A Call to holiness (Part two) The works of Jesus Christ Hebrews 3:1-11 Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession; He was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses also was in all his house. For He has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, by just so much as the builder of the house has more honour than the house. For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God. Now Moses was faithful in all his house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken later; but Christ was faithful as a Son over his house--whose house we are, if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end. Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says, today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as when they provoked Me, as in the day of trial in the wilderness, where your fathers tried Me by testing Me, and saw My works for forty years. Therefore I was angry with this generation, and said, they always go astray in their heart, and they did not know My ways; as I swore in My wrath, they shall not enter My rest. In writing the Epistle to the Hebrews the writer have given us, from the very beginning, a serious warning, but with that he also threw out a lifeline through an imperious call unto more in Christ and not only so, but have also given us an inescapable reason in the Person and attributes of Jesus our Christ as to why we should listen to His message. And then at the very end of His first discourse of the Gospel of sanctification and in the midst of his next reason he brings all of what is mentioned above about Christ to Calvary’s Cross. But at closer investigation we would also see that our writer has not only built on his motivation but on all three subheadings out of his first exhortation. A warning of paramount importance Not only was and is there the possibility to drift away from the Gospel, should one not pay much closer attention to the Gospel massage in the fullness thereof, but much more dangers lurks from behind the life of negligence, waywardness and of lukewarm Christianity. Inspired by the Holy Spirit we clearly see in the writing, in chapter three, that apart from drifting away it is also possible that God’s wrath may once again come upon them who at one time have been delivered from the wrath of God. Remember that the Epistle was mainly written to believing Jews, the born again ones, as we more clearly see at the beginning of this chapter: “…Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession …” So by speaking to Christian Jews and in referring them back to God’s salvation to the Nation Israel when He delivered them from the bondage of slavery out of Egypt; he makes an assertion that in the same way can we also, who have been saved from the bondage of slavery and sin in this world, of which Egypt is a picture, again be rejected by God as He did with most of them who was delivered out of Egypt. And for what reason: they always go astray in their heart, and they did not know My ways. Because they did not now God’s ways; and how could they have known His ways? By not going astray from His laws, given through Moses and therefore by paying much closer attention to what they have heard in order to act upon it. Praise be to Jesus for His Word needs not much interpretation and explaining in that it explains itself. We only have to consider His Word with an open heart and a ready mind. Now the notion of going astray is the same as drifting away, it basically says that you depart from something given to you or from someplace where you have been. You cannot go astray as an unsaved soul for there is only one way to hell and all who is born once are born on that road. You need to be born again to get unto the road that leads to heaven. So we then find that the urgency of the Hebrews writer’s warning just stepped up a notch, but also His call. A call of unprecedented value Not only did our writer expand on his warning to the believing Jews and also to me and to you today in this day and age, but he also gave us more insight to what he meant by paying much closer attention to that which we have heard. In verse one He takes a step further and says that we should consider this Jesus, whom the writer has uplifted in chapter one, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession. This word: Consider means to fully observe, to attentively consider and also to discover. This is exactly what he meant by his call to paying much closer attention to what we have heard. So He urges us to discover this Jesus in His fullness of His being, to fully observe His life and words and to attentively consider what He have done for us, for He also is our Apostle and High Priest. And then He continues and say that with due consideration of the Person and attributes of our Lord Jesus we will hear the voice of the Holy Spirit calling us to a deeper life, and thus his call of unprecedented value to us: ”… today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as when they provoked Me…” For it is only when we truly see Jesus that we can truly see ourselves, and when we glorify and uplifts Jesus, He will draw us nigh through His Spirit, for it is the work of the Holy Spirit to convict us of sin, righteousness and of judgement and to lead us in all truth (John 16:8; 14:26). This is also what was meant by the words of Jesus when He said: And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself (John 12:32). Yes it firstly speaks of His crucifixion but also when He is lifted on high so that all can see Him as the crucified. We can’t go to Jerusalem today and see Him crucified, as two thousand years has passed since His crucifixion and He was buried on that very same day but He also rose again three days later, ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God. It is only when we closely consider Him, as the writer in this Epistle painted Him, that we will again be able to see Him as our Lord the crucified, as He was bruised for our iniquities and wounded for our transgressions. But then we will also see Him as THE glorified and without one doubt in my mind, then you will hear the voice of the Holy Spirit ever so gently calling you to a life of holiness in Christ Jesus. John 