Monday, February 13, 2017, 10:15 p.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “In Faithfulness He Leads Me.” Speak,
Lord, your words to my heart. I read Hebrews
4:14-5:9 (Select vv. NASB).
He Sympathizes with Us (4:14-16)
Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has
passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our
confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our
weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.
Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we
may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
In the Old Testament times,
and up until Jesus Christ, the Son of God, gave his life up for us on a cross,
so we could be delivered from slavery to sin, the people of God had to rely on
a human high priest to offer a sin offering for their sins, as well as for his
own sins, once a year. He alone was allowed to enter the Most Holy Place behind
the curtain (veil) to stand before God to make atonement for the sins of the
people.
Yet, when God the Father sent
his Son (God the Son) to the earth to take on human form, to suffer as we
suffer, and to be tempted in like manner as we are also tempted, yet without
sin, he sent him here to be the sacrificial Lamb for our sins, i.e. he became our
sin offering, once for all. Yet, not only was he our sin offering, once for all
time, but he was/is also our high priest who gave the sacrifice for our sins.
Jesus Christ made the atonement for our sins so that we can be delivered out of
slavery to sin, and so we can become bondservants of Christ and of his
righteousness.
It was important for us that
Jesus took on human flesh so that when he walked this earth he was fully God
yet fully man. As man, he suffered and he was tempted to sin, and he felt what
it was like to be weak, in his body, although he never sinned. Because of this
he is able to sympathize with us in our weaknesses, i.e. he knows what it is
like to suffer physically and emotionally, and he knows what it is like to be
seriously tempted to sin. He knows, too, what it is like to be hated, rejected,
abused, misused and persecuted because he stood for truth and for
righteousness.
Thus, he feels what we feel,
and he is compassionate towards us. This does not mean that he gives us a free
pass to continue sinning, though. He hates sin because of what sin does to us and
to our relationship with him, and that is why he died, that we might die to sin
and live to righteousness.
When Jesus Christ died on the
cross for our sins, he became sin for us so that when he died our sins died
with him. They were buried with him, too. And, when he was resurrected from the
dead, he rose victorious over sin, hell, Satan and death on our behalf. When he
died, too, the veil that stood between us and God was torn in two, thus making
the way for us who believe in Jesus Christ to come directly into the presence
of God. We can come to God in prayer with all our concerns, with all our
sorrows, and with all our questions, and he is there to comfort, encourage,
exhort, counsel and direct us in the way that we should go. He feels our pain,
and he cares.
Because of all that Jesus
went through for us, in becoming human, and in suffering like we do, then in
dying for our sins, we can be encouraged to hold fast to our confession of
faith. There isn’t anything we are going through that is too hard for him, or
that he doesn’t understand or feel with great compassion and concern. He is
completely sovereign and in control over all that he has made. When we are
weak, he is strong. He will give us all we need to endure, to persevere, and to
keep doing what he has called us to do, even when all looks hopeless, and when
our human strength fails us.
He Learned Obedience (5:7-9)
In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers
and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from
death, and He was heard because of His piety. Although He was a Son, He learned
obedience from the things which He suffered. And having been made perfect, He
became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation.
Isn’t this interesting? Jesus
Christ, God the Son, God incarnate, in his flesh struggled with the thought of
what he would have to go through in order to be the sacrificial Lamb for our
sins so that we could be set free from the control of sin over our lives, and
walk in his righteousness. And, he cried out to God the Father, who could have
saved him from it all. He said, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup
pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will” (Matt. 26:39). And,
this says that he was heard because of his piety, or because of his reverent
submission.
So, what do I find
interesting about this? It is that this says God heard him because of his
reverent submission, and yet God did not save him from having to die on the
cross for our sins. I think oftentimes when we are going through difficult times,
and we pray, and we make requests to God with crying (tears), we feel that if
God hears us that he will surely deliver us. But, he doesn’t always. Sometimes his
answer back to us is “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected
in your weakness.” Wow!
