Notes on Hebrews - Part 1
Introduction.
By brother T. Swaim,
_______
Reader
I must say, I started this study in HEBREWS with a suspicion that there was more to the book than I realized. I also was not sure that I had the capacity of mind to grab the revelation that GOD intends us to comprehend from this scripture. I’ve been looking at this writing for many years and recently concentrating on the text for the last 8 weeks. I’m hooked and I hope you both are captivated by its’ truth as well.
When I take up a book like this, I want to understand THE WHY of the book. Why did GOD give HEBREWS to us? What is HE trying to make sure we grasp? I know enough about GOD to know that HE is interested in touching my human heart personally and simply at my deepest level. His writings are worth all the energy academia and professors spend on them. But HIS words are first meant to apply to us personally. HE wishes to write HIS laws on our hearts. HE wishes to teach us directly. HIS desire is to shepherd us like sheep wandering in a wilderness to the rest of the fold. Or to nurse and feed us with food so that we can grow from a child to an adult and enjoy HIS life within us. Or even to woo us or draw us or make us understand how wonderfully HE has made us “right” or “clean” within so that we will draw near to HIM often and enjoy HIS fellowship. So I always ask the question; what is the reason for why a book of the Bible was written? What is the big WHY for the book of HEBREWS?
THE WHY
The book of HEBREWS is calling the saints to a life of FAITH. And in particular a life of FAITH in CHRIST. The Bible speaks often of FAITH. Many think they understand what FAITH is. A Jew will say they hold to the oldest Faith in the world. The Hindu, Daoist, and Buddhist will suggest that they are a part of a Faith that is universal and leads to great enlightenment. The Catholic will claim that he/she is a part of the oldest Christian Faith. The Muslim holds that he is trying to put Faith into practice in his everyday walk of life. And the Protestant holds that “the just shall live by Faith.” But what is Faith? What does it look like? Is Faith all about understanding what a scripture says about something and then deciding to hold to its’ teachings and tenants? Or is it something more?
HEBREWS is the only book I’ve read that attempts to open up and answer the question. HEBREWS tells us what GOD says Faith looks like. This is why the book was written. And this gives the book great purpose and practical value. Some have suggested that the book was written to explain why Christ is better than Moses or Aaron or something. Although these truths are presented in the book, they cannot be the big WHY of the book. If I were on the streets of some city, seeking to draw a human heart to GOD and approached a lost soul and said “come to GOD because Christ is better than Moses or Aaron,” I’d be ignored and my message off. GOD’s truth is not like this. And we currently struggle in our evangelistic efforts because we let a little too much academia creep into our message and not enough heart. However, if I were to approach a lost soul on the street and ask if they have FAITH, this would be a topic of relevance. If I were to ask if they were interested in what some unnamed author suggest FAITH should look like, we could talk. All mankind has some kind of faith. All mankind has put their faith and trust on something. All mankind has been taught that to be human is to have faith. All mankind wonders how they know whether they have the right “amount” of Faith or “enough” Faith. HEBREWS hits these topics head on.
HEBREWS will tell us:
1. What FAITH looks like in Chapter 11.
2. How FAITH is found in Chapter 12.
3. What a life with FAITH does in Chapter 13.
HEBREWS will tell us:
1. “Without FAITH it is impossible to please GOD.”
GOD in HEBREWS tells us how to please Him. I must come to Him by Faith. I must come to Him with the kind of Faith that is pleasing to Him. And GOD gives us several stories in chapter 11 of what that Faith looks like so I can get it right.
2. Will
not tell us that Faith is the “Sinners Prayer.” Or the
“
Hebrews 11:13 – Faith is seeing big promises of God, even though they are far away.
Hebrews 11:13 – Faith is being assured of these promises and embracing them and building them into our lives.
Hebrews 11:13 – Faith talks about these promises openly and confesses to others that these promises are real to me and I live for them and I’m counting on them.
Hebrews 11:13 – These promises are embraced like a lover or a friend.
Hebrews 11:13 – Faith, when lived out openly, will make us feel isolated, alone, like strangers and pilgrims in this life.
3. Faith looks for a new home.
4. Faith does not turn back to the old home.
5. Men and women who have this kind of Faith are men and women that GOD is not ashamed of. And He says, you may call me your GOD.
HEBREWS will also warn us that many people who think they have Faith really don’t have it at all.
The unnamed writer is moved by the
experience that the great nation of
The writer is also concerned about a “sluggishness” that is very human that creeps in. Every human being knows that life is about improvement, growth, and development. No human being stands still. We want to move our jobs, homes, and lives from where they are now to a better place. Some have suggested that HEAVEN is the place where all this stops. I disagree. HEAVEN is a place where we become what we are meant to be in a growing and constantly progressing new life experience filled with challenge, variety, and accomplishment. But the writer of HEBREWS has noticed that, when it comes to the issues of Faith, the believers can become stagnant and complacent. We can be okay with remaining a young babe and fine with making no progress in becoming mature. The writer will also suggest that this is not Faith. It is a substitute. It lacks life. It lacks the “power of an endless life.”
The writer is also concerned about a timidity that can creep into the human heart that keeps the soul from being “drawn in” to GOD. GOD wants us to be complete assured that HE has made us fit for HIM. The writer warns us of a “bitterness” that can capture our hearts and put us on the path of a life of distance from GOD.
HEBREWS is written to help each believer on this planet to overcome all these issues and come to FAITH and come to GOD. And HEBREWS presents CHRIST as the perfect answer for my heart to help me get there. HEBREWS will help CHRIST become perfect for me. HEBREWS will help me see that CHRIST is the perfect place for me to rest my life, to seek my life’s strength, and to place my hope. CHRIST as opposed to anyone else. Confucius, Buddha, and Swami Vivekananda and others have tried "in their vain imaginations" to understand about the true origin of the Cosmos (Romans 1). On the other hand, Pope Gregory may have given us a great liturgy. And Martin Luther may have called us back to a reliance on God's power alone for life. But Christ alone is "the Word of life" (I John 1:1). He shows us how to be sure we come to REST in Him. Only Christ offers us "everlasting life" to make sure our lives are filled with life and growth; the same kind of growth that brought living things out of the dust of our planet long ago. Only Christ is in Himself the full revelation of God "the brightness of His glory, and the express Image of His Person." He offers us a "new and living way" because He alone sees our sin as the big problem that needs to be cured. And His cure is complete to the very heart. His cure is final. His cure is perfect. "..when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;" (Heb. 1:3b.)
So Hebrews to me has called me to a deeper Faith. GOD has used this book to revive my prayer life. He has helped me see more of life than I have ever seen before. I need HEBREWS because HEBREWS will show me how to live life the way it was meant to live --to live a life of FAITH in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Tom
September 2016.
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