2013년 8월 4일 주일 영어예배 설교
히브리서 12:1-2

The founder and perfecter of our faith
(Hebrew 12:1-2)

The very previous chapter of today’s text, chapter 11 of the Epistle to the Hebrews, is a very famous one. It is the so-called ‘faith chapter.’ A galaxy of the godly people in the Old Testament appears one after the other in chapter 11. The chapter introduces the faithful doings of each of them one by one. It devotes its whole chapter to describing the faithful achievements of the figures in the Old Testament. The characteristic of the chapter and the reason why it is called ‘a faith chapter’ is that every verse that illustrates the works of the godly people begins with the same expression, ‘By faith’. And the following chapter, today’s text, encourages us to live out our Christian lives like them suggesting its way and appropriateness.
Today, we are going to be appreciating the substance or reality of the faith that the Old Testament people had, and the reason why they needed the faith rather than any good deeds and resolutions in accomplishing such an extraordinary feat recommended by God.
In verse 1, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.” The point of this verse is this part, “let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.” Throughout the previous chapter, all the godly people are described as ‘a homeland seeker’ namely a sojourner. Chapter 11 verses 15~16 says, “If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.” So here, today’s verse means that we have to and need to live out our lives as ‘a homeland seeker’ like them. It means that we are all sojourners marching towards heaven, and we all must not forget the significant fact. Being a sojourner who is marching towards heaven as Christian people indicates a crucial fact that all the sojourners as Christians were saved from their terrible sins. In other words, for them, the sin problem was figured out, which is the most urgent and severe problem of all the problems that human beings have and have to solve first. It is the biggest privilege and blessing for human beings. It is because if one is not set free from sinfulness, one cannot help but live forever holding its sinful status. The Bible says rawly and clearly almost everywhere that the result of sins including the original sin and committed sins is death. And death means to live in hell forever. This fact is the result of the justice and love of God. So for them, the unsaved, there is no race to run in this world. Therefore, the expression of today’s text, “run the race that is set before us,” signifies the biggest blessing itself for us from God.
And the text tells us the important rule for running the race that is set before us. In verse 1, “let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely”. Here, the word ‘weight’ which is ‘ogkos’ in Greek means ‘impediment’ or ‘encumbrance’. In other words, it says that for running the race, we need to lay aside every impediment including all the visible and invisible factors that cause us to hesitate or stay in running the race. And the text also mentions the necessity to lay aside sin which is individually chronic for each of us. The ‘weight’ and ‘sin’ that we should lay aside can include all the earthly interests without notion that we are now in the race towards our homeland, heaven. It doesn’t mean that we don’t need any earthly materials and our preferences as methods to live out our sojourner lives, but means we must avoid the earthly interests itself forgetting our identities as runners in the race. Today’s text not only encourages us to do so but also suggests the fact that there are so many witnesses who testify that we are all homeland seekers as sojourners here, and we should lay aside all the ‘weight’ and ‘sin’ that can be an impediment to the race of ours. In verse 1, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses.” Here, ‘great a cloud of witnesses’ indicates the godly people uttered in the previous chapter, chapter 11. Among them, there were a king and patriarch who were influential and rich, such as David and Abraham, and also there were a prostitute and unknown figures who were poor and miserable, such as Rahab and Moses’ parents. Regardless of their social positions, times, and genders, they all achieved their tasks and extraordinary works as sojourners, homeland seekers, namely as God’s people laying aside all the weight and sin for their race. Today’s text says that they are witnessing that there is an appropriateness that if one became God’s chosen people, if one became to be saved from their sinful status, if one became to be reborn by the Holy Spirit, the one is supposed to ‘run with endurance the race that is set before us’ like the Old Testament people mentioned in the previous chapter.
