary laws, Sabbath worship, holy days, etc. just sucked him back in because that was his comfort zone. The writer knows of this pull and is warning the people to stand firm and don't drift.

        Another warning is the danger to us of seeking signs and wonders. John Wimber, the founder of the Vineyard Church, which is based on sign gifts, miracles and wonders is known for this

"A professional musician who played the Las Vegas circuit for 5 years, John later signed with the Righteous Brothers. When John was gripped by God in 1963, he was a “beer-guzzling, drug abusing pop musician, who was converted at the age of 29 while chain-smoking his way through a Quaker-led Bible Study.”
He soon became a voracious Bible reader and after weeks of reading about life changing miracles in the Bible and attending boring church services, John asked a lay leader:"
“When do we get to do the stuff?  You know, the stuff here in the Bible; the stuff Jesus did, like healing the sick, raising the dead, healing the blind – stuff like that?”
He was told that they didn’t do that anymore – only what they did in their weekly services. John replied, “You mean I gave up drugs for that?”
 I believe the writer would say that that "stuff" was given to help the Jewish Christians make the transition. If we are still needing that "stuff" we have trust and faith issues.

       Lastly, I found myself almost apologizing at the corn maze last night, for sharing the gospel to people who have heard this from infancy here in the Bible Belt. Really, another salvation message? But I think the author of Hebrews would say that is important to continue to preach it and not ignore it because we all need to hear it over and over again or we might tend to drift, we might tend to forget that the greatest miracle of all is being born again and our transformation. We need to be reminded of our salvation daily, so never apologize for that!

Thoughts From Hebrews - Day 3

                                           Hebrews 1:10-13


For to which of the angels did God ever say,

“You are my Son;
    today I have become your Father”? *a

Or again,

“I will be his Father,
    and he will be my Son”? *b

⁶ And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says,

“Let all God’s angels worship him.”*c

⁷ In speaking of the angels he says,

“He makes his angels spirits,
    and his servants flames of fire.”*d

⁸ But about the Son he says,

“Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever;
    a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom.
⁹ You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;
    therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions
    by anointing you with the oil of joy.”*e

¹⁰ He also says,

“In the beginning, Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth,
    and the heavens are the work of your hands.
¹¹ They will perish, but you remain;
    they will all wear out like a garment.
¹² You will roll them up like a robe;
    like a garment they will be changed.
But you remain the same,
    and your years will never end.”*f

¹³ To which of the angels did God ever say,

“Sit at my right hand
    until I make your enemies
    a footstool for your feet”?*g

 

 

*a Psalm 2:7

*b 2 Samuel 7:14; 1 Chron. 17:13

*c Deut. 32:43 (see Dead Sea Scrolls and Septuagint)

*d Psalm 104:4

*e Psalm 45:6,7

*f Psalm 102:25-27

*g Psalm 110:1

       Although I just talked about verses 5-9, I felt like I had to include them because otherwise verse 10 just starts out "He also says..." and you don't know who the "He" is without the context. Who is that "He"? It is none other than God. God is credited with saying six different things and I listed their references all of which are in the Old Testament because they didn't have the New Testament to quote when Hebrews was being written. The interesting thing is that the writer of Hebrews is attributing these quotes to God even though they were written by David, the sons of Korah, anonymous writers, Moses and possibly Ezra or Nathan. The writer of Hebrews is attributing the Old Testament writings to God. He is in effect saying that even though men wrote it, God was telling them what to say. The Old Testament is the Word of God! And then we discussed that the new words of the prophets are no longer needed because we have the Words of Jesus which validates the gospels to be 100% true (see day 1) Therefore, if the writer of Hebrews can be trusted, we have all but 23 books validated as the inerrant Word of God. We will work on those later.

       So what is he telling us in these verses? First of all that Jesus created the Heavens and the Earth. As I have been wrestling with how to incorporate the gospel into the corn maze that our church is putting on, I keep coming back to the fact that life is a maze. There are many paths saying "this is the way to go", but only one is the correct one. Sure, in a maze it's fun to hit dead ends and turn around, but in real life, the Bible says "There is a path that seems right unto man, but the end is destruction." Picture each of those dead ends as lakes of fire. Suddenly, being on the only right path is a matter of utmost importance. But how do you find that path? What if there was a book that claimed to be 100% true that told which path to take? That might bear some looking into. But even more so, what if the maker of the corn maze, who has also been to the end and come back, would meet you in the maze and say follow me, I know the way. You would be inclined to take His hand and follow Him. All the other paths in life have dead "prophets" who are no help. They have writings that claim to tell the truth but don't claim to be the truth.

       Secondly Jesus is outside of time. As the Earth, which He existed beforehand in order to create it, passes away, He remains. All other founders of religions, all other idols that we live for will pass away but Jesus will live forever. Do you want to live for something that isn't eternal if you have an option to live for someone who gives eternal life and is eternal life?

       Lastly, did you realize Jesus has enemies? You don't think of that because Jesus is meek and mild and loves everyone. But no, it says Jesus' enemies will finally be defeated some day. Who are those enemies? I would say it is everyone that is leading you down the wrong path, every wrong path, and the destruction at the end of those wrong paths. Jesus loves you so much that He came to earth and died for you because He wants you at the end of the maze with Him. That's why He hates every wrong path. Will you by faith take His hand and let Him lead you to eternal life?