Mensa Otabil - Keep Your Eyes On Jesus (11/07/2025)
Hebrews 12:2: 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. As I said yesterday, the background to this message from Hebrews is from the Roman races. The Roman races were held in a stadium, and there would be people running. Normally, there was the starting point, which is at the entrance of the stadium, and then the endpoint, where the judge would be at the opposite end. He determines who has won the prize, and the judge would be there at the end holding the prize. This is what they are 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. And so they run. The Bible says that this is how we also live our Christian lives. We start and keep our eyes on the prize. For us, the judge is Jesus Christ; He is the one who is at the opposite end. So 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 of what 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 this, people would come to know God, and people would come to have a relationship with God. And because of the joy of seeing lives transformed, He endured the cross.
And 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 with it. The Christian life is livable. Yes, it is a cross, but it’s a bearable cross, and 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, and still held on to their faith. Hold on to your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. In the end, you will see His glory, you’ll see His beauty, you’ll see His power, you’ll see His favor coming upon you. And because Jesus Christ went through all of that, the passage says He’s seated at the throne of God. 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 us.
We start in Christ; we end in Christ. 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.