The Race before us

Eyes fixed on Jesus

Hebrews 12:1–3 NIV

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

The writer to the Hebrew Christians, who as you know were undergoing a time of trial and persecution, has just presented us with the stories of men and women of faith, who put their trust in God. He calls them a cloud of witnesses. Some of them died peacefully in their beds. Some lived long lives and some had their lives cut short in one way or another, but all of them died in faith, looking to the reward that God had promised. We saw at the end of chapter 11 that none of them had yet received what God had promised and the writer tells us that we have a part to play in our journey of faith as we too look to the reward that will be there for us at the end together with them.

Heb11:39-40 “These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.”

In the meantime we need to remember that verse in chapter 10

Heb 10:36 “You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.”

This perseverence is what the writer is talking about at the beginning of chapter 12. His intention is to encourage us so that we will not grow weary and lose heart. He likens our journey of faith to a race in which there are no bystanders; everyone is a runner.

1 Cor 9 24-25 “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.”

In this race of faith everyone is a competitor, running to win the prize, but the race is not against others; we are all co-runners. My race is mine; your race is yours and in the words of Paul to the Corinthians the prize is the crown that will last forever.

And the race is not a sprint, nor is it to be undertaken without the discipline of preparation and training. That’s why the writer speaks about throwing off the weight of anything in your life that is holding you back. He reminds his readers that sin is a snare, a trap; sin entangles. The writer is reminding his readers that they have a responsibility to get themselves ready for this race. Throw off all hindrances, watch out for any sin which tries to hold you back, and run with patience, run with endurance, run with perseverance.

Patience, endurance, perseverence. These words tell us that not only are we to prepare for the race, but we are to keep on running our race. It may be a short race or it may be a long race. The writer of Ecclesiastes says this: Ecclesiastes 9:12 “Moreover, no one knows when their hour will come: As fish are caught in a cruel net, or birds are taken in a snare, so people are trapped by evil times that fall unexpectedly upon them.”

But in the previous verse he says:

Eccles 9:11 “I have seen something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all.”

We have been saved by faith, and we now have that responsibility to continue in that faith.

Paul says this to the Philippian Church:

Phil 2: 12 “Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling,”

When the writer to the Hebrews begins this section with “therefore”, it is an encouragement to any Christian to remember all those faithful men and women, that great cloud of witnesses, who have gone before, who have finished their race and are awaiting that final glorious resurrection.

Some commentators paint a picture of a stadium, where there is a crowd on onlookers, cheering us on.

That may not be exactly scriptural, although it may be helpful to think of them in that way, but their faith in God should be an inspiration to us. They were all men and women of faith and to some extent are examples for us.

We need to be cautious, though, for they were all human beings with faults, weaknesses and flaws.

But there is one man who can be our example, one man who is our example. The man Jesus.

1 Peter 2:21–23 NIV

To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.” When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.

“To this you were called.” Isn’t that too great a challenge for us? How can God expect me to follow in the footsteps of his son? I am just a sinful human being. I know I am forgiven, but Jesus was without sin and he was God.

If we are honest, we often tell ourselves that Jesus was able to undergo all that suffering because he was God.

The writer to the Hebrews in verse two tells us to fix our eyes on Jesus and in verse three to consider him who endured.

We need to spend a few minutes doing just that. Remember that verse in chapter 1:

Heb:1:3 “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.”

In this verse we see two things. We see Jesus, the son, who provided purification for sins. Jesus, the man. And we see Jesus as the exact representation of God’s glory. Jesus as God.

While Jesus walked the land of Palestine, he was fully human and he was fully God, but the two natures never mingled and there was never a conflict between the two natures.

The Son’s mission was to do the will of the Father and become man in order that, as man, he would be punished in place of the sinner. His life on earth was one of submission to the will of his father.

Heb 5:7-9 “During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him”

To understand this a bit more we need to look at Phil 2:5-8

Philippians 2:5–8 NIV

In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!

Here’s how the Message Bible puts that passage:

The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language Chapter 2

Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn’t claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion.

There are two key phrases that Paul uses. The first is in verse 6: being in very nature God. The second is in verse 7: taking the very nature of a servant. The word that Paul used is the same in each case and refers to the inner nature or substance of something, not its outward appearance.

When Paul, in verse 8 says that Christ Jesus “being found in appearance as a man does not contradict verse 7 taking the very nature of a servant. Paul explains the true nature of a servant; He humbled himself by becoming obedient to death - even death on a cross.

To repeat our original question

If we are honest, we often tell ourselves that Jesus was able to undergo all that suffering because he was God.

verse 7 of the Philippian passage gives us an important truth: He made himself nothing. Does that mean that he gave up being God? By no means. Since he is fully God, he cannot cease to be fully God. What it does mean is that although he was equal to God in every respect, he willingly gave up the privileges and benefits of his position of equality with the Father. He accepted his calling to become a man while remaining fully God.

