THE END OF THE RACE—WE ARRIVE AT THE HEAVENLY CITY
(Suggested Reading: Heb. 12:3-24)
This is the second and last time we are invited to consider our Lord Jesus Christ. The first time we were invited to consider Him in His dual capacity of Apostle and High Priest 3:1 i.e. as the One who was sent into the world by the Father and then the One who on returning to heaven became our High Priest. Here we are invited to consider Him in another dual capacity as the Leader (or Author or Originator) of faith and also as the Completer of faith. Considering Him as Apostle and High Priest is no doubt contemplating how He filled these offices to God's glory. Considering Him as the Leader and Completer of faith is more how the two characteristics of faith patience and power shone out in His earthly life without anything to dim their luster as with us. God has concealed the failures of the faithful ones recorded in Heb. 11 and recorded only how they overcame by faith. With Christ there was no possibility of failure. He retraced all that is found in Heb. 11 without any failure at all and is now in heaven. Therefore He personally becomes the goal the end of the race. That was the point of the first great exhortation at the opening of the 12Th chapter to fix our eyes on Jesus because He has run the race. The other great point was patience to run the race. Unlike Jesus we have an old sinful nature impatient longing to drop out of the race and settle down on earth. That being the case we need instruction on how to run the race.
God provides this instruction. He trains us for the race. God is bringing many sons to glory 2:10 and what son is not subject to a father's correction so that he may fittingly represent his father and his house and not disgrace him. But we have a part to play in the race it is not all left up to our Father's discipline. Our part is to strengthen our work and walk 12:12-13 to follow peace with all men and holiness 12:14 and not to lack the grace of God. The law is then brought in in the figure of Mt. Sinai as the great barrier to the grace of God. But we have not come to that, we are told but to Mt. Zion grace and the heavenly city. In spirit the race is over the goal attained. The epistle morally ends at the close of Chapter 12 with exhortations founded on that.
An appendix follows this chapter, summarizing our reasons for believing that Paul was the author of Hebrews. It is inserted here because Chapter 12 ends the race from earth to heaven, and at this point the reader should have a general understanding of the epistle to the Hebrews.
Disciplinary Training to Help Us Run the Race
Hebrews ignores the doctrine of the new man in Christ Jesus so prominent in Paul's letters. Instead it looks at us in mixed condition that is as having both an old and new nature. Perhaps this is because it is addressed to the Hebrews. Unlike the Gentiles who indulged in the desires of the flesh and of the mind the problem of the Hebrews was religious flesh. Their constant tendency was to long for the old religious traditions impediments to Christianity. In any event in Hebrews man is looked at as he is found in this world still with a body of flesh hindering his progress toward heaven. His fallen nature would anchor him to this world if God allowed it.
But God does not allow it and the subject opening before us is discipline to prevent our flesh from overcoming the faith God has implanted in us to strive for and attain our heavenly goal. Discipline in Chapter 12 is against the flesh but connected with the trials of faith. It is not primitive discipline as in Corinth where many had become sickly in body and others had been removed by death due to partaking of the Lord's Supper while living wicked lives see 1 Cor. 1:27-30. Rather its purpose is to help us run the race as a coach disciplines and encourages his athletes. It can be looked at in three ways as coming from "the Lord" first 12:5, 6 then "God" 12:7 and finally from "the Father of spirits" 12:9. These three ways give us some indication of the character and purpose of the discipline, which is not otherwise spelled out.
We are exhorted neither to slight the Lord's discipline on the one hand nor to crumble under it on the other, for it is a proof of the Lord's love. Paul is quoting from Prov. 3:11, 12. Proverbs is the book which gives us wisdom to pass through this world. The source of the quotation suggests that what we are considering is practical discipline in the affairs of this life; the setting of the quotation suggests guidance through this world as the reason for it Prov. 3:6. While guiding us in love He may pass us through experiences which try our faith. Suppose I am working for a firm which is in financial difficulties and finds it difficult to meet its payroll. I do not understand the problem but the Lord does. I love my job. Until some other employment is opened for me my faith is being tried. I can refuse to recognize the Lord's hand in what happened or on the other hand I can faint in my mind question His real love for me. Peter knew that the end of his life would be martyrdom because the Lord told him. The Hebrews had not yet suffered martyrdom striving against sin. If they did, that would be the end of their life in this world for Peter that end was always before him yet he wrote "that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perishes though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ" 1 Peter 1:7.
