Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. 8
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. 9
Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them. 10
We have an altar from which those who serve the tent have no right to eat. 11
For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp. 12
So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. 13
Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. 14
For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come. 15
Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. 16
Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.
You even wonder why all the heroes of the Bible are shown to us…warts and all? Our heroes, even those we are told to imitate and learn from are also shown as broken,
fallen men and women who find joy in and through repentance.
Connected to this is the well-known verse 9, that Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. The purpose of such a statement is to give assurance to the Christians
that regardless of what is going on around them, the persecution, the trials, the uncertainties; the character and person of the King and Savior is unshakable.
Just as the Lord protected and vindicated previous generations of believers who trusted in him, so he will do the same for these believers, so He will do the same
for us.
In a changing world, and not always changing for the better, what comfort is ours to stand upon the promise that the Lord Jesus…does not change…will
not change…He is reliable and trustworthy.
In the context of Hebrews and the total teaching of the NT, this is not only a statement of fact, it is also an important theological confession: Christ
is the same yesterday, as he is today, and as He will be forever. We know he is the eternal God, we know that he created the heavens and the earth, we know that he was the person of the Godhead directly involved with Abraham and the history of
Israel, we know that he delivered Israel from bondage in Egypt, we know that he gave the law at Mt. Sinai…
…We know he spoke to Moses in the tabernacle, we know that Moses loved and served him, we know that he was the object of Israel’s faith when she was believing, we
know that it was his glory that was revealed from time to time in Israel’s history: all of this we know by the explicit teaching of the New Testament, some of which is in Hebrews. (RSR)
And it is true that in a particular moment in the middle of history, the Son of God appeared in the world to die and rise again and so redeem his people from their
guilt and sin…But the Son of God has always been the Savior and the ruler of his people…The world has always been His…the purpose of all things has always found its conclusion in Him.
And the blessings and benefits of what our God did in space and time, have been spread backward as well as forward in history and his people, both before and after
his incarnation, have known him as Lord, Savior, Redeemer and King.
As true as it is, as John the Baptist put it at the appearance of Jesus, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world,” so it is also true that
he is the “Lamb slain before the beginning of the world.”
Any correct understanding of the theology of the Bible and the history of salvation must do justice to this fact: that Christ did not begin to be his people’s savior
or the object of their faith when he came into the world as the son of Mary. What he did by his incarnation, suffering, obedience, death, and resurrection, was the basis for the relationship he has had with his people since the days of Adam and Eve.
That has been a key assumption in the argument of this sermon we know as “Hebrews;” no wonder it should be this preacher who, in his conclusion, confesses that truth.
This offers us a paradigm, or at least the beginning of one, through which we understand all things. Everything has its beginning and end in the purposes of God, who is the Alpha and Omega.
That is true in a macro sense, the world as a whole, it is also true on a micro level…that is everything in YOUR life and mine. No matter what has happened in your
life…all of it…no matter what may come, you will not make sense of it, not truly, if you do not look at it all through the person of Jesus.
What is it that gives you hope of perseverance? Is it your performance as a Christian? Is it your consistency, your unwavering faultless living? And in the context
could it even be the wonderful examples and leaders that you have positioned around your life? The answer to all of this is a profound no.
It is in the One who is unchanging. The only way by which we can or will persevere in the faith is to hold to the foundation and not even to the smallest degree to
depart from it.
You and I do not have to worry that our Savior will change and therefore we will not know Him…or that all of a sudden we will be unaware of what He loves and what
pleases Him…or that he will change and like men, stop loving you; or that he will change the principles of the covenant in which you are a part, so as to pretend to preserve you but then to instead…cast you out. He will not do this…he cannot do this…it strikes
against who He is and He does not change.
So, when all is crazy around you, and everything rocks with change, your eyes are fixed on the unchanging, the eternal upon the Savior himself, and He again, as on
the earth, speaks to the storm and the heart of faith, hears and is calmed.
Prayer: Father, forgive me for complaints that are not made to You but just to complain. Forgive me for not trusting You in the midst of life’s difficulties. Forgive
me for doubting Your love, mercy and kindness. Help me to see myself clearly, help me to discern my circumstance and give me grace and discernment to wait on You, to hear Your voice, and to live to Your pleasure, through Jesus Christ my Lord, Amen.
Psalm 15