He Will Never Forsake You

Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." So we can confidently say, "The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?" Hebrews 13:5-6

This is more like what I turn to Desiring God for. John Piper breaks down Hebrews 13:5-6 in this video message. Check it out.

Blogging Through The Bible: Hebrews 6: 9-12

Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things—things that belong to salvation. For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do. And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. (Hebrews 6:9-12)

I wanted to get back to my study through the book of Hebrews as it has kind of fallen by the wayside and really I can't think of anything better to ponder and blog about than the Bible. This is a pretty good set of verses to get back into the study with.

As people who look forward to eternity and the wonderful promises of God we should be the most joyful of people. That can sometimes be difficult as we look around at a world that seems to be falling apart all around us. I mean we live in a world where a young man can walk into an elementary school of all places and butcher 20 children. Of course we also live in a world where the same people who are rightly outraged by the slaughter of 20 innocent children in an elementary school shrug over the slaughter of millions of innocent children in abortion clinics. In this world it can be hard to be joyful and I think for many of us we have strayed from feeling "sure of better things" because those things "belong to salvation" and are therefore something to see in the future while Sandy Hook Elementary is happening right now.

Discouragement and frustration sap our vitality and our joy. This discouragement is endemic among professional clergy, men who are deeply tied into the life of local churches and who have the entire burden of an often thankless task of keeping things running and for many of these men there seems to be little fruit for lots of labor. Discussions of the proper role and functions of elders in the church aside, it is certainly the case that the more concentrated the task of ministry is, the higher the frustration level becomes. It is absolutely the case that when we share our burdens and our needs, as well as our joy, with one another we all are lifted up. I sometimes bemoan the social media world where it so often seems doom and gloom. Negative blog posts, criticism on Facebook, griping on Twitter tend to get more of a reaction than positive reports and praises. If I write a post that things are going great and I am content not many people will read it and no one will comment. Write a post that says something inflammatory and the comments come out of the word work. I am all too often guilty of fanning the flames of controversy and not rejoicing in the positive.

The writer of Hebrews has the right of it. Our God, who is infinitely just and omniscient, sees our work on behalf of the Kingdom. No act of kindness, no show of mercy, no generosity or tear shed or prayer offered is missed by God. We don't get a pat on the head or a gold star but we must never forget that God knows, not just the careless word or the hurtful action or the sinful act, but also the good fruit that we bear in worship of Him. Discouragement, frustration, apathy, lethargy. These are not of God but of the enemy, lies used to keep us slumbering while the world cries out for Christ even when it doesn't realize it. That is why God has gifted so many of us with more mature brothers and sisters in the faith so that we may imitate "those who faith and patience inherit the promises".

Brothers and sisters, while our ultimate reward is in heaven we must remember that our God sees our work and our love in his name. When we spend yet another day caring for our precious children amidst whining and crying and dirty diapers or we minister to people who don't seem especially interested in being ministered to, God sees. When we share our material possessions and more importantly our lives with each other in love, God sees. When we boldly and humbly proclaim Christ as King and the only way to eternal life to a world that laughs and scorns, God sees. God sees and He never forgets. Be heartened today and know that not one drop of sweat or tear shed is overlooked.

Blogging Through The Bible: Hebrews 6:1-8

Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And this we will do if God permits. For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt. For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned. (Hebrews 6:1-8)

The writer of Hebrews continues his thoughts regarding maturity in Heb 5:12-14. The Gospel is very simple but there comes a time when believers need to move past just the rudimentary and into the deeper. Not every Christians is called to be a professional theologian, in fact I am not sure any of us are called to that, but we are called and expected to move past a basic knowledge and into the weightier questions. The New Testament speaks a lot about the Gospel and what we must do to be saved but it also speaks quite a bit about what we are to do once we have been saved.That is where these sorts of issues come into play about moving past the elementary.

The second portion of these verses is where it gets more muddled and much harder to interpret. It certainly sounds at first blush as though true regenerate believers can fall away, and not just fall away but fall away in such a sense that they are never able to be redeemed. This is a tough one. The rest of the New Testament seems to paint a picture of what is commonly caled "eternal security" but what to do with this? The first bit of advice here is to appraoch this slowly and with a great deal of caution.


