Finding Peace through Grace - Hebrews 12:14-29

We’re entering the final words – the final message – of our study through Hebrews. Chapters 3-12:13 built a phenomenal argument for Jesus’ identity. The author covered every aspect as he taught us that Jesus was the fulfillment of the promised Messiah. I encourage you to read Hebrews 12:14-29 before continuing with this section.

Click picture for a printable handout for this section

Don’t we all long for a world of peace? Wouldn’t life be so much simpler without war, discontent, and violence? Yet, they are an inevitable and constant part of our world.

Despite their inevitability, God says “Pursue peace with everyone, and holiness – without it no one will see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14). Despite our culture of conflict, God tells us to pursue peace. He doesn’t let us off the hook. He calls us to pursue peace with everyone – an outward attempt that strives to bring peace to all of our relationships. He calls us to holiness – an upward attempt that strives to bring peace to our relationship with God.

Peace is hard sometimes but probably not as hard as we try to make it. We find peace with God and others through grace. We accept God’s grace to find peace with God; we extend God’s grace to find peace with others. That’s it. It’s a simple concept but one that’s hard to live out in the real world.

Accept God’s grace. Let me emphasize this point for a second. We don’t earn God’s grace. We don’t buy God’s grace. We don’t even have to wait for it. He’s given it to every single last one of us. It’s poured out and waiting for you to receive it. The only way we can fall short of the grace of God is to not accept it.

What might keep us from accepting God’s grace?

Root of Bitterness (12:15)
The mention of a root of bitterness ties back to Deuteronomy 29:16-21, specifically verse 18. “Be sure there is no man, woman, clan, or tribe among you today whose heart turns away from the Lord our God to go and worship the gods of those nations. Be sure there is no root among you bearing poisonous and bitter fruit” (Deuteronomy 29:18). In the midst of an admonition against idolatry, God commands the people to watch out for and avoid the growth of poisonous and bitter fruit. Note that the problem isn’t the idolatry. Seeking after false gods is the effect of a worse problem – a heart that has turned away from God due to the growth of a root of bitterness.

If we allow bitterness – especially bitterness toward God – to take root and grow in our life then we will soon replace the one true God with false idols within the sanctuary of our hearts. We will no longer be accepting God’s grace as we turn away from Him and turn toward the impotent, insatiable idols of this world.

Immorality and Irreverence (12:16-17)
These verses tie back to Genesis 25:29-34 and the story of Esau who sold his birthright for a bowl of stew. Think about that – Esau’s birthright wasn’t only the property and riches he might inherit from his father, Isaac. Esau’s birthright was the promises made by Holy, Eternal God to Abraham who passed it down to Isaac. God spoke to Isaac, “I will confirm the oath that I swore to your Father Abraham. I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of the sky, I will give your offspring all these lands, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed by your offspring” (Genesis 26:3-4). We studied the promises in more detail in an earlier section.

Similar to our previous inhibition to accepting God’s grace, Esau’s story is an effect rather than a cause. Esau sold his God-given birthright for a bowl of stew but the greater problem was the heart within the man that led him to do such a thing. Esau was an immoral, irreverent man. He didn’t care about what was important – he held nothing as sacred or holy. We don’t see sexual immorality in the Genesis story but the author of Hebrews describes him as such. Immorality exemplifies Esau’s corrupt heart because sexual sin devalues what God has created as holy and set apart unto only one spouse. God chose Abraham’s descendants above all other nations of the earth; Esau tossed his inheritance aside like an abandoned wife in exchange for a moment of satisfaction from a bowl of stew. How cheap.

The immoral and irreverent don’t accept God’s grace because they don’t care at all about what God has given them. They take the holy, special gift of God’s promise and toss it aside for a moment of pleasure. They don’t repent because they don’t recognize the significant. They only shed tears because they don’t get what they want, not because they value what they have lost.

Focus on the Physical, not the Spiritual (12:18-27)
Our third inhibition to the acceptance of God’s grace is a focus on the physical, created world instead of the spiritual world of the Creator. The passage ties back to Exodus 19:9-25 and also Deuteronomy 4:11-12; 5:22-26. God called Moses to the top of Mount Sinai in order to give him the words of the law. While he was there, no other person or even an animal could touch the mountain. The consequence if they did was death. Hebrews describes the whole event as “terrifying” (Hebrews 12:21).

