Something Better for Us
Hebrews 11:17-40
And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise. God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us. [Heb 11:39-40]
“By faith” and “through faith” are listed some 20 times in Hebrews 11. This is surely the “Hall of Faith” chapter. It describes faith [ref. Heb 11:1]; it describes its purpose [Heb 11:6]; and it lists a myriad of faithful examples; Old Testament examples from righteous Abel [ref. Heb 11:4] to the prophets [ref. Heb 11:37-38] and everyone in between [i.e., Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, and several others].
“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith,” [Heb 12:1-2]. This is a big “Therefore” in Heb 12:1, which we will look at more next week. But if I might just give you a little snippet now, it connects the faith of the Old with that of the New, and then challenges the New [us] to run with endurance as we look to Jesus. When we look to Jesus, He not only writes faith, He perfects it. In short, we cannot even take credit for our faith. “Faith is directional” as one commentator put it. As we “look to Jesus,” as we direct our attention toward Him, He will both write and perfect our faith. More on that next week!
But this morning we will direct attention toward the prior verse, Heb 11:40, “God having provided something better for us,…” Hebrews is an Epistle of “better things.” Everything in the New [in Christ] is better. And now in Hebrews 11, in this radical Hall of Faith chapter, after describing the faith of the Old Testament saints, the writer states, “God having provided something better for us.”
What is the “better for us” in our life of faith? Think about this for a bit. Think about the height of the Hebrews message in Heb 10:19-22. The better [indeed the best], is to boldly enter the Holiest, behind the veil, drawing near with a true heart, by faith. Nothing else compares!
