The Joy in Responsibility

(An In-Depth Study of Hebrews)

Commentary

Second Coming

Hebrews 9:27-28 

Outline 

Comparing us to Christ: (verse 27a)

US – Death then Judgment

CHRIST- Death then saves from Judgment

Parallel yet Superior

God made the appointment for you to die

Romans 5:12

Psalm 139:16

Appointed to die once

Psalm 90:12

Death is sure and its massive

After this comes judgment: (verse 27b)

We are not just chemistry

Everyone lives on

Christ at the second coming: (verse 28)

1. offered once and bore the sin of many
2. my punishment completed on the cross
3. finished work of Jesus; salvation without reference to sin

LIFE APPLICATION:

Eager faith – Are you trusting in a way that makes you eager to see Christ return?

 

The Joy in Responsibility

(An In-Depth Study of Hebrews)

Commentary

Lifelong Clean Conscience

Hebrews 9:1-14 

Outline 

Why the detailed history lesson? (verses 1-7)

What our author wants us to see about the Old period…

Verse 1: earthly sanctuary

Verse 2: outer place (Holy Place)

Verse 3-5:  inner place (Most Holy Place)

Verse 6: Priests daily work (outer place)

Verse 7: High Priest Atoning Work Once a Year (inner place)

How our author interprets utilizing time references:

Verse 8-9: this present time

Verses 10-14 : the time of reformation

This Present Time:

Limited Access to God

Clean on the outside (external worship)

Not clean on the inside (No perfect conscience)

“Dead Works” service toward God

Time of Reformation:

Redeemed Access to God

Clean on the inside (internal worship)

Outside reflecting the inside

Serving the Living God

 

LIFE APPLICATION:

Cleaning up your act so you can sleep at night does nothing.

A perfect conscience generates real and righteous service toward God.

The Joy in Responsibility

(An In-Depth Study of Hebrews)

Commentary

Light Ends the Shadow

Hebrews 7:26-8:7 

Outline 

New Covenant High Priest is Superior (verses 26-28)

This is the summary of the Order of Melchizedek

1.       Jesus is sinless (Holy)
2.       Worthy to be the Sacrifice
3.       Perfect so that the Sacrifice is once-for-all
4.       Appointed by an oath as a perfect Son
5.       Forever (Eternal)

Old Covenant comes to an end; New Covenant is a perfect, permanent replacement

Jesus came to put an end to the shadows (verse 8:1-7)

Main Point:

Jesus our New Covenant High Priest who goes between us and God, and makes us right with God, and prays for us to God is not an ordinary, weak, sinful, dying, priest like in the Old Testament days. He is the Son of God—strong, sinless, with an indestructible life.

No More – earthly Tabernacle, sacrifices, Articles of Worship, Vestments, dietary laws, etc…

What Moses copied or shadowed from his Mt. Sinai experience we now experience without shadow.

Old Covenant – Come and see worship experience

New Covenant – Go and tell life of worship

LIFE APPLICATION:

We have complete freedom in Christ

We live mission driven lives taking the Gospel to all cultures

The Joy in Responsibility

(An In-Depth Study of Hebrews)

Commentary

Jesus, Intercessor

Hebrews 7:1-25 

Outline 

The Big Picture – The Priesthood (Verses 1-24)

The old Priesthood (in the order of Aaron) is inadequate.

Many temporary Priests

Came from a legal requirement

Under the Law – that cannot make anyone perfect

 

The new Priesthood (in the order of Melchizedek) is eternal.

One High Priest forever

Came from an indestructible life

Jesus, the guarantor of a better covenant

The Main Point (Verse 25)

Jesus is able to save forever…

…because he lives to make intercession for them (everyone who draws near to God through him)

The Priesthood answers the question: From what am I being saved?

Sin  <Priesthood> Holy

The main point answers the question: What does my salvation look like?

Salvation is not static.

I believed and I was saved… and … Jesus is saving me today and forever.

LIFE APPLICATION:

What do I need? To continue to draw near to God through Jesus.

My life needs everything in it that cause affections toward Jesus.

The Joy in Responsibility

(An In-Depth Study of Hebrews)

Commentary

Jesus, our Hope, our Anchor

Hebrews 6:19-20 

Outline 

God desires that we would be people of Hope by means of strong encouragement.

Chapter 1 Jesus is Superior, Creator, Reigns Forever…God!

Chapter 2 Jesus is the Founder of Salvation.

Chapter 3 Jesus greater than Moses secures our rest.

Chapter 4 Jesus our Sympathetic High Priest takes pity and provides all we need.

Chapter 5 Jesus appointed by God the Father in the order of Melchizedek.

Chapter 6 Jesus provides the means to be sure of better things for the Beloved

God’s promises are certain; backed by a promise and an oath.

God desires that we NOT be people who fail to rest in the promises by means of stern warnings.

Chapter 2 Pay closer attention to the Word or drift!

Chapter 3 Don’t harden you hearts like unbelieving Israel!

Chapter 4 Hearing the Good News without faith has no benefit!

Chapter 5 Don’t be dull of hearing!

Don’t live like a drunk unable to distinguish good from evil!

Chapter 6 Don’t fall away like the apostate!

