Finding Hope Through Discovery in Bible Study

  Jesus, More Than Our Big Brother!   January 22, 2022 Larry R Evans   Introduction Because God ’ s children are human beings — made of flesh and blood — the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death. Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying. (Hebrews 2:14-15 , NLT )   Life has a way of turning every person upside down. No one escapes. We’d be foolish to think we are not vulnerable.  There are times when we are weak, vulnerable, discouraged, depressed and at times it seems as though a cloud of darkness envelops us. Bad days do come. But we must not stop there.  It would also be foolish to think that evil wins the day.  We have Jesus who is like a big brother, the kind who stands with us in good times and when things go badly. Faith changes our perspective. We see things differently. Bad and good also followed Jesus. N

Introduction   There is a biblical principle that seems especially relevant as we begin our study of Hebrews. It can be stated this way, "Without a vision of God as He is, there is no vision of the church as it could be; without a vision of the church as it could be, the reality of our vision of God comes into question." -- Leith Anderson in  Dying for Change , p.168. The Bible begins in Genesis not with a picture of what was wrong but with a picture of God and what was right. We are introduced by showing us how God envisioned His plan for us. This seems to be the perspective from which God chooses to work.  Isaiah’s vision of God (Isaiah 6), for example, changed how Isaiah saw himself and from that, how he understood his mission.  Hebrews does that for a people who had become discouraged and were about to give up. Hope was found in Christ’s work on their behalf and from that assurance, they could press on. Jesus was first seen as their Advocate, Friend, and Companion.    QUE