Freedom For Today

“Obey your spiritual leaders, and do what they say. Their work is to watch over your souls, and they are accountable to God. Give them reason to do this with joy and not with sorrow. That would certainly not be for your benefit. Pray for us, for our conscience is clear and we want to live honorably in everything we do. And especially pray that I will be able to come back to you soon.

Now may the God of peace—
    who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus,
the great Shepherd of the sheep,
    and ratified an eternal covenant with his blood—
may he equip you with all you need
    for doing his will.
May he produce in you,
    through the power of Jesus Christ,
every good thing that is pleasing to him.
    All glory to him forever and ever! Amen.

I urge you, dear brothers and sisters, to pay attention to what I have written in this brief exhortation. I want you to know that our brother Timothy has been released from jail. If he comes here soon, I will bring him with me to see you. Greet all your leaders and all the believers there. The believers from Italy send you their greetings. May God’s grace be with you all.”

We (and the foremost Bible scholars) have been puzzling over who may have written this letter. There is no name given, whereas many of Paul’s letters are directly signed by him at the end. This last portion of Hebrews gives us some clues: the person was in Italy, there seems to be a single author using “I” in closing despite several instances of “we” earlier, and the author traveled with Timothy. It’s possible that an author who served under Paul compiled some of his teachings into this letter, which is why it doesn’t have the same flow and style of Paul’s other letters. For those who want to puzzle over this a bit more, check out this blog from Zondervan.

As we close out this series, we are hit with one more point about Christian leaders. This can be a tough subject as unfortunately there have been some harmful church leaders out there. Perhaps you have been hurt by the church or know someone who has. While this passage encourages us to follow our leaders, it also includes a key statement: “they are accountable to God.” In many other books of the Bible, we have seen over and over again that God is on the side of the oppressed. Accountability to God is no lighthearted matter.

This letter’s closing is a beautiful, poetic benediction reminding us that God has come to us in peace. Through Jesus he has rescued us and is equipping us with everything we need to do God’s will. God is producing good things — eternally significant things — in you. Just as the author of this letter did, I pray grace over your life and ask that God would equip you with all that you need.

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. So do not be attracted by strange, new ideas. Your strength comes from God’s grace, not from rules about food, which don’t help those who follow them. We have an altar from which the priests in the Tabernacle have no right to eat. Under the old system, the high priest brought the blood of animals into the Holy Place as a sacrifice for sin, and the bodies of the animals were burned outside the camp. So also Jesus suffered and died outside the city gates to make his people holy by means of his own blood. So let us go out to him, outside the camp, and bear the disgrace he bore. For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come. Therefore, let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name. And don’t forget to do good and to share with those in need. These are the sacrifices that please God.”

We are nearing the end of Hebrews — we’ll finish this series tomorrow. If you have been reading along with us each day, congratulations for completing another book of the Bible! Let’s dive in: today’s passage emphasizes the importance of holding on to the reality of Jesus Christ. He is constant. Because of this unchanging nature, we know that any teaching about Jesus that presents a new idea of who he is will be wrong.

The only thing that has changed from the Old Testament to the New Testament is the covenental system that God had with his people. God’s nature did not change. Instead, he took a step to fulfill the old covenant by providing the perfect sacrifice: Jesus. In doing so, he ushered a new type of access to himself because he overcame sin and death. This plan was always God’s heart.

Some people think that God was angry and punishing in the Old Testament and then softened when Jesus came in the New Testament. Far from it! Jesus perfectly reveals who God is in every way. Now that we know him, we offer new kind of sacrifices: praise, evangelism, and caring for those in need. Just as Jesus showed us who God is, now our job is to show God’s nature to the world. Who can you show God’s heart today?

“Keep on loving each other as brothers and sisters. Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it! Remember those in prison, as if you were there yourself. Remember also those being mistreated, as if you felt their pain in your own bodies. Give honor to marriage, and remain faithful to one another in marriage. God will surely judge people who are immoral and those who commit adultery.

Don’t love money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said,

‘I will never fail you.
    I will never abandon you.’

So we can say with confidence,

‘The Lord is my helper,
    so I will have no fear.
    What can mere people do to me?’

Remember your leaders who taught you the word of God. Think of all the good that has come from their lives, and follow the example of their faith.”

Have you ever been on a phone call and just when you say, “Well, I have to go…” the other person says, “Wait, just one more thing!” This letter to the Hebrews is coming to a close, and the author is squeezing in one last pep talk to keep these early believers from going astray. I love the chapters like this in the Bible, because it really boils everything down into the most important things.

Here’s the list of the top 6 most important things to remember about being a Christian:

1. Love each other
2. Show hospitality
3. Remember those who are being mistreated
4. Honor marriage
5. Don’t love money, but instead be satisfied
6. Remember all you have learned from good leaders

As we keep these top 6 things in mind and seek to live them out, we can release the earthly things that give us a false sense of security. I love that the author here says that we don’t need to love money because God will never fail us. He’s not going to abandon us. So how bad can life really get? Sure, things go wrong. Problems happen. But a truly eternal perspective stays connected with the reality that God is constantly holding on to you. It’s okay to let go of earthly things and let him hold you tightly.

“Be careful that you do not refuse to listen to the One who is speaking. For if the people of Israel did not escape when they refused to listen to Moses, the earthly messenger, we will certainly not escape if we reject the One who speaks to us from heaven! When God spoke from Mount Sinai his voice shook the earth, but now he makes another promise: ‘Once again I will shake not only the earth but the heavens also.’ This means that all of creation will be shaken and removed, so that only unshakable things will remain. Since we are receiving a Kingdom that is unshakable, let us be thankful and please God by worshiping him with holy fear and awe. For our God is a devouring fire.”

What does it mean that God is a “devouring fire”? We often think of God as a friend, which the Bible confirms in other places (Romans 5:10-11, James 2:23). My friends don’t want to burn me up, so how is it that we can hold those two things in tension?

The key in understanding this seeming contradiction in God’s character is the word “removed.” God will shake the earth and remove the bad, evil parts. That could include people that have given themselves over to evil. We know that if we have accepted God’s gift of friendship, that is unshakable. He is our friend. God is devouring harmful things that don’t belong anywhere near you. It’s his desire that all people accept his invitation of friendship, but sadly not everyone does.

Verse 28 says that “we are receiving a Kingdom that is unshakable.” The fact that God is going to burn everything evil to the ground can help us understand his great and mighty power. There is a fear and awe in understanding that power that drives us into gratitude. God could have decided to burn the whole world down. He didn’t. He offered you an eternal rescue. If you have accepted God’s invitation into friendship, then your place in his kingdom cannot be stolen from you. If you have experienced harm in this world, hold on to this hope that God is bringing you to a place where you will be safe forever.