(A) Very relevant and important exhortations
I have been reading and meditating on the book of Hebrews in my daily devotions.
The author was sharing with the Jewish Christians on the uniqueness and greatness of Jesus. He laboured to show clearly that Jesus is greater than Moses, greater than the angels, greater than the high priest from the Aaronic lineage (He is the great High Priest after the order of Melchizedek); – Jesus is the final and ultimate sacrifice (He sacrificed Himself), He entered, not into the Holy of Holies of the tabernacle, but into Heaven itself, into the presence of His Father, and after finishing His mission, He sat down at the right hand of the Father (no longer standing and offering again and again sacrifice of bulls and sheep which cannot truly secure forgiveness and salvation ultimately).
In these last days, God no longer speaks through His prophets (like Malachi) but He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed the heir of all things, and through whom also He made the universe. Jesus is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things (this is the only truly everlasting ‘sustainable’ outcome) by His powerful word – Hebrews 1:1-3 TNIV.
Because of His incomparable greatness (Jesus is God incarnated), His once and for all sacrifice that destroyed the work of the devil, because of HIs securing our salvation and inaugurating God’s new kingdom and New Covenant as the final Prophet, Priest and King – and because of all these, the Jewish Christians in the time of Hebrews must not, and should not turn their backs from this so great a salvation (when God spoke from heaven).
But such a stance the Jewish Christians had to take was very difficult and demanding; the Romans demanded that they should worship the Roman emperor and the Jewish Christians were not exempted from this and other requirements which the Judaisers (Jews) enjoyed. They had to pay a great price for being loyal to Christ; some were imprisoned, some had their homes destroyed, and some were tortured and killed ( note Heb.11:35-40 in the chapter on Faith).
But even with such a prospect, many persevered to be faithful and exercised continual faith in God and in His Son.
The concluding chapter of the book of Hebrews records many exhortations similar to the call by previous prophets (including Malachi) and the Apostles:
“Keep on loving on another as brothers and sisters….Continue to remember those in prison..and those who are ill-treated as if you yourselves were suffering. Marriage should be honoured by all….for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral. Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have…Remember your leaders.. and imitate their faith…Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings….Let us go toHim outside the camp, bearing the disgrace He bore…we are looking for the city that is to come….And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased (Heb.12:1-16).
If we pause and wonder, the challenges faced by the Jewish Christians are somewhat similar to that faced by believers and the church today; the exhortations are to continue to love one another and to do good, and to share, even in the midst of pain and suffering. The call is to be content, to be pure and to be free from the love of money and from wrongful teachings. And the call that underlies all these is to persevere, endure, even in sufferings, to continue to have faith and hope and to look forward to the heavenly city! We would do well to take heed to these important exhortations as individuals and corporately as a church. For these were given not only to the Jewish believers, but also to us, living in these last days, facing similar challenges, persecution and spiritual warfare.
“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” (Heb.11:1 TNIV).
(B) Made alive with Christ, raised up with Christ, and seated with Christ
A fresh reflection on Ephesians 1-2 brings about such an exciting and amazing impact on my understanding of what God has done for us in Christ.
Paul the Apostle prayed that Christians may be enlightened and know ‘”the hope to which He has called us, the riches of His glorious inheritance in His people, and HIs incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength He exerted when He raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that can be invoked, not only in the present age but also in the age to come” (Eph. 1:18-21 TNIV).
Paul went on in Chapter 2 to take what God did in Christ and link us to Christ in these events: first, God made us alive together with Christ (2:5); next He raised us up with Christ (verse 6a); and thirdly, He made us sit with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus (verse 6b).
The verbs (‘made alive’, ‘raised’ and ‘made to sit’) refer to the three successive historical events in the saving career of Jesus, which are normally called the resurrection, the ascension and the session. What excites our amazement, however, is that now Apostle Paul is not writing about Christ but about us. He is affirming not that God quickened, raised and seated Christ, but that He quickened (made alive), raised, and seated us with Christ.
Fundamental to New Testament teaching is the concept of the union of God’s people with Christ. What makes Christians distinctive is their new solidarity as a people who are ‘in Christ’. By virtue of their union with Christ they have actually shared in His resurrection, ascension and session.
In the ‘heavenly places (realms)’, the unseen world of spiritual reality, in which the principalities and powers operate and in which Christ reigns supreme, there God has seated Christians with Christ (2:6). For if we are seated with Christ in the heavenlies, there can be no doubt what we are sitting on: thrones! This talk about solidarity with Christ in His resurrection, and exaltation is not a piece of meaningless Christian mysticism. It bears witness to a living experience, that Christ has given us on the one hand a new life (with a sensitive awareness of the reality of God, and a love for Him and for His people) and on the other hand a new victory (with evil increasingly under our feet)
We were dead, but have made spiritually alive and alert. We were in captivity, but have been enthroned!!
We may ask, ‘Why God did it?’
Certainly not because of something in us (some supposed merit) but something in God Himself. Paul used four words to express the origins of God’s saving initiatives: God’s mercy (v4a), God’s love (4b), God’s grace (vv 5,8) and God’s kindness in Christ Jesus (vs 7).
We were dead and so helpless to save ourselves; only ‘mercy could reach the helpless, for ‘mercy’ is love for the down and out. We were under God’s wrath; only ‘love’ could triumph over wrath. We deserve nothing at God’s hand but judgement, on account of our trespasses and sins: only ‘grace’ could rescue us from our deserts, for grace is undeserved favour. So God acted out of His sheer mercy, love, grace and kindness.
But there is more: He saved us in order that in the coming age He might show the immeasurable riches of grace (vs 7). In raising and exalting Christ, God demonstrated ‘the immeasurable greatness of His power’ (1:19-20); but in raising and exalting us He displayed also ‘the immeasurable riches of His grace’, and will continue to do so throughout eternity. For as living evidences of His kindness we shall point people away and beyond ourselves to Him to whom we owe our salvation.
The infinite ability of God to work beyond our prayers, thoughts and dreams is by the power at work within us, within us individually (Christ dwelling in our hearts by faith) and within us as a people (who are the dwelling place of God by His Holy Spirit). It is the power of the resurrection, the power which raised Christ from the dead, enthroned Him in the heavenlies, and then raised and enthroned us there with Him. That is the power which is at work within the Christians and the church. Only divine power can generate divine love in the divine society!
The power comes from Him; the glory must go to Him. To Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus together, in the body and in the Head, in the bride and in the Bridegroom, in the community of peace and in the Peacemaker, to all generations (in history), for ever and ever (in eternity). Amen.