This is also a case where the correct hermeneutic is to interpret difficult, less clear passages through the lens of more clear and direct passages. Looking at some other verses might help to clarify this passage. First, the Bible makes mention of those who outwardly profess the faith but end up being shown to be false later....
They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. (1 John 2:19)

Were these who went out actual believers? I don't think so. They were "with us" but then the went out because they were "not of us". I think most of us know either personally or from anecdotal evidence of someone who seemed very religious and then went off the rails. In a religious culture it can be pretty easy for someone to skate along for a long time without ever being born again. I personally get concerned when someone tells me that they have "always been a Christian". The reality is that we cannot know for sure that anyone is regenerate and those who leave serve as a reminder of this fact.

As I read this my mind also went to the parable of the sower that Christ taught....

And he told them many things in parables, saying: "A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears, let him hear." (Matt 13:3-9)

The sowing here is of the Gospel, even on infertile ground (i.e. unregenerate hearts) there can be some signs of life but ultimately the lak of fertile ground becomes apparent. But seed that falls into good soil sprigns up. We don't kknow which soil is good versus not so we sumply proclaim the Good News to all men everywhere and trust in He who is faithful to move men to repentance.

That is a pretty unsatisfactory answer to a question that has caused controversy for a long time but that is all I got at this point!

Blogging Through The Bible: Hebrews 5: 7-14

In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. 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, being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek. About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, 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 5:7-14)

The first few verses above are some of the most difficult verses in the Bible. Jesus is God and yet Jesus "learned obedience" through His suffering? He was "being made perfect"? I thought Jesus was always perfect? Theologians far more learned and wise than I am have wrestled with these questions for two millennia so I am not going to try to  make a definitive statement here. Certainly Jesus is eternally God but also Jesus became flesh and dwelt among us, becoming like us. The fancy term for this is the "hypostatic union", the union of 100% God and 100% man. We also know that Jesus "emptied himself"

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. (Philippians 2:5-7)

Somehow, someway that neither I nor anyone else in this life will understand, Jesus became both God and man at the same time, God in human form, perfect being and Creator that needed to eat and sleep. God as Son who cried out to, submitted to and prayed to God as His Father and yet is co-equal with that very same God in power and holiness and eternality. The key words to getting an understanding of this are at the beginning, "In the days of his flesh", words to speak to the uniqueness of Jesus entering time and space to take on flesh. That is a terribly poor take on this topic but this series is not intended to wrestle with the biggest questions.

As for the rest of the verses? Well that is pretty straightforward and easy to understand. When I read verses 12-14 it is like the author of Hebrews was looking into the future and seeing the church of today. The church, at least as we understand it, is full of people dull of hearing and being spoon fed milk week after week. People who have been "in church" for decades and barely grasp the elemental principles and teachings, much less are prepared to teach. The Western church, lazy and flaccid in our opulence and comfortable with our prominent and protected position in the culture, has trapped countless Christians in a lifetime of perpetual spiritual infancy and worse yet given false hope to so many who have been given a fatally flawed view of the Gospel and the way of the cross.

One of the great scandals of the church is how few Christians even approach a place of maturity where they become teachers. We have an overabundance of over-educated clergy that should be equipping the church (Eph 4: 11-16) but instead are largely bogged down in preparing sermons and carrying the entire burden of ministry for those who hired him.

Wake up church! Get back to the basics and then get rid of the traditions and anything else that keeps people in infancy. Give people the tools they need to do the work of ministry and let them go! A child that never gets out of the high chair will never learn to walk and if he is never given anything but milk he will never learn to chew meat. People, put down the spoons and pick up a fork and a knife and dig in!

Blogging Through The Bible: Hebrews 5:1-6

For every high priest chosen from among men is appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. He can deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is beset with weakness. Because of this he is obligated to offer sacrifice for his own sins just as he does for those of the people. And no one takes this honor for himself, but only when called by God, just as Aaron was. 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"; as he says also in another place, "You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek." (Hebrews 5:1-6)


Why don't we have a distinct priestly caste among God's people today?

That certainly is how things worked in the Old Testament and the priests of the Old Testament played a major role in the life of God's people. Moreover they were very clearly distinct in the way they were viewed and functioned within the greater body of God's people. Many groups, from Roman Catholicism with a distinct priestly vocation to mormonism with their aberrant understanding of "the priesthood" to the unspoken but very real clerical class among many Protestants, still retain a vestige of a priestly caste and often turn to the Old Testament for support. Certainly there was a unique group of men known as the twelve apostles, the disciples of Jesus but that seems to take on less importance after the cross as the church spread and elders were appointed from among the Body to serve in the Body. We do see this and it is right and proper to imitate those who have gone before but what we don't see are a distinct priestly class among the church. Why?

