GRINDIT podcast

As the author is wrapping up chapter 12, he tells them there are some things they need to do on their journey to heaven as they endure to cross that finish line and it involves a four-letter word we do not like: WORK! He tells them to work on two things: 1) work at living in peace with everyone, 2) and work at living holy. Then he gives them, and us, a recipe on how to live a faithful life:

This part of Hebrews is tough for many people including myself. The author is going to discuss something no one likes to talk about and that is God disciplining us. People think of God as someone who is going to strike us down with lightning because we have done something wrong but that is a wrong impression of God. The author tells us God disciplines us because He loves us and if He doesn’t discipline us, then we are illegitimate children! But the struggle for many, like myself is to even see God as a Father because our earthly father abandoned or abused us, maybe both! I talk about my story in this episode and my struggle to look at God as a Father because of what I went through with my dad and stepdad in this episode. I hope you find some encouragement from my story!

The author of Hebrews has given a bunch of examples of people who walked by faith, who had promises from God and they trusted that God would be faithful and come through on His promises. By faith they knew His promises were a reality and they had evidence, even though they couldn’t see it with their eyes. He starts off chapter 12 with a sports analogy when he compares our walk with God to a race and like a coach he gives instructions on how to run this race. Those instructions are, “Look to Jesus, our champion and endure to the end.” If you ever played sports, you wanted to win a championship, that was the goal. Everybody wants to be a champion.

The author of Hebrews is trying to encourage his Jewish readers to stick with Jesus because they are discouraged from being persecuted and some have already chosen to go back to Judaism, an obsolete religion, because Jesus established a new and better covenant by laying down his life as a once and for all sacrifice. He started chapter 11 off by talking about what faith is and, being a Jewish audience for his letter, he is going to go back into their past, their heritage, and show them many examples of people who lived and walked by faith in hopes that his readers would find some encouragement and be strengthened in their walk with Christ. The very first example he gies may surprise you because he mentions us!

Hebrews 11 is known as the “Faith” chapter because of all the people who did things by faith but it is way deeper than that. The author has a reason for bringing up all these people who did things by “faith.” They had a hope, they had a promise, they were looking forward to something far greater. They were looking for heaven, to be with God, to have an intimate relationship with Him and to spend eternity with Him. They were willing to put their lives on the line to follow Him. When times got hard, they continued to follow Him and they did not quit for any reason. They endured! Why? Because faith: Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see. 2 Through their faith, the people in days of old earned a good reputation. They couldn’t see it, but they trusted God to come through and He did. He will for us as well if we remain faithful and do not give up!

When God made Adam, He said, “It is not good for man to be alone,” and then He created Eve. Why? Because God knew man needed community. Too many people try to isolate themselves and it is not healthy at all, which I believe is a reason why so many people give up on life. The author of Hebrews encourages his readers to continue to be a part of community. Why? Because when we are with other people our focus tends to be on them and not ourselves. We find out really fast that we aren’t the only ones suffering and that other people who have been through a similar struggle can offer us wisdom to help us get through, to continue to endure. And that is his message throughout this letter, “Endure, keep going, do not give up!” It’s a great message even for us today. We may not be facing persecution, but we are facing hard times, difficult trials, and can easily be discouraged just like the audience of this letter so listen to his message and find strength to keep pressing forward!

When you were a kid and your parents were teaching you how to fly a kite, did they say, “Hold on tight and don’t let go!”?!? Why did they say that? Because if we let go of the string, the kite will either come crashing to the ground, get caught in a tree, or even worse, fly away and we risk losing the kite! The author is going to lay the hammer down on his readers in chapter 10. It starts off repeating some things he has already said and we have covered but in vs 19 through the rest of the chapter you better put on your seat belt because the road gets pretty rough! He reminds his readers how they can enter God’s presence, right at the throne because of the blood of Jesus but then he encourages them to keep a tight grip on that hope and to not let go because if they walk away from Jesus, they walk away from his promises; they walk away from his sacrifice, the ONLY sacrifice that will get them, and us, into heaven! Jesus is way more precious than a kite and if we want to be with him in heaven for eternity, we have to hold on to him with everything we have because the world, the devil, they are going to throw everything they can at us to make us let go…Hold on as tight as you can!

Millions of animals were sacrificed under the old covenant and yet not even all the blood from those sacrifices pooled together could forgive one sin! It was all a ceremony cleansing but the blood of Jesus is so powerful that it cleanses our sins, purifies our conscience so we can worship God, and it sets us free! That is why the author of Hebrews is saying to his audience, “Jesus is better!” He is better because the old covenant couldn’t get the job done and God himself put on flesh, lived as a man, never sinned, offered himself as the once and for all sacrifice, laid down his life for us, was resurrected, and now sits at the Father’ right hand interceding on our behalf…if…if we have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior and we are living for him on a daily basis, eagerly waiting for his return!

In Hebrews 9 the author starts talking about how the new covenant is better than the old covenant. He begins by describing the tabernacle, how the Holy Place was separated from the Holiest of Holies and the furniture that was included in each room. There was a thick curtain that separated man from God, but also, the people were separated from God and had to have a priest intercede on their behalf! It was all about separation and in the old covenant, the Gentiles were left out because the old covenant was made between God and the Jews. Now that Jesus has established a new covenant, there is no more separation! There is no more Jew, no more Gentile because we are one in Christ. And the best part is, we have direct access to God because of the blood Jesus shed on the cross!

The author gets down to the nitty gritty and says, “This is my main point” and he goes on to say not only is Jesus better than angels, Moses, the law, a better High Priest, but this new covenant he established by his blood that was shed, is better than the old covenant. In fact, the author is so bold to say, “The old covenant is now obsolete!” When he is writing this letter, the Temple is still standing. The Temple was a better version of the tabernacle which was built for traveling since they were wondering in the wilderness for 40 years. David wanted to build God a permanent place to dwell and Solomon, his son, built the first Temple in Jerusalem. It was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar and later rebuilt. This building was majestic, it was ginormous, and yet it is empty because God no longer resides there. Jesus, God’s Son, was the Messiah who came to fulfill the law and be our once and for all sacrifice. He is now sitting at the Father’s right hand in the place of honor, making intercession for us! Therefore, this new covenant God has established by the blood of Jesus, is better than the old covenant so why would we want to leave Jesus and go to an empty building? Stay with Jesus!