In God’s Light
‘In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son’ Hebrews 1:1,2
The letter we know as Hebrews was written to Jewish Christians who were finding the Christian life too hard. They lived in the Roman Empire where Judaism was acceptable to the Romans but Christianity was not. Christians were being persecuted but Jews were not. So why should they risk losing their homes and even their lives for this new faith when their old Jewish faith offered physical and even financial safety?
The writer would show his readers that Christianity is greater than every other religion (including Judaism) because Jesus is greater than every other religion’s leader.
He begins by explaining that God revealed Himself to the Jews little by little. He spoke through prophets to them about who He was, His character, and what they would have to do to know a relationship with Him. This understanding came in fragments over 2,000 years. The fragments were like a jigsaw puzzle where no single piece made sense without many more being added and joined together. But even then, the pieces were shadows or types of what was coming.
God would one day send His eternal Son who would fulfil every type and picture. Only then would all the pieces make sense. The pieces that spoke of His purity and holiness and love and grace would all make sense as God’s Son, Jesus, would live a perfect life and then be killed and raised from the dead. The shadows and types would all fade away in the life, death and resurrection of the eternal Son of God. The Old Testament feasts and sacrifices were now fulfilled. The Old Testament priesthood and temple were no longer necessary. Jesus Christ had fulfilled all that they had stood for. Shadows disappear when the light of God shines in brilliance. God’s light, Jesus, has come.
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