It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

As Christians, we know that we are forgiven A LOT. We have been given relief from shame and guilt because Jesus was punished for all we have done wrong. We know that, and we live that. Yet, do you live that out in your daily life? Or do you take for granted the freedom Christ bought for us? These following verses are a stark warning for those of us who are not living out the fullness of the freedom from sin that has been purchased. Are you one who is falling ‘into the hands of the living God’?;

if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, *27*but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. *28*Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. *29*How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? *30*For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” *31*It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Hebrews 10:26-31

 These are pretty harsh words right? If you go on intentionally sinning, then you will encounter the wrath of God - Are you putting yourself in that scary position?

If you consider yourself a follower of God, yet continue to knowingly do things wrong, go against what He asks you to do - then you are sinning. You are trampling the Son Of God, and you will encounter the Father’s anger about that. You have been enlightened as to a better way, so why would you keep ignoring it?

Today is a chance for you to change. If you know there are thing in your life that you wouldn’t want anyone else to find out about, that you convince yourself aren’t that bad, or if it doesn’t hurt anyone it doesn’t matter, then know tat God sees. God cares. God has given you a way out - so why aren’t you taking it?
If you continue to sin then you are intentionally offending God, that brings consequences as you are effectively demonstrating that Jesus’ sacrifice wasn’t enough. It may of been enough for some things in your life to change, but is it enough even for the hidden things? How much do you trust that Jesus has covered it all? How much faith do you actually have that God is bigger than it all?

These verses serve as a harsh warning, but some of us need waking up! God, through these verses is showing that new life is possible. You do not have permission to keep on going the wrong way, to continue to offend Him. Jesus covered it all, but you need to start living differently. The writer of Hebrews clearly points out that if you are sinning and you know it, then you will ‘fall into the hands of the living God’, and you have, ‘trampled underfoot the Son of God’. God is a God of love, but how do you think He will react when he sees you making a mockery of His son’s death?

Be warned.

You will face God one day.

How will He respond when He sees you?

Let us...

Through Hebrews we have discovered the necessity of Jesus’ death. It was required in order for true freedom and restoration to be inherited by his followers. So, what is your response to that? How can you respond to so great a gift?

Hebrews 10 encourages and exhorts us as follows:

22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. *23*Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. *24*And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, *25*not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. 
Hebrews 10:22-25

Did you notice the phrase, ‘Let us’ is repeated three times? Whenever anything is repeated in any text it draws attention and indicates significance. So, what is the relevance of the words, ‘let us’? These words suggests that we have permission to do what follows, and we are invited or encouraged to partake in what follows. As Jesus has left to us his great inheritance, our response should be to;

‘Draw near with a true heart’
‘Hold fast’
‘Stir up one another’

This is the expectation. As a follower of Jesus, it is your responsibility to do these things, so what do they involve? Let us have a closer look….

‘let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith’

You have permission, freedom and an invitation to get close to God. We can get into His presence because Jesus has paid the sacrifice to make you pure, isn’t that exciting?! You are clean, cleansed, free from ALL sin! Therefore you are encouraged into the presence of God, not to stay at a distance, but invited in as close as you can get! WOW!
So, how close are you?
What do you do in your everyday life to get closer to God? How’s your prayer life? How often do you read the Bible? Discuss Scripture with others? Do you take part in fellowship with other believers? Are you active in your faith? Are you taking opportunities to grow? Are you desiring to get to know the King of heaven better?

‘Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.’

‘Hold fast’. Be steadfast. Persevere. Keep going. Don’t quit.
Life gets hard, you may get doubtful (even Jesus closest friends did), attacked for your faith, but HOLD FAST - Remember the hope God has given you because, ‘he who promised is faithful’. Other things will let you down, but God won’t. When the tough gets going, keep going.

‘let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works’

The final exhortation of this passage is to; encourage, challenge and inspire others. You have the opportunity to build people’s faith. To support them to grow, and inspire them to trust God in new ways. Do you do that?
This kind of goes against the culture that we live in where everyone is out for the best for themselves, self-promotion and self-elevation. This verse encourages us to bring out the best in others not ourselves.
Are you actively inspiring and supporting other believers? Do you ‘stir up’ people to act out their faith in new and brave ways?

So, today as you ponder these things, is there a personal challenge that is brought to mind where you can get closer to God? Is there an encouragement to keep on going even when times are tough? Or are you inspired to support others in faith?

‘Let us’ as a result of the love and sacrifice of Jesus make a difference to this world through the outworking of our faith and the demonstrated love we have for God and one another.

why did Jesus have to die?

The main crux of the christian faith is that we sinful humans are released from all our wrongs because of the death and resurrection of the son of God, Jesus. Jesus repaired the rift between us and God, caused by sin, by being beaten and crucified.

