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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.
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