Hebrews 12:2-3 ESV
“Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.”
Looking to Jesus
If we are true followers of Jesus Christ, our eyes are to be
fixed on him, but this is not speaking of just our physical eyes but of our
spiritual eyes (judgment, discernment, perceptiveness, and wisdom). We are to
be looking to Jesus for our wisdom, understanding, guidance, direction, and
decision making, and we should not be looking to our own flesh or to the
thinking and counsel of the people of this sinful world.
For, Jesus is the founder and the perfecter of our faith.
Our faith comes from God, it is founded in Jesus Christ, it is perfected in
Jesus, and it is gifted to us by God, and it is not of ourselves lest we should
boast. We cannot even come to faith in Jesus Christ unless God the Father draws
us to him, unless he persuades us as to his holiness and righteousness, as to
our own sinfulness, and as to our need to repent of sin and follow Jesus in
obedience.
Therefore, if our faith is genuine, we have died with and
are continuing to die with Christ daily to sin and to self (to deny self) and
to follow our Lord Jesus in obedience to his commands, and in obedience to his
leading in our lives and to his calling upon each one of our lives individually.
Our lives are hidden in him and not in ourselves. Our desires are now for him
and not for the lusts of our sinful flesh.
And we are not still following the course of this sinful
world so that we obey the lusts of our sinful flesh as a matter of practice (of
habit). We are no longer living in slavery to sin for Jesus Christ delivered us
out of our bondage to sin so that we would now be slaves of God and of his
righteousness. So, if we are still living in sinful addiction, then we are not
genuine believers in Jesus Christ, and we don’t have eternal life with God.
[Lu
9:23-26;
Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Eph 4:17-24; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Co 6:9-10, 19-20; 2 Co 5:10, 15; Tit 2:11-14; Jas
1:22-25; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Gal 6:7-8; Rom
2:6-8; Matt 7:21-23; Heb
10:26-27; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Rom 12:1-2; Eph 2:8-10]
The Joy Set Before Him
Jesus Christ died on a cross one day in order to put our sin
to death with him so that we might die with him to sin and live to him and to
his righteousness. He died on that cross so that we would no longer live for
ourselves but for him who gave his life up for us. He shed his blood for us on
that cross to buy us back for God (to redeem us) so that we would now honor God
with our bodies (1 Pet 2:24; 2 Co 5:15; 1 Co 6:19-20).
This is the joy that was set before Him, our deliverance
from bondage to sin so that we could now live for him and for his righteousness
in his power and strength. He endured all that he went through for you and for
me, but not just so we could be forgiven of our sins and have heaven as our
eternal destiny. He didn’t die just to save us from our sins, but he died to
transform us and to make us into his likeness (Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17).
And Jesus didn’t do what he did for us just for us, but it
was for his glory and praise and that we might also be for his glory and
praise. “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works,
which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” He “gave himself
for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for
his own possession who are zealous for good works” (Eph 2:10; Tit 2:14).
So, a lot of people today are teaching this cheap grace
gospel which teaches that Jesus does it all and that nothing is required of us
at all and that “works” are to be avoided and discarded, and that we are not to
obey Jesus or forsake our sins or submit to him as Lord, for they call that “works-based
salvation.” They teach that our salvation is all for us and it is nothing for
God, but that is not what the Scriptures teach.
We are His workmanship. We are His possession. We belong to Him.
We are to be for His glory and praise. We were created in Him for good works,
which are the works of God He prepared in advance that we should do. He is to
be Lord (Owner-Master) of our lives. We are to serve Him with our lives and not
ourselves. And we are to walk in obedience to His commands or we don’t know
him, and we don’t have eternal life in Him (1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10).
Jesus, Our Example
Jesus Christ is our example for how we are to live our
lives. And if we are following him with our lives, and if we are obeying his
commands, as a matter of practice, we are also going to be hated and persecuted
as he was by those who are enemies of the cross of Christ, by those who choose
not to surrender their lives to Jesus Christ but who choose to continue living
according to the ways of their sinful flesh, whether or not they profess him as
Lord and Savior of their lives.
We are to resist the devil as he did, and we are to flee
temptation to sin as he did, and we are to walk in holiness and righteousness,
and in obedience to God the Father, as he did, in the power of God’s Spirit
living within us. And when persecuted for righteousness’ sake, because we are
following the Lord in obedience to His word, we are not to grow weary or
fainthearted, but we are to put our lives in the hands of God and trust Him with
the results.
And it is for the joy set before us that we are also to
endure from sinners hostility against us, but hostility because we are actually
following the Lord in obedience to his teachings, not because we are acting in
our flesh in ways which are injuring other people. And that joy set before us
is the same as it was for Jesus, and that is for the salvation of human lives
from their bondage to sin so that they can now live to God and to his
righteousness.
Lord,
Move Me
An Original Work / October 16, 2011
Be my desire, my heart set on fire,
Lord, move me to worship You only, I pray.
Fill with Your Spirit, my heart overflow.
Lord, may I long for You; Your word to know.
Teach me to walk with You, Lord, in Your power,
And may I serve You, Lord, right now in this hour.
Lord, how I want to obey You forever.
Help me to hear You, Lord, so I will not stray.
Teach me to love You; adore You always.
Envelope me, Lord, with Your grace today.
Meet me in my need, and show me Your mercy.
Forgive me for all things, as I humbly pray.
Counsel me, lead me, direct me, and guide me,
So I follow You, Lord, where’er You lead now.
I love to hear You speak Your words to me.
I am so grateful that You set me free.
Wash me, and cleanse me, and make me like You, Lord,
And I will live with You for eternity.
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