A Forerunner

Hebrews 6:13-19

Do you remember someone whose word was unchangeable, that a promise was always fulfilled, if so, you know someone who has the character of God.  Most of us have known a person who keeps their word, but few of us if any have met a person who has never broken a promise.  The smallest of things like a promise to bring home a gallon of milk or missing a child’s ballgame, or forgetting an appointment would be all that is needed to remove us from being a person that always keeps their promises.  But it is refreshing, when you come in contact with a person who is known for being a promise keeper. 

That is not the world of 2011, our leaders have a new word for being promise breakers, they call it spin, and they put the spin they want on the outcome of their actions.  Now the question that each one of us must ask, has God changed, is God faithful to what He has said, does God still call sin, sin, has He changed the word liar to spinner, or do we have the certainty of God’s promises?  Have we foolishly tried to make God in our image, have we foolishly believed that God is in agreement with our sinfulness, just because we change the meaning of words, or because we no longer believe what God has said.  If that is where you find yourself you will want to keep reading.

For just a moment give some thought to what it is like to be God, Geneses 1:1, “In the beginning God,” and the prophet Isaiah recorded this statement in Isaiah 43:13, “Yes, and from ancient days I am he.  No one can deliver out of my hand.  When I act, who can reverse it?”  King David had this observation in Psalm 139:8, “If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!”  In Proverbs 15:3, the same message; “The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good.”  The writer of Hebrews tells us in Hebrews 4:13, that nothing is hidden from His sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.  It is the certainty of God’s promises that has always been the issue, it has always been the unchanging authority of God, and Hebrews 6:13, and the verses that follow make clear that He is not like us, both His thoughts and His ways are higher than ours.  Verse 13, “For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, saying, “Surely I will bless you and multiply you.” 

When Paul the apostle stood in Areopagus, (in ancient Athens) a hill on which he met the highest governmental council, he began to address them in this manner; “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious.”  (Acts 17:22)  He was addressing people like us, religious people and many were like the majority in our world, after he had spoken they mocked him, but a few wanted to hear more and a few believed.  Verses 29-31, Paul is making the case of the certainty of God’s promises.  “Being then God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man.  The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.” 

Because of the certainty of God’s promise, “We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.” (Hebrews 6:19-20)

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice