Author of Salvation

We, as Christians, must align our lives with the belief that Jesus is our Lord and Savior.  Otherwise, the Bible indicates that we are decieving ourselves into thinking that we are followers of Christ and putting Him to an open shame.  Does your life match your belief?  Does mine?

The author of Hebrews in chapter 5 jumps into a discussion of Jesus as a High Priest according to the order of Melchizedek, but pauses for a parenthetical section on those "unskilled in the word of righteousness".  He says that some are babes and still need milk.  He seems to be speaking to the Jews who remain under the Old Covenant.  They are still grasping after the Old Covenant ceremonial washings, sacrifices, and other rituals.  Those who remain in need of "milk" are the Jews who remain under the Old Covenant.  Those who are in need of "solid food" are the Jews who have turned to the great High Priest of the New Covenant (Heb. 5:12-14).  The author says to "lay aside the elementary principles of Christ" (Heb. 6:1).  Lay aside the Old Covenant and come under the New Covenant through the blood of Jesus Christ.  The Jews settled for the shadows and copies that pointed to their Savior Jesus Christ.  He says "let us go on to perfection".  The only way to go on to perfection is through the New Covenant because Jesus has been "perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him" (Heb. 5:9).  The law cannot make perfect (Heb. 7:19), only the blood of Jesus can bring true righteousness to the children of God.

Many of the Jews continued to turn to the Old Covenant because it was more comfortable for them.  They believed that Jesus was the Messiah promised in the Old Testament, but they were not willing to give up their old ways and thus they fell away and stood with the Jews who yelled "Crucify Him, crucify Him".  Are we willing to believe and follow Jesus Christ?  If not, then we continue to scream "crucify Him, crucify Him" and put Jesus to an open shame.  Are we unwilling to give up money, our families, education, addictions or the American dream in order to follow Jesus? If we are not then we are no better than the Jews who continued to turn to the Old Covenant.  Does the way we spend money, the way we talk, relate to our families, our friends, and our co-workers reflect our belief that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior? There is no greater joy than to consider everything as worthless compared to knowing Christ Jesus our Lord (Philippians 3:8).  Let's turn completely to Jesus the "author of eternal salvation". 

Come and Find Rest

The book of Hebrews continues with the theme of the surpassing greatness of Jesus.  He is now said to be greater than Moses (Heb. 3:3).  Moses and the tabernacle built during his time were simply shadows of better things to come, namely Jesus and the true tabernacle in Heaven.  Hebrews 3:4 clearly states that true believers will "hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end".  This is what launches the author into a sermon on the rest and wrath of God.

Jesus said "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28).  Here in Hebrews, the author says that those who harden their hearts will not enter into the rest that God offers through Jesus Christ.  The Israelites chose to turn their confidence and trust away from the living God.  God led them out of slavery in Egypt and then they come to the Red Sea and doubt the faithfulness of God (Exodus 14).  God led them through the Red Sea and into the wilderness.  Then they grumbled and said that they would rather have died in Egypt than in the wilderness (Exodus 16:3).  God continually promised them that they would enter into "rest" in the land of Canaan.  As a result of the unfaithfulness, God left them to wander in the wilderness to die.  They chose not to enter into rest and consequently experienced the wrath of God.  The Holy Spirit gives the same message in Psalm 95 in the time of David.  They must enter into God's rest.  The author of Hebrews quotes the psalmist to encourage his readers to enter into the rest lest they undergo the wrath of God.  Many of the Israelites in the wilderness, the Jews in the time of David, those in the time of the New Testament, and many today will not enter into the rest that God offers because of unbelief in the living God (Heb. 3:19). 

