We are in the middle of Hebrews 12, and in the first half the author left off talking about running a race with perseverance. We need to cast off our sins and burdens and run a race with perseverance. When we are prone to doubt or grow weary or lose heart, we should fix our eyes on Jesus. Any hardships we encounter should be seen as evidence of God’s favor and adoption into his family. We are being trained by hardship and it ends up producing a harvest of righteousness. Righteousness and Holiness are terms that are used a lot, so it’s important to understand what they mean. Righteous means good, obedient, not wicked. Holiness means set apart, different, distinct, in a righteous way. Neither one can ever be fully achieved by fallen humans, but Christ was Holy, he lived righteously. Not just righteous-ly, but with perfect righteousness and when we put on Christ we can be clothed in His perfect righteousness before God the Father. Only that level of righteousness is acceptable when standing before a perfect God. But if we are trained by our hardships and we persevere through them, we can grow to act more Christ like, and can better reflect God’s goodness. Reflecting God’s goodness doesn’t save us, but it does help advance God’s kingdom by showing a fallen world a glimpse of what a loving God looks like. Jesus said “let your light shine before others, so they may see your good deeds and Glorify your father in Heaven.” A lot of the first half of Hebrews 12 talks about our relationship to God, but the second half moves to our relationships with each other.
14 Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.
The author is instructing the readers to live in peace together. Not just with friends but with everyone. This is the same instruction that Jesus himself gave to us from the sermon on the mount. He said even the pagans love those who love them back. That kind of love is commonplace. We should greet pagans and believers. We should love those who persecute us. We should make every effort. We should love our enemies.- Why do we have to show that kind of love? Because God loved his enemies, and forgave them and adopted them into his family. If we can’t demonstrate the kind of love that God gives to us, we don’t understand it, or we dont appreciate it.. If nobody attempted to live a holy life, no one would see the kind of Love that God extends to a fallen people. God made Peace, not because it was something we proposed. We were still enemies. This peace is not like the kind that we see on Earth. Usually the loser of a battle or the weaker side surrenders. God, from a position of omnipotence and strength reached out to us for the peace. Usually peace happens after one side clearly wins or loses. The weak side surrenders and then seeks a peace. With God. He proposed a peace while we were still fighting, He proposed peace from the position of strength.. The peace wasn’t initiated by the losing side, us, it was initiated by God. Jesus said Blessed are the peacemakers; they would be called children of God. The author of Hebrews says to make every effort to live in peace. When we can demonstrate peace with each other on Earth, we can demonstrate the peace that our Lord and our creator has made with us. If anyone wants to be a good Christian witness, the first and most important step is to be at peace. People love to discuss and debate about theology and interpretation of the Bible. Sometimes they confront strangers with tracts or pamphlets, and they’ve prepped answers or counterattacks to any disagreement. Sharing the good news or inviting people to church is one thing, but sometimes people who say they are evangelizing are almost itching for a fight. The most powerful witness is one who can cultivate and nurture a peace. This doesn’t mean backing down on truth or compromising your stance on doctrine, but it means having a mutually respectful and calm, even tempered and civilized exchange of ideas. Our tone should always be loving not adversarial. The feel should be compassionate, not patronizing, self righteous, or condescending. Jesus said be perfect as the Father is Perfect. The Author of Hebrews says we should be holy. Both instances are not in the context of seeking salvation by perfection, but being a light to a dark world, being a person who’s conduct draws unbelievers and the world to the Father’s loving arms.
15 See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.
We should watch out for each other. Our personal devotion to God should infiltrate and invade the rest of our lives, especially the way we deal with each other. We should care about each other’s heart for God and make sure that nobody is falling short of Grace. There’s two ways of falling short of Grace. it could mean living godlessly with no love for God’s instruction and discipline, or it could mean turning God’s laws and his regulations into an idol. We should see to it that nobody’s drifting away from correct doctrine. Another way we allow ourselves to drift away from God is dissatisfaction, or a lack of joy. We should be the most content and satisfied people, confident that God’s will for our lives is the best thing for our life journey and eternal security. But the sinful nature inside us sows seeds of bitterness, and that bitterness takes root, it can cause trouble. It not only affects our relationship with God, but It can defile other people and take away their God Given Joy and contentment. If I am content with a hamburger, and someone tells me I should be aspiring towards steak and lobster tails, they can effectively plant a bitter root and if I nurture that plant, it could lead to dissatisfaction, which could lead to covetousness. In Philippians 4:11-12 Paul said he learned to be content in every situation. He knows what it feels like to have plenty and to want. He said there’s a “secret”. Since it’s written in the Bible, it can’t be all that secret anymore. His secret is “I can do all this through Him who gives me strength.“ Christ. Paul says in 1 Timothy 6:6 Godliness with contentment is great Gain.
