A Kingdom of Priests (18)

 Advent

Meditating on Hebrews Chapter Two, one of the great Advent passages in the Bible:

 

In verses 1 – 4 we read the first of many warnings in Hebrews; let’s note the phrase, “so great a salvation.” How great is this salvation? Consider 2:15, we have been freed from the fear of death. Also ponder 2:16 – 17; God is bringing many sons (and daughters) to glory, and we have one Father with our Lord Jesus, and for this reason Jesus is not ashamed to call us His brethren. (Are we ashamed to call Him our Brother?)

 

This is indeed a “great salvation.” To be freed from the fear of death, to be called “brethren” by Jesus Christ, to have the same Father as Jesus Christ, to realize that our Father is “brining many sons to glory” through Jesus Christ – surely this is a “great salvation.”

 

Why the warning then? Why the warning not to disobey this message? I suppose that, contrary to all common sense and logic, we have the warning because our propensity is to disobey this glorious message. How so?

 

Well, do we not disobey it by not preaching and teaching it? How often have we heard messages that we are the brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ? That we are of one Father with Jesus Christ? That the Father is brining many sons and daughters to glory in Jesus Christ? Is this our framework, our motif, our understanding who Jesus Christ is and who we are in Him? As you look back over the messages you’ve heard, perhaps the messages that you yourself have spoken, is this foundational reality in Christ woven into your experience?

 

And then there is the question, “Are we living in this foundational reality, is it woven into the ground of our being?” That is, are we living in this world as Christ Jesus lives in this world? Are we one with Him and the Father in incarnational expression, can we say that to see the Body of Christ is to see Jesus Christ? Are we living as the sons and daughters of God at work, at school, in our families, our neighborhoods, at recreation, in entertainment…in all aspects of life?

 

Are we on mission with the Firstborn Son?

 

As we living in the Priesthood of our High Priest? Are we living as holy and royal priests in Him? Are we offering ourselves to God as both priests and sacrifices?

 

Consider that Chapter Two is a foundational stone for what follows in Hebrews, and what follows is to be read as sons and daughters, as priests…not read as strangers to the Family, not read as those outside the Priesthood of Melchizedek, not read as those outside the Priesthood of Jesus Christ.  

 

In Hebrews 2:12 we read, “I will proclaim Your Name to My brethren, in the midst of the congregation I will sing Your praise.” This is from Psalm 22:22, in which we see not only the Crucifixion but also the Resurrection, and the fruit of the Resurrection is a “seed that will serve Him” (22:30), a transcendent generation in Him and the Father. (See John 12:23 – 26).

 

And so Jesus teaches us to pray, “Our Father.” And so Jesus says, “…go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God’” (John 20:17). And so Jesus says, “I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me…” (John 17:6).

 

Jesus Christ came to call His brothers and sisters home (John 16:25 – 30).

 

What are we to do with the freedom that Jesus has purchased for us? We are to be on mission as He is on mission. We are to lay our lives down as He has laid His life down. We are to serve in His Priesthood. We are to offer ourselves as He has offered Himself. We are to humble ourselves as He has humbled Himself. We are to know Him in the koinonia of His sufferings. As He walked this earth to participate in the Father’s bringing many sons to glory, so ought we to live. As Jesus proclaims the Name of the Father to us, so are we to proclaim the Name of the Father to others.

 

Let us make no mistake, as the Father sent Jesus, even so Jesus sends us (John 17:18, 20:21). Let us not be so foolish as to ignore the warning of Hebrews 2:1 – 4. Let us not be afraid to teach the Scriptures.

 

And let us ponder, that if Jesus was perfected through sufferings (speaking of His humanity) Hebrews 2:10, 5:8 – 9; ought we not to embrace this aspect of cruciform living, so that we might be “partakers of His holiness” (12:10)?

 

Is Advent continuing in us, His People?