DEVOTION
TO HEBREWS
LIVING IN THE THEREFORE
Heb 12:18-29
18 You have not come to a
mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom
and storm; 19 to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those
who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them, 20 because they
could not bear what was commanded: "If even an animal touches the
mountain, it must be stoned." 21
The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, "I am trembling with
fear." 22 But you have come to
Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have
come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, 23 to the church
of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the
judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, 24 to Jesus the
mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better
word than the blood of Abel. 25 See to it that you do not refuse him who
speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth,
how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven? 26 At
that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, "Once more I
will shake not only the earth but also the heavens." 27 The words "once more" indicate
the removing of what can be shaken — that is, created things — so that what
cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom
that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with
reverence and awe, 29 for our "God is a consuming fire."
NIV
This just had to be kept all
together to come to the ‘therefore’ in verse 28. Although God is always
the same God, He does not change, we do see how He was different in the Old
Testament or how He acted toward the people and how the Old Covenant was so
different than the New Covenant made through Jesus. No one could touch the mountain
of God and live under the Old Covenant. Even Moses, who spoke with God face to
face trembled in his presence. God’s holy mountain was burning with fire and there
was darkness and gloom and storm. When God spoke, it was as if the world shook,
and people were terrified at the sound of his voice. How incredibly blessed we
are to be living in the grace of God, with
his love being poured out to us and we have nothing to fear from God, in fact,
we can touch his holy mountain for it is our inheritance. We have come to the
heavenly Jerusalem; the place Jesus has prepared for us. How can we not spend
all our days rejoicing because there are thousands upon thousands of angels
rejoicing over the fact that our names are written in heaven, in that Book of Life? With so many angels rejoicing over us, it would not be right for us to
complain and live with a gloomy attitude. This is that ‘therefore’ we have been
waiting for. Jesus is everything. God is going to make everything new. This
earth and heaven will both be shaken to bits and a whole new heaven and earth
will exist with the new city of Jerusalem where God will dwell with us and we
can walk and talk with Jesus, and see God face to face with no fear. Thus, we
should be living each of our days out on this current earth with a rejoicing
heart, full of praise and worship for our God who has given us eternal life
through Jesus Christ. How can we not live reflecting the glory of God? We
are even told that we do reflect his glory in ever-increasing glory by Paul in
his letter to the Corinthians. We are the image bearers of God, made by his own
hands in their own image. We live in the ‘therefore’ and therefore let us
always rejoice and we should say that again, rejoice because we are living in
the therefore.
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