The crucial difference is that human priests were just men like anyone else, flawed and sinful. As the writer of Hebrews makes clear, we have a perfect High Priest, one who doesn't have to offer up sacrifice for His own sins and therefore makes His sacrifice available to others. A perfect sacrifice from a Lamb without blemish atones for every sin of His people. The priests of the Old Covenant were a shadow that served a temporary purpose under a covenant that has been made obsolete, just like the temple and the sacrificial system and the nation of Israel.

It is so important to get this. I firmly believe that too many sheep have forgotten that they are just sheep. None of us are called to be above the church, to rule over other sheep. We are all sheep and we have one Shepherd. Many of us, although not nearly enough of us see it, are called to lead by example, to be be encouragers and equippers as sheep who have been following the Good Shepherd longer than newer sheep.

With Jesus Christ as our perfect, flawless High Priest we have no need for human intercessors or priests. Indeed we all minister in different ways as priests, not to offer sacrifices but to serve our God as His ambassadors, doing works of mercy in His name and proclaiming His Son to the lost.

Blogging Through The Bible: Hebrews 4:12-16

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. 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. 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. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:12-16)

This passage is all about the Word of God but what that term means might be different than how we use it.

I am not sure how often I have referred to the Bible as "the Word of God" but I am pretty sure that if I had a nickle for every time I did I would be able to feed a lot of orphans! I have been starting to really question that. This passage is one that I have seen used in reference to the Bible on many, many occasions but is the writer of Hebrews saying that the Bible is living and active or is he referring to something else?

There are times that "the Word of God" seems to be referring to Scripture but there are many places when it does not. For example, in Ephesians 6:17 the word of God is used to describe "the sword of the Spirit"...

and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God (Eph 6:17)

In other places the Word of God is seen as the efficacious declarative power of God...

For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God (2 Peter 3:5)

Of course in other places we often see Jesus referred to as the Word and specifically the Word of God...

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1)

He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God.
(Revelation 19:13)

So it seems pretty clear that the Bible doesn't refer to itself as the Word of God very often, if at all since the Bible as we understand it was still being formed at this time. Paul wasn't standing up in front of the crowds waving his calfskin single column ESV Bible around although I think we sometimes think that he was. Certainly the Bible is a manifestation or revelation of the Word of God but it is not the only way to think of the Word of God. Christians of the evangelical and especially "fundamentalist" variety are often accused of making an idol of the Bible and that is a charge that might stick more than we like to admit. In reality it is not so much the Bible we make an idol out of as much as it is our religious traditions and the Bible simply gives us cover by use of plucking verses out of context, twisting them or outright misrepresentation. If I declare my tradition with enough force and sufficient Bible waving it helps to keep people from asking too many questions!

I think it is clear from the context that the writer of Hebrews is speaking of Christ and these verses are far more powerful when viewed in that light. Jesus is not some dead figure from a dusty old book, He is alive and active! He is also not impressed at all with our words and our religion but sees the heart of man. You aren't pulling a fast one over on the Word. Fooling man is easy, all it takes is some fancy clothes and religious bleating. Jesus though sees right through us into the places that often times we are blind to ourselves.

While that seems quite scary, knowing my own heart and the dark recesses of my mind all too well, there is such a wonderful hope. We are not facing some grim, angry God but a God who is not only the Judge but also the Advocate for His people. Greater yet He has lived as we have lived, was tempted as we are tempted and because He responded without sin His perfect obedience and His perfect atoning sacrifice to make propitiation for the sins of His people makes eternal life our reward. His pain, our gain!

The end of this passage is a familiar verse but one that doesn't get enough attention. Because of all that we know of Christ, we can come before God as a subject before our King. Not in arrogance as those who deserve an audience with the Lord but in humble assurance as those redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. We don't require the intercession of a human priest nor the intervention of long dead "saints" nor via some religious ritual that serves as a "means of grace". When we seek mercy and grace we go directly to the source, Jesus Christ Himself, as the source and dispenser of all that is right and good.

