The One Way

 

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. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 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 4:14-16 ESV).

 

Now there is one more thing I want to do with this text. Remember, it is written to support the main point which we have looked at previously, namely, be diligent to enter God’s rest and fear lest you fail to enter it because of unbelief. The writer supports this main point by showing from the Old Testament that there is a rest to enter into — that is, that God has a plan for his people to join him in the wonderful restfulness of heaven where all weariness and burdensomeness will be lifted. The text is complicated, however, let me give you a very brief outline:

 

v  First, he starts at creation (cf. Genesis 2:2) and says, “God rested on the seventh day from all his works.” So, he sees in this a restful, peaceful, sovereign God who has a rest and a peace and a place of joy where his people can enjoy fellowship with him. He will call it a “Sabbath rest” because on the seventh day, God rested. It is not the cessation of work, but the absence of judgment which caused work to be painful or difficult.

v  Second, he focuses on the period when Israel was wandering in the wilderness and rebelling against God. Hebrews 4:5 (quoting Psalm 95:11): “And again in this passage, ‘They shall not enter my rest.’” The promised land is a picture of God’s ultimate rest, and their unbelieving rebellion excludes them from it. Which raises the question whether there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God.

v  The third focus is on the time of Joshua, who took the people into the promised land. Is that the final, ultimate rest God had in mind for his people? Hebrews 4:8 answers, “no”: “For if Joshua had given them rest, He would not have spoken of another day after that.” In other words, even though Joshua gave some relief to the people of God in the promised land, that was not the final rest God has planned for them. How do we know that? God spoke of another day — another rest to come centuries later.

v  The fourth period of time the writer focuses on, the time of David writing Psalm 95. Hebrews 4:7: “He again fixes a certain day, ‘Today,’ saying through David after so long a time just as has been said before, ‘Today if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.’” In other words, long after the people enjoyed the rest of the promised land, David says that God is still holding out to his people an offer of salvation rest: Don’t harden your hearts, and you will enjoy God’s rest (referred to at the end of the Psalm 95:11) (Hebrews 3:11; 4:3). “There is a rest open to you today. God offers rest. The door is not shut. The time is not past.”

v  From this, the writer draws the all-important conclusion about God’s Sabbath rest of salvation — and this is his fifth period of history, namely, today — verse 9: “There remains therefore a Sabbath rest for the people of God.” In other words, today, the rest is still open.

 

And that is the foundation of God’s message to us today: There is a rest open to all today. God offers rest. The door is not shut. The time is not past. You have not missed your last opportunity. Hear the words of verse 9: “There remains therefore a Sabbath rest for the people of God.” The door is open. The time is now. Trust Jesus! He is the One way!

 

Live Diligently in Faith

 

For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. (Hebrews 4:8-13 ESV).

 

The writer is not advocating that we live doubting, trembling, that somehow we have failed to live up to the expectations of God whether intentionally or not. Actually, it is safe to say that none of us have lived up to those expectations. The Apostle Paul said, “All men have sinned and missed the mark of the high calling of Christ” (Romans 3:23). It is not a matter of what we have or haven’t done. Jesus has done it all on our behalf. The question is not what we have done; the question is whether we trust Jesus and take Him at His word. That is how we practice diligence; it is by faith in Jesus.

 

The main point of the paragraph is the need for diligence. Today we use the word intentionality. In the last sentence of the paragraph, he says the same thing in different words: “Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall through following the same example of disobedience” (Hebrews 4:11). In other words, Israel fell from the promised joy of God because of the disobedience of unbelief. And the same thing can happen to anyone. To keep it from happening — and to show that we are more than mere “professing” Christians — he says, “Be diligent to enter God’s rest” — God’s heaven. Be diligent! Pay close attention to what you’ve heard (Hebrews 2:1); don’t neglect your great salvation (Hebrews 2:3); consider Jesus (Hebrews 3:1); do not harden your hearts (Hebrews 3:8); take care against an unbelieving heart (Hebrews 3:12); exhort one another every day against the deceitfulness of sin (Hebrews 3:14); and fear the unbelief that will keep you from your promised rest (Hebrews 4:1).

 

Do you see the great lesson here? The Christian life is a life of day-by-day, hour-by-hour trust in the promises of God to help us and guide us and take care of us and forgive us and bring us into a future of holiness and joy that will satisfy our hearts infinitely more than if we forsake him and put our trust in ourselves or in the promises of this world. And that day-by-day, hour-by-hour trust in God’s promises is not automatic. It is the result of daily diligence and it’s the result of proper fear.

