Episode Transcript
Hebrews 10
23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful;
Holding fast
Jesus paid the only offering necessary for our salvation and citizenship in His kingdom. Therefore, it is our great liberty to approach God. God has not given us burden upon burden of religious ritual or work like the world does. Instead, He has given us freedom in Christ because of Christ’s work. We can boldly approach God’s throne. We don’t have to question our salvation based on our merit because God is good. With childlike faith, we leap forward into the Father’s open arms.
Based on these truths, the author of Hebrews invites us to hold fast without wavering. This invitation is a little intimidating, but very empowering for believers in Jesus Christ. To think of one’s self standing tall on truth and principle, refusing to stand down, and professing the truth with courage and boldness is to envision our part of the work of God on this earth. Up until now, we’ve seen what Jesus has done. We’ve seen that He does all the work of salvation. He does all the work of our redemption. He does all the work necessary to bring us into His kingdom. Now, the author lays some responsibility on our shoulders.
Let us hold fast without wavering.
Strength, courage, boldness, and gravitas are Christian qualities that the Holy Spirit develops in His people. Scripture calls us to be meek. It calls us to act with gentleness and respect. But, we are never instructed to be weak or timid—especially when it comes to our confession.
Our Confession
What is our confession? Do we hold fast to it because it’s moving and we don’t want to be left behind, or because we are moving and carrying it with us? The author calls this the confession of our hope.
What is our hope? Is it that we will get to Heaven? Is it merely that we may escape the torcher of Hell? Does our hope have to do with the victory of a certain political party or the numerical growth of our church? Do we hope Jesus will lead us into some kind of influential position on this earth?
When I observe the modern-day church, I wonder if we even know what our hope is.The hope of most religion is to avoid some version of Hell and get into some version of Heaven. Most human religion gives us a punishment-reward system that is very selfish in nature. I am religious because I want to earn some place in some kingdom. That’s not biblical Christianity. Our message isn’t, “Do this thing if you want to go to Heaven.” Our message means much more than that. The best way I can remind us of the message is to briefly recap the biblical narrative.
Creation
God created everything and called it very good. He created people in His own image to multiply and fill the earth. In Jeremiah 33:2 tells us that God formed the earth to establish it. He wasn’t finished with mere creation. He wanted to make something more meaningful and perfect out of what He created. Thus, He created people to steward and make something from His natural resources.
Fall
People abused God’s good gifts. They squandered their inheritance and sought their own righteousness instead of God’s. Works-based, selfish religion was born in Genesis 3. In seeking their own glory and righteousness, people turned away from the source of life—God. In turning from the source of life, they earned death.
Noah
Since people wanted to rule, God gave people the earth to rule over for 120 years. Every intent of the human heart was only wicked, or selfish, all the time. The condition of the world got so bad under human authority that in order to save the world, God had to flood it. He chose one righteous family to save on an ark and justly removed injustice from the face of the earth.
Abraham and Israel
Later, God chose Abraham from among the pagan people of the world to build a national people for Himself. This national people on the face of the earth in the midst of pagan nations is chosen to be a blessing to all the families of the earth on God’s behalf.
Advent
The ultimate blessing comes when the Messiah, Jesus, was born a descendant of Abraham and Israel. He came to bring peace and save the world.
Crucifixion and Resurrection
Jesus accepted humanity’s death-sentence to atone for the sin of the whole world so people could finally have peace with God. In John 3, Jesus claimed to have come to save the world, not condemn it.
New Testament Church
The New Testament church was established by Jesus through the Apostles. It was commanded to love like Jesus loved and to make disciples of Jesus to the ends of the earth. It is prophesied that, as we make disciples of Jesus, peace will come, people will live longer, and people will be fulfilled on the earth.
Return of Jesus
When Jesus returns, Heaven and Earth will be made new. Death will have been defeated, and God will dwell with His people on the earth.
This is a very brief version of the Biblical story, but we can see the single basic theme, and the most basic concept in biblical theology. Without God, people destroy the world with their selfish agendas. God is interested in saving the world and redeeming people. Our purpose was to make something wonderful of this world God gave us. We chose selfishness instead—which ultimately leads to the destruction of the good world God gave us. God is interested not in simply removing us. He is interested in redeeming us, restoring our purpose, and saving the whole world.
Worldly religion gets this backwards by trying to shame people into submission, using Hell as a tactic to scare people into making better decisions, or promising paradise to those who work for it according to a certain religious standard. People trapped in those sorts of religious paradigms can’t see how oxymoronic it is to say that God is sovereign but somehow needs us to behave properly to get us to Heaven. If He is sovereign, He doesn’t rely on us for anything.
The true and biblical Christian hope is different. It is that God will redeem His people, restore our purpose, make us satisfied in this life, redeem the world, and one day dwell on the earth with His people forever. Christianity is not the selfish pursuit of some ethereal reward or mansion in Heaven. It never was. From a proper Christian worldview, we aren’t just waiting for Heaven. We have an active role in seeing the kingdom of God envelop the whole earth, which is why the author of Hebrews invites us to hold fast the confession of our hope.
For whatever reason, God has chosen to intrust His people with the confession. We aren’t holding on for dear life as the confession drags us around. God, in His goodness, has given us the opportunity to stand tall with courage and sincerity as we march forth with the message of His Gospel—carrying the confession with us as we all go without wavering from it in our action or proclamation. By His grace, we will do just that.
We want to raise strong men and women of the faith, not the weak, feeble, and selfish people being raised by the world and in worldly religion and atheism.
God’s faithfulness
Why can we be strong, confident, bold, and courageous as we hold fast to our confession? He who promised truth and life to us is faithful. The whole biblical narrative proves His faithfulness to His people. I have experienced His faithfulness, even when I questioned, doubted, or sinned against Him. The Christian religion is not about us trying to be perfect all the time. We have childlike faith because God is the faithful one. He will never leave us or forsake us. So, we march forward boldly with utter faith in the only truly faithful God. He will not withhold what is good from His children. He will finish the work He started. He is not like the finicky false gods of Islam or Hinduism. He is surer than the atheist who is blown to and fro by the winds of change. The true God is good and will never leave or forsake His people for any reason.
As local churches, this means our agenda is set. We are not to be about our own small plans for building or expanding our own ministries, services, or influence. We are about the gospel of Jesus Christ. In our proclamation of the hope we share, we trust God to be good. As a church, we stand with boldness, courage, and faith in God as we proclaim His explicit words instead of trying to form the church in our small images or place ourselves on pedestals that don’t belong to us. Church is a God glorified, man justified, and world sanctified movement. Will we be part of it by holding fast the confession of our hope? Or, will we cower away until the return of Christ, selfishly trying to build something momentary for ourselves?