Have you ever wondered though - why did Jesus have to die? 

Why did human blood have to be shed in order for the relationship between God and man to be fixed?

I have been a christian for many years and just simply accepted that God knows what He is doing even if I don’t understand it. So, I confess, I never really understood why it had to be that Jesus was required to die. I understand the symmetry between his death and the death of sin, yet even then It seems extreme and cruel. Also, the whole Earthly life of Jesus was about his death. That was the purpose of his time on this world, to  be the perfect heavenly man, and then be killed. Doesn’t that sound like a tragedy rather than the event we celebrate it to be?

So, why did Jesus have to die? I know, as you may do too, that the Jews offered animals as sacrifices throughout the Old Testament to atone for sin, they had to give regularly. When Jesus came, he was the ultimate sacrifice - once for all - he has covered all sin once through his death. As he died no more animal sacrifices are required, his one offering was enough for all eternity, which is pretty incredible!

Yet, still, why did Jesus have to die? What was it that made it necessary? Surely the measures outlined above are not it? They don’t seem a big enough issue to change the whole of the faith system let alone justify the torture and murder of an innocent, perfect, holy man.

Well, you see, God does see and know more than us, and we are right to trust Him, because He is not cruel nor unjust, He always had a plan and a purpose, this is it;

‘he (Jesus) is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant. *16*For where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established. *17*For a will takes effect only at death, since it is not in force as long as the one who made it is alive.’
Hebrews 9:15-17

Now, that makes sense - God had made a will. His  promise was for a new way, a gift of freedom from sin forever, and just lie a will - this promise can only come into effect when the one who has made the assurances within it dies. Therefore Jesus had to die.

Jesus, the son of God, was involved in the creation of all things; the universe, people, animals, the Old Covenant. So, in order for that way of doing things to be changed, ‘the death of the one who made it must be established.’ That is Jesus. He was around at the formation of the world as well as at the formation of the covenant, ‘without him (Jesus) nothing was made that has been made’ (John 1).

Jesus saw that the Old Covenant did not give a finality or full restoration to God, so there was a greater plan, a will that was formed. A promise for the future generations to benefit by, everlasting restoration. Yet it cannot come into being until, ‘the death of the one who made it’.

Therefore, Jesus had to die. He couldn’t of just died naturally either, where would the sacrifice of been in that? Jesus had to die in order for the will to be fulfilled and come into effect, yet the atonement for sin requires sacrifice. Jesus had to endure the weight of the world’s sin on his shoulders and suffer separation from God for a time in order to be able to restore our broken relationship with God.

Jesus had to die. He had made a will, a promise, a covenant and assurance to all humanity. Jesus passed onto us a rich inheritance, and he was tortured, beaten, murdered to give it to us. Jesus died so that his promises could be realised.
Without Jesus horrific death nothing would have changed. The will, the promises made throughout the Scriptures would not yet be realised because the ‘will’ would not be in effect.

You have the privilege of freedom, you have the gift of eternal life, you have a relationship waiting for you - do you accept it?

what's your everyday focus?

‘when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) *12*he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.’
Hebrews 9:11-12

The new era of Christ means that now, believers in the One true God have; good things, a greater and more perfect form of worship and relationship as well as 'eternal redemption'! Wow!

So, what have we to really be worried about?! Do you, like me, ever get caught up with the trivial worries of this world? In light of the verses above, any concerns we have on Earth don’t really compare, do they? I know things in this world are important, but should they be most important?

Can you imagine if you lived more of your life considering the ‘greater and more perfect’ life Jesus got for you, how your life would be? What concerns would you be free of? What responsibilities would you lay down? How much of your workload would you take home? How much time would you spend in front of the TV or out shopping?

If you believe in God today, and recognise that Jesus is the only way you can be free from sin, if you know that and are determined to live your life with him in it, then do you realise who have ‘an eternal redemption’?
An incredible gift has been given to you, one that will never run out, wear away or go obsolete, it is an everlasting salvation. So, how much time are you paying attention to that in your everyday life? Everything else that consumes our time; work, hobbies, people, expectation, houses, gadgets, even this very bodies, these things will all fade away and die. They will all end, yet we are given something that is more perfect and greater than all these things that will last beyond our earthly years. We are promised complete and utter release from sin. Forever.

How much time do you spend considering this? How often do you even stop to appreciate this absolution from sin?

Jesus has brought your freedom. His own blood was spilled so you can be redeemed. It is an eternal, never-ending, everlasting, continual, redemption. Anything you’ve ever done wrong is covered, anything you’re doing wrong right now is covered, anything you’ll do in the future is covered.

You have an eternal inheritance that you can start enjoying now. If you live in the knowledge of your ‘eternal redemption’ everyday, imagine what your life would be like….