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Hebrews 1:1-5:10

HEBREWS

1:1-2:9 -  From the heights of heaven and the depths of suffering, ‘God… has spoken to us by His Son’ (1:1-2). Jesus Christ is God’s ‘Word’ to us. He is ‘the Word’ who came from heaven: ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God’. He is ‘the Word’ who came to earth: ‘the Word became flesh and dwelt among us…’ (John 1:1-14). In heaven, He is worshipped by angels: ‘Let all God’s angels worship Him’ (1:6). On earth, ‘He suffered death, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone’ (2:9). We see the greatness of Christ in both His heavenly glory and His saving grace. None can compare with Him. He is our Lord. He is our Saviour. We consider all that He has done for us – ‘the nail marks in His hands…’ – and we worship Him – ‘my Lord and my God’ (John 20:19-20,24-28).
2:10-3:19 -  God invites each of us to receive a great blessing – the blessing of being His ‘children’ (2:13). We become God’s children through faith in Christ: ‘To all who received Him, who believed in His Name, He gave power to become children of God’ (John 1:12). What will you do with God’s great invitation, His invitation of love? Will you receive Christ and become a child of God? Will you miss out on the blessing ‘because of unbelief’ (19)? God is waiting for your answer – ‘Today, when you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts’ (3:7,15). Throughout life, we must guard against ‘an evil, unbelieving heart, leading us to fall away from the living God’. ‘Every day’, we must take care that we do not become ‘hardened by the deceitfulness of sin’ (3:12-13). As God’s children, let’s grow in Christ (1 Peter 2:2; 2 Peter 3:18).
4:1-5:10 -  ‘Today, when you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts’. These words from 3:7,15, are repeated here in 4:7. Make sure that you don’t miss the point! These are words that we need to keep on hearing – again and again. None of us ever reaches a stage where we no longer need to hear and heed God’s words of warning. Reading God’s Word can be a very uncomfortable experience: ‘God’s Word is living and active… God’s Word judges a person’s thoughts and intentions. No creature can hide from God. Everything is uncovered and exposed for Him to see. We must answer to Him’ (4:12-13). This may not be the kind of thing we like to hear. It’s what we need to hear. We will only pray for ‘mercy’ and ‘grace’ when we see how sinful we really are. Then – and only then – will we come to Christ for ‘eternal salvation’ (4:15-16; 5:9).
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