There is hope despite the pandemic!

My blog for July 9, 2021, was titled, A Christian Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic. As the pandemic has continued, I have been deeply concerned about how I should be praying. It is easier to know that our society has spiritual needs than to know how to make a positive impact. Do we who have the truth, live the truth? This time is a wake-up call for Christians. The longer this pandemic continues, the more we should strive to represent Christ to a hurting world.

As I continued my study of Hebrews this week, I was greatly encouraged by Hebrews 10:23-25, Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. I believe these verses give application to the previous blog.

Christians alone have secure hope in the midst of the pandemic. Consider the words of R. Kent Hughes, So many people live on so little, surviving in this world, just putting one foot in front of the other as they depend on unsubstantiated, ungrounded "hope." . . . But the Christian's hope has substance! The hope that our text commends here in verse 23 is a conscious reference back to the writer's statement in 6:19, 20—"We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf." Our hope is only as secure as the faithfulness of God who sent His Son to make payment for our sins, the Son who died, rose again and sits at the right hand of the Majesty on high, interceding for us. Yes, we have secure hope.

We not only have hope but we are given instructions for times like these. First, the writer of Hebrews exhorts us to encourage one another in the Body of Christ to love and good works. He emphasizes the importance of meeting together. I believe it is appropriate to reach out in love and good works to those outside His body, as well. In this pandemic, it is easy to say it is safer to stay home. That’s probably the thought of the Hebrews who were trying to avoid persecution. Donald Hagner reminds us of the importance of being together, The way in which the readers can manifest their concern for one another is through active participation in fellowship, on the one hand, and through mutual encouragement, on the other. Christians need each other, and especially in trying circumstances. God has not made us independent but interdependent. We need each other even more than ever in the midst of this pandemic.

Also, the writer of Hebrews gives instruction to anticipate the Lord’s return. Read Ray Stedman’s quote which pictures our present condition, The empire seethed with unrest and premonitions of disaster. These frightening omens were not viewed as signs of God’s inability to control his world, as many interpret similar events today. Rather, they were indications that God was working out his predicted purposes just as Jesus, the prophets and the apostles had foretold . . . It is now apparent as we look back over the centuries that it has been the will of God to have each generation feel that it is living in the very last days of civilization. Each century has found the church fearing the cataclysms of its own time as the last to come. Yet, inexorably, each passing century has moved the world nearer the final end. This sense of imminence is God’s device to keep believers expectant and full of hope in the midst of the world’s darkness.

I fear too many Christians have accepted the position of unbelievers, hope based on circumstances not on the promises of God. May we hold fast our confession and proclaim our hope to a world in desperate need. Join the study of Hebrews under the Books of the Bible tab, and keep looking up!

A Review of the Superior Work of Jesus Christ

The longest section of Hebrews is 4:14-10:18. Our study of this section has just concluded. I selected the following verses which are representative of God’s grace to us through His Son. Take some time to savor them and give thanks to Christ Who is our life.

A superior confession (4:14-16)

Hebrews 4:14, Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.

Hebrews 4:15, For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.

Superior qualifications (5:1-10)

Hebrews 5:5, So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you”

Hebrews 5:8-9, Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him,

A warning to keep moving forward (5:11-6:20)

Hebrews 5:13-14, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.

Hebrews 6:19-20, We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

The superior priestly order of Christ (7:1-28)

Hebrews 7:25, . . . he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.

Hebrews 7:26-27, For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself.

The superiority of the New Covenant (8:1-10:18)

Hebrews 8:10-12, For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.

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 9:27-28, And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

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.

I hope you will continue the study of Hebrews as the writer focuses on application. Join us under the Books of the Bible tab. This is the day to live what we believe.

The Heart of the Father

The writer of Hebrews has forcefully shown the superiority of the person and work of Jesus Christ. His sacrifice took place once and is fully sufficient for all who place faith in Him alone. Now, he begins a transition which focuses on the believer’s responsibility within the New Covenant. The old was a matter of works but the new is fully of grace. Yet, there is the privilege Christians have to live what we believe empowered by God’s provision.

This section emphasizes the difference between Jesus’ sacrifice and those of the old system. Again, there is the mention that His sacrifice was once for all time. Then, he digs deeper to show why Jesus’ sacrifice is superior by citing Psalm 40:6-8, In sacrifice and offering you have not delighted, but you have given me an open ear. Burnt offering and sin offering you have not required. Then I said, “Behold, I have come; in the scroll of the book it is written of me: I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.”

These verses show the heart of the Father and the Son. According to Douglas Mangum, Through a bold interpretation of an obscure phrase in an ancient psalm, the author places the words of the psalmist (Ps 40:6–8) into the mouth of Christ at his incarnation. We read that the Father is not satisfied with animal sacrifices but with the sacrifice of obedience. The Son declares that He came to do the will of the Father. Note John 4:34, Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.

Jesus did not make a mistake by dying on the cross. He had submitted Himself fully to the will of His Father. They planned the journey to Golgotha together for you and for me. David Brown got it right, The whole work of redemption flows from “the will” of God the Father, as the First Cause, who decreed redemption from before the foundation of the world. And William Barclay, Jesus was the perfect sacrifice because he perfectly did God’s will. He took himself and said to God: ‘Do with me as you will.’ He brought to God on behalf of men and women what no one had been able to bring—the perfect obedience, that was the perfect sacrifice.

These verses move from the plans of God to their fulfillment. Relish verse 10, And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. The key word to this passage is sanctified. It is speaking not only of positional sanctification (justification) but glorification, as well. What Jesus accomplished on the cross not only declared us righteous but guarantees our complete sanctification. Ray Stedman, The Greek expression for made holy (sanctified) indicates action with a lasting effect. We have been made holy by the death of Jesus, and we remain holy even though we struggle with daily weakness and sin . . . It is a holiness obtained by faith, not by self-righteous effort, and it is not lost by momentary failure.

Who Jesus is and what He did for us is almost too wonderful to imagine. Just think that it was planned from heaven between the Father and Son for you and me. That should give sufficient cause for us to want live what we believe. Such amazing truth is a solid basis for encouraging believers to heed the writer’s instructions in the rest of the Book of Hebrews.

I hope you will join our journey through Hebrews under the Books of the Bible tab. We must move forward motivated by grace, knowing that the favor received comes from our incomparable God and goes back to Him.