The Good Author Part 2 (Hebrews 12)

“For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.”

(Hebrews 12:3)

Last week, we discussed how Jesus is “The Good Author”. Hebrews 12:2 declares Christ as the author and finisher of our faith, meaning He started our faith. He is the pioneer of our faith in God, and if we allow The Good Author to finish our story, it will be a grand ending. Yet, allowing Him to finish can be challenging … especially when we do not like how the story is unfolding.

This was the issue of the Hebrew audience. Jesus had called them into Himself, and their faith was in Him. Faith was written into their lives because God wrote it in not by ink, but by the blood of Christ. However, after faith was written into their lives, their story took a turn for the worse. Harsh persecution, suffering, and difficulty caused them to question if continuing in Christ was worth it. So, the Hebrew author wrote, “consider Him who endured hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.” 

As a remedy for their troubles, the author recommended that they look at the troubles of Jesus. He said consider Jesus so that you do not become weary or discouraged. One may wonder how looking at someone else’s burdens can help in carrying theirs. But oddly enough, it works.

I remember going through a particularly busy season of my life. One semester in college, my schedule was jam-packed. I signed up for an 8 a.m. class, followed by a 10 a.m. class and an afternoon class. Then, after class I would go to my part-time job from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m.

As I look back on that schedule now, I can say it wasn’t that bad at all. Considering the schedule I have now with a husband, two children, and ministry, that schedule seems quite babyish in terms of responsibility. However, at the time, it was the most I had ever extended myself, and I found myself tired at times.

But my mother always inspired me to keep going. I would see her burden and how she carried a much heavier schedule with persistence and dedication, and it encouraged me. I figured if she could press on, so could I. And whenever I asked her what kept her pressing forward, she would say remembering her ancestors. Our people worked from sunup to sundown, and possibly beyond, while being beaten, raped, and tormented. But they worked and continued, nonetheless.

Their trials encouraged my mom to keep going when things became difficult for her, and her trials encouraged me when things began to discourage me. Therefore, when the Hebrew author tells his audience to consider Jesus who endured hostility from sinners, we should understand why this is encouragement. The burden of Jesus was much harder than what they were enduring. Jesus had to withstand mockery, unbelief, beatings, and death from the hands of people He created.

He could have ended all his sufferings with a simple decision to make it end. But He didn’t end the suffering. He endured it. And so, if we remember how Jesus humbly submitted Himself for the sake of others, it should aid us in submitting ourselves to how God is writing our story, even when suffering is written into the story-line.

There was purpose behind Jesus’s suffering, and there is purpose behind ours. During my YouTube recording of last week’s article, I was reminded of how authors can showcase characteristics of characters in a story. When a writer writes a story, a character’s heart is often revealed by the things they endure. If an author places a character in difficult circumstances in a story, the reader gets to see what the character is made of. We get to see how they think, how they speak, and whether they will give up or not when faced with adversity.

Likewise, Christ, The Good Author, will often write difficulties within our lives to reveal what’s in our hearts. Look at what God said to the Israelites in Deuteronomy 8:2, “And you shall remember that they LORD your God lead you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.”

Sometimes, the hardships we face are just tests. God knows what’s in our hearts before He tests us, but often, we do not. So, God’s testing shows us the truth. Suffering reveals areas in our lives that need work—areas that needs correction. Therefore, the Hebrew author also reminded us to not hate or dislike the way God corrects us. He says, “do not despise the chastening of the Lord … for who the Lord loves He chastens.”

Hardships aren’t written into our stories just for God’s entertainment. If we allow God to finish our story, the hardships are not only to reveal what’s in our hearts, but they are to make us more like Him—they are to make us holy. Hebrews 12:10-11 reads, “For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”

Allowing the Good Author to finish our story means allowing Christ to write suffering into our lives. Without suffering, neither holiness nor righteousness can be produced, and without holiness and righteousness, we cannot see the Lord (v. 14). This can be a hard thing to accept. Reader, it is even hard to write it. But this is what it means to let God finish our story. This is what it means to be a Christian.

Recall the words of Jesus when He said, “consider the costs” in Luke 14:28. Endurance is undoubtedly necessary for anyone who walks with God. Chastening, correction, and discipline are a part of every believer’s story. But will we wait until He is finished? Will we let the Good Author finish the story of our faith?

Consider that holiness is the goal. As God’s children, we need to look like Him, which means we need to be holy as He is. For this to happen, correction is needed through discipline that often involves difficulties. As the author wrote, it is not pleasurable. It is painful. But it yields fruit. Fruit that shows that we are, indeed, God’s chosen people.

After the trials, we can say we are tried and true disciples of God who did not draw back or fade away during our training. We can say we endured and are made better because of it. If we can just get through the rough chapters of our stories, if we can just let the Good Author finish, it will all be well in the end.

That’s all I have for you today. I pray this message has blessed you. Lord’s willing, I will return next week to wrap up Hebrews 12. Until then, God bless you and keep you. Take care.

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Have a blessed day!

Sincerely,

Quin Arrington