The picture that we get from the letter to the Hebrews speaks to me of just how we underestimate Christ in the church. Jesus is so much greater, His mercy so much broader, His love so much deeper than we give Him credit for. His ministry is far more than a series of confusing teachings, some cool miracles and an inexplicable resurrection but is instead so efficacious, so magnificent and so deeply intertwined with the entirety of God's revelation. One of the things I love so much about Hebrews is that it presents such a rich vision of Jesus Christ especially pertaining to how the cross and the High Priesthood of Christ fits in with the rest of the Bible. I really think you cannot understand the Old Testament unless you understand this letter.

Blogging Through Hebrews 4:1-11

Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened. For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said,

    “As I swore in my wrath,
    ‘They shall not enter my rest,’

although his works were finished from the foundation of the world. For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.” And again in this passage he said,

    “They shall not enter my rest.”

Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience, again he appoints a certain day, “Today,” saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted,

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

For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. - (Hebrews 4:1-11)

It has been a while since I did any blogging in Hebrews so I am eager to get back at it and this section of chapter 4 contains one of my favorite passages.

Chapter four is all about rest.

I love what the writer says here about rest and how he applies it back to the Sabbath day rest that prefigures the eternal rest in Christ. We often, erroneously in my opinion, try to apply Sunday as the new Sabbath and enforce all sorts of rules about what we can or can't do on Sunday. In all of our efforts to say don't do this and don't do that we end up working more on Sunday than any other day and completely miss the point! Sunday is so often a day of stress for Christians trying to please God by following man-made rules when Christ calls us to rest in Him.

The true Sabbath rest for Christians is in Christ, resting in Him, resting from our vain attempts to work to please God and resting in what He has already completely and finally pleased God the Father on our behalf.

It certainly can be hard to see that rest sometimes in a world that is groaning under the weight of sin. It is so tempting to try to do things under our own power and in our own way but Christ has already finished all the work that ever needs to be done. But when we understand the rest that Jesus calls His sheep into we should see a time of rest and peace that comes only when following Jesus and resting totally in Him.

Blogging Through Hebrews: Hebrews 3: 7-19

Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness, where your fathers put me to the test and saw my works for forty years. Therefore I was provoked with that generation, and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart; they have not known my ways.’ As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest.’”


Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. As it is said,


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


For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses? And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief. (Hebrews 3:7-19)

These twelve verses deal with two main subjects, the hardening of the heart and entering God’s rest. These are consistent themes that run throughout Scripture but that I think cause some misunderstanding.

The first theme is the idea of hardened hearts, the prideful heart of man in rebellion against God and seeking even to supplant God. The clear teaching of Scripture is that man’s heart is naturally far from God even when his actions are religious in nature and designed to make one right with some deity based on personal performance and good works. The only solution is supernatural, the removal of the heart of stone and replacing it with a heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26).

The other major teaching here is the notion of rest. This life is one that rarely has much rest. Our culture has us engaged in a constant cycle of frenetic activity broken up by “vacations” that are usually more stressful than our normal lives. The Old Covenant pattern was of the Sabbath rest, setting aside one day from our labors after working six in the pattern of God who created everything we know in six days and rested on the seventh. Is that the pattern we see after the cross? I don’t think it is and I don’t believe that is what the writer of Hebrews is speaking of.

What is the rest promised to us as beneficiaries of the New Covenant? Not a piece of land in the Middle East. While the Egyptian exodus and the promised land prefigure the coming New Covenant, they are not the same. What about Sunday? That is culturally acceptable but the problem is apparent: the Bible doesn’t make the link between Sunday as the first day of the week and the Jewish Sabbath observance. So what is this rest? The answer is simple: Jesus is our Sabbath rest. In Him we have rest from the rat race of labor to try to please God and in eternity we will be at rest with Him in glory. As we will see in the next chapter, everyone who has come to faith in Christ is resting from their works (Heb 4:9-10).

Some things simply don’t change. Under the Old Covenant many were prevented from entering the land of promise because of disbelief. Under the New Covenant many will not enter in the rest of God and instead be consigned to damnation for the same reason: unbelief. Those who fell in the wilderness are the prefiguration of those who will be cast into the lake of fire. The imagery should be a sober reminder that God is by nature unable to break His own word. When we read the warnings about the consequences of unbelief in Scripture, we had better take them very seriously indeed.

