“Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, 2. Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
There is a lot to write about in this text, but for this article I want to put the focus on the main person in the text – Jesus. The advice is to look to Jesus, and He will enable us to “lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us.” The NIV translates it: “Fix your eyes on Jesus…” Our spiritual problems multiply when we take our eyes off of Jesus. Simon Peter illustrated this for us when he was walking on water to go to Jesus and put his eyes on the wind and waves and took them off of Jesus. The text tells us why it is so important to look unto, or fix our eyes on Jesus. We should look unto Jesus before anyone or anything else because He is the “author” of our faith. The NIV translates it as He is the “founder” of our faith. Both words mean that the Christian faith came into being because Jesus gave up His heavenly home and came to earth to live a perfect life and die as a perfect sacrifice for our sins. The philosopher would say that Jesus is the “prime mover,” because without Him there would not be a Christian faith. Jesus’ coming into the world was prophesied for hundreds of years before He was born in Bethlehem. The writers of the four gospels make it plain that Jesus came as the fulfillment of hundreds of years of prophecy. He was the long-expected Messiah. Revelation 13:8 puts this great truth in perspective for us: “And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship Him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” The Messiah was not an accident of history, but his ministry had been planned from the beginning, or even before the beginning of the world. The coming of Christ into the world was profoundly planned before one star was ever put into place. We should look unto Jesus first because He is the “finisher” of our faith. The NIV translates this as “perfecter” of our faith. Jesus not only began our faith, He finished it as well. Just before Jesus died, He uttered what in the Greek language is one word: “tetelestai.” This word means “it is finished” or we could say that it means that God’s plan of salvation from the foundation of the world was now complete. God’s plan of salvation that will draw Jews and Gentiles into the kingdom of God by faith in Jesus Christ has been perfected. Indeed, it is a perfect plan, because it comes from a perfect, infallible God. We frequently read in John’s gospel where “the hour had not come” for Jesus. The “hour” means that each step of Jesus on this earth was controlled by God’s eternal plan. When the time was right, Jesus finished God’s plan of salvation. This is stated succinctly in Galatians 4:4-5: “When the fullness of time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, 5. To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.” We should look unto Jesus first because He joyfully surrendered Himself to be crucified for us. Specifically, the author wrote: “Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame and is set down at the right hand of the Father.” He joyfully died in order for us to be saved and is now at the “right hand of the Father,” where He “ever lives to make intercession for us.” Wow! What a Savior we have. No wonder, we are to look to Him before we look to anyone else. He is our source of salvation; therefore, He is the source of eternal life in heaven. Let’s look to Jesus and thank HIM for all that He means to us. Amen Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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