Monthly Archives: March 2025

THE GOSPEL IN HEBREWS – 1

Bible Study, ,

One of the truths I learned in Bible school is contained in this statement…

“The New is in the Old concealed, the Old is in the New revealed.”

This declaration of the unity of the Bible puts paid to the idea that the Old Testament is irrelevant. For example, why would we start reading a novel on the middle of the book? The story would make no sense if we ignored the first half.

So, too, with God’s Word. The record of Jesus and His work of salvation would be a puzzle if we didn’t start at the beginning. God’s story begins in Genesis and ends in Revelation. We can only grasp its message when we read the Bible from cover to cover.

However, there is a book in part two, in the New Testament, that throws light on the meaning of much of the Old Testament’s religious system. The book of Hebrews helps us understand the truth of God’s salvation which is hidden in the Old Testament.

Hebrews 1:1-2 NIV
[1] In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, [2] but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe.

https://bible.com/bible/111/heb.1.1-2.NIV

Whoever wrote the letter to the Hebrews did not reveal his identity. However, he had a thorough understanding of the connection between the Old and New Covenants so that, especially his Jewish readers would be encouraged to remain faithful to
Jesus despite the persecution that threatened their lives.

The Roman government tolerated Jews who practised their Old Testament religion. However, they persecuted those Jews who had become Christians because they believed that Christians were a threat to Rome. Christians refused to acknowledge and confess that Caesar was Lord. They worshipped only Jesus as Lord, rejecting the supreme authority of Caesar over their lives. They defied Caesar’s demands to worship him by offering sacrifice to him instead of worshiping Jesus.

Many Jewish believers were tempted to forsake their faith in Jesus and return to Judaism. Why was it important for Jewish believers never to return to Judaism to save their skin?

The letter to the Hebrews gives them and us the answer. Their return to Judaism would be a backward step from grace into law, once again requiring perfect obedience to God’s holy standards, which is impossible for any sinful human to achieve.

What does faith in Jesus do that obedience to the 613 laws of the Old Covenant can never do? Let’s unpack the writer’s explanation that ties the Old and New Covenants into one logical whole.

The Old Testament is the story of a nation, which God chose and built to be His own people and a witness to the surrounding pagan nations of who God is and the way people should live under His government.

However, since the children of Israel were locked into slavery to their old sinful natures, His people failed to fulfil His commission. They chose to follow the idolatrous ways of their neighbouring nations although God raised up numerous prophets to warn them of punishment for their rebellion.

After the reign of their third king Solomon, the nation of Israel split into two, the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah. Both kingdoms were punished for their idolatry by conquest and exile. Israel ceased to exist as a part of God’s people, being absorbed into Assyria’s foreign policy of repopulating a conquered territory with people for other conquered lands. In New Testament times, Samaria, a province of the old Israel, was made up of mixed nationalities.

Within the prophetic message to God’s people and the surrounding nations, God promised a Redeemer, one who would represent Him, would fulfil all the requirements of His law, would die for the sins of His disobedient people. He would be God’s covenant to the people and the initiator of the New Covenant promised in Jeremiah’s prophecy.

Jeremiah 31:31-34 NIV
[31] “The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. [32] It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord. [33] “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. [34] No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the Lord. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”

In this covenant, God would take the onus upon Himself to change the hearts of His people.

Ezekiel 36:26-27 NIV
[26] “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. [27] And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.”

The religious system of temple, priests, and sacrifice in the old covenant was to be the visual aid to teach His people what His Messiah would accomplish.

The Old Testament closes with yet another season of disobedience to God’s commands…marriage between Jews and pagan women, disdain for God’s glory by their offering of defective animals for sacrifice, neglect of required tithes, and more…

For four hundred years, there was no word from the Lord, no prophet to bring God’s will to the people. They continued to dishonour God by their pagan practices which led to occupation and oppression by nations around them who were in a power struggle for domination.

However, God although was silent, He was not inactive. Through the historical events of those times, He was preparing His people and the world for the coming of His Redeemer.

Like Israel of old, under slavery in Egypt, God heard the heart cries of His people who were in a worse situation than Israel in Egypt. They were enslaved to sin and doomed to eternal destruction.

2 Corinthians 6:2 NIV
[2] “For he says, “In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.” I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.”

Then…

Galatians 4:4-5 NIV
[4]”But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, [5] to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.”

The entire Old Covenant with its demands and requirements would be completed and fulfilled in the life and death of His own Son.