Blogging Through Hebrews: Hebrews 3:1-6

Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, who was faithful to him who appointed him, just as Moses also was faithful in all God's house. For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses—as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. (For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.) Now Moses was faithful in all God's house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later, but Christ is faithful over God's house as a son. And we are his house if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope. (Hebrews 3:1-6)

The term “holy brothers” is a fascinating one and one that could lead to some controversy. The ESV (the translation I used above) and the Holman Christian Standard Bible render it “holy brothers”, the NASB and King James as “holy brethren”. Even the old skool NIV (1984 version) has it “holy brothers”. The (New) New International Version? The somewhat unique “holy brothers and sisters”. Which is correct? Does it matter?

The answer to the second question first. Does it really matter? Not in substance it doesn’t. While I believe the Bible sets forth very clear gender roles and responsibilities that doesn’t negate that both men and women have the same standing before Jesus Christ as our High Priest, our Lord and our Redeemer. Women are just as capable and called to serving and ministering as men, albeit in different ways. But does it matter? I understand that the Greek words used can be translated “brothers” or “brothers and sisters” but it is also my understanding that just because it can, doesn’t mean it should. I am concerned whenever people try to engage in social engineering with the Scriptures.

The contrast is interesting between Jesus and Moses here. Moses is the picture of a faithful servant within God’s household but Jesus is presented as “over” God’s house. What is this house of which the author speaks? The very Body of Christ. Not holy spaces or organizations. A people. It is so very important to constantly remember that what Jesus died to redeem and is calling even today is a people and we must always be on guard against losing the vision of the house of God as God’s people and turning it into a organization. Jesus didn’t die to redeem hundreds or thousands of competing organizations but one unified Body that will dine side by side with Christ in glory at the wedding feast of the Lamb. Those who wrongly identify Jesus as a mere learned teacher or a simple prophet miss entirely who He is revealed to be. Moses was a great man but a man like you or I. Jesus is God who took on the form of man to dwell among us and redeem us and the difference between Moses and Jesus couldn't be more stark.

We are His house. He dwells among us because He dwells in us! If that doesn't impact how we live each day, shame on us!

Blogging Through Hebrews: Hebrews 2:10-18

For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering. For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers, saying,

“I will tell of your name to my brothers;
in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise.”
And again,
“I will put my trust in him.”
And again,
“Behold, I and the children God has given me.”

Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. (Hebrews 2:10-18)

The perfecting work of the suffering of the Savior. That is the real key to these verses and there is not much that better captures the upside-down nature of the Kingdom than the suffering of the King, the Creator giving Himself over to suffering for the sake of His creatures. I loved the imagery invoked of flesh and blood. We refer to our family as our own flesh and blood and by the shedding of His blood and the breaking of His body we are partakers of them and in doing so we gain the benefits that include adoption, redemption, regeneration, propitiation, justification and glorification. He defeated

What a wonderful thing to contemplate, that Jesus our Savior is not ashamed to be associated with His sheep and even to recognize them as family. The intimate way that the church is described: as brothers of Christ, joint-heirs, sons and daughters, the Bride of Christ tells us much about how much Jesus values us and how saving His church brings Him glory and joy. Not just that but Jesus is not some cold, impersonal far off God but a God who understands our suffering, our weakness and our temptation because He was also tempted, made weak and endured suffering. Unlike the false gods of Islam, mormonism and all the rest of the world’s religion, Jesus alone is a God who is both God and man, the hypostatic union that defies understanding but gives us unspeakable joy.

This phrase jumped out at me: deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery . What an interesting and accurate way to describe those outside of Christ. Nothing frightens those without the hope of eternal life like death. The finality and inevitability of it terrifies men and enslaves them in fear. The freedom that comes in Christ that Paul spoke of in Philippians 1:21 should liberate Christians. It is troubling that many people who profess to follow Christ seem as fearful of death as those without hope.

I really loved this section. Not that I didn’t love the rest but what a theologically rich and incredibly comforting section of Scripture this was. I am liking this approach to Hebrews, it is like a sumptuous meal that is best eating one small course at a time, the better to savor it. Wait scratch that, that was far too flowery.

Blogging Through Hebrews: Heb 2:5-9

For it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking. It has been testified somewhere,
“What is man, that you are mindful of him,
or the son of man, that you care for him?
You made him for a little while lower than the angels;
you have crowned him with glory and honor,
putting everything in subjection under his feet.”
Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him. But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. (Hebrews 2:5-9)

There are two interesting contrasts here, one of the “not yet” aspect of the Kingdom and the other of the relatively brief but infinitely precious earthly ministry of Christ. Jesus, who as we have seen prior, crated all things and holds all things in His control, freely lowered Himself, emptying Himself out and taking on flesh to dwell among us.

