Hebrews

I read Hebrews whenever I need to remember Jesus. Not Who he was or what city he was born in. Or even how he was born. All those details are easy to recall. No the book of Hebrews, Especially the first 4 chapters, reminds me of the greater Jesus. Or at least the Jesus who was more than man, but still fully man. The Jesus that has a greater name than any of the angels. The Jesus that defeated death and in that action won freedom for all who would receive it. The Jesus that is our great high priest.

It is the same reason I read Isaiah. If you ever want to remind yourself of the power and presence and might of God just spend some time in Isaiah. The reminders God speaks through Isaiah about himself are chilling. When God mocks the idea of building a image made out of stone, crafted by man's hand, to worship the greatness of God is clearly contrasted to the insanity of worshiping lifeless symbol. Of course you can make the argument that the stone is just an image of something more. It even makes sense. Sure i put up notes to remind me to do things. I even hang pictures to help me remember the great times I have spent with loved ones and family. What is the difference between that and worshiping and image? I don't worship the photos. Could a statue help remind you to pray to whatever? Sure. But how is honoring it going to help. I guess I never understood the idea of idol worship.

That whole point being that Jesus is greater than all those things. When God speaks of himself as being greater than any man made statue or sculpture of some other deity. We find the same sense of different nature that we find when the author of Hebrews speaks of Jesus. From this point forward i will simply call the different nature of God and Jesus as their Holiness. The Holiness of Jesus in Hebrews, and the Holiness of God in Isaiah are similar. While God is being contrasted to foreign deities Jesus is contrasted with other beings inside the Jewish\Christian worldview.

The effect is the same. Christ is far superior to any living thing. He has wrested control of this world from the very hands of Satan. He has dominion over all things. To that end we can have faith that whatever tries to destroy us from either within or without we have a far greater negotiator. He has the power and ability to grant us hope over all things.

Hebrews is a wonderful and frightening look into the power and glory of Jesus. It is a reminder that even though we may go through intense hardship. We may be tempted beyond what we think we can bear. All is not and never will be lost. We have a great high priest who has wrested the power of death from one who would hold it over our head. We have a intercessor in the very throne of God.

We must remember that Christ is our hope. He is our salvation. We must not let ourselves slip away from him. Our one and only hope is to hold onto Christ and his promise and pray that he will grant us the faith to continue to hold on.

Keep the faith.