City Life Starter

Written by Efe Abbe

The Word

¹² For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. ¹³ And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

Hebrews 4:12-13

Reflection

As our author continues to make the case for Jesus’ supremacy, now over Moses (and Joshua), the argument shifts to Jesus being uniquely able to usher people into God’s rest (sabbath).

The author warns that while God’s rest has been established since the beginning (v. 4, Genesis 2:3), people, particularly their Jewish ancestors, have failed to enter the rest because of disobedience, from hearts made hard by unbelief (Hebrews 3:16-19; 4:1-5). So the author appeals to the audience to “strive to enter [God’s] rest” (v. 11) by having unhardened hearts, showing their faith through obedience to the good news (v.3a).

Just in case anyone hearing this exhortation had any self-deception about the consequences of disobedience, they are soberly warned that God holds us accountable to His Word by His Word. Like a scalpel wielding surgeon, God incisively evaluates our obedience or disobedience by the standard of His Word down to our motives and intentions.

God’s Word is living, active, and powerful: it brought everything there is into existence (Genesis 1:1-2:3; Hebrews 1:2), sustains the whole universe (Hebrews 1:3), tells us that Jesus is our salvation (Hebrews 1:2; 2:3-4; 4:2), and is the standard of God’s judgment (Hebrews 4:12-13).

Application

These verses should do two things: 1) produce a healthy reverence of God’s revealed Word in scripture and in the person of Jesus; and 2) offer us hope that trusting in and being faithful to Jesus – God’s Word become flesh – will not be in vain. Ultimately, God will show the everlasting worth of our obedience to the good news and faithfulness to Jesus by His powerful and living Word.

Prayer

Dear Heavenly Father, please give me a healthy reverence of You, so that I respond reflexively in obedience to Your Word, because You are God alone and because You are good, in Jesus’ name, amen.