Hebrews 6 Devotion Sharing0

Submitted by Timothy Rhee, Gracepoint Minneapolis

Hebrews 6:4-8

How is the rejection of Christ by those who have been enlightened “crucifying…the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace”?

Those who reject Christ after they have been enlightened are in a sense “crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.”  This is because through their rejection they are making a mockery of the high price that was paid for their salvation. They are not treating the high price that was paid for their salvation as something of priceless value and something that should spur them to live transformed lives. For someone like Apostle Paul, the fact that Jesus was crucified for him was something he could never get over.  It was his deep gratitude for the price that Jesus paid for his salvation, that made him want to live fully for Christ (Gal 2:20).  But if a person has been enlightened enough to recognize what Jesus has done and still lives a life rejecting Christ, that person insults the sacrifice that Jesus made to save him. And through his life he is saying what Jesus did for him is of no significance to him.  And furthermore, it invites others to belittle and scorn what Jesus has done since it has made no difference in his life.

How do such people resemble the land that “drinks in the rain often falling on it,” yet “produces thorns and thistles”?

Such people resemble the land that “drinks in the rain falling on it” and yet “produces thorns and thistles”  because these are the people who take in all of God’s blessings but do not produce any spiritual fruit.  They are forever consuming without producing anything.

What warning can I take from this?

This is a warning that is repeated throughout the Bible. Jesus Himself gave this same sobering warning in various forms. He said “To whom much has been given, much will be demanded.”(cf. Luke 12:48) And Jesus also warned about the judgment that will fall on the fig tree that was planted in the vineyard (cf. Luke 13).

This is a warning that I want to receive personally because definitely I am one who has been given much “rain” (v.7). I have indeed been given much. When I compare what I have received, to so many other Christians I know that I have been blessed. Even as we plant our church in Minneapolis, we have literally hundreds of brothers and sisters back at home and at other locations praying for us and supporting us. I cannot imagine there being many other church plant teams who have the kind of support that we enjoy.  And moreover, throughout the years, I have personally been recipient of so many people’s love, care, and prayers. I have also been privy to eye-witness God working concretely and mightily in the lives of numerous people I know. All of these blessings are “rain” in my life that I have received and continue to receive. And in light of all of these blessings(rain) that I have received, I need to ask myself again and again, what fruit have I borne in my life?  Is it commensurate to all that I have received?  This is indeed a sobering question and always a humbling question because I always feel that if others have received what I have received, they would produce so much more fruit in their lives. In the end, I am so thankful that it is by grace that I am saved.  And I pray that God’s grace will continue to transform my life, so that over time, my life might become “the land that produces a crop useful”  to my God and one that can “receive the blessings of God” and share them with others.