It takes some enormous leaps to even begin to comprehend the world renewed and under the subjection of Christ in every aspect. What is the weather going to be like this weekend? What am I going to eat tonight? Will the nation of Israel attack Iran and what does that mean for me? The aches and pains of aging, the eyesight that starts to go and the mind that becomes forgetful.These will all go away for those redeemed by the blood. It can be difficult to comprehend those words amidst a world that is so wrong in so many ways but the glory is yet to come and we can rest easy in that promise.

There is also that short period of time, a mere three decades or so, nearly two thousand years in the past when something happened, or perhaps more appropriately Someone happened, and during that time, a blink of the eye in the grand scheme of history, everything changed. It seemingly ended in failure but that perceived failure turned to glorious victory, a victory that we are still celebrating today. For Jesus to redeem us, He had to set aside His glory and become, for a short time, "lower than the angels". I love those words, especially poignant today, that Jesus was crowned with glory and honor because He suffered death on behalf of His sheep. The upside-down Kingdom where the least are greatest, the King became a servant, death is victory and suffering is glory.

It is so important to remember that Jesus gained nothing by doing this but we who are His gained everything. What a Savior!

Blogging Through Hebrews: Heb 2:1-4

Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will. (Hebrews 2:1-4 )

The author, having established in part the divinity of the Son of God, next stresses the importance of what is taught. These words resonate with me strongly. I walk the tightrope between doctrinal purity and practical unity. Unity in the church is a primary doctrine, not a nice add-on but rather a "gotta have". Being divided simply is not OK. On the other side, the Bible is not sparse when it comes to meaty theological concepts and specific practices that cannot be ignored. Simply saying "I luv Jesus!" is not going to cut it, we need and we must study the Scriptures and apply and walk what we read in a manner that pleases the Lord. Theological sloppiness is the gateway to all manner of errors and ills. Of course what constitutes "good theology" goes beyond simply being able to explain the doctrines of grace or do an end-times flow chart. Good theology is practical and lived out.

I also find the phrase "neglect such a great salvation" quite interesting. I would suggest that this message is of particular importance to Jews, reminding them that the same salvation has come in the person of Christ to Jew and Gentile alike and that neglecting this salvation has consequences.

I found something in verse 3 fascinating. I am not a scholar and the authorship of Hebrews is an unsettled issue that I have not studied at any length but the author says that Jesus declared the words of salvation and that some of those who heard told them to the author and presumably his audience. Paul indicated that he spoke directly with the Lord. So does that mean that the author of Hebrews is definitively not Paul because Paul heard the Gospel right from the Lord? I am sure others have pondered and studied that particular question but I thought it was interesting.

Finally verse 4 reminds us of the importance and purpose of signs and wonders, namely to bear witness to the Gospel. God distributes the gifts as He sees fit but He always does so to point people to Christ. Anyone who attributes a "gift" to their own holiness should be immediately suspect. Anyone who uses a "gift" to enrich themselves or advance their own agenda should be seen as someone who is false. God is infinitely capable of doing miracles and wonders but His purpose in sending these gifts and signs and wonders is clear: testifying of His Son.

Blogging Through Hebrews: Heb 1: 5-14

    For to which of the angels did God ever say,
    “You are my Son,
        today I have begotten you”?
    Or again,
    “I will be to him a father,
        and he shall be to me a son”?
    And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says,
    “Let all God's angels worship him.”
    Of the angels he says,
    “He makes his angels winds,
        and his ministers a flame of fire.”
    But of the Son he says,
    “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever,
        the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.
    You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;
    therefore God, your God, has anointed you
        with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.”
    And,
    “You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning,
        and the heavens are the work of your hands;
    they will perish, but you remain;
        they will all wear out like a garment,
    like a robe you will roll them up,
        like a garment they will be changed.
    But you are the same,
        and your years will have no end.”
    And to which of the angels has he ever said,
    “Sit at my right hand
        until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”?
    Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?
   
