We have been given access to God through Jesus Christ, and that means we should consider each other and encourage one another, “and all the more as [we] see the Day drawing near” (v. 25). Jesus is coming. Let’s replace our habits of neglect with habits of encouragement and do everything we can to stir up one another to love and good works.
Imagine that you’re in a kayak. Over there is the dock where you want to be, but the tide is so strong that it pulls you past it. So you have to paddle against the current to get there – and you’re paddling, paddling, paddling, making progress but it’s not easy. You’re tempted to say, “Forget it! I’m just gonna let the current take me where it wants to take me.”
That is a good picture of Christian life in a fallen world. We’re always pulled away from Jesus Christ by the currents of this world. And the book of Hebrews is basically God, through the author, pointing us to Jesus and saying, “Look how glorious and awesome Jesus is! It’s worth paddling!”
If we’re honest, we can have trouble connecting our hearts to our heads on this point. We know that Jesus is more valuable than anything else. We want to value Jesus more than anything else. But often, in our practices and our real priorities in real life, we don’t value Him more than anything else.
Here in Hebrews 10:19-25, we have a truth and a surprising invitation.
The Truth: We Have Access to God
By the blood of Jesus
Because of Jesus, we have access to God Himself. In the old covenant, access to God was mediated by layers of priestly, sacrificial regulations. In the new covenant, Jesus has cleared a path through all of that in the ultimate, once-and-for-all priestly and sacrificial act of His death. We can approach God ourselves “by the blood of Jesus” (v. 19).
If you are a Christian, all of your past, present and future sins are completely cleaned by the blood of Jesus Christ. You may have some really dark sin in your past, you may be struggling with some sin right now and you will be sinning in the future because none of us are perfect – but know that it has all been cleansed by the blood of Christ.
By the new and living way
When Jesus died on the cross, the curtain in the temple that separated people from the Most Holy place ripped in half. When He died, it ripped everything that kept us from having access to God. We now have access to Him “by the new and living way that [Jesus] opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh” (v. 20).
In God’s presence, we enjoy all kinds of blessings. Don’t drift away from this! “[D]raw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience” and “hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering” (vv. 22-23).
The Invitation: Consider One Another
The invitation comes in verse 24:
And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works …
You might have thought that, because we have access to the Father, the Bible would encourage us to live by ourselves to enjoy solitude and closeness with Him. But it doesn’t. It encourages us to think about and “stir up” each other. And, surprisingly, we’re not stirring each other up to enter the holy places – we’re stirring each other up “to love and good works.”
God has granted you access to Him, and when that truth has its full effect on your life, it will result in love and good works. We’re not buckets where God pours His grace to store it. We are broadcast spreaders, dispensing God’s grace to other people.
The Result
In light of having access to God through Christ, considering how to stir each other up to love and good works, how should we live?
… not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
– v. 25
We can pull three things out of here for what this lifestyle looks like:
- We spend time together.
We have to meet together for this to work. Time together is the soil where our relationship has a chance to grow – without it we dry up. - It looks like a habit.
Meeting together is a habit, but so is not meeting together. And you get out of the habit of not meeting together by encouraging one another – not trying harder. - We encourage one another.
As American Christians, we have been molded to become spectators and observers, consumers and critics. But we’re supposed to be encouraging each other.
We have been given access to God through Jesus Christ, and that means we should consider each other and encourage one another, “and all the more as [we] see the Day drawing near” (v. 25). Jesus is coming. Let’s replace our habits of neglect with habits of encouragement and do everything we can to stir up one another to love and good works.
__________
Discussion Starters
- Do your life’s priorities reflect Jesus Christ as more valuable to you than anything else?
- How does Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross give us access to God?
- Why does having full access to God result in “love and good works”?
- In light of verse 25, how are we to live – knowing that we have access to God through Jesus Christ and are called to consider and stir each other up to “love and good works”?
- What is one step you can take toward living more in this way?
