Hebrews – Msg #09 “What Was Said Before Anticipates What God Says in Christ”

I. Introduction

  • Hebrews argues that Jesus is the representative man on the throne of God, qualified to be a high priest (Heb. 4:14-16)
  • The main point of Hebrews is that Christ is the high priest to bring believers into rest (Heb. 4:1-11)

II. Christ’s Enthronement and Present Work

  • Christ is the heir of all things and has inherited the great salvation (Heb. 1:2-4)
  • Christ’s present work is to build out the body of Christ to be the habitation of God (Eph. 2:19-22)
  • Christ ministers himself to believers, renewing them in the knowledge of himself and providing himself as bread and wine (Heb. 10:19-22)
  • Christ’s heavenly ministry is a ministry of washing, not about sins, but about putting off the old things that seek to thwart enjoyment of him (Heb. 9:11-14)

III. The Positive Salvation in Hebrews

  • Salvation in Hebrews is positive, not just negative (Heb. 2:1-4)
  • It is an inheritance to be enjoyed today and in the ages to come (Heb. 9:15)
  • The rest points to Christ as our rest, a present enjoyment of Christ, and a foretaste of the ages to come (Heb. 4:3)

IV. The Temptation to Shrink Back

  • The Jewish people were tempted to shrink back from their position as heirs of Christ in the Holy of Holies by faith in the blood (Heb. 10:19-25)
  • The emphasis in Hebrews is not on sin, but on unbelief, fear, and shrinking back to old things based on an incomplete knowledge of what’s been provided in Christ (Heb. 5:11-6:3)
  • The need is to be established in present truth, not just on what God said before, but what God is saying now (Heb. 13:7-9)

Topics for Further Study:

  1. The high priesthood of Christ and his present work for us
  2. The positive and negative aspects of salvation in Hebrews
  3. The inheritance of the rest and the present enjoyment of Christ
  4. The difference between good and evil in Hebrews
  5. The progressive revelation of truth in the Bible
  6. The roles of Abraham, Isaac, and Eleazar as types of the Father, Christ, and the Holy Spirit.

Test your understanding:

  1. According to the text, how did God speak to the fathers in former times?
  2. Who is the means of God’s speaking directly to us now?
  3. What is the sum of God’s speaking?
  4. Who reveals who God is?
  5. What is righteousness according to the text?
  6. What is the great salvation spoken of in Hebrews?
  7. What is the job of the high priest according to the order of Melchizedek?
  8. What is the emphasis in Hebrews?
  9. What is the main subject of Hebrews?
  10. Who is the book of Hebrews for?

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