Hebrews 12:18-29
Do you want to know the secret to longevity in the Christian race? The secret is worship! Worship Christ, especially when everything is falling apart! Worship Christ when you feel you cannot move forward! Worship Christ when you see no way out! Worship Christ when you’ve lost everything! Worship Christ in the highs of life and in the lows of life! In mountain tops and in the valleys. The key to making it to the Unshakable Kingdom is being able to surrender His worth in a shattering world!
We show worship to Christ when we have…
An Upmost Respect for God’s Law (Hebrews 12:18-21)
Mount Sinai is the place where God spoke to Moses, establishing the Old Covenant law with God’s people. The author contrast the place where the law was established (Mt. Sinai) and the place in which represents eternity (Mt. Zion). Through faith in Jesus Christ we can run because we have not had to endure Sinai, we were meant for Zion. The law brings us to a healthy awe of the majesty of God. He’s our friend, our Father, our Creator, but He’s not some buddy we can bully or push around, use and abuse. He is Almighty God. We must be obedient. Exodus 19 reminds us that Mt. Sinai was a place of sure death for the uninvited. When we look at the law we realize just how much we will never be able to measure up to it. We must have Christ!
v.21- “I tremble with fear.” This is a quote from Deut. 9:19. Moses came back from Sinai and saw that Israel was worshiping the golden calf. Can you imagine what Moses felt? He feared the destruction of Israel. He knew and we should know that we stand before an almighty God who has created all things. He is just and the only way to Him is through the cross of Jesus Christ! We are in awe of God.
The law leads us to desire Mt. Zion, the other mountain the author uses in comparison.
Mt. Sinai is identified as the place where the law is given.
An Unconceivable Regard for God’s Love (Hebrews 12:22-24)
In 2 Samuel 5:7 we see that Mt. Zion is part of Jerusalem. The author is using this place as an example of the New Jerusalem. The Jewish Christians saw Zion as a promised place of peace. In fact today the term Zionist refers to Jewish people advocating for the rights of Israel.
Because of the perfect sinless life of Jesus, His death, and resurrection, through faith in Him we don’t have to toil in the law. We strive to live by it, but we realize we’re not condemned by it, because of faith in Jesus Christ.
Mt. Zion is identified as the place in which the law was fulfilled by Christ!
Romans 8:38-39 “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
An Unhesitant Response to God’s Call (Hebrews 12:25-27)
I’m reminded what the writer of Hebrews tells us in 4:7 “again he appoints a certain day, “Today,” saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.” Today must be the day of salvation! You may never get another chance. If we are going to worship we must worship with an unhesitant response to God’s call.
An Unfailing Reaction to God’s Kingdom (Hebrews 12:28-29)
We come to the King Jesus Christ with reverence and awe, why? Because when everything else is shaken, when everything else fails, the King and His Kingdom are the only things that will remain! Psalm 73:26 “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”