LOOKING UNTO JESUS
“…looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12: 2).
These
three words, “looking unto Jesus,”
seem to be at the heart of Paul’s letter to the 1st century Hebrew
Christians, but it is also the heart of the Gospel message to every soul that
has received Him from the 1st century until now. Paul especially wanted to make sure that
these Jewish converts were placing their faith solely on Jesus Christ and His
finished work of redemption rather than in the trappings of religion they
formerly trusted. He knew that it would
do no good for them to rely on angels, a worldly temple, an earthly priesthood,
a temporal Promised Land, a fleshly covenant, or carnal sacrifices to secure
their eternal salvation. All those
things were part of the old covenant and were ineffective in bringing God’s
people to perfection. It was Jesus Who
was sent to be the Savior of the world and Redeemer of mankind. He was the Lamb of God Who would take away
the sin of the world. His appearance
ushered in the New Covenant and created an abundant entrance into the Kingdom
of God. In Him was life, and that life
became the light of the world.
The
first verse of Hebrews chapter 12 begins by saying, “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of
witnesses…” Paul makes the case in
chapter 11 that the heroes of faith he mentions there were able to accomplish
their great exploits, miracles, and acts of obedience by keeping their eyes on
the reward that was set before them.
Even though they didn’t see the ultimate reward in their lifetimes, they
still endured and persevered, trusting God for what He had promised them. Their faith looked forward to a time when the
promised Messiah would be revealed to the world. These faith warriors like Enoch, Noah,
Abraham, Sarah, Moses, and many others form a great “cloud,” or mass, of witnesses whose lives and examples testify to
us of what faith should be. This is the
hope that we have in Christ, and it is set before us as an inheritance that
will never fade away. It is
incorruptible, undefiled, and is reserved in heaven for us (See 1 Peter
1:4). Jesus Himself has already passed
from death to life and has gone ahead to prepare us a place in heaven. He is our hope, He is our strength, and He is
our final victory. This is why it is
essential to our success as Christians to look
to Jesus at all times.
In
Matthew chapter 14, we read about the miracle of Peter walking on the
water. I won’t go into the whole story
here because I have written on it at length elsewhere, but there is one portion
that speaks to our subject. That is when
Peter had heard the Lord’s invitation to come to Him on the water, got out of
the ship, and began to walk to Jesus on the water. At this critical point in the story it says, “But when he [Peter] saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and
beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.” (Matthew 14:30). We can do miraculous things as long as we
look to Jesus, but the minute we take our eyes off Him and focus on the storms,
sorrows, trials, fears, and troubles of our life, we will quickly begin to sink
just like Peter. We cannot focus on
Jesus and on the storms of life at the same time. As one who has had to cry out “Lord, save me” many times in my life, I
know a little about this; but I also know that the Lord always hears our cry
and reaches down to lift us up when we are struggling to learn to trust Him.
Continuing
in verse one of Hebrews 12, we read, “…let
us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let
us run with patience the race that is set before us…” There are “weights”
and “besetting sins” in each of our
lives that we must learn to deal with.
Paul tells us simply to “lay them
aside.” On the surface, this may sound a bit simplistic. Too often we lay them aside only to pick them
back up again later on. I can certainly
appreciate the idea that Paul is illustrating in this verse, however. If we are to run a race effectively and
competitively, we cannot do it while carrying heavy weights in our arms. It is easy to understand the necessity of
just dropping them in this case, but how do we do that with spiritual weights
and besetting sins? The answer, again,
is to look to Jesus. He is the way, the truth, and the life; and
no one can come to the Father but by Him.
Our opening verse goes on to tell us that Jesus is the Author and the Finisher
of our faith. Like any good author,
Jesus has begun our story and intends to keep writing until He has finished
it! He is the creative mastermind behind
this work. If we want to understand the
story line, we must look to Him. He is
not interested in giving us the pen and letting us finish what He has
begun. He alone knows how our story must
unfold, and we can trust Him that it will be glorious! Paul wrote, “Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day
of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:6). If through our failures, God is always
working.
Verse
2 continues, “…Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross,
despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” There are those who are willing to trade
their birthright in Christ for some temporal gratification, and then there are
those who esteem the reproach of Christ to be greater riches than all the
treasures that this world can offer them.
Jesus kept His eyes on the prize.
He never lost sight of the joy that was set before Him. This is how He was able to endure the cross
and disdain the shame of it. He knew God
would highly exalt Him and set Him at His [God’s] own right hand. We, too, need to understand that God rewards
those who diligently seek Him
(Hebrews 11:6). This is an aspect of
faith that many Christians neglect. They
are quick to confess that they believe God is real, but they hesitate when it
comes down to altering their lives in order to please Him. Jesus freely receives everyone who comes to
Him for salvation; and He receives them just as they are. He doesn’t expect us to become perfect before
He will accept us. After we are
converted, however, He begins the process of teaching us and training us in the
things of God. Step by step, line upon
line, and lesson by lesson, He uses the blessings and the difficulties of life to teach us His ways. Can you imagine enrolling in college and
paying your fees, but expecting to remain just as you are without trying to
learn anything new or becoming any more knowledgeable? It is assumed that when you join up that you
are ready to grow and to learn.
