Grace Church Teaching

Suffering and a Fallen World

Suffering and a Fallen World

Suffering is integrated into the life of every person, both believers and nonbelievers, because of the broken world we live in. Instead of being surprised by suffering, we should root our perspective in the truth of the Bible–that this world is broken by the presence of sin and what we experience is unnatural to God’s creation. If we put our hope in the world rather than Christ, we will find that it is frustrating, unfulfilling, and futile.

Studying the basics of Christianity begins with our relationship with God. All people are born completely sinful as rebellious enemies of God. The way to be right with God is not by comparison to others or good works but through faith in Jesus by the grace that He offers through His death and resurrection.

The writer of Hebrews leaves his audience with a final list of important principles to remember and concludes the book with a reminder of the gospel and a benediction of grace.

The writer of Hebrews continues to warn us not to drift. In order to persevere until the end, we need to have clear direction in our walk of faith, powerful affections toward Jesus, and a healthy combination of fear and hope. The kingdom God has promised us can never be shaken, which should prompt us to respond with gratitude and worship.

The examples of faith in Hebrews 11 encourage us to run our own race of faith, looking to Jesus as the reward for our perseverance. As we grow in faith, God disciplines us like a father to make us more and more like Him. Our reaction to His correction reveals the condition of our hearts and determines the life change we need.

Faith—the objective content of the future and our subjective certainty about that content—is the one thing we need to face the future. By looking to the ordinary people who have gone before us in faith, we are encouraged to grow more certain about the promises we have received. Our belief in our future home affects how we live in the present.

The Christian life is marked by faithful endurance produced by confidence and trust in Jesus. We are able to love others and suffer well through the painful situations of our fragile world because we look forward to the hope and promise of our future reward in Heaven. Through pushing forward in serving others and motivating and encouraging those around us, we persevere and hold firmly to this hope we have in Jesus.

In week one of our Ephesians series, Matt Williams challenged the church to read or listen to Ephesians in its entirety at least once per week. As we round the halfway point in the teaching, we have produced an audio recording of Ephesians as a resource to help you finish this series strong and stay saturated in the Word.

Last week, we were reminded of the access to God that we have through Jesus; our need for access is met in Jesus and no longer in the tabernacle. Although the forgiveness of sins used to come through the sacrifice of animals again and again, this access we now have is confirmed with the blood sacrifice of Jesus—once for all. We are released from the penalty of sin as Jesus has presented us to God as clean and holy.

Although the tabernacle was once a holy place of worship instituted by God, the writer of Hebrews reminds the Hebrew people of its limitations and ultimate failure to perfectly reconcile us to God. The tabernacle was only a precursor to the perfect tabernacle that we now have in Jesus, giving us free and open access to God.

The Hebrew people tend to find security and rest in the old ways of the old covenant, but the author attempts to introduce them to the new covenant where they can find hope once for all. Although we cannot identify with the familiarity of the old covenant, we are well versed in the desires to go back to “old ways” instead of trusting in the hope of Jesus. God desires for us to let go of the lesser things in this world and hang on to the better promises of His new covenant with us.

As we have continued to walk through the book of Hebrews, the big idea remains the same: Jesus is Greater. Although the Hebrew audience is still caught in the old ways of a Levitical priesthood to grant access to God, the solution the author gives to them is the same solution for us. The author challenges them with a different kind of priesthood: a mediator who is qualified and clothed in perfection—a mediator who stands in our place and whose intercession for us endures forever.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ gives us a living hope and an inheritance that is imperishable. Because of His great mercy, we are invited into a personal relationship and new life with our Savior.