Daily Devotions
Hebrews
"The powers of the age to come..."
Text: Hebrews 6:5
BLESSINGS THAT MUST NEVER BE TAKEN FOR GRANTED IV
Another blessing that is often taken too much for granted is God’s gift of His word. It is well described in the following text:-
“And have tasted the good word of God…”
Hebrews 6:5a
Judah is a clear example of a nation that had taken God’s word for granted!
1. No understanding
Judah was charged with the problem of ignorance of God’s word.
“They do not know the way of the LORD,
The Judgments of their God.”
Jeremiah 5:4
2. No word in the prophets
Judah had many “prophets”. Yet this charge was laid against them.
“And the prophets become wind,
For the word is not in them…”
Jeremiah 5:13
3. Rejection of the word of God
Judah was guilty of deliberately rejecting God’s word.
“Because they have not heeded My words,
Nor My law, but rejected it.”
Jeremiah 6:19
4. Truth perished in the land
There was such a dearth of God’s word that it was described as having died.
“Truth has perished and has been cut off from their mouth.”
Jeremiah 7:28
THE INEVITABLE CONSEQUENCE OF REJECTING GOD’S WORD
The following text described the consequences that God determined would befall Judah because they had taken His word too much for granted!
“And the LORD said, ‘Because they have forsaken My law
which I set before them, and have not obeyed My voice,
nor walked according to it, but they have walked according
to the dictates of their own hearts, and after the Baals,
which their fathers taught them, therefore thus says the LORD
of hosts, the God of Israel:
‘Behold I will feed them, this people, with wormwood,
and give them water of gall to drink. I will scatter them also
among the Gentilesâ?¦ and I will send a sword after them
until I have consumed them.'”
Jeremiah 9:13-16
It was impossible to turn away God’s fury because of the sin of rejecting God’s word!
BLESSINGS THAT MUST NEVER BE TAKEN FOR GRANTED V
Another blessing that God has given to His people is found in the following text.
“And the powers of the age to come.”
Hebrews 6:5b
1. The message of Jesus about the Kingdom of God:-
a) Right from the beginning Jesus proclaimed that the kingdom of God was at hand
(Cf. Matthew 4:17).
b) He spoke many parables concerning the kingdom of God (Cf. Matthew 13).
c) The focus of the His message about the Kingdom of God was about “the powers of the age to come”.
2. The mighty works of Jesus carried a powerful message:-
a) The apostle John called them “signs” from God (Cf. John 2:11, 23).
b) The apostle Matthew described Jesus rebuking the cities that had rejected His “mighty works” (Cf. Matthew 11:21).
c) These mighty works revealed to all “the powers of the age to come”.
3. The many epistles