“…in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us.” Hebrews 6:18
Dear Ones:
Hope is all about certainty, and our response to the promises of God based upon His character. In Hebrews 6, Scripture speaks of the “immutability of His (God’s) counsel.” What does this mean? It means that God is the only one in the universe who can declare wisdom, shape it in the form of a promise, and give it to men so that they can count wholly upon Him according to it. It is all summed up in the small phrase: “…in which it was impossible to lie.” Christ cannot deny Himself or act contrary to His nature. He is holy, and that means He is unique, and separate from every point of reference that sinful man man try to contrive to represent Him. When the Lord speaks of hope, He is not speaking of some hap-hazard, hit or miss proposition that we are to believe. We are so accustomed to looking at the promises that individuals make one to another, and then failing to fulfill them, that we attribute this to God, thinking that God is like sinful man. We forget that Christ declared: “…I am the TRUTH.” That which He declares is the extension of Who and What He is. It is for this reason that in this letter to the Hebrews, he speaks of a “strong consolation” that we might have. The man or woman, boy or girl, who has “…fled for refuge to LAY HOLD upon the hope set before us,” will not be ashamed.
What then is this “hope?” Is it primarily that which is eternal, after we go to be with the Lord? It is true that we have not begun to understand what God has prepared for those who love Him. Indeed, we will need new, glorified bodies just to be able to take it in. So, how does this concept of “hope” apply to us? Scripture declares: “…which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil, whither the Forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus.” (6:19,20) What does this mean? God in Christ not only has opened up a “new and living way” to God, but has secured for us a perpetual access to God. This He has done so that we can come individually, with boldness and filled with confidence. This enables us to worship Him in Spirit and truth, to KNOW Him, and for Him to reveal Himself to our hearts. This access He has secured, not only to deliver us FROM sin and death, but to usher us INTO a vital, ever-deepening and growing experience of knowing God. In other words, the “HOPE” that we have is the certainty that ALL has been accomplished, finished, completed, so that we, by faith, can, with our Savior and King, enter into the veil, into that place of certain good…of fellowship and true, certain communion with God.
Dear Father, strengthen our hearts to lay hold upon Thee, and Thy promises. They are “unbelieveable” to the unbeliever, for he has not the faith to believe that which he cannot see or understand. We thank Thee that we have an “anchor of the soul” which will never pass away, nor change, regardless of circumstances, feelings, even all that we could face on this earth. Nothing shall separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Love, Dad