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STAYING POWER #1
LOOK WHERE YOU WANT TO GO
Welcome to our Voice of Prophecy series for this week, Staying Power. I'm excited about what we're going to learn and experience together. God has something very special for you in one particular book of the Bible we're going to examine. And I bet it's a book you haven't looked into very much. We're going to uncover a remarkable message that can really have an impact in your life.
In the l980s a government contractor produced a very powerful submarine for the U.S. Navy. It was a nuclear sub crammed with all sorts of high tech equipment. It could navigate for weeks under the polar cap without once surfacing. It could hide deep in the sea, navigating down canyons in the ocean floor. It could deliver missiles to targets thousands of miles away with pin- point accuracy.
It was a twelve billion dollar marvel. But there was only one little problem. The sub could only go backwards.
Yes, believe it or not, after the christening of the vessel, after all the ceremony of launching it from its dock into the water, they found out the propeller screw had somehow been mounted incorrectly. It turned the wrong way. When they started these huge nuclear-powered engines, the thing puttered along in reverse.
In other words, if they'd wanted to strike a target in the Middle East, they'd have to back up--all the way across the Atlantic, looking in the rear-view mirror I suppose.
I'd like to ask you a question. Do you ever feel that your life is somehow going backwards? Every feel that way about your spiritual life? You try to do the right things. You try to take positive steps. But that forward gear just doesn't kick in.
Have you ever wondered: Why do I keep tripping up on the same old habits? Why do I keep making the same mistakes? Why am I still bent out of shape by the same old weaknesses?
Most of us realize we need to keep growing in order to remain healthy human beings. But, when we stop and take a hard look at what exactly is changing inside us, evidence is hard to come by.
So, if you're frustrated about taking one step forward and two steps back, if just trying harder has put you in the hole, there's a book in the Bible written especially for you. God knows all about our predicament; He knows exactly what kind of frustrations we experience. And one particular book in the Bible takes this problem head on. I wonder if you can guess which one it is.
The book I'm talking about is toward the end of the New Testament, near the book of Revelation actually. It's called Hebrews.
Hebrews was addressed to Jewish believers, as the name suggests. Please remember that in the early church, almost all believers were Jews. And what's evident is this: these people were starting to feel great pressures. Many were experiencing real suffering, probably persecution. There was a crisis of faith.
In this pressured situation, some were starting to go backwards, falling away from the faith. Now what did 'backwards' mean for these people? It meant abandoning the gospel in favor of traditional religion. In this case the Jewish ceremonial system, which had become quite legalistic, was pulling them back.
To move forward, Jewish believers had to go against the tide. The religious culture around them wasn't sympathetic to the radical claims of Christ. It was much easier to conform to tradition than become someone the neighbors are supposed to avoid.
That's the issue this epistle, this letter to the Hebrews is dealing with. It was written for individuals who felt great pressure to go backwards. They were in danger of losing all the gains they had made by the grace of Christ.
Hebrews is designed to solve that particular problem. It tells us how to go forward, when everything around us is pushing us backward. It fixes that propeller screw on the submarine.
That's one reason the book of Hebrews can be a valuable resource in our lives right now, today. The specific religious issues we face may be a bit different. But the basic challenge is the same: how to move forward, how to make progress in our lives.
We're going to look at some wonderful principles that will keep us growing over the long haul. Today we'll be looking especially at the first few chapters in the book. There we find a striking picture of Christ's supremacy over all things.
You can see this at the very beginning of Hebrews, the first chapter, the first few verses. The writer doesn't waste any time getting to his theme. Packed into just the first four verses you'll find these pictures of Christ:
Heir of all things
The one through whom God made the worlds
The brightness of God's glory
The express image of His person
The one upholding all things by the word of His power
The one who purged our sins, who sat down at the right hand of God's Majesty
That's quite a resume isn't it? Chapter one goes on to exalt Christ, stating: His throne is forever and ever; the heavens are the work of his hands. It presents Jesus as the creator of the universe.
Chapters 2 and 3 describe how this faithful Son of God worked heroically for our salvation. Single-handedly he destroyed the power of death over us.
Now let's think for a moment. Remember the problem we're dealing with here: slipping backwards, relapsing into old habits, falling away from faith. Does the way this book begins tell us anything about the solution the writer will offer?
I think it does. The writer obviously wanted to make Christ vivid, present, glorious. He gives us something big to look at. Here's why I think he did that.
Do you remember what it was like when you were just learning to ride a bicycle? Can you picture it? Your palms are sweaty on those handle bars; your toes barely reach the pedals, and you're trying to go straight down the sidewalk for the first time. You're sick and tired of crashing into the bushes on either side.
Well, you put on a game face, push off on the bike, and glare at those bushes, determined to avoid them. And what usually happens? You find yourself, splat, running right into them again.
Why? Because that's where you're looking! It takes you a while to learn to forget about the bushes and just look straight down the sidewalk, straight at where you do want to go.
OK, why do we keep running into those bushes in our personal life? Why do those same old habits keep tripping us up? Why do those same old weaknesses bend us out of shape?
Because we keep looking at them! That's one big reason. We keep glaring at them. In other words, we try to make progress by walking backwards. We're walking away from something, staring down that habit, trying to avoid it, trying to keep from falling again. And what happens? It pulls us in its direction; we're drawn back.
So what's the answer? Start looking at where you do want to go! Start walking forwards. That's a message Hebrews gives us loud and clear. You find it in the twelfth chapter of Hebrews. This important principle is stated so forcefully. Chapter 12, verses 1 and 2:
Let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, [that's our challenge isn't it? How do we avoid that sin that keeps tripping us up? How to we run with endurance? Here's how. Hebrews continues:] looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith,
Turn around! Turn around and face where you want to go! Look at Jesus. That's the first principle that will keep us moving in the right direction.
Many versions translate it this way: fixing our eyes on Jesus. We run the race, we keep going forward, by fixing our eyes on Jesus. Isn't that the best way to make progress?
If you want to start moving forward consistently in your life, turn around, face the right direction, start looking at Jesus, the author and finisher of faith.
What does that mean in a practical sense? How about this?
Stop looking at anger. Stop looking at lust or depression, or whatever it is that's bringing you down. Don't center your thoughts and your prayers on that. Turn around and look at Jesus, fill your thoughts with Him. He's got the positive quality you need. Christ's patience and forbearance will replace anger. Christ's sensitivity and love will replace lust. Christ's spirit of thankfulness will replace depression. That's where you want to go!
Friends, Christ has something better to offer. Christ has the qualities we need. Christ has the gifts we need. So let's affirm that in our hearts each day. Let's start by facing in the right direction, with our eyes fixed on Jesus Christ, the author and perfecter of our faith.
Yes, Christ must be big enough, straight ahead in our field of vision; that's where we want to go. He is magnified as the exact representation of the divine nature. He is the hero of our redemption. He is the one who sits down in triumph at the right hand of the Almighty. He is the One who understands our weakness. Christ has the power to draw us toward Him, to draw us forward.
These wonderful pictures in the beginning of Hebrews will help us take our first steps forward. Remember, if you're slipping backward, you're probably not facing in the right direction. Please look at Jesus. Get focused. Fill more of your thoughts with Him. Fill more of your prayers with Him. Study about Him. Talk about Him. We can all join in—and win—that greatest of all races in life by fixing our eyes on Jesus.
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