THE KINGDOM IN HEBREWS
What a wonderful book Hebrews is! It reveals that Christ is superior to every item of Judaism. Such a Christ is eventually the kingdom. Hebrews is a book concerning the kingdom. How can we prove that Hebrews is a book related to the kingdom? Let us read Hebrews 1:8: "But as to the Son, Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, and the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of Your kingdom." This verse says, "as to the Son, Your throne" and "Your kingdom." It does not say Your redemption, Your salvation, Your love, or Your power. The fact that it says "Your throne" and "Your kingdom" indicates the matter of the kingdom.
Let us also read Hebrews 12:28: "Wherefore, receiving an unshakable kingdom, let us have grace, through which we may serve God well-pleasingly with godly fear and awe." Does it say we are receiving salvation? Or redemption? Or peace? No! It says we are receiving a kingdom. According to the pure Word of the Lord, Hebrews is not merely a book on salvation, but on the kingdom. What is the kingdom? The kingdom is the maturity of Christ as life to us, and it is the ultimate consummation of the enjoyment of Christ. Hebrews is a book on the enjoyment of Christ, and this enjoyment will consummate in the kingdom.
SUPERIOR TO THE ANGELS
Hebrews surely shows that Christ is much better than all of the items of Judaism. What are the main items of Judaism? First were the angels, through whom the law was given; next were the leaders such as Moses and Joshua; next were the priests such as Aaron; and last was the Old Testament, the Old Covenant. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the writer of Hebrews compared Christ with all of these items, showing that Christ was superior to them. In the first two chapters Christ is compared with the angels. He is much higher and much superior to the angels because He is both God and man. He is the God-man. He created all things. He tasted death for us, and He destroyed Satan and the authority of death. The Lord Jesus accomplished everything for us, was glorified, and is crowned in the heavens. Presently, He is working to impart Himself into us to make us His brothers. He is the Son of God, and He is making us also into sons of God as His brothers. Now He is bringing us into glory. He did everything for us—He suffered, He delivered, He saved. He is such a wonderful One!
How about the angels? The angels are simply ministering spirits. They cannot compare with Christ. He is such a wonderful One, and He is our salvation. Our salvation is not a "thing," but a wonderful Person! Oh, how great a salvation! The writer was short of words to describe this great salvation, so he simply used the word so! How great a salvation! It is impossible to describe how great. But the writer says that if we neglect so great a salvation, we will surely suffer something (Heb. 2:3).
Have you realized that the book of Hebrews was not written to unbelievers, but to the Hebrew believers? All of them were saved. But there was a problem—they were distracted from the enjoyment of Christ. They were saved, and they had begun to participate in Christ, but they were in the dangerous position of being distracted away from Christ back to Judaism. If this were to happen, they would lose the enjoyment of Christ in the fullest way. This means that they would neglect so great a salvation. If they were distracted from Christ and should neglect so great a salvation, they would suffer a kind of punishment from the Lord. If we neglect so great a salvation, how can we escape some kind of punishment? Do not think, though, that this means we can lose our salvation. No! Our salvation is for eternity. Once we have been saved, we can never be lost. Hebrews even calls our salvation "eternal salvation" (Heb. 5:9). But after we have been saved, we need to go on to enjoy Christ more and more until the consummation. It is not a matter of being saved or lost. It is a matter of more and higher enjoyment of Christ. If we neglect the enjoyment of so great a salvation, we will suffer some loss.
(The Kingdom, Chapter 45, by Witness Lee)
