Hebrews 6:13-20
The Certainty of God’s Promise
13 When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself, 14 saying, “I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.” 15 And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.
16 Men swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument. 17 Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. 18 God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged. 19 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, 20 where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.
Hebrews 13:8
Jesus is the Same Yesterday, Today, and Forever
8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
As we read through the gospels, we see that each of the four authors give us the news and life of Jesus...And in their words, they give us Great Hope....And this hope is not only in the gospels, but also in all the New Testament Books...And I see this Great Hope beginning in the Old Testament, as we look forward to the Messiah, the Anointed One coming and helping us...So the Old Testament writers had this Great Hope before any of the New Testament writers ever wrote about the One who was to come...
And Hope is often and maybe mostly associated with the future...Specifically, when the Hebrews author tells us that hope is the anchor to our soul, we might think of the future -and think of heaven...But as we read through Hebrews (and the other New Testament Books) and what the author has to say about Jesus and how the Book of Hebrews is all about Jesus, we might want to look at hope in a different way...We might believe that hope is squarely placed on the Son of God...Our hopes lie with Jesus...And if our hopes are in Jesus and He has died, and His life is now not only in the past, but we might consider that hope is not only an idea of future hope, but also covers all the time now -the past, since His resurrection and death are in the past now...But Jesus' resurrection is this sign that He is risen and He still lives...So hope is also this idea of the present, when we hold on to our faith and believe that He lives...
So when the author writes Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever -hope's timeline has changed...And maybe hope for believers has changed to look beyond time...Our hope is anchored in the Divine Son of God...So hope is anchored in our souls, and is past, present, and future...So hope covers now all timelines, if we believe in Jesus...Hope is not only of the future and past, but also hope is of the present...Hope lives today, tomorrow, and forever, knowing that Jesus has risen and lives...Hope is now forever eternal...