Reflections on Hebrews with Andrew Murray (10)

 

“Who, when he had made purification of sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.” Hebrews 1:3.

 

In considering this verse, Murray wants us to see that the work of Christ “…consists in two parts: the one on earth, the other in heaven.” The purification of sins speaks to us of Christ’s work on earth, the Crucifixion and all that it entails; the sitting down at the right hand of the Majesty directs our attention to Christ’s work in heaven. Murray writes that, “In a healthy Christian life we must know and hold fast both parts of Christ’s work.”

 

My own sense is that it is better to view the work of Christ as seamless in heaven and earth, and in earth and heaven; but the merit in Murray’s pastoral approach is to try to get us to ponder not only what Christ has done on earth, but also what Christ is doing in heaven. Murray continues:

 

“The work He did upon earth was but a beginning of the work He was to do in heaven; in the latter the work on earth finds its perfection and its glory. As Priest He completed the cleansing of sins here below; as Priest-King He sits on the right hand of the throne to apply His work, in heavenly power to dispense its blessings, and maintain within us the heavenly life.” Note Murray’s continued emphasis on the heavenly life within us. We will see how Christ applies His work as we progress through Hebrews.

 

Murray writes, “The full acceptance of the cleansing of sins…will be to us…the entrance into the heavenly life.” Murray tells us that God’s desire to cleanse us from our sins is “so intense that He gave His Son to die…”

 

While the glory of Christ’s perfect work unfolds in our progression through Hebrews, I’d like us to note the words ”full acceptance”, for it seems to me that many of us struggle with fully accepting the fact that Jesus Christ has indeed fully cleansed us of our sins.

 

I still recall a Sunday morning message that I preached many years ago on 1 John 1:1 – 2:2. Included in this passage is:

 

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness…And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins…”

 

After the service various people in the congregation came up to me to tell me that they had never realized there were these precious promises of God in Christ. This struck me because many of these people had been in the church for years, some were leaders; and I knew that the pastor before me, and at least one pastor before him, were committed to Christ and His Gospel. Since then I have encountered this reaction many times, in various settings, including in settings which purport to emphasize the fundamentals of the Gospel.

 

In some settings people know the right things to say about forgiveness of sins, but their lives do not manifest the assurance of what they say, for they continue to functionally frame life in terms of their forgiveness and salvation being contingent upon themselves. In other settings preachers and teachers may preach the above passage from First John, or passages such as Romans 5:1 – 11, but then they undermine Christ’s perfect work of salvation by creating salvific insecurities in people by making them think that there is still something that a man or woman can add to “seal the salvific deal.” Perhaps there is a “higher” revelation, a greater teaching, a consummating experience, that a person must have to be fully accepted by God in Christ.

 

I can’t pretend to understand why this failure to accept the work of Christ is so, but I do know that I constantly encounter it among people who should know better. I agree with Murray that we must fully accept the glory, in Christ, of the forgiveness of our sins if we are to know the glorious heavenly life of Jesus Christ. Murray tells us that God’s love for us, and His desire to cleanse us of our sins, was “so intense that He gave His Son to die.”

 

Can we glimpse this intensity in Romans 5:8 – 10?

 

“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.”

 

Why cannot we live securely in the love of our Great and Wonderful God? What can we possibly add to such a glorious and wondrous and passionate and intense love?

 

It is our Father’s deep desire that in Christ the life of heaven would live in us. O the treasures that are ours in Jesus Christ (Colossians 2:2 – 3).

 

May I gently ask, have you fully accepted the cleansing of your sins in Jesus Christ? Is the heavenly life of Jesus Christ now living within you? Please ponder Romans 5:1 – 11 and 1 John 1:1 – 2:2. Where are you in these passages?

 

Never ever forget the intense love that God has for you in and through Jesus Christ.