 

Our Image of Hope:

Verse 19 – An Anchor

The anchor is hooked on the Mercy Seat

 

The anchor is tethered to our soul

 

Sure and Steadfast

 

Verse 20 – Our Forerunner

Jesus made the way complete

 

In the order of Melchizedek

 

 

LIFE APPLICATION:

The Anchor will hold at both ends!

 

Jesus purchased our empowerment! (Phil. 3:12)

 

MANY AMERICANS NEED TO:

Starve their hands and feet

 

Nourish their heart and soul

See Jesus as Superior

Know the promises are certain

Talk to God and His people

Remember your history with God

Hope in Eternity with God

 

How come sometimes I feel like salvation is my responsibility and sometimes I feel that it’s none of me and all of Jesus?

The answer is this:

What Christ bought for us when he died was not the freedom from having to hold fast but the enabling power to hold fast.

What he bought was not the nullification of our wills as thought we didn’t have to hold fast, but the empowering of our wills because we want to hold fast.

What he bought was not the canceling of the commandment to hold fast but the fulfillment of the commandment to hold fast.

What he bought was not the end of exhortation, but the triumph of exhortation.

 

The Joy in Responsibility

(An In-Depth Study of Hebrews)

Commentary

Full Assurance of Hope (Part 2)

Hebrews 6:13-18 

Outline 

Let’s set the scene:

Once again we find our text founded on the Old Testament. Our author knows it’s common ground on which we can agree God is faithful. We have a history with God!

Genesis 22: Abraham offers Isaac (A Case Study)

Abraham’s faith is put to the test and found genuine.

God promises Abraham (Genesis 12, 13, 15, 17, 18, 21 and 22) and Abraham’s faith grows

God waits for worldly hope to die (Sarah is childless and too old) and Abraham’s faith grows

God sends the promise and Abraham’s faith grows

God places the promise at risk to show His keeping power and Abraham’s faith grows

Conclusion: It is through faith and patience that we inherit the promises. (Vs 12)

The main idea of the text: God has a desire for you; through strong encouragement you hold fast to hope that endures to the end! (Verse 18)

You are described two ways in the text:

Heirs of the promise (Verse 17) – future glory

We who have fled for refuge (Verse 18) – present day holding fast

To you God offers two unchangeable things:

A Promise – to bless

With an oath – to keep (God cannot lie)

The aim of verses 12 and 13 is the same found in this week’s text. God wants you to have the full assurance of hope. God never wants your hope to be weak or flapping in the wind based on circumstances. If you become sluggish or dull you can start to think that God’s promises and the hope that He offers aren’t as real as the hope offered by the world. That’s the danger that this book warns against over and over. Drifting in the Christian life is dangerous. You must fight to keep your hope in God strong, compelling, and alluring.

LIFE APPLICATION:

The world calls us to DUTY.

Life for the sake of duty can only exhaust you; and in the end sees you fall away.

God calls us to HOPE.

Life for the sake of hope stirs passion and joy; and in the end sees you grow stronger and finish well.

The Joy in Responsibility

(An In-Depth Study of Hebrews)

Commentary

Full Assurance of Hope

Hebrews 6:9-12 

Outline 

After a hard word of warning comes a breathtaking word of encouragement. This reveals that the goal of the warning is to provide full assurance of hope to the end.

Verse 9:

 

Beloved, a case study.

Though we speak this way…

With hard words of warning

We feel sure of better things…

Not apostasy

Things that belong to salvation.

Things that are owned by salvation!

Things that belong to Christ!

Verse 10:

For (reason for the confidence)

God is not unjust! (This speaks of God’s justice)

Justice – receiving what you deserve

Vs.

Mercy – receiving what is best, despite what you deserve (Grace)

God’s justice does not forget:

Your work (service to the saints; 10:32-34)

Your love for God’s name (God’s Character)

Most Christians understand the Grace and Mercy of God working in their lives, but have little to no understanding of God’s justice in their lives.

How does the justice of God work in the life of the Christian?

The highest value in creation  is God. (Holy, Perfect, Absolute, and Unchanging)

Isaiah 46:9 “for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me,”

Justice (perfect justice) only exists when the highest value in creation is honored as such.

Isaiah 42:8 “I am the Lord; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols.”

God places His Name on His people and upholds it.

Ezekiel 20:44 “And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I deal with you for my name’s sake, not according to your evil ways, nor according to your corrupt deeds, O house of Israel, declares the Lord God.”

God created us for His glory.

Isaiah 43:7 “everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory,

whom I formed and made.”

Giving praise to the Highest Value in creation (Glorious God) completes us.

Philippians 1:20-21 “… Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

Philippians 3:8 “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.”

There’s the key: we praise what we enjoy because the delight is incomplete until it is expressed in praise. If we were not allowed to speak of what we value and celebrate, what we love and praise, what we admire, our joy would not be full. Jonathan Edwards said, “Joy is a great ingredient in praise … Praise is the most joyful work in the world.” Therefore, if God is truly for us, if he would give us the best and make our joy full, he must make it his aim to win our praise for himself. Not because he needs to shore up some weakness in himself or compensate for some deficiency, but because he loves us and seeks the fullness of our joy that can only be found in knowing and praising him, the most beautiful of all Beings.

The justice of God always supports and maintains those who rest in the mercy of God.

Verse 11:

Live in full assurance!

Verse 12:

Imitate those who have faith and patience!

The book of Hebrews is written for our assurance.