Monthly Archives: October 2009

Hebrews 3:1 (ESV) Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession,

Given all the truths that the writer has given us regarding Christ, it is hardly surprising that the first result that he draws our attention to is to “consider Jesus”. He is greater than angels, and is the only one fit to do what needs to be done in order to save people from their sins. Our attentions should be on Him.

This does not mean that when we go to work or school or do the many things a day calls us to do that the only thing we think about or talk about is Him. It means that we must never give any credit anywhere other than Jesus when regarding the salvation of sinners. Consider Jesus.

He is the only fit Saviour. He is the only one sent from the Father to save us (He is our apostle) and He is the only one who can mediate between the Father and us. He hears our confession and presents them to the Father and they are accepted because of Him (high priest of our confession). Why would we ever consider someone other than Christ? The temptations that these Hebrew Christians are facing must be fierce if they are causing them to dessert Jesus for the system that points to Him.

Faithfulness to Christ begins in our minds. We are called here to “consider” Jesus. Let the import of this sink deep into your mind and heart. Chapters 1 and 2 of Hebrews say things about Christ that are absolutely stunning. What then is the first thing we should do having been told these wonderful things? Think about them. Think about Jesus. This is not a waste of time.

There are far too many believers who make a distinction between acting and thinking. The Scriptures are virulently opposed to thinking without acting and equally strong against acting without thinking. Four times in this Letter to the Hebrew Christians, the writer tells them to “consider” or think about, the things taught. We will never be the obedient people we are called to be if we do not think hard. The point here is that we will not remain faithful to Christ if we do not consider the truth about Him. People perish and apostatize for lack of thinking.

The purpose of the Book of Hebrews is to keep Christians from deserting the faith by getting them to think about who and what Jesus is. Just saying that will inflame certain believers because all they hear is “Don’t do anything, just think about good stuff.” The writer to the Hebrews is not saying anything of the sort. But he knows, as we must know, that holiness starts in the mind.

Consider the following verses and see there the importance of sound, hard, truthful thinking. Thinking is never a waste of time. It is the absence of it that has plunged the world into the mess that it is in.

Psalm 119:52 (ESV)When I think of your rules from of old, I take comfort, O Lord.

Psalm 119:59 (ESV) When I think on my ways, I turn my feet to your testimonies;

Isaiah 10:7 (ESV) But he does not so intend, and his heart does not so think; but it is in his heart to destroy, and to cut off nations not a few;

Matthew 9:4 (ESV) But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts?

Matthew 10:34 (ESV) “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.

Matthew 18:12 (ESV)What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray?

Matthew 22:42 (ESV) saying, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?” They said to him, “The son of David.”

John 5:45 (ESV)Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope.

Acts 17:29 (ESV)Being then God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man.

Romans 12:3 (ESV)For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.

2 Cor. 11:16 (ESV) I repeat, let no one think me foolish. But even if you do, accept me as a fool, so that I too may boast a little.

2 Cor. 12:6 (ESV) Though if I should wish to boast, I would not be a fool, for I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me.

Philip. 3:15 (ESV) Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you.

Philip. 4:8 (ESV) Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

2 Tim. 2:7 (ESV) Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.

2 Peter 1:13 (ESV) I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder,

Deut. 11:2 (ESV)And consider today (since I am not speaking to your children who have not known or seen it), consider the discipline of the Lord your God, his greatness, his mighty hand and his outstretched arm,

Deut. 32:7 (ESV) Remember the days of old; consider the years of many generations; ask your father, and he will show you, your elders, and they will tell you.

Judges 18:14 (ESV) Then the five men who had gone to scout out the country of Laish said to their brothers, “Do you know that in these houses there are an ephod, household gods, a carved image, and a metal image? Now therefore consider what you will do.”

Judges 19:30 (ESV)And all who saw it said, “Such a thing has never happened or been seen from the day that the people of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt until this day; consider it, take counsel, and speak.”

1 Samuel 12:24 (ESV) Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you.

2 Chron. 19:6 (ESV) and said to the judges, “Consider what you do, for you judge not for man but for the Lord. He is with you in giving judgment.

Job 23:15 (ESV) Therefore I am terrified at his presence; when I consider, I am in dread of him.

Psalm 45:10 (ESV)Hear, O daughter, and consider, and incline your ear: forget your people and your father’s house,

Psalm 48:13 (ESV)consider well her ramparts, go through her citadels, that you may tell the next generation

Psalm 77:5 (ESV)I consider the days of old, the years long ago.