By the way, there is a repeatedly emphasized expression, a very critical concept, in doing so for the godly people. That is just ‘by faith’. Every verse that introduces the godly people’s great feats in Chapter 11 begins with ‘By faith’. ‘By faith Abraham did …’, ‘By faith Isaac invoked …’, ‘By faith Joseph, at the end of his life …’, ‘By faith Moses did …’, ‘By faith the people crossed the Red Sea …’, ‘By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish …’, and the writer of the Epistle continues to say this, “And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets– who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.” Only by faith. Not by any resolution or by doing good, but by faith. Faith in what? Absolutely faith in Jesus Christ and His merits. They all had faith in the coming of Jesus Christ as their Messiah through typologies, sacrifices, covenants and so on. Even though Jesus Christ didn’t come yet then in their ages, they had exactly the same reality of Jesus Christ and the faith in Him as we have now. And today’s text specifies this point in verse 1~2, “let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith …”, it says “looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith.” What a marvelous, amazing, and graceful suggestion!
Now, I want to remind you of the two real facts according to the Bible’s teaching. The first one is that God is perfect and absolutely right. Therefore, for being recognized as righteous by God before God’s eyes, one should be perfectly right. And to be perfectly right, one should completely meet the all requirements of God’s law. The second one is that the Bible repeatedly declares that no one can accomplish all of the requirements of God’s law, and all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. No one! No one can be the righteousness before Holy God. No one! You don’t think that you can be completely right before God, do you? It is totally impossible by any human being’s good deeds, humble and grateful mind, many offerings and donations, daily hours of several prayer and reading the Bible, holy life, devotion and committing to helping the needy, high quality education, and contributing to world peace and development and so on. Impossible by these things! We cannot by these things! As the Bible says, “None is righteous, no, not one” (Romans 3:10). Here is the appropriateness of looking to Jesus. The race is already set before us as homeland seekers. We are involved in the race, in some sense, this race is a kind of battle. Like so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, we have to and need to complete the race ‘by faith.’ Fiath in what? Faith in Jesus Christ our Lord. Why? As today’s text clearly demonstrates, Jesus Christ is the founder and perfecter of our faith. The only way to be righteous before God, or the only way to be able to live in heaven forever with the perfect Holy God, or the only way to run the race that is set before us here is ‘looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith.’ That is to believe in Jesus Christ our Lord. This is the very good news of Christianity. Jesus Christ came down in human body to the earth. He was crucified at the cross figuring out all the sins of His people for His people’s being righteous. He resurrected from the dead conquering the power of death for His people’s being righteous. He perfectly achieved all the law’s requirements for His people’s being righteous. He accomplished all for His people’s being righteous. The way to Holy God has been opened for His people. The dividing wall between Holy God and man has collapsed by Him for His people’s being righteous. Finally, we, His chosen people, are united with Him. All of His merits, achievements, and benefits as The Son of Holy God can be ours ‘by faith’, ‘by looking to Him’. Through this mysterious and graceful union with Him, the perfect holiness of Him and the perfect righteousness of Him are imputed to us and we perfectly enjoy these merits of Him. By faith. By faith in Him, Jesus Christ, the founder and perfecter of our faith. Now we can stand before God as the righteousness by faith in Him, looking at Jesus Christ, the founder and perfecter of our faith. Nothing can annul or break this union between Jesus Christ and His people. This is gospel. This is the very gospel of Christianity. If it were not for His incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection, we are totally doomed. Only by faith in Him, Jesus Christ, we have a hope. Not by our resolutions, not by our efforts, only by faith in Jesus Christ, we can live as the righteousness forever before Holy God. And only by faith in Him, we can run the race that is set before us like the people in the Old Testament. Jesus Christ, He is the founder and perfecter of our faith. We can only rely upon Him. Why? Because Jesus Christ our Lord himself first gave us the very faith, put the faith inside us, the new life. And He will complete our faith, that is, he will bring the result of our faith with endurance. It is because, as the text says, Jesus Christ is our founder and perfecter of our faith. Remember! We are in the race as homeland seekers towards the heaven, or the perfection of our life, our final destination. And as so great a cloud of witnesses not only in the Bible but also in history, we have to run the race that is set before us looking to Jesus Christ, or by faith. I hope you all become the triumphant victor of the race set before us by faith, looking to Jesus Christ.
I want to end this preaching by reading and appreciating today’s phrase again, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith.” Amen.