Hebrews WEEK #7 - Detailed Notes

Where did we start this class...

Crescendo: Why study Hebrews today?

   ·      If you are not captivated by Jesus, then you’re only captivated by knowledge and theology.

   ·      If you are not captivated by Jesus, then you will never grow.

   ·      If you are not captivated by Jesus, then something else has become an idol in your life and you’ve forgotten what is important.

Jesus is better than anything else: If after I said that, you thought, “I need something deeper than just the story of Jesus.” Then, you don’t understand AT ALL how amazing He truly is.

The answer to their persecution was the revelation of Jesus.

   ·      Hebrews is only a hard book if you take your eyes off of Jesus.

   ·      A book that reveals the goodness of God and the gift of His son.

   ·      The revelation of Jesus is ongoing…

   ·      Because the Father is infinite.

   ·      And Jesus is the revealed Father.

   ·      And the Spirit shows us more of Jesus.

I believe we will learn something NEW every time we open this book, every time we study and every time we come together.

Peeling back the layers of the Revelation of Jesus.

Jesus is The Word of Power (1:3)… THESE WERE ALL COMPARISONS

   ·      Jesus is better than the prophets. (1:1-4)

   ·      Jesus is better than the angels. (1:4-2:18)

   ·      Through the use of Psalms the author shows Jesus better than David.

   ·      Jesus is better than Moses. (3:1-3:19)

   ·      Jesus is better than Joshua. (4:1-13)

   ·      Jesus is better than Aaron. (4:14-5:10)

Jesus is The Word of Righteousness (5:11-6:12)… we cannot move into the reality of Jesus unmaking or re-making everything without understanding righteousness.

   ·      Jesus is a better promise. (6:13-20)

   ·      Jesus is a better priest. (7:1-28)

   ·      Jesus is a better covenant. (8:1-13)

   ·      Jesus is a better tabernacle (9:1-28)

   ·      Jesus is a better sacrifice. (10:1-18)

·      Wrapping up the WORD OF RIGHTEOUSNESS

o   We find, both inside and outside the church, an extraordinary ignorance of who Jesus really was, what we should believe about God and the world, how the entire Christian story makes sense, what the Bible actually contains, and how individuals fit into it, and how our thoughts and lives should be transformed by the power of the gospel.

o   Faith and work

§  Nothing we can do can earn God’s favor. Grace remains grace. God loves us because He loves us, not because we manage to do a few things to impress him, or to notch up a few points on the heavenly scoreboard.

§  But, the NT insists that what Christians do, having already been grasped by God’s free love and grace, and relying in faith on further grace for every step of the way, matters a great deal.

§  The energy to do all that we are called to do comes itself from God working within us in the power of the Spirit.

(Mirror 219) The mature are those who know the difference between the shadow and the substance: between the futility of the law of works and willpower to work righteousness, and righteousness revealed by the faith of God in the finished work of Christ.

Jesus is the WORD OF RIGHTEOUSNESS

He’s a better promise! (not “better than” HE is the better promise!)

The Promise of Salvation

   ·      Hebrews 6:9

   ·      Ephesians 1:13-14

KEY VERSES:  6:13 For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, 14 saying, “Surely I will bless you and multiply you.”

Notes

   ·      Read 6:13-20

   ·      Many of us are not making the spiritual progress that we should, but we need not fear condemnation (Romans 8:1).

o   God’s promise (13-15)

o   Gods oath (16-18)

o   God’s Son (19-20)

o   His promise of righteousness is HIMSELF!

   ·      There are 2 facts that make it impossible to prove God wrong:

o   The promise of redemption sustained throughout Scripture

o   The fulfillment of that promise in Jesus

·      (WW) Believers must go on to maturity, and God has made it possible for us to do so. If we start to drift from the Word (2:1-4), then we will also start to doubt the Word (3:7-4:13). Before long, we will get dull toward the Word (5:11-6:20) and become lazy believers. The best way to keep from drifting is to lay hold of the anchor! Anchor heavenward! How much more secure can you (your salvation)be?!

     

   ·      Christian faith is trusting – and going on trusting through thick and thin – in the God who made unbreakable promises and will certainly keep them.

Our ANCHOR will release us into bold FAITH:

   ·      Matthew 10:16-31

   ·      James 1:2-4

   ·      1 John 5:4-5

   ·      Jesus is our promised righteousness better than any other promise… made by God and ratified in Himself.

   ·      This frees us to live through His perspective and not our own.

(NTW) We are not promised that there won’t be any storms. Indeed, the provision of a secure anchor implies that there will be. What we are promised is that we will be kept safe.

Another thought on anchoring in Jesus.

   ·      The sermon on the mount (Matthew 5-7)

   ·      Beatitudes: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness (5:6)

   ·      Your righteousness must be better than the Pharisees (5:17-20). Jesus fulfills the law in order to be able to give us His righteousness.

   ·      Seek my Kingdom and Righteousness (6:33) and the ability to live the life described in Matthew 5-6 are yours because Jesus will be living through you.

   ·      ANCHOR in His teaching on this and your foundation will be firm (7:24-29)

HEBREWS 7

·      Now the author is free to take us deeper into the understanding of Melchizedek that he introduced all the way back in chapter 5.