Hebrews – Page 8 – GaryCombs.org

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us” (Hebrews 12:1 NLT).

November 14, 2019

CAN MY DADDY SEE ME NOW? Who is this “huge crowd of witnesses?” They are those who have already run life’s race “by faith” as Hebrews 11 has listed. They have already crossed life’s finished line and have now joined other believers, who the author of Hebrews here visualizes either metaphorically or literally, as now

“He thought it was better to suffer for the sake of Christ than to own the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to his great reward” (Hebrews 11:26 NLT).

November 13, 2019

THAT FAITH WHICH CHOOSES ETERNITY WITH CHRIST OVER TEMPORAL THINGS The book of Hebrews teaches that it was “by faith” that Moses chose to be identified with God’s people rather than remain as the adopted son of Pharoah’s daughter. Moses was further commended for his faith in that he considered it better to suffer for

“Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise” (Hebrews 10:23 NLT).

November 11, 2019

HOLDING TIGHTLY WITH UNWAVERING HOPE Christian hope is confident hope. For Christian hope is based on the promises of God. Since this hope is anchored to God’s promises we can be assured that our hope will not be disappointed. So rather than hanging on to the temporal things we can see, let us hold tightly

“By these regulations the Holy Spirit revealed that the entrance to the Most Holy Place was not freely open as long as the Tabernacle and the system it represented were still in use” (Hebrews 9:8 NLT).

November 8, 2019

A NEW AND LIVING WAY IS NOW OPEN TO GOD The two rooms of the Tabernacle were symbolic of the spiritual separation existing between God and man. Only priests could enter the first room called the Holy Place. And only the High Priest could enter the second room called the Most Holy Place, and then

“But now Jesus, our High Priest, has been given a ministry that is far superior to the old priesthood, for he is the one who mediates for us a far better covenant with God, based on better promises” (Hebrews 8:6 NLT).

November 7, 2019

CHRIST OUR GREAT HIGH PRIEST AND MEDIATOR The old covenant was a foreshadowing of the new one, which has now come into view through Jesus. The old covenant was a “copy” of the real one in heaven that was revealed to Moses. It acted as a tutor, teaching and pointing to its fulfillment in Christ.

“This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary” (Hebrews 6:19 NLT).

November 4, 2019

CHRISTIAN HOPE IS LIKE A ROPE Christian hope is not like the world’s hope. It isn’t like saying “I hope it doesn’t rain this weekend.” For that hope is a mere wish built on nothing. Christian hope is like a rope, anchored in the historical resurrection of Jesus Christ in the past, taken hold

“So now Jesus and the ones he makes holy have the same Father. That is why Jesus is not ashamed to call them his brothers and sisters” (Hebrews 2:11 NLT).

October 31, 2019

OUR CHANGE OF STATUS AS GOD’S CHILDREN Receiving Christ’s sacrifice on the cross as payment for our sins we are made children of God. This spiritual transaction changes our status in at least three ways: 1) Righteousness – Christ took our sin upon Himself and the Father counted His righteousness as ours for our justification.

“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” (Hebrews 13:21 NLT).

November 16, 2018

A BENEDICTION OF SANCTIFICATION
This prayer for our equipping and sanctification reveals God’s method for making us “pleasing to him.” It is none other than the power of Christ in us. We can pray this prayer too. Praying it for ourselves, we yield our wills to His, and acknowledge our dependence on Christ’s power. Praying it for others, we focus on Christ-at-work in others, rather than their shortcomings.

“For our God is a devouring fire” (Hebrews 12:29 NLT).

November 15, 2018

THE GOD OF THE OLD IS THE GOD OF THE NEW
The apostle quoted Moses, “For the Lord thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God” (Deut. 4:24), clearly showing that the God of the Old Testament is the same as the God of the New Testament. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. The image of God as a devouring ( KJV “consuming”) fire is one that seeks to reveal the strictness of his justice, the purity of his holiness and the passion of his love for us. We may boldly approach him through Christ, our Great High Priest, yet we do so reminded of how Moses approached the mountain of God with fear and trembling.

“By his faith Noah condemned the rest of the world, and he received the righteousness that comes by faith” (Hebrews 11:7 NLT).

November 12, 2018

GOD’S RIGHTEOUSNESS THROUGH FAITH
There is only one way to be right with God. And that is to receive the righteousness of God through faith. Noah’s faith was in contrast to the rest of the world, which thought they could earn God’s favor. Noah received God’s justification by grace as a gift through faith. Whereas the world sought to earn God’s favor through self-effort, earning sin’s wages, which is death. Noah did not have the full light of the gospel, yet he had sufficient light to trust not in the ark, but in the God who told him to build it. It was not Noah’s faith that saved him, but the object of his faith. Noah believed God.

Today, we live in the full light of the gospel, seeing that the righteousness of God has appeared. For the righteousness of God is a Person, not a philosophy, a Savior, not a standard, a Lamb, not a law. For the righteousness of God is Jesus Christ. His coming fulfilled Noah’s forward-looking faith, as well as our faith that looks back to the cross, so that God “might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Rom. 3:26).