The hope we have in Christ
Today's reading Hebrews 6:13-20
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Today’s blog
“We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain.” (Hebrews 6:19)
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Hope is one of the great themes of the New Testament, right up there with faith and love (1 Cor.13:13). Usually it refers to the expectation that Jesus will “appear a second time, not to bear sin but to bring salvation” (9:28). This is the “blessed hope of the glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ” (Tit.2:13), the “living hope of an inheritance kept in heaven for you” until the coming of that salvation (1 Pet.1:3-5).
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But we have a very real present hope too, that even now we can enter into God’s presence because “of the new and living way opened for us through the curtain” (10:19-22). It’s the same curtain referred to in today’s verse. Because Jesus entered the inner sanctuary of heaven, “a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God” (7:19). This is the hope offered to us (6:18).
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It’s a hope which is “firm and secure” because it’s rooted in the certainty of God’s promise confirmed by Christ’s resurrection and exaltation to God’s right hand. “Hope is based on the finished yet continuing work of Jesus as high priest” (Guthrie). Taking firm hold of this hope provides us with “an anchor for the soul”, just what we need to stop us from drifting (2:1). So hold unswervingly to it (10:23), not just by believing this hope in our heads but by making good use of the opportunity it gives us to come to God confidently each day (4:15-16).
(To dig a bit deeper into Hebrews 6:13-20 click here for some commentary notes.)