The next subject is God dealing with us as with sons. When Moses reached maturity he refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. Before that time he was a son in Pharaoh's court, subject to the discipline of that court, the end object of which was to educate him in all the wisdom of the Egyptians. To be the son of Pharaoh's daughter he must endure the discipline of the world to make him a man of the world. God has called us to a higher court and a higher discipline. If He didn't we wouldn't be His sons but bastards 12:8. This discipline then has heaven not earth as its purpose. Those who are bastards the men of the world who reject Christ are not subject to God's discipline at all. They will be subject to His final judgment after death but in life they are left alone because they have no portion in heaven. But because God is calling many sons unto glory discipline has heaven in mind and is presumably connected with our spiritual life. We may be disciplined for associating with anything we know to be grossly wrong in doctrine or practice. The last consideration is "the Father of spirits." This term simply means God the Father "the Father of spirits" in contrast to "the fathers of our flesh." They corrected us using their best judgment which could be wrong. God the Father can never be wrong. The purpose of His discipline is to separate us from the world not in a monkish sort of way but in spirit. There are many things in this world which are not wrong in themselves. But if we allow them to displace God in our lives He may discipline us for that. The end result is that "we might be partakers of His holiness." He has in mind the heavenly scene to which He has called His many sons and there can be no unholiness there. The whole subject is summarized in v.11. We dislike discipline no matter what form it takes. It is what "seems to be" what is apparent that is what forms our judgment of it. But faith is based upon the link of the soul with God, and when tried passes through it. Then the peaceable fruit of righteousness is reaped. Fruit is the end result of a long process in nature, and God is patient with us. Alas some Christians despising the discipline, do not enjoy the taste of the fruit. "Ephraim has turned to idols, let him alone" Hos. 4:17-is the saddest thing that can be said about an indifferent Christian.
What We Must Do Ourselves to Help Us Run the Race
After giving us an insight into how divine discipline is used to help us run the race from earth to heaven the Spirit now turns to what we must do ourselves to run the race. Several exhortations are given simple but difficult to practice. We are to banish discouragement in our work for God and our walk with Him for such is the meaning of hands and feet. If we don't the lame (weak Christians) will be turned out of the way that is give up the race from earth to heaven. If you are discouraged yourself with what you are doing for God and your walk with Him, then your example will be contagious the weaker ones will be discouraged too. Instead let your example heal the lame brother that is encourage him to run the race. "Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord." Peace and holiness are mentioned in the passage on discipline. There the order is holiness first "partaking of His holiness" 12:10 then the peaceable fruit of righteousness, now viewed as ripe for tasting 12:11. They are repeated in reverse order here for emphasis, for seeing the Lord is the end of the race.
Warnings on Failing in the Race
Now the last part emerges "see to it that no one comes short of the grace of God." This means make sure that you retain confidence in the love of God not as an abstract thing but as a personal daily and practical thing the sunbeams flooding into the soul. But why grace then if love is the thought. It is because the law or the legal spirit will never help us understand the trial of faith through which God may pass us on the one hand or undergird us to do something practical to run the race. The grace of God meets all our needs. We don't deserve such a good God, but praise His Name He is our Father. But what if we do come short of the grace of God? Then our bad example will spread, just as it did to the lame brother. That is the meaning of "a root of bitterness" here. A plant well rooted will grow and spread out. The race then is lost, for all practical purposes. When a root of bitterness is firmly grounded on the earth, heaven is forgotten. How important then to retain our personal confidence in God. As to man we can have no confidence in him. So they are warned against the external wickedness of man which defiles "any fornicator" and finally internal wickedness profanity though it expressed itself in an outward act. A profane person is someone who values the world or something in it more than the grace of God. Esau sold his birthright for food, and was not forgiven. His show of repentance was only a change of mind. True repentance toward God is in the soul and consists of judging oneself sinful and God righteous and holy. Esau did neither he felt sorry for himself what he had lost. Men object to the Scripture "Jacob have I loved and Esau have I hated" Rom. 9:13, forgetting that it was God's verdict on both men long after they were dead.
Three Circles of Three
Notice the circles of threes in this chapter. Under discipline we had "the Lord" "God" and "the Father of spirits." Under the part dealing with our conduct we had "hands" "knees" and "feet." Under the part dealing with what we should avoid we have a "root of bitterness," "any fornicator" and a "profane person." These three circles of threes appear just before we reach the goal the end of the race in Hebrews. This is our next consideration.