What is the "rest" that many since the beginning of creation have failed to enter into because of unbelief?  Hebrews 3:1-13 answers this for us.  To those who are alive today God makes a promise of rest.  This rest remains available to those who turn to God in faith (Heb. 4:1).  For those who believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, then they have in part and will in full enter into the rest God has promised (Heb.4:3).  God offered rest in the Garden of Eden.  God's rest is the rest that He took on the seventh day after creation (Heb. 4:4-5).  God is offering His people a perfect and complete rest.  God offered Israel rest in Canaan, but this was only a shadow of the complete and perfect rest that God had in mind for those who follow Him in faith.  Hebrews says that there is a better rest yet to come (Heb. 4:8-9).  "For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His" (Heb. 4:10).  We get to enter into the complete rest that God took after His creation of a perfect world.  Wow!  If we place our faith in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior then we will enter into God's perfect rest.  Jesus offers us rest in part in this world.  We are offered rest through the peace of Christ that surpasses all understanding (Philippians 4:7), the hope of Christ's return, the joy of living a life that honors God, the hope in the future resurrection of the dead, and through the Holy Spirit who comforts us.

Ultimately, the rest that God promises to those who follow Him through Jesus Christ is an eternal and perfect rest in Heaven.  This will take place at death or after the return of Jesus.  Either way we will enter into the rest that we were created to enjoy.  We will have intimate fellowship with our Savior and He will take away every tear, pain, and heartache.  God, please help me every day to live in the reality of the rest that You have promised to us in part today and in full at the moment of death or after the return of Christ.  Amen. 

Approaching the Throne of God

The author of Hebrews begins by exalting the Lord Jesus Christ.  Do we every stop and think about the surpassing greatness of our Lord?  According to the author, Jesus far exceeds the prophets and angels in excellency.

God speaks to us by and through the Son.  He is the Word (John 1:1).  The author is pleading with the readers:  Listen to the supreme Son of God!  Jesus is in control of all (Hebrews 1:2).  The world was created through Jesus (Hebrews 1:2).  This statement by itself claims Jesus is God by pointing to Him as the Creator in Genesis 1.  Jesus is the glory and exact image of God (Hebrews 1:3)!

Jesus also purged our sins (Hebrews 1:3).  By Himself our sins are purged, taken away, and forgiven by God the Father.  The author of Hebrews is setting the reader up to walk into the presence of God.  Through the cross we have direct access to the throne of grace.  Jesus is at the right hand of the Majesty (God the Father).  He is our Mediator, pleading on our behalf.

Thanks be to God that He sent Jesus to purge our sins.  We must remember that God speaks to us today through Jesus (the Word).  Jesus was fully human, but He is also fully God, the exact essence.  We worship the only One who can mediate between sinful humans and an infinitely holy God.  Without Jesus as mediator there is no access to the throne of God the Father.  God desires that His creation comes to worship Him by entering into His presence.  Only Jesus can usher a sinner into the very presence of Almighty God.  This is the same God who says that those who look upon His full glory will die immediately (Exodus 33:20), whose glory will be the light in the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:23).  Followers of the Lord Jesus Christ have the humbling honor of entering into the presence of the Majesty on high through the perfect Son of God who purges our sins.

Our Hope and Future: Jeremiah 31

The hope that Jeremiah was speaking about is more explicitly mentioned in chapter 31. The days are coming when God will make a new covenant with His people (Jer. 31:31). God says in Jeremiah 31:33, "But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on thier hearts; and I will be their God and they shall be My people." So few Jews at this time are following the Lord with their hearts. "They honor Me with their lips, but have removed their hearts far from Me" (Isaiah 29:13). God called Israel from the begining to be circumcised in heart, not just in the flesh (Dt. 30:6). The author of Hebrews will help us get the full beauty of this passage. Jesus Christ is now seated in Heaven and is the High Priest of a better covenant, namely the New Covenant. The Old Covenant forced animal sacrifices. Now Jesus is the true sacrifice once for all in the heavenly realm, the true tabernacle (Heb. 8:2-3). Why is the New Covenant better? Because it promises transformation and forgiveness. The Old Covenant pointed out our sin and our need for a Savior (Gal. 3:24). Why is there hope for Jeremiah and his contemporaries? Because a day is coming when God will blot out their sins if they give their heart to Him. This is fulfilled in the incarnation, life, death, resurrection, and ascension of the God-Man Jesus Christ. I pray that I daily live in the transformation and forgiveness of Christ. God allow me to treasure You. May I be willing to consider "all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ" (Philippians 3:8) and willing to give up all for the Kingdom of God (Matthew 13:44). Thank you Jesus for the New Covenant of your blood that brought redemption to those who truly follow You. Our sins are forgiven by Your blood alone. Through Your blood we have a Mediator between us and God the Father. Christ is our hope and our future. It is not some better life now in the sense of worldly and fleeting pleasures. The hope Jeremiah speaks of in 29:11 is not some sort of promise to meet all of our worldly wants and desires. Instead, it is looking forward to the hope, future, and joy that comes through the covenant relationship with Jesus Christ.