The book of Hebrews, then, skillfully knits the two covenants together by explaining how the old was fulfilled and replaced by the new.

To be continued…

JESUS SAID – 11

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John 3:17 NIV
[17] “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”

This is possibly one of the most either misunderstood or ignored statements that Jesus ever made. Why do I say that? People so often misjudge the very heart of God.

Unbelievers hate and run from God because they think He is out to get them. They think up many kinds of ways to dodge accountability to God… agnosticism, atheism, false religions or philosophies, etc., because they fear punishment. This is true…that sin must and will be punished but…

John 3:16-17 NIV
[16] “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. [17] For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”

God is so passionate about saving the world from the consequences of sin that He went the whole way of true love. He sacrificed His own and only Son to save us.

Why, then, would He want to punish people for their sin by condemning them to hell forever?

The Bible is full of reassurances that God’s passion is to save people, not to sentence them.

Ezekiel 18:23 NIV
[23] “Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked?” declares the Sovereign Lord. “Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?”

He repeatedly calls people to repentance so that they can live, not die.

To His people in the wilderness, He said,

Deuteronomy 30:19 NIV
[19] “This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live. “

Again, to the pagans in Athens, He said,

Acts 17:30 NIV
[30] “In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.”

Peter explained…

2 Peter 3:9 NLT
[9] “The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.”

God delays His judgment on people because He wants them to repent and receive His salvation but… judgment will fall on those who refuse to turn from sin and believe in Jesus.

John 3:18 NLT
[18] “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son.”

There are two factors that determine our destiny…

  1. Repentance, changing our minds about sin and turning from sin to God…

God’s mercy through Jesus is freely given to those who believe the gospel and receive Jesus, by faith, as Lord.

  1. Making the right choice…

God never forces His way of salvation from sin and death on anyone. He confronts us with the truth but leaves us to make the choice between life and death.

Now, since we determine our final destiny, we cannot blame God for where we end.

The next imperative we must consider is what Jesus did to deal with our sin. The Bible makes it clear that Jesus died for the sin of the whole world, for all sin, for all people, for all time. Since He dealt with the problem and punishment for sin, no one need to face punishment again, not even if we sin now.

Romans 8:1 NLT
[1] “So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.”

What do we do, then, if believers sin now?

1 John 2:1-2 NLT
[1] “My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. [2] He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.”

Can you see, then, that Jesus has taken care of the whole problem of sin, past, present, and future? So, why do His children still think that God is punishing them for their sin? Sin has consequences which God cannot stop but He cannot punish sin twice. Even in the human justice system, it is illegal to punish people twice for the same crime.

1 John 4:16-18 NLT
[16] “We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. [17] And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world. [18] Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for FEAR OF PUNISHMENT, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love.”

The issue, when stuff happens, is not that God is punishing us for our sin but that we do not trust His perfect love. You see, the hardships we endure are not punishment but discipline and God’s discipline means that He is treating us as His children.

Hebrews 12:7 NLT
[7] “As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as his own children. Who ever heard of a child who is never disciplined by its father?”

Divine discipline is not judgment or punishment but “tough love”. God wants us to share His holiness so that we are ready for life in His presence forever.

Hebrews 12:10 NLT
[10] “For our earthly fathers disciplined us for a few years, doing the best they knew how. But God’s discipline is always good for us, so that we might share in his holiness.”

Therefore, since holiness is imperative, so also is discipline.

Hebrews 12:14 NLT
[14]”Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord.”

The trials, tests, and hardships we face, far from being punishment for sin, are the reassurance that God loves us so much that He works at honing our trust in Him and setting us free from the ravages of our old, sinful nature.

Let’s not insult God’s goodness and mercy by misjudging His love. Let’s trust Him, in our troubles, to do His work of discipline so that we can become conformed to the likeness of Jesus.

JESUS SAID – 10

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John 10:34-36 NIV
[34] “Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I have said you are “gods” ’? [35] If he called them ‘gods,’ to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be set aside— [36] what about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’?”

Jesus was in the centre of yet another wrangle with the religious leaders. His insistence that He was the Son of God and one with the Father enraged them. They wanted to stone Him to death for blasphemy but Jesus defended His claim from Scripture…

Psalms 82:1, 6-7 NIV
[1] God presides in the great assembly; he renders judgment among the “gods”:…
[6] “I said, ‘You are “gods”; you are all sons of the Most High.’ [7] But you will die like mere mortals; you will fall like every other ruler.”

The term, ” lgods” or “sons of God” occurs in various parts of Scripture – for example, Genesis 6:4, Job 1:6 and Job 38:7.

