|
STAYING POWER #2
FIND A PLACE TO BELONG
Welcome back to our special series on Staying Power. We are discovering that the book of Hebrews in the Bible a real treasure of practical truth.
Do you remember what basic problem the author of Hebrews was dealing with?
Yes, going backwards was the problem. And that relates to our own basic challenge: How do we keep moving forward in our lives, when there's so much dragging us back, back to old habits, back to old ways of thinking?
Yesterday we uncovered a wonderful truth from the first few chapters of Hebrews that describe the supremacy of Jesus Christ. Face forward; face the right direction; fix your eyes on Jesus.
Now we're going to look at the main body of the book: chapters 5 through 10. These chapters picture Christ in a way you may not have imagined before. They discuss the superior ministry of Christ as our high priest. Christ our high priest; that summarizes the message at the heart of this book.
Today we're going to see what difference this can make in our everyday struggles.
Let's start by looking at Hebrews 5:9,10: "And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him, called by God as High Priest. . ."
Please notice: Christ, having been perfected, can become our High Priest. The author contrasts human high priests, having the usual human weaknesses, with the Son of God, Christ, who has been perfected forever. (7:28)
Perfect forever. That phrase is full of meaning in the book of Hebrews. Let's look at chapter 7, verses 24,25: "But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. Therefore He is able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He ever lives to make intercession for them."
Human intercessors may rise and fall. Jesus continues forever. Jesus is the same, today, yesterday, forever. (13: ) He is called a priest forever five times in the book.
But, where does He intercede? Before whom does He intercede? Hebrews 9:24 tells us. Listen. "For Christ has not entered the holy place made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us."
Now let's try to put all this together. We have a high priest in heaven. He is perfect forever. He's at God's right hand interceding. He's in the heavenly sanctuary.
How does this relate to how I live everyday? Does it influence whether I'm going forward or slipping backward in my life?
Well, they relate to an issue that's extremely important for each one of us: a sense of security. Stability.
All the things we've mentioned come down to one thing, one fact: We belong in that sanctuary. All those who come to God through Christ belong in the heavenly sanctuary. And, we can belong forever. That's the good news from Hebrews. Hebrews gives us a place to belong. We belong, we're accepted, because Christ is a perfect priest forever.
Friends, being able to say, "This is where I belong" is terribly important. We all need a place of security, especially those people who didn't have too much security growing up.
It's important for this simple reason: people without a sense of security find it extremely difficult to grow, to move forward. People get stuck in their habits, stuck in their unhealthy emotions, because they're desperately hanging on to them as props. What are compulsions and habits? They're attempts to compensate for some sense of inadequacy. They're attempts to fill a hole somewhere in our self-concept. People keep losing ground, slipping backwards, because they don't have secure roots; they don't have a place to belong.
That's the bad news. The good news is: the more secure we are, the easier it is to move forward; the easier it is to overcome obstacles in our lives.
Let me tell you about a young woman named Hedy. Keith Miller relates her story in his book, "Please Love Me." Hedy apparently had everything. A fashion model at thirteen, she was winning beauty contests and appearing in TV commercials before the age of 20. Then she started getting parts in Hollywood movies. Hedy seemed on her way to the top. She was featured on night time talk shows. She hob-nobbed with some of the biggest film stars.
Hedy had just one problem. But it was a big one. And it was one nobody suspected. This young woman had no real friends, no real relationships. Hedy craved intimacy. But she could never open up to anyone. This bright, talented woman had a terrible fear that if people saw what was really inside her, they would find her unlovable.
This problem of insecurity went way back, way back to a father who could never show affection or express his love. And so all through her life, Hedy had been unconsciously try to win that father's love, trying to earn, that father's love.
Eventually Hedy dropped out of the Hollywood scene and became a successful socialite in Chicago. She occupied herself with civic affairs. She flitted here and there among society's upper crust. And she went through a string of bad relationships.
Finally, a car accident stopped her frantic rush of activity. Lying flat on her back in a hospital she had time to listen. She listened to the nurse who told her about Christ, about the love and acceptance that Christ offers.
After a struggle, Hedy opened up her heart and soul to Christ, the One who became perfect sacrifice forever. And do you know what happened? She found a place where she could belong! She found a sanctuary from the pain and emptiness. Listen to how Hedy herself described it. These are her words:
"I kept saying over and over to myself, 'I can't believe it, Lord, I can't believe it.' What I had been demanding and waiting for from my father was the unconditional love of God, the Father. And now I could feel that love. A loving Father's presence seemed to be in the room with me, telling me silently, 'It's all right, you don't have to work, or be a star, or be outstanding to win my love and acceptance. You already have it, all you could ever want...you're home at last.'"
Does finding a place where we can belong make a difference? You bet it does. It made all the difference in Hedy's life. It's how lives can turn around.
God has given each of us a place where we belong, a place where we can be a part of a wonderful family. Jesus our High Priest, has created a place for us at God's Right Hand, in the heavenly sanctuary. Listen to these words in Hebrews 10:19-22: "Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest [that's the Most Holy Place of the sanctuary] by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us...let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith."
Christ, the perfect high priest forever, has created a new and living way right into the sanctuary. And what does that mean? We can draw near with full assurance. We have a place at God's right hand; we can be secure. That's what Hedy came to experience: "I am loved and accepted! I belong!"
This same wonderful assurance is echoed in 4:16: "Let us come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need." (NIV) Friends, we all need a place where we can come boldly for help, a place where we know we belong.
Our perfect high priest gives us that sense of belonging. That's the message at the heart of Hebrews. We don't have to cry out to God from a long distance. We don't have to hope against hope that somehow, someday we may measure up and come close to Him. No, by faith in Christ, we're right there at God's right hand. We belong, because Christ our high priest belongs. That's when we can begin to change, begin to move forward.
God wants to bring us over to a place of safety, to a sanctuary. His grace is inviting us in, inviting us in to a place that's very real. Please remember, life doesn't have to be a grim struggle to fill in the holes in our self-esteem. It doesn't have to be a desperate attempt to compensate for inadequacy. It can be a growing experience; it can be series of positive steps forward; it can be a good race, if we have firm footing; if we know where we stand.
So I hope you will enter through the new and living way, through the blood of Christ, into the Most Holy Place now. Enter with confidence. Accept your position at God's right hand. Begin to experience God's gracious love. Begin to experience right now what it means to truly have a sanctuary, a place where you will always belong.
|