 

 

Enter into His Rest

For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. (Hebrews 4:8-13 ESV).

 

To further convince his readers the writer of Hebrews now uses Israel as an example of why it is so essential to have faith. He continues to compare Israel’s situation in the wilderness to the situation of believers in his day. In both cases it was not a lack of information that kept them from entering God’s rest. Israel had good news preached to them just as they did. God’s word to Israel from Mount Sinai: “Then the Lord . . . proclaimed, ‘The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin.’” (Exodus 34:6–7). It was good news of love and mercy and forgiveness of every kind of iniquity and transgression and sin. And it was the good news of God’s promise that God would bring them into the land of promised to Abraham and be with them if they would trust him and not rebel (cf. Numbers 14:8–9).

 

The Israelites had heard the gospel just like his readers had. Of course it was full story as revealed and accomplish in Jesus, which his readers had heard, but, still the promise that God is merciful and forgives sins and promises rest and joy for those who trust him was clearly revealed to them. So, there is a very similar situation between Israel and the readers of this letter, and the point is: this good news was not believed by Israel and so they did not enter God’s rest, God’s promised joy (v. 2). They simply didn’t believe it. They doubted God. They distrusted him. They did not have faith in his promise to give them a better future than they had in Egypt and so they gave up on God and wanted the old life.

 

The result of that unbelief was that the promise “did not profit them” (v. 2). It was of no value to them. It did not save them; they did not enter God’s rest (Hebrews 3:19). They fell in the wilderness. God swore in his wrath that they would never enter his rest. It is a clear picture of missing heaven. This was the result when the good news to Israel was not united to faith, it profited them nothing and they perished in the wilderness (v. 2). The main point is: fear this happening to you. Fear hearing the promises of God and not trusting them. Because the same thing will happen to us as to them: we will not enter God’s rest — God’s heaven — if we do not trust his promises. There is no other way to enter God’s rest than believing in His work through Jesus.

 

My question to you today is very simple. Since you also have heard this message of grace and deliverance, what is your response?

  

The Answer ot Fear - Faith!

 

Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened. For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said, “As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest,’” although his works were finished from the foundation of the world. For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.” And again in this passage he said, “They shall not enter my rest.” Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience, again he appoints a certain day, “Today,” saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.” (Hebrews 4:1-7 ESV).

 

We also see in the beginning of our reading (Hebrews 4:1-7) that the writer draws another conclusion from the warning he has issued previously. He wrote, “Therefore, let us fear, lest, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you should seem to have come short of it” (v. 1). Please do not overlook the use of the word “therefore”. It is an indication that he is drawing a conclusion from the fact that Israel was not able to enter God’s rest because of what follows. That which follows is often weaken by English translations, especially the NIV, when they use the phrase “let us be careful” instead of the word “fear.” His conclusion becomes the truth that we should take the possibility of drifting away very seriously. We should fear that, since coming short of God’s rest is disastrous.

 

What is God’s rest that we should be so fearful of missing it? The connection with Hebrews 3:19 surely tells us the thing we are to fear is unbelief: “They were not able to enter [God’s rest] because of unbelief” (v. 19). Therefore, fear that unbelief, because that’s what will keep you from entering God’s rest — God’s haven of salvation and God’s heaven. Fear unbelief. Fear not trusting God.

 

We’ll see this in more detail in the coming days as we explore these two verses further. However, note how the writer confirms this in the second verse. It begins with “for.” That means that he is giving a reason for what he has just written. It is a reason why they should fear. “Fear,” he says, “for indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also [had good news preached to them]; but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard.”

There it is… FAITH! So much can be saif about this simple word. In the New Testament, "pistis" (πίστις) primarily denotes a conviction or belief in the truth of something, often with the implication of trust and reliance. It is used to describe the faith that believers have in God and Jesus Christ, encompassing both intellectual assent and trustful commitment. "Pistis" is foundational to the Christian life, as it is through faith that believers are justified and live out their relationship with God. In the Greco-Roman world, "pistis" was commonly associated with trustworthiness and reliability, both in personal relationships and in the context of civic duties. In the Jewish context, faith was deeply rooted in the covenant relationship with God, emphasizing trust in His promises and faithfulness. The New Testament writers, particularly Paul, expanded on this concept to articulate the believer's relationship with God through Christ, emphasizing faith as a response to God's grace. It is so much more than our English use would indicate. It is not a hope-so, maybe-so word. It is settled and sure. It rises out of the unshakeable truth of the work of Jesus. So, don’t fear what the world might do. Fear what you might lose if you don’t simply trust Jesus!