16 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. 17 Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. Even though he sought the blessing with tears, he could not change what he had done.
When we watch out for each other we need to be alert about signs that someone may be more interested in the flesh than in following the Spirit of God. We cannot feed the flesh and the spirit. We must feed one and starve the other. A life spent pursuing the spirit will put to death the desires of the flesh. A life of spiritual death will often look like a life that is lived to pursue the flesh. Feeding the desires of Sexual immorality is a dead giveaway about whether somebody is pursuing God or the flesh. God has clear laws and instructions on how we should conduct ourselves. Sexual immorality is not God’s desire for our lives. We should not commit adultery; we shouldn’t cheat on our husbands or wives. For single people, we should not cheat on our future wives or husbands; we shouldn’t join our bodies with somebody who belongs to or will belong to another person. These activities identify someone who doesn’t just live for worldly pleasures, but places those worldly pleasures in higher regard than following God’s laws. When we become creatures of the flesh, we become more like animals and less like children of God. Take Esau for example. He didn’t care about God’s commands, or the future, or his birthright, he listened to his stomach and made his body his God. The problem with making your body your God is that the body’s desires are for things that are fleeting or temporary. If you have an empty stomach, you can fill it, but it will eventually need to be filled again. It doesn’t end until death. Eventually when your stomach is repeatedly filled, and your time has mostly passed, you might just wish you had spent time pursuing the things of God, the permanent things.
When he wept to his father for his Birthright, Esau wanted the fruit of perseverance. He wanted the consequences of planning ahead and the results of delaying gratification, but at that point in his life, it was too late. His father had already given the birthright to Jacob, and while Jacob was a bit sneaky about receiving it from his father, it was still Esau who had given it up for a single meal. Talk about short sighted, he traded his fathers legacy for one meal, a creature comfort that lasted less than 12 hours and literally turns to poop. The author is encouraging us to make sure that nobody takes the path of Esau. See to it that nobody is Godless, and if they act Godless, to make sure they know that there’s a better way to live. Reading on, the author goes on to make a comparison, and for a while he has explained how Christ is superior to everything found in the old covenant. How Christ is the reality and everything before was the shadow. Now he makes a comparison describing our relationship with God in the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. First the Old Covenant.
18 You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; 19 to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them, 20 because they could not bear what was commanded: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death.”[c] 21 The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, “I am trembling with fear.”[d]
You have not come to a mountain. In the old days, during the exodus, God revealed himself differently. Exodus 19 describes how Moses went up Mount Sinai to meet God. In Verse 9, “The Lord said to Moses, “See, I will come to you in a thick cloud. So the people may hear when I speak with you, and may believe you forever.”” The people couldn’t see God, but they could see the cloud. Invisible God revealed himself physically through this encounter. The mountain represented the place where God’s presence dwelt. God’s presence was holy and different. Humans couldn’t dwell in the same place as God. People couldn’t even touch the mountain because they were sinners, and God was pure. If someone even touched the mountain, they were supposed to be put to death. But the Israelites couldn’t even touch the person who touched the mountain they were putting to death, they would need to throw stones or shoot arrows. On the third day, there was fire raining down and there was smoke rising up the mountain and a loud blast of the horn. When this was happening people were trembling in fear. To witness something so awesome and terrifying is unimaginable to me. I have seen lightening up close, and was terrified. From the beach, I saw a waterspout in the ocean. But that made sense, there were dark clouds and thunder and lightning flashing further away. What the Israelites encountered on Mount Sinai was all the fury and power of nature, but without any of the natural explanation. The causation was miraculous and could only be attributed to an even more powerful force; the creator of the heavens and earth. When Moses witnessed the presence of God, he too was terrified, and when the people saw him his face was radiant. This relationship with God was fearful and terrifying. There were physical things representing something bigger and spiritual These things were actually dangerous to approach or touch. People couldn’t approach God alone, never without a gift or offering, never without making atonement. There were certain rules of conduct, certain instructions that had to be followed exactly, or else you could accidentally come before God unprepared.
