Sermons
The Triune God is a creative, life-giving God. He created at the beginning, and brings the beginnings of a new creation at the incarnation of Christ. The Spirit points to this work and the Person of Christ, and we, who are called by the Spirit, ought to follow His leading.
Often it can seem like the world is full of darkness, chaos, and hopelessness, but God has sent his light into that darkness, Jesus Christ. God sovereignly works for the good of his people and his glory in the midst of and in spite of circumstances. He works through a Wonderful Counselor, a Mighty God, an Everlasting Father, a Prince of Peace.
The overarching message of the book of Hebrews is that Christ is better and that truth ought to drive the way we live out our faith. We don't have faith in a kingdom that is shaken. The kingdom to which we fix our eyes is an unshakeable one because its king is an unshakeable God.
Faith in Christ is no promise of comfort and ease. When difficulties and challenges arise followers of Christ must be resolved to push forward with their eyes fixed on Christ. Additionally, Christ-followers must avoid bitterness to arise from the challenges and be shaped by holy grace.
No good father would allow his child to continue on a path that leads to destruction and not offer correction. Our good Father, God, disciplines and corrects us for our good. The hardship and pain that we feel in this life are good for us as we seek to live lives pleasing to God.
God calls us to run the race of faith with endurance. There is guarantee that race will be easy. In fact, our race is wed to Jesus' race, which climaxed in the cross. Hence, to run the race with endurance, we must fix our eyes upon Jesus.
Faith always triumphs. That triumph may be a visible victory, or it may be an invisible victory through hardship and suffering. It always triumphs because our faith is not in the performance of our faith. It is in something better, Jesus Christ.
Faith is looking beyond what is seen and trusting in what is unseen. In this sermon, we see that the Patriarchs, Moses' parents, and Moses looked beyond their circumstances and to the fulfillment of God's promises in Christ.
Faith looks beyond our present circumstances and looks to Christ and the promises of God, which means that the decisions that we make in the here and now should be guided by our faith in the future grace of God.
In this text, we learn that the reward for our faith is God himself. However, as fallen people, the only way we can please God is through a dependence upon his grace and mercy exercised by faith.