 

Do Not Harden Your Hearts

Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened. For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said, “As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest,’” although his works were finished from the foundation of the world. For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.” And again in this passage he said, “They shall not enter my rest.” Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience, again he appoints a certain day, “Today,” saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.” (Hebrews 4:1-7 ESV).

 

In our previous devotionals we have seen the superiority of Jesus clearly presented. At the end of this part of the epistle the writer ends ended with the warning that it was unbelief that kept the people of Israel from entering into the promised land and the rest God had promised there (cf. Hebrews 3:19). The point we can draw from this is that we must care enough about each other that every day we get in each other’s lives and exhort each other not to let distrust in God creep in and destroy our lives. Certainly this is the meaning of Hebrews 3:12–13:

 

“Take care, brethren, lest there should be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart, in falling away from the living God. But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is called ‘Today,’ lest any one of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.”

 

So, one conclusion to draw from the warning of Hebrews 3:19 is that unbelief is such a constant and dangerous temptation that we must help each other fight it off. Persevering in faith to the end is a community project. This may be accomplished in smaller groups of like-minded believers. The “small group” or “home group” of our present practice can have a tremendous seriousness about them, if we believe what this says. They should meet and form relationships of mutual accountability and love because our faith depends on it. And our entering into God’s rest depends on our faith. No wonder the writer will later say:

 

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 ball the more as you see the Day drawing near. (Hebrews 10:4-25 EAV).

 

This is one of ways we help one another to stretch out to Jesus! That keeps us from hardening our hearts!

  

Consider Jesus

 

Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, who was faithful to him who appointed him, just as Moses also was faithful in all God’s house. For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses—as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. (For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.)  Now Moses was faithful in all God’s house was a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later, but Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son. And we are his house, if indeed we ahold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope. (Hebrews 3:1-6 ESV).

 

The verb κατανοέω (katanoeó), and translated here as “consider”, is used in the New Testament to denote a deep, attentive observation or consideration. It implies more than a casual glance, suggesting a thorough and careful examination or contemplation. This term is often used to encourage believers to pay close attention to spiritual truths or to the example set by others. In the Greco-Roman world, the act of careful observation and contemplation was highly valued, especially in philosophical and educational contexts. The use of κατανοέω in the New Testament reflects this cultural emphasis on thoughtful consideration, urging believers to engage their minds fully in understanding spiritual matters. This aligns with the Jewish tradition of meditation on the Scriptures, where deep reflection on God's word was seen as a path to wisdom and understanding.

 

This whole book of Hebrews is written to help us do just that. There is more to consider about Jesus than you could ever exhaust in this life. In chapter 1 the point was that Jesus is superior to angels. Jesus made and sustains the world (1:1–2, 10), but the angels run errands in it (1:14). In chapter 2 Jesus takes on human flesh and fulfills the hope of Psalm 8 for all his people (2:7–8): "You [O God] have made him for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned him with glory and honor, and have appointed him over the works of your hands; you have put all things in subjection under his feet."

 

And the point at every stage of this book is: Consider this Jesus! Ponder him. Fix your eyes on him. If your mind is like a compass moving through a world of magnets, making it spin this way and that, make Jesus the North Pole of your mental life that your mind comes back to again and again through the day.

 

Partners in the Heavenly Calling

 

Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, who was faithful to him who appointed him, just as Moses also was faithful in all God’s house. For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses—as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. (For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.)  Now Moses was faithful in all God’s house was a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later, but Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son. And we are his house, if indeed we ahold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope. (Hebrews 3:1-6 ESV).

 

Yesterday I called your attention to the two great needs we have: we need a word from God and a way to God. Christians are people who have heard and believed a heavenly calling, and are therefore partakers of it, sharing in it—"holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling." It is a heavenly calling because it comes from heaven—from God. In the Greco-Roman world, a "calling" could refer to a summons to a banquet or a legal summons. In the Jewish context, the concept of being "called" by God was deeply rooted in the Old Testament, where God called individuals like Abraham, Moses, and the prophets for specific purposes. The New Testament expands this idea to include all believers, emphasizing the universal call to salvation and holiness. And it is a heavenly calling because it invites us and leads us to heaven, and, of course to God.

 

This "heavenly calling" means it is a word from heaven, a word from God. And it's a calling, which means it is meant to show us the way home to God. Christians are people who have been gripped by this calling. The word of God broke through our resistance and took hold of us with the truth and love of Christ, and reconciled us to God and is now leading us home to heaven. This means that Christians are people of great hope. God has spoken from heaven, and made a way to heaven, and we have believed, and our hope and confidence are firm.