The author of Hebrews describes the event in four different ways that tie in with our senses and what is created. When the people came to Mount Sinai, they came…

• To what could be touched (touch)
• To a blazing fire (smell, sight, touch)
• To darkness, gloom, and storm (sight)
• To the blast of a trumpet and the sound of words (heard)

But the author of Hebrews tells us we have not come to Mount Sinai. We have not come to the created, to the law, to the fear and trembling, to the things of this earth. We have come to Mount Zion. The author continues by describing Mount Zion in seven different ways. In Hebrews 12:22-24, we have come…

• To the city of the living God
• To myriads of angels in festive gathering
• To the assembly of the firstborn whose names have been written in heaven
• To God who is the judge of all
• To the spirits of righteous people made perfect
• To Jesus the mediator of a new covenant
• To the sprinkled blood

Let’s compare these two mountains. The author used four descriptions for Mount Sinai and seven for Mount Zion. He has used the comparison of seven and four a few times throughout this book; each time the four shows us some aspect of creation and the earth whereas the seven shows us some aspect of the spiritual and the divine. We see the same thing here. Mount Sinai gave us the message of the earth – the Law. Mount Zion gives us the message of heaven – grace.

Even though the message of Mount Sinai was part of earth and creation, our rejection of it still had eternal consequences. If that’s the case, we can be confident that our rejection of the spiritual message from Mount Zion will have eternal consequences as well.

Those consequences will become apparent at some future date when God will shake things up a little bit. Well, more like a lot, actually. He will “shake not only the earth but also heaven” (Hebrews 12:26). When He shakes things up, the created will no longer stand. Our confidence can’t be in the things of earth, as they will all be gone. At that time, we better cling to the spiritual message of grace from Jesus because it is the only thing that will endure God’s shaking. Grace from Jesus cannot be shaken.

Hold on to Grace (13:28-29)

Let go of bitterness toward God and others.

Value and hold dear what is sacred and holy.

Rely on the spiritual work of the Creator, not on the creation.

Bitterness, irreverence, and the things of this world keep us from accepting God’s grace. They separate us from the relationship He so desperately longs for with us. However, when we overcome them and accept His grace then we finally find a way to live in peace. Without them, our God is a consuming fire because His wrath burns toward anything that separates us from Him.

This verse ties back to Deuteronomy 4:24. Moses lived a life in close communion with God. We’ve discussed it many times throughout this study – here, here, here, and here. However, even Moses messed up and had to face the consequences. His sin kept him from entering the earthly Promised Land. That experience led him to warn the people with a message very applicable to us today. Here’s my modern day paraphrase of Deuteronomy 4:21-24…

You’re about to enter the Promised Land. Not the physical one over in the Middle East but the spiritual one in the presence of Holy God. Don’t forget the covenant that God made with you when He died and resurrected back to life. That death – that covenant – made it possible for you to enter the Promised Land. Don’t go chasing after the immoral and the irreverent. Don’t replace a relationship with Him with impotent idols. Why? “For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God” (Deuteronomy 4:24).

You’re better off to hold on to grace. Only then will you find peace with God.

← Previous Section: The Struggle Against Sin    

Next Section: The Whole Picture →

The Struggle against Sin - Hebrews 12:1-13

Life is full of choices. We’ve been studying the most significant choice of our lives for the last several sections. The author of Hebrews laid out his case for Jesus’ deity, kingship, priesthood, and eternally sufficient sacrifice up through chapter ten. At that point, he told us we have to make a choice. We can either “draw near” or we can “deliberately sin.” He’s not going to force us one way or the other; the decision rests entirely on us. For those of us who choose to draw near, God calls us to endure until the end because Jesus is coming and we must live by faith until that happens.



Click picture for a printable handout for this section

We find ourselves at the beginning of chapter twelve facing more details about the lives of those who choose to draw near. It’s not an easy life; the heroes of the faith in chapter eleven witnessed to this fact. However, God’s given us a few advantages to help us as we journey by faith. I encourage you to start by reading Hebrews 12:1-13.

