Do Not Drift Away

Hebrews 1:1-2:4

Key Verse 2:1

Read verses 1-3. What do the following expressions tell us about the Son? 1) in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son; 2) [God] appointed [the Son] heir of all things; 3) through [the Son] whom he [God] made the universe; 4) the Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being; 5) [the Son is] sustaining all things by his powerful word; 6) he had provided purification for sins; and 7) he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. What does the above statements tell us about [the reason to believe in and obey] the Son [so that one should not drift away]?

Read verses 4-14 and think about: 1) the purpose for which God made angels (7,14); 2) Jesus’ relationship with God the Father (5); 3) his relationship with angels (4, 6,-); 4) Jesus’ position in God’s kingdom (8-9); 5) Jesus’ [past, present, and future] dealings with his creations (10-12); and 6) the [eventual]  outcome of the conflicts between Jesus and his enemies (13). What does this passage tell us about Jesus? 

Read 2:1. What have we heard? (Romans 10:17-18) What does “drift away” mean? From what are we called not to drift away? (2Ti 4:7; Heb 12:4,11-13) Why is it that merely “hearing” [the word of God] is not enough? Why do people fail to “pay more careful attention” to what they have heard?

Read verse 2-5. What does “the message spoken by angels” refer to? Verse 2 says, “…every violation and disobedience received its just punishment”. What are the examples of “punishment”? [Consider the Scriptures in the history of the Israelites such as Genesis 3, 6-8,19, etc.] What will happen to those who ignore such a great salvation (and thereby drift away)? (Heb 10:26-31; 12:26-29)

Do Not Drift Away

Hebrews 1:1-2:4

Key Verse 2:1

[Introduction to Hebrews: Most likely this book was penned by the Apostle Paul. Obviously this book was written to encourage the Jewish believers to keep their faith in the Lord to the end, and not drift away from it. Note that it was more difficult for the Jewish believers to leave Judaism and stick to their faith in the Lord Jesus [publicly professing their faith that Jesus is the Messiah sent by God] than for a communist living in N. Korea to come out of the closet and profess his faith in the Lord as a Christian. Nowadays increasingly difficult and challenging conditions exist, warring against true Christians professing their faith in the Lord, invisible pressures, pressuring Christians to compromise with the sinning world.  This is all due to the increasingly wicked and adulterous, secularized environments, that are visible and yet we are called to keep our faith in the Lord, and follow him, doing God’s will, going against the stream of this generation. This means that we need to go through the narrow gate, participating in the sufferings of our Lord Jesus, with our hope above, not on the things of this world. But in order for us to do this we need to stand on the strong foundation of “faith” in the Lord. Faith is built up through the correct knowledge of who Jesus is. It is to build up faith in the Lord Jesus that Paul wrote this epistle. The study of this epistle should equip us to not drift away from our faith but go upstream, fighting against the increasingly secular environments in our society especially on our college campuses.]

Read verses 1-3. What do the following expressions tell us about the Son? 1) in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son; 2) [God] appointed [the Son] heir of all things; 3) through him [the Son] whom [God] made the universe; 4) the Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being; 5) [the Son is] sustaining all things by his powerful word; 6) he had provided purification for sins; and 7) he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. What do the above statements tell us about the Son?

** His words are the final authority.

** The world to come is going to be deeded to Jesus (and those who belong to Him).

** He is the true owner of the existing universe and everything in it. [Many claim this is mine that is yours, or don’t touch this for this is mine, etc. The devil also tempted Jesus saying if you bow down to me I will give this or that to you, but the devil is not the real owner; he only stole what he got. Thanks to what Jesus did the devil is now in the course of being evicted from his dominion; the devil is just like an unlawful detainer.]

** When we see the Son we can correctly understand who God is what God has in mind etc. The point is that Jesus is the living God made visible to our physical eyes. The glorious promise is that Jesus identifies with us even by calling us as his brothers (or his Bride). 

** Jesus died on a tree for our sins, only to adopt us into him as His Bride, that all of us would inherit the world to come.

** Jesus went there to pray for us, to fight with us, to build God’s kingdom together with us. Psalm 110; Mat 28:19-20. 

Overall these statements tell us that he is the true director of the Lord’s ministry; he is truly reliable; in fact he is the only one who is reliable, so we need to indeed rely on Him, and obey Him. As we identify ourselves with Him, rely on him, and obey him, he can start working fully within us, fulfilling the purpose of creation and redemption in and through us. As we go by his precepts then nothing can stand in our way. 