 

And the reason our hope and confidence are firm is not because of ourselves. In every gathering of believers there are sinners of every kind. No one has escaped the temptation of sin. The hope of a heavenly calling does not depend on our righteousness. If it did, we would be hopeless. Our hope and confidence is completely dependent on Jesus.

 

We often think that considering Jesus is something that unbelievers should do. "Consider Jesus," we say to the seeker and the perplexed. And that's right. But this book of Hebrews is devoted to helping Christians consider Jesus. "Holy brethren, . . . consider Jesus." Remember the warning back in chapter 2, "We must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it." The danger is constantly in our way that we will stop considering Jesus and become more interested in other things and drift away from the Word and perhaps never return and prove that we were never truly partakers of the heavenly calling. So, Hebrews calls Christians again and again to "Consider Jesus."

 

Jesus, Greater than Moses

 

Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, who was faithful to him who appointed him, just as Moses also was faithful in all God’s house. For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses—as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. (For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.)  Now Moses was faithful in all God’s house was a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later, but Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son. And we are his house, if indeed we ahold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope. (Hebrews 3:1-6 ESV).

 

Our reading today goes a bit further in the declaration of the superiority of Jesus. The writer explains why Jesus is the ultimate example to follow, and not Moses. Jesus is superior. At first glance this is a simple declaration to accept. Remember the writer’s audience though. There was never a greater leader, or deliverer, for the Jews than Moses. However, the writer of this epistle calls his audience to dismiss the idea that Moses was either as good or better than Jesus. It is also a call to trust in Jesus and to give him the confidence, trust, and willingness to follow that only He deserves.

 

We need two things in life: we need to hear from God and we need to go to God. We need a word from God and we need a way to God. We need to hear from God so that we know what he is like and what his purposes are for the world and what he requires of us. And we need a way to God because to be cut off from God in death would be darkness and misery and torment forever. So, we have these two great needs: to hear from God and to go to God. We need revelation from him and reconciliation with him. As great a deliverer that Moses was, he failed at meeting these two basic needs. Jesus is the only One who can meet those two needs.

 

In the coming days we will look at this declaration from the writer in more depth. However, today begin to think how easily we “drift” to others to be our God. Politicians, preachers, powerful men and women in our lives will all fail in providing us with the basic need to hear God and be with Him. Only Jesus is sufficient. Others may be helpful in getting to Jesus, but they are not the answer. Jesus is the answer!

 

Who Is Man?

 

For it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking. It has been testified somewhere, “What is man, that you are mindful of him, or the son of man, that you care for him? You made him for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned him with glory and honor, putting everything in subjection under his feet.” Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him. But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. (Hebrews 2:5-9 ESV).

 

It seems unnecessary to ask the question of who is really in charge of creation; however, the writer of Hebrews is facing a world that simply doesn’t understand the subtlety of accepting that anything, or anyone, other that Jesus is God and thus “in charge.” Before you roll your eyes at this thought, think of how many times you may have unintentionally given authority to something or someone other than Jesus. This surrender of authority can be as ignominious as believing in karma or chance. There can be no room for happenstance when we realize that Jesus is completely over all there is and all that takes place in His creation. He is sovereign over all that has been or will be.

 

When we think of this truth, we must question our beliefs like the psalmist when he wrote the following:

 

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas. (Psalm 8:3-8 ESV).

 

What is man that you remember him? Or the son of man, that you are concerned about him? You have made him a little lower than the angels… All this refers to the seeming insignificance ("What is man?"), and at the same time the amazing majesty, of a Man ("You have made him a little less, or for a while less, than angels"). David in this psalm is celebrating the majesty of God by calling attention to the fact that man, who is created in God's image, is appointed to be the ruler over his creation—"You have put all things in subjection under his feet" (v. 8). However, God is also exalting the incredible miracle of the Incarnation. When God became flesh in Jesus, it was the ultimate completion of a critical phase of the redemption of creation itself. God redeems all in Him. Angels can’t do that. Saints can’t do that. No created thing can do that! Therefore, we must not neglect such a great salvation as has been provided in Him. We cannot give authority that only belongs to Jesus to anyone or anything else.

 

Now, think about that. Where is your hope? Where is your trust placed for the righting of this world’s fallen state?

 

The Great Banquet

 

For it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking. It has been testified somewhere, “What is man, that you are mindful of him, or the son of man, that you care for him? You made him for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned him with glory and honor, putting everything in subjection under his feet.” Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him. But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. (Hebrews 2:5-9 ESV).