The other part that I find
interesting about this is that Jesus Christ, God the Son, the second person of
our triune God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – learned submission (obedience)
from the things which he suffered. As man, he had to learn obedience. And, he
learned it from the things which he suffered. And, God causes or allows us to
suffer, too, because through suffering we learn to rely on him and not on
ourselves. We grow in our faith and in our maturity in Christ. Through
suffering we are being conformed into the image of Christ and we are being
pruned and purified and made holy. So many times we try to avoid suffering,
when in reality suffering is for our good, to make us more like Jesus.
Having been perfected through
suffering, Jesus Christ then became to all those who obey Him the source of
eternal salvation. So, what does it mean when it says “to all who obey him”? Is
this teaching works-based salvation? No! When we truly understand what it means
to believe in Jesus Christ we understand that genuine faith, which is
God-given, is divinely persuaded as to God’s will for our lives. In other
words, faith in Jesus Christ is not something we muster up on our own. It is
given to us by God because it is spiritual in nature, rather than from our
flesh. Because it is of the Spirit, it submits to Jesus’ purpose in dying for
us, i.e. that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. Repentance and
obedience are both aspects of this kind of faith. And, it is what Jesus and his
NT apostles taught, too.
Jesus didn’t die just so we
could escape hell and go to heaven when we die. He died to transform us away
from living to sin, and to turn us to God, to live to his righteousness. When
we believe in Jesus with God-given faith, we are crucified with Christ in death
to sin, and we are resurrected with Christ to newness of life, “created to be
like God in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph. 4:24; cf. Ro. 6:1-23). Jesus
died that we might no longer live for ourselves, but for him who gave himself
up for us (2 Co. 5:15). He died, too, that the righteous requirement of the law
might be fulfilled in us who walk, not according to the flesh, but according to
the Spirit, for if we walk according to the flesh we will die in our sins (See:
Ro. 8:1-14).
So, if someone is telling you
that you don’t have to repent of your sins, and that you don’t have to obey
Christ, not only are they lying to you, and giving you a false hope, they are
totally missing the reason for which Jesus died and what our salvation is
really all about. Jesus died that we might be delivered out of slavery to sin
so that we might become bondservants of him and of his righteousness. This is
what it means to be “born again” of the Spirit of God. Where we once lived to
please our flesh, and to do what we want, now we want to please God and to walk
in his ways and in his truth, not to earn our salvation, but because Jesus
truly set us free!
In Faithfulness He Leads Me
An Original Work / March 20, 2013 / Based off Various
Scriptures
(Ps. 26:3; 86:11; 91:4-5; 111:7-8; 119:73-76; Is.
25:1,4&9; 42:6-7; Hos. 2:16-20)
Teach me Your ways, Lord, and
I’ll walk in them.
Give me a pure heart. I’ll
fear Your name.
Your love is always, ever
before me.
Continually I’ll walk in Your
truth.
You will cover me with
feathers.
Under Your wings I’ll find
refuge.
My Lord’s faithfulness will
be my
Comfort and my shield.
The works of His hands are
faithful and just.
Trustworthy are all of His
precepts.
Your hands have made me, and
they have formed me.
Give understanding of Your
commands.
I have put my hope, O Lord,
in Your word.
Your teachings, O Lord, are
righteousness.
Lord, in faithfulness You
have
Afflicted me so I may learn
of
Your unfailing love and
comfort
And Your truthfulness.
You are my husband; You have
betrothed me
In love, compassion and
faithfulness.
O Lord, You are my God, I’ll
exalt You.
In faithfulness You’ve done
wondrous things.
You’ve been a refuge for
those who’re needy;
A shelter in storms; shade
from the heat.
This is the Lord, we trusted
in Him,
Let us be glad and rejoice
In His salvation which He
Provided through the Lamb.
Open the blind eyes; free all
the captives.
Tell them of Jesus: “Be born
again!”
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