These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect. Hebrews11:39-40
The Hebrews writer has taken us through the heroes of the faith. We've seen their dedication, determination and devotion. We've admired their courage, commitment and confidence and we've been impressed by their insight, inspiration and integrity.
After the list of heroes we'd expect to get an invitation to follow in the steps of the faith heroes, but there's a surprise in store for us.
As inspirational and exciting as the heroes of the faith seem, there's "something better" than their example. The heroes did not receive the promise they lived and died for until the time was right and that the rest of humanity could also be included in the promise.
As great as these heroes were, they could not be made perfect. Their exploits, while great, were not sufficient to obtain perfection. Although they had been faithful, they could not receive what was promised because they were not perfect.
And so the heroes waited until God's plan could be unfolded.
They had to trust in God's "better" which would bring about the "perfect" best.
The Good News is that we don't have to guess at what "better" is and we don't have to wonder how we and the heroes could be made "perfect." We know.
God sent His Son - the ultimate Hero who paid the ultimate price so that we could be made perfect.
Here's the scene that plays out in my imagination: Abel, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses and all the others waiting until the virgin conceived and gave birth to a son named Jesus and then giving each other a fist-bump or high-five - "YES! The time has come!"
Let's worship our great Champion on Sunday!
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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/