7:39 But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. In the same way as that the Holy Ghost was only given in His fullness once Jesus was glorified, so also will we only receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit in our lives once Jesus is fully glorified in your life. For this reason the Holy Spirit inspired the writer to direct to his readers this unprecedented call unto holiness through truly discovering and considering Jesus Christ but then also to listen to His voice and not to harden your heart. Lest you go astray, drift away and again fall under the wrath of God. An overwhelming motivation Again we see that the writer not only called us unto a life of due consideration for our Lord Jesus, which should also be accompanied by the true practice of faith in that which we will discover on such a journey, and he did not only accompany his call with a warning, which should also be more than an adequate reason for why we should adhere to his call, but he have again also given us an overwhelming motivation as to why we should act upon his call. The question then again being; why should we fully consider Jesus and why are we not to harden our hearts? The real reason and motivation, according to the Epistle to the Hebrews, is again to be found in the Person of Jesus Christ, but this time in what He have done for us on Calvary’s cross. And yet again did our writer give us more than one, though one is more than sufficient, reasons within his reason. Lets then also fully discover what He have done for me and for you, through giving Him due consideration. And then, most important of all:”… today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as when they provoked Me…” So why should we consider Jesus the Apostle and High Priest of our confession? Hebrews 2:9-11 But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone. For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings. For both He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one Father; for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren, Reason one: Because JESUS supplied the offering in His own body for He tasted death for every man. The first reason why we should fully consider Jesus and not harden our hearts to His Holy Spirit is because the very Jesus of whom we have read in the first chapter is also the One who died for us. Not only, as we have seen in the previous exhortation, is He our propitiation but also the Worker thereof. He said: John 10:17, 18 For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father. In the Old Testament sacrificial system one always found forgiveness for sins though making an offering for sin. The Scapegoat however was to be supplied by the guilty person himself according to the law. Therefore it always cost him something to receive pardon. But Jesus paid that prize for us so that we could receive pardon as a free gift. Yes God gave His only begotten Son, but Jesus also freely gave Himself to be our Scapegoat. Jesus had a free choice to either lay down His life or not, but He chose to taste death for every man. We also read in the Word that He is the true Shepherd and that the true shepherd lays down his life for the sheep and this is exactly what Jesus did. He died the cruellest death on the cross for me and for you. If we would honestly consider Jesus in this hour we would see Him in His hour of need where His sweat turned into blood because He who loved righteousness and hated lawlessness would become sin; We would see Him where His own creations, whom He hath given life, smite Him in the face and cursed Him and mocked Him; We would see Him, the Judge and Ruler of the universe, where He was scourged and ultimately crucified. Yes, we would see Him as the prophet Isaiah saw Him in chapter fifty three of His book. Jesus tasted death for every man; yes He supplied the scapegoat for our sin in Himself. Hebrews 2:14, 15 Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. Reason two: Because JESUS delivered us. The second reason is because Jesus is also our Deliverer. A lot people, when they consider Jesus see Him only as their deliverer from hell, but this is not so. He did not come to deliver people from hell, but to deliver them from that which takes them to hell, from sin. Paul said in his letter to the Roman Christians; that the wages of sin is death (Romans 3:23), and if one live in sin, even though, at one point you did come to salvation in Christ, then you can expect nothing but death as a reward. This is the second death, hell. Romans 6:16 Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness? This is also evident in the teaching of our Lord Jesus when He was walking the roads of Galilee and Judea. We clearly see this in the Gospel according to John, in the eighth chapter Jesus told the Jews who believed in Him, the born again ones, that those who commits sin are slaves of sin and that a slave does not abide in the house forever, but that if the Son shall set you free, you will be free indeed. John 8:36 So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. Free from what? Not merely slavery but sin because you are a slave of the sin. The verb: commits, is written in the present participle which means if you live in sin or repeatedly do it. This does not talk of the unknown factor of sin but of deliberate sin. Thou shalt not steel, and now you keep on steeling; thou shalt not lie, but you keep on lying. Jesus came to deliver us from the power of sin. Therefore we have no reason to think that because we are just humans we can continue to sin because you wil always be a sinner, this idea is in fact foreign to the teachings of Scripture. Yes every man is a sinner before salvation, but once the Blood of Christ is applied to a life that person becomes a son of God. Jesus came to deliver us from sin, and therefore to take away the sin in our lives. 1 John 3:4-7 Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness. You know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin. No one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or knows Him. Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; Reason three: Because JESUS sanctifies us. The third reason why we should adhere to the Holy Spirits call to holiness is because Jesus did not only taste death for every man but He is also the One who can make us holy. He is our Sanctifier in that He became flesh, was tempted just like us but without sin so that He could help those who are in the flesh. His Blood atonement did much more than only worked forgiveness of sin but was also sufficient to sanctify us wholly. As it is written: 1 Thessalonians 5:23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete (perfectly), without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. That word complete is not a favourable word among lukewarm Christians in this day, for it implies that we could be made perfect. And because Jesus is also able to deliver us from sin, can He then not also make us holy. For true holiness could only be found in the absence of a sinful life, although the absence of deliberate sin not al there is to holiness. On the positive side is true holiness found in a live fully consecrated to the will and purpose of God. Jesus was the perfect example and because of His resurrection power our Sanctifier is also able to make us perfect. This is what He does and this is why He came so that He could bring many sons to glory. Romans 6:22 But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life. Hebrews 2:17, 18 Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted. Reason four: Because JESUS is our High Priest making atonement for us. The fourth reason why we should really discover the debts of Christ is because this Jesus is also the One who is constantly making atonement and intercession for us by the Father’s side, as it is written: “… Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us” (Romans 8:34). Though He was our Scapegoat, somebody worthy still had to make the atonement on our behalf, somebody sanctified for the job. Again, in the Old Testament only the high priest was worthy of the cause as he was the sanctified one for the job. But because he wasn’t sinless he also had to first make atonement for his own sin and then he could make atonement for the sin of the people. Jesus who now became our High Priest had no sin of His own and in therefore could forever make perfect those for whom He makes the atonement because He who made the atonement as well as the offer He presented, which is His own Body, was perfect in all aspects. If we just, for a moment, ponder this idea the reality of what is actually said will come to us. Jesus supplied the offer, He was the offer but then He is also the One who made the offering and who brought the Blood before God into the holy of holies, but He is still there interceding for us even to this day almost two thousand years later. Now being God himself He is the perfect High Priest for He needs not to first atone for His own sin but in being fully human also He is even more so as He is able to relate to our weaknesses. Therefore; Jesus who tasted death for every man, who delivered us from sin, and who is able to sanctify us wholly is also our High Priest and for this reason we must not harden our hearts today if we hear the Holy Spirit calling. Reason five: Because JESUS is our Apostle who brought us the Gospel massage. In the twelfth verse of chapter 2 we find the fifth reason to why we should with utmost sincerity consider Jesus, because He is also the Apostle who first brought us this message of salvation. Hebrews 2:11, 12 … for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, I will proclaim Your Name to my brethren, in the midst of the congregation I will sing Your praise. This is also evident from the third verse when the writer said that the gospel was first preached by Jesus and thereafter by those who heard it, while it was also confirmed by God with wonders and miracles. In Paul’s writings to the Romans he said that one cannot believe accept he hears and that he cannot hear accept somebody preaches to him the message, and then that one cannot preach accept somebody sends him. Jesus preached it, but He also sends out those who preached it after Him and therefore without Christ as our Apostle as well as the One who sends others, everything done on the cross would have been of no value to us for we would not have known. All the more reason why we should pay much closer attention to what we have heard and even more so, consider Him from whom we have heard it first, Jesus our Apostle and High Priest. Reason six: Because Jesus humiliated Himself for us. The sixth and last reason why we should truly and utterly discover Jesus is because; He not only gave His own Blood but also, being God, gave up His honour and glory for us. We’ve read in the fourteenth verse of chapter two that He had to become flesh and blood because the children which He wanted to save were flesh and blood. In Paul’s discourse on the same subject to the Philippians, he gives us more insight to the full meaning of this verse, we read: “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:5-8). Now if the Son of God, the Heir of all things, and the Almighty God Himself emptied Himself and humiliated Himself to the point of death on the cross, shall we not also empty ourselves of everything sinful and prideful? For this is, as we will see as we continue, the call of the Holy Spirit to me and unto you, a call unto holiness. And what other meaning could there be to real holiness, but to be fully emptied of self in order to be filled with God’s Spirit. Let’s then without delay consider the fullness of the Person, the attributes and the works of the Person Jesus Christ. Why should we then not harden our hearts today if we hear the voice of the Holy Spirit? Yes because we might go astray and thus again fall under the wrath of God, but we must even more so fully consider Jesus our Apostle and High Priest because of what He have done for us: 1. Because JESUS supplied the offering for our sin in His own body. 2. Because JESUS delivered us. 3. Because JESUS sanctifies us. 4. Because JESUS is our High Priest making the atonement for us. 5. Because JESUS is our Apostle who brought us the Gospel massage. 6. Because JESUS humiliated Himself for us. Because this Jesus was crucified unto you!
Posted on: Thu, 13 Nov 2014 05:56:49 +0000
Trending Topics
© 2015