Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Hebrews 12, part 2

...work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord.

So what is that supposed to mean? I suspect it means something a little more literal than most church-goers would like to admit. When I read things like this, my mind quickly goes to some vengeful mean-spirited god who just hopes someone steps foot on his mountain so he can burn him to a crisp with a lightning bolt. And although the Bible gives us many glimpses of the wrathful side of God's glory, that is not the God that grace gives us access to.

No, we have come to Mount Zion, not Mount Sinai. At Sinai, God was far away cloaked in cloud and fire. In the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem that we've been invited to come to, we can boldly enter the throne room of grace and worship God joyfully with the angels.

We have come to the gathering family of God’s firstborn adopted children, whose names are written in heaven.

We have come to God himself, who is the judge over all things. Because of His grace. With no sin to separate us.

We have come to the spirits of the righteous ones in heaven who have now been made perfect. That group of people who worked to live a holy life so they could see the Lord.

We have come to Jesus, the one who mediates the new covenant between God and people, negotiating peace between us with His own life.

We have come to the sprinkled blood, which speaks of forgiveness instead of crying out for vengeance like the blood of Abel. The blood that "speaks a better word" like the song says.

We have come in response to this God. Through the grace He provided. We have come at His beckoning, not our own initiative. He always being the cause of every effect in our pursuit of Him. We come because He first came to our rescue. So if this is what we are coming to, I think the only option that makes any sense at all is...
full
speed
ahead.

1 comments:

Bea said...

Indeed--full speed ahead for me!!!!!