Our Goal Is Not an Earthly City but a Heavenly City
As soon as man was expelled from the Garden of Eden his thoughts turned toward building a city on the earth. Cain built the first one a prototype of those which have followed. It contained every delight the flesh wanted. Cain was a farmer and so the city was surrounded by good land and named after his firstborn son Enoch whose name means dedicated. Ever since then men have been dedicated to building cities in the world. They are more elaborate than Cain's city but contain the same elements business (Gen. 4:20), music (Gen. 4:21), industry, science, technology (Gen. 4:22) and the art of war (Gen. 4:23). Except for war none of these things are evil in themselves it is the use to which they are put which is. God-given talents are prostituted used to shut God out of man's world and to camouflage sin which is corruption (Gen. 4:19) and violence (Gen. 4:23-24).
Next our attention is drawn to two contrasting expressions "you are not come" that is to Mt. Sinai and "you are come" that is to the heavenly city. Actually the heart of man would prefer an earthly city Cain and those who followed him showed that. But couldn't God have a city on the earth too to offset Cain's work? However if you would live in God's city you must do the works of God. Mt. Sinai is the city of law and a sinful people were so terrified with the mount which might be touched (the visible rather than the invisible city) the mount that burned with fire, which was characterized by blackness, darkness, tempest, the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words that they found it all unbearable. They didn't want the word spoken to them anymore. So God stopped speaking to them that way. At the beginning of Hebrews we are told "God, who at sundry times and in diverse manners spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets hath in these last days spoken to us by His Son" 1:1, 2. The voice of God the Son is calling all who will believe to come to the Holy City Jerusalem where He is Rev. 22:17. But man's heart still prefers an earthly city and so most likely the same angel who took John to see the heavenly city takes him to see the earthly city Babylon in all her corruption. It is remarkable how these cities are tied together by the invitation "come." In Hebrews we are not come to the earthly mount but we are come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God. "Come" says the angel to John and carries him away to the wilderness to see the harlot city Babylon in the wilderness. "Come" says the angel to John and he carries him away to a great and high mountain to see the Holy City Jerusalem. The sight of it and the thought of Jesus there again invokes the invitation to come "and let him who is athirst come." Well it is one thing to be there in spirit and another to be there actually this requires the coming of Jesus. So He says "Surely I come quickly" and our reply is "Amen. Even so come, Lord Jesus" for we want Him to come and take us where He is. But the angel first took John, in spirit, to see the Holy City before the vision of it brought forth these responses. So would Paul here, in Hebrews, take us in spirit to see the heavenly city. The heavenly city in Hebrews, the city for which Abraham longed, is not the Church, for Abraham knew nothing about the Church then the unrevealed mystery. It is the whole scene of heavenly glory which includes the Church, and all who share it with us. Just before Paul takes us in spirit to the heavenly city he interjects a word about the earthly city, Jerusalem Mount Zion the center of the earth. It is as though we are looking down at it in its coming glory, when heaven and earth will be united under Christ Eph. 1-10. Mount Zion in Scripture is the place of grace in contrast to Mt. Sinai the place of law. Israel's long journey started with the law at Mount Sinai and then when they had broken all its precepts and failed miserably in their history God establishes the kingdom in power under David on Mount Zion. He would bless them on the principle of grace though they had failed under the principle of law. Then comes the heavenly city but not until the earthly city of God is brought in first. We are dealing entirely with great principles being afforded a summary of the entire blessing of earth and heaven under Christ the root and the offspring of David Rev. 22:16. Mount Zion the earthly city is the city of the Great King Ps 48:2 The joy of the whole earth Jerusalem the city of the Living God. The union of both in the coming day is the answer to the Lord's Prayer "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
An incident from my youth flashes back from time to time whenever I think of attaining our goal the heavenly city. An analogy of course, but a meaningful and encouraging one. It was the spring of.
1945. I was an airman in England awaiting demobilization. Without warning a number of us were told to pack immediately. We were to fly home to Canada in our bombers. About 2 a.m. we were alerted to put on flying clothes. After the engines were warmed up the pilot asked me over the intercom for a D.R. Compass reading and simultaneously I heard the control tower giving us take off clearance. We took off over water and in a few hours touched down on the Azores Islands for gas. The last leg of the flight was sheer delight. We flew low over a placid Atlantic, but there was nothing to see no ships, no aircraft. Only a copper colored sun which we seemed to be chasing. Our spirits were irrepressible, for the war was over and we knew we would soon be home.