Who are the Witnesses? Why are they surrounding me? (12:1)

The witnesses are the heroes of the faith from chapter eleven; they are witnesses to an agreement made between God and us. The book of Hebrews calls that agreement a promise. Even more, the author of the book has been explaining it to us since chapter three. We discussed the promise in detail in an earlier section so I won’t review it again here.

They surround us as a memorial to our faith. We studied twelve groups and individuals whom God approved for their faith in the last three sections. Their stories took us from creation to the flood, from the flood to the law, and from the law to the Promised Land. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the detailed stories stop with the peoples’ entrance into the Promised Land. Here’s why…

The Israelites crossed the Jordan River to enter the Promised Land after wandering in the desert for forty years. “After the entire nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the Lord spoke to Joshua: ‘Choose 12 men from the people, one man for each tribe, and command them: Take 12 stones from this place in the middle of the Jordan where the priests are standing, carry them with you, and set them down at the place where you spend the night’” (Joshua 4:1-3).

The men did as Joshua instructed. “Joshua set up in Gilgal the 12 stones they had taken from the Jordan” (Joshua 4:20). The name Gilgal means wheel or a large circle of stones. The stones served as a memorial, in short, “that all the people of the earth may know that the Lord’s hand is mighty, and so that you may always fear the Lord your God” (Joshua 4:24).

Here’s how this connects with Hebrews 12:1 and our surrounding witnesses… The word for “surrounding” means to lay objects around something or to encircle it with those objects. Joshua laid the stones in a circle at Gilgal to remind the people that God is mighty and they were to fear Him as they entered the Promised Land. Likewise, God lays the witnesses around us to testify of His might and to remind us to fear Him – not our circumstances. In other words, to live by faith.

Their stories encircle – or surround – us as memorial stones. They stand as a witness to...

• the reality of our unseen hope,
• the reality of the promise in a future Promised Land, and
• the reality of our victory that defeats our fears.

How Should I Respond? (12:1-2)

God laid these witnesses of the faith in a circle surrounding us. His purpose in doing so calls for a change in each of us.

Lay These Aside
He laid the witnesses around us so we might lay aside the weight of our burden. Yes, this applies to many burdens but I think it specifically applies to one – the prominent, bulging mass of sin that weighs us down for eternity.

He surrounded us with witnesses so sin might not encircle us. The verse says, “the sin that so easily ensnares us” (Hebrews 12:1). The word for easily ensnares seems to be an extremely rare Greek word but it communicates the idea of something that is very good at surrounding something else. Sin is skilled at encircling us. However, God laid witnesses of faith around us so we can lay aside the sin that is so good at surrounding us.

Run the Race
Our second response to the witnesses of the faith is our willingness to run the race. It’s not an easy race; at times, it will take everything you’ve got and more. At times, you’ll only be able to put one foot in front of the other by the power and endurance of the Spirit working within you.

We run with our eyes focused on Jesus. He is the source of our faith and the One through whom our faith will come to perfect completion before the holy throne of God. The whole picture we’ve considered throughout this study is a focus on Him – the Alpha and the Omega. We don’t turn our head to the sin trying to encircle and ensnare us. We keep our eyes straight ahead just like Jesus did as He focused on the joy that lay before Him.

Take note of that a second… Jesus focused on the joy that lay before Him as He endured the cross and the shame. Jesus is God – He was present at creation, participated in the glory of the Father in eternity past, and delighted in the triune communion of Himself, the Father, and the Spirit. He had it all; what joy could He find in the suffering and shame of the cross? The only thing missing from the sinless, glorious perfection of heaven was us. The whole of humanity – God’s beloved creation – had rejected Him and separated themselves from Him. The love of the triune God was too powerful for that so it was with joy that Jesus kept His eyes on the cross before Him that He might restore our relationship with Him in the beauty of God’s eternal presence.

Why run the race? (12:2-4)

In short, we run the race because Jesus ran the race. We struggle against the problem of sin because He struggled against the problem of sin. He ran with His eyes focused on the joy of the cross. We run with our eyes focused on Him.

