Thursday, November 17, 2022

            As we approach the end of the New Testament, we find the book of Hebrews.  The primary theme of this book is the superiority of Jesus and the work that He completed through His life, death and resurrection.  There is no real consensus about who wrote this book.  People have suggested the author could be Paul, Barnabas, Apollos, Luke and a host of other first-century Christians.  Rather early in this book, the writer makes an argument for the superiority of Christ to Moses or any other luminary or leader from the Old Testament and Israel’s history.  “Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself. For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything. “Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s house,” bearing witness to what would be spoken by God in the future. But Christ is faithful as the Son over God’s house. And we are his house, if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory” (Hebrews 3:3-6).  A few lessons or truths about Christ stand out for us to see.
            First, we can see Christ as a builder.  He is the foundation for the house of faith that God has created the finished work of the Son at the cross and the empty tomb.  There is no greater foundation for faith than the one we find in Christ.  As amazing as the Church may be through the centuries, the builder is of even greater acclaim and esteem. 
            Second, Christ did greater work than Moses.  The venerated leader of the Exodus did the work of God in rallying and leading Israel out of Egyptian slavery and captivity.  He received the Law of God.  He pleaded with God to be gracious and kind to Israel even when the nation was in rebellion and defiance against him.  Though Moses did not enter the Promised Land, he led the people to the frontier of it.  But Christ did even more.  Christ satisfied the justice and wrath of God and made the way to God open for all—Jews and Gentiles alike.  Christ canceled sin’s penalty and made the way open for resurrection and ever-lasting life. 
            Third, we are the new creation that Christ has made.  In Christ, the new has come and the old has departed.  As this new creation, we live in new ways and we live in ways that serve as examples of the power that Christ has at work in us.  Hebrews 3:15 says, “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.”  When we see that we have grown hardened, bitter or jaded in some way, the Lord calls us back to His healing and purifying grace.  The old battles and scars do not need to linger in us or on us.  They do not need to turn us into something we will likely regret.  These old scars do not need to carry us back to a time of division and discord from which Christ has freed us.  We are to live into the new life that the Lord has bought and won for us through His death and resurrection.
            And fourth, we hold on to the hope and confidence that we have in Christ.  He is Lord of all—life, battles, trials, the present and the future.  We place our faith in Him to protect us and to fight for us.  Moses told the people of Israel that the Lord would fight for them that they only needed to be still and behold His glory.  We trust that the Lord is our warrior and champion today as He wins the battle for us.  Have a great Thursday!  Remember to join us this Sunday for our Harvest of Thanks Day as we catch up on our tithes and offerings, worship, study the Bible and gather our collection for the Cabarrus Women’s Center and our shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child.  Remember you can worship any time at             https://www.youtube.com/@FirstBaptistKannapolis/streams.