Key Thought: Paul challenged the Hebrews and us to persevere in faith in Jesus and fix their eyes upon Him in the heavenly sanctuary.
January 1, 2022

1. Have a volunteer read Hebrews 10:32-34

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the most important point is in this passage.
2. What was the experience of the audience of Hebrews after their conversion?
3. Personal Application: What is your story of conversion? In what ways have you been confirmed in your faith in Jesus as your Savior and Lord? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your relatives states, “How much suffering do we experience for the sake of Christ, and how much do we bring upon ourselves by our wrong choices?” How would you respond to your friend?

2. Have a volunteer read Hebrews 13:1-9.

1. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. What were some of the challenges the believers were facing?
3. Personal Application: How do you keep a positive attitude in the face of being weary and tired and oppressed? Share your thoughts
4. Case Study: One of your friends states, “Is it possible to be different because of our Christian commitment; and yet not be accused of separation from and disregard for others?” How would you respond to your friend?

3. Have a volunteer read H4ebrews 5:11-6:3.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the main idea of this text is.
2. What did Paul suggest believers do?
3. Personal Application: What things are we doing to encourage, lift up, and support one another in the tough times we face today? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your relatives states: “I see a lot of people get discouraged and leave church because of suffering and maybe a perception that nobody cares. How do we keep ourselves and other from drifting away? ” How would you respond to your relative?

4. Have a volunteer read Hebrews 9:26-28.

1. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. Why is it important that we believe and live like we are living in the last days?
3. Personal Application: In what way can we say all people have lived in the last days? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: Think of one person who needs to hear a message from this week’s lesson. Tell the class what you plan to do this week to share with them.

(Truth that is not lived, that is not imparted, loses its life-giving power, its healing virtue. Its blessings can be retained only as it is shared.”Ministry of Healing, p. 148).

Amen!(1)

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Welcome to the studies for 2022!

The titles of the thirteen Sabbaths of study this quarter give us two hymns to use as the themes:
Hymn 593 – In Times Like These and
Hymn 177 – Jesus, Your Blood and Righteousness.

Sunday instructs us about the Holy Spirit that was poured out on the people and the gifts that were given:
Hymn 268 – Holy Spirit, Light Divine.

It is not only the ne converts to Christianity in the times that Paul and other apostles were preaching who suffered and struggled. This is happening more and more today as we are ever closer to Jesus. Let us all be committed “Christians = Christ-like”:
Hymn 634 – Come All Christians, Be Committed.

There is encouragement on Tuesday:
Hymn 613 – Fight the Good Fight.

It is not just us today who grow weary. This happened during the writing of the book of Hebrews. We sing this story in
Hymn 441 – I Saw One Weary.

We are admonished on Thursday to not
“Yield Not to Temptation” as our old hymnal has in number 498 (if you are privileged to have this available).

We are bound for The Promised Land! Hallelujah!! Come, Lord Jesus, come – very soon.
Many blessings to all as we commence and continue forward in 2022.

To learn unknown hymns, you will find the accompaniment music for each one at: https://sdahymnals.com/Hymnal/

Another great resource is for when there is a hymn you wish to sing, but can’t find it in your hymnal. Go to https://www.sdahymnal.org and in the search bar type a special word in that is in the hymn. I am sure you will be amazed at the help you will be given.

2 Timothy 2:15 KJV – “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

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In order to understand the sermon and apply its message to ourselves, we need to understand the history of the congregation and their situation when they received the letter from the apostle.

Read Hebrews 2:3-4. What was the experience of the audience of Hebrews when they were first converted?

Image © Review & Herald Publishing at Goodsalt.com

This passage implies that the audience of Hebrews had not heard Jesus Himself preach; instead, they had received the gospel from other evangelists who had announced to them the news of “salvation.”

Paul also says that the evangelists had “confirmed” the message to them and that God Himself had born “witness both with signs and wonders” (NKJV). This means that God had provided experiential confirmation of the gospel by signs and other powerful deeds — among them the distribution of the “gifts of the Holy Spirit” (NKJV). The New Testament relates that signs such as miraculous healings, exorcisms, and the outpouring of spiritual gifts often accompanied the preaching of the gospel in new places.

At the beginning of the Christian church, God poured His Spirit upon the apostles in Jerusalem so that they were able to announce the gospel in languages previously unknown to them and to be able to perform miracles (Acts 2, 3). Philip performed similar wonders in Samaria (Acts 8), Peter in Joppa and Caesarea (Acts 9, 10), and Paul throughout his ministry in Asia Minor and Europe (Acts 13-28). These powerful deeds were experiential evidence that confirmed the message of “salvation” — the establishment of the kingdom of God and a salvation from condemnation and freedom from evil powers (Hebrews 12:25-29).

