<\/p>\n
The writer of Hebrews implores Jewish Christians to stay faithful, despite mounting pressure to return to Judaism. The same Jesus who died once for our sins will appear a second time to complete the work of salvation he began in all Christians.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, we are to keep the Christian community intact, meet regularly, and remind ourselves that \u201cin a very little while, the Coming One will come and not delay\u201d (Heb. 10:37).<\/p>\n
Hebrews 9:27-28\u00a0<\/strong>\u2013\u00a0And just as it is appointed for people to die once\u00a0\u200b\u2014\u00a0\u200band after this, judgment\u00a0\u200b\u2014\u00a0\u200bso also Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.<\/em><\/p>\n Some Greeks held to Plato\u2019s belief in reincarnation. And some Jewish traditions allowed for temporary punishment in\u00a0gehenna<\/em>\u00a0after death to expiate one\u2019s remaining sins. But the writer of Hebrews affirms the majority first-century Jewish view, and the consensus New Testament teaching, that death ends a person\u2019s opportunity for reconciliation with God. Today is the day to set things right with our creator and judge (Heb. 4:5-7). As Jared Ingle writes, \u201cWe are profoundly limited by\u00a0Today<\/em>. It is our only opportunity to engage God.\u201d<\/p>\n Equally important, Christ has provided reconciliation through his death, burial, and resurrection. His work to \u201cbear the sins of many\u201d is drawn from Isaiah 53:12. Now seated at the Father\u2019s right hand in heaven, the exalted Jesus will appear \u201ca second time\u201d \u2013 in his glorious future return \u2013 to finish his work of salvation in us. He is raising us from the dead and giving us glorified bodies, rewarding us for faithful service, and forever banishing death and\u00a0hades<\/em>\u00a0to the lake of fire (Rev. 20:14).<\/p>\n Our role as followers of Jesus is to serve him faithfully in view of his imminent return. As Jesus tells his disciples in the parable of the ten minas, \u201cEngage in business until I come back\u201d (Luke 19:11-27, especially v. 13).<\/p>\n Hebrews 10:24-25\u00a0<\/strong>\u2013\u00a0And let us consider one another in order to provoke love and good works, not neglecting to gather together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day approaching.<\/em><\/p>\n Religious associations in the Greco-Roman world were key to a sense of community. Jewish people in the first century gathered weekly at their synagogues. Christians seemed to have gathered at least weekly with an emphasis on Sunday (Acts 20:7).<\/p>\n But persecution may have discouraged some Christians from attending worship, even in relatively private house churches. So, the writer of Hebrews urges them not to neglect vital engagement in Christian community, especially as they see \u201cthe day approaching\u201d \u2013 that is, the day of Jesus\u2019 return and judgment.<\/p>\n Hebrews 10:37\u00a0<\/strong>\u2013\u00a0For yet in a very little while, the Coming One will come and not delay.<\/em><\/p>\n The writer of Hebrews expresses confidence that his readers, having already endured much, will not shrink back and abandon the faith (Heb. 10:32-39). He cheers them on to faithfulness. Drawing from Habakkuk and Isaiah, he seeks to bolster their trust in the return of \u201cthe Coming One\u201d (cf. Isa. 26:20; Hab. 2:3-4).<\/p>\n Habakkuk speaks of a\u00a0revelation<\/em>\u00a0that is coming: \u201cFor the vision is yet for the appointed time \u2026. Though it delays, wait for it, since it will certainly come and not be late\u201d (Hab. 2:3). The prophet is referring to the looming judgment of Judah and the punishment of Babylon. The writer of Hebrews changes the focus to a\u00a0person<\/em>. Since Jesus is the God-Man, as well as God\u2019s last word to man (Heb. 1:1), the adaptation fits perfectly to the return of Christ.<\/p>\n Just as God delays his judgment of Judah and his vengeance on Babylon, he holds the return of Christ in reserve for a future day. Peter tells us this delay is an exercise of God\u2019s patience. Even so, the \u201cday of the Lord\u201d comes certainly and swiftly, punishing the wicked, purging the world of sin, and resulting in new heavens and a new earth (2 Pet. 3:1-13).<\/p>\n As Donald Guthrie notes of Hebrews 10:37, \u201cHere the thought is of the certainty of God\u2019s intervention, which was particularly significant for the church in a time of persecution. The assurance that\u00a0the coming one<\/em>\u00a0would not tarry shows that any delay should be regarded as temporary.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The writer of Hebrews implores Jewish Christians to stay faithful, despite mounting pressure to return to Judaism. The same Jesus who died once for our sins will appear a second time to complete the work of salvation he began in all Christians. Meanwhile, we are to keep the Christian community intact, meet regularly, and … Continue reading “Once Delivered – Devotion”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-184937","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily-prayers"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184937","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=184937"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184937\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":185002,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184937\/revisions\/185002"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=184937"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=184937"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=184937"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}