The author of Hebrews is like a doctor in an emergency room. He skips over polite introductions and greetings and gets right to work. He sees a serious problem and addresses it quickly. And the problem at this point is not blatant sin (like hemorrhaging) but a more subtle sin that if not treated will surely lead to death: drifting slowly but surely away from God (2:1); hardening their hearts to His Word: (3:7) and getting dull to the need to grow and mature (5:11). Drifting (like a boat with no anchor); hardening, like the hardening of the arteries or liver (sclerosis); and dulling, like gangrene, feeling no pain as death consumes part of the body.
Deadlines: Whether it's for taxes or tags, birthday gifts or business issues, we all have to deal with deadlines. Yet the most important deadline is often overlooked or put off until "some day" in the future. "Prepare to meet thy God" (Amos 4:12). The writer of Hebrews says it this way: "It is appointed once for men to die then comes the judgment" (Heb. 9:27). Other passages exhort us to prepare today: "Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom" (Psalm 90:12). Or, as it relates to the winter Olympics that recently ended: "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified (for eternal rewards, not loss of salvation) for the prize" (1 Cor. 9: 24-27). Or, as it relates to businessmen: "Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that. As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins" (i.e., do what God tells you to do today; don't presume He will give you tomorrow to do it.) (James 4:13-17).
Think of the writer of Hebrews (inspired by the Holy Spirit) as our Olympic coach preparing us to "run the race marked out for us" (Heb. 12:1). He was writing to people like us who are drifting and dulling, weary and weak, trying to live the Christian life in our own strength and in a world system that opposes us (along with the Devil and our flesh as well) and even persecutes us, and the Jewish believers were tempted to go back to Judaism to avoid the cost of following Jesus. We may be tempted to go back to compromise with the world, with our family and friends who ignore Christ, if not mock Him and us. So the writer of Hebrews exhorts us strongly to press on to maturity and win the prize (eternal rewards vs. temporal gain) that comes from honoring and pleasing Christ. (See Heb. 10:35-36)
Yet, his strategy is not "try harder, work longer, buck up, do-it-yourself Christianity" but it is this: "fix your eyes on Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith" (Heb 12:2) both as our model and exemplar, but more so as our inner source of strength and power to do what only He can do (and has done) for us and through us. He wants Jesus to become much bigger and much more precious in our eyes and heart than the average Christian thinks of Him and the Jewish believers were thinking of Him. The book of Hebrews is all about exalting the glory of Jesus Christ.
Jesus asked the twelve and he continues to ask you and me and all of mankind, "Who do you say that I am" (Matt.16:15). Jesus asks us all, Who am I to you – really? Am I just somebody who can keep you out of hell or a rabbit's foot you can rub on Sunday to get a good life, etc., etc. Who is Jesus to you? Do you know the Jesus revealed in Scripture or the Jesus made up in your own mind? The answer to that question is the most important thing in life for to know Christ is to know God Himself. "In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven."
As the writer of Hebrews tells us, to know God we must know Jesus Christ who is the exact representation of God's essential nature and His visible, manifest glory. The OT prophets pointed forward to Jesus (Acts 10:43), the Epistles point back to Jesus (Rom 1:1-5) and in the gospels Jesus points to Himself: Jesus said, "Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father" (John 14:9). "I and the Father are one" (John 10:30). To reject Jesus Christ is to reject the one true God.
Jesus is God's last word to mankind. In verse 1-2 we see that He is better than the prophets through whom God revealed Himself in the OT. "In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, "Many times" refers to different periods of OT history and "various ways" refers to the different methods God used to communicate, including visitations, dreams, signs, parables, etc. Each prophet received a certain measure of the revelation of God but it was incomplete. In fact, these prophets spoke of a coming Prophet (Jesus) who would speak about God and speak for God. (See Deut. 18:15, 18)
"But in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son." Jesus not only speaks of God, He is God veiled in flesh. "No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only (Jesus), who is at the Father's side, has made him known" (John 1:18). Many passages in Hebrews affirm the deity of Christ.
"Whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe." This means that the entire universe belongs to Jesus Christ and He will soon reign over it (Rev. 11:15). It was through Him that God made the worlds. Jesus Christ brought into being the heavens, the earth, the human race, and the divine plan of the ages. Every created thing, both spiritual and physical, was made by Him. "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authority. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him" (Col. 1:15-20; also see John 1:1-4).
"The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being." {"All the perfections that are found in God the Father are found in Christ also. He is the radiance of His glory. All the moral and spiritual glories of God are seen in Him. Further, the Lord Jesus is the exact image of God's essential being. This cannot, of course, refer to physical likeness because God is, in essence, a Spirit. It means that in every conceivable way Christ exactly represents the Father. No closer resemblance could be possible. The Son, being God, reveals to man by His words and ways exactly what God is like." } [1]MacDonald, William ; Farstad, Arthur: Believer's Bible Commentary : Old and New Testaments. Nashville : Thomas Nelson, 1997, c1995, S. Heb 1:1
"Sustaining all things by his powerful word." {"Jesus speaks and His powerful word sustains life, holds matter together, and maintains the universe in proper order. It is by Him that all things hold together (Col. 1:17). Here is a simple explanation of a profound scientific problem. Scientists grapple to discover what holds molecules together. We learn here that Jesus Christ is the great Sustainer, and He does it by His powerful word."} [1]MacDonald, William ; Farstad, Arthur: Believer's Bible Commentary : Old and New Testaments. Nashville : Thomas Nelson, 1997, c1995, S. Heb 1:1 {"Sustaining or Upholding also means "bearing" or "carrying," referring to movement and progress toward a final end. The Son not only created the universe by His powerful word but also maintains and directs its course. He is the Governor of the universe. The laws of nature are His laws, and they operate at His command." } [1]Radmacher, Earl D. ; Allen, Ronald Barclay ; House, H. Wayne: Nelson's New Illustrated Bible Commentary. Nashville : T. Nelson Publishers, 1999, S. Heb 1:1
"After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. {"The glory of redemption is far greater than the glory of creation. The Son of God came down not to dazzle us with His splendor but to purge our sins. In order to create and sustain the universe, He only had to speak. But in order to put away our sin once for all, He had to die. Sat down suggests the formal act of assuming the office of High Priest and implies a contrast to the Levitical priest, who never finished his work and sat down (10:11-13). In the OT we meet a seatless sanctuary. In the NT we find a seated Savior."} [1]Radmacher, Earl D. ; Allen, Ronald Barclay ; House, H. Wayne: Nelson's New Illustrated Bible Commentary. Nashville : T. Nelson Publishers, 1999, S. Heb 1:1
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION AND APPLICATION
"And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another-and all the more as you see the Day approaching." (Hebrews 10: 24-25)
1) To keep each other from drifting, hardening and dulling, list five ways (or more) you can "spur one another on toward love and good deeds" and "encourage one another" at our Friday morning meetings and/or during the week. Please be prepared to share these Friday morning. Note to Table Leaders: please ask each man to share 1 at a time and continue till all 5 or more from each are discussed
2) What one negative exhortation is seen here? How can doing (this negative) adversely affect the men and yourself?
3) Who is Jesus Christ to you?
4) What is your main take away from the message and table discussion and how can you apply it to your life this