Read verses 4-14 and think about: 1) the purpose for which God made angels (7,14); 2) Jesus’ relationship with God the Father (5); 3) his relationship with angels (4, 6,-); 4) Jesus’ position in God’s kingdom (8-9); 5) Jesus’ [past, present, and future] dealings with his creations (10-12); and 6) the [eventual]  outcome of the conflicts between Jesus and his enemies (13). What does this passage tell us about Jesus? 

** God made them to serve those who are going to be saved through Jesus’ blood.

** Jesus is the Son (this does not mean that Jesus is inferior to God; rather it means Jesus is equal with God; this is just like a father and a son shares the same standing in a kingdom, so that when a son succeeds the Father the son is the ruler and a king is in full power. 

** Angels are Jesus’ gophers.

** Jesus is the one seated on his throne as the King. 

** He is the one who runs and sustains present order; he is the one to usher in the new order. 

** Jesus will turn out to be the ultimate victor, so that all of his enemies will be underfoot. This alludes to the truth that the Risen Jesus is working with his soldiers fighting the Lord’s battles against his enemies. Psalm 110:1-3; Mark 16:20.  We are fighting the battles which Jesus had already won. 

Overall the above statements tell us that it is wise for us to stand on Jesus’ side and fight the Lord’s battle for his name. 

Read 2:1. What have we heard? (Romans 10:17-18) What does “drift away” mean? From what are we called not to drift away? (2Ti 4:7; Heb 12:4,11-13) Why is it that merely “hearing” [the word of God] is not enough? Why do people fail to “pay more careful attention” to what they have heard?

** Drift = it gives us the image of an object which is not grounded but being driven or floating down stream instead of keeping one’s position despite counter forces applied against it. Mainly the author has in mind the wicked environment of his day where many started compromising with the sinning world, living selfishly going against what Jesus came to present, that is, going through the narrow gate, denying oneself, taking up the cross and following Jesus, making disciples of all nations, no matter what.

** From professing one’s faith in the Lord. Professing faith in the Lord is never a matter of lip service. It means living and dying and rising with Jesus Christ. In those days coming out as a Jesus-believing Christian meant martyrdom. In our days claiming oneself to be a Christian has even become something stylish. But as the generation gets increasingly secular, the title Christian became almost a dirty word, for many see that so called “Christians” are pseudo Christians, Christians by title only, a bunch of hypocrites, easy going, double minded and self centered opportunists.  

But a Christian means a man who is truly Christ-centered. Who is at the center of your life? Is Christ your Savior and the Lord? 

** It is not enough for hearing the word is just the first step towards the next step that is, believing in His name, which then must lead the believer to the next step that is to follow him, living and dying for him. Along with taking these steps there has to be sincere struggles to grow up in faith, for faith must prove genuine through the times of ordeals and trials.  

** The expression “pay more careful attention” answers the question. . 

The word “pay” indicates that we need to invest what is valuable into checking into the matter on Jesus and his gospel; we need to deeply study the word of God, and struggle to obey even one word of it.

More careful…: this expression reminds us of lack of care. So many people care so much about what to wear where to live how to make a living, what others think etc., but they do not care about something eternal such as salvation, life to come beyond the grave, what the Bible says about Jesus and his gospel, etc. 

Attention: we have attention problem; there are so many distracters which distract us away from the Lord.  This is particularly true in this electronic age. 

Read verse 2-5. What does “the message spoken by angels” refer to? Verse 2 says, “…every violation and disobedience received its just punishment”. What are the examples of “punishment”? [Consider the Scriptures in the history of the Israelites such as Genesis 3, 6-8,19, etc.] What will happen to those who ignore such a great salvation (and thereby drift away)? (Heb 10:26-31; 12:26-29)

** They refer to the Old Testament Scriptures in general, particularly the first five books of the Bible. Angels = messenger such as prophets like Moses.

** The point here is that every act of disobedience comes with ill consequence of its own. 

Faith in Jesus must result in the “obedience” to God, for Romans 1:5 states obedience comes through faith in the Lord. Similarly faith without obedience (or action or deed) is no faith; it is dead faith, not living faith. 

** The consequence will be that they would not inherit the kingdom to come. The author is saying what he says here to talk about the dreadful consequence which he elaborated at the end of Heb 12.

