Better Life

𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗠 𝗨𝗣

• What is your idea of a perfect movie ending? Why?

• How do you define success? What makes something or someone successful?

• When was the last time you had a day where everything just turned out the way you wanted? How did it feel?

𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗗

𝘞𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘥, 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦, 𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦. . . . 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘩, 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥, 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘶𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵. 𝗛𝗘𝗕𝗥𝗘𝗪𝗦 𝟭𝟭:𝟯𝟱, 𝟯𝟵–𝟰𝟬

(Read also 𝗛𝗘𝗕𝗥𝗘𝗪𝗦 𝟭𝟭:𝟯𝟮–𝟯𝟰, 𝟯𝟲–𝟯𝟴; 𝟭𝟮:𝟭–𝟮.)

The letter to the Hebrews was written to an audience who, at the time, were experiencing persecution and hardships. For them, giving up seemed to be the easier option. But the writer urged them to endure hardship in view of the hope of resurrection and everlasting life. In Christ, these are sure, and believers can hold on to these by faith. Because of Christ, even though we may experience suffering and death, we can 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦. What does the better life in Christ look like? 

𝟭. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗴𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘃𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗲 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲.  

𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘺? 𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘭 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘰𝘯, 𝘉𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘬, 𝘚𝘢𝘮𝘴𝘰𝘯, 𝘑𝘦𝘱𝘩𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘩, 𝘰𝘧 𝘋𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘚𝘢𝘮𝘶𝘦𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘴—𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘥𝘰𝘮𝘴, 𝘦𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦, 𝘰𝘣𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘴, 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦, 𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥, 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘳, 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘯 𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. 𝘞𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. . . . 𝗛𝗘𝗕𝗥𝗘𝗪𝗦 𝟭𝟭:𝟯𝟮–𝟯𝟱

Hebrews 11 is often called the Hall of Faith, recounting the stories of men and women who lived, persevered, and overcame by faith. They had epic tales of victories and awesome feats. While victories are great, they are not the end goal of our faith and not what the better life is all about. In Christ, there is more. How have you experienced victories by faith?

𝟮. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗴𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝘂𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲. 

. . . 𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘥, 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦, 𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦. 𝘖𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘸𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘸𝘰, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘰𝘢𝘵𝘴, 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘵𝘦, 𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥, 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥—𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘺—𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩. 𝗛𝗘𝗕𝗥𝗘𝗪𝗦 𝟭𝟭:𝟯𝟱–𝟯𝟴

On the other hand, Hebrews 11 also tells stories of men and women who by faith endured trials and hardships of various kinds. While faith propels us to overcome and be victorious, it also enables us to remain steadfast in the face of delayed breakthroughs, defeat, or even death. Trials and suffering are temporary compared to the better life that is promised to those who have faith and remain in Christ. How have you endured the hardships you’ve faced? 

𝟯.  𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲, 𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗹𝘆, 𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗖𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁. 

𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘩, 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥, 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘶𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵. 𝗛𝗘𝗕𝗥𝗘𝗪𝗦 𝟭𝟭:𝟯𝟵–𝟰𝟬

Hebrews 11 ends by giving the readers a reality check: despite their commendable faith, these individuals did not see the full realization of God’s promises in their lifetime. There awaits something better, which they look forward to by faith—eternal life with God. Today, we also look forward to and receive this promise by faith on the finished work of Jesus. Beyond temporary suffering or earthly deliverance, we have the hope of resurrection and everlasting life in Christ. Let us fix our eyes on Him, holding onto faith that endures whether or not we see earthly results, and whether or not we get answers to our prayers. How is this faith evident in your life today?

𝗔𝗣𝗣𝗟𝗜𝗖𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡

• How have you experienced God’s faithfulness in difficult times? How may this empower you to endure present or future hardships?

• In light of eternity, life here on earth cannot surpass the hope we have in Christ. What areas of your life need to be aligned to this truth? How may you live in light of this truth more and more every day?

• Who can you encourage today with the knowledge of a better life in Christ? Commit to talk to this person and present the gospel to him or her. 

𝗣𝗥𝗔𝗬𝗘𝗥

• Thank Jesus for His finished work on the cross, and pray that you’ll have eyes of faith to see the better life in Him that is beyond the victories and hardships of this life. 

• Ask God to help you see His presence and faithfulness in your life, whether in a place of abundance and success or trials and lack. Pray that you would grow in your reliance on Him every day.

• Pray for opportunities to encourage your friends and family with the gospel and stories of faith and endurance this week.