Genesis 6:4 NLT
[4] “In those days, and for some time after, giant Nephilites lived on the earth, for whenever the sons of God had intercourse with women, they gave birth to children who became the heroes and famous warriors of ancient times.”

These Nephalites were part human, part spirit beings born of the rebellion of the sons of God by having intercourse with human women, causing trouble on the earth.

These spirit brings were present at creation. God challenged Job…

Job 38:3-4, 7 NIV
[3] “Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me. [4] “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand…
[7] …while the morning stars (meaning shining… star… figuratively, prince,) sang together and all the angels (“elohim barne”, i.e., sons of God), shouted for joy?”

Who were these “sons of God?”

“The setting of Job 38:7 is an entire chapter on the Creation by YHWH, and the reference to the morning stars as sons of God harks back to Job 1:6, in which they are part of the heavenly host of YHWH in his formal Heavenly Council/ Royal Court.” (Article from Google)

The many references to the sons of God suggest that they were spirit beings created to be God’s divine council or heavenly court and given the responsibility to rule over the nations. God divided the nations according to the number of the heavenly beings, and assigned them to the members of His “heavenly court” (also called “elohim” – gods).

Deuteronomy 32:8 NLT
[8] “When the Most High assigned lands to the nations, when he divided up the human race, he established the boundaries of the peoples according to the number in his heavenly court.”

Each heavenly being was given the responsibility of governing a nation under God. They were “gods” with power and authority to rule on God’s behalf.

Only one nation did not have a “god” to rule over them. God chose Israel alone to belong to Him.

Deuteronomy 7:6 NLT
[6] “For you are a holy people, who belong to the Lord your God. Of all the people on earth, the Lord your God has chosen you to be his own special treasure.”

Deuteronomy 7:7-8 NLT
[7] “The Lord did not set his heart on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other nations, for you were the smallest of all nations! [8] Rather, it was simply that the Lord loves you, and he was keeping the oath he had sworn to your ancestors. That is why the Lord rescued you with such a strong hand from your slavery and from the oppressive hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt.”

Israel was to represent God to all the nations.

“In the Bible, God chose Israel to be a light to the nations so that they would reflect God’s character and show the world what obedience to God brings. Israel was also chosen to be a nation of priests, prophets, and missionaries.” (Google)

God is the Most High God among the gods, supreme in power and authority over them. However…

Satan seems to have been a prominent member of God’s counsel, the sons of God, but became leader of the rebellion which led all the “gods” astray.

Job 1:6 NIV
[6] “One day the angels (Hebrew, “ha elohim bane” – meaning
“the sons of God”), came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them.”

Satan led a mass rebellion that turned the heavenly beings against God. They lost the war with God’s heavenly army and were, consequently, thrown out of heaven.

Revelation 12:7-9 NLT
[7]”Then there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon and his angels. [8] And the dragon lost the battle, and he and his angels were forced out of heaven. [9] This great dragon—the ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, the one deceiving the whole world—was thrown down to the earth with all his angels.”

So, God judged His rebel council and condemned them to death like all humanity.

[6] “I said, ‘You are “gods”; you are all sons of the Most High.’ [7] But you will die like mere mortals; you will fall like every other ruler.”

Now let’s go back to Jesus’ defense. If God’s Word states that God called these heavenly beings “gods” and, by inference, “sons of God”, why would Jesus’ claim to God’s Son be blasphemous since God Himself called them “sons of God”?

Once again, Jesus removed all grounds for debate since the Scripture from which the religious leaders loved to quote, exonerated Him from their accusation.

JESUS SAID – 9

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Luke 9:57-58 NIV
[57] “As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.”
[58] Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”

If we know anything about Jesus, this is a cryptic statement of fact, not a plea of poverty as some interpret it. Taken literally, Jesus sounds as though He is looking for sympathy. “Poor me! I’m so poor that I don’t even have my own bed!”
Is this really Jesus talking? Did He ever look for sympathy? Consider these words on His way to the cross …

Luke 23:27-31 NIV
[27] “A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him. [28] Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children. [29] For the time will come when you will say, ‘Blessed are the childless women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ [30] Then “ ‘they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!” and to the hills, “Cover us!” ’ [31] For if people do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”

If Jesus was not crying poverty when some man wanted to become part of His disciple group, what was He saying?

Let’s look at the bigger picture. Jesus came to earth to represent the Father. As His son, it was Jesus’ role to carry out His Father’s business, to establish His kingdom on earth, to do His will as it is done in heaven.