(Hebrews 1:5-14 )

After the magnificent intro to the letter to the Hebrews, a passage Dave Black describes as "the most beautifully constructed sentence in the entire Greek New Testament", we come into a series of quotes taken from the Old Testament and I think this is where people start to struggle with Hebrews. At first blush and for the many Christians who are unfamiliar with the Old Testament, these passages can seem like a string of random quotations strung together. We need to ask why the author starts off with these Old Testament quotes and what they mean taken together.

First, this is a letter written to Hebrews. Thus the title of the book! For a Jew in the first century, these passages would have been quite familiar and meaningful. As the centuries have passed and the church has lost most of her early Jewish flavor, these passages have become less obvious and meaningful to us but to the early church it was crystal clear.

Second, this letter perhaps more than any other New Testament book a bridge between the Old and the New Testaments and this is demonstrated right in the first few verses. As we will see later, no other book goes into such exhaustive detail regarding the changing covenants, the different priesthood, the once for all sacrifice of Christ, in short showing us how the entire Old Testament is not a foreign book that has little to say to the church other than a collection of morality tales for children via talking vegetables but is rather all about Christ! These passages quoted by the author of Hebrews don't speak merely of a contemporary figure but also of the Christ who was coming and they help us to get a flavor for the rest of the letter, a letter that tells us of the glorious Son of Man and His greater sacrifice, priesthood and covenant.

Jesus is the heir of David but in an unexpected and gloriously, infinitely better way. He is both not what the Jews thought they were waiting for and at the same time greater than they could have dreamed, a Messiah who takes away sin for Jew and Gentile alike, tearing down the walls that kept us apart to make one people from two. He alone is worthy to be the heir, to sit upon the eternal throne, to be called the first-born and the ones that even the angels worship.

Blogging through Hebrews

I blog every now and then, in the event you hadn’t noticed. While I write a lot about what I am reading currently or thinking about, I want to get back to looking more systematically at the Bible, kind of a series of devotional writing. What I am hoping to do is to look at the letter to the Hebrews in small chunks to really dig into what it says. Hebrews has long fascinated me, it is such a rich book and I find more and more that it really has a lot to say to the church today in spite of the general confusion that it seems to generate. My intent is to keep these posts fairly brief, only looking at a few verses, rather than lengthy exposition or huge chunks of Scripture at a time. With that said, here is my first foray...


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Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs. (Hebrews 1:1-4)

These verses hold a very special place in my heart. Given our background in mormonism, I can think of few places that so succinctly shatter the lie of mormonism than these four verses of introduction. Oddly enough, we never looked at these verses when we were mormons. Just look at what the author says in just a few lines…

1) God once spoke to our fathers (the Jews) by means of prophets. This is obvious to even the most elementary student of the Bible. The list of men who were vehicles of God’s revelation is a veritable “who’s who” of the Bible: Moses, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, Jeremiah, Isaiah, all those “minor” prophets with weird names. For reasons He has kept to His own counsel, God used these flawed men as His mouthpiece to speak and record His unfolding revelation.

2) Something changed. In these days, the last days, God has spoken to us through His Son. Completely. Perfectly. Conclusively. This is not like the days of old when God used mere moral men, prophets to be sure, but mortal, fallible, sinful men nevertheless. It is not just that the message has changed, although it certainly has with the advent of the new and better covenant. It is also a matter of a different messenger.

3) What makes the messenger different is more than just style or even substance, it is in His nature. The Son of God, Jesus Christ, is “the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature”. He created the world but He was not created. Like God, He is without beginning and end. He is unique in the same way that God the Father is unique.

4) Jesus is not only above and apart from creation, not only did God create all things through Him, He Himself holds it all together. Just as God spoke all of creation into existence ex nihilo in an instant, Jesus holds it all together simply by desiring to do so. We absolutely cannot understand the enormity of that in this life, with our minds enslaved to the creation we can see and touch and feel. When we see eternity we will start to understand what these verses really mean!

5) Jesus made “purification” for sins and then He rested. His purpose in this world was completed, His sacrifice complete and satisfactory for holiness and justice.

These powerful truths in such a compact statement are so powerful for us but they must have been doubly so for the intended audience. I can say with few reservations that few books of the Bible have the tone set for what is to come quite like these few amazing verses. Everything that follows flows from them. What you need to know about Jesus is succinctly captured: He is the same in nature as God, He is God’s “final answer”, He is the great creator and sustainer, His sacrifice is complete and sufficient to purify sins and not just aid us in purifying them ourselves. What a marvelous introduction! Do yourself a favor and read these words over and over again.