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So, we have spent the last 11 weeks reviewing the The Story, to understand the background of the warning of Hebrews 10.

As the story unfolded, we found three key developments.

Life

When The Story began, we had Life. That is, our existence had meaning.

We had an identity. We were created to represent God – to bear His image. When you look at us, you were to see Him. We were somebody.

We also had significance. As His representatives, we were given the responsibility to rule over creation, administering His agenda, and fill that creation with others who would do the same. Our lives made a difference – we had an impact.

And our lives were full. As His representatives, we walked with God. He gave us a place to live — the Garden — a place of beauty and abundant provision. And, He gave us a mate — someone who would perfectly fulfill the needs and desires that we had for assistance, companionship and intimacy. We had fulfillment.

So, in the beginning, we not only had existence, but that existence had meaning – identity, significance and fulfillment.

Death

But, very early in The Story, our role as God’s representatives was tested. Rather than choosing to administer God’s agenda, we decided that we could be god-like ourselves, and began to pursue life according to our own agenda. In this betrayal of God, we abandoned our relationship with Him and became rebels. In this  choice, we abandoned our identity as His representatives. And since we no longer represented Him, we forfeited the significance that came with ruling as His representatives. God  responded with a curse, bringing futility to creation and physical death to us, and then kicked us out of the Garden.

So, we became objects of God’s wrath, doomed to return to the dust, and abandoned the identity, significance, and fulfillment that gave meaning to our existence. We died.

Hope

But even in the midst of the curse, God promised One Who Would Come and crush the Enemy, introducing a glimmer of hope. As the Story unfolds through the Old Testament, the glimmer becomes a specific and detailed promise of The One. He will:

• Crush the Enemy
• Overcome the Curse w/ Blessing
• Restore Harmony in Creation
• Establish the Perfect Kingdom
• Suffer for the Reconciliation & Healing of Individuals

In short, from before the first conception, God began to act to do more than bring forgiveness, but to restore all the life that was lost in the Garden. This hope would rest in the One Who Would Come. By the time we get to the New Testament this One was being identified as The Christ. He would bring, not only reconciliation with God, but also the restoration of all the meaning – the identity, significance and fulfillment – that was lost.

The point of the Gospels was to demonstrate that Jesus is this One – The Christ. He alone can bring reconciliation with God and restore meaning to our lives.

So, what is the path? Well, reconciliation comes simply through believing that Jesus is the Christ and trusting His death to atone for one’s sins.

But when Jesus shows up, He doesn’t just offer a partial solution to our problem. The plan was always the recovery all that was lost. And so, He doesn’t just call us to believe, but also to follow Him.

And, He makes it clear, that in order to follow, we must first renounce the decision, made in the Garden, to live life according to our own agenda. We have to deny our agenda, submit to His leadership unconditionally. Only then are we ready to follow Him. As we follow, our brokenness is progressively healed and we become increasingly like Him (Christ-like). Since He is the Image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15), the more like Him we become, the more the Image of God is restored in us, and the better prepared we are to rule with Christ, as His representatives (2 Timothy 2:12). Our identity is recovered and our lives have meaning.

While we don’t have to understand all of this to be justified, or even to begin walking as His disciples, this is the plan, and the reality of all that He offers.

Hebrews 10

Which brings us to the situation in Hebrews 10.

Hebrews is written to Jews who have identified Jesus as the Christ. Having believed, they began to live as His disciples, even at great personal costs (Hebrews 10:33-34). But now, wearied by the opposition they face, they are wavering in their commitment to Christ, and are considering a return to their old lifestyle, rooted in Judaism.

Hebrews 1:1-10:18 shows the superiority of Jesus over angels, Moses, and the Jewish priesthood.

We want to pick up in 10:19, where these truths are applied.

In light of Christ’s superiority, the writer of Hebrews encourages his readers to draw near to God in full assurance of faith, not wavering in the confession of their hope (10:19-25). Why? Because the failure to do so has serious consequences (10:26-39).

In contrast to this unwavering assurance, is the danger of continuing to “sin willfully” (v. 26). While we often think of sin as the commission of specific forbidden acts, it’s more than that. The original sin in the Garden was the decision to abandon God’s agenda and pursue Life according to our own agenda. So, willful sin is any conscious decision that ignores what we know God wants us to do in order to do what we want instead.

What’s the risk? Verse 26-27 continue, “…there no longer remains any sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries.”

