Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Hebrews 4:16
Some people just seem to have confidence. They can enter a room and feel instantly comfortable. They can be relaxed and talk with anyone. They have this air of calm around them. It seems like nothing can upset them. We think that they have life all figured out and don’t have a problem in the world.
And then there’s me. When confidence was handed out, they must have run out before I got to the front of the line. For as long as I can remember, there’s been this voice in my head that keeps telling me that I’m not as good as everyone else. They’re smarter. They’ve got their lives all together while you’re desperately truing to hold it together with chewing gum.
When I walk into a room, I wonder what they think of me. Do my cloths match? Am I in the right place? Am I late? Is my zipper up? Did I put on two different shoes – this really happened by the way.
But the writer of this great letter is telling the Hebrews something totally wild. Something that they’ve never experienced before. Their entire tradition about coming before God was filled with fear.
If the High Priest tried to offer the annual sacrifice for sin on the Day of Atonement, God would kill them[1]. And then there was the historical account of Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu being consumed by Gods fire because they didn’t follow the rules and laws for worshiping God.
And then they had all those other stories about God punishing the wicked. One that makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up is when God opened up the ground and swallowed four leaders, their families, and followers who spoke out against Moses and God. And God also sent fire to consume 250 other followers who were offering incense[2].
With this kind of background, with this kind of history, is it any wonder that the Hebrews were getting cold feet. If God had dealt this severely with their ancestors, what’s stopping him from doing the same thing to us.
The answer is that has already poured out all his righteous anger and wrath on himself. All the pain and suffering that Jesus experienced was what we deserved. Through Jesus, God “freed us from the penalty for our sins.[3]”
And since our sin has been paid for once-and-for-all, God put us into the mindblowing position of being able to receive mercy and to find grace.
Receive Mercy. What do we deserve from God? What have we earned? In a word; punishment. We should get the back of God’s hand and be thrown into outer darkness.But instead, we get mercy. We don’t get what we deserve. We deserve his righteous punishment. But instead, he took what we deserved on himself. He paid the price for all our sins. He justifies us, makes us right before himself. This is mercy.
Find Grace. It would be one thing for God not to give us the eternal punishment we deserve. That alone is beyond anything we can imagine. But God doesn’t stop there. He goes infinitely above by giving himself to us.Grace is where we get what we don’t deserve. We get a totally restored relationship with God. We become his children[4]. The old is gone and we’re made into a new creation[5]. But these changes are not just here on earth. We’re given eternal life[6]
There’s an old hymn that puts them together so well.
Mercy there was great and grace was free,
Pardon there was multiplied to me,
There my burdened soul found liberty–
At Calvary[7].
In “The Sound of Music,” Julie Andrews sings this great song. She belts out that she has “confidence in confidence alone[8].” And while this may sound good, it’s really very weak, Just ask yourself; exactly how much confidence do you really have in yourself? How much power and authority do you control?
The really good news is that we don’t have to try and put together our own confidence. God’s done it all in Jesus. He’s paid the price. He’s remade us and is coming again soon for us. If that’s not good news, then I really don’t know what is.
Noodling Questions
On a scale of 1-to-10, how much confidence do you have? Explain.
Is it easier to receive mercy or find grace? Why?
How confident is God about his making you into a new person? Explain.
[1] Leviticus 16:2,13
[2] Numbers 16:31-35
[3] Romans 3:24
[4] Galatians 3:26
[5] 2 Corinthians 5:17
[6] 1 John 5:11
[7] Years I spent in vanity and pride, William R. Newell 1895
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