Hebrews 12 - Introduction

Chapter 12 But We See Jesus

But now, says the writer, we who are now alive have seen the coming of Jesus, the One in Whom has come the fulfilment of the promises of God. We have therefore entered on a great long-distance race with Jesus as our front-runner and sustainer, and these witnesses crowd the sidelines giving us their witness as to the necessity and value of faith, and yelling their encouragement.

If we then look back on these great men and women as witnesses, how much more should we look to Him in faith and press on faithfully, choosing not to be impeded by anything that would hinder us. And when we do suffer persecution and tribulation, we should recognise that that is not surprising. It is because God loves us and is treating us like a father does his son, by chastening us for our good so that we might produce the fruit of righteousness. Thus will we become, through faith, more and more God's righteous ones in reality as well as by imputation. Let us therefore take note of this and consider our ways so that we may be sure to inherit God's blessing.

For we do not face God under the old way of management (dispensation) as at Sinai, where all was awesome and remote, where men were kept far off, and were filled with fear, but we have come under the new way of management where all is glorious and heavenly, and where we have the new covenant under the mediation of Jesus, with its better promises.

Let us then beware lest we refuse the One Who now speaks to us. For He no longer speaks from a mountain on earth with a voice that shook the earth, but from Heaven itself, with glorious things that cannot be shaken. Let us therefore respond to His grace that we may be well-pleasing to God (compare Hebrews 10:38; Hebrews 11:5), serving Him in awe and reverence. For in it all and beyond it all we too must remember that our God is still a consuming fire.