Hebrews 13:20-21 "Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, (21) Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen."
"Now the God of peace.... make you perfect." Can we ever be
perfect in this life - in this flesh? When we take the word, perfect, to
mean without any blemish or flaw, the answer is no. There has only
been One to walk this earth in absolute perfection. In 1 Peter 1:19,
Peter speaks of the blood of Christ as being the sacrificial offering of
"... a lamb without blemish and without spot." In this sense
of the word, we will only be perfect (without blemish and spot) when we are
translated into heaven's eternal glory where we will be just like Jesus.
See Romans 8:29.
The writer, in today's verses, is speaking to us about a present day ability
that has been given to us through our Lord Jesus Christ. He is saying that we
can be "perfect" as we seek to serve the Lord God Almighty. So
what is under consideration if we are not, nor ever will be, perfect in this
flesh? The word, perfect, as it is used most of the time in Scripture refers to
Christian maturity. Throughout the Book, the writer has spoken time and
again concerning the finished work of redemption that was accomplished by the
Lord Jesus Christ. He has spoken to us concerning the death of Jesus, the
offering of the blood of Christ as the redemptive agent for our sins, the
burial of our Lord, and the resurrection of Christ from the tomb. He has
spoken to us concerning Jesus entering the Holiest of holies, which is heaven
itself, and there offering His blood to God the Father as payment in full for
our sin debt. He has given us the understanding that the Father accepted
that offering. You can see in Ephesians 1:6 that through Christ we have been
accepted by God. We are God's children purely and simply through the work of
Jesus Christ.
We often hear people speak of the "rocking chair of grace." May
I submit to you that a proper understanding of God's grace has never, nor will
it ever, rock anyone to sleep. Only a misunderstanding and a misapplication of
God's grace would ever lull anyone into thinking they can live like the world
and get away with it. Yes, it is true that nothing can separate us from the
love of God in Christ Jesus. Yes, it is true that nothing can tear us from the
hands of Christ. But as we saw in chapter 12 of Hebrews, God chastens those He
loves. As the old saying, He is not hesitant to "take us behind the
woodshed" when we go against Him.
A proper understanding of God's grace through Jesus should bring about an
effect on His children. As we understand the value of God's love and His
mercy upon us, we should have a desire to please Him. We should have a desire
to do those things which He would have us do. We often hear Ephesians 2:8-9
quoted, but oftentimes we stop before we get to verse 10 which says, "For
we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath
before ordained that we should walk in them." We are His
workmanship. He designed and created each of us for a purpose. It is
absolutely true that our good works do not cause us to become children of God;
yet, the full truth is that as God's children, we are to show forth those good
works which God has designed us to accomplish. I suppose my question to
myself this morning would be, "How perfect (mature) am I in my daily walk
with Jesus?" How about you?