Through His death and resurrection, Jesus would build His church to carry on the Father’s kingdom work when He returned to the Father. How would He do that? By joining people to Himself and to one another, He would build His church, His body, to continue His work by representing His kingdom on earth.

Jesus is head of His body, the church, but the church only came into being at Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came to fill the believers with His presence and power.

When Jesus spoke to the man who wanted to join the disciples, as head of His church-to-be, His body had not yet come into existence. He was the head but He had no body.

So, correctly understood, He told the would-be disciple,

“Since I have not yet died and risen again, I do not have a body upon which to lay my head.”

Jesus was training the Twelve to be the spearhead of His enterprise to establish God’s kingdom on earth, hence He focused on them to prepare them for their massive task when He was no longer with them. He chose them and spent time training them to do what He was doing. He could not allow others to join them until His training was complete.

Jesus was not, on fact, rejecting the man’ request. He was delaying his desire to be a part of Jesus’ band of followers until the time came when he could become a member of the body of which Jesus is the head.

JESUS SAID – 8

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Jesus stated another truth that many of His children either don’t understand or ignore.

John 15:5 NLT
[5] “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.”

“Apart from me, you can do nothing,”… a categorical statement that has no conditions, no “ifs” and “buts”.

Why is this statement true?

Unlike any other religious system in the world, including Judaism, being a believer in Jesus is far more than adhering to a belief system. Being a Christian is not and can never be a religion as compared with other religions, which are, at best, self-help efforts to gain acceptance with a deity invented by human imagination.

Being a Christian involves a dynamic partnership between Jesus, the Son of God, and me. When I took the step of believing the truth about Him, that He is Lord, and that He rose from the dead, a miraculous change happened to and in me.

Romans 10:9-10 NLT
[9] “If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. [10] For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.”

I was saved from myself and joined to Jesus in a faith-union, brought about by the Holy Spirit who came to live in me, that radically changed many things.

  1. I was spiritually dead because of sin, but the Holy Spirit made me spiritually alive to God.

Ephesians 2:1, 4-6 NLT
[1] “Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins….
[4] But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, [5] that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) [6] For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus.”

  1. I was supernaturally born into God’s kingdom and now live under His rule.

John 3:3, 5 NLT
[3] “Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.”…
[5] Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit.”

1 Peter 1:23 NLT
[23] “For you have been born again, but not to a life that will quickly end. Your new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God.”

  1. I was transferred from Satan’s dominion to God’s kingdom where I am free from Satan’s power to influence me or to keep me in slavery.

Colossians 1:13-14 NLT
[13]”For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, [14] who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins.”

  1. I died to sin when I was identified with Jesus in His death on the cross and rose with Him to a new life.

Romans 6:1-4 NLT
[1]”Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? [2] Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it? [3] Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death? [4] For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.”

  1. I was given a new nature, God’s nature, so that I can live a new life of holiness, separated from sin to God.

2 Peter 1:4 NLT
[4]”And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.”

  1. The Spirit of Jesus lives in me to teach and guide me in my new life in Christ.

John 16:13-14 NLT
[13] “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future. [14] He will bring me glory by telling you whatever he receives from me.”

1 John 2:27 NLT
[27] “But you have received the Holy Spirit, and he lives within you, so you don’t need anyone to teach you what is true. For the Spirit teaches you everything you need to know, and what he teaches is true—it is not a lie. So just as he has taught you, remain in fellowship with Christ.”

  1. I have been delivered from the fear of death and I anticipate a perfect life in God’s presence forever.

Hebrews 2:14-15 NLT
[14]”Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death. [15] Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying.”

  1. My destiny was eternal separation from God and all that God is… but God changed my direction, towards Him and eternal life.

John 3:16-17 NLT
[16] “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. [17] God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.”

  1. Jesus changed my life from a meaningless and purposeless existence to an abundant life.

John 10:10 NLT
[10]”The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.”

And so much more…

Can you now understand why we can do nothing without Jesus? Apart from all that Jesus has done for us through His life, death, and resurrection, our union with Him as branches in a vine, provides all the nourishment and strength we need to bear the fruit of His life in us. He provides the truth of His Word that sets us free and grows His character in us as we stay joined to Him by faith.

God’s goal for all His children is that we become replicas of His Son. Only as we protect and foster our union with Jesus in our everyday lives through the Holy Spirit in us, can we become who He has created us to be.

Romans 8:29 NLT
[29] “For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.”

So, Jesus said,

John 15:4-5 NIV
[4] “Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. [5] “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”