Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, But a body You have prepared for Me. (6) In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure. (7) Then I said, ‘Behold I have come – In the volume of the Book it is written of Me – To do Your Will, O God.’” (8) Previously saying, “Sacrifice and offerings, burnt offerings and offering for sin You did not desire, nor had pleasure in them”(which are offered according to the law), (9) then He said, “Behold, I have come to do Your Will, O God.” He takes away the first that He may establish the second. (10) By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

The author of the book of Hebrews is unknown. Chapter 10 of Hebrews deals with the purpose of God and the nation of Israel, the divine purpose in history and prophecy, and atonement for sin. Our verses today focus on the un- repeatability of Christ’s offering – they hang on Psalm 40 which says there is now a new priesthood and the Aaronic priesthood has been done away with. The writer of Hebrews is addressing people who had primarily been Jewish Christians who were wavering in the face of persecution and this epistle is to strengthen them – to remind them that the Old Testament sacrifices have reached fulfillment in the one new sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The emphasis in our verses is on benefits that are ours in faith in Christ. The old Jewish system was designed so that the Jewish people would see the Lord when He did come and recognize Him. Jesus is the reality and the Old Testament of sacrifices and rituals were shadows of that reality. In more than one place in the Bible, Israel was told that sacrifices are ultimately of no value in decisively dealing with sin. In the old priesthood there is the reminder of sin every year on the Day of Atonement. It was/is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins. The words of verse 5 are written of Jesus Christ who entered this world, entered time and space, to abolish the old system of sacrifice and establish the second, once for all new sacrifice. In Jesus we have our eternal, final, high priest. There will be no newer covenant with God because this covenant is called everlasting. And no newer sacrifice because the sacrifice on the cross is made once for all. These are all eternal things and and there can be no replacement of them. We rest our eternal salvation on that one sacrifice. Christ is God’s final word.

Any religious system that is a device of human works to atone for sin is a mere shadow not reality. Trust in Christ alone and God bestows grace alone and His total forgiveness. Romans 8:1, written by the apostle Paul is perhaps my favorite verse in the Bible: “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.”

Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! (5) Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. (6) Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; (7) and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

The letter to the Philippians was written by the apostle Paul. To rejoice always means not just a cheerful disposition but it is a command we must choose to obey. This has to do with an attitude of contentment and hope and mental focus. This choice is illustrated in Paul’s life – he wrote this epistle when he was imprisoned in Rome, facing execution for preaching the gospel. Paul is writing of joy in the Lord that comes from the power of God operating in the believer. To be happy in Christ is to be unhappy without Him – to trust in the sufficiency and power of the indwelling Spirit. We are to live by faith, not by feeling.

The mentality of demanding our “rights” stems from love of self and sometimes a legal right can become a moral wrong – we should practise forbearance. Selflessness is a core of forbearance and we need this to have God’s joy and peace. We need forbearance in all our relationships – in church, in families, in our daily lives. We are not to be easily offended but to be gracious and give others the benefit of the doubt. We then bear witness for Jesus Christ. It is hard to trust fully in God – that thin stream of fear will end up in anxiety and all sorts of physical stresses and mental disorders. Paul is not encouraging a careless, carefree, irresponsible attitude toward people or problems and proper concern can turn to anxiety when we lack faith in God as sovereign. Prayer yields God’s peace – nothing surprises God and prayer guards our serenity. Our prayers may not always be answered as we want for God alone knows what is best but when we pray He puts His own peace into our hearts.

The serenity prayer is said by Alcoholics Anonymous the world over and is a perfect template for living in joy. “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference. Merry Christmas.

I thank my Gods upon every remembrance of you, (4) always in every prayer of mine making request for you with all with joy, (5) for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, (6) being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;……..(8) For God is my witness, how greatly I long for you with the affection of Jesus Christ. (9) And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, (10) that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, (11) being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God.

The letter to the Philippians was written by the apostle Paul while he was under arrest in Rome facing possible execution. Where it was written gave Paul the opportunity of influence over the Roman Praetorian guards and all those who visited their quarters. It gave access moreover to those of Caesar’s household as the gospel spread to the known world. Our verses today address the crucial question of how can we know we are saved: We are taught that no one whom God has brought to saving knowledge of Jesus Christ will ever be lost. If there is evidence that God has begun the work of salvation in us, we can be confident that He will complete it.