Psalm 106:7 (ESV) Our fathers, when they were in Egypt, did not consider your wondrous works; they did not remember the abundance of your steadfast love, but rebelled by the Sea, at the Red Sea.

Psalm 107:43 (ESV)Whoever is wise, let him attend to these things; let them consider the steadfast love of the Lord.

Psalm 119:95 (ESV)The wicked lie in wait to destroy me, but I consider your testimonies.

Psalm 119:128 (ESV) Therefore I consider all your precepts to be right; I hate every false way.

Psalm 119:159 (ESV) Consider how I love your precepts! Give me life according to your steadfast love.

Proverbs 6:6 (ESV) Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise.

Eccles. 2:12 (ESV)So I turned to consider wisdom and madness and folly. For what can the man do who comes after the king? Only what has already been done.

Eccles. 7:13-14 (ESV) Consider the work of God: who can make straight what he has made crooked? [14] In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him.

Isaiah 41:20 (ESV)that men may see and know, may consider and understand together, that the hand of the Lord has done this, the Holy One of Israel has created it.

Isaiah 41:22 (ESV)Let them bring them, and tell us what is to happen. Tell us the former things, what they are, that we may consider them, that we may know their outcome; or declare to us the things to come.

Isaiah 43:18 (ESV)

“Remember not the former things,

nor consider the things of old.

Jeremiah 9:17 (ESV)

Thus says the Lord of hosts:

“Consider, and call for the mourning women to come;

send for the skillful women to come;

Jeremiah 31:21 (ESV)

“Set up road markers for yourself;

make yourself guideposts;

consider well the highway,

the road by which you went.

Return, O virgin Israel,

return to these your cities.

Ezekiel 32:2 (ESV)

“Son of man, raise a lamentation over Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him:

“You consider yourself a lion of the nations,

but you are like a dragon in the seas;

you burst forth in your rivers,

trouble the waters with your feet,

and foul their rivers.

Daniel 9:23 (ESV)

At the beginning of your pleas for mercy a word went out, and I have come to tell it to you, for you are greatly loved. Therefore consider the word and understand the vision.

Hosea 7:2 (ESV)

But they do not consider

that I remember all their evil.

Now their deeds surround them;

they are before my face.

Haggai 1:5 (ESV)

Now, therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways.

Haggai 1:7 (ESV)

“Thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways.

Haggai 2:15 (ESV)

Now then, consider from this day onward. Before stone was placed upon stone in the temple of the Lord,

Haggai 2:18 (ESV)

Consider from this day onward, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month. Since the day that the foundation of the Lord’s temple was laid, consider:

Luke 12:24 (ESV)

Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds!

Luke 12:27 (ESV)

Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

Acts 15:6 (ESV)

The apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter.

Acts 26:2 (ESV)

“I consider myself fortunate that it is before you, King Agrippa, I am going to make my defense today against all the accusations of the Jews,

Romans 6:11 (ESV)

So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Romans 8:18 (ESV)

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

1 Cor. 1:26 (ESV)

For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.

1 Cor. 10:18 (ESV)

Consider the people of Israel: are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar?

2 Cor. 11:5 (ESV)

I consider that I am not in the least inferior to these super-apostles.

Philip. 3:13 (ESV)

Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,

Philemon 1:17 (ESV)

So if you consider me your partner, receive him as you would receive me.

Hebrews 3:1 (ESV)

Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession,

Hebrews 10:24 (ESV)

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works,

Hebrews 12:3 (ESV)

Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.

Hebrews 13:7 (ESV)

Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.

James 5:11 (ESV)

Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.

Hebrews 2:17-18 (ESV)

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. [18] For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

There can be no better Saviour than the One we have. Jesus was not chosen because He was just good enough. He was chosen as our Saviour because He and only He can do what needs to be done to bring “many sons to glory” (2:10). The text before us tells us that Jesus had to be made like the ones He came to save in every respect (minus sin of course). Not even the Son of God could save anyone from the heights of heaven. He had to leave heaven and come down. And not just come down. He had to come down as one of us.

Only by becoming one of us could He be a faithful and merciful high priest who, though tempted, never sinned. Our Saviour is One who knows what it is like to be tempted. Jesus’ temptations were real. When he was tempted He really suffered. We do not have One to go to who did not have to fight to defeat temptation. We go to One who resisted and won and was therefore the only acceptable sacrifice for sin. We serve a Saviour who truly defeated sin, not only in His death but in His life. He always said no to it no matter how much suffering that entailed. Hallelujah, what a Saviour!!

