GRINDIT podcast

Jesus is better...that is what the author of Hebrews is explaining to the Jewish Christians who are going back to Judaism after suffering some persecution. Jesus is better than angels, he is better than Moses, he is better than the law or any earthly priest, which is his point in Chapter 7. The earthly priests had weaknesses, they were sinners, therefore they had to make sacrifices for themselves on a daily basis. Because they were human, their priesthood would eventually come to an end because they died. Jesus, on the other hand, is better because he never sinned, he doesn't have to make daly sacrifices for himself, he kept the law to perfection, and though he did die, he came back to life in three days and is now indestructible! His priesthood is eternal and he is sitting at the others right hand in place of honor, making intercession for us...for eternity!

To show the Jewish Christians whose faith is fading because of persecution that they can trust God, the author uses somebody they would be very familiar with and would respect greatly—Abraham. He tells his readers that God gave many promises to Abraham and He made an oath to Himself to keep those promises. Abraham, by faith, was obedient and God kept His promises to Abraham, therefore, they can trust that God will keep His promises to them as well as us! He tells them we have a great hope and that hope is a home with Jesus in heaven when we finish the race here on earth. And since Jesus led the way, this hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls…So anchor down!

The author has laid the foundation that Jesus is better and that he is our High Priest and he tells his readers it is time to get off the milk and move on to the meat, the solid foods. Then he gives them a stern warning about turning away from God. These Jewish Christians were being persecuted to some degree and their faith was fading, they were going back to Judaism and the author warns them if they do this, if they leave Jesus, there is no coming back to repentance. He then gives an example of some fields who received rain. All the fields received the rain but only some of the fields produced crops and received God’s blessings. The ones that that received the rain and didn’t produce crops became overwhelmed with thorns and thistles and had to be burned by the farmer because it was useless. Are we USEFUL or USELESS?

In chapter 5 the author continues with the theme of Jesus being our High Priest. After saying Jesus was chosen by God to be our High Priest, he goes on to tell his audience that God knows what they are dealing with and what they are experiencing in life, therefore they should not lose confidence in Jesus and keep the faith! He goes into detail how Jesus was human and was tempted and suffered persecution just as they are and he is here to help them if they would continue their walk with him. It’s so easy to draw back and get mad at God when difficulties come into our lives but that’s the very opposite that we should do. We should run TO God for help! And as we go through life’s struggles there are so many lessons we can learn and the author says Jesus himself learned obedience to God in his struggles. As we continue this study of the Book of Hebrews, it is clear to see the author is trying their best to get the readers of his letter to stay with Jesus and not give up the fight! It’s a great message for us today as we all face trials and storms in our lives!

What has happened in your life that was so bad that you lost your confidence in God? We see this every day in a believer's life. Something bad happens and they get mad at God, blame God for what they are going through, they eventually withdraw from God until they completely shut Him out of their lives! Where does one go when they leave God? What's a better alternative? There's not one and that is what the author of Hebrews is trying to tell their audience who was in danger of missing heaven because they have lost their confidence in God! Persecution has come to them, some have been in jail, some beaten, some have lost all their possessions, and they are losing their confidence in God, in Jesus, so the author is encouraging them to take a look at the people of Israel that wondered in the wilderness for forty years...THEY DIDN'T GET IN! And he tells them if they walk away from Jesus, they won't either and neither will we! So again I ask you, what has happened in your life that has caused you to lose confidence in God?

The book of Hebrews is written to a Jewish audience who has chosen Jesus and have been following him, but persecution is and has taken its toll on some of the believers. They have been in jail, beaten, and have lost all their stuff because they chose to follow Jesus but some of them are struggling with their faith and are giving up. This book is written to encourage them to stay the course and hold on because it will all be worth it in the end! And he really hammers this point home here in chapter 3 to not lose their confidence in Jesus and that he is coming soon and will not delay to rescue them. What a word for our day in time…people are discouraged on a daily basis and life is beating the crap out of us but we have to endure to the end for some day, it will all be worth it!

Here is a link to my song sang by Frannie Hamrick called "Finding Strength":

Moses was chosen by God to lead the Hebrew people out of Egyptian bondage and into a land God had promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Even though Moses was faithful and did lead the people out, Moses had some flaws. He doubted God and tried to persuade God out of choosing him at first. Then his biggest flaw was not speaking to the rock to get water but instead, out of anger, he struck the rock twice! Because he disobeyed God, Moses only got to see the promised land and didn’t enter it. The author’s point is Jesus is better than Moses because he was 100% faithful to God and never had a single flaw! And since Jesus is greater, we can put our faith and trust in Him…

We finish up chapter 2 discussing again that Jesus is better and far greater than the angels because of what he has done for us such as dying for us and making us holy by his blood. Because of his death we can now call God Father and He has adopted us into His family and we are called the children of God and we inherit God’s blessings. And because of Jesus conquering death when he came out of the tomb, we no longer have to fear death! If we have been washed in the blood of Jesus, we can take our last breath with a smile on our face and peace in our heart because we know what awaits us on the other side is so much better than what we have on earth! Do you have that peace in your heart or does dying scare you to death?!?! If you haven’t accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you should be scared! We are never promised tomorrow and we never know when death will come our way. Accept him today and et his peace fill your heart!

A big thing in our culture is “You have your truth and I have mine,” and what has happened is we have decided what is truth for ourselves. We have decided to do what we want and lie the way we want and to justify it, we make up our own rules and call them “truth.” Pilate asked Jesus, “What is truth?” when he was questioning him before crucifying him. The truth of the matter is, there is a standard of truth that never changes and that truth is God whether we choose to believe Him or not. He set the standard and it’s up to us to believe it, and by faith, lie by it. Sure you can reject the standard, He gives us the freedom to make that choice, but just know there is a day coming when we will suffer the consequences of rejecting God’s truth, Jesus.

Could you imagine seeing an angel? What happens when someone comes into the presence of an angel? They fall on their face! Hebrews 13:2 actually tells us there is a good chance we have seen an angel and didn’t know it! But as cool as that is, Jesus is better. Whatever is going on with the audience, the author of Hebrews wants their readers to know Jesus is better than the angels and he makes his case for that in chapter 1. Jesus is sitting in a place of honor at the Father’s right hand and not one time did God ever say to an angel, “This is my Son,” however, He did say that to Jesus a couple of times! One day we will see all the angels in heaven, but even more awesome than that, we will see God the Father, the Holy Spirit, and best of all, Jesus: the one who paid the price for our sin so that we can have the forgiveness of God!