Hebrews 12:1-3

These verses immediately follow the famous faith chapter of all who have gone before us and were led to keep their focus where it belonged with the promise to us that they were not being perfected by Christ apart from us.

In Hebrews 12:2 we read that we are all running the race together with endurance, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.

“Looking” is 872 in Strong’s Concordance: aphorao (af-or-ah'-o), which means “to attentively consider.” But this word is the derivation of two other words: apo and horao. Apo indicates the separation of a person or an object from another person or an object with which it was formerly united but is now separated. Horao means to properly stare at; that is, (by implication) to discern clearly (physically or mentally); at its base it means: to look away steadfastly or intently toward a distant object. Metaphorically, it means to behold in the mind, to fix the mind upon (consider this in terms of Paul’s plea to the brethren at Philippi as recorded in Philippians 2:5, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus”).

“Unto” is 1519 in Strong’s: eis; a primary preposition: to or into (indicating the point reached or entered); metaphorically of a state or condition into which one comes, after verbs of motion, duration. One of the word studies I reviewed explained it this way, “To baptize into somebody or into the name of somebody means to baptize into the obligations incumbent on a disciple of someone or to be identified with the character and purposes of such a person.” As it pertains to this sermon, I thought it helpful to see this word in a context that is of the most significant consequence to us.

Hebrews 12:1-2

Self-preoccupation is a sin that clings so closely that it is hard to lay aside.

Trying to carry every weight leads to self-preoccupation. For example, if you have sins that you are looking for in your life, and you are adding them up, and you are looking at the whole year and everything that you have done wrong, you start feeling a weight of burden that is very negative and very discouraging. And you know, even in Speech Club, when we evaluate somebody for a speech, you do not just tell them everything that they have done wrong because they will not remember any of it. You just tell them one, maybe two things to improve on, and that way they remember what it is and can work on that.

God is the same way. He does not expect us to overcome 100 sins before Passover. Because if you are trying to overcome 100 sins, you are not going to overcome any. So what I am talking about is we have to be careful not to be preoccupied with ourselves, meaning so self-absorbed about our own sins that we forget what the real purpose of Passover is, which is focused on Jesus Christ. Yes, we have to evaluate our own lives, but we cannot turn in on ourselves, look at ourselves, get negative, discouraged, and feel "Woe is me! I'm so awful" or this and that. We should consider those things, but to try to overcome everything at one time, you will probably not overcome anything. It is just the way the human mind works. Self-absorption is so much a part of us that we can despair of ever really changing. Matthew 19:26 assures us with man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.

Hebrews 12:1-2

We were in Hebrews, let us go back there. Hebrews 12, verses 1 through 2. He has just been talking about the heroes of faith and how they all died not receiving the promises.

We cannot rest until we cross the finish line, and do you know that the goal is a rest? It is the rest of God. But we cannot rest until we get there. We cannot rest until Jesus Christ comes and we are born into the Kingdom of God. The author assures us here in the second verse that Jesus Christ, our Savior, is both the author, meaning the starter, and the finisher of our salvation. He starts it, He is there the whole way, helping us along, and He is going to be here running beside us as we cross the finish line.

Our Savior is a God who finishes what He starts, and His people will be those who finish what they start. So Christ will not fail us, only we can fail us, only we could lag behind and fall out of the race. He is in it for the long haul, to the very end, and He purposely set us an example of exactly that, someone who went to the bitter end to complete his course. Yes, He did it very painfully, He had to suffer so much, but He finished! You know how important that was. He said it, "It is finished" He had finished His course, He did the will of God, and what was His reward? He is very God, King of all, sitting at the right hand of the Father, and that is the same goal we have. So we have to follow Him and His example all the way to the end. He says in Matthew 24:13, "He that endures to the end will be saved."

Hebrews 12:1-2

Christ’s ascension is incredibly meaningful for us. Here the author uses it as the basis of his exhortation to these Hebrews whose faith and zeal and confidence had been slipping. He points out that they (and we) have powerful examples of people acting with trust in God. But even though we have the examples in the previous chapter, the author tells us where our focus should be. He says, “looking unto Jesus,” and proceeds to yet again describe Jesus fulfilling His earthly ministry, culminating in His sitting down at the Father’s right hand, now actively working on our behalf.