Love God, Love Mankind Hebrews 6
Two things led me to these verses this week. First, after the past two weeks of looking at Hebrews chapter 10 I decided to stay in the Epistle and examine it more. Second, I received a comment online about one of our sermons and basically, they wrote how God wants us to separate ourselves from those who don’t believe or live as God instructs s to in the Bible.
As I responded I wrote back how none of us are born with an understanding of God. If our parents, grandparents, family, friends or even strangers never told us of Jesus how would we come to be saved? And if someone is an adult who was never introduced to Christ and we separate ourselves from them, how will they possibly be able to gain salvation, how will the Kingdom of God expand?
I also wrote that concerning those not living as the Bible tells us to, do any of us? I think of myself as a fairly devote Christian, I try to live as God says but I still fall short. Does this mean you should separate yourselves from me? I believe very strongly that before I criticize how someone else’s life is, I better take a good look at my own.
As I started looking to give a more scriptural response, I came to Hebrews 6, so here are some of my thoughts on these verses.
Verse 1, “Therefore, let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity.” When we first learn of Jesus we learn the basics, those things to help us accept Christ and to start living a Christian lifestyle. As new believers this helps us stay focused. As we grow in faith, we can see the underlying message in scripture and mature in our Christianity. As a child we heard the story of Noah. He builds a big boat, collects two of every animal, and floats through the great flood. Nice story. As adults we can see this as a shadow of what is written in Revelation, how the sin of the world will ultimately cause God to destroy it and those in the Ark, the true Ark Jesus, will ride out the end and walk into a new heaven and earth.
Verse 7-8, “Land that drinks in the rain and that produces a useful crop receives the blessing of God. But land that produces thorns is useless and in danger of being cursed.”
The land is each of us. Those who drink in the rain, that is internalize the Word of God and produces a useful crop, that is live a life for God and work for your fellow mankind, will receive the blessings of God, that is the joyful feeling in your heart created by knowing you are working for God, you are expanding the Kingdom of God, you are making the world better than when you were born.
Lands that produce thorns, that is people who live their lives making others suffer, those who don’t give consideration or charity to others, is worthless, worthless in the eyes of God because they are living in the opposite of God, they are not reaching out to their fellow man. In danger of being cursed, if you claim to know and understand God but still produce thorns, you probably don’t understand God nor really accepted Jesus in your heart. Now this scripture hints at how we don’t know what’s in people’s hearts, that’s why it says in danger of being cursed. And as to these people I don’t know what’s in their hearts but if I were a betting man I know what I would place my money on.
Now what if we live the first way, producing a useful crop? Will our lives be filled with blessings such as wealth and possessions? More than likely, no. God, why am I helping others, why do you want me to reach out?
Verse 10, “God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people…” We can be assured and secure that God is watching what we are doing for him and for others. Last week we said that when our perfect God says he will remember our sins no more, they never enter his mind again. When God says he will always remember your work you will never have to remind him about what you do. When we stand before God’s throne, and we will, he will remember how we lived our lives, whether we lived a life dedicated to him or a life dedicated to ourselves.
Have you ever heard “No good deed goes unpunished”? We are taught that when we do a good deed, we will suffer for it. We can lose time, we can lose money, we can lose something we want so someone else can get something they really need. As Christians we should see all these as minor when compared to what we gain in heaven. As Christians God should be the motivation for what we do for others. And what we do for others is how we show our love for God. We who love God with all our hearts, our minds, our strength, and our souls, will love our neighbors as we love ourselves. Here in Hebrews 6 is the explanation of the two greatest commandments given to us by Jesus our Lord.
Verse 11, “We want each of you to show this same diligence…so that what you hope for may be fully realized.”
As followers and believers in Jesus our salvation is secure so what are we hoping for? We should be hoping for the salvation of all men. By living a life for God and men we are going a long way in making this most noble hope come to fruition.
Verse 12, “We do not want you to become lazy…” It’s easy for us to say, “Not today, I’m tired, I can’t help now.” At times all of us can want to just be left alone. I believe the human part of Jesus understands this, but we are being warned not to let this be the complete direction our lives take.
Verse 12, “…but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.” And then the author gives Abraham as an example to explain what he means; verse 15, “And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised. By continuing in our trust of God. By continuing in our work for God, by continuing in our work for others, we will see the promises God gives us. How can we be sure of this? Verse 18, “…it is impossible for God to lie…” If God says it, it is irrevocably true. John 3:33, “He who has received God’s testimony has set his seal to this, that God is true.” John 17:17, “…your word is truth.”
Back to our verse 18, “…we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged.” The hope of the world and of men is Jesus and the cross. Those of us who have taken hold of this hope can be greatly encouraged because the promise of salvation through Christ is not a lie, it is truth.
Verse 19, “We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.” Our faith in Christ makes us secure in the promises of good things from God. And we can have this hope because Jesus entered the sanctuary on our behalf, Jesus offered his perfect and holy blood on our behalf, Jesus became an ever-living high priest on our behalf.
So, going back to that individual who commented on our sermon, if we separate ourselves from others how will God’s kingdom grow? As believers we are called to live life for God for men. We are told the way to demonstrate our love for God is we must love his people, our neighbors. And I believe that as believers of God, followers of Christ, praising and worship God, spending time in his Word and in prayer, should be priorities in our lives.
Amen.