The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless (for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God.
Hebrews 7:18,19
Do you have a dream of doing something that has been living in your mind for a long while? Maybe you want to get in front of thousands of people and perform a guitar solo. Or you want to be in some sporting championship and everyone’s looking for you alone to win the game.
But the truth is that no one walks into this life and then falls into one of these big opportunities. No one walks off the street and onto a stage with thousands of adoring fans out of nowhere. No one just shows up and catches a football, instantly winning the Super Bowl. No one picks up a golf club and walks away with the FedEx Cup. No one sits behind a car for the first time and wins the Daytona 500.
All of these things are immediately impossible. And why? Because time, practice, and skills need to be developed over time. Strength is made stronger through exercise. You get endurance by keep going and pushing yourself.
The truth is that we’re born with certain skills and abilities. We’re given bodies that have lots of potential. Everything’s right there for us to use. And while all this and more are a great blessing, they are never enough.
Yes, we have fingers and hands, but we can’t draw or type.
Yes, we have arms, but we can’t lift or swing.
Yes, we have toes and feet, but we can’t stand.
Yes, we have legs but we can’t walk.
Yes, we have lips and tongue, but we can’t talk.
Most people have the basic skills to move and control their hands, arms, feet, and legs. We can hold a guitar or football. We can pick up a golf club. We have a voice. We have the basics, but do we have the ability? Do we have the skill? Do we have the drive to not just get by, but to move beyond good to great?
To get better, we have to start from where we are and practice. We need to build strength through hard, repetitive exercise. We have to fail and then get back up and do it again. And again. And again. History is filled with stories of people that failed. Failed again. And failed again. But then succeeded[1].
It may sound strange, but the same is true with hope. This is the message that the writer is giving to the Hebrews about their history. When God gave them laws and priests, that gave them hope. But that hope wasn’t enough. They needed a better hope.
How do we know this? Because if it was a perfect hope, then all their sins would have been forgiven. One sacrifice would have taken care of everything. But it was “weak and useless.” It wasn’t strong enough to change us from the inside-out. It couldn’t fill that emptiness inside of us that we all know is there. It was useless to give us the hope we needed to live each and every day for God.
So, God stepped in and replaced laws and priests with himself. He replaced hope with a better hope. A hope that’s stronger. A hope that never fails. A hope that’s big enough for anything that comes into our life. A better hope that’s not based on laws or priests, but a hope based on God himself. Hope that depends on who God is.
And what’s the purpose of this better hope? We don’t even have to think about where this better hope can take us. We don’t have to try and noodle it out for ourselves. God’s better hope isn’t a puzzle that he’s trying to keep us from figuring out all on our own.
God wants all of us to get back to where we belong. Back to where we were made to be. Back to the only one who can fill that aching emptiness inside. God wants us back with him.
In and through Jesus, he’s opened the door for us. He’s paid all of our debt once and for all. He took all of his anger that we deserved to have come crashing down on our heads. Jesus took the cup of God’s righteous rage and drank it once and for all. For us. For you and me.
This is why we can live with hope here and now. Yes, even while living in this terribly mixed-up and broken world, we can look up to the God who loved us enough to bring us back to himself. We can look to the future while walking each and every day with out great, gracious, and loving Heavenly Father.
If there was no hope at all, then what would be the point of trying? The short answer is that there would be none. But in Jesus, we can have strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow[2]. Just plain hope isn’t enough. We were made for that great, big, better hope. Nothing else will satisfy. Nothing else will meet the Grand Canyon sized emptiness inside each of us. Jesus gives the ultimate, better hope.
Noodling Questions
Explain how you decide to set something aside.
How do we need a better hope today?
Explain how Jesus is hope for today. Hope for tomorrow.
[2] Great is Thy faithfulness, Thomas O. Chisholm (1923)
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