Hebrews for Today: The Majestic Jesus - ix. The Sufficiency of Christ

Preacher: Alan Cameron

Verses: Hebrews 7:11-28

Hebrews for Today: The Majestic Jesus - ix. The Sufficiency of Christ

Alan Cameron

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We live in an age when language is used quite loosely.  Words like great, wonderful, brilliant, awesome abound.  The problem is when we use superlatives to describe the routine and ordinary, language like currency loses its value.  This was the issue faced by the writer of the Easter hymn “O sacred head how wounded”.  He asks, “What language shall I borrow to praise you dearest Friend?”  it is a remarkable question, which deserves close attention and which the writer of Hebrews attempts to answer in the passage before us. 

Jesus is indeed unique, one of a kind, the God-man.  He sets the Christian faith apart from any other religion.  He is the one who seeks, searches and saves.  And having done that, he is the one who prays continually for us.  The writer of Hebrews is quite justified to use superlative language to describe Jesus who “truly meets our need – one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart, exalted above the heavens” (v26).

Identity Formation

Preacher: Lincon Hardouin

Verses: Romans 6:1-14

Most people have never thought about the fact that from a very young age, some suggest as early as 3-4 years old, we start developing an “identity”.  Identity is described as being a combination of different and distinct parts of a person, be it genetics, culture, language, gender, family, etc. coming together to form who we are at this very moment. And yet, we need to realise that our identities are always evolving. This is because identity is shaped, established and influenced by any number of different things within this life. For example, part of my identity is found in my nationality as a South African.  Part of my identity is found in the fact that I am the second born in my family.  Part of my identity is found in that fact that I am English speaking. Part of my identity is founded upon the way in which people have affected my life and in the way in which I have affected theirs, whether in a positive or a negative way.  Of course, this list could continue for the next few hours and I don’t think anyone wants to sit here until 1:30.  But the point is this, no single person is the same in terms of identity as they were say 10 years ago, and no single person is exempt from these changes whether we know they are happening to us or not.  It’s often only over an extended period of time that we even realise that we have changed.

Hebrews for Today: The Majestic Jesus - viii. An Anchor for the Soul

Preacher: Alan Cameron

Verses: Hebrews 6:13-20

Hebrews for Today: The Majestic Jesus - viii. An Anchor for the Soul

Alan Cameron

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The writer of Hebrews is an astute pastor concerned about the spiritual well-being of his readers.  He uses sound biblical theology to encourage them, some of whom were tempted to abandon their faith as part of a beleaguered Christian community and revert to the relative safety of organised religion recognized by the Roman state such as Judaism or a variety of mystery religions.  Having written about the snare of drifting and the danger of hard hearts, he exhorts his readers to experience Christ who offers “hope as an anchor for the soul” (v19a), as an antidote to despair and discouragement in the midst of difficulty and hardship. 

Jesus as our high priest who has “entered the heavens” is not simply a “go between”, representing humanity before the divine; he has pioneered the way into the Father’s presence through his sacrificial death and resurrection.  This assurance is the bedrock of faith on which we withstand temptation and the assaults of the devil.  The resources to do so are not found within ourselves as we look inward, but outside of ourselves as we look to Christ.

Hebrews for Today: The Majestic Jesus - vii. Our Great High Priest

Preacher: Alan Cameron

Verses: Hebrews 4:14-5:10

Hebrews for Today: The Majestic Jesus - vii. Our Great High Priest

Alan Cameron

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The word ‘better’ occurs some seventeen times in the New Testament, thirteen of which occur in Hebrews alone.  Whilst in one sense the majestic Jesus is incomparable being the unique Son of God, God through him “planned something better for us” (11:40).  The passage before us describes Jesus as a better high priest.  The writer draws on the history of Israel in the wilderness and the role of the High Priest on the Day of Atonement offering sacrifices on behalf of the people and himself in the Tabernacle.

 The focus is not simply on the person and work of Jesus on earth, the empty cross and the resurrection, but the ongoing work of Jesus as high priest, having passed through the heavens as the human high priest passed through the curtain in the Tabernacle into the holy of holies to make atonement for sin.  This is the main point of the passage, indeed the whole of the book: Jesus’ ongoing work presenting the fruit of his sacrifice before the Father and interceding for his people on earth.

Hebrews for Today: The Majestic Jesus - vi. Entering God's Rest

Preacher: Alan Cameron

Verses: Hebrews 4:1-13

Hebrews for Today: The Majestic Jesus - vi. Entering God's Rest

Alan Cameron

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The writer of Hebrews often uses the word ‘better’ to describe Jesus.  In one sense Jesus is incomparable.  He is unique: the majestic Christ supreme over everyone and everything.  However, in terms of salvation history Jesus is indeed ‘better’: better than angels, Moses, Joshua, a better high priest sacrifice, and rest to name but a few.

 And now the writer invites us to reflect on our relationship with Jesus in what has been described as ‘one of the most fascinating, enigmatic and tightly argued sections of Hebrews’.  The Israelites of old failed to enter God’s rest through unbelief and disobedience.  However, rest is more than a metaphor for the Promised Land.  The inclination to enter God’s rest still stands millennia after that event.