Now let’s see the greater reality:
22 But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, 23 to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24 to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
Instead of Mount Sinai, we’ve come to Mount Zion. How is this different? Zion is the city of the living God. We aren’t looking at a physical mountain that represents God’s presence. We come before God’s actual presence. If the first was terrifying, the second should make us even more so! But instead of smoke and clouds and fire, we see Angels in a Joyful assembly. There’s praise and fellowship, instead of following instructions with sacrifices and offerings. God hasn’t changed, but our relationship with him Has. We don’t approach him alone as one who is condemned, we approach him as a Son. We are the church of the first born, the bride of Christ. When God sees us, he sees a perfectly righteous, obedient, holy Son. We come before the same powerful force of God, just like Moses and the Israelites did. God hasn’t changed. We haven’t really changed from them either, we are still sinners and unworthy. We aren’t any better, but we are forgiven. We are reconciled. We are adopted. We are made righteous. And when we enter God’s presence we enter among the spirits of the righteous made perfect. In God’s eyes we have the perfection of his Son. We come before the Judge by way of the mediator, Jesus Christ. Jesus blood speaks a better word than Abel’s. We spoke about Abel and how he was righteous, how he submitted to God, how he brought a favorable offering. But Abel’s blood was not perfect. His blood was cleansed by a temporary sacrificial animal offering. Jesus blood is perfect, permanent, it was holy, not cleansed by an offering, but perfect by its own righteousness. Holy enough to be used as an offering to cleanse others. God has spoken to us in many ways, through many prophets. Now he speaks to us by his Son. The sprinkled blood of Jesus speaks a better word than Abel. Everyone likes to talk about how God speaks to them. God told me this, or God said this to me. Sometimes that tells more about people’s own insecurity or desire for self importance. Sometimes it just shows a misunderstanding of doctrine. God continues to speak to us, but the way he does so is by using his Son and his Word that became flesh. Those things will not change because they are complete, but God speaks to us. The author continues
25 See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven?
God speaks to us, and this new covenant speaks a better word to us than the blood of Abel. What happened to people who ignored the voice that warned us on Earth? They were unable to escape judgement. Remember what the author wrote in Hebrews 10:28-29. Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot? If they couldn’t escape before when warned by Moses and refused, Imagine how much less we can escape when warned by Jesus. We’ve been given a much better covenant than they had been given. Rejecting the original covenant that God planned to eventually replace was bad, but rejecting God’s best offer is even worse. So God Speaks. From now on, God’s voice is Jesus Christ. Gods voice speaks to us and warns us from heaven. What happens to people that ignore God’s voice? They couldn’t escape before when they were presented with Justice and rejected it.. We can’t escape now when we are presented with Mercy and reject it. So let’s do honest self assessment, God speaks to us, using Jesus Christ the Word that became flesh. Also using His Word, the Bible. Do we refuse his counsel? Do we listen when He speaks? Jesus said that His sheep listen to His voice. That’s one way we know we’re his sheep. Do we hear and listen? Do we obey, or do we refuse? What’s at stake here? Eternity. Let’s read Vs 26-27
26 At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.”[e] 27 The words “once more” indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain.
The first shaking versus second shaking, the “once more”, all of this is a fancy way to say that we are dealing with something permanent. There was a time God’s voice shook the earth, but the earth is not the end all be all. God says there is a “once more”. Something that will happen. God’s voice won’t just shake the earth. there’s the heavens and the eternal realm. The created things we see are all passing away, They are all temporary. We are all here for a short time, our lives are a vapor. But God’s voice speaks and shakes us, moves us, affects us. And it does something to our souls, not just the temporary physical frame of our body, but our permanent being, our existence. Our promises are permanent and the inheritance of God’s Kingdom is something we can’t measure here
28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, 29 for our “God is a consuming fire.”[f]
Because the nature of God’s Kingdom is eternal, it’s permanent. People think of that in terms of LENGTH of time, which is true but that permanence also can be thought of in terms of the EFFECTS of time. That means God’s Kingdom is unchanging, it doesn’t erode or break down over time. Entropy and chaos do not destroy what it is. The Kingdom of God can’t be shaken, it can’t be defeated. It is invincible and unable to be infiltrated. Because we were predestined to share in this Kingdom, our destination is known. There are no changes of plan that could possibly effect the end of the story. There is nothing that we can do to gain or lose our salvation. This truth is a good thing, because we are not good enough to earn our salvation. Our hearts are not consistent enough to inherit something that’s unshakeable. We have been given an immeasurably good gift, and we received this gift which we didn’t deserve (grace). All we add to this is thankfulness. Let us be thankful. Let us worship God acceptably, the way he would want us to worship Him. What does Acceptable worship look like? Different people have different ideas, but we should consult the Bible and learn as much as we can about God’s character so that we worship Him honorably and consistently with his Word. How does Acceptable worship look? The Author says that worship should be done with reverence and awe. What is reverence? We should treat the name of God as holy and different than anything we experience here on this earth. The concept and personhood of God should be treated with a deference and submission, as one who is nowhere near equal to us. Sometimes people treat celebrities, artists, professional athletes that way, and it just seems wrong to do to another human. We should place God in that most highest place, Exalt Him. And when we try to do that, we should also try to understand that even THAT is not close to what He deserves. It’s not easy, but we don’t need to do this alone. We should also make this a team effort, the Author uses the phrases “see to it that no one does this,” or “Let US make every effort to do that” “Encourage one another” “Live at peace with each other”. I couldn’t imagine a better group of people to share this journey with than my church, and want to encourage anyone who doesn’t have such a fellowship to seek out a local church where you can come together and learn, and worship God together.