But Jesus also came as high priest. He mediates between God and man. He offered up sacrifice for sin. He made propitiation for sin. Here we see Jesus as both priest and lamb. As the high priest Jesus offers up the sacrifice. As the lamb He is offered up. Jesus does both.

The concept of propitiation is important. Sin must be punished. God’s anger at sin must be appeased. Jesus took the punishment for sin. He bore the wrath of God. He stood between us and God and when God lashed out at sin it never reached us. Jesus stood and bore it. This is a marvel beyond words. The growing movement to deny that Jesus was punished in the place of sinners is a denial of the Gospel.

Rejoice today that Jesus is the perfect Saviour who did all that could be done to save a vast multitude of people from the wrath of God. Rejoice even more that you are part of that great number.

And if you are not yet trusting in the perfect Saviour; if you have not turned to Him in repentance and faith, you are refusing the only One who can save you. You are denying that Jesus had to be made like us. Come and know the all sufficient Saviour. Come and know the forgiveness of sin. Come and find help when you are tempted.

Hebrews 2:14-16 (ESV)

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, [15] and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. [16] For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham

This text tells us two things that the death of Christ accomplished. 1) He destroyed the one who has the power of death, and 2) He delivers those who were subject to lifelong slavery.

Before we came to Christ we were slaves. Slaves to sin, slaves to death, slaves to thinking that the wrong things mattered. This slavery, the text says, was due to fear of death. Jesus erases the fear of death. Dying is not the end. It is entrance into the presence of Christ. Once the fear of death is removed there is nothing left to fear. The fear of death brings livelong slavery. It hinders people from really living.

Satan wields the concept of death as a weapon before people to keep them in a state of fear and Jesus has removed it and this should make our hearts sing. Christians are those who have been set free. They have been set free from sin and all its consequences. They have been liberated to true life.

People who have been set free do not live in the chains from which they were released. They leave them behind. Now that the constricting fear of death is removed there is great liberty. We know that death is not the end. We can serve God without fear of the consequences. Though an army encamp against us we will not fear.

In Luke 12:4 we have the account of Jesus telling His disciples that they should not fear those who can kill the body and after that do no more. In other words – all they can do is kill you, and we do not need to fear those who can only do that little thing. All they can do is usher us into the presence of the One who won the victory for us. If they let us go, we serve Christ. If they enslave us we worship from our hearts. If they destroy all that we have and who belongs to us, yet will we worship Him.

He has defeated our fear. What a work Christ has done.

Hebrews 2:14-16 (ESV)

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, [15] and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. [16] For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham.

Why did Jesus die? There are very easy and simple answers to that question and there are varied ways to put it. The author of this letter to Hebrew Christians answers it here in 2:14 & 15. 1) He died to destroy the one who has the power of death, the devil. Death is so final, so irreparable. We can fight disease and tragedy and accidents. We do much to help people avoid an encounter with the undefeatable foe – death. But death is not ours to defeat. All that we do is slow down the process, postpone the inevitable.

This verse tells us that death belongs in the hands of the author of evil. This is a frightening prospect. The thing we fear the most is in the hands of the one who hates us most. How would you like it if the person who hates you most had the power to end your life? He does. What you need is someone who is more powerful who loves you and will defeat the one who has the power of your death in his hands and rescue you.

How did Jesus defeat death and take it out of the hands of the devil? He succumbed to it. He died and then, without the help of anyone, rose from the dead. Result? Satan is defeated. Satan is now a defeated foe. He is the biggest fool in history. The thing he thought would garner him ultimate victory, the death of the Son of God, actually secured his ultimate and decisive defeat. When Jesus said “I saw Satan fall…”(Luke 10:18, John 12:31) He was referring to what was about to happen through His impending death. Jesus died and Satan fell.

The world serves a fool and a loser. We should never look at it with envy or longing. And we should do all that we can to rescue them from him. Jesus Christ is the only One who can snatch from Satan, those in his grasp. What we do is give the Gospel which is the power of God. Jesus has defeated Satan through His death and resurrection. How those in Satan’s grip need to hear the Truth of the Gospel and be liberated.

Christian, if you are truly thankful for the liberating power of the Gospel, then live a transformed life and give the powerful Gospel to all whom the Lord puts in your path who will listen to it. It will fill your heart with great joy.

Hebrews 2:10-13 (ESV)

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. [11] For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one origin. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers, [12] saying,

“I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise.”

[13] And again, “I will put my trust in him.”

