All Things New

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Let Us

The statistics in Hebrews tell a story.

Six times in Hebrews, the author entreats us to draw near to God and shows us how Jesus, as the better priest and king, makes God accessible to us. How incredible that our Creator God does everything necessary through Jesus’ sacrifice to redeem we rebellious image-bearers and invites us to draw near to Him! Are you drawing near?

Four times in Hebrews we are told to hold fast our confession, our hope. Put another way, Hebrews twice more mentions need of endurance. Not unlike other times in history, these are times when it feels hard to hold onto faith in Jesus Christ, our hope. The world is not always kind to us for expressing that kind of hope. Life experiences and world changes can leave us wondering what God is up to and if He truly cares. According to Hebrews 10:23, we can hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering—for he who promised is faithful. Are you holding fast?

We are invited to draw near and admonished to hold fast. But how do we do it? Twenty times Hebrews uses the two small words—by faith. We see what faith looks like in Hebrews 11 when real live ordinary people are commended for believing God, listening to him, relating to him, obeying him, trusting his promises, considering him faithful, choosing the sufferings of Christ, and more. Lest you think these were giants of the faith, and you just can’t muster it, Hebrews 12 follows Hebrews 11 and gives us hope. We draw near to God and hold fast to hope by faith—looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:1-3). It isn’t the strength of our faith, but the object of our faith, that matters. Twenty-five times in Hebrews we are told Jesus is better, more, or greater. Are you looking to Jesus by faith?

Why should I choose this radical life of faith? A Day is drawing near (Hebrews 10:25) when the coming one will come (Hebrews 10:37), and those who shrink back will be destroyed, but those who have faith will preserve their souls (Hebrews 10:39). If that isn’t reason enough, four times a city is cited and sighted in Hebrews. This city is in a better country, a heavenly one (Hebrews 11:16). It’s a city with foundations, designed and built by God (Hebrews 11:10). It’s a lasting city, the city of the living God (Hebrews 12:22; 13:14). Remember those faithful folks in chapter 11? As they looked forward to the joyful city of God, they were motivated to hold fast. Are you looking forward to that city?

Sounds simple enough, but we know from experience this life of enduring faith is neither easy nor our default. The book of Hebrews has plenty of practical helps, which you can reread as needed, but let me point out one. Perhaps most impressive of all the stats in Hebrews is that we are told 14 times to do something collectively—let us. Here is a summary of the let us calls in Hebrews.

  • …while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. (Hebrews 4:1 ESV)

  • Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. (Hebrews 4:11)

  • Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. (Hebrews 4:14)

  • Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:16-1)

  • …let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity,… (Hebrews 6:1)

  • …let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. (Hebrews 10:22)

  • Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. (Hebrews 10:23)

  • And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. (Hebrews 10:24-25)

  • …since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely,… (Hebrews 12:1)

  • …and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, (Hebrews 12:2)

  • …let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken,… (Hebrews 12:28)

  • …and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe,… (Hebrews 12:28)

  • …let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. (Hebrews 13:13)

  • Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. (Hebrews 13:15)

Let us is a clue that we need each other. We are in this together; we are not alone. How could we as sisters in Christ better be the us for one another? Sometimes it is as simple as showing up, not neglecting to meet together, as Hebrews 10:24-25 states. It might be a call or text or note to remind someone of the truth, of the gospel, of our hope. Connect in a Life Group or in Side by Side Bible Reading and have conversations about how the gospel applies to daily life. Make a point of asking questions about someone’s soul, about how they are viewing God and themselves in light of His Word. Offer a hug and a prayer. What if we mindfully and proactively did Hebrews 3:13—exhort one another every day, as long as it is called "today," that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin? Who could you encourage today, tomorrow, the next day…?

The statistics in Hebrews are much more than numbers. They exhort us to draw near to God, looking to Jesus by faith. But they are also practical, linking us together to help one another hold fast to our hope and look forward to the better city that is to come. Shall we do this? Let us!

 

1st Thursday Connect

1st Thursday Connect is this week! We will meet in person in the sanctuary at New Life Church, West Linn, May 6 at 7:00PM.

We will connect with each other, enjoy teaching from Hebrews, and get started on our 8-week study of Revelation. If you can’t come in person, join us via livestream at https://bit.ly/NewLifeWomenLivestreamMay.

Materials for Revelation can be printed from the church website or picked up at 1st Thursday Connect. Sign up for a Side by Side Bible Reading partner and share prayers requests at https://bit.ly/NewLifeWomenSignUp. If you missed any sessions of the Panorama study, videos of lessons 1-4 can be found on the church YouTube channel. Our final Panorama session will be Thursday, June 3 at 7:00PM.

In Side by Side Bible Reading this year, the goal has been to refocus our hope on God’s promise and provision and all that is to come. Genesis begins with God’s beautiful plan for a relationship with his people. Sin breaks that relationship, but God promises an offspring, a Redeemer. Isaiah shows us how far we can stray from God, yet God continues to move forward with his redemption plan to send a Savior. Matthew reveals the promised Savior King, and we see the life and death and resurrection of Jesus unfold. Hebrews details what Jesus achieved by his sacrificial death as the better Priest and King. And now we come to Revelation, a letter and vision of the Lion of Judah, the Lamb of God. May God continue to build our hope in Him as we see what the Lion Lamb has accomplished and look forward to when He will make all things new!

 

Isaiah 40

As we memorize Isaiah 40, these excerpts from the commentary Isaiah: God Saves Sinners by Raymond Ortlund are provided for your education and enjoyment. We will be memorizing verses 25-26 in May.

To whom then will you compare me, that I should be like him? says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these? He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name, by the greatness of his might, and because he is strong in power not one is missing. (Isaiah 40:25-26 ESV)

In this passage Isaiah is speaking to people whose mood is like that of many today. They may say the right things, but deep inside they don’t really believe anymore—not with a faith that overcomes the world. They’re looking at things through their own eyes. So the promises of God do not put a spring in their step and a sparkle in their eye and steel in their backbone. Why? God just doesn’t look big enough for the risk-taking audacity of true faith. But God is inviting us to turn our perceptions around and see everything from his point of view. He understands that the struggle of faith is won or lost in the way we perceive reality. Yes, we are dwarfed by the creation; but the creation is dwarfed by God. See it that way. See him that way. When you feel threatened by world events and overwhelmed by your own problems, there’s another way to perceive it all. God is opening up to you a prophetic vision. And the Biblical gospel is his way of calling to us, “Behold your God!” (Isaiah 40:9.)

Will you repent of the sin of diminishing God in your thoughts? It is a hidden idolatry…. Will you dethrone your idols and rediscover God? Look at God, and everything else, through his eyes.

 

Links

Below are links to articles, books, podcasts, and music that might be of interest or help on various topics. Resources are curated but may not always reflect the views of New Life Church. Enjoy!

Marcia ReavelyComment