Commentary on Hebrews 3:1
1 Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess. Heb 4:14; Heb 6:20; Heb 8:1; Heb 9:11;
You have to look at scripture in context. Hebrews is a long continuing argument with two points; the superiority of Jesus Christ, and the need to remain faithful to the calling upon us, which is our life in Christ and continued growth in relationship to him.
Hebrews 3:1 opens with therefore, so it necessary that you have paid attention to what was previously said. Chapter two focuses on Christ's position. He is higher than the Angels, but you need to ask why? He has everything put under his feet, but again you need understand that He was the creator of those things; why then does the earth and angels have to be put under his feet again? He brought many sons (that would be us) to glory, and now sits at God's right hand as our mediator. It was his total assimilation as a human being that made him the perfect author of our salvation. As the perfect sacrifice He destroyed the the devil, the one who holds (or is that held) the power of death. We still die, that is inevitable as long as we are in these bodies, but why would the destruction of the one who holds the power over death be important, because there is fear in death. Again there is a purpose, for in doing this he is in the act of freeing those (this is the church) who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. Try to ponder that statement! Obviously this is not everybody or is it? You can put on a good front, act tough, and make statements like it is all good, but in truth it is not.
As I said, it is a continuous, building argument, with Christ as beaming light that guides our way. The writer is trying to build an unshakable foundation for your faith by painting the picture of who he is and why he has the authority he had. Jesus, as John put it, was with God and is God, creating all things by His word. That would seem to be the end of all questions, but we see Jesus, coming to earth, taking upon himself the broken form of humanity, and rising to the top position of authority once again. Why? Because we were broken too, and this was the only way for God to regain His relationship with us again. There is nothing here but a solid, victorious foundation, meant to give you a faith that will carry you through this life.
If any scripture is to carry you through life then you have to see it as something that is tangible, something that you can hang your hat on. Verse one gives you one of those anchors that will help move you forward.
Therefore, "holy brothers, ... fix your thoughts on Jesus" Easier said than done, only because we have so many other distractions. Enoch walked with God; have you ever wondered what that meant? The Hebrew word for walked carries the meaning to be continually conversant. That works out relatively well when you are a sheep farmer, but what about me in my office environment. I, Ozzie, happen to work at Home Depot, and I get a little tense at times, because more times than not I do not get 30 seconds to have a thought of my own. It feels like my every attention is spent on customers and their questions.
The psychological world would not want you living in the past, but what if the past was the best place. I had one of those times and places. I remember what it took to get there, and to be honest the only thing that I can see that keeps me from getting to that place again is my lack of dedication. What transpired back then was a gradual intimacy with the Father to the point that I found myself talking with Him constantly. I chose to believe the He was speaking to me. (Read Proverbs and you will see that He/wisdom cries out constantly) The impact of God speaking, mixed with faith, transformed me. (Although it feels like that had all gone away, in truth it is only masked by my inability to push through the distractions. - Scripture tells us that God does not take away those gifts, nor is he sorry he gave them to you). I allowed the cares of this world to beat that out of me. (This is another subject that is touched upon as you weave through the letter to the Hebrews.)
When I talk about a transformation I am speaking about a shedding of fear. My faith began to rise as I trusted his voice. Fear was quickly becoming a thing that was foreign to me, my faith in His ability to heal was becoming very dominant, and although I was aware that God had spoken into my life about the prophetic ministry, it was during this time that I began to see it blossom.
I had so much to learn back then. I got involved in the "faith movement"; that is a horrible way to look at it because faith is who God is, but to be honest my training, in my opinion now, taught me to be rude and mean spirited. Thank God that with age comes a little wisdom. Big sticks used upon people do not necessarily change their minds, that is one the points that Jesus was trying to make when he corrected James and John for their desire to call down fire upon a certain town because it rejected Christ. Our mission in this world is to love people and bring them the good news. Good news can mean different things depending upon the receiver, but the basis for any of this is Christ is the redeemer.
When you fix your thoughts upon Jesus, you will be transformed, and your life will become filled. Stay in that place and the filling will be constant, for you cannot stop talking about that thing which you are completely sold on. As you give out He will give you more. There is no law like gravity that makes it so, but the word of the one who created gravity said it would be like this. The word says that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. As one man once said in response to an apology from a man that cursing, "at least now we know what is in you, in abundance!" That does not help the man, but realizing that you need to change is the first step toward making a change.
Be filled with the Holy Ghost, Jesus commanded. Do you realize how much he wants for us to walk in freedom. Seek first his kingdom and all these things will be added, probably because only then will you have a grasp, like Moses, how to handle the things that are addded. (Clue: Moses fell on his face to God most every time things started getting out of control - Hebrews touches on this too.)
