10-28-18 Today in the Word

Book of Hebrews: A Call to Faith in Christ LIFE IN THE HEAVENLY JERUSALEM Sunday, October 28, 2018 | Hebrews 12:14–29 In Tolkien’s The Two Towers, Strider employs his acute tracking abilities to pursue his two hobbit friends who have been captured by evil orcs. The pursuit takes days and requires his single-minded attention to navigate across vast terrain in order to find his friends. That picture of an active pursuit of a goal is what the author of Hebrews has in mind when he uses the Greek word dōkete, translated as “make every effort” in English. The Christian life is an intentional striving “to live in peace with everyone and to be holy” (v. 14), because “without holiness no one will see the Lord” (v. 14; see Matt. 5:8–9). Avoidance of sin is also required. We must resist the root of bitterness, sexual immorality, and godlessness that seeks after temporary pleasures. And the author also points us to something even greater: a vision of “Mount Zion, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem” (v. 22). He contrasts Mount Zion with Mount Sinai in the old covenant. Whereas God’s presence on Sinai produced fear and trembling, the new Jerusalem is a “joyful assembly” (v. 22). Likewise, Sinai was a reminder of God’s inaccessibility: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death” (v. 20). Yet, now in Christ, “the mediator of a new covenant” (v. 24), God is fully accessible; twice he says, “you have come” to God. That picture of the heavenly Jerusalem is reminiscent of the heavenly worship scene in Revelation, where “God’s dwelling place is now among the people” (Rev. 21:3). We should hold on to that vision of worship as we “make every effort” in our Christian journey. We have received “a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe” (v. 28). APPLY THE WORD The early church father Augustine of Hippo said that God Himself “is the source of our bliss, He Himself is the goal of all our striving.” As you enter into worship this Sunday, let it all be an intentional striving for the God who is your joy, now accessible in Christ. Then keep that vision of worship before you in the week to come.