Is God really concerned with whether or not you truly believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ? That is the question many religious people ask even a good number of professing Christians. After all, believing everything the Bible says about Jesus can be a real source of contention and division. People may even label you as a fanatic. This is especially true when you consider His claim to be the Son of God who alone is the Savior of sinners and Lord of all things. But if you want to be pardoned from your sin and enter the kingdom of heaven, God commands (yes, commands) no less than absolute faith in His Son. The true and living God, who created all things, has revealed His holy nature and His will for His creation most fully in the Person of Jesus Christ. And the heavenly message is that you are required to repent and believe the good news of redemption in Jesus or face the eternal consequences. You are not given the option of altering reality to suit your taste. You must follow Christ, whatever the personal cost, if you want to inherit eternal life (Matt. 10:34-39). Any variation from that message one way or the other will only add to your condemnation as a sinner. Salvation is a gracious gift from God through faith in His Son, and failing to fully believe this only ensures eternal death. It is the inescapable truth we must all either receive by faith or reject in unbelief.! 1
The letter to the Hebrews is written to an unidentified community of Jewish believers in the first century. They are admonished to continue growing in their faith in Jesus as the Christ of God. The professing, but perhaps not truly committed, are called to completely leave Judaism and fully embrace God s Son. The unbelievers in their midst are warned of the dangers of continued unbelief. But the appeal to saving faith in Jesus is to all people in every generation who hear the Gospel. Jesus is presented as the completion of the Old Testament Scripture, in which God progressively unveiled His nature along with His plan of redemption through a Lord and Savior of His choosing. The writer testifies that Jesus Christ is that Lord and Savior who is superior to everyone and everything involved with the Old Testament. He is, in fact, the substance of its symbols and the fulfillment of its salvation promise. Chapter one made it clear that Jesus Christ is God s greatest revelation and heaven s greatest messenger so much better than the angels. Therefore, as chapter two will establish, He brings heaven s greatest message, which is better than the limited Old Testament revelation delivered on occasion by angels. So the consequence of rejecting it is all the more severe. Having the full light of the Gospel now brings an even greater accountability (Lk. 12:48).! 2
warns us about the danger of neglecting the good news of God s great salvation in Jesus Christ. The Gospel demands our careful attention, since it was so clearly and fully delivered in His Son. Heaven s Greatest Message - Part I (2:1-4) Its Demand (v. 1) If Jesus is God s greatest revelation and heaven s greatest messenger, Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard. That is, we must give all the more careful attention to heaven s greatest message a message that MUST be believed. This is the only logical conclusion. To conclude otherwise defies reason. It is mandatory that you give it your full consideration and believe it! The alternative is devastating. You must hear and believe, lest [you] drift away. Interestingly, both the terms earnest heed and drift away were used as nautical references. The first refers to making certain you secure a ship when it is docked, and the second obviously applies to a drifting vessel that is not moored. So the writer s point is that the Gospel demands an absolute faith, which secures us to Christ. If we fail to hear and sincerely believe heaven s message (Rom. 10:6-13), then we drift beyond the only safe place to anchor our soul.! 3
There simply is no greater message. It is your lifeline to heaven. The repercussions of failing to receive it by faith and be secured to God through Christ are eternal and horrific. The Gospel absolutely demands that we either receive or reject it. It is the difference between being securely anchored or drifting aimlessly into a Godless eternity. And you will not be drifting in a calm sea but in the tempest of God s eternal wrath in Hell (Matt. 25:41). There is no middle ground no room for indifference. If you want to make shipwreck of your life then do not listen the Gospel, and you will be guaranteed eternal destruction in Hell. Paul reminded Timothy that those who do not continue to believe the truth of the Gospel never truly believed it all. Having ignored their conscience and rejected the truth, they have suffered shipwreck (1 Tim. 1:19). But, as we learn later in this letter, the true believer has the hope of the Gospel as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, which is forever tied to God (6:19). Its Danger (vv. 2-3a) The danger of the message is that it will bring the maximum penalty for those who reject it. It is utterly foolish to think that God has relaxed judgment on those who rebel against Him. All rebels will be justly punished under His law unless graciously pardoned through faith in Jesus Christ. It is for this reason that God s sinless Son made atonement for repentant sinners by His death on the cross (Rom. 5:6-11).! 4
This has always been God s way of dealing with the fallen human race, and nothing has changed. He revealed and demonstrated this in the Old Testament, and it holds true in the New Testament. As verse two explains, God gave a just reward (i.e. penalty) for every transgression and disobedience under the old covenant of law, which was spoken to Moses through angels (Deut. 33:1-3; Acts 7:38; Gal. 3:19). In other words, God gave His moral law from heaven and enforced it among the ancient Hebrews, so there is an unmistakable example of how He deals with sinners. It proved steadfast, which is to say the example was consistent. So if (v. 2; i.e. since ) God punished those who broke His law and ignored His commands before Christ came, He will all the more punish those who reject the full Gospel. Verse three puts it this way: how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? God s New Covenant with mankind is His salvation by grace through faith in Jesus. The Law merely condemns sinners for their transgressions and highlights their need for salvation (Gal. 3:19-25), but salvation comes through Jesus Christ (Jn. 1:17). If you neglect this great message from heaven, then you are still be under the condemnation of the Law (cf. Rom. 8:1-4).! 5
Its Delivery (vv. 3b-4) We know this is heaven s greatest message because it was delivered through heaven s greatest messenger! The Gospel at the first began to be spoken by the Lord. God s great salvation could not be fully accomplished until His Son came into the world to atone for sin by His death on the cross. The Person and work of Christ fulfilled the Old Covenant and validated the New Covenant, which is sealed in His blood (Lk. 22:20). When Jesus began His public ministry, He proclaimed: Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand (Matt. 4:17). He declared that He had come to fulfill the Law (Matt. 5:17-20). He called on all who were weary and heavy laden under the condemnation of the law to turn from sin and come to Him for rest (Matt. 11:28). He preached the kingdom and predicted His suffering, death, and resurrection as the fulfillment of God s redemptive plan (Lk. 9:22). And God bore witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will (v. 4; cf. Acts 2:22-24). The Spirit s work verified the Son s message. When the Lord of heaven came proclaiming the way into heaven s kingdom, it was a much better message than that of condemnation under God s law. It was good news! He was a much better messenger than the angels who helped deliver the law. And He has commissioned His church to represent Him with the message until He returns to judge all who reject it (Lk. 24:46-49).! 6
The location of this Jewish congregation is something else that is unknown, but it was almost certainly in the land of Israel. Although it was nearly 35 years since Christ s ministry, they would still have been heavily influenced by the church in Jerusalem. So it is obvious they had heard the Gospel as a result of the apostle s ministry. It was the apostles whom the Lord chose to establish the church in His teaching (Jn. 15:26-27; Acts 2:42). The Gospel then spread from Jerusalem throughout the world (Acts 1:8), and many Jewish congregations were the first to be formed outside of Jerusalem. This is what verse three means when it says that heaven s message was confirmed by those who heard Him. The writer is referring to the apostles who gave eyewitness testimony of Jesus life, doctrine, death, and resurrection. The Holy Spirit likewise verified their ministry and message as heavenly in the same way He had verified Christ s ministry and message. The apostles continued what Jesus had already established. The true church, consisting of both Jews and Gentiles, presses on as a witness to heaven s greatest message. We continue steadfastly in the apostle s doctrine. This means calling people to repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and warning of the judgement that is coming on all who reject Him.! 7
If you had a fatal disease that could only be cured by a blood transfusion from a healthy person, would you reject them if they came to your bedside offering you the cure? You would absolutely give up your diseased blood for theirs, would you not? It is the same with absolute faith in Christ. He has come to secure eternal life with God for those who turn from sin and trust in Him, and He extends the offer of that life through the Gospel. How foolish it is to neglect so great a salvation! Have you believed heaven s greatest message? Are you securely anchored in the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? Do not believe for a moment that God has relaxed His demand of repentance and absolute faith in His Son. If you fail to embrace the Christ of Scripture, then you have rejected the good news of God s great salvation delivered by the Savior Himself. Judgement is all that awaits those who continue in unbelief.! 8