A series on the book of Hebrews:
A call to
maturity and hope
(Click on the
link below to read the verses.)
Hebrews 5:11-6:20
[When
you first start to follow Christ, often it’s done with great excitement. It’s
like falling in love when all you can think about is the other person, and you
want to tell everyone you know. But then the day-to-day pressures of living can
push out those feelings and dull your enthusiasm. In this series, we will look
at how the author of Hebrews tried to counteract falling out of love with
Jesus.]
The ocean became a series of nonstop rolling waves…
one after the other. Riding the crest of one wave, our boat would go airborne and
slam into the next one. The pounding of wave after wave was endless. My stomach
began to churn. By the time we stopped, I was in no condition to go fishing.
So far, in our study of Hebrews, the writer has
shown how Jesus is greater than the prophets, the angels and Moses. In chapter
four he introduced the topic of Jesus as the perfect high priest, “in the
order of Melchizedek”.
He wanted to write more in depth about this, but couldn’t.
He couldn’t because he concluded that his readers wouldn’t understand. And they
wouldn’t understand because they were spiritually immature. In fact, he compared
them to a baby who drinks milk when they should be eating solid food.
At this point, he gave them a severe warning.
4 For it is
impossible to bring back to repentance those who were once enlightened—those
who have experienced the good things of heaven and shared in the Holy
Spirit, 5 who have tasted the goodness of the word
of God and the power of the age to come— 6 and who
then turn away from God. It is impossible to bring such people back to
repentance; by rejecting the Son of God, they themselves are nailing him to the
cross once again and holding him up to public shame. NLT
These were harsh, judgmental words. But there was
hope! Not only for those Jewish Christians who were considering rejecting their
faith, but also for us today. Maybe we don’t explicitly reject Christ; but
implicitly, by our actions, we do. However, God is steadfast and faithful. And
because of this, there is hope!
18 So God has given
both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is
impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can
have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us. NLT
Those who have taken hold of his hope “may be
greatly encouraged”. In fact, Jesus offers us a new hope because he’s
entered the very presence of the Living God; he’s entered the Holy of Holies. And
he’s done this so that we also might follow him into the presence of our
Heavenly Father.
I’m not sure that an anchor would have helped me to
deal with those rolling waves off the coast of North Carolina. However, like an
anchor, the hope we find in Jesus gives us stability during the turbulent
waters of life.
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