What else is Better?
๐ช๐๐ฅ๐ ๐จ๐ฃ
โข Whatโs one thing you canโt leave the house without? Why?ย
โข What do you do when youโre weary or discouraged? Who do you turn to for comfort?ย
โข Think of a major decision you made in the past. How did that decision affect your life?
๐ช๐ข๐ฅ๐
๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ถ๐ด ๐๐ฉ๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ.ย ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ช๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฏ:๐ด
(Read also ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ช๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฏ:๐ตโ๐ญ๐ฒ, ๐ฎ๐ฌโ๐ฎ๐ญ.)
The book of Hebrews offers us insights about Jesus and what makes Him better: than the angels, Moses, and the Sabbath. Through this book we can also learn why Jesus is the better High Priest, offering Himself once and for all as the sacrifice for the sins of mankind. Now, believers can enter into a better covenant and ministry, and receive the invitation to lay hold of better things because of the hope of a better resurrection. Nothing is greater nor better than Jesus. Our Savior reigns supreme and is the same yesterday, today, and forever. What else could be better than this?ย
๐ญ.ย ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ ๐ป๐ผ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ป ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐, ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ต๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐๐ฟ๐๐๐.
๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ถ๐ด ๐๐ฉ๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ.ย ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ช๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฏ:๐ด
The final chapter of Hebrews has the highest number of commands in the entire book, and the writer notes the truth these commands are hinged upon: Jesus Christ is unchanging. We can endure hardship with confidence because we can trust that Jesus will never change and He will fulfill all that He said He would do. Jesusโ unchanging nature is every believerโs supreme source of comfort. In a world where everything changes, how do you feel about the reality that Jesus is unchanging?
๐ฎ. ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ ๐ป๐ผ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ป ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐, ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐น๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฑ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐๐ณ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐๐ถ๐บ.
๐๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ช๐ฎ๐ข๐ญ๐ด ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ด ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐ค๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด๐ต ๐ข๐ด ๐ข ๐ด๐ข๐ค๐ณ๐ช๐ง๐ช๐ค๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ด๐ช๐ฏ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต๐ด๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ข๐ฎ๐ฑ. ๐๐ฐ ๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ถ๐ด ๐ข๐ญ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ด๐ถ๐ง๐ง๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต๐ด๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ง๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ถ๐ด ๐จ๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต๐ด๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ข๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ข๐ค๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ. ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ช๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฏ:๐ญ๐ญโ๐ญ๐ฏ
In the Old Testament sacrificial system (Leviticus 16:26โ28), on the Day of Atonement, the high priest would select two goats: one to be used for purifying the sanctuary and its elements and the other to be the scapegoat. The blood of the sacrificed goat was brought into the sanctuary, while the remains were burned ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต๐ด๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ข๐ฎ๐ฑ. The idea of โoutsideโ represented chaos, a place of uncleanness and sin. The scapegoat, the one carrying the sins, was sent ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต๐ด๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ into the wilderness, representing the removal of sin from Godโs presence and the community. Jesus mirrored and exceeded this sacrifice when He was crucified outside Jerusalem to cleanse and purify the people ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ. Believers are now called to go ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต๐ด๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ข๐ฎ๐ฑ, which means identifying with Christ and sharing in His suffering. Knowing that Christ suffered the fullest extent of all possible rejection, what does it mean for us to ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ข๐ค๐ฉ Jesus bore?ย
๐ฏ.ย ย ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ ๐ป๐ผ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐, ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐น๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐บ.ย ย
๐๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ถ๐ด ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐ถ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฐ๐ง๐ง๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ข ๐ด๐ข๐ค๐ณ๐ช๐ง๐ช๐ค๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ข๐ช๐ด๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ช๐ด, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ณ๐ถ๐ช๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ญ๐ช๐ฑ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ. ๐๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐จ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ, ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ด๐ถ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ด๐ข๐ค๐ณ๐ช๐ง๐ช๐ค๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ.ย ย ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ช๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฏ:๐ญ๐ฑโ๐ญ๐ฒ
For us who, by faith, received all the โbetterโ things because of Christโs sacrifice, the suffering we are experiencing now is the โworstโ that we will ever experience. Our lives on earth are now set apart for fruitful labor for the Lord and His kingdom. For these, He is worthy of all our praise, which is expressed through our lips and our good works. What are some things you have done to honor God in response to the good He has done for you?ย
๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก
โข Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. What does this mean for your current situation? How may this change your perspective of your present and future?
โข In what area/s of your life are you tempted to look for something โbetterโ than Jesus? How can the truth of His supremacy help recenter your heart?ย ย
โข Who in your life needs to hear about the โbetterโ hope found in Jesus? How can you intentionally share the gospel with them this week?
๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐๐ฅ
โข Praise Jesus for His unchanging nature. Thank God that He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
โข Ask God for eyes of faith to see Jesus for who He is, especially as you endure hardship.
โข Ask God to show you opportunities to serve in your local church or community and model the hope you have to those around you.