Andree

If I had to entrust somebody to look after a person that is dear to my heart I'd pick somebody who was there when I needed him. Regardless of the family ties you want it to be somebody who takes his responsibilities very serious. Where are his brothers? The right thing to do would have been if his brothers stood up to take care of business and take this burden of his mind. But maybe they were ashamed of him at this time to be associated with a criminal who suffered a shameful death. As so many times in life the true friends show up when you need them. This scene is another testemony of how great the love of our Lord Jesus really is. He puts everything and everybody before himself and without a word of complaint. This is a good example for our everyday life when we far to fast resort to excuses to escape our daily responsibilities - it's not just about family (but it's a big part of it).

Every time I read this part of the scripture I look at both individuals at the same time. It is a very powerful symbol of what is at the bottom of our Christian Faith: Choice. The Lord does not force you to believe in him or love him but he makes quite clear what awaits you when you take your pick: You choose him and the reward will be to be in paradise with the Lord if you don't: death and decay will await you ('The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day' John 12:23). The choice is ours. And how much more it means to Jesus if somebody believes in him purely based on faith and nothing else. The New Testament is full of examples where people are rewarded based on their faith (Mat 8:10, Mat 9:20, Mat 9:22, Mat 9:29, Mat 15:28, Mar 2:5, Mar 10:52 just to name a few). It is not through evidence that we come to the Lord but only through faith ('Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him' John 12:37). What is so remarkable about the thieves faith is that he truly understood what it was all about. He was not asking for rescue out of situation he was in right now (he believed his sentence was just) like anybody else would do but he know that what was coming after it is much more important. Our existence on Earth is finite - being in heaven is eternal. What a reward for this criminal: he messed up his life, he got one last chance and he took it. We all are this criminal. We all are sinners. We all have had our fair share of bad or wrong choices but luckily we all got at least one last chance to get ourselves out of the pickle. All it takes is - faith.

The common denominator is God's word. The first 6 verses transmit God's word wordlessly through his creation. Look at the sky and get a glimpse of my vastness and power. And it is spoken in a universal language. That way God reaches everybody, something he always intended to do. It's the mission statement.("And he said to them, Go into all the world, proclaim the gospel to all the creation." Mark 16:15). In Verses 7-13 it's God's word again telling us of his glory. It's perfect, reviving, trustworthy, making wise the simple. Isn't it great? Have I ever felt as if I was basking in God's Word? I think I am doing it right now. But it is sobering and humiliating too because it is in such a contrast to our own imperfection, our "hidden faults", our "willfull sins". Good thing we have someone to turn to. Someone who will support us, like a rock to stand on when the tide rises and someone who will bail us out when we are in trouble, someone who will redeem us.

This is a great psalm. It reveals to me the splendour of God. He is the creator of the universe and it is so simple to know him. Just open your eyes and look at the heavens. You can't make a step without tripping over a sign of him. Although he is far superior to us we are his beloved creation and he loves us very much. He actually loves us so much that he trusts us to look after his creation. That is not only a great honour (trust is always the ultimate currency) but it is a great responsibility as well.

The writer of Hebrews shows the recipients of this letter (and to us for that matter) the importance of faith by quoting Psalm 95:7-11. He points out what happened to "their forefathers" when they lost faith in Moses and in God. They never got to enter God's rest. Similar to us: If we loose faith in Christ we will no longer be part of his household. Sin is a sneaky thing because it is .....fun. It gives us pleasure, it is the road that is well lit, the path that never seems to go uphill and tire us out. The wide gate that is easy to enter, the place that never charges admission. In short: it is very attractive. it is much easier to live a sinful life (just continue in your way) than to live a rightious life (you have to try very hard every single day and resist temptation to fall back into your old ways). But living a sinful live means automatically you have chosen a path that leads away from God. And that's where fellowship comes in. We are always stronger when we are encouraged by others. We give up a lot easier if we know that nobody is watching. In times of doubt when we no longer see a clear path in front of us or start to question the validity of God's ways we need the help of others.