In faith we have new life; we are justified in faith in Christ’s sacrifice. We have a changed heart and apart from any human merit God supernaturally imparts to the believing person an abiding change of nature through this “new birth.” The faithful person is given knowledge of truth and faith to believe it. Salvation is by grace alone through faith alone and that is not by ourselves but is a gift from God, not as a result of works. It is totally of the Lord. This justification happens when the sinner trusts Jesus Christ as his/her savior. Progressive sanctification continues to the Christian’s death and culminates in his/her glorification. Where we have a hand in sanctification and can affect it by our obedience or disobedience, God alone justifies us. Since it could only be God who has begun this work, Paul is confident that God would finish what He has begun.

The apostle Paul writes in his last letter which was written to Timothy (2 Timothy 4: 6-8) “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.” Paul looked back at the end of his live without regret or remorse and looked ahead to eternal righteousness. This is the goal of the Christian.

And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all, just as we do to you, (13) so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints. (4:1) Finally then, brethren, we urge and exhort in the Lord Jesus that you should abound more and more, just as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God; (2) for you know what commandents we gave you through the Lord Jesus.

The letter to the Thessalonians was written by the apostle Paul. In our verses today his emphasis is for every Christian to want God to use his or her life to impact others for eternity – our prayers are to be focused on the spiritual growth of others. One of the great weakness of contemporary evangelical Christianity is the comparative neglect of Christian ethics in teaching and practice – the lack of instruction as to how we might walk and please God as the foundation for Christian behavior. As we grow older it is easy to drift into a humdrum spiritual life. It becomes routine and it takes work and effort to keep the spiritual life fresh.

Faith in Christ as our personal savior is more than mental assent to the gospel – some continue to live for all the world can offer. But to be reborn means God has changed our hearts and our desires are new. We love God rather than being indifferent toward Him. We are to seek to obey the Lord and please Him. Our motivation changes from striving to earn God’s favor to wanting to please Him because we are objects of His favor. We are not free to decide how we want to live as Christians. The way we learn to walk with God (a walk, not a leap) is to learn and obey His commandments. To obey God’s commandments is not legalism but the Christian’s response to His grace. These are not helpful hints for happy living but God’s word of life and not culturally relative.

During the war years, in June, 1941, c.s.Lewis delivered his vision of Christianity in his (and my favorite) Weight of Glory. Lewis writes of our relationship with God, ‘Indeed how we think of Him is of no importance except insofar as it is related to how He thinks of us. It is written that we shall “stand before” Him, shall appear, shall be inspected. The promise of glory is the promise, almost incredible and only possible by the work of Christ, that some of us, that any of us who really chooses, shall actually survive that examination, shall find approval, shall please God.’

John, to the seven churches which are in Asia; Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne, (5) and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, (6) and has made us kings and priests to his God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. (7) Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen. (8) “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Revelation was written by the apostle John who was the last remaining apostle on this earth. John was exiled by the Romans to the island of Patmos which was a penal colony for political prisoners. Revelation means unveiling or disclosure – the translation of this Greek word for apocalypse – and uses symbolic language throughout. Christ Jesus was the giver of this revelation of God to John and is its main subject. This book deals mainly with future events and stresses the continuity of God’s sovereign dealing with humankind. The theme of the book is the ultimate victory of Christ over all His enemies and the establishment of His earthly kingdom. The climatic event in Revelation is the return of Christ at His second coming.

Jesus Christ is the faithful witness or the great prophet who knows everything to come and knows it perfectly. Christ is the first one to be resurrected and today is still the only one to be resurrected. We are not speaking of a spiritual myth but an historic person who lived over 2000 years ago and lives today. This book offers in some way or another to open up those secrets of God which are yet hidden in the future and points to a consummation of all things to a time when the kingdom of God shall be finally and completely established. In Christ’s earthly life He is the “faithful witness.” In His death on the cross He has washed us from our sins by His blood and given the believers access to God as priests. The stress of the book rests on Israel who rejected Him but also on all, for all have hand in the crucifixion of Christ. All the affairs of the earth are within the control of the almighty one. The coming again of Christ is glorious for the people of God but a tragedy for unbelievers.

Alpha and omega are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet and signify here God’s comprehensive control over all things, including time. He is the originator and terminator of all things. He is the almighty. Revelation points to the main event, the return of Jesus Christ at His second coming. The book also presents the triune God is the Lord of time (past, present and future) faithful to His promises and powerful enough to bring these events to pass. This last book of the Bible stresses these qualities of God as does the first book.

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