BELOVED: RUNNING THE RACE THAT IS SET BEFORE US HEBREWS 12:1-4 Lets begin at verse 1: I want to talk to you about the first four verses. Hebrews chapter 12 verses 1 to 4. One of the great texts in the Bible; one of the most familiar; one of the simplest really and yet one of the most profound. And I really just want to remind you of some very wonderful truths, wonderful realities that flow out of this great text. Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. And well stop right there. Now you have in this brief text a figure of speech. The Christian life is likened unto a race. When we studied in seminary about how to teach and how to preach and they do teach that there, believe it or not, they used to tell us, and its been reaffirmed by many others who taught speech, that you best communicate through the use of figures of speech, or analogies or similes or metaphors - those things that make up a figure of speech. A figure of speech is saying something in another way - by an illustration, a simile, a metaphor, whatever, an allegory. The Bible uses many such figures to speak of the Christian life. Since the Christian life is an abstract thing in the sense that its a word from God describing a spiritual thing and not a physical thing, it needs to be given some physical identity so we can better understand it. And so, for example, in 2 Timothy chapter 2 and in Ephesians 6, Paul describes the Christian life as warfare, and he talks about the armor of the Christian, and he talks about being a soldier of Jesus Christ. And in Ephesians chapter 6, also, Paul describes the Christian life as a wrestling match, and he says I dont shadowbox, I dont fight as one that beats the air. And then in Romans and many other places, Paul talks about the Christian life as a form of slavery and we are the bond-slaves of Jesus Christ. In 2 TIMOTHY 2:6, he describes the Christian life as a farming operation, and he says A hard-working farmer is likened unto a faithful Christian, who works diligently to plant his crop and then waits to see God give a harvest. In Romans chapter 7, God likens the Christian life to marriage. He says your old marriage partner, the law, died and youre married to a new partner, Jesus Christ. And in many, many texts in the New Testament, the Holy Spirit likens the Christian life to the relationship between a father and a son. We are often called the sons of the children of God.
Posted on: Tue, 18 Nov 2014 01:07:52 +0000
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