Hey all,
Just a few comments to give you a chance to think through what we looked at last night at Growth Groups. As you'll know we were in Hebrews 10:19-12:4. It may be that you spend a few mornings this week looking at different parts of the passage, praying it through. As I'm sure you'll remember from NWA, it's a massive passage showing us what it looks like to live the Christian life, as we take on board these huge promises we've seen over the last few weeks.
10:19-39 - Take on board Jesus' finished work and keep on taking hold of it with both hands!
As you read through these verses, feel the tone in which it's written. Hear the loving heart of the guy who's writing as he begs these Christians to appreciate all that Jesus has done for us (v19-24), and to keep on going, to keep on holding fast to the hope to which God has promised us we'll get (v23).
The writer clearly sees there's a danger (v26) - the danger of forgetting what Jesus has done, of effectively trampling over Jesus and all he has done to save us (v29). And the way you do that is by giving up on Jesus, of throwing away our confidence in Jesus, of not enduring (v36), and instead 'shrinking back' (v38-39); basically giving up.
11:1-40 - Faith is not some fluffy, blind, abstract thing; it's taking God at his word, trusting in his promises even when we can't see what's been promised yet - that's what faith is!
Verse 1 gives us a really helpful definition of faith. Faith is trusting God's promise, even when what we hope for can't yet be seen. (Please, note that hope = our certain future 'hope', the new creation, rather than a vague 'I hope tomorrow will be sunny'). We then a massive list of men and women from the Old Testament who themselves exercised this kind of faith. The writer's saying, 'Look, this kind of faith has always been what God's wanted!' And it's pretty amazing, crazy stuff. Take Abraham for example, v8! He was told to leave his land and go to a new place where God would bless him; he'd never been there before, yet he trusted God's promise and left - he acted on the promise. It looks crazy (see Noah, v7... "building a booooat!! - how barmy would that have looked!
Why not spend some time looking at different people listed, thinking over how they demonstrate true faith, taking God at his word.
And yet have a read of v13, 16 and v39-40 - these guys we're looking forward to something even better that had been promised by God - the new creation!
12:1-4 - So let's fix our eyes on Jesus, the one's guaranteed us our future, and shows us true endurance; get ready for a marathon!
So if trusting God's promises with our eyes on the future is what the Christian life's all about, then we should make sure absolutely nothing stops us from doing that. He tells us in these verses to get rid of any sin or distraction that's gonna hinder us, and fix our eyes on Jesus. Not only is he the author of our faith, the one who guarantees our future. He's also shows us what it looks like to endure and keep going.
We chatted about what kind of things would stop us from keeping going in the Christian life - some things we came up with were general weariness, going through suffering which makes us think God's no longer real or with us, the attractions of this world - maybe a relationship, career, etc. What do you think?
The writer also stresses the real need we have to help each other keep going - have a look at 10v24-25 - keeping going as a Christian is a community project!
Hope that provides some fuel for your prayers and encourages you!