The Spirit gave early Christian believers the conviction that their sins had been forgiven; thus, they were not fearful of judgment, and as a result their prayers were bold and confident, and their religious experience was joyful (Acts 2:37-47). The Spirit also delivered those who were enslaved to evil powers, which was compelling evidence of the superiority of the power of God over the forces of evil and revealed that the kingdom of God had been established in their lives.

<–Sabbath Monday–>

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Image © Pacific Press

Sabbath Afternoon,

Read for This Week’s Study:

Memory Text: “For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise” (Hebrews 10:36, NKJV).

Have you ever imagined what it would be like to hear Jesus, or one of the apostles, preach? We possess written excerpts and summaries of some of their sermons, but these provide only a limited idea of what it was like to hear them. God, however, preserved in the Scriptures at least one complete sermon for us: Paul’s letter to the Hebrews.

Paul, the author of Hebrews, referred to his own work as a “word of exhortation” (Hebrews 13:22). This expression was used to identify the sermon, both at the synagogue (Acts 13:15) and at Christian worship (1 Timothy 4:13). Thus, it has been argued that Hebrews is the earliest “complete Christian sermon” that we have. Hebrews was addressed to believers who accepted Jesus but then experienced difficulties. Some were publicly shamed and persecuted (Hebrews 10:32-34). Others faced financial problems (Hebrews 13:5-6). Many were tired and had begun to question their faith (Hebrews 3:12-13). Can any of us today relate?

The apostle in a stirring sermon, however, challenged them (and, by extension, us) to persevere in faith in Jesus and to fix their eyes upon Jesus, now in the heavenly sanctuary.

Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, January 1.

Sunday–>

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It was at church when he first saw her. He was running an errand, absorbed in his thoughts, when the sight hit him. The painting was a little less than two meters high and three meters wide, but the girl portrayed in it exerted a strange captivating force over the young man. Why could he not take his eyes off of her? What was it? After some reflection, he realized that it was her eyes. The painting portrayed only her face, and she was intently looking at something. But what, and why was she so absorbed in it? For a long time afterward, he couldn’t get the painting out of his head.

Image © Pacific Press

Several years later, the painter, Arnold Jiménez, revealed some of its secrets to him. The painting was made to attract viewers to her eyes, but the real secret was in her pupils. If you looked closely, you would find out that they reflected what she was looking at. Her eyes were fixed on Jesus on the cross.

The portrait of Jesus in the Letter to the Hebrews can exert a similar captivating force upon us. Jesus is described, first of all, as the Ruler of the universe, enthroned at God’s right hand. Innumerable angels celebrate Him, worship Him, and serve Him (Hebrews 1:5-14, Hebrews 12:22-24). He has won the right to rule because through His own death He has ensured the destruction of the devil (Hebrews 2:14-16). Jesus is also the exalted High Priest. Sinless, and perfectly holy, He lives forever to minister in our behalf in the heavenly sanctuary (Hebrews 7:26-8:5). He has won the right to do so because He offered Himself as a perfect, once-for-all sacrifice, effective for everyone and forever (Hebrews 10:1-14). Jesus has also mediated a new covenant between God and His people that will stand forever (Hebrews 8:6-13).

What captivates readers about the portrait of Jesus, however, is not simply what Jesus has done but who He is. He was born from a woman, as we were, and He has been tempted and ridiculed, as we have been. Yet, still, He sits at the center of power in the universe. When we gaze at the heavenly scene, with its diverse and fantastic celestial beings, our eyes are attracted to the One in the center of it all, who, amazingly enough, looks like us because He had become one of us. Jesus, our Brother, is there, in heaven, representing us, despite the shame of our sin and fallenness.

In the person of Jesus, three dimensions of the story of redemption intersect. The first is the local, personal dimension. For readers tired of the reproaches and hardships of Christian life (Hebrews 10:32-34), Jesus is the Author and Perfecter of faith. They need to look to Him who also suffered from sinners (Hebrews 12:1-4). The second is the corporate, national dimension. For the people of God, who are traveling toward God’s promised land, Jesus is the new Joshua. They need to follow His lead (Hebrews 3, 4, 11, 12). The third is the universal dimension. Jesus is the new Adam, the Son of Man in whom God’s purposes for humanity are fulfilled (Hebrews 2:5-10, Hebrews 12:22-28).

The portrait of Jesus, who captures the breadth and length and height and depth of God’s love for us, is our subject this quarter. And just as the image of Jesus in the eyes of the painting captured the young man’s gaze, may the image of Jesus as portrayed in Hebrews capture not just our gaze, but our love and admiration for, yes, Jesus, our Brother in heaven.

Félix H. Cortez is associate professor of New Testament Literature in the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary at Andrews University. He is married to Alma Gloria Alvarez and has two children, Hadid, a pastor in New Jersey, and Alma, an archaeology major at Andrews University.

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