Grace - Hebrews: Consider Jesus, Part 3

Hi Everyone,

"God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.  And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power.  When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,..."  Hebrews 1:1-3

I have some thoughts to share on the above passage:

• When the Law was given, God spoke through angels (Heb 2:2) and the word was unalterable--disobedience punishable by death.  This ministry of angels is contrasted to that of the Son:

• When God spoke through His Son, He did so, making Jesus the appointed heir of all things.  This is just as unalterable as the first covenant.  And although by the life and death of Jesus Christ the former covenant has been fulfilled and set aside (Rom. 7:18 and Eph. 2:15), the new covenant established through Jesus is a covenant of peace lasting forever (Isa. 54:10; Eze. 37:26; Heb. 13:20).

• We are co-heirs with Christ and that is precisely why we have no need of anything beyond Him; He supplies us what is needed!

• We are also part of Jesus' inheritance (Isaiah 8:18 - "Behold, I and the children whom the LORD has given me for signs and wonders in Israel from the LORD of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion").

• The ministry of the angels (the Mosaic Law) spoke condemnation to us and emphasized our trespasses and sins, actions normal for the unregenerate man.  But, the ministry of the Son and God's saving grace makes it normal for us to love righteousness and hate iniquity.  This can only happen by the life that Jesus gives to us (Himself) and His life is MORE POWERFUL than sin and death.  That is why the Christian can now live a sinless life!  Yes, it's true.  There is so much more than doing good and avoiding evil (men, you know exactly what I mean).
  

• The Father has expressed Himself through Jesus; Jesus brings forth the light of the Father.  This is something the Law and Prophets could not do.

• Jesus made purification (meaning to purge) of sins and sat down.  "Every drop of blood offered from Eden to Calvary pointed to the blood shed by the spotless Lamb" (quoted from Oliver Greene).
  

Now, my question is this:  Why is there a need for anything further information after Hebrews 1:3?  I mean, don't you see it?  Purification is done!  Our Great High Priest, Jesus, is seated.  Nothing further to do!   Pardon my momentary musings, but the point of everything after Hebrews 1:3 is that we would KNOW this great salvation we have.

Lastly, look at Hebrews 2:3 - "How will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?"

We know that we cannot lose our salvation, for Jesus IS our salvation (1 Cor. 1:30-31), Jesus is the SOURCE of our salvation (or "author" or "captain" - Heb. 2:10), and Jesus holds us securely (Phil. 3:12b; 2 Tim 1:12; Heb. 7:25).  We can, however, neglect the benefits of our salvation:

Bless the LORD, O my soul and forget none of His benefits; Who pardons all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases; who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion. Who satisfies your years with good things.... - Psalm 103:2-4

This is why I'm going through Hebrews with you:  that you would come to understand, fully embrace, and operate in everything we have as children of God and inheritors of salvation.  Consider finally, the words of Oliver Greene on the Hebrews:

"At the time of the writing of this epistle, those who had formerly followed Judaism found it extremely difficult to let go of that faith and fully embrace the grace of God....  To them, as to some people today, salvation by pure grace, through faith, minus works, was just too easy.  They preferred the demands of the law.  They simply could not accept the simplicity of the invitation, 'Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart:  an ye shall find rest unto your souls.' (Matt. 11:28-30).
"Today, many hear the Word of God with their ears, but never allow it to grip their hearts.  They say they believe that God is gracious and good--they profess, but they do not possess."

Now, some of you will say, "Jeremy, yes, we are saved by grace, and I completely agree with the above quote from Oliver Greene, but living our daily life is more than simple salvation by pure grace; we have to take action and do things for God."  Well, let me just say that we live out our daily life by the very same means through which we were saved:  We live by faith.  If you know and will apply by faith to all the benefits of salvation, you will learn that you already possess everything which we've all been taught we have to strive for.  Anyway, that's enough for now.  See you soon!

Grace=Peace,

Jeremy

http://jdkrider.blogspot.com/2012/09/grace-hebrews-consider-jesus-part-2.html