I agree with Selwyn, when he draws attention to the fact that the prime reason Jesus came to this earth – was to save us.
He writes: “The central purpose of Jesus stepping into time to walk on this earth, we should remember, was not to be an example or a teacher, but to be Saviour and Redeemer. … He frees us from the power that sin has over us. Christ’s sacrificial death at Calvary is an accomplished fact and now awaits my acceptance. And the more definite my acceptance and commitment, the more His power can affect my life.“
Naturally, the same theme is seen in the prayer for today: “O Father, how grateful I am that Your Son came not as a Divine Executioner to destroy me but as a Divine Redeemer to deliver me. Help me to live so that in the face of everything my affirmation will be ‘Jesus is Lord’. Amen.”
The main storyline of the entire Bible is reflected, in verse 3 of the fist Chapter, of the Hebrews letter. ” … After Jesus had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.”
A sobering thought arises from this verse – just how many people would have been received into heaven if Jesus had not provided purification for sins? After we have meditated on this aspect – shouldn’t we try harder to live our lives – reflecting our gratitude to God for being saved? What’s your view?
Selwyn, now looks at verse three, in the first chapter of Hebrews.
Hebrews 1:1-3 (NLT): “Long ago God spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets. And now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his Son. God promised everything to the Son as an inheritance, and through the Son he created the universe. The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command. When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven.”
Selwyn writes, in his conclusion: This Christ, we are told, sustains ‘all things by His powerful word’. If there was any doubt about this among the Hebrew Christians, all they had to do was to reflect on the fact that when Jesus Christ was here on earth, He sustained everything around Him by His powerful word. He healed men and women – with a word. He stilled the storm – with a word. He raised the dead – with a word.“
In the first chapter of the Book of Genesis (NLT) - we first heard about God’s powerful word: ” … (Verse 3) Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light … “
(Verse 6) Then God said, “Let there be a space between the waters … ”
(Verse 9) Then God said, “Let the waters beneath the sky flow together into one place, so dry ground may appear … ”
(Verse 11) Then God said, “Let the land sprout with vegetation – every sort of seed-bearing plant, and trees that grow seed-bearing fruit … ”
(Verse 14) Then God said, “Let lights appear in the sky to separate the day from the night … ”
(Verse 20) Then God said, “Let the waters swarm with fish and other life. Let the skies be filled with birds of every kind … “
(Verse 24) Then God said, “Let the earth produce every sort of animal … ”
(Verse 26) Then God said, “Let us make human beings … ”
I’ve emphasised, by repetition – the fact that God commands – and, it is done. In the same way, what Jesus said while on earth - demonstrated the same power and truth. It does not matter if we believe that evolution played a role in creation or not – what matters is that we understand that the process of creation was started by God’s Word. In the same way, it’s important to understand that Jesus demonstrated the same power of creation when He was on this earth. He showed that He could bring order and salvation – into a chaotic and sinful world.
Your thoughts?
I’m not too sure about the title of this study – because, I don’t think we have the right to say those words – in any context – even if said gently!
God will judge – and it’s His role to say to those who will not follow His ways – ‘depart from Me’; after He has shown mercy and compassion to those He ‘chooses’.
I like Selwyn’s conclusion and his prayer for today. He clearly states that it is Jesus – who is our creator God.
“Jesus Christ is the heir of all things because all things were made for Him and by Him. This means that the touch of Jesus is on all creation; everything is made in its inner structure to work in His way. When it works in His way it works well, but when it works some other way it works to its own destruction. Live according to Christ and you live; live against Him and you will face the consequences.”
The prayer is:“Lord Jesus, You are heir of all things. All things that ain’t placed at your feet simply have no place. But everything surrendered to You is safe – including myself. I am extremely grateful. Amen.”
I think it’s important to always keep in mind – that Jesus is fully God – He is our God who relates to us on our level – His humanity enables us (from our perspective) to have a full relationship with Him. This indeed – is a fantastic gift, the ability to relate to our creator. Do you agree?
I’ve always liked the letter to the Hebrews. It’s a letter, which clearly tells us that the old covenant was a shadow of the new covenant. A new covenant that was bought into existence by Jesus’ life, death and resurrection.
The title, for this July/August edition of Every Day with Jesus, is ‘The Perfect One’. ['The Son is the radiance of God's glory ... sustaining all things by his powerful word.' Hebrews 1:3]
Selwyn captures the theme of Hebrews, very simply; ‘the superiority of Christ over every other person and religious system in the universe. … (Hebrews) is the clearest and most systematic presentation of Christ’s adequacy and uniqueness.’
His conclusion, leaves us in no doubt about Selwyn’s views on the truth of Jesus’ complete superiority: “In the New Testament, especially the Gospels, you find a new voice that gathers up the syllables and phrases in which God spoke in the Old Testament and merges them into one complete and final discourse. God’s Word and message to humanity has been fully uttered in and through His Son.”