Submitting to God's Will: Jeremiah 29

Are we ready and willing to submit to the will of God no matter the situation?  Let's take a look to see how Jeremiah was willing to submit in Jeremiah 29.  The will of God punished the Jews in Jerusalem for their turning away from the one true God to serve false gods. Now they have been taken captive by Babylon. Jeremiah is given a message by God to deliver to the Jews enslaved in Babylonia. At this time everything Jeremiah knew had been destroyed. God gives him the following message in Jeremiah 29:4-7: "Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all who were carried away captive, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and dwell in them; plant gardens and eat their fruit. Take wives and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, so that they may bear sons and daughters—that you may be increased there, and not diminished. And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the Lord for it; for in its peace you will have peace." God says "to seek the peace of the city." Seek the peace of the city that came and destroyed you, your people, and your land. Would you and I be willing to submit to the will of God in this situation? Would we preach the message Jeremiah delivered to his people? Jeremiah submitted to the will of God and we must be willing to do the same.

Men like Adoniram Judson, who endured much pain and persecution from the very people he was trying to reach with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, were willing to submit to God's will. Does this not sound eerily familiar? Jesus was also persecuted by the very people He was seeking to save. His own did not receive Him (John 1:11). Jesus perfectly submitted to God's will to the point of death (Mark 14:36). Jesus said that if they persecuted Him, then His followers would be persecuted as well (John 15:20). Jesus always sought the peace of the city. It was from the exaltation of the cross that Jesus cried out "Father forgive them, for they do not know what they do" (Luke 23:34). Are we ready and willing to submit in this manner to the point of death? Women like Charlotte "Lottie" Moon, who was willing to give her food away so that others could hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ, were willing to submit to the will of God. They understood that this life is not about comfort, but instead it is about exalting the name of Christ among all nations. Are we willing to radically submit in this way? Do we treasure Christ above any comfort of this world in a way that we are ready to radically submit like our Savior?

Then we reach the famous verse in Jeremiah 29:11 where God says, "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope." God says that He has a plan and a hope to offer to those who feel as though they have no hope. This verse is delivered in the midst of captivity. What is the future and hope that God has planned for His people?

Applying Jeremiah 25

Some believe God to be one who is not in control when it comes to government, war, and leadership.  However, Jeremiah 25:9 is explicitly clear that God willed even the evil Nebuchadnezzar to destroy Jerusalem.  All of creation is at the mercy of God.  No creature will put a stop to the will of God.  There is not some sort of Star Wars mentality of good vs. evil where we are left hoping God wins in the end.  Instead, our God wills and it comes about.  Nothing can thwart the will of God (Job 42:2).  How amazing our God is.  There is nothing that lies outside of His control.  No evil king, nation, individual, or Satan himself can push God into a quandry.  He is in control which is easy to accept at first glance. 

God's complete soveriegnty is an amazing concept, but what about when this doctrine collides with our personal life?  Here in Jeremiah, God is bringing about His will, which is to destroy Jerusalem by using an evil servant.  What about the will of God on a personal level.  Let's get into the situation in which Jeremiah was involved.  Jeremiah's people, land, and family were destroyed and forced into a foriegn land.  How should/would we respond to God and His will?  The purpose of God's will is always to exalt His great name (Ezekiel 36:22-23).  So what about when the will of God takes the life, not just of Jeremiah's family, or your neighbor's family, but my family and your family?  Then what/should our response to God be? 

Jeremiah can help us discover the complete submission to the will of God when His will hits us on a personal level.  When it is clear that nothing happens outside of the will of God we must then decide to either submit or resist.