Jesus is the Same!

 

Read Hebrews 13

We made it. We have read and studied and tried to put words into practice for 13 weeks. Now, we come to the author’s concluding remarks. Within them are these words that many know so well.

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

We will tackle the laundry list of items that follow in the next service but for now, let’s consider that Jesus Christ is the same as he was in the beginning and as he will be for eternity.

We are to fix our eyes on Jesus. He is our focus. It’s like having a star to guide you, except that over time, stars move. Changes are relatively small and seldom noticed in a lifetime, but everything you see in the sky is in motion. Our relative position let’s us identify constellations and individual stars, but everything is in motion.

Let’s say that keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus is like following the north-seeking arrow on your compass.  Except that the “North” part of that moves. It moves slowly but it migrates about 3-5 degrees every one hundred years.

If you look at a map that has grid squares on it—we are not talking a gas station map or Google Maps—look in the marginal information—the key—for a declination diagram. The declination diagram depicts the relationship between True North, Magnetic North, and Grid North.  The difference between Grid North and Magnetic North is called the G-M Angle.

Is the church holding an orienteering meet?  Why do I need to know anything about land navigation?

We fix our eyes on earthly points and navigate by them, but over time even these constants change. Hebrews tells us that Jesus is our only constant in the universe.

The world changes.

We change.

The weather changes.

Jesus is constant.

Universities change conferences.

Companies change their branding.

We change our clocks twice a year and think we have saved money and daylight. I’m ready to cash in my DST CD.  But the point is that we change our clocks, but Jesus doesn’t change.

Jesus is constant.

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

A whole bunch had changed for the Hebrew people. Yes, scripture told them it would happen but so many were blind to the surpassing glory of God in Christ Jesus. Goats and bulls could not make anyone right with God. It was only the blood of Jesus.

Feasts and festivals were not essential to salvation. They might be a wonderful response to the love of God that we know in Christ Jesus, but they can’t make you right with God.

The people were charged with putting all of their hope in Jesus.  It seemed like everything else was changing. The people needed a constant.  It was and is Jesus.

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Jesus is our constant as well. Look at our world. Values are changing. A godless society is thriving. Commitment is a word without meaning in our century. We need a constant.

Beginning to end, alpha to omega, Jesus is our constant.

It’s hard to hit a moving target. We have our eyes fixed on Jesus and the only moving he is doing is toward us. He is our constant.

When the world says there is no god or to be your own god, keep your eyes fixed on Jesus. He is our constant.

When the world comes up with a pill to kill a baby and you can buy it as an OTC drug, we need a constant. We need Jesus in our sights and we need to take his yoke.

When the world sells you its godless model across every form of media, you need someplace to direct your attention. You need a positive alternative to the world’s junk. You need to keep your eyes fixed on Jesus.

When the world says one religion is as good as another, that whole apathy and ambivalence thing again, you need truth. You have faith, not religion but the world is lumping what God has to say in with what Oprah has to say and giving them equal standing. You need a constant in the universe. You need to keep your eyes fixed on Jesus. He is our constant!

Salvation is the gift of God. Discipleship is our work and taking his yoke and learning from him are our daily tasks.

Putting his words into practice is how we bring glory to God, but you won’t hit the target if you don’t know where to aim.

I was driving through Houston a few years ago and tried the Sam Houston Tollway. My cousin knew that I was going through town so she called me when she saw a news report that there was a guy on the tollway going the wrong way.

I laughed when she called and told me about the guy going the wrong way. I said, “One guy, right, there’s hundreds of them!”

OBTW—those people were rude and honking their horns as a dozen at a time would swerve to avoid me at the last minute, most giving me digital signals as they passed.

How do we keep from going the wrong way? Eyes fixed on Jesus. His model, his ways, his words are what we need to target as our objectives.

So, let’s wrap up this chapter and this book with these two very familiar scriptures.

Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our Faith.

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Eyes fixed on Jesus. He is our constant in a world without constants.

Amen.