Endure Hardship

Hebrews 12:1-13

Key Verse 12:7

This passage shows us God's plan of perfection for his children, so that his children would be made suitable for the perfected world to come. 

The core of the plan is found in the phrase "Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith". The key idea is "faith" in the Lord, for it works as a catalyst that makes things (changes) happen, until our faith is perfected. 

[Note: title – it refers to the means by which the Lord God intends to bring about perfection in His children.]

[Note: perfection is perfection in character (traits), which is as solid and sound as that of Jesus.]

The organization of the passage: 

Vs. 1-3: the direction (of the plan); 

vs. 4-11: the process (or means)

- Negatively (4)

- Positively (5-11)

vs. 12-13: the purpose [healing = life to the full]

1. Read verses 1-3. This passage compares one's life in the Lord to a "race". In what respect is our life in the Lord a race? What does "everything that hinders" mean? (Give some examples.) 

** Our life in the Lord is described as a race in that the life span (from birth till death) represents a period of time in which we are called to learn faith (in the school of faith), By faith in the Lord we are to overcome and rise above the level of created things to God's level. It can be seen as a race, because each person who would run the race must make his or her own decision and exert effort to run and finish the race marked out for him or her. No one can run the race on behalf of someone else. It also can be seen as a race because there is an element of [good] competition. Not all people are going to receive exactly the same prize; though everyone is encouraged to go for first place, not all people will end up doing it. Matthew 25:21-23

1) It is described as a race rather than a stroll or sleep, so that we would run rather than walk, sit down, or fall asleep.  This indicates that unless we exert ourselves fully, the outcome of our life's journey will be less than what God intended it to be. 

2) It is dubbed this way to convey the idea that our life in the Lord represents a journey ascending to God's greatness. The opposite of ascending is descending; ascending requires constant struggles to fight against counter forces such as the pull of sin. 

3) Vs. 1-3 remind us of the Olympic games such as marathons where the participants run to win a gold medal. As the runners enter the Coliseum towards the finish line making their last efforts, many witnesses seated there stand up cheering them on, so that they would take heart and make it to the finish line. 2Ti 4:7; 1Co 9:24; Phi 3:14

** This category (everything) cannot be called "sin" but still it "hinders" the race. For example, in a physical race, if one wears long baggy pants, certainly his outfit will hinder the race. In a marathon you can run wearing baggy pants, but it is not desirable; so you better make the outfit as light as possible. In a spiritual race, many things can hinder us too.   For example, one rich young ruler was asked to sell everything he had, give it to the poor and then follow Jesus. Making a lot of money itself was not sin. But giving it a priority could hinder his spiritual race, so Jesus advised him to “throw off” this hindrance.

2. Verse 2 describes Jesus as the "author and perfecter of our faith". What does this description tell us about Jesus? 

** This description implies Jesus' plan of salvation, that is, saving people by helping them to know what it is to believe in the Lord and training them to grow in faith, until their faith becomes as strong as that of Abraham in Genesis. 

[Note: the theme of the book of Hebrews is "faith" in the Lord. At the outset of this book the author introduced Jesus as the Creator God and the sustainer of everything he created. And he sustains and restores people back to God with himself operating as the author of faith and perfecter of faith. The word "perfecter" has the meaning of the one who can help each person to grow as a man or woman of strong faith.] 

3. In verses 1-2 we find three exhortations beginning with "let us". How are the exhortations related to each other? (1) let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles; (2) let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us; and (3) Let us fix our eyes on Jesus...

** First - preparation for the race; second - process (of the race); and third - final goal of the race.

1) Preparation: Jesus died for our sins and rose again for our justification, that is, to prepare us for the race marked out for us. He also set a perfect example of the life of a spiritual runner, so as we look at him, we can have an idea of what to throw away and what not to throw away. Then we would be better prepared for the race.

2) Process - perseverance is the key, for when the going gets tough many will give up in the middle.