We too can see the end of our warfare in this world. The multiplying signs predicted by our Lord in Matt. 24 tell us we are not far from home. But that home, that heavenly city means an eternal uninterrupted rest for us. There we shall see Christ and be like Him. There too we shall meet and associate with the Lord's people from every nation and generation. For the Christian that is attaining the goal.
The Heavenly City—the Goal—Comes in Sight at Last
To come to the heavenly city is to realize our hope the attainment of our goal. First we were called "holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling" 3:1. Until God called us from heaven the horizon of our hopes was confined to this earth. Next came the tasting of the heavenly gift 6:4 and we are told that "every good gift and every perfect gift is from above" James 1:17. Then we are introduced to "heavenly things" 9:23 even though, like Nicodemus, we may not be ready for them John 3:12. The effect of these heavenly things taking root in our souls is searching for a better country we now live in that is a heavenly country 11:16. And the capital city of that heavenly country is the city of the living God the heavenly Jerusalem 12:22.
The heavenly Jerusalem' is the end of the race from earth to heaven in Hebrews. In our chapter heaven and earth are brought together. There are eight considerations, ranging from the one earthly consideration Mt. Zion 12:22 Through seven heavenly considerations terminating in 12:24. Morally Hebrews ends when we arrive at the heavenly city the remainder of the epistle being exhortations. The seven things descriptive of the heavenly city are broken down into 4 and 3 as is customary in Scripture. Four of these things relate to God, for it is His city the city of the living God and three to the inhabitants of His city.
God and His city The city is called "the city of the Living God, the heavenly Jerusalem." It belongs to God who is its builder and maker. A city is a system of administration and "of His kingdom there shall be no end." He is the living God the inhabiter of eternity, eternal in His being the "I am that I am.”
In this city God is known as the Judge of all. His throne is there Rev. 22:3 in the inner city the Holy City Jerusalem. Believers must appear before God for the review of their responsible lives on earth Rom. 14:10 2 Cor. 5:10. They will be rewarded or rebuked but not condemned since Christ has borne their sins Rom. 8:1. Unbelievers must stand before the throne Rev. 20:11 for eternal judgment. So God is the Judge of all see also John 5:21-27.
Then we find Jesus, the Mediator of the New Covenant. This is "the better covenant" of 8:6. It is better in contrast to the law which was the Old Covenant. Apart from other considerations the law was temporal by its very nature. At the end of Hebrews the New Covenant is called "the eternal covenant" 13:20. Jesus, who is God's Son, will enforce this covenant on earth from His throne in heaven. The New Covenant is introduced at this juncture to sound a note of blessing in contrast to the thought of God as the Judge of all for judgment is an unusual task for God, who delights to bless see Isa. 28:21. Still, God has these two characters the Judge of all and the Blesser under the New Covenant.
Finally we come to the basis of the blessing the blood of sprinkling which speaks better things than that of Abel. Both were shed on earth first the blood of Abel then the blood of Christ. Abel's blood cried to God for vengeance and Cain went away to build a city and forget God. Christ's blood cries to God for forgiveness and opens the way to a city which God has built for us. It is the blood of the New Covenant the foundation of blessing to man.
The inhabitants of God's city. At the close of Revelation an angel takes John on a guided tour of the Holy City Jerusalem. The most striking feature of this tour is that John tells us what the city is like but is silent about its inhabitants. True there are angels outside at the gates. But the city itself is vacant and unoccupied as far as the record informs us. The reason for this is the invitation "Come" which follows i.e. come to the city by believing the gospel, and live in this holy city. When we come to the heavenly city we discover that we are not the only ones who live there. John and Paul give us opposite but complementary views of the heavenly city. John tells us about the city but not its inhabitants Paul ignores the city and tells us about its inhabitants. Three classes of inhabitants are given to us the angels, the Church in glory, and the Old Testament saints. The order of presentation is intentionally designed to convey the impression of God's city in its coming rule over the earth "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." This will be "in the administration of the fullness of times" Eph. 1:10 in the millennial kingdom soon to be set up and administered by Christ. We are first introduced to "an innumerable company of angels, the universal gathering." Heaven was home to them long before the world was created. In Hebrews angels are mentioned eleven times in the first two chapters. From Chapter 2 until now they are not spoken of, for Christ is calling many sons to glory. Now they are prominent once more for the glory is their home and we have arrived there.