Consequently, we find the same truth expressed in today’s prayer: “Father, when my eyes fall on Christ, You own beloved Son, I know that all else is relative. He and He alone is absolute. May His supremacy become more real to me day by day. In Christ’s name I ask it.”
The one, single verse for meditation, is the first verse of Hebrews: “Long ago God spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets.”
As I mentioned at the start – I like Hebrews; I think that the next two months will be most rewarding – I pray, that at the end of this study, you too will have enjoyed the journey.
Selwyn ends his meditations on the theme of Paul’s magnificent obsession by reflecting further on the text we looked at yesterday: ‘ … we are weak in Christ, yet by God’s power we will live with him to serve you’ (2 Corinthians 13:4).
I thought this part of Selwyn’s conclusion was especially good: “There is nothing as ‘terrible’ as a person who is wholly surrendered to God and who will surrender to nothing else. When that person is called upon to confront sin or deal with injustice. he or she will be caught up in that same stream of power that brought Jesus out from that garden grave.”
It’s a challenging statment don’t you agree – because, many today – would rather not confront sin; because they think confrontation is not ‘loving’?
What’s your view, fellow Corinthians? 
As we reach the end of this issue – Selwyn looks at the last mention of the phrase ’in Christ’, to be found in Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians – it’s s reflective passage, you can feel Paul’s emotion in these words – a final heart-felt plea, for the Corinthians to seek perfection and to be of one mind, in Christ.
2 Corinthians 13:1-14 (NIV): “… This will be my third visit to you. “Every matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.” I already gave you a warning when I was with you the second time. I now repeat it while absent: On my return I will not spare those who sinned earlier or any of the others, since you are demanding proof that Christ is speaking through me. He is not weak in dealing with you, but is powerful among you. For to be sure, Jesus was crucified in weakness, yet he lives by God’s power. Likewise, we are weak in Christ, yet by God’s power we will live with him to serve you.
Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you – unless, of course, you fail the test? And I trust that you will discover that we have not failed the test.
Now we pray to God that you will not do anything wrong. Not that people will see that we have stood the test but that you will do what is right even though we may seem to have failed. For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth. We are glad whenever we are weak but you are strong; and our prayer is for your perfection. This is why I write these things when I am absent, that when I come I may not have to be harsh in my use of authority – the authority the Lord gave me for building you up, not for tearing you down.
Finally, brothers and sisters, good-by.
Aim for perfection, listen to my appeal, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you. Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the saints send their greetings.
May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”
I really liked this bit from Selwyn’s conclusion: “Those who are being called upon at this moment to confront sin, should take heart from Paul’s words here. But understand what it means to be weak in Christ. To surrender all your rights to Another might appear to be a sign of weakness, but that kind of weakness is the weakness Jesus displayed when he submitted all His rights, even to death on the cross, knowing that the seeming weakness provided God with an opportunity to reveal His divine strength.”
In a certain way, the Western world – is a larger version of Corinth – the sort of issues they were facing as described in Paul’s letters – are the sort of issues being faced by people living in the major western nations. Today, Christians are finding that sin is being re-defined by the popular culture, and very few people are aiming for spiritual perfection by seeking God’s divine power to transform themselves into the likeness of Jesus.
In addition, there are signs that the Christian body of believers is breaking apart and groups are heading in all sorts of different directions. Unity – being of one mind, in Jesus; is now harder to identify in the various Christian communities.
It’s time to recognise our weakness – and to gather closer to our Lord’s divine strength.
What do you think?
The Perfect One
I think that the following verses, Hebrews 7:11- 19 (NIV), clearly spell out why salvation did not come from following the Jewish laws – and, they also reinforce the central message of this letter of Hebrews – the perfection of Jesus and our assurance of salvation: “If perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood (for on the basis of it the law was given to the people), why was there still need for another priest to come – one in the order of Melchizedek, not in the order of Aaron?
For when there is a change of the priesthood, there must also be a change of the law. He of whom these things are said belonged to a different tribe, and no one from that tribe has ever served at the altar. For it is clear that our Lord descended from Judah, and in regard to that tribe Moses said nothing about priests.
And what we have said is even more clear if another priest like Melchizedek appears, one who has become a priest not on the basis of a regulation as to his ancestry but on the basis of the power of an indestructible life. For it is declared: ”You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.”
Selwyn’s conclusion – summarises this central theme – very well: “The law made nothing perfect, but Christ makes everything perfect. He bore our sin in such a way that He bore it all away. In Him we find perfect peace, perfect joy and perfect pardon.
The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless (for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God.”
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[I've been on holiday; plus, I spent the last couple of weeks 'talking to God' about the directions I should take - especially in regard to my blogs. At the same time, I read a book on Paul's second letter to Timothy, it helped me think through a lot of the issues that I was dealing with - it's these sorts of experience which are covered by the fingerprints of Our Lord - that give us hope!]