Hebrews 9 – Enter God’s Plan 希伯來書 9 – 進入神的計畫
Tuesday, 11th April 2023
星期二 2023年4月11日
Rev Daniel Xi An Poon
潘锡安牧师
Only through Jesus we can b brought into the plan of God for us. since God created the heaven and earth, God already had His plan for us. even though people and Satan tried to change God’s plan, but God’s plan never changes, and God’s promises never change. So how can we enter God’s plan? Why do we need to enter God’s plan? We know any plan will have a result we desire, there is a result that we want to reach. So what is the result of God’s plan? God said its very good, He continues to say that His creation is very good. People tried to receive this beautiful plan but instead of seeing the beauty from God’s eyes, people try to see beauty from their own eyes. We rely on people, rely on ourselves, rely on this world, trying to create beauty according to their own desires. Only when we enter God’s plan then we can be completed.
God’s plan for us is for us to be His beautiful creations, His calls His creations ‘very good’. So how can we enter God’s good and beautiful plan? What does it mean by ‘good’?
Section One V1-10 By Relying on the Tabernacle of the World, We Cannot be Completed 靠著屬地的聖幕不能使人完全
The tabernacle of the world cannot fully complete us. The covenant God established with Moses had a lot of requirements, rules and regulations. Why did God established the first covenant with people? When the Israelites were in Egypt, they did not know God anymore, they did not know the principles of God, and they did not know how to follow God. 400 years, the Israelites did not seek God and they did not have a relationship with God. They only wanted to live their lives of slavery, but they did not know God. They only knew God as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but they did not know God was also their God.
Therefore God led the Israelites out of Egypt, to know God’s principles, and to build a relationship with Him. God established the 10 Commandments, and the first covenant, so the people can have the concept of what the Heaven look like. Through building the tabernacle, God was teaching the Israelites how to build a relationship with God, and what the Heaven looks like. We are full of sins, so only by being redeemed, then we can come close to God. We must give offering, we must be cleansed, let the Word of God cleanse our lives, so we can enter the veil, the Holy of the Holies. We don’t have to see God from a far distance, but we can stay close to God.
David said he would rather stay in the presence of God, because one day in the presence of God is better than 1,000 days in this world. The Israelites were worshiping idols in Egypt, and they thought by using the same ways to worship God then they could please God, they did not know that what they were practicing could not help them to enter into Heaven, therefore God established the first covenant, so the Israelites could turn away from their wicked ways. We are often like that, we thought obeying everything and doing everything we are taught, then we can enter into Heaven. It’s not by what we do, but only by Jesus.
Section Two V11-15 Only by Relying on Jesus We can Receive the Promise 要靠著耶穌才能得著應許
By the blood of Jesus we can receive the promise, His blood is the Tree of Life, humble, obedient, denying self and benefiting others. The fragrance of the Tree of Life is revealed in the life of Jesus, and only by Jesus we can receive the promise. Jesus is the Mediator of the new covenant, and by His blood, we can receive this new covenant. The first covenant teaches us that we cannot be completed, and teaches us to be separate from this world, to set ourselves apart as holy. This new covenant is to give us an eternal inheritance. What is this inheritance? It’s not about having lots of real estates, cars, money, power, or even the love we receive, but it’s for us to be cleansed, so our hearts are not covered with sins. We cannot understand the heart of the Father, we are always thinking about ourselves and thinking about this world, but Jesus’ blood washes away our sins, so our hearts can be opened to God, we can serve God, and not to serve this world.
We are Christians, not because we want to receive the things of this world, not for our desires to be fulfilled, and not for our lives to reach to the standards of the world. Every day we are asking God to hear our prayers, and to give us what we want, but we don’t see that when the blood of Jesus washes away our sins, our hearts can be connected with the heart of God, and we will know our mission from God for us to live on this world. Our mission is not for us to be rich and wealthy, it’s not for us to be liked by everyone around us, but for us to know the heart of the Father.
When Jesus went on the cross, He said ‘it is finished’, He knew what His mission was and He strived to complete this mission. Jesus only came to the earth for 33 years, why was it so short? Because He finished what He came to do. One day when our life comes to an end, can we also say the same thing? Do we have the faith to say that whatever God sends us to do on this world, is completed? Jesus’ blood covers us so we can serve the eternal God, not for us to serve this world. Do we know who we are serving? Jesus’ teaching is for the will of God to be carried on this world as it is in Heaven. Stop trying to gain this world, but to strive to know the Will of God.
Section Three V16-28 Only by Relying on Jesus We can Receive the Salvation 要靠著耶穌才能得著拯救
We are holding onto a lot of things, we are trying to gain a lot of things. We thought we can receive this world and at the same time we can receive the world. But it is not like this, only by relying on Jesus, we can receive salvation. Jesus came to save us from the sin of Adam and Eve, the sin that stops us to connect with God. Jesus came so we are reconnected with God, our relationship with God is restored, this is a previous gift that we must treasure. Jesus will come again, and when He comes back He will judge us. He has already saved us, He has already given us salvation, so when He came back, He will judge.
When we know that we have received the salvation of Jesus, we must live out the life of Jesus, which is to come before the Father in Heaven. Jesus does not want us to be judged, but to judge the world with Him, but are we willing to listen to Jesus? Only by Jesus we can receive salvation because He has overcome. What Jesus did, we can do greater, when we rely on Jesus.