 

What is the answer to that question which makes our salvation so great we would be utter fools to neglect it for mere power plays in this life, or mere possessions, or mere family? Jesus told a parable one time about God's great salvation and how people neglected it (Luke 14:16–20):

 

[Jesus said] A certain man was giving a big dinner, and he invited many; and at the dinner hour he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, "Come; for everything is ready now." But they all alike began to make excuses. The first one said to him, "I have bought a piece of land and I need to go out and look at it; please consider me excused." And another one said, "I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out; please consider me excused." And another one said, "I have married a wife, and for that reason I cannot come."

 

This is the classic picture from Jesus of what it means to "neglect so great a salvation." And notice they are all good things: a piece of land, a yoke of oxen, a wife. And for that, salvation is neglected and lost.

 

Now in our reading the writer is helping us not to do that. He is laboring with the means appointed by God to save us—namely, with words. He is saying, Don't neglect this great salvation. Don't neglect what Christ has purchased for you and what is coming to you in the world to come. For in the world to come it is not to angels that God subjected all things. It is a word of caution we should hear clearly, especially in our day.

 

Ruined and Restored

 

For it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking. It has been testified somewhere, “What is man, that you are mindful of him, or the son of man, that you care for him? You made him for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned him with glory and honor, putting everything in subjection under his feet.” Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him. But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. (Hebrews 2:5-9 ESV).

 

Our focus this morning is on verses 5–9. Notice that this passage begins with the word "for." "For" or "because" means that he is giving a basis or defense of what he just said: "For He [God] did not subject to angels the world to come." What he had just said was that our salvation is so great and so well attested that it is dangerous to neglect it and drift into indifference. The clear reason for this is that "… God did not subject to angels the world to come concerning which we are speaking."

 

We might be tempted to shrug our shoulders in confusion at this statement. It is a bit obtuse on its face value. However, that would be a great mistake. Keep in mind here that when Hebrews 2:3 speaks of a "great salvation," it is referring not only to all that Christ did by his death and resurrection to purify us from our sins (cf. Hebrews 1:3), but also to all the effects of that in the age to come. We know this because in Hebrews 1:14b the writer says that we "will inherit salvation." In other words, we experience part of it now in the purification of our sins and reconciliation with God, but there is so much more that we are yet to inherit. And that is what our reading begins to explain. He shows us this great truth of how Jesus took the creation from ruin to restoration!

 

So, when the writer speaks of "the world to come," he means the world of our final salvation—the time and the place and the relationships of glory and perfection after Jesus comes a second time and establishes his everlasting kingdom of righteousness and joy. Let me paraphrase it like this: don't neglect your coming great salvation, because in the coming world it is not angels who will have everything in subjection to them—it is not angels who will rule, but Jesus. We’ll look more into this in the coming days. Today, recognize the greatness of Jesus. He is not a good teacher, though His teaching is great; He is not a good healer, though His healing is miraculously great; He is not a good deliverer, though He is the final and great Deliverer, ruler of all things, who will take us to where He is that we might be in His perfect presence for eternity, safe from all harm and victorious over death itself! That’s the restoration He has accomplished! That’s why He “tasted death for all men”!

 

Do Not Neglect So Great a Salvation

 

Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will. (Hebrews 2:1-4).

 

The writer now comes to this reflective question: How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?” (v. 3). To neglect something is to overlook it, to take it lightly, certainly not to devote yourself steadfastly to it. I am often asked why I drive such a long distance to church (it is located 45 miles from our house). There are some personal reasons for the drive, although the principal reason is the clarity of the Gospel that permeates everything we do there. The name of our church is Gospel City Church. The “gospel” is so much more than a part of the name.

 

I am not so naïve that I believe everyone who attends is a believer; however, I do know that everyone who comes and listens to the music and the message will hear the truth of God’s salvation. Our ministries are all focused on providing a means whereby anyone who takes part can immerse themselves in the gospel. However, even if everyone attended every meeting and participated in every ministry, that still leaves a great majority of time to drift away into neglect. That must be avoided. If you neglect this salvation and treat it lightly, it could be a symptom of the rejection of God’s grace. After all, this salvation is unprecedented. It deserves our diligence and our energetic pursuit of it, certainly not neglect.