Jesus’ struggle against the problem of sin led to the shedding of His blood. Only His sinless blood was sufficient to sprinkle on the true altar of the heavenly sanctuary. As hard as our struggle may get, we haven’t endured to the point as did Jesus. No one has asked us to shed our blood to pay the debt of sin for all mankind.

Why the pain? (12:5-12)

We endure pain in our struggle against sin because God loves us; He wants us to come willingly to Him as a child. Part of that process is allowing us to feel pain in our sin struggle so we choose to turn away from it (repent) and turn toward Him. If we felt no pain in our struggle against sin, then we would never turn away from it. We would never leave our masochistic relationship with sin.

You know, I’ve wondered why Jesus had to endure the torment of a Roman flogging before they hung Him on the cross. His death was necessary for our sin atonement but why permit them to whip Him first? Turns out it was all a part of prophecy – Hebrews 12:6 quotes Proverbs 3:11-12 when it says “The Lord disciplines the one He loves and punishes every son He receives.” The Greek words for disciplines and punishes both contain the idea of scourging and flogging. Jesus struggle against sin endured flogging because He was the beloved Son of the Father. He couldn’t fight the battle of sin’s struggle without enduring the pain associated with sin. He never knew the pain inherent in one of God’s children as we recognize our own sin because He never sinned. However, He experienced the pain literally and physically as every piece of metal and glass on the tips of the whips shredded His holy skin into bloody ribbons.

We struggle with sin because God loves us and chose us. If we aren’t feeling the pain of the whips with each sin that expresses itself in our lives, then maybe we aren’t God’s child. Maybe we need to personally and individually examine that possibility a little. If we’re feeling the pain of the whips when we sin, that means God is at work within us to draw us unto Himself. We recognize the ugliness of the sin in our lives and struggle to get rid of it.

← Previous Section: By Faith, from the Law to the Promised Land    

 

Next Section: Coming next week →

By Faith, from the Law to the Promised Land - Hebrews 11:23-40

Creation, Abel, Enoch, and Noah taught us that faith is the reality of our hope even when it is unseen.

Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph taught us faith is the reality of the promise in a future promised land.

In this final section of Hebrews 11, our last group of faith heroes will teach us one more key point about living by faith. For them – and for us today – faith is the reality of our victory that defeats our fears.



Click picture for a printable handout for this section

Faith is the reality of our victory that defeats our fears. All of the people in this section faced some powerful fears – governmental powers, loss of loved ones, slavery, and deadly defeat. They never would have found victory in their own strength and power. But they experienced fullness and abundance of life when they each stepped out in faith thereby conquering their fears and experiencing God’s victory.

By Faith, from the Law to the Promised Land

I encourage you to start by reading Hebrews 11:23-40.

By Faith, Moses (11:23-28)
Moses’ parents – especially his mom – stepped out in amazing faith soon after Moses’ birth. Pharaoh decreed that all baby boys were to be killed but Moses’ mom saved his life. She put him in a basket in the reeds by the Nile River. Pharaoh’s daughter found him there, took him as her own son, and raised him in the Egyptian palace.

• Fear: Moses’ mom feared the loss of her son’s life.
• Victory: She found victory when Pharaoh’s daughter found him in the basket and raised him as her own son.

Moses grew to be a man who lived a life of faith. The opportunities given him as a prince of Egypt were far from what we might call a godly lifestyle. Even in the midst of pleasure and abundance, God called Moses unto Himself and began him on a journey that changed the world.

• Fear: Moses separated from the love of his Egyptian family along with the wealth and luxurious ease of a palace life.
• Victory: He found true riches as “he considered the reproach because of the Messiah to be greater wealth than the treasures of Egyptian, since his attention was on the reward” (Hebrews 11:26). Moses also apparently knew our second key point - faith is the reality of the promise in a future promised land.

After a violent outburst and a poor decision, Moses later faced the wrath of the Pharaoh. In response, he left Egypt and all he had ever known behind.

• Fear: Moses could have feared the anger of the Pharaoh.
• Victory: Instead of fear, he found victory in a new land where he found a wife, a peaceful lifestyle, and eventually a calling from God out of a burning bush. He lived as one "who sees Him who is invisible" (Hebrews 11:27). Moses also knew our second key point - faith is the reality of our hope even when it is unseen.

