HE SWORE BY HIMSELF!

Happy New Year folks!🥰 I suspect by now you’re tired of the felicitations and long wishes for this new year😅 Like you’d know by now, we like technical, not-so-obvious topics; but in the spirit of merry and lightness, we’ll keep it short and easy to consume today.☺

I re-read Hebrews 6:16-20 [NLT]:

When people take an oath, they call on someone greater than themselves to hold them to it. And without any question that oath is binding. God also bound himself with an oath, so that those who received the promise could be perfectly sure that he would never change his mind.

So God has given us both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can take new courage, for we can hold on to his promise with confidence.

This confidence is like a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. Jesus has already gone in there for us.  It leads us through the curtain of heaven into God’s inner sanctuary. He has become our eternal High Priest in the line of Melchizedek.

Such a refreshing word! If God could swear by something higher than Himself, verse 16 says He would, that for all who have fled to Him for refuge, He would by no means refuse to cover. If He could swear by anything higher, He would, that He will never change His mind about His promise of eternal life in His Son Jesus who has entered into the inner sanctuary forever as the only High Priest we will ever need. Here’s how ISV puts it:

For people swear by someone greater than themselves, and an oath given as confirmation puts an end to all argument.

In the same way, when God wanted to make the unchangeable character of his purpose perfectly clear to the heirs of his promise, he guaranteed it with an oath, so that by these two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to prove false, we who have taken refuge in him might be encouraged to seize the hope set before us.

That hope, firm and secure like an anchor for our souls, reaches behind the curtain where Jesus, our forerunner, has gone on our behalf, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

Amazing! Like a friend of mine says, this is like cold water on a hot sunny day! Look what Chapter 7:20–25 says:

God took an oath that Christ would always be a priest, but he never did this for any other priest. Only to Jesus did he say, “The Lord has taken an oath and will not break his vow: ‘You are a priest forever.'” Because of God’s oath, it is Jesus who guarantees the effectiveness of this better covenant. [Amazing!☺]

Another difference is that there were many priests under the old system. When one priest died, another had to take his place. But Jesus remains a priest forever; his priesthood will never end.

That means he is able, once and forever, to save everyone who comes to God through him. He lives forever to plead with God on their behalf.

Oh what amazing grace! These scriptures make me fall in love with Him all over again. They make me want to live for Him and Him alone. They make me want to please Him and Him alone; no one else and nothing else matters, because no one else and nothing else has sworn by itself to perpetually love me in service like the Godhead has.

And as this year begins, I merely want to remind you of the riches of His sacrifice for you, and the assurance that He carries you in His arm, and nothing and no one can snatch you from His hand [John 10:28]. If that doesn’t make you crave Him more, we probably need to throw you into a washing machine and pray that you come out sane. Bad joke, I know.🤣 I couldn’t think of anything better🤣.

Happy New Year guys! While you rest in the security of His love this year, do recall that it came at an invaluable cost not only of a disgraceful, shameful death and a soul-crunching separation from the Godhead He had always been a part of before time begun, but also an invaluable act of humility in that the Creator became the created. Let that stir up a burden to live for Him, that His death will count for something. And if it means to die for Him along the way, to die for Him that His life in you will count for something. I love you, and a happy 2021!💖

PS: There is an entire series on the efficacy of the Cross in securing the eternity of man here [Eternal Salvation]. Read a piece or two if you haven’t, or again if you already have😊🤷🏽‍♀️. Enjoy!😉

Love,

Rad!❤