Grace Baptist Church, Nokomis, IL.

Text:

I want to challenge you this morning to think about what’s next for you in your Christian life. God has done many things for us. And they are done. But God also asks us to do some things. He wants us to grow in our faith. He desires that we serve Him. He tells us to love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength and to love our neighbor as ourselves. And in light of God’s great grace, and because we have joy in Christ, we ought to be doing these things, or at least getting there, working towards them each day.

Read Hebrews 10:11-18

So God has impressed three truths on my heart to share from this text, two of which are done, and the other ought to be getting there. Christ’s work is done. Our perfection is done in the eyes of God, accomplished by Christ. Although we’re not perfect in the way that we live, we ought to be getting there by continually working at our sanctification.

First, Christ’s work is done (v. 11-12). Notice the contrast between the priests and Jesus Christ. The priests stood, but Christ sat down. The priests daily stood. This is to indicate that their work was never done. Even when they finished the work of the day, they still had to do the same thing tomorrow. I think many of you can identify with the priests on this. You feel like you’re never done. So you feel like you’re always standing, and never get to rest from your work.

But Christ sat down! This indicates that His work is finished. Jesus is no longer on the cross. He accomplished what He came to do. So when He ascended to Heaven, He sat down at the right hand of God. Some of you are probably thinking, “I bet that must be nice!” But this truth is for us as well! We don’t have to identify with the priests who always stand, but with our Savior who finished His work and now sits. Christ’s work was our work. He accomplished what we couldn’t. So we rest in Him.

That’s not to say you should quit your job and sit all day long. But it should give you a new perspective on your work. God calls each of us to serve Him wherever He puts us. Serving God ought not be a chore, but a joy! Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God! Christ died once for all sin, that whoever trusts in Him would have their sins forgiven, and join Him in His rest.

Second, our perfection is done in the eyes of God, accomplished by Christ (v. 14). Since Christ’s work is done, our perfection has been accomplished. We have been made perfect in Christ. But we don’t often feel perfect, do we? That’s because you’re not perfect! This perfection is in the eyes of God because of the death of Christ (v. 15-17). Because of the new covenant, secured by the death of Christ, we have forgiveness of sins. And when God forgives, He forgets. It’s not that God ceases to be omniscient, but rather that He chooses to treat us not on the basis of our forgiven sins, but on the basis of Christ’s righteousness. So we are children of God, and God blesses us, and we have a relationship with Him.

And since God has perfected us already, we don’t need another sacrifice for sin (v. 18). I often pray for God to forgive me. But you’ve got to understand that when I pray that today, it’s much different from when I prayed it for the first time. God has already forgiven me of all my sin. That’s taken care of. I’ve been made perfect in Christ. Yet because I love God as my Father, I continually say I’m sorry for the things I do that break His heart. You may have heard it said, “Love means never having to say you’re sorry.” But I tell you, “Love means saying you’re sorry over and over and over again,” not because you don’t think the other would ever hold anything against you, but because you see how your actions hurt the other, and you want to go on record that you don’t want them to be hurt again.

Third, we ought to be getting there by continually working at our sanctification (v. 14). I love how the Bible sometimes just doesn’t make sense. There are paradoxes that we need to dig deeper in the Word to understand. So many say that the Bible contradicts itself, but the truth is that they just haven’t dug deep enough into the Word of God. God is perfecting those whom He has perfected. God’s still working on me. And He does this by calling us to trust Him more and more, serve Him more and more, surrender more and more to His will for our lives.

Abraham was surrendered to God. He was even willing to sacrifice his own son to God if God would have wanted him to do so. Daniel was surrendered to God. He obeyed God rather than men, so that when there was a command to pray only to King Darius, Daniel still prayed to God only. There’s a difference between committing to a task and surrendering to Jesus. When we commit to a task, we consider how much is being asked of us. We weight the time involved. And if we think we can handle the responsibilities, we agree to commit to the task. But surrender involves saying, “I don’t know everything you may ask of me, but I’m in.”

Are you daily surrendering to Christ’s will for your life? You won’t always get it perfect, in fact you rarely will. But we ought to be striving, and continually growing in your walk with and obedience to God.

Do you believe Christ’s Work is done? Or are you trying to finish His work for Him? Do you come to church because you’re afraid God won’t save you otherwise? Do you give money to the church because you’re trying to buy your way to Heaven? Do you read your Bible because you think you have to? Listen, all the “have to”’s are gone! We serve God not because we have to, but because it’s our joy to do so! John Piper sent this tweet out last night, “If you’re not living by the joy of the Holy Spirit the only category you have for spiritual disciplines is legalism.” If you don’t have joy in serving God, then you don’t yet understand grace!

Do you believe you have been made perfect in Christ? Or do you doubt Christ’s sufficiency?

Are you getting there in your own spiritual growth? Or are you merely getting by? God wants us to grow! God doesn’t call us to stay the same. He calls us to greater degrees of faith, greater levels of obedience, greater works of love! God may be calling you to be a missionary, or a pastor, or a Sunday School teacher. Or He may be calling you to simply be a loving friend to your neighbors. The truth is, God is calling all of us to grow in our faith, so if you’re not growing in your faith, you’re not where God wants you to be. If you truly believe Christ’s work is done and that God has made you perfect in His eyes, then you’ll have joy in the grace of God, and you’ll want to grow! You’ll want to give generously to God, to give your time, to read the Word, to pray, to fellowship with other believers, because it’s pure joy to do God’s will and be with those who find joy in doing God’s will.

So ask yourself this last question. Do I truly trust in what God has done for me? Fall in love with God, being thankful for His Son Jesus Christ. Pray that God would give you a faith and increase your faith so that your joy is in Christ. Stop working for salvation, and start working because of salvation.