6.4.24

This week we reach the culmination of the writer’s argument in the last half of chapter 12. Because what he’s been talking about is how to deal with suffering and trials. And though our default is to run from those hard things and plead with God to take them away, we are being told that God uses and directs them for his purposes of discipline: to grow us and change us.

And in particular, this strategy of growth comes in shifting our life’s foundations off of those things that are shakable and onto the unshakable foundation of Jesus. What does he mean by shakable? The typical things we place the hopes of our lives upon are fragile and unable to support the weight of our lives. We run to money and sex and power and acceptance and validation and success. None of these things are bad. But none of them are sufficient to bear the weight of our souls. They can be lost. They can be withheld. They can be strained. And so they are unable to carry us through this life.

In contrast, the writer tells us - we don’t have to build our lives on the shakable foundations of this world. Because, through Jesus, we have now come to a new way of living. We are being given an unshakable foundation, that is built on the life and death of Jesus for us. And he goes on to list a number of pictures of this new foundation.

First he tells us that we have now come to the city of the living God, Mt Zion, the new Jerusalem. The story of the Bible is essentially the tale of two cities. The city of man is one in which you make a name for yourself at the expense of others. It’s a me-first approach to life. And it’s all about maximizing personal power and happiness. But the city of God is one that is built on a new foundation - because it’s based on peace not power. It’s no longer a place of exhaustion and oppression, but a place of joy and justice.

Secondly, he tells us that we have now come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly. And what he’s offering us here is a complete joy that is unshakable, despite our fragile circumstances. Though the presence of God was a terrible ordeal for the Israelites to face in the Old Testament, because of the life and death of Jesus, his presence is now a place of incredible joy. In fact, the word used here depicts a wild party. And it’s a reflection of the joy and delight that the Father, Son and Spirit had been sharing for all eternity. And we are now invited into that dance.

Thirdly, he tells us that we have come to the church of the firstborn whose names are written in heaven. Having things “go your way” can lead to temporary happiness. Until something comes along and robs it once again from us. But having your name written in heaven gives us an unshakable identity that no circumstance can threaten. Because our names are written there based on the finished work of Jesus for us, nothing can cause those names to be blurred or erased. They are forever secure in the presence of the Father.

For most of us, we are the accumulation of everything everybody has ever said about us. The words of your parents and siblings and friends and bosses that called you a failure or a loser - or special and needing to be the best - these words have come to define us - own us - drive us. But the new city we have come to - and are still coming to - has the power to overturn the accumulated verdicts that have been placed upon us. Because we now have an unshakable identity that can never be threatened or lost.