2020 was a hard year. A pandemic wrecked the world, and many lost their lives. My family and I were living in Houston,TX at the time and while we were blessed to remain largely unaffected by Covid itself, 2020 accelerated a season of spiritual dryness that had been creeping up on me for several years prior, largely of my own making. New motherhood, combined with the uncertainty of the pandemic, combined with the (thankfully temporary) loss of in-person community had me feeling far away from God during that time. Spiritually, I was a desert.
If anything, the pandemic revealed two things: first, that I had neglected to keep my eyes fixed on God and forgot the sufficiency of Christ in all circumstances. Second, that gathering with my local church community was vital to my spiritual health.
We all encounter circumstances that tempt us to withdraw from the Lord. Hebrews is a book that encourages us to have confidence in Christ’s sufficiency so that we may persevere in whatever circumstances we may find ourselves. Specifically, Hebrews 10:19-24 shows us that Jesus’s sufficient work in his life, death, and resurrection grants Christians confident access to the Father and exhorts us to respond with individual and corporate actions.
Jesus’s work provides bold access to the Father.
Through his sinless life, death on the cross, and his resurrection, Jesus accomplished everything for believers to be reconciled to God. In this particular passage, the writer of Hebrews reminds us of two things: through Jesus, we are granted access beyond the curtain of the sanctuary and we are given a great High Priest in Christ.
Christ’s shed blood on the cross and his subsequent resurrection granted believers entry into a place that before, only the high priest could enter (and only once a year) to make atonement for the people’s sins. Any deviation from this practice resulted in death. Now, though, all believers have direct access to God, who they can approach boldly because of Jesus. We are able to enter the sanctuary simply through our position as Christ’s redeemed ones. This should give us confidence to withstand any trial.
But, not only does Jesus’s work grant us entry into the sanctuary, it also gives us a great high priest in him. Unlike earthly priests, who had to make sacrifices for their own sins before they could make sacrifices for the people’s sins, Jesus is a perfect and permanent high priest. His perfect shed blood was a sufficient sacrifice that once and for all time paid for the sins of man. He now sits at God’s right hand and continuously prays to God the Father on behalf of believers.
1 John 2:1 calls Jesus our “advocate” with the Father. He prays for the continuing forgiveness of our sins based on his own sacrifice and righteousness. While we may not know everything that Christ says in His prayers for us, I imagine it is a lot like His prayer recorded in John 17. With Jesus continuously interceding for us, we can have confidence that He will sustain us in all circumstances.
This leads us to respond appropriately.
Jesus’s work compels Christians to respond with individual and corporate actions.
Jesus’s work grants us entry into the sanctuary and gives us a sufficient high priest, so it only makes sense for us to draw near to God with assurance, hold fast to our hope, and gather with other believers for mutual encouragement. Here are three logical responses to what has just been said about us in this passage.
Draw near to God with assurance.
Though our hearts and bodies were filthy and could not be in God’s presence, Jesus’s shed blood cleansed us. Now, we can daily draw near to God with full confidence that he will accept us on the basis of Jesus’s righteousness.
Think on the book of Esther and consider the contrast between Esther’s position and ours. Esther, though she was queen, found herself needing to approach the king. But in her day, anyone who approached the king without being summoned risked their very lives. Esther, even though she was queen, approached her earthly king with no assurance that she would live to see the next day because of it.
How much more should we tremble about approaching God Himself? It is only through Jesus’s finished work on the cross that we may daily enter into God’s presence. We can draw near to Him with no fear that he will reject us. God is not a transcendent, distant being. He is personal, he cares for us, and his loves for us is unconditional.
We may not often consider the gravity of it, but every morning when we get up and spend time in God’s word and prayer, we are entering into the very presence of God. There is a sacredness to our daily time with God, and in doing so, our faith is made sure and we can face each day with full assurance of our faith.
Hold fast to our hope.
We confess that Jesus saves sinners. Since God is faithful to save us, we are able to persevere—not by our own strength but by His—in this life through our hope in a future that is sure.
This is actually the fourth time the writer of Hebrews tells readers to hold fast and each time, it’s said in light of what Jesus has done. Al Mohler, in his commentary on Hebrews, says “the Christian holds on not by his own tenacity but by God’s faithfulness.”
If holding on were dependent on us, we would all surely fall away. Seven or eight years ago, I would’ve told you that I had never struggled with doubt in the Lord. Sure, I had seasons of uncertainty in my circumstances, seasons of dryness. But, I had always trusted what I knew to be true about God.
However, in 2020, I struggled with doubt like I had never done before. I was plagued by fear, anxiety, guilt, and shame. My own ability to hold on to my confession had shriveled. Looking back, I see now that I was not in danger of falling away from my faith, because it was never dependent on my own faithfulness.
The God who created the world, who led the Israelites out of Egypt, who remained steadfast with them in the wilderness, brought them into the promised land, stayed with them through the exile, and sent Jesus to save sinners is the same God in whom we confess our salvation and by whom we hold fast to that confession.
Encourage mutual support among believers.
Finally, we do not confess just as individuals, but with others. Our shared confession with other believers—and specifically those with whom we go to church—should compel us to consider one another, to not neglect gathering together, and to encourage each other to persevere as we anticipate Christ’s return.
In a book called Faithful to the End: An Introduction to Hebrews through Revelation, the authors write about Hebrews: “The epistle mirrors a struggle…it is the struggle to endure, to be faithful, to persevere with joy. And it is a struggle that unites, rather than separates, the people of God in the old and the new [covenants].”
While this is anecdotal, I think one of the first signs a Christian is struggling is withdrawal from Christian community. This could be because they don’t feel safe sharing their struggles, but it could also be because they don’t want the accountability that can come with Christian community.
If the pandemic showed us anything, though, it should have shown us that we need each other. Christians aren’t meant to live in isolation, and those who do often wither without the support. While the Holy Spirit is sufficient to sustain the faith of those who may live in isolation because of persecution or a pandemic or other circumstance outside of our control, our faith was never meant to be “just me and Jesus.”
We need to gather regularly with other believers to, as this passage says, provoke love and good works, to encourage each other to persevere through trials and endure until Christ returns.
Hebrews 10:19-24 shows us how we can, as Colossians 3 says, keep our eyes fixed on the author and perfector of our faith. In Christ, we have hope no matter our circumstances because we can draw near to God and encourage fellow believers to do the same.
Photo by Eliecer Gallegos on Unsplash
