Better by Far - 12
The Excellency of Christ in the Book of Hebrews
The Christian life is pictured in this twelfth chapter as a race. It is a good image to present to those Jews who were thinking of returning to the rites and rituals of the old covenant. A good athlete will run the whole race once he has started. He refuses to look back. His eye is on the finishing post. This chapter provides us with keys on how we can run the Christian race effectively. It teaches us how we can reach the finishing post.
The first thing we must do is get rid of anything that will slow us down and hinder us. Verse 1 says, "Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles". The verse begins with a reference to the men and women of faith listed in chapter eleven. We read, "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a cloud witnesses". This doesn't mean that these people are in heaven watching us witnessing what we are doing. It means that each one in his life was a witness to what's involved in a wholehearted commitment to the Lord. They each put away from their lives anything that would slow them down in their determination to live for God. For example in Chapter 11 and Verse 26 we find the choice Moses made. We read, "He chose to be ill-treated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time". Our attitude must be the same. There may be a sin in your life and it's your particular weakness. It's that one sin that 'easily entangles' you. Keep a close watch on it and deal with it every time it demands to be satisfied. There are some things in your life that may not be sinful in themselves. They may be legitimate. It may be sport or a hobby you enjoy. There's nothing wrong with that. The problem is that it may begin to take up so much of your time that the things of God are more and more neglected. They might even become an idol. Remember, anything that takes the place of God in your affections is an idol. Be careful how you use your time.
The second thing we must do to finish the race is to follow the example of Jesus Christ. He persevered in the face of difficulty and pain. Verse 1 ends by saying, "Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us". Paul then shows us the very thing that will motivate us. He says in Verse 2, "let us fix our eyes on Jesus". But not on Jesus in His glory here. Jesus as He faced the prospect of the cross. He says in verse 2, "for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame". They will be difficult crosses for you to bear as you serve the Lord. You may be tempted to give up. Again look at Christ. Verse 3 says, "Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart". Is the way tough for you at the moment? Do family and friends make things difficult for you because you are a Christian? Jesus knows how you feel. He experienced it Himself. He says this to you in Matthew Chapter 5 Verses 11 - 12, "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven".
The third fact that will get you to the finishing line is to understand why you face hard times. This was a problem for the Hebrew believers. They had committed their lives to Jesus Christ and they had experienced a lot of difficulty as a result. Verse 7 tells us why it is that we face troubles. We read, "endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons". Tribulation and trials ought to be an encouragement to us because they are an evidence of our divine Sonship. When we go through hard times it doesn't mean God has rejected you or has stopped loving you. In Verses 5 and 6 Paul quotes from the book of Proverbs Chapter 3 Verses 11 - 12. He says, "My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when He rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those He loves, and He punishes everyone He accepts as a son". If we do not experience any hardship then its time to get concerned. You need to ask the question, "Am I really a child of God?" We should not think it odd when we are disciplined. Our own earthly fathers discipline us when it was required. Paul says in verse 9, "we respected them for it". Our heavenly Father cares for us more than them. We read at the end of verse 9, "How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live!" Verse 10 reveals the purpose God has in disciplining you. We read, "God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in His holiness". Hard times build our character. They have the effect of conforming us to the image of Jesus Christ. Rather than causing us to think about forsaking the Lord, troubles should cause us to praise Him because we know we will benefit from them in the end. Verse 11 says, "No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful". We all know how true that is when we're going through difficult time. The verse ends with this encouragement, "Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it". So rather than allowing hard times to get us down, depressed, and despondent Verse 12 says, "strengthen you feeble arms and weak knees" Make paths for your feet, so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed". Think of a runner on the last lap of the race. He's exhausted. He begins to falter. He wobbles and his legs look as though they're about to give way. He could give up. He gets a new burst of strength. He carries on to the end. If he had continued wobbling he could have dislocated his leg. That's the picture here. You are told to get new spiritual strength. If you continue limping along you may do some permanent spiritual damage. Trouble will bring one or two reactions from you. You'll say, "Why should I continue serving the Lord. It's brought nothing but aggravation". If you think like that you will become a disabled Christian, you will stop making progress. Or you will say, "My heavenly Father loves me and all that I face is for my ultimate benefit". That way of thinking will help you cope with the troubles that come your way. The spiritually minded believer will say what Joseph said to his brothers in Genesis Chapter 50 Verse 20, "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good". Difficulties will spur you on to follow the Lord when you respond to them properly. Verse 14 says, "Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy". This is God's great aim in the whole process of disciplining His children. We must seek God's blessing above everything else. Esau is presented as a warning to us in verse 16. He forfeited God's blessing for the sake of worldly pleasures. Verse 16 says, "See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son". Be sure not to miss all that is your in Christ for the sake of your own personal comfort.
The last truth that will help you to arrive at the finishing post in your Christian race is to appreciate who you are, and the wonder of what you belong to. The Hebrews who were tempted to go back into the Jewish religion thought they were returning to something far more glorious. Of course they weren't. It's the Christian who has the reality. The old way is the way of law and terror. Paul says in Verses 18 and 19, "You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and is burning with fire-to such a voice speaking words, so that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken unto them". Verse 21 says, "The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, "I am trembling with fear". That happened at Mount Sinai. The Christian way in Christ is the way of fellowship with God and joy. Verse 22 says, "But you have come to Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God". Jerusalem was built on Mount Zion and it speaks of pilgrimage, welcome, joy, invitation. Jerusalem was God's dwelling place. In Christ we do not find terror and exclusion but acceptance and fellowship with the Lord. We have come into the 'city of the living God'. We see our privileged position as Christians in Verse 23. We read we have come to, 'the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect'. When we really recognise the glory of our calling it will not be difficult to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. We will reach the finishing line. We will overcome every hindrance. Paul tells us how to respond in Verse 28. We read, "Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe". Are your eyes focused straight ahead? Follow the teaching of this Chapter and they will be.