Chapter 12
Jesus Is the Author and Finisher of Our Faith
Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith,
As Christians we have so many people whom we can look to who had such great faith during both the Old and New Testament eras. Think about all those in our day who have great Christian testimonies who walk with God. This should help us as we strive to do all we can to walk away from all forms of temptation and sin. We all are different, and we all have our own special spiritual weaknesses. We must recognize those weaknesses and do all we can to not put ourselves in a situation that we give in to temptation and commit those sins.
The Christian life is a race. It is not a sprint but more like a marathon. As Christians we must be committed to run this life-long race in serving our Lord Jesus Christ who is the author and finisher of our faith.
Jesus is the author of our faith in that He created all things, is the personification of the Word of God, lived a perfect life, and suffered, died, and rose again for our salvation. He is the one in whom we must have faith.
Jesus is also the finisher of our faith. For one day we must stand before Him on Judgment Day to give an account of our lives of what we did whether it be good or bad (2 Cor. 5:10) Believers will then get to enjoy Jesus forever in the New Heaven and the New Earth.
who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Jesus Christ suffered unbelievably for us. On the last day of His life He was betrayed by one of His disciples and denied by another disciple. All His disciples ran away from Him at the time He needed them most. He was hit by evil men, mocked as a fake king, spit upon, and received injustice before a mock trial. He endured a Roman flogging, was forced to wear a crown of thorns, carried a heavy cross through His beloved city Jerusalem, and then was crucified on it (probably naked) outside the city.
Yet, even though Jesus knew in eternity past what He would go through He had joy knowing that His suffering would save countless people. He would suffer the wrath of His Father and willingly take the punishment we as Christians deserved for our sins. When Jesus said on the cross, “It is finished” He had completed His earthly ministry of delivering the Word of God to us and finishing His work of redemption for us. Since his ascension into heaven, Jesus, our King, has been seated at the right hand of the Father interceding on our behalf when Satan accuses us. He is preparing a special place for us to reside with Him forever. Jesus is bringing to pass the plan of God for all humanity and His creation.
The Chastening of God
7If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? 8 But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons.
God sometimes disciplines or punishes us when we sin. However, this chastening is because He loves us and wants us to repent of our sin and turn to Him for forgiveness. If God didn’t care about us, He would just let us continue to sin, not punish us for those sins, and then have us suffer eternally in the lake of fire. It is because He loves us and wants us to turn back to Him from sin that He disciplines us. We would not truly be His sons and daughters if God didn’t punish us lovingly because of our sins.
9 Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness.
Our human fathers have punished us for our wrong doing, and we showed them the respect they deserve. If that is how we treat our human fathers, how much more respect, honor, and reverence should we give our Father in heaven? Our earthly fathers chastised us for a short while to help us the best they could, although imperfectly, but God disciplines us perfectly to help us be more like Him in holiness.
11 Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
As children, we hated to be “spanked” by our parents. It hurt physically but it was necessary to get our attention so that we wouldn’t repeat our disobedience. When God punishes us it also hurts. Yet God is our perfect teacher and parent. He knows the right type and amount of discipline to give us to make sure we repent and turn away from those sins that so easily tempt us. God’s discipline doesn’t destroy us. It trains us to become more righteous.
Pursue Peace and Holiness
12 Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, 13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed.
The Lord wants us to strengthen ourselves spiritually. We should not be lazy in the things of God. Let us strengthen our hands, legs, and feet in a spiritual sense so that we are walking rightly on the path with Him. Even though we are weak or lame we will stay on the right path and be healed of our sins.
14 Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: 15 looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled; 16 lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright. 17 For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears.
As Christians we must seek to be peaceful with all people and strive for holiness. A person cannot be a Christian and will never see God if they are not peaceful with others and do not seek to be holy. Those who are violent and destroy people’s property and lives will receive the punishment and judgment of God. Do not let bitterness grip you because by being bitter you are judging God as being unfair to you. Do not be a fornicator which is having sexual relations outside of marriage. Do not be a vulgar or sacrilegious person. Esau sold his birthright to his brother Jacob for some food because he was so hungry. He deeply regretted this decision later but it was too late. He did not place value on the things of God and for that he did not inherit his godly blessing.
The Heavenly Assembly
18 For you have not come to the mountain that may be touched and that burned with fire, and to blackness and darkness and tempest, 19 and the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words, so that those who heard it begged that the word should not be spoken to them anymore. 20 (For they could not endure what was commanded: “And if so much as a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned or shot with an arrow.” 21 And so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I am exceedingly afraid and trembling.”)
After God brought the Hebrew nation through the Red Sea by the miracle of parting the water so they could walk through on dry land, they soon came to Mt. Sinai. God’s presence was there on the mountain and it burned with fire and there was darkness and the mountain shook as the trumpet sounded and God spoke. It was too terrifying for the Hebrew people. Any living being, animal or human, that touched the mountain would be killed. It was even imposing to Moses. The people wanted Moses to speak individually to God on their behalf because of their fear.
22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, 23 to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, 24 to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.
However, Christians have come to Mt. Zion where they are not afraid of the presence of God and gladly hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. We have inherited the heavenly Jerusalem. There are so many angels in heaven that one can’t even number them. They are worshiping and serving the God who will judge all men. Christians, alive or in heaven, are the general assembly and church of the first born. Jesus Christ is the first born because He is the first person to have died and received His glorified body. All Christians will receive glorified bodies at their resurrection when the Lord returns, but Jesus is the first person ever to receive His.
Christians are registered in heaven. Their names were written in the Lamb’s Book of Life before the foundation of the world! (Rev. 13:8; 17:8) These are the elect of God. (Matt. 24:22, 24:31) One day we must all stand before God, the Judge, and give an account of our lives to Him. Christians have been made perfect through their faith in Christ and what He has done for them.
Jesus is our Advocate and Mediator before the Father of a much better and lasting covenant by the shedding of His blood on behalf of believers. We are cleansed by the sprinkling of Jesus’ blood in the heavenly tabernacle after His resurrection. (1 Peter 1:2) For without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin. (Heb. 9:22) This sacrificial atonement by Jesus was far superior than the animal sacrifices of Abel and others done prior to Christ’s sacrifice of Himself.
Listen to God
25 See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven, 26 whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven.” 27 Now this, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain.
Here the author warns his readers to pay close attention to what God says to us in His Holy Word. If we fail to follow Him in obedience we do so at great peril. When God spoke to His people through His prophets and the people did not obey, God punished them for their lack of obedience. God’s voice to the people of Israel at Mt. Sinai shook the mountain and terrified the people. There was also an earthquake when Jesus died at His crucifixion. Now, through His holy Son, He shakes heaven and earth. For the old heaven and earth shall be consumed in fire and God will make a New Heaven, a New Earth, and a new holy city, the New Jerusalem. If people failed to obey God when He spoke through his prophets in the Old Testament and were severely punished, how much more punishment will be given to those who reject and disobey the Holy Son of God, Jesus Christ?
28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. 29 For our God is a consuming fire.
Our eternal kingdom in Christ can never be shaken so we should have confidence by grace to serve God with special reverence and godly fear. God is all-powerful and lovingly disciplines us for our good.