So Jesus was born into this world as a man and must live his life and give his life as one of us. Since he chose to take on the nature of a servant, he cannot now express the qualities and the rights and the privileges that he has as King. While Jesus possessed divine qualities, as a man he accepted the limitation of those qualities. Paul puts it this way in 2 Cor 8:9 “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.”

The ultimate purpose in the Son of God becoming man was to obey his Father, by going to the cross and give his life for others. Only as a human could Jesus fulfil God’s plan of redemption.

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

Obedience to the point of death. This was the purpose of Jesus the man.

Jesus as one of us, a human being, had to experience everything that every human being goes through - being born, growing up, learning about the world, learning the scriptures, learning the skills of life, in his case carpentry. We know little of the life of Jesus before he began his ministry. All we have is that occasion recorded in Luke chapter two, when he visited the temple with his parents. Here are his words:

Luke 2:49 ““Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?””

Verse 52 is important to our understanding of his humanity:

Luke 2:52 “And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.”

There must have been a point, as he read the scriptures, when Jesus, the man, realised that the scriptures were all about him. I wonder how he felt when he read the words in Isaiah 53.

Isa 53:3 “He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.”

Is 53:7 “He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.”

Is 53:8 “By oppression and judgment he was taken away. Yet who of his generation protested? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was punished.”

Is 53:10 “Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.”

Is 53:12 “Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.”

Or when he read Psalm 22

Ps 22:1 “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish?”

Ps 22:6 “But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by everyone, despised by the people.”

Ps 22:17-18 “All my bones are on display; people stare and gloat over me. They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment.”

At some point before he began his ministry, Jesus the man understood what his mission was to be and his decision, for it was a decision, there was nothing automatic about it, was to obey, even if it meant going all the way to die on the cross.

How, then, did Jesus live his life? He trusted his father and he obeyed. He lived a life of faith: not a saving faith, for he was without sin, but a faith that was in constant communion and dependence on his father.

How did Jesus, the man, live a perfectly obedient life? Was it out of the power of his divine nature, because he was at the same time fully God? If that was the case, how can we be called to follow in his steps?

Let me take you back to John chapter 1 where John the Baptist testifies about Jesus.

John 1:29-34 “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.” Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.””

That’s the answer. Jesus the man was empowered by the Holy Spirit, the third part of the Trinity. That same Holy spirit that is available to you and to me.

When Peter met with that Roman Centurion, Cornelius in Acts chapter 10, he said this:

Acts 10:37-38 “You know what has happened throughout the province of Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached— how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.”

Since Jesus was fully God, the Holy Spirit could add nothing to his deity. But Jesus the man needed the indwelling of the Holy Spirit to empower him to live his life on earth.

Isaiah writes about this in his prophecy

Is 11:1-3 “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord— and he will delight in the fear of the Lord. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears;”

Jesus himself said this:

Luke 4:18-19 ““The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.””

When the writer tells us to fix our eyes on Jesus, it is Jesus the man that he is emphasising rather than the divine Jesus.

This Jesus is the complete example of faith from beginning to end: the pioneer and perfecter, the author and finisher of our faith (KJV). Remember what the writer said in chapter 5:

Heb 5:7-10 “During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek.”

He endured the cross for the joy that was set before him. What was that? the eternal salvation for all who obey him.

And Jesus is the perfecter of our faith. He is more than just an example to follow by trying to emulate him. No! We have the promise of the Holy Spirit. In his letter to the Church in Ephesus Paul Wrote:

Eph 1:13 “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit,”

The race marked out for each one of us has a goal - The joy of eternal life and the only way to reach that goal is to focus on Jesus, who has done all that is necessary for us to achieve the crown. What has he done? Hebrews 10:14 “For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.”

Those who are being made Holy. That’s you and me. We are righteous in the eyes of God, but we have a responsibility to throw off everything that hinders and the sin that entangles us and to persevere in the race. In this race we are not on our own. We have the cloud of witnesses to inspire us; we have co-runners to encourage us; but most of all we have Jesus, who has finished his race, but has not finished his work:

Heb 7:24-26 “but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. Such a high priest truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens.”

Heb 12:3 “Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”

We don’t have time today to consider all the opposition that Jesus faced while he was on earth, from before he was born, when his mother had conceived out of wedlock, to that ignomineous execution as a criminal on the cross. When we consider all that, the writer to the Hebrews is sure that we will not grow weary and lose heart.

Paul wrote letters to many churches, often with instructions, sometimes with warnings, often with encouragement. If he were writing to Lostock Christian Fellowship I am sure that he could use the same words that wrote in his letter to the Church in Philippi:

Phil 1:3-6 “I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”