The end 

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 DO NOT DRIFT AWAY

Hebrews 1:1-2:4
Key Verse: 2:1

 Welcome to the book of Hebrews! It was written for the Jewish believers in the first century. They became Christians through hearing, most likely from the apostles of Christ. However because of their faith in Jesus, they're persecuted from both Jews and Romans. At first, they persevered. But Jesus didn’t come again contrary to their expectation. They had second thoughts and began to lose confidence. In fact, they were seriously considering going back to Judaism. The author of Hebrews as a spiritual doctor realized that they were like patients losing their patience and desperately needed to be reassured, especially what they had believed in was true and their confidence would be richly rewarded. This is not their sole problem but the problem of anyone in any generation striving to live for Jesus. Our enemies keep offering seemingy better options to us in a deceptive message. Through today's passage, we may fix our eyes on Jesus and strengthen our faith to not drift away and live for Jesus.

Part I, Jesus, the Son of God (1:1-14)

 Chapter one is designed and written in order to justify his first warning by presenting Jesus Christ who is far superior than anyone else such as forefathers, prophets, and angels. Their comparison is not between good or bad; but rather between good and Superior. For instance iPhone is superior to any iPod generation such as Shuffle, Mini, or Nano. But it doesn't mean that these are bad. Rather iPhone is far superior in terms of its function.  Look at verses 1-2a. “In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son.” Before the coming of Jesus Christ, God had spoken to the people of Israel in many ways through their forefathers and the long line of prophets, but His main message was about Jesus. Jesus is God incarnate. Who knows father best? Of course sons know their father best. Who knows me best? Moses, Paul, and Hope know me best. God has spoken himself to us by his Son who is the best messenger. Verses 2b-3 highlight Jesus’ great majesty as the Son of God in several ways. He is the appointed heir of all things. As the firstborn he is entitled to be heir of all things. In the beginning Jesus created the universe. So he is the very owner of the existing universe and everything in it. The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being. Like father like Son. Just as Josiah is the exact representation of his father Shepherd Jonathan, Jesus is the exact representation of God's nature. Jesus sustains all things by his powerful words. Jesus also performed his priestly duty by providing purification for our sins. Jesus removed our sins once for all through his obedient death on the cross. Now he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. Jesus will come to judge the living and the dead.

 From verse 4 thro 14, the author wants to prove the fact that Jesus is superior to angels. It’s because angels were very important in Judaism. But angels are only God’s servants, or ministering spirits. They were not supposed to be feared or worshiped by men. Angels were created to worship Jesus and serve God’s chosen people, Jesus' joint heirs. God called Jesus as God three times in verses 8 & 9. God even called Him as “Lord” in verse 10. Traditional Jews have maintained the custom of not pronouncing God's name, but use Adonai meaning “my Lord”. Therefore when Jesus is called as “Lord”, it is a very significant thing to them. Verses 10b thro 12 show the four reasons why he has to be called as the Lord. Jesus is the almighty creator who laid the foundations of the earth and the heavens. Jesus is the self existent God who remains. Jesus is the sovereign God who rolls his creation up like a garment. Jesus is the God who is the same yesterday, today, and forever. So Jesus is the Lord who is worthy of our worship and full devotion.

Part 2, do not drift away (2:1-4)

 Look at the verse 1, “We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.” First of all the author used the pronoun “we” instead of “you”. He gently encouraged them by humbly identifying himself being one of them. He also wants to identify himself like a family member with them. In chapter 1 he used family terms such as Father, Son, heir, or inheritance. We're adopted into God's family. Our families on earth are temporal and fragile, often broken by three D's; divorce, distance, and death. On the other hand, our love relationship with our heavenly father and His Son, last forever. It is a much stronger union, a more permanent bond, than blood relationships. Being God's family member is the highest honor and the greatest privilege. We then obey our father with love and deep trust because he knows what's best for us. Here “therefore” refers to the chapter 1, that is what we have heard about who Jesus is. Since we have the final message through the Son of God, we must give more careful attention to his message. The greatness of Christ and His revealed words need our earnest consideration, absolute reverence, and careful observation because our salvation is hinged upon our attitude as his children. Chapter one concludes with the word “salvation”. Verse 3 shows it two more times. Nothing is more important than securing our great salvation. But the word “drift” suggests that our salvation is not automatically guaranteed. There is always the danger of drifting. The word “drift” gives us the vivid image of our believing life which is not securely anchored but be driven or floating down the stream. According to the dictionary, it means to be carried along by currents of water and to slowly deviate or wander from a set course or point of attention. Mainly the author had in mind the situation of the Jewish Christians who heard the gospel truth but still lacked absolute faith. Many couldn't bear persecution, beginning to compromise with the sinning world, going against what Jesus said. Being a true or committed Christian is not a lip service such as studying the Bible. It is the first step toward the next step that is to follow Jesus, living for him. Faith must be proven genuine through the times of hardships or temptations. According to original version, “Pay more attention” is the nautical terms. The crews are supposed to pay close attention to their pilot. We Christians must pay close attention to our pilot, Jesus. The word “pay” indicates that we need to invest what is valuable such as our time for Jesus. Through in depth Bible study, we must discover His desire and His own direction. We then embrace it in our hearts and take actions accordingly.