 

I think the author of Hebrews has in mind what happened in the Old Testament, where the people had their greatest moment of salvation in the exodus. They were prisoners. They were slaves. Pharaoh would not give them any straw for their bricks, and they were brutally beaten and virtually imprisoned by Pharaoh. They cried, they groaned, they prayed. God heard the groans of His people, sent Moses to Pharaoh, and said, “Let My people go.” The horse and the rider were thrown into the sea. The multitudes of people fleeing from captivity came out. They got to Migdal, and in front of them was the sea and behind them were the chariots of Egypt. Their route seemed to be hopeless—there was no escape. But then, a mighty wind blew and dried up the Red Sea. Israel escaped, but the chariots of Pharaoh did not. That was a great salvation.

 

No sooner were the Israelites rescued from this tyranny than they started complaining about the manna that God provided for them: “Oh, I wish we were back in Egypt. Yes, we might have been slaves, but we had our leeks, onions, and garlic to eat.” They would trade their freedom for the very thing they begged to be rescued from. Is this something of what your actions look like? Do you find yourself wanting the old life, turning back to old habits and sinful practices? It is not too late to voice your repentance and return to the way God has for you!

 

Salvation (σωτηρίας)

 

Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will. (Hebrews 2:1-4).

 

The word used in our reading today translated “salvation” (v. 3) comes from the Greek word σωτηρίας (pronounced “sōterias”). We use that word all the time in the Church. However, I wonder if we understand the full meaning of this word. The idea of salvation suggests the idea of some kind of escape or deliverance from a dire circumstance.

 

The verb (sōzō) in the New Testament is used in a variety of ways. If you are saved from a threatening illness, as people were in the New Testament by the touch of Jesus, Jesus might comment, “Your faith has saved you” (cf. Luke 7:50). He is not speaking about eternal salvation, but He is speaking about their rescue from the dreadful disease. In the Old Testament, the people of Israel went into battle, and God intervened on their behalf and saved His people from military defeat. That was rescue from a clear and present danger. So, this verb “to save” is used all kinds of times in all kinds of ways. The Greek verb uses virtually every tense: you saved, you were being saved, you have been saved, you are saved, you are being saved, and you will be saved. Salvation takes all these different tenses of the verb.

 

There is salvation in the general sense that has manifold applications, but when the Bible speaks about salvation in the ultimate sense, it speaks of the ultimate escape from the ultimate dire human condition. It means, as the Scriptures tell us, to be rescued from the wrath that is to come.

 

As I have driven some of the highways through multiple states, I get a bit miffed when I see a sign that says, “God is not angry.” That message, given to every motorist as they travel up and down the road is a very dangerous heresy. If God is not angry—if God has no wrath and there is no wrath to come—then that is the gospel’s ultimate great news. Nobody needs to worry about anything, at least not about the anger of God if the sign is true, because it tells us that God is not angry. Not only is that not true but it is a vicious lie to say that God is not angry. God’s wrath, as we are told in Romans, is revealed to the whole world. But we are at ease in our culture. We are not afraid of His wrath because we have been told repeatedly that God is not mad, that God is not angry, that we do not need to worry about God, that God will save everybody, that all you need to do to get into heaven is to die.

 

The truth is that for nonbelievers, all a person needs to do to get into hell is to die. I wish that everybody who died went to heaven, but the Bible makes it abundantly clear that is not the case, and there awaits a judgment. The greatest calamity that anybody can ever imagine is to be sentenced to hell. However, the great good news is that our soterias has been won! Jesus has come and paid our debt; He has died in our place! Do not neglect this great gift of God!

 

 

There Is No Escape without Jesus

 

Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will. (Hebrews 2:1-4).

 

The central theme of this chapter, or at least this portion of the chapter, is the theme of escape. When you think of escape, you think of some kind of deliverance from a dire and life-threatening situation, like escaping from a kidnapper, or soldiers being surrounded in battle and finding a way to retreat safely. That is an escape. But the most common idea with which we associate the idea of escape is imprisonment; not just from jail, but from those prisons that are the most notoriously inescapable, such as the former condition of Alcatraz, Devil’s Island, or the most dreadful of all French prisons, the Château d’If. The last of those mentioned was simply impossible to escape.

 

As dire and dreadful as the circumstances were in the Château d’If, there is an even greater and more dreadful captivity than any human being can imagine. The author of Hebrews speaks of an escape from that captivity. He asks the question, “How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?” The answer to the question is simple. “How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?” The answer is, we cannot. Maybe one could escape from Alcatraz, or Devil’s Island, or even the Château d’If, but the one prison from which no one ever escapes is hell. There is no escape route. You cannot dig under it. You cannot climb over it. No guard can be bribed. The sentence cannot be commuted.

