Hebrews 12:1-11
The Race of Faith
1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
The Discipline of God (Prov. 3:11, 12)
3 For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. 4 You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin. 5 And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons:
“My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD,
Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him;
6 For whom the LORD loves He chastens,
And scourges every son whom He receives.”
7 If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? 8 But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. 9 Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. 11 Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
We understand that to run the race (1 Corinthians 9:24-25, 26-27) of faith requires personal spiritual discipline and commitment in the fearful awe of the living God who saved us forever by His immeasurable (Ephesians 3:8) grace. We see how those faithful and frail men who have gone before us ran toward the goal of Christ (Philippians 3:12-13, 14) at the finish line of life. They also faced the temptation of sin that weighs men down and trips them up all too easily by the allure of self-gratification in these passing pleasures (Hebrews 11:25) that catch the eye as in Eden’s Garden with the lie of knowing good and evil apart from God’s word. When we face sin we must remind ourselves that God indeed said how to live and not doubt with the lie (Genesis 3:1), “has God indeed said…?” and then sin against Him by the snare set to entrap us in our flesh’s desires for fleeting pleasure. Yes, we are called to better things, that we may run this long distance race of faith with endurance against sin for Him and His glory as we have been called (Ephesians 2:10) to do. How can we do this? By keeping our eyes upon Jesus as we look into His wonderful face as the old hymn reminds us. He authored our faith and finished it on the cross and out of the grave to transport us from spiritual death to life (John 5:24) and will finish that work in us (Philippians 1:6) as certainly promised. He humbled His divine self to suffer in our place and die to cover our sins while hating the shame He endured because He knows we are born to endure it out of the lie from original sin in Adam and Eve,which we inherit. He is also God and sits as the Son in power on the throne of grace to help (Hebrews 5:14) when we need Him and so we are encouraged not to give up as we falter and get back up to finish the race as Eric Liddell did in track meets and in the China mission field. We may never resist temptation to our deaths as some have done, yet we press on as we fail and receive His corrective discipline (2 Timothy 3:16-17) according to the Bible, knowing our loving Father knows what is best to bring out the best in us to finish well. God’s corrective discipline is required to shape us into the image of His Son because we have been called and chosen to be His sons and daughters! We therefore subject ourselves to His discipline with humble joy in the midst of pain and loss that we live better for Him in holiness being formed in us by His mighty (1 Peter 5:6-7) hand of loving grace. None of us enjoy the discipline but we do revel in the results of it given by the Father’s loving hands. Our joy comes in realizing the resulting fruit of righteousness in peace with Him. Let us run the race with joy in godly discipline of grace therefore.
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