It
is the invisible, or spiritual, world that we need to be more aware of. Paul admonished the believers in Corinth to, “…look not at the things which are seen, but
at the things which are not seen: for
the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are
eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:18).
The Jews put their trust in a lot of tangible things: their temple,
their rituals, their sacrifices, and their law.
God, however, was trying to make them see that He, and nothing
else, was their salvation. Without faith
they would not be able to find their way because it would be impossible to
please their heavenly Father otherwise (Hebrews 11:6).
In
the 6th chapter of 2 Kings there is a story about the Prophet Elisha
and how God delivered him from great danger.
The king of Syria at the time was warring against Israel, and each time
that he would command his troops to camp in a certain location, God would
reveal to Elisha where the enemy was, and he, in turn, would warn the king of
Israel. Several times this happened
until the king of Syria suspected that there must be a spy in the midst of his
army. One of his servants assured him,
however, that there was no spy, but that the prophet Elisha was able to discern
the things that the king said in private and was then telling the king of
Israel. The king of Syria therefore said
to his servants, “Go and spy where he
[Elisha] is, that I may send and fetch
him. And it was told him, saying,
Behold, he is in Dothan. Therefore sent
he thither horses, and chariots, and a great host: and they came by night, and
compassed the city about.” (2 Kings 6:13, 14). When Elisha’s servant saw the army
surrounding the city, he was alarmed and asked Elisha what they were going to
do. Elisha’s answer was inspiring. He said, “Fear not: for they that be
with us are more than they that be with them.” And then Elisha prayed and said, “LORD, I pray Thee, open his eyes, that he
may see.” (2 Kings 6:16,
17). Scripture then tells us, “And
the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the
mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.” (vs.
17). Whatever our enemy throws at us,
God always has a larger force to protect us.
Just because we can’t see it with our natural eyes is no evidence that
it is not there. Like Elisha’s servant,
we are prepared to believe only what our eyes tell us, and not what God has
promised us in His Word. His Word tells
us that greater is He that is in us (the Holy Spirit of God whom the world
cannot see) than he that is in the world (the devil who uses the temporal world
to allure, distract, and destroy the children of God).
The
Apostle Paul prayed for the believers in Ephesus that the eyes of their
understanding would be opened so they could comprehend, “…the exceeding greatness of His [God’s] power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of His mighty
power, which He wrought in Christ, when He raised Him [Jesus] from the dead, and set Him at His own right
hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might,
and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in
that which is to come: and hath put all things under His feet, and gave Him to
be the head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fulness of
Him that filleth all in all.” (See Ephesians 1:15-23). Read these verses again, and then again,
until faith begins to stir in your heart and you begin to see the things that
God has prepared for you in Christ Jesus our Lord. Let the mountains that are in your life melt
away and become plains in the light of what God has wrought for us in His Son. Every valley will be lifted up, every
mountain will be leveled, every crooked path will be straightened out, and
every rough way will be smoothed out when we prepare a way for the Lord in our
hearts and lives. God is always moving
in the background to aid and deliver His children. Though we may often be unaware of Him, He is
there just the same. His eye is always
upon us, and His ear is open to hear our cry for help.
There
was another time when Jesus’ disciples were out on the sea and encountered a very
bad storm. They were sure that their
boat was going to sink and that they all would be lost. In their distress, they went to Jesus Who was
asleep in the back of the ship, and said, “Teacher!
Don’t you care that we’re going to die?” (Mark 4:38 HCSB). Jesus simply arose and rebuked the wind and
the sea, and then chided the disciples for their unbelief. They could have taken comfort in the fact
that Jesus Himself was unconcerned enough about the storm to be sleeping
through it all, and they should have looked
to Him for their example. What
they focused on, instead, was what they could see with their natural eyes, and
not what was true in the spiritual realm.
The
weights and sins of this life can grow very heavy. If we look to Jesus and keep our focus on
Him, we will find that His yoke is easy, and His burden is light. In Christ we will find that we can run and
not grow weary, and walk and not grow faint.
No matter how strong our enemies are, we don’t have to fear, for, “...
they that be with us are more than they that be with them.”
In
the Book of Psalms, King David wrote, “I
sought the LORD, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears. They
looked unto Him, and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed. This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him,
and saved him out of all his troubles.
The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear Him, and
delivereth them. O taste and see
that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in Him.” (Psalm
34:5-8).
In
closing, I’m reminded of the old chorus that says:
Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth
Will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace.
Comments
Post a Comment