Wait. That sounds like we could go to hell.

That’s not what he means. Follow his explanation. He looks back to the Mosaic Law, where we are reminded that this is not a new concept (Numbers 15:27-31; Deuteronomy 17:12-13). There were no sacrifices in the Mosaic Law that could be offered for willful sin. What was the penalty? Physical death.

But we’re not under the Mosaic Covenant.

Right. And so the writer goes on.

If the one who willfully violated the Mosaic Covenant experienced physical death, and, Jesus is superior to angels, Moses and the priesthood (Hebrews 1:1-10:18), how much more severe will the judgment be for the one who willfully sins under this superior, New Covenant?

Well, what punishment can be more severe than physical death? That can only be loss of salvation, right?

No. Stop interrupting and pay attention.

Note that the one who does this has been sanctified (v. 29), and that, while he can expect to be judged by God, it will be as one of His people (v. 30). Even as a believer, our experience with God can be terrifying. But note that it is not our imperfection that brings the terror, but willful persistence in the determination to live life according to our own agenda.

So, if we’re forgiven, what can be so terrifying?

Let’s let him finish.

The readers are reminded of all they have already suffered for their commitment to Christ, and encouraged to endure in that confidence (10:32-34). Why? So that when they have done the will of God – when they have persevered in pursuing life according to His agenda –  they “may receive what was promised” (10:36). This will occur when Christ returns (10:37). But the one who shrinks back, who doesn’t endure in faith, and abandons God’s agenda for their own– God’s soul has no pleasure in this one.

So, what’s going on here? Again, remember The Story. Specifically, recall the parable of the minas in Luke 19.

Jesus reveals to the disciples that the Kingdom is not going to start immediately, but that He is going away to receive the Kingdom and then come back. This is the return mentioned in Hebrews 10:37.

Remember what happened at His return in Luke 19?

He called each of His servants to give account for what they had done with the lives He had given them. Although there were 10 servants, only three outcomes are listed, leading us to conclude that those three presented the range of possible outcomes.

The first one represented the exceedingly faithful servant who was praised and given great responsibility. You might even say, in the imagery of Hebrews 10, that God’s soul found great pleasure in him.

On the other end of the spectrum was the third servant, who did nothing with the life God entrusted to him. Although He is a servant, distinct from those who rejected Christ’s rule, He is rebuked, called worthless, and stripped of all responsibility. You could literally say that God’s soul had no pleasure in him.

Now, notice how he finishes the chapter, “But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul” (Hebrews 10:39). In his confidence that his readers will make the right choice, the writer lays out the rest of the consequences that go with experiencing the pleasure of God’s soul . . . or not.

Those who shrink back, shrink back to destruction, while those who persist in faith, do so to the preserving of the soul.

Again, we are tempted to understand destruction as damnation, and preserving the soul as going to heaven. And if The Story were only about forgiveness, that might be true. But as we have seen, The Story is about so much more. It is about the recovery of all that was lost in the Garden. Yes, we need to be forgiven, but we also need to recover the identity and significance that comes with representing God. Such transformation requires us to make the choice –  the choice to invest our lives in the pursuit of God’s agenda when everything around us compels us to forsake His agenda for a more reasonable path – our agenda.

In this choice, we choose what gives meaning to our existence. And in that choice, our soul – who we are – is defined. If we choose to pursue life according to God’s agenda, our soul will be defined by an identity and significance which will be rewarded in the Kingdom, and last into eternity. When it is judged by fire, at the judgement seat of Christ (1 Corinthians 3:10-15), it will be preserved.

But the soul that abandons God’s agenda, that, in the face of suffering, shrinks back, and reverts to the pursuit of life on our own terms – to look for peace, comfort, enjoyment focused in this present life – when that soul is judged by fire, at the judgement seat of Christ, all of those things will be destroyed. The person will be saved (1 Corinthians 3:15), but all that defined their soul, all that gave meaning to their existence – all of that will be destroyed.

The choice is before us. Pursue life according to God’s agenda, preserve your soul, and experience God’s pleasure . . . or . . . shrink back, abandon God’s agenda, and pursue life here and now. Yes, if we have trusted Christ, we will still go to heaven. But we will have defined our soul – our meaning – with things that will be destroyed, and we will know what it means, first-hand, to experience the displeasure of God’s soul. To be called a worthless servant, and stripped of all responsibility.

But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but those who have faith to the preserving of the soul . . .

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