The writer of Hebrews is addressing a wavering community of christians, a community that is very tempted to return to their former ways of judaism. He gives them a stern warning about the consequences. These consequences become evident if one understands what faith in Christ will do for you. It will make you a member of Gods household. You are now part of God's family. but this membership is not selfsustaining, it has to be renewed and maintained continously through faith in Christ. If we loose faith in Christ we revoke our membership. So, the consequences are quite severe.

The truth of salvation can be confirmed basically in two ways: Your personal experience with God and if you accept the bible as the inspired word of God (with no strings attached). My confirmation is primarily based on how much I feel the presence of the Lord in my life. It's the small things you have to look out for. Don't expect to a load of burning bushes. One just has to learn to interpret the signs of God and how he reveals himself to you. Let me illustrate that with an example out of my own experience: While I was in Germany last year to visit my mom I got in a car accident with her and she succumbed to her injuries. In the weeks following I went to the local church to get some comfort to deal with the traumatic experience. Near the end of one of the services I still felt a kind of restless but then they started singing the song "Shine, Jesus, shine". This is one of my favourite songs and I hadn't heard it for ages. This was all that I needed. A simple song. I knew for sure at that moment: Jesus is there for me to help and support me. Will signs and wonders help? Sure they will. But guess what? They are already there but most of us are to ignorant to see them. Besides that: Too much confirmation can be detrimental to your faith. In my opinion it's much better for yourself to learn to trust the Lord without proof (John 20 : 29 - "Jesus said to him, Thomas, because you have seen Me you have believed. Blessed are they who have not seen and have believed." And no matter how many signs, wonders and miracles you supply the doubters will allways be there.

Drifting away from the gospel means we are neglecting the message. It is not enough to just listen. Everybody can listen. It is a question of how deep does the message sink in or in other words how well do we listen and are we willing to act on it. And this is where the danger sets in. It requires a constant effort on our part. It is not a one time shot where we commit ourselves to Christ and be done with it. No matter how far we have come on our journey we have to live up to our commitment on a daily base. We are not immune to temptation, complacency, lack of faith when times are tough and so on. Jesus describes it very well in his parabel with the seed falling on shallow ground. The seed has been put into the ground (we have listened to the gospel) but the roots do not grow deep into the ground (we are wavering when our faith is put to test).

When I first wanted to answer the question I was very tempted to just pick one of the descriptions but the more I thought about it the more I came to the conclusion that when you put all of them together like puzzle pieces and then step back to look at the whole picture and ask yourself the question: "What have I got here?". My answer was: This is someone on an equal base with God. And that makes him devine. As for the son's role. When I looked at the verses the line that jumped out the most at me was:"....After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven." He completed the task that was apointed to him by his father. Without Jesus and his sacrifice we would still be trapped in our sinful life. God thought of a way to redeem ourselves from our sins but he needed his son to put it in practice. Off the topic: I really enjoy this bible study. I am not a "new" Christian but in the past have never really taken it very seriously. I have never taken part in bible study so I was very excited to sign up for this one. It is very interesting to read other believers answers and opinions. Great Job you did Pastor Ralph. I can see God is working in you (and in everybody else who signed up for this).

I believe that the author of Hebrews used the word "Son" literally that is Jesus being the biological son of the living God. The author starts with "In the past....., but in these last days..". This is an indication that something new and unprecedented has happened. One can feel the excitement behind his words. The time of the prophets is over and it is taken to the next level: God himself through his own Son speaks to them. When you send your own Son you send something of yourself. He not only comes to represent you but is equipped with your power, your knowledge,your authority. How much more weight the Son's words have is clearly shown in he parable that Jesus tells about the man who planted the vineyard (Luke 20:9 - 15, Mat 21:33 - 40, Mar 12:1 - 9). In Mar 12:6 "...Finally, he sent his son to the renters because he thought they would respect him". Not only is the son the last one to be sent (last resort) there are also clear expectations of respect linked to the son. Try to replace the word "him" with "me" and you know where the expectations come from. Every father projects something of himself into his son.