At God’s calling, Moses returned to Egypt to lead the Israelite people out of slavery. Pharaoh wasn’t too keen on letting his slave labor force leave, however. God sent a series of plagues that eventually persuaded Pharaoh to release his grasp on the slaves. The final plague was a violent attack on the lives of the firstborn sons in each household – Egyptian and Hebrew alike. The death angel passed over all of the homes on which the family had painted the blood of a lamb on the doorpost. That final plague initiated their journey out of slavery and into freedom.

• Fear: Moses and all of the people feared for the lives of their firstborn sons.
• Victory: In the blood of the lamb, the people found freedom from slavery.

By Faith, the Israelites (11:29-30)
Moses led the people away from Egypt with Pharaoh’s reluctant blessing. Pharaoh soon changed his mind, however, and the Israelites found themselves trapped between a raging Red Sea and Pharaoh’s armies. God didn’t view them as trapped; He saw a people about to experience freedom.

• Fear: The people feared they would have to choose between drowning in the sea and allowing their own slaughter at the hands of the army.
• Victory: The people experienced one of the greatest victories ever as God parted the Red Sea allowing them to walk through on dry land. Pharaoh’s army, on the other hand, drowned as walls of water came crashing down on top of them.

Moses didn’t make it to the Promised Land; Joshua instead led the people to the end of their journey. Along the way, they had to defeat the city of Jericho.

• Fear: The people could have feared the people of Jericho and the looming battle for control of the city.
• Victory: Instead, they trusted the words of God who promised them victory over the city through His power rather than the power of their swords.

I’ve written in the past about an interesting correlation between the parting of the Red Sea and the walls of Jericho. The two miracles are powerfully related so I’m not surprised to see them singled out and paired together in this significant historical chapter. Click here to read more.

By Faith, Rahab (11:31)
Joshua sent two spies into Jericho before they crossed the Jordan into the Promised Land. Some of Joshua’s confidence came from their report that the people lived in fear of the Israelites because of the miraculous things God had done for them. Read the article I mentioned in the last paragraph for more. Rahab, however, used her fear to her advantage. She recognized the power of the God of the Israelites; she responded by saving the lives of the spies who in turn saved her and her family.

• Fear: Rahab feared the God of the Israelites.
• Victory: She put her trust in Him rather than the false security of rock walls. She found victory in the salvation of both her physical and spiritual life.

The World was not Worthy of Them(11:32-40)

These verses form one of the most powerful passages in Scripture. Every time I read it, I approach it with a sense of respect and humility. It’s a verbal walk through the cemetery of war heroes who died that we might hear truth and find freedom. It’s a somber moment of reflection at the base of a monument inscribed with the names of those who gave all they had because they chose to live by faith.

The people entered the Promised Land but that didn’t mean life was perfect. Living life by faith – even in the Promised Land – was rough. So I have to ask myself, “Why should I think my life will be any better?”

Living our lives by faith may mean some pretty hard times during our life here on earth. Like the heroes of this chapter, we have to realize the Promised Land of this earth isn’t the end goal. Like them, we have to look “forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. … These all died in faith without having received the promises, but they saw them from a distance, greeted them, and confessed that they were foreigners and temporary residents on the earth” (Hebrews 11:10, 13). Like these heroes, we have to realize faith is living in a different reality where our hope isn’t seen, the promise awaits us in the future, and we have victory over our fears.

“All these were approved through their faith, but they did not receive what was promised.” Each of these men and women still await the promise because “God had provided something better for us, so that they would not made perfect without us” (Hebrews 11:39-40). Here’s the deal, friend… they can’t receive the promise until we have done our part by faith. You and I each have a job to do – a calling to which we need to be faithful. The question then becomes, “Is your name on the list? Are you serving and living by faith? Are you living in a reality where your hope is unseen, your promised reward awaits, and you have victory over your fears?”

Those are important questions to consider because one day we will fully see our hope, God will give us what He has promised, and the victory will be ours. When that day comes, trust me, you’ll want to be a part of it.

← Previous Section: By Faith, from the Flood to the Law    

Next Section: The Struggle against Sin →