Latest / The Daily Word / July 4 – Fix Your Eyes on Jesus
Transcript
- Cory Barnes: Well, hello, happy Fourth of July. It is Pastor Jenny here, and I am excited to welcome you to another Daily Word podcast as we celebrate we being 250 years young here in the United States of America. It is a special day, because as we come around July 4th, remembering ⁓ the founding of a nation and just how not only how special that is, but the fact that we're still here, that we're still going, you know, and that it's not just something we did, but really coming back around that ⁓ I do believe that it's something God ordains, something God did, ⁓ that it's in and through the work of the Holy Spirit, that really it happened. And so hope hope whatever you are doing today, whatever maybe you've done today Maybe you're listening to this later and you've already celebrated the Fourth of July. Hope that you took time or you're gonna take time to fix your eyes on Jesus today. Fix your eyes on the author and finisher of not only our faith, but ⁓ the one who walks us through the very practical things in our everyday life. He takes us from glory to glory, from faith to faith, and every good and perfect gift is from him. And I do believe that living in this country. is such a gift ⁓ that what we have in this great republic is a gift. And in fact in our reading today we are starting the book of Hebrews and the author of Hebrews, it's not known s explicitly who that author is, and it's not even widely accepted who it would be in different traditions. There's some different thoughts. Maybe it's Paul, maybe it's Barnabas or Apollos. ⁓ But you know They are gonna kick off this book, regardless of who it is. The writer or the author kicks off the book by encouraging these early believers to do just what I'm talking about, to fix their eyes on Jesus. So let's look at this passage today. Let's get a little bit of context for who the author is specifically talking to, though. So again, of course, writing to the early church, early Christians, who would early Christians have been? Early Christians would have primarily been those who had previously been associated with Judaism. And as those who were coming out of Judaism, who had transferred, ⁓ who had converted to Christianity, they're ⁓ of course undergoing ⁓ persecution, they're undergoing trials, and as they're expecting the return of Christ, as they're anticipating and waiting They're ⁓ struggling under these persecutions and they're beginning to have doubts. They're beginning to wonder, was I really supposed to do this? Perhaps wondering, is was Jesus really who he said he was? Was he really the Messiah? Is all of this really worth it? ⁓ and they were beginning to wonder if they should go back to Judaism. Have you ever found yourself there, maybe even as a Christian, of maybe things started off really well. He had some hopes and thoughts about what it meant. But as you continued in your walk, you began to suffer some trials and difficulties and thought, maybe my life was actually better before coming to Christ. Maybe the things I was experiencing, my experiences, they they were actually better. ⁓ the things I was encountering here. and you have you had thoughts that you wanted to go back. So if you can relate to that, then you can certainly relate. This book, but I want to share with you the first few verses ⁓ Hebrews chapter one, verses one through four. This is the writer says God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by his son. So right away he's redirecting them to Jesus, whom he has appointed heir of all things. Through whom also he made the worlds. So he's saying, Hey, he's fixed our eyes on Jesus. He's made Jesus heir of all, so he's the one in charge. But also let's be reminded that Jesus is the one through whom he made the worlds. He was the he was at there at creation. Verse three, who being the brightness of his glory and the express image of his person. So again, Jesus wasn't just a man, he was the God man. And upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, so he gave his life and purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become so much better than the angels, as he has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. At first glance, I think when we read this passage, maybe even as you're listening. You can maybe think, ⁓ wow, that's a lot of maybe it sounds lofty words, maybe it goes over your head, like, wow, that sounds like a really beautiful piece of literature. But if we can go back to what I was sharing and put ourselves in the shoes of the readers, recognizing that again, they were having doubts about their faith. They were thinking about walking away and front out out of the gate, the the writer is reminding them, hey, I know God Talked to people in this way, but you need to come back to Jesus. You need to come back to remembering, but this is the way he has spoken now. And so I want to encourage you, no matter where you're at, maybe you've had doubts, maybe you're not having doubts at all, but every day we can pick up in where it says in verse two that in these last days he's spoken to us by his son. We can never take for granted that How important it is for us to fix our eyes on Jesus. And then he goes on to remind us of all that Jesus has done, that Jesus was there from the beginning, that Jesus is the God man, that Jesus was being the brightness of his glory, meaning God's glory, the express image of his person. Jesus is the image of God, upholding all things by his word and in of his power, that Jesus laid down his life when he had by himself purged our sins. And then he rose from the grave. He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on High. So Jesus is not dead. He is alive. And he's seated at the right hand. We have to fix our eyes. When we say fix our eyes on Jesus, we're not just looking at some stagnant man. We're looking at a man who is alive, who has breathed life into us, who has given us new life. We have to r stir ourselves up and remind ourselves that Jesus is the way. The truth in the life. When we are reminded and brought back to that truth, that he has not only come to give us life and life more abundantly, but there is eternal life in him. No matter what we're going through here on this earth, the temporary, it the eternal far outweighs the temporary. I love it also shares as the writer goes on, he goes on to say, ⁓ In verse ten through twelve, it says you Lord in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain. They will all grow old like a garment, like a cloak you will fold them up, and they will be changed, but you are the same, and your years will not fail. I think of the scripture that we hold fast to ⁓ that we're gonna come across in our reading throughout Hebrews. But that it's the fact that Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Jesus is faithful, he is good, he is there, he has always been, he is, and he will always be. And that we can hold fast to no matter what we're going through, no matter ⁓ what what we're navigating on the outside. externally or even what we're navigating internally. So I love that the author starts the book with that reminder, fixing our eyes on Jesus, coming back to Jesus because He is the way, the truth, and the life. So let me pray for you and pray for us as we close out this Fourth of July reminder that while we celebrate the f we're celebrating the freedom that we have here in America, we really want to remember and celebrate the freedom that we have in Christ. The freedom from sins, ⁓ the the freedom that we have to live as heirs of Christ in relationship with Jesus. So Lord, we come before you. God, we thank you. We cannot thank you enough for freely giving your son Jesus so that we could have life and life more abundantly. Jesus, thank you for sacrificing, for laying down your life for sacrificially giving that which none of us could give. We could not live up to the standard. There was nothing we could do over and over and over again we read through the Old Testament where your people or we as humans tried to meet the expectation and we couldn't do it. We were never going to be able to do it. But Jesus, you came and you lived that life which we could not live. You died the death we could not die. And then you rose again. You've defeated the grave. And so, Lord, we choose to fix our eyes on you today. ⁓ no matter what we're navigating, I thank you, God, that you are with us and that you're leading us into eternity. Help us to fix our eyes on that which is eternal today and in the days to come, taking our eyes off of the temporary and focusing on you. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.