The choice of life
4/17/2022, Hebrews 3:1-19; BCBC/IOUC; Rev. Paul Wang
Introduction
To understand Hebrews, one must have an Old Testament background. In the eyes of the elect, Moses can be said to be their highest example in the world. Paul challenges the Jews here, So what is your choice before Moses and Christ? Let’s look at the first point:
Far superior to Moses
With Christ being far superior to Moses, New Testament believers today should have no problem, right? But for Christians of Jewish background two thousand years ago, it may have been a difficult choice. First, the preconceived Moses. As God’s chosen people, perhaps the most impressive thing in history is that Moses led them out of Egypt and out of the 430-year slavery of the Israelites by the Egyptian Pharaoh. A national memory will have an indelible impact on individuals and the entire population. So for the Jews, from now on, no one in the world can compare with Moses. When Jewish Christians face their faith, Moses in the collective historical memory will compete with Christ for authority and glory in the lives of believers! All kinds of patriotism, nationalism, etc. that remain in our memory today will also be used by Satan to rob Christ’s glory!
Second, Moses was created by Christ. Moses lived three “forty years”, and the final judgment of Moses can be described as being faithful to God. Not only was he faithful himself, but the Bible’s evaluation of him was that the whole family was faithful! God trained Moses for eighty years before using him. In eighty years, God wiped away all kinds of hostility in Moses. He often knelt before God, asking forgiveness and grace for the Israelites! In the memory of the Israelites, Moses was almost a role model, almost perfect. But here Paul emphasizes that Christ is the one who created Moses and, therefore, deserves greater honor. All things were created by God through Christ, let alone Moses?
Finally, Moses aimed for Christ. Moses’ life was wonderful, and his tortuous life brought good memories to the Israelites. I believe that every time God’s chosen people think about it, they are intoxicated by it. Moses, a king, a prophet, and a priest, led God’s people through ten plagues, crossed the Red Sea, went up to Sinai, walked into the wilderness, and finally did not even enter Canaan. Paul said: “Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s house,” bearing witness to what would be spoken by God in the future. (Hebrews 3:5)” The things that will be told in the future, of course, refer to things about Christ. Because Moses’ life is a type of Christ, showing the world God’s love for the world, God’s way, truth, and life to save the world! The point is that Moses is the grace of God and Christ is the Lord of grace. Excuse me, what is our choice? Let’s look at the second point:
Covenant over ancestors
Covenant, of course, refers to the covenant God made with man, including the old covenant and the new covenant. The ancestors refer to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the Israelites in the wilderness. There is still a choice between the two. First, shameful ancestors. With the unfolding of the New Testament church, God’s revelation gradually became clear. In the past, boasting because of the ancestors has become inappropriate. Paul even tells history from the perspective of a person who was there, saying: “Where your ancestors tested and tried me, though for forty years they saw what I did. (Hebrews 3:9)” Moses went up the mountain to get the tablet of the Ten Commandments, and the Israelites cast a golden calf at the bottom of the mountain, which provoked God’s anger and caused Moses to break the tablet! God opened a big crack in the ground, sinking more than 20,000 people! Twelve spies went in, but only two came back to tell the truth. Complaining to God, bitter people, no joy, and no peace, God caused the first generation of people who came out of Egypt, except Joshua and Caleb, to die on the road in the wilderness.
Second, no qualifications to boast about. The pride in the heart of the generation of Israelites who came out of Egypt caused God to be “angry with the people of that generation”! Over and over again, provoking the wrath of God, God even said, “So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’ ” (Hebrews 3:11) They know that they have been sent to all parts of the world by God for not keeping God’s laws, and they also feel remorse in their hearts and are willing to change. By the time Jesus Christ came, Jewish life had not fundamentally changed. Once they hit a life-changing bottom line, they backed off. The Pharisees are a typical representative. As long as they keep the law on the outside, they can gain respect from people! Jesus Christ denounced them as hypocrites with nothing to boast about!
Finally, seize the opportunity to repent. Paul said, “ See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. (Hebrews 3:12)” This is also my worry. Don’t come to the day of judgment, God will say to us: I don’t know you! What is even more tragic is that even though one is not saved, he is still self-righteous! Jesus Christ often asked his disciples, “Do you still not understand?” Have you ever wondered why you still don’t understand? You have listened to sermons for many years, and you have talked with the pastor alone countless times. Why do you still not understand? The answer given by Paul is already very clear, which is “hardened by sin’s deceitfulness!” Try it, stop sinning, and your mind, reason, emotion, and spirituality will wake up! Let’s look at the third point:
Only justification by faith
Faith is actually very simple, faith is indeed not easy! The doctrine of justification by faith is not difficult, but living it out is not so simple! Have you thought about the reason? Where is the difficulty? First of all, a life of persistence. Since the ancestors sinned, human beings have lost the ability to last! Why? Because persistence points in the direction of eternity, and because of sin, man has encountered obstacles in the direction of eternity. Therefore, people’s life habits today are often short-lived. The world chooses to pursue temporary excitement, reckless consequences, and even become fashion! Cao Cao’s son, Cao Pi, and Cao Zhi’s brotherhood have not yet warmed up, and they are in a frenzy. Russia and Ukraine belong to the Eastern Slavs, but because of fear and anxiety about NATO in their hearts, they can’t wait to open fire on the brother state!
Second, an obedient and humble life. Have you ever thought about what God cares about us most? Is it our sheep and cattle? Or is it our tithing, love offering, hard serving, hard work? What God wants from us is our obedience to Him. Why is obedience so difficult? This is closely connected with the spirit of Satan! Satan’s disobedience is because he feels that he can “want to compare himself with the Lord of Heaven”! It looks , and it feels beautiful! Thinking about it over, is it more beautiful than the God who made it? Man’s sin has inherited Satan’s pride, so it is hard to be humble! Once a person loses humility, it becomes even more difficult to obey! Agree? On the surface, one confessed his sins, but he was still stubborn and rebellious in his heart, which is a clear proof!
Finally, hold on to a life of faith. What is faith? Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. Of course, religion without reason is superstition, and reason without faith is philosophy! The essence of faith is an eternal trust in the Creator and an unchanging relationship of mutual love with God. In the future judgment, this is the basis and evidence! Without faith, man cannot please God! Paul concluded by saying: “So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief. (Hebrews 3:19)”
Conclusion
Dear brothers and sisters, do you believe it? What is your life choice? Moses or Christ? Ancestors or a covenant with God? Or true faith? The Lord is near! The signs of doomsday are becoming more and more obvious today. After the plague and war, the next thing is famine! In fact, the famine has already come, right? A city of twenty-five million people has already foreshadowed a global famine, haven’t you seen it? Excuse me, what is your life choice? What is life after the choice?
Let us pray……
Hebrews 3:1-19
1 Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, whom we acknowledge as our apostle and high priest. 2 He was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God’s house. 3 Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself. 4 For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything. 5 “Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s house,” bearing witness to what would be spoken by God in the future. 6 But Christ is faithful as the Son over God’s house. And we are his house, if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory. 7 So, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear his voice, 8 do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the wilderness, 9 where your ancestors tested and tried me, though for forty years they saw what I did. 10 That is why I was angry with that generation; I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways.’ 11 So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’ ” 12 See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. 13 But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. 14 We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end. 15 As has just been said: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.” 16 Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? 17 And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies perished in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? 19 So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.