Draw Near to God

September 2, 2012

Lesson: Hebrews 10:19–25

Key Verse: Hebrews 10:22

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Introduction

Lifting His eyes to heaven, the Lord Jesus Christ spoke to His Father: “Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (John 17:1–3). The glory of the Father is manifested in the Son, in whom the fullness of the Godhead dwells. In Christ the Son of God is life; “Where he has shone, we possess him by faith, and, therefore, we also enter into the possession of life; and this is the reason why the knowledge of him is truly and justly called saving, or bringing salvation. Almost every one of the words has its weight; for it is not every kind of knowledge that is here described, but that knowledge which forms us anew into the image of God from faith to faith, or rather, which is the same with faith, by which, having been engrafted into the body of Christ, we are made partakers of the Divine adoption, and heirs of heaven” (John Calvin).

If God the Father would ask you why you have drawn near to Him, what justification would you give, how would you express the reason for you, as a sinner, to approach your Creator? The hour had come for the Son of God to make it possible for us to draw near to our Father in heaven. Our Savior said, “I go and prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also” (John 14:2–3). The Son of God placed Himself before the judgment seat of the Father to receive the just punishment for our sins and guilt. For each one whom the Father gave Him, He shed His precious blood. Therefore, eternal life is ours, to know our Father and the Son whom He has sent to be the propitiation for our sins.

“For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit” (1 Peter 3:18). Is there any other justification to draw near to God but by this act of God’s free grace? We remember that our justification also includes the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, whereby we approach our Father wearing the divine cloak of Christ’s righteousness: whereby we are found in Christ, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith” (Phil. 3:9).

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The Living Way—Hebrews 10:19–21

Since we have a faithful High Priest, who has made “reconciliation for the sins of the people” (Heb. 2:17); that we have a great High Priest who has “passed into the heavens, Jesus Christ the Son of God: (4:14); that we have been redeemed by His precious blood, “the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace” (Eph. 1:7); and that we are “sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Heb. 10:10); let us, with much boldness, “enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus.” For where He is, there we also will be.

The Cross, upon which our Savior bore our sins and penalty, is the full and living way by which we come to our Father in heaven. This new and living way is the flesh, the incarnate body of Christ, the veil through which we enter into the presence of our Creator. We come into the presence of God our Father because we have a High Priest over the household of God, His Church.

Our Lord said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life, no man cometh unto the Father but by me” (John 14:6). Christ is both our assurance and our entrance into the household of God. He is also the life we live in the Kingdom of God. Paul’s confession is our confession: “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Gal. 2:20). The only righteous and moral life that we live, that is pleasing to our heavenly Father, is that life we live in Christ. In other words, it is Christ living in and through us that makes our life worth living.

Discussion: Why is Christ called the “living way”?

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With a True Heart—Hebrews 10:22–24

Since Christ is our Prophet (the truth), our Priest (the way), and our King (the life); since through His blood we enter into the presence of God; let us then act like children of the household of God. Let us act in accordance with the new nature and the new relationship He has so graciously given to us.

Among other things, we are called to do three things. These things we are able to do because of the redeeming work of Christ for and in us; the Holy Spirit enabling us to bear these wonderful fruits of faith. The son of the farmer grows and learns the work of the field and needs of the flock or herd. Soon he is able to take the tasks for himself; it becomes second nature to him. And so with the one who learns carpentry or flying. One becomes a carpenter, the other a pilot. Christ has enabled the members of His flock to be children of God. The Spirit has given these children a new nature. We bear the name of Christ, and are called Christian. We are enabled to live such a life because of Christ living in us.

Therefore, “Let us draw near with a true heart.” By faith we can come to God because we have a true, genuine heart, cleansed by the blood of Christ, washed in pure water, our evil consciences exchanged for a conscience made pure by the sacrifice of our Savior.

Therefore, “Let us hold fast our profession.” Our confession, our recognition of Christ as the Son of God, as the only Savior, comes by faith, a gift of God that does not waver; because He who is faithful keeps His promise.

Therefore, let us consider one another. We have a wonderful new love in our hearts, a love which only God can give—agape love! This is that unconditional love which God in Christ loved us. We are to love one another with this kind of love. Because God first loved us in Christ, we are to love God, and we are to love one another: an unmerited love filled with mercy. This love moves us, one with another, to do good works, pleasing to God.

Discussion: How and why are we able to come, one with another, to love and to serve Christ?

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The Assembly—Hebrews 10:25

Christ is building His Congregations. He is gathering together His people for whom He died. We are the sheep of His pasture. To forsake the assembling of His people would be like the sheep that go astray, lost without the Shepherd’s care. We are not to forsake the gathering of God’s redeemed people, “exhorting one another.

We are “called by the Lord on this condition, that everyone should afterwards strive to lead others to the truth, to restore the wandering to the right way, to extend a helping hand to the fallen, to wind over those who are without” (John Calvin).

We have no choice in the matter. Just as real as we have been born into our home, having brothers and sisters we have not chosen, so also we have been born into the household of God, having brothers and sisters, not of our choice, but by the choosing of our Father in heaven. Look around you. You, and your brothers and sisters in Christ, need the fellowship, one with another, with Christ.

Discussion: In what ways can we stimulate one another in the Word of God?

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Lessons are based on the International Sunday School Lessons for Christian Teaching, copyright © 2012 by the Committee on the Uniform Series.