Consider Christ, the Faithful

Introduction

Today, I am going to give you a more evangelistic kind of sermon because it is the Christmas season and because it fits well with our text. By evangelistic, I do not mean that this is a sermon that is only for unbelievers who may be with us this morning. To evangelize simply means to share the good news of Jesus Christ. Christmas is an evangelistic holiday as we celebrate the good news that God came down to earth as a man to take away the sins of the world. This message never gets old, and we never graduate from it. While the author of Hebrews will tell his readers that they need to move on from milk to solid food, this does not mean a moving on from the gospel, but rather a moving on to a deeper and richer understanding of the same message which we believed. Although we move on from milk to solid food, we never move on from needing nourishment. On the contrary, as we grow we need more nutrition, not less, and we mature in our faith we need more of a Gospel, a more solid grasp on and, and deeper meditation on its implications for our lives.

So whether you are a Christian or not. Whether you were just baptized or have decades of faithful discipleship behind you, whether you are young or old, whether you grew up in the church or came out of another faith or no faith, my message for you today is simple: consider Jesus Christ, the faithful Saviour of humanity.

Message to a Holy Brotherhood

This passage which we will begin looking at today starts with that important word therefore. Of course, this word always signals to us that whatever the author is about to say is concluding something he already said. The argument he just made in chapter 2 has its logical consequence here.

Up to this point, the author has tried to prove two things to us. First, that the Son of God is the greatest and most perfect source of God’s revelation, being one in nature as God himself. After a short warning at the beginning of chapter 2, the author than made the point that the Son of God became a man because of the love he had mankind who was enslaved to sin. This love he showed in submission to the Father, whose desire and will was that human beings, though they are lower than the stars and angels, would be raised up to a glory far above them. This would happen through the Son finding commonality with them, the one who makes holy and those being made holy having one source in the Father. Christ counted us as his close family, his brothers, sisters, and children, and became what we are in every way. In this he did two things.

He became human to suffer death so that he might taste death for us. The big obsticle between humanity and the glory God wishes to raise us up to, is death, caused by sin. In his death and resurrection, Christ not only overcame the accusations of the devil, but became the Lord over death itself so that those who are in him need not fear death at all because we know the one who holds the keys of death.

With his ascention into heaven, Jesus also became our great high priest. We will speak about this more in a few moments.

So we have seen that the Son came, not only to give us the perfect revelation of God, but to be the one who would bring us up to glory. This is the end goal of salvation.

The author now identifies his audience for the first time. We have already seen how unique the letter to the Hebrews us, and how it can be considered more of a written sermon than a typical epistle. While most epistles begin by naming the author and the people being addressed, only here does he begin to address his audience directly. When he does, he calls them holy brothers, or brothers and sisters as this refers to all the readers, not just the men.

But they are connected to the theological treatise that the author has been building by calling them holy brothers and sisters. Remember that the word sanctify means to make someone or something holy, and so identifying his readers as holy brothers directly places them into theology he has just been teaching us. When we read “he who sanctifies (that is, Christ) and those who are sanctified have one source” the readers are the ones being sanctified. Again, the point of studying theology and God’s word is to identify how we fit into the story of God’s work among people, and this is where the readers find themselves. This not only refers to the original readers, but to all Christians since all those who believe are justified and cleansed by the blood of Christ. This is the hope of those who believe, and it is important that we, along with the original readers, see themselves in the story of God’s redemption.

This title also calls to mind what God always called his people to be. In the preamble to the giving of the Law in Exodus 19:5-6, God says to the covenant people of Israel through Moses:

Exodus 19:5–6 ESV

Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.”

For God to dwell with his people, and for people to be brought up to the glory which God has destined them for, they must be made holy. To be holy means to be set apart from common use for God’s purposes and use. To be holy means we are devoted to the service of God. This devotion is not something that we can do to ourselves, it is something that must be done to us in the same way that the articles and priests in the Tabernacle were put through a cerimony of cleasing to signify their dedication to the worship and service of God. These cerimonies showed what God’s will was for all his people; they should all be cleansed and devoted for glory. Christ accomplishes this through his suffering and offering.

The end of this sanctifying is confirmed in the next phrase, you who share in a heavenly calling. This is, of course, the glory which God means to raise many sons to (2:10). It is a calling that is both from heaven and unto heavenly glory above that of the angels. Those addressed and the ones whom Christ considers his brothers and sisters, those he became human for, those whom he died for, those whom he intercedes for, and those whom he raises up in salvific glory.

