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A Better Reward Part 2
Kyle Kauffman
Faith is fueled by the promise of a better reward. As a result, faith is willing to give up all the “rewards” of this world. Faith knows that all this world offers to is only temporary and fading. But all that God promises to us is eternal and imperishable. In other words, faith operates with a whole different value system. It believes that God and all he promises to us is better than this world and all its fleeting praise, pleasure, and comfort. As a result, faith is willing to endure hardship and suffering in life. Faith believes there is something better that is worthy experiencing suffering and hardship to gain.
Hebrews 11:17-19; 23-38; 12:1-2
A Better Reward Part 1
Kyle Kauffman
Christians are called to live by faith, not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7). And yet can also be accused of having blind faith in this life. The reality is that everyone lives by faith in certain areas of their lives. In our own time, the words, “You just need to believe” are a common refrain. And often the object of that belief is simply ourselves. The Christian puts his or her faith in a far greater object then self or any other human. We put our faith in the God who created this world and his Word. As a result, we live our lives seeking to gain what he has promised to us. We are willing to give up things this world values because we value the reward God offers more. In this way faith may look foolish in the eyes of the world, but faith is living for what can never be found in this world.
Hebrews 11:1-22
A Better Assurance
Kyle Kauffman
How can I be sure? That’s a question we might ask in all sorts of areas in our lives. And yet there may be no more important place we ask this then when we ask, “How can I be sure I am saved?” Or “How can I be sure I will remain a Christian?” A lack of assurance can be a terrible thing to endure. A false sense of assurance can lead to terrible consequences. But a true assurance of salvation is a wonderful thing to have. And it’s something God wants us to have. We should not base our assurance on our own feelings, a previous prayer, or a powerful conversion story. Neither should we dissolve into endless self-reflection that may cause us to doubt our salvation. In Hebrews 10:19-39 we find God gives us a better way to find and hold onto an assurance of salvation. He gives us the place to look for assurance, a practice to maintain assurance, a problem that can (and should) undermine our assurance, and proof that can help our assurance.
Hebrews 10:19-39
A Better Sacrifice
Kyle Kauffman
How can someone who has done something wrong be made right again? How can our wrongs be atoned for? We can be prone to both minimize our own sinfulness and presume that we deserve forgiveness for whatever sins we have committed. The sacrifices in the Bible consistently make clear that our sin is a far bigger deal then we realize and that we deserve punishment, not forgiveness. And yet the sacrifices in the Bible also tell us that God makes a way for our sins to be forgiven. Our sins are not forgiven through good deeds, penance, time, or any other means. They are forgiven only through the shedding of blood. Hebrews directs our eyes to Jesus as the greatest sacrifice (and the one that ALL the other sacrifices were pointing to). His one sacrifice is sufficient to forgive all our sins and to fully make right what sin has made wrong.
Hebrews 9:15-10:18
A Better Covenant
Kyle Kauffman
Relationships can be very fragile. They can easily be fractured and broken in all sorts of ways. And when a relationship is fractured, we often look for a way for the relationship to be fixed/restored. We were created to enjoy a relationship with God. But that relationship has been fractured because of sin. And yet we find there is no way for us to fix or mend this broken relationship. If we are to know and enjoy God, then we need God to act to restore the relationship. We find in Scripture that time and time again God has acted to restore and maintain His relationship with Humans. He does this on the basis of covenant. Hebrews tells us that Jesus is at the center of the final and better covenant that all the other covenants pointed toward. Hebrews tells us we relate to God on the basis of Jesus. Which means that as long as we are trusting in Jesus we cannot be separated from God. And all other ways of seeking to secure or maintain a relationship with God are futile.
Hebrews 8:1-9:14
A Better Anchor
Joel Wood
It’s easy to trust God when the seas of our life are calm. When things are going the way we want them to, circumstances are good, and there’s no really big trials we are facing, trust in God seems to come naturally. But when suffering, temptation, and trials start to blow and rage against us, it can be hard to continue to trust God in the midst of them. It seems much easier in these moments to start to doubt God’s love or to live in constant fear then to trust him. This was a struggle for the Hebrews in the midst of their circumstances, and it’s often our struggle as well. In the midst of all the ‘waves’ that come our way in this life we need an anchor we can look to that will hold us through the storm and enable us to continue trusting God when life is painful, hard, or just doesn’t make sense.
Hebrews 6:13-7:28
A Gracious Warning
Kyle Kauffman
One of the things that we notice as we read Hebrews is that it is not only full of descriptions of how Jesus is Better, but it is also interspersed with serious warnings about turning away from Jesus. While these warnings are contained throughout the book, perhaps nowhere is the warning and what’s at stake clearer then in Hebrews 5:11-6:12. The purpose and effect of this warning can often get lost in the midst of the debate between whether someone can lose their salvation or not. The warning was originally addressed to those who called themselves Christians. This warning makes it clear that apostasy (turning away from and denying the faith) is a real possibility and reality. While the Bible teaches that those who are truly saved will not lose their salvation because God will hold onto them and enable them to persevere, warnings like this also teach that there are some who will appear to be truly saved to us who will turn away and deny the faith. In God’s hands, serious warnings are a means of His grace that are meant to help us persevere in our faith and not turn away from what is Better – Jesus and all he promises to us.
Hebrews 5:11-6:12
A Better Priest
Kyle Kauffman
In Hebrews 4:14-5:10 we see Jesus described as a Perfect Priest. While the original readers of Hebrews would have understood their need for a priest, the idea of a priest likely seems foreign to us today. And yet we still look to people to play the role of a priest in our lives. We look to others who will listen to us, understand us, advocate for us, and help to solve our problems. In our day perhaps the people we most often look to as our priests are counselors and therapists. We go to counselors to have them listen to us, offer help to us, and help provide solutions to the problems in our lives. But what we need is not just a counselor or therapist, we need a Priest. Hebrews 4:14-5:10 tells us why we still need a Priest today and why Jesus is the Perfect Priest.
Hebrews 4:14-5:10
A Better Leader
Kyle Kauffman
Israel had some great leaders throughout their history, including especially Moses and Joshua. And yet the author of Hebrews wanted both them and us to see how much of a better leader Jesus is. We often choose what leaders we will trust and follow based on who they are, what they’ve done, and the promises/hope they offer for the future. But we find that all of our leaders in this life end up letting us down sooner or later. They turn out to be flawed just like us and they often fail to deliver on their promises. Hebrews shows us that Jesus is a better leader than any other leader we may trust and follow. And as a result, we must take care to listen to him, trust him, and give our lives to follow him.
Hebrews 3:1-4:13
A Better Savior
Kyle Kauffman
We were made to worship. It’s impossible for us not to worship. Whatever we give our mind’s attention to and our heart’s affection to is what we worship. And there are all sorts of things in this life that compete for our attention and our affection. We can easily end up worshipping the wrong things. So many of thing things in our lives aren’t worthy of our worship. They only end up letting us down in the long run and distracting us from the one who is truly worthy of our worship. It may seem odd to us, but the Hebrews were tempted to worship angels above Jesus. But usually this is how it works: it’s easier for us to see the folly of what someone else is worshipping then it is to see the folly of the things we are prone to worship. Hebrews 1:5-2:4 wants to shift our attention back to the main attraction in the entire universe: Jesus Christ; and to see that only he is truly worthy of our worship.
Hebrews 1:5-2:4