 In reality though, this passage helps us to think about practical questions. “What do we Americans revere and pay attention to?” “What might be the case for the author of Hebrews to pinpoint about us Americans in terms of our real focusing?” Definitely not angels nor prophets. I think that he might say, Americans are preocupied or focus on their own will, their own feelings, and their own life goals. Just as the believing Jews didn't pay attention to Christ as much as they should and was in danger of being drift away on account of their fixation, believers in America run the same risk of drifting away because they give more weight on their own freedom rather than Christ's core desire. So many books and even the best seller christian books are heavily focusing on individual wellbeing or mere human relationship for they do not pay attention to what the scripture really says. So many Christians are thinking that they're just fine. Obviously in America the things that are sacred are individualism, personal choice, liberty, and self determination. Though these are good just as angels are good, they can easily steal their hearts. Instead of paying attention to Jesus and his ideas, we easily pay closer attention to our own.

 Someone may argue, “What's wrong with our own ideas?”  “In what respect is Jesus' superior to ours?” But when we follow our seemingly good idea, we sooner or later become crazy. In the Bible we saw many examples like; Nicodemus, the Samaritan woman, the Prodigal son, the Garasene madman, the rich young man or tax collector Matthew. Largely their lives were less than satisfactory because they deviate and wander from what they were supposed to be before God. Until we do understand we were made by God and for God, life doesn't make sense at all. It is only in God and his living words that we do discover our origin, our identity, our true family, absolute meaning, our purpose, and our final destiny. And then we live a fruitful life as a source of blessing to others. This nation's ancestors came to this land for the purpose of serving God and his will freely, not just for the human freedom. So we must go back to what God and our forefathers were originally aiming at. Therefore in America, Christ must become more “superior” than our sense of liberty. Materialism, pleasure-seeking, and careers are given way too much importance as well. People are busy because they care too much about what to wear, where to live, or how to make a living rather than how to serve the Lord, what to do to prepare the life to come, or what the Bible really says about Jesus and his gospel message. We are easily distracted here and there. Actually we have so many distractions in this electronic age turning us away from the Lord. There are opportunities to make more bucks in this society so called “Money talks”. It is not only other's story but our own story. When we were young, we were relatively free from all kinds of worldly cares. According to our love confession to Jesus, we struggled to serve him and his own concern. But as we're getting old, we're increasingly concerned about all kinds of things such as child education or better living environment. These are not necessarily bad in nature. But the problem is where we must put our first and top priority. Jesus has said, “Seek first his kingdom and then all these things will be given to you as well.” He wants each of us to taste and see that he is good. When we fail to pay more careful attention to what we have heard and invest our valuables for Jesus and his very concern, we are in danger of drifting away. We end up facing the dreadful consequence. It is not a overnight happening though. At the moment, it is not noticeable. But when we lose our absolute faith and mission sense, we are in danger of drifting away sooner or later.
 King James version says that “drift away” was expressed as “let them slip”. It indicates that our mind is like a leaky vessel or container. If we do not make a conscious effort to retain what is being poured into our mind, we are going to be entangled with this wicked generation through gradual compromise. They say that “better” is the enemy of the “best”. Living for him and obeying his last commands such as “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me, therefore go and make disciples of all nations” is the best option for us to live a blessed, fruitful and meaningful life. Our Lord Jesus is a mighty God and means business to bless America to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. By God's grace, we are privileged to chip in this glorious family business. So we must keep our blessed position no matter what by being faithful to him. In the book of Genesis, God is pleased with one person Abraham because he paid full attention to what Jesus said. In this way he set a good example for us to follow. God's plan to bless all mankind spans more than one generation. After four generations, God blessed him and his descedants more than he could possibly imagine. In the same way we can pass down our determination, persistence, and commitment to our children as our wholesome gospel legacy. God wants us to have an absolute sense of history and be faithful to him. Everything we do count, never waste. Everytime we persevere, everytime we are faithful, we are storing up valuable equity in our future generation account just as Abraham had done the exact same thing. We get God's attention when we fully obey his absolute will. Most high Father is helping us and confirming what we are doing with his holy Spirit, many signs, and even miracles. Let's pray that we may not settle down for anything less than God's best. Let's stir up or fan into flame our talents and gifts for Him. May the Lord help us to make a personal decision that we are going to live under his compelling blessed life.

 One word: do not drift away