Consider Jesus

And here, we get to the meat of our message today: Consider Jesus. Think upon him. Think on all that we have covered in these two chapters. This thinking is not simply musing on these things, or studying them from a purely scholarly theology; although scholarship is a very helpful tool for the Christian, this is not ultimately what we need and what is most helpful. The consideration is one that is much more intimate, much more immediate to the readers. The author is taking this high theology and saying, “think about what it means for you”.

Christ’s work for us, as he has described it so far, is summed up in two offices: Apostle and high priest.

Apostle

Christ as our apostle may initially seem like an odd term considering that Jesus sent out twelve apostles. However, the word is a bit more broad than this. The word means a messanger of extraordinary status with the authority to represent the one who sent them. A messenger with authority, in this case similar to the role of a prophet. We’ve already seen that chapter 1 was all about Jesus being a better messenger who delivers a more perfect revelation from God than any prophet or angel.

High Priest

We’ve also seen Jesus as our high priest, who offers his own blood as an atonement for sins. As our high priest, he stands representing us before the Father as our brother, our fellow human being, the perfect priest with the perfect sacrifice made once for all for the forgiveness of our sins.

FF Bruce writes:

The Epistle to the Hebrews A. Jesus Greater Than Moses (3:1–6)

When Jesus is designated as “the apostle and high priest of our confession,” he is marked out as being both God’s representative among human beings and their representative in the presence of God.

So, what is it that the holy brothers and sisters are meant to consider?

That God has called you to be raised up to glory.

That he has given you the most perfect revelation of himself.

THat he has given one to intercede for you, a high priest who makes you holy and raises you up to glory.

That all of this is done through Christ Jesus, meaning that any religious pursuit that does not having Christ as our Apostle and High Priest is a turning away from God altogether.

Our Confession (Allegience)

Finally, we come to the end of verse 1 with the word that is translated as confession.

The English word confession is a bit unfortunate, although I don’t know if there is a better word. When we think of a confession, we think of a guilty person confessing to their crimes. It usually means that someone has done something wrong and so needs to confess, and it may lead people to think that this is somehow talking about confessing sins, or maybe confessing our love for the Lord as if its an embarrassing or taboo thing.

However, confession here is a declaration of allegience. It is not merely saying something, it is a public aknowledgement of whose side you are on and who you are loyal to. So when Paul tells us in Romans 10:9

Romans 10:9 ESV

because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

He is not saying that merely calling yourself a Christian makes you one. Rather, that salvation is for those who clearly declare their allegience to Jesus Christ as their King, the one whom they loyally follow. Baptism is a ritual by which a believer declares their allegience to Christ and is a played out confession. Taking the Lord’s Table is a practical confession as well, and behind these rituals is a simple, faithful, devoted allegience to Christ in the hope of future glory.

And so we put this verse together and see a simple message: if you call yourself a Christian, if you consider yourself among the holy brothers and sisters who share in a heavenly calling, then consider Jesus. Think about who he is to you, your great apostle and your heavenly high priest. Consider him, you singular link to eternal life with God. Meditate on his grace, his gentle heart, and his understanding. Think seriously of the implications of your allegience to him, one that may lead you to your own cross, which we are called to take up daily in following him. Consider the holiness without which no one will see the Lord and the one who makes you holy. Consider the bride of Christ and that you are saved, not as a lone Christian but in the context of God’s people, the church. Consider the cost, the reward, the suffering, the comfort, the salvation we’ve been given and the end of that salvation yet to come. Give yourself regular time to think about these things and mediate on your life now and whether you are living in a way that is consistent with your confession. Above all, remind youself of the Gospel daily, hourly, and moment by moment; that it may be the centre of all that you do and everything you are.

And if you are not a Christian, or you are not sure, my challenge to you is the same: consider Jesus! Think about the Saviour these chapters speak of. Where else will you get a more perfect deliverance of God’s revelation but from the Son of God? Where else will you get a perfect and heavenly high priest to cover your sins and restore you to God? How else will you escape death and the fear associated with it and acheive glory and immortality? And what better time to follow him who calls but now? As we approach the Christmas season, do not let the miracle of God with Us leave you unchanged. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Make him your confession. Pledge your allegience to him in faith. Where else is there to go?