The Same Yesterday and Today and Forever

A. W. Tozer wrote, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” If you grew up in a Christian household there’s a good chance you had a picture of Jesus hanging up somewhere. I bet you didn’t even have to see the whole picture above to know exactly what painting it is. We know intellectually that Jesus probably didn’t look like the guy who is portrayed on these paintings, but the image is seared into us nevertheless. So much so, we only need a glimpse and our brains fill in the gaps. Filling in gaps can be a dangerous thing. Is the Jesus we worship an image of our own creation or the Jesus of the Bible?

Hebrews 13:8 says “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” Sometimes we treat the Bible like a faith fortune cookie. We have our favorite verses that we love to quote, and maybe we don’t care too much about the context. The Bible says it, I believe it, and that’s that. But as someone once said, “a text without a context is a pretext.” We must be careful to handle God’s Word with care otherwise it can turn into our word with a Biblical veneer.

Hebrews was written to Jewish believers that were facing persecution because of their faith in Jesus. Some of them were being tempted to mix adherence to the Mosaic Law, like making sacrifices in the temple, with faith in Jesus. But the writer of Hebrews says that Jesus made a perfect sacrifice once and for all and sat down at the right hand of God (10:11-14). His sacrifice is not like the sacrifices that were made before His. His was the perfect, once for all sacrifice. It’s not Jesus’ sacrifice plus temple sacrifices. It’s not Jesus plus anything else; No, it’s faith in Jesus and His finished work on the cross alone. 

Back to Hebrews 13. Verse 9 says, “Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them.” Strange and diverse teachings are nothing new. They were prevalent in the world of the early believers and it’s clear they are prevalent today.

Who is the Jesus we serve? He is the One who once and for all offered a sacrifice for sins. It is accepted by faith alone. Beware of adding anything to the Gospel. Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings. We can’t add anything to the equation of our salvation. It’s all or nothing.  Rest in Him.