The book of Hebrews tells us that God speaks to us through His son, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. The entire universe was made through Him, and His name is superior to all other names (Heb. 1:1-4), and all who refuse to believe in Him will not only face the judgement of God but will also not enter into His rest(vs 19).
God, by an oath sworn by His name(Heb. 7:2, 5, 9, 20-23) has made Jesus Christ our high priest. There is no forgiveness of sins without the shedding of blood(Heb. 9:22), so He offered Himself as a living sacrifice for the atonement of our sins(Heb.5:1-3, 9:22, 10:1-18). The blood of bulls and goats were not enough to wipe away our sins, God made a new convenant through Jesus by preparing a body for Him to come and bear on Himself our sins(Heb. 10: 1-10), thereby making us holy(Heb.10:11-18). As our high priest, He sympathizes with us and understands our weaknesses, and intercedes for us (Heb. 3:14-15, 7:24-28, 8:1-2). Bearing this in mind, we are to approach God with a sincere heart, with assurance of faith(Heb. 10:22), and with confidence in order to receive mercy and find grace in time of need(Heb. 4:16).
We are encouraged to move from being babies to matured Christians, soundly distinguishing good from evil(Heb.5:14). Backsliding is not an option, neither are we to continue to dwell in sin having known the truth(Heb.10:26), for such there is no repentance(Heb.6:4-6) rather, through faith and patience, we are to hold on till the end(Heb.6:12), knowing the hope we profess without a doubt(Heb. 10:23) that God’s promises are certain as he has sworn by himself, and that he rewards those who do his work and love him(Heb. 6:11).
We are to encourage one another to love, and to do good deeds, meeting constantly(Heb.10:24-25), persevere in order to receive God’s promises (Heb.10:35), live by faith, and never shrink back to avoid God’s anger(Heb.10:38-39).
Faith, we are told, is being sure of what we hope for, and being certain of what we do not see(NIV, Heb.11:1). We are told that it is difficult to please God without faith. We must believe that He is(exist), and that He rewards all those who seek Him in earnest like He did Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, etc (Heb.11:6-39).
Our focus should be on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who resisted sin to the point of shedding his blood(Heb.12:1-4). Therefore, we are to endure hardship, and see it as a form of discipline, and a means to achieving obedience(Heb.4:8). It produces in us, a harvest of righteousness and peace(Heb.12:11). It is for our good because God sees us as sons, and that we may share in His holiness(Heb.12:7-10) because without holiness, no man can see God(Heb.12:14).
We are, therefore, advised to educate each other about God’s grace so that none will miss it, discourage bitterness, discourage sexual immorality, and godlessness amongst Christians(Heb.12:15-17) because our God is a consuming fire(Heb.12:29). We are encouraged to; love each other as brothers, entertain strangers, remember those in prison and those treated unjustly, honour our marital vows and our matrimonial bed, avoid loving money but be contented with what you have, imitate the way of life of our Christian leaders who hold on to the sound doctrine of our LORD, Jesus Christ, avoid all kinds of strange doctrines, rather, offer to God a sacrifice of praise- which is the fruit of the lips, obey our leaders and submit to them to make their job a joy, and also pray for them(Heb. 13:1-18).
Finally, Jesus is the same, yesterday, today and forever(Heb. 13: 8).
@EvelynDaniel10 for #LATeamAnointed.