Power To Reach Your Full Potential

The Epistle of Hebrews was written to at-risk Jewish Christians. Severe persecution has tempted some of these believers to forsake their faith in Christ and to return to the practice of Judaism. The anonymous author of Hebrews writes to say to this suffering church that what you have in Christ is infinitely better than what you had in the old covenant. When you get to this closing benediction, the point has been sufficiently made. And the writer ends the letter words of encouragement in this benediction. And this first thing he says to encourage his readers is that God is the God of peace. What is peace? We often think of peace in terms of what it is not. We define peace as the absence of war, animosity, and hostility. But true peace is more than the absence of negative realities. No one is fighting at a cemetery. But I would not advise you to go there looking for peace. In scripture, peace is positive reality. In the Old Testament, the typical greeting was “SHALOM” – Peace be with you. This was more than a wish that you do not get into any fights. It expressed a desire for health, wholeness, completeness, wellbeing, and prosperity in your life. Peace is to the soul what health is to the body.

Where does true peace come from? Verse 20 says that God is “the God of peace.” Wherever God is, there is peace. And wherever peace is, there is God. God is the author and source and center and giver of peace. Isaiah 26:3 says, “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.” First, those who trust in Jesus Christ are beneficiaries of PEACE WITH GOD. Romans 5:1 says, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Sin makes us enemies of God. Sin is enmity against God. Sin is willful rebellion against the holy government of God. But we have peace with God through faith in Jesus Christ. Likewise, those who trust in God are beneficiaries of THE PEACE OF GOD. Philippians 4:6-7 says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” JOHN BLANCHARD said it well: “The peace of God means being grateful for his past mercies, conscious of his present mercies, and certain of his future mercies.”

B. GOD RAISED THE LORD JESUS FROM THE DEAD.

The theme of the Epistle of Hebrews is the superiority of the Lord Jesus Christ and the new covenant with God established by the blood of his cross. The writer emphasizes this point by focusing on the exaltation of Christ as our Great High Priest and his present intercessory ministry on our behalf. Interestingly, verse 20 is the only direct reference to the resurrection of Christ from the dead in the book of Hebrews. The writer simply assumes the resurrection of Christ throughout this letter. But now he boldly declares it in this benediction that intends to communicate to those who struggle with their faith in Christ that God can do for you what you cannot do for yourself. The verse says that God “brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus.” In the Gospels, the fact and truth of the resurrection is stated by declaring that Jesus rose from the dead. But in the Epistles, the significance, meaning, and significance of the resurrection is stated by declared that God raised Jesus from the dead. This was the message Peter declared on the day of Pentecost. In Acts 2:24 Peter says, “God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.”