Daily Meditations

Hebrews 2:16 The descendants of Abraham The writer here is still contemplating the theme of chapter 1 of his letter, that Jesus Christ is superior to all the angels, that He has been proved to be the Son of God and that He reigns supreme over all created beings. The death that Jesus died, the shame that He suffered the awful events on the cruel cross at Calvary, were all undertaken for mankind. It was as a substitute for the death of men and women that He came to die, it was humanity that He came to save, not angelic beings. The generic term used here is “Abraham’s descendants” which may have a broader implication than many people realise. Firstly, Abraham’s descendants refers, of course, to the nation of Israel.  “ The LORD had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you,...

Hebrews 2:15 No more fear of death! The Apostle Paul deals with the subject of death, and the fear that it holds for all created human beings, in a dramatic passage in 1 Corinthians 15: 53-57. Here, he explains that we are all perishable beings, that we are clothed with mortality and will never have the means of cheating the inevitability of death. However, in verse 53, he explains that because of Jesus, our mortality has been clothed with immortality and that which is destined to perish is now imperishable. Thus, death has been conquered, the victory of Christ Jesus over death has been made available to all people, and those who believe and accept the salvation of Christ are no longer threatened by the inevitability of the grave. All fear and anxiety about our ultimate destiny as human beings has been removed!  Death has an odour about it, it is the final and ultimate end of all human life however good or bad we may have been, we all must face this appointment with the grave. But,...

Hebrews 2:14 Death is broken! t’s amazing to consider what Jesus was prepared to go through in order to become identified with us as humans. If we are the children of God and potentially the brothers and sisters of Yeshua, then we must be born like Him and become like Him! That is physically and spiritually impossible for there is no human way of elevating ourselves to His status. So instead, He lowered Himself to ours, He became human and shared in our humanity. The only things that are common to all human beings are birth and death, neither of which we have any control over (unless you believe in abortion, suicide or euthanasia!). Jesus chose to become like us, to be born as a human amongst us and then to face the greatest horror of them all, the grasping, inevitable tentacles of death. Death is the ultimate penalty for sin, it is not the unavoidable price of being human, we were NOT created by God to die! Paul puts it like this,  “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through...

Hebrews 2:13 I will put my trust in Him The words quoted in this verse come directly from Isaiah 8:17-18. “ I will wait for the Lord, who is hiding His face from the descendants of Jacob. I will put my trust in Him. Here am I, and the children the Lord has given me. We are signs and symbols in Israel from the Lord Almighty, who dwells on Mount Zion.”  These words were written by the prophet at a time of great anxiety and upheaval in the land of Israel, Isaiah was well aware of the looming threat of the Assyrian army who were soon to invade the northern kingdom. In the midst of this turmoil, the prophet comforted Ahaz, the king of Judah in the south, and in fact Isaiah fathered a son at this time whom he called Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz which mean “Quick to the plunder.”  The words from Isaiah 8, quoted above, are taken by the writer of Hebrews and attributed to Jesus. We are being told that He put His trust and dependence in the Lord God. Jesus was the fulfilment of everything tha...

Hebrews 2:12 The mission of Christ Psalm 22, written by David, explores in amazing detail, the suffering of Jesus at His crucifixion and allows us to understand a little of what that sacrificial act cost Him, physically, mentally and also spiritually. After a plaintive plea to God, to save Him from the onslaught of His enemies, the Lord Jesus makes an astonishing vow to His Father. A vow that involves you and me.  “I will declare Your name to my people; in the assembly I will praise you.”  V22. Here in Hebrews “my people” becomes “my brothers and sisters.” The Greek word is “adelphoi” and it embraces all believers who are part of God’s family. It’s a word that occurs in several other places in the Bible when describing the intimate relationship of the true church with Jesus Christ.  In His deepest moments of suffering on the cross, Jesus pledged to His Father to declare His name to His people and “wow” how He has kept His promise! Think about it, we would not have an...

Hebrews 2:11 The Holy Family! Are you holy? Am I holy? I don’t feel like I am, in fact I know that I am still a sinful, human creature, and yet… And yet, by some miraculous means, God sees the seal of His Son and His Spirit in us and chooses to overlook our sin and accept our deep faith in the redeeming work of Jesus Christ, as a substitute for our failure. This is extraordinary, beyond belief, but it is also the terms of the New Covenant and the contract that was signed and sealed at the Cross. Somehow, the incredible truth of the previous verse takes on a reality that is life-transforming. Jesus the Christ, Son of the living God, has elevated us to positions of high favour and honour, we are deemed to be rightful members of the most exclusive family in heaven and on earth. We are the brothers and sisters of Jesus for He has made us as holy as He is holy! All sin and wickedness have been wiped clean from the charge sheets that condemned us, and we are accepted in the Kingdom of Heaven...