3) Jesus is the goal. In a race it is very important to fix our eyes (mentally or otherwise) on the final goal (the prize waiting after we pass through the finish line). Otherwise we might be caught up, dragged down and knocked down by all sorts of counter forces such as sense of despair, never being able to rise again. Consider what Mr. Christian in John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress ran into after losing his focus on the Celestial City.  

4. Read verse 4. We are told that Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many. Yet, why should we struggle against (or resist) sin? What does "resist" mean? What does it mean to resist sin "to the point of shedding your blood"?

** 1) The world is still sinful. Satan who is a dealer in sin is still in this world. Under God's will he is still up and running, tempting people to commit sins. Read John 16:33

2) Plus, since the Lord God has given his children the right to make decisions on their own, either to sin or not to sin (to believe or not to believe, to obey or not to obey the Lord), and since the old habit dies hard, a Christian must struggle each and every day against sin. 

 

** Resist = counter, defy, stand up against, forbear, refrain, etc. 

** One of the meanings is to go by the examples of saints (or heroes of faith) such as Stephen the first martyr of the first century (as in the book of Acts 7:59.) Stephen did not sin when others sinned against him. And he refused to sin even while he was being stoned to death. He can be seen as one resisting sin even to the point of shedding his own blood. [Other examples include Abel, Joseph in Genesis 37, or other heroes of faith such as the Prophet Isaiah who according to tradition was sawed into two in his fight against the sin of idolatry.]

5. Read verses 5-11. How many times is the word "discipline" or "disciplined" repeated? What does "discipline" mean? Why does God discipline his children?

** 10 times

** Discipline = [Miriam Webster - punishment, instruction, a field of study, training that corrects, molds, or perfects the mental faculties of moral character; control gained by enforcing obedience or order, orderly or prescribed conduct or pattern of behavior, a rule or system of rules governing conduct or activity.]

** God disciplines his children to instill in them his likeness. God trains us [if we are His children]: 1) to let us share in his holiness, for our good; and 2) to produce in us a harvest of righteousness and peace. If anyone is not God’s child, God just lets him or her do whatever he wants to do, and they remain lost.

6. Verse 7 reads, "Endure hardship as discipline." What does it mean to "endure hardship as discipline"?  

** The word "as" is there to let us know the purpose and the reason for us to endure hardship, that is, that God sends hardship to his children because in love he wants to help his children overcome all sorts of imperfections (weaknesses, sin problems, undesirable habits, bad character traits etc.), and thereby develop godly character with good character traits, as godly and solid as those of Jesus Christ. If we run away and do not endure saying, “This is too hard", we will not see the purpose of God fulfilled in us; like a student who ditches school and eventually drops out, he or she cannot see the purpose of God fulfilled in him or her. 

7. Read verses 12-13 and think about the expression, "your feeble arms and weak knees" or "the lame". What do these expressions indicate about "you"? What does "make level paths for your feet" mean? The passage says that if you make level paths for your feet, you are going to be "healed" [rather than be disabled]. Why is this so? 

** It means you are subject to many imperfections. You are yet to be redeemed fully, and transformed fully into Jesus’ likeness. Read 2Co 3:18

** Its overall meanings are found in Proverbs 4:20-27 esp. v. 26. Mark 1:3 also helps us understand this passage better, that is, to repent of our own [crooked, perverted] ways of life, and turn to the Lord. 

Proverbs 4:26 says that if we do this (make level paths for our feet), we will be well established. One of the meanings of the word "established" is to be secure in our person and possessions. 

** It is so, because when we go our own ways, we go out of the will of God and sinful disobedience becomes the order of life. When this happens, we go from bad to worse particularly in character. But when we choose all the right paths in the Lord, the Lord helps us to acquire good character traits, and thereby bring about God's healing upon us, so that our spirit, soul, and body would be strong and sound, so we can have life and have it to the full. Read Malachi 4:2; Exodus 15:26

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