Next comes "the Assembly of the Firstborn which are written in heaven." This is the Church (never the subject of teaching in Hebrews). Because we are "written in heaven" we precede the Old Testament saints in the order of presentation here. Historically they would come first but the point is not chronological order in time. It is our origin before time we were written in heaven. The Church is the moral center of the heavenly city, just as it is central in the three classes here. Being closest to Christ's heart as His bride it is the city within the city the Holy City Jerusalem of Rev. 21.
Finally we come to "the spirits of just men made perfect" the Old Testament saints. No New Testament saints are listed in the register of the "Faith" chapter Heb. 11 not even such a man of faith as Stephen. At the conclusion of Chapter 11 we are told "that they without us should not be made perfect." This statement is enshrined in a sevenfold presentation of what cannot make perfect and what can divided into the usual groupings of 4 and 3.
The three references to what cannot make perfect are introduced by the blanket statement that the law made nothing perfect. The other two references substantiate the general statement with the detail 9:9 and 10:1. God looked past the failure of the law to the coming of Christ and so these just men died in faith their spirits are with the Lord. Now we will look at the group of four Scripture
|
WHAT "for the law made nothing perfect" 7:19
|
|
CANNOT "unable to perfect as to conscience him that worshipped" 9:9
|
|
MAKE "the law...can never...perfect those who approach" 10:1
|
|
PERFECT CHRIST "to make perfect the Leader of their salvation" 2:10
|
|
AND "and having been perfected became...the author of eternal salvation" 5:9
|
|
HIS PEOPLE
|
|
MADE "that they should not be made perfect without us" 11:40
|
|
PERFECT "the spirits of just men made perfect" 12:23
|
verses in which Christ and His people are made perfect forever. (The thought in being made perfect here is having a glorified body.) This thought emerges with the references to Christ. First, the Leader of our salvation has been made perfect 2:10 secondly, having been perfected He became...the Author of eternal salvation. Christ being perfected means not only raised from the dead but ascended to the highest pinnacle of glory in heaven seated as Man on God's throne. It is from this point He becomes the Author, not of temporal but eternal salvation. He is not only the Savior of the soul but of the body also. And the bodies of the just men of the Old Testament are in the grave. However "they should not be made perfect without us" 11:40 this perfection should not be theirs in isolation but shared with us. But since we are looked at here as present in heaven in glorified bodies in the expression "the Church of the Firstborn" so they too are looked at as "made perfect" glorified along with us "the spirits of just men made perfect" 12:23.
The Better Things of Christianity
If we are correct in assuming that 12:24 is the moral ending of the epistle to the Hebrews this would surely be the point to look at two remarkable features of this verse. First of all, translators do not render part of this verse uniformly, not due to obscurity in the Greek, but to uncertainty as to the underlying thought. The language is highly figurative. The blood of Jesus is said to be speaking better things than that of Abel. In 11:4 we were told that though Abel is dead yet he speaks. Is that the contrast between Abel speaking and the blood of sprinkling speaking? Or is it between the sprinkled blood of Jesus speaking and the blood of Abel speaking? Or perhaps the language has been couched this way so both interpretations are valid. Whatever the case, raising the question draws our attention to the reference to Abel in 11:4.
Abel heads the list of those who died in faith in Heb. 11. He is the first man whose name is mentioned there and his name is the last word in the moral close of the epistle at 12:24. This must be intentional. Abel lived long before Moses and the giving of the law, long before Abraham the father of these Hebrews who boasted of their ancient religion, long before the flood even. He lived in the dawn of the Adam race. Abel continues to speak in the sense that his life's testimony was that man is a sinner and needs a blood sacrifice to redeem him, and bring him to God. Jesus has offered Himself now and the sacrifice Abel looked for has been made. And so, no matter how the verse is translated, it tells us clearly that something better has been brought to man. The moral close of the epistle thus brings together two great things Jesus' precious blood of sprinkling and, because of that blood, what is infinitely better for man than anything which preceded the blood of Jesus. So the word "better" is never found again in Hebrews. Nothing can be better than the blood of Jesus. It has satisfied God and it speaks to man of pardon.