Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Marsha's Musings: This Is So Rich I Couldn't Come Up With A Title! (Hebrews 13:20-25 NKJV)

Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. And I appeal to you, brethren, bear with the word of exhortation, for I have written to you in few words. Know that our brother Timothy has been set free, with whom I shall see you if he comes shortly. Greet all those who rule over you, and all the saints. Those from Italy greet you. Grace be with you all. Amen. (Hebrews 13:20-25 NKJV)

It's amazing that I have finished the book of Hebrews!  Wow.  The author is giving his final salutations at the end of his letter.

I will focus on the beginning part of this sections of verses.  Here are some observations:

1. God is the God of peace.
    He brings peace to the soul.  Think about other religions.  Roman Catholisism, Mormonism, Islam, Buddism, Hinduism and the list goes on and on.  What do they offer in the way of peace with God?  Is it a works based doctrine where a person must meet certain obligations before they are truly accpeted before God  or is the religion based solely on the merits of Christ's work on the cross for us apart from any works on our part to gain merit with God?  One can not truly have peace with God if they are constantly having to do meritorious works to maintain their standing before God.  There is no peace in that because one will never know when they have done enough to stay in God's good graces.  God can not truly be the God of peace to them in that kind of system.

2. God brought up Jesus from the dead.
    If He has the power to raise the dead, then He will have the power to bring me up out of my grave on the last day.  If He didn't raise up Jesus, then my faith is all in vain!

3. Christ is the great Shephed of the sheep.
   He claimed to be the true Shepherd as opposed to those that are only wolves seeking to devour the sheep.  We need to be discerning and know the truth so we can know which ones are the wolves and which ones are the shepherds.  He is the great Shepherd, do our earthly shepherds emulate Him and point only to Him?  If not, take a step back and see if they might be false shepherds.

4. Christ made a blood covenant with His own blood with us.  
    He covenanted with us to save us and take us home to be with Him and He sealed it with His own blood.  There is no better promise than that.  Am I truly thankful for this?  What should be my posture be in light of this truth?

5. Christ will make us complete in every good work to do His will.
    It is Christ and Christ alone who can make us complete in every good work to do His will.  Without His work in our hearts, our good works are tainted by sin and are incomplete at best. We can do His will through Him who strenthens us to do it.  Am I resting in His strength?

6.  He will work in us that which is well pleasing in His sight.
     He is working to sanctify us and make us into something that He is pleased with.  Am I cooperating with Him in this work or am I going kicking and screaming?

7. To whom be glory forever and ever.
God gets all the glory.  None should ever go to me.  When I am praised for something, do I defer it to God or do I accept the glory?

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