STATEMENTS OF PERSUASION 11 by Pastor Olawunmi Abraham Marcel

Statements of persuasion from Hebrews (11).
In the last post, we examined what it meant to leave the principles of the doctrine of Christ and move on to perfection. We saw the former to mean the prophecies of the Old testament as they pointed to Christ and the latter to mean the sacrifice of Jesus.
Today, we proceed further to yet another statement of persuasion. Hebrews 6:11-15, ‘And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end: That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises. For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself, Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee. And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.’
We have previously explained the end to mean fulfillment of the promises in Christ and the hope, the person of Christ as high priest. Here, the author of Hebrews begins to take his unbelieving audience on an Old testament trail of faith with Christ as the destination. So, standing on the thresholds of history with the patriarchs, he helps us understand the focus of all they did. He tells his audience to be, ‘.. followers of them who through faith and patience obtained the promises..’.
He then uses Abraham as example, who after he patiently endured, obtained the promise. Two key issues; what was this promise? And when did Abraham obtain the promise? Firstly, the promise(s) pointed to a singular person. Hebrews 6:17-20 Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed [it] by an oath: That by two immutable things, in which [it was] impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: Which [hope] we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; Whither the forerunner is for us entered, [even] Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.
The promise was Christocentric in orientation. He is the hope the promise spoke about! Acts 13:32-33, ‘And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers, God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee.’ This was the promise as well as its fulfillment.
Second question, when did Abraham receive the promises? Hebrews 11:13, ‘These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of [them], and embraced [them], and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.’ He didn’t receive the promises in his life time. He received it as Christ rose from the dead (Acts 13:33).
Hence, in the New testament, the patriarchs are given a new description. Hebrews 12:23, ‘To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,’. They have come into the perfection of which Christ is the perfector.
So, the author tells the unbelieving Jew, to follow the footsteps of the patriarchs to the final destination; faith in sacrifice of Christ. We’ll continue later. ?#?Dunamis?