And again, “Behold, I and the children God has given me.”

The writer explains how it is that Jesus is not ashamed to call us brothers. “I will tell your name to my brothers…”. The unashamedness of Jesus to call us brothers is demonstrated in that He proclaimed the Father to us. Knowing God is why we are here. We are created to worship God, walk with God, know God, work for God, enjoy God.

Sin ruined it all. It made us worshippers of ourselves, enjoyers of things more than God, wanting to be away from Him instead of with Him. Sin, and all its devastating consequences entered very early into the world. The world became a place where the only thoughts of man were evil continually (Genesis 6:5).

It was not long after the fall that God announced what He was going to do to rescue the world from the sin Adam and Eve (and, eventually, all their progeny) had embraced. He would send a child who would crush Satan, his work and all its repercussions. And the work of that child is to live the sinlessly perfect life that we were created to live. Innocent of all sin He dies to take the punishment that those He died for deserve. He rises from the dead – a testimony by the Father that the work of the cross has done all that it was designed to do. He reigns at the right hand of the Father and lives to intercede for us so that our sins never consume us.

Jesus then brings us to God. “Here is one for whom the price has been paid” He says to the Father. “Here is the One I died to win you back to” He says to us. “This is my Father and this is your Father. You are my brother.” This is stunning and if we meditated on it more than we do we would be more conformed to the image of Christ than we currently are.

What a work Christ has done. What a love He has demonstrated. What a glory is ours because of His grace. How can we not worship? How can we find fellowship with God, worship, obedience … too much? A true believer never will.

Hebrews 2:10-14 (ESV)

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. [11] For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one origin. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers, [12] saying,

“I will tell of your name to my brothers;

in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise.”

[13] And again,

“I will put my trust in him.”

And again,

“Behold, I and the children God has given me.”

[14] 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,

God made the Founder of our salvation perfect through suffering. It is blatantly obvious in the context of this passage that “made perfect through suffering” does not mean that Jesus became sinless through His sufferings. But sinners are such that they can deceive themselves with the worst kind of beliefs if they match up with what their depraved hearts tell them in their denial of Gospel truth.

The write of this Epistle has just finished saying some awe inspiring things regarding who Jesus is and what Jesus did. We can hardly believe that this verse teaches that Jesus was not perfect all His life when we have already been told that He is the creator of the world, holds all the creation together, is the radiance of the glory of God with an eternal throne and whom all the hosts of heaven worship.

Verses 10 is teaching us that Jesus has been made the perfect Saviour through His sufferings. Even God incarnate would not be the perfect salvation for us if He did not suffer. The cross is absolutely necessary for salvation. So the perfect Son of God became the perfect author of our salvation. It cannot mean anything else.

But what a glory it is that it does mean this! The eternal Son came into the world and through suffering became the perfect sacrifice for sin. His suffering included becoming human. This is what Paul is referring to when he says that though Christ was rich He became poor that we through His poverty might be rich (II Corinthians 8:9). Jesus’ poverty is becoming human.

But that is not the supreme suffering of the eternal Son. We go to the cross. The whole cross event, the beatings and mocking and opposition and the desertion of His followers, the pain and shame, the thorn of crowns, the spear in the side, the nails in His hands and feet,- all these were part of His suffering. But we still have not mentioned the supreme suffering of the eternal Son.

Jesus hangs on the cross and darkness comes and envelopes the region. For three long hours it is inexplicably dark. At the end of those three hours Jesus, from the cross, screams to God, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

This is the supreme suffering of the eternal Son. He has been forsaken by His Father. God has turned His back on Him as He must do before all sin. Sin must be punished and Jesus is bearing the punishment for sin – separation from God. Sin cannot enter the presence of God and Jesus as the sin bearer is denied access to the Father. The agony the Son endures at this time for the sake of those He came to save is unimaginably great. We will never fully know how much the Son suffered. But his suffering means He is the perfect Saviour.

His sacrifice for sin is what the Father required and it was what the Son willingly offered. And it is what the Father has accepted as atonement for our sins. Jesus is resurrected as a testimony of the final sacrifice for sin having been accepted by God. He is enthroned as King forevermore because He has defeated sin and death and hell through His sacrifice for sin.

He became the perfect founder of our salvation through suffering. And because of it we who trust Him will live forever with Him. What a God. What a Saviour. What a salvation. How can we who have been brought into life through the work of Christ on our behalf live in sin any longer? We can’t. We won’t. He is the captain of our salvation and we joyfullly give up everything for the joy of following Him