The following excerpt was extracted with permission from Elyse Fitzpatrick’s book Um Coracao Inabalvel, Faithful Editor.
The Hebrew writer, a group of people who suffered greatly because of their faith in Jesus, wrote:
- Therefore.
- We too.
- Because we must surround ourselves with such a great cloud of witnesses.
- Freeing ourselves from all the weight and sin that harass us tenaciously.
- Running.
- With perseverance.
- The career that is proposed to us.
- Looking at the author and Consumer.
- Of faith.
- Jesus.
- Who.
- In exchange for the joy offered to him.
- Endured the cross.
- Ignoring ignominy.
- And sat to the right of God’s throne.
- Carefully consider those who have endured such opposition from sinners against him so that you do not tire.
- You faint in the soul (Heb 12:1-3).
How do we find the strength we need to resist, how to avoid the discouragement of the soul?The author of Hebrews gives us the answer. We need to focus our eyes on Dieu. We know it would be easy to ignore the importance of this advice, so let’s take a closer look.
The Greek word aphorao, translated in this verse as “to look regularly,” means “to look away from one thing to see another. ” As we endure suffering, whether it is for our sin, for someone’s sin against us, or for special suffering in a fallen world, we must shift the focus of our eyes from our suffering to their suffering. . Should we fix our gaze? In the. We need to stop looking at our pain and consider how it suffered and why. He suffered as the author and finisher of his faith. The reason you and I have faith today, and the reason we can be sure that we will have faith in everything “tomorrow,” is the suffering of Jesus. Because he suffered in the test of God’s perfect will, that is, he was born as a man, suffered before the wicked authorities, and died for our sin, which is now known as the man of sorrows. And since you did it by faith from start to finish, you can be sure that your faith, whatever cup is asked of you, will not fail. Your faith cannot fail because his has not failed. Because he has diverted his sufferings towards the “joy that has been offered to you”, you can rest in peace in the truth of the joy that is also assured. As you fix your gaze on those who resolutely fix their eyes on the joy of pleasing the Father, you will find the same pleasure filling your heart. Today, in the midst of your sufferings and pains, you please the Father, because it was. You can experience the joy of infinite peace with God, because the joy of Jesus centered on His ultimate reconciliation and pleasure.
What happened to you? He endured the shame of carrying a curse and being a curse for us. Galatians 3:13 says that the law declares that anyone hanging from a tree is cursed, hateful, and unpleasant. He was not only cursed as a transgressor, and killed in a tree for crimes punishable by death, but he himself became a curse because of us. By becoming a curse for us, he has voluntarily suffered the pain of a life of wickedness. What was the curse?Be separated from God?
It has become a curse so that we transgressors can receive the blessing promised to law-abiding people (Dt 28-29). This blessing is the final fulfillment of the blessing promised to Abraham: “In you will all the families of the earth be blessed? (Genesis 12. 3) and? Am I your God? (Genesis 17. 8). He is Emmanuel, the holy God who dwells with sinful man, and his home with us is the blessing promised thousands of years ago. It is the blessing that was lost in the garden and restored on a desolate mountain. Fix the eyes of your heart on this truth: He became a curse and was set apart as a lawbreaker, so that you could be a blessing and know the blessing of free communion with him. The Hebrews passage goes on to say that he? of the shame that was part of the curse and of being hung on a cross. The expression? Ignore it? it is interesting. This means not giving too much importance to anything or anyone. Was I thinking about the shame? Yes, he thought. But he didn’t fix his attention on embarrassment. Rather, his attention was occupied with something more important: you and the joy that he knew would have to be blessed in him. Did you know that you would receive greater blessing and greater joy? after all, he himself said: “It is more blessed to give than to receive. ” (At 8:35 p. m. ). That’s exactly what he did, right? He gave it for us to receive!
Where is he now? He sits to the right of God’s throne in heaven, is no longer helpless or abandoned, is in a position of authority in the presence of his Father, and what does he do?Show your scars.
Although in heaven we will all have new resurrected bodies, without weakness or scars, he will always bear his own, shows his scars so that if his enemy enters the room of the heavenly throne to accuse him of some sin (Apoc. 12:10) before the Father, his Savior will rise up and show the marks of his suffering. “Father,” he declares, “This debt has already been paid!” And because he is there, in the presence of the Father, you can focus your attention on your future home, you will join the one who loves you in an unimaginable way and spend eternity looking at your wounds and thanking you for your faithful suffering.
Do you care about their suffering today? Yes, of course it matters. Because of his suffering, you are sure that his suffering will not last and that the greatest suffering, that of being rightly accused of sin and condemned, has no chance of falling on you. Damn you like a transgressor! And because of your suffering, the afflictions you endure now will surely come to an end.
How are we going to respond to that? How are our hearts affected? We must consider how sinners (like us) have treated him and persevere in the faith; If he did it for me, a sinner, then I can endure for him in this difficulty. And I know that I will. endure, because it does not depend on my strength, but on the strength that already bought me.
Adam Clarke, a man of God who lived in the 18th century, wrote about this passage from the Hebrews:
Carefully observe and analyze each part of [Christ’s] behavior, enter your mind, examine your motives and [purposes], and remember that as we act, we are also called to act; he will provide you with the same Spirit and support you with the same strength. He endured continued opposition from sinners against him; but he won meekly, patiently and perseverance: he set an example for you to follow in his footsteps. If you trust him, you will receive strength; therefore, no matter how strong the opposition is, you should not exhaust yourself: if you trust it and look closely at it, you will have the courage to continue and you will never run out of spirits.
What intrigues you or are you interested in this title?Have you ever wondered what it means to have an unwavering heart?Have you ever wondered if your heart is stable?While their greatest motivation in choosing this book is to discover what an unwavering heart is, I think other readers are primarily interested in how to experience God’s comfort here and now in the midst of the personal storm they are going through. Maybe you don’t even think you can be comforted? it seems that something like comfort has been a part of your life for so long, that you’re waiting to glimpse God’s face somewhere in this dark, dreary storm.
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