Mensa Otabil - Set Your Attention on Jesus
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We’re looking at the Christian life as a race. It’s a race we must run, and we must run it to the glory of God. Hebrews 12:2 says, «Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.» The background to this message from Hebrews is from the Roman races. The Roman races were held in a stadium, where there would be people running. Normally, there was the starting point, which was at the entrance of the stadium, and then the endpoint, which was at the opposite end, where the judge determined who had won the prize. The judge would be there at the end holding the prize; this is what they’re running for-the crown.
So from the beginning, when the athletes start running, they keep their eyes on the judge and on the prize that they must win. The Bible says that is how we also should live our Christian lives. We start, and we keep our eyes on the prize. For us, the judge is Jesus Christ. He is the one who is at the opposite end. We start the Christian life looking unto Jesus, looking unto Him and the prize that He’s holding in His hand. The passage says that Jesus Christ is the author and the finisher of our faith. We can also say He’s the author and the finisher of our race. What does that mean? It means that, in the Roman races, the person who starts the race is the author of the race. The finisher is the judge. For us Christians, Jesus is the one who starts us in the race, and He’s the one who finishes us in the race. Our whole Christian life is Christ-centered; we begin in Him and we end in Him: Jesus Christ, the author and the finisher of our faith.
And how does Jesus help us to run our Christian race? Well, the passage tells us that Jesus Christ endured the cross because of the joy that was set ahead of Him. So Jesus Christ knew that His life on Earth would be painful. He knew He would be betrayed; He knew He would be denied; He knew He would be nailed to a cross. He knew all of that, but He also knew that in doing that, people would come to know God and people would come to have a relationship with God. Because of the joy of seeing lives transformed, He endured the cross.
That’s what our Christian life is also about; we go through difficulty because we know the end, and we know the One who holds the future. We know the One who has promised us the end. God never said that the Christian life would be easy. In fact, Jesus likened it to a cross; He said, «Take up your cross and follow me.» But He also said that His burden is easy. In other words, He’s not going to give us a cross we cannot bear, and He’s not going to give us a situation that is so hard that we can’t live through it. The Christian life is livable. Yes, it is a cross, but it’s a bearable cross. We bear our cross because we know the author and the finisher of our faith.
So I don’t know what you’re going through in your Christian life. Maybe you are in a patch of your life where there is hardship and there is difficulty. Remember the men and women of faith who have gone ahead of us and what they endured while still holding on to their faith. Hold on to your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; in the end, you will see His glory, His beauty, His power, and His favor coming upon you. Because Jesus Christ went through all of that, the passage says He’s seated at the throne of God, and I believe that God wants us all to be seated with Him. He wants us to be in His kingdom; He wants us to be in His glory, and that is the end He has promised to us. We start in Christ, we end in Christ, and in this race we don’t look even at the stands; we look at Jesus Christ. While we have been inspired by the voices in the stands, our eyes must always remain on Jesus Christ.
Let us pray. Say with me: Heavenly Father, I have set Christ as my example. Help me to imitate Him in all that I do. In Jesus' name, amen and amen.