Eyes fixed on Jesus. Moving Forward

 Read Hebrews 9

 Only two things are certain—death and taxes, or so the saying goes.

Hebrews reminds us that we are all going to die and we will all face judgment. Two things are certain—death and judgment. Only in America does the previous statement work so well. People in parts of the rest of the world don’t make enough to pay taxes.

What we know as judgment will be considerably better than those who rejected the Lord, but death and judgment are coming.

Speaking of coming, Jesus will come again. This time he will not be here to make a sacrifice for our sins. He did that.

He is coming to claim us. He is coming to bring us the fullness of our salvation. He is coming and there is going to be a big celebration banquet in heaven.

Throughout the book, we have been charged to move forward. Jesus is the only way. Profess him as Lord. Receive his grace by faith.

Pay attention. The Law that came through Moses is still good but it can’t get you to atonement. To move forward in our relationship with God we must embrace grace by faith.

We move forward seeking to know our Great High Priest. Our Priest is already in the most holy place.

We move forward by leaving the sacrifices of old to the past. We embrace the one-time sacrifice of Christ Jesus.

We move forward embracing the covenant of grace that we know and leaving behind the conditional covenant that came in the Sinai.

God’s law is still good and for our own good, but the provisions for atonement have been replaced as obsolete. Jesus is the only way.

Why do I keep using the term moving forward?

Because what lies ahead of us is meeting Jesus. His blood took away our sins and judgment is not something to be dreaded. Jesus has you covered.

But we will stand before Jesus and explain how we lived once we received the grace that came through his blood. What will that look like?

I think that we will answer these questions.

What did you learn from me?

How did you put my words into practice?

How were you known as my disciple? Hopefully, we can answer, by our love.

How were you the salt of the earth?

Where were you the light of the world?

Did you forgive everyone before you left earth?

We are all going to die. We will face judgment. We will live with God forever.

We have passed from death to life when we professed our belief in Jesus.

So our choice is to sit still or move forward.

Our choice is to long for what was or live for what is in store for us.

Our choice is to go back to annual sacrifices or receive the only sacrifice that we will ever need, and be assured that it is more than enough for whatever we have done.

Our choice is to drink milk or eat solid food.

Our choice is to rebuild the foundation of salvation again and again or to build upon it.

If you have been paying attention, you might note that the first option in each choice was not a good choice. It did not move us forward.

If there is one message that I hope you take with you for the rest of your lives, it’s this.

Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus and move forward.

Do not get distracted.

Do not be encumbered by nonessentials.

Move towards him with eyes fixed on the Author and Finisher of our faith. Eyes fixed on the Pioneer and Perfector of our faith. Eyes fixed on our Lord, Savior, and Great High Priest.

Eyes fixed on Jesus. Keep moving forward.

Eyes fixed on Jesus. Keep moving forward.

Eyes fixed on Jesus. Keep moving forward.

Amen.