 

So, the author of Hebrews is saying: “Do you realize what you’ve heard? We have heard from the Word of God Himself about a great salvation.” The impact should be sobering indeed. Yet so many have shrugged away this great danger. Having preached for over half a century I am still amazed at how little regard some have for the reality a eternity without Jesus. And, there is no need to be without Him. He has done everything necessary to pay the debt we can never pay and died the death we all deserve. Trust Him today!

 

The Danger of Drifting

 

Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will. (Hebrews 2:1-4).

 

After the writer details the excellence of Jesus over the angels, he begins with some exhortation to perseverance. We find this in what we have come to recognize as the second chapter of this epistle. I’m always a bit surprised that “chapters” have become so important in our exposition of the Scripture. They were certainly not present in the original writings. I suppose they are helpful in directing people to specific areas of the Bible. So, without going further in that discussion, note how this division of the letter begins with the word “therefore.” The word “therefore” indicates the conclusion of an argument based upon the propositions stated beforehand. What he has written in the previous section leads to this conclusion of the dangers of neglecting “so great a salvation” by “drifting away.”

 

Let me just pause for a second. The author of Hebrews is getting at the perfect marriage between doctrine and practice. If we believe what he has declared in the first chapter, then that has radical implications for how we live our lives. He begins to show that when he says, “Therefore, we must pay much closer attention.” There is tension in these words because it is not certain grammatically whether the author is using a comparative or a superlative. The author sort of crunches them both together when he speaks of a “much closer attention.” I would prefer that he would simply say that we therefore must pay “the most possible attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.”

 

Think of that image of drifting. Some people go fishing in boats and do not set the anchor down; they allow the boat to move with the current. They just drift. Where they end up can be somewhat problematic. Scripture uses this kind of figurative language elsewhere when it talks about an “anchor for our soul,” which is the hope we have in Christ. In our text, the author is negatively saying, “Don’t allow yourselves to drift aimlessly away from what you’ve heard here.”

 

The author is speaking about the marvelous comparison he has given about the superiority of Jesus over the angels and over all created things: “Do not drift away from what you have heard, but pay the closest possible attention to it … the message declared by angels proved to be reliable”—this is a reference to the Old Testament idea hinted at in Deuteronomy 33 regarding the law being mediated by the angels. When Moses received the law from God, there were myriads of angels present on that occasion. So, the author of Hebrews says that if the law that came from the angels was ignored by people in the Old Testament and they received a just retribution, how much more responsible are we to that which has come to us from Christ, who is superior to the angels?

 

Do you see this great responsibility? Of course, it is a great privilege we have received in the gift of grace; however, with that privilege comes great responsibility. How are you responding to this gift? Is it just a part of you life when you find yourself in trouble: or, is it the compass of your life? We must be intentional in our determination to walk in this great grace Jesus has won on our behalf! Don’t just drift along!

 

 

Jesus, Sitting at the Rught Hand of God

 

And, “You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands; they will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment, like a robe you will roll them up, like a garment they will be changed. But you are the same, and your years will have no end.” And to which of the angels has he ever said, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”? Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation? (Hebrews 1:10-14 ESV).

 

Jesus is superior to the angels because He sits at God’s right hand, whereas they are sent out to serve the saints (vv. 13-14). This section introduces the seventh quote with a rhetorical question: “But to which of the angels has He ever said, ‘Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet’?” The implied answer is, None! The quote comes from Psalm 110:1, which is cited in the New Testament more often than any other Old Testament verse (14 times). Jesus used these verses to stump the Pharisees. He asked them, “Whose son is the Messiah?” They correctly answered, “The son of David.” Then Jesus asked, “Then how does David in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord,’” and quoted this verse. His clinching question was, “If David then calls Him ‘Lord,’ how is He his son?” (Matthew 22:42-45).

 

As we saw in verse 3, Jesus’ exaltation to the right hand of the Majesty on high affirms His supreme authority and lordship. No created being could occupy that place. In the Bible, when men encountered angels, they often fell before them in fear and obeisance, but invariably the angel did not accept such worship, claiming, “I am a fellow servant… worship God” (Rev. 19:10). But even when He was on this earth with His glory veiled, Jesus accepted and encouraged those who fell before Him in worship (Luke 5:8-10; John 9:35-39; 20:26-29). How much more should we worship Him who now sits on the throne of God! How blasphemous it is of the Jehovah’s Witnesses to say that Jesus is a created being, an angel! As verse 14 states, the angels are “ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation.” To mistake Jesus for an angel is to mix up the Lord with His servants!

 

The descriptions of angels in the Bible show that they are impressive beings. In Genesis, two angels rescued Lot and his family from Sodom and then called down fire and brimstone from heaven on the wicked cities. On another occasion, an angel struck down 70,000 in Israel on account of David’s sin (cf. 2 Samuel 24:15-17). One angel went out into the camp of Sennacherib’s army and struck down 185,000 soldiers in a night (cf. Isaiah 37:36). An angel shut the lions’ mouths so that Daniel was kept safe, and an angel revealed to Daniel the amazing prophecies of things to come. When Daniel saw the angel, it wiped out his strength and took his breath away (cf. Daniel 6:22; 9:20-27; 10:17). An angel delivered Peter from prison and then struck the proud Herod Agrippa, so that he was eaten by worms and died (cf. Acts 12:3-23).

 

The Bible teaches that angels guard believers (cf. 2 Kings 6:15-18; Palm 91:11-12; Matthew 18:10). They are always present in our church services (1 Corinthians 11:10).  And yet, as great and powerful as angels are, they are just servants who stand before Him who sits at the right hand of the Majesty on high! Worship Him alone, because He is Almighty God!

 

Jesus, the Eternal Creator of Heaven and Earth

 

And, “You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands; they will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment, like a robe you will roll them up, like a garment they will be changed. But you are the same, and your years will have no end.” (Hebrews 1:10-12 ESV).

 

The next declaration of Jesus’ superiority is found in our reading today (vv. 10-12). Jesus is superior to the angels because He is the eternal Creator of heaven and earth. This sixth quotation is taken from Psalm 102:25-27, which begins, “A prayer of the afflicted when he is faint and pours out his complaint before the Lord.” The psalmist has gone through some difficult trials, which he describes in strong poetic language in the first part of the psalm. He feels as if he is about to be taken away in the mid-life. But in his weakness and desperation, he considers the eternality, power, and unchangeableness of the Lord as Creator. He says that even though heaven and earth will perish, God remains. Like a man throws away old clothes, God will throw away the universe, but He remains the same, and His years will never come to an end.

 

The remarkable thing about the quote is that in the psalm, these verses clearly describe Almighty God, and yet the author of Hebrews applies them directly to Jesus. Oscar Cullman observed, “We should generally give much more consideration to the by no means self-evident fact that after the death of Jesus the first Christians without hesitation transferred to him what the Old Testament says about God” (in P. Hughes, p. 68).

 

To this Jewish church, these words were not just a theological statement about Jesus’ superiority to the angels. They were also meant to be a source of great comfort during trials. The same eternal Creator who sustained the psalmist during his calamity would sustain them in the midst of their troubles. And that eternal Creator is none other than their Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (cf. Hebrews 13:8). Even if you are taken away, you have a lasting refuge in the eternal, unchanging Lord Jesus Christ. Death has no hold over the children of God. It is forever defeated!

 

Jesus, Who Reigns Eternally

 

After making purification for sins, he [Jesus] sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs. For to which of the angels did God ever say, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you”? And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, “Let all God’s angels worship him.” Of the angels he says, “He makes his angels winds, and his ministers a flame of fire. But of the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.” (Hebrews 1:4-8 ESV).

 

Jesus is superior to the angels because He is the God who reigns eternally (vv. 8-9). You should notice the contrast between the angels (vv. 6-7) and the Son (v. 8). Here the author quotes Psalm 45:6-7. This psalm celebrated a royal wedding, perhaps of King Solomon or one of David’s other descendants, addressing the king as God. This is not the only place in the Old Testament to use such hyperbolic language (cf. Isaiah 9:6; Jeremiah 23:5-6). Some would translate it as, “God is your throne,” but other than theological bias, there is no reason to do so. If someone objects to the Son being addressed as God in verse 8, they still have to contend with verse 10, where He is addressed as the Lord and Creator.

 

The author’s clear point is that, as God, Jesus reigns forever and ever. His rule is marked by the love of righteousness and the hatred of lawlessness. These qualities marked Jesus’ earthly life and ministry, and they will supremely mark His coming kingdom, when He rules the nations with “a rod of iron” (Revelation 19:15). The oil of gladness refers to His triumph over sin and death and His return to His rightful glory. The “companions” may refer to angels, but more likely refers to the “many sons” that He brings to glory through His suffering and resurrection (2:10, 11). Note also that righteousness and joy always go together. In God’s holy presence are fullness of joy and pleasures forever (Ps. 16:11).

 

Thus Jesus is superior to the angels because He is uniquely the Son of God; because they worship and serve Him; and, because He is the God who reigns eternally. He is the only One to be trusted with forever! Knowing that makes it much simpler to trust Him with now!