1 Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess. Heb 4:14; Heb 6:20; Heb 8:1; Heb 9:11;
You have to look at scripture in context. Hebrews is a long continuing argument with two points; the superiority of Jesus Christ, and the need to remain faithful to the calling upon us, which is our life in Christ and continued growth in relationship to him.
Hebrews 3:1 opens with therefore, so it necessary that you have paid attention to what was previously said. Chapter two focuses on Christ's position. He is higher than the Angels, but you need to ask why? He has everything put under his feet, but again you need understand that He was the creator of those things; why then does the earth and angels have to be put under his feet again? He brought many sons (that would be us) to glory, and now sits at God's right hand as our mediator. It was his total assimilation as a human being that made him the perfect author of our salvation. As the perfect sacrifice He destroyed the the devil, the one who holds (or is that held) the power of death. We still die, that is inevitable as long as we are in these bodies, but why would the destruction of the one who holds the power over death be important, because there is fear in death. Again there is a purpose, for in doing this he is in the act of freeing those (this is the church) who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. Try to ponder that statement! Obviously this is not everybody or is it? You can put on a good front, act tough, and make statements like it is all good, but in truth it is not.
As I said, it is a continuous, building argument, with Christ as beaming light that guides our way. The writer is trying to build an unshakable foundation for your faith by painting the picture of who he is and why he has the authority he had. Jesus, as John put it, was with God and is God, creating all things by His word. That would seem to be the end of all questions, but we see Jesus, coming to earth, taking upon himself the broken form of humanity, and rising to the top position of authority once again. Why? Because we were broken too, and this was the only way for God to regain His relationship with us again. There is nothing here but a solid, victorious foundation, meant to give you a faith that will carry you through this life.
If any scripture is to carry you through life then you have to see it as something that is tangible, something that you can hang your hat on. Verse one gives you one of those anchors that will help move you forward.
Therefore, "holy brothers, ... fix your thoughts on Jesus" Easier said than done, only because we have so many other distractions. Enoch walked with God; have you ever wondered what that meant? The Hebrew word for walked carries the meaning to be continually conversant. That works out relatively well when you are a sheep farmer, but what about me in my office environment. I, Ozzie, happen to work at Home Depot, and I get a little tense at times, because more times than not I do not get 30 seconds to have a thought of my own. It feels like my every attention is spent on customers and their questions.
The psychological world would not want you living in the past, but what if the past was the best place. I had one of those times and places. I remember what it took to get there, and to be honest the only thing that I can see that keeps me from getting to that place again is my lack of dedication. What transpired back then was a gradual intimacy with the Father to the point that I found myself talking with Him constantly. I chose to believe the He was speaking to me. (Read Proverbs and you will see that He/wisdom cries out constantly) The impact of God speaking, mixed with faith, transformed me. (Although it feels like that had all gone away, in truth it is only masked by my inability to push through the distractions. - Scripture tells us that God does not take away those gifts, nor is he sorry he gave them to you). I allowed the cares of this world to beat that out of me. (This is another subject that is touched upon as you weave through the letter to the Hebrews.)
When I talk about a transformation I am speaking about a shedding of fear. My faith began to rise as I trusted his voice. Fear was quickly becoming a thing that was foreign to me, my faith in His ability to heal was becoming very dominant, and although I was aware that God had spoken into my life about the prophetic ministry, it was during this time that I began to see it blossom.
I had so much to learn back then. I got involved in the "faith movement"; that is a horrible way to look at it because faith is who God is, but to be honest my training, in my opinion now, taught me to be rude and mean spirited. Thank God that with age comes a little wisdom. Big sticks used upon people do not necessarily change their minds, that is one the points that Jesus was trying to make when he corrected James and John for their desire to call down fire upon a certain town because it rejected Christ. Our mission in this world is to love people and bring them the good news. Good news can mean different things depending upon the receiver, but the basis for any of this is Christ is the redeemer.
When you fix your thoughts upon Jesus, you will be transformed, and your life will become filled. Stay in that place and the filling will be constant, for you cannot stop talking about that thing which you are completely sold on. As you give out He will give you more. There is no law like gravity that makes it so, but the word of the one who created gravity said it would be like this. The word says that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. As one man once said in response to an apology from a man that cursing, "at least now we know what is in you, in abundance!" That does not help the man, but realizing that you need to change is the first step toward making a change.
Be filled with the Holy Ghost, Jesus commanded. Do you realize how much he wants for us to walk in freedom. Seek first his kingdom and all these things will be added, probably because only then will you have a grasp, like Moses, how to handle the things that are addded. (Clue: Moses fell on his face to God most every time things started getting out of control - Hebrews touches on this too.)
No comments:
Post a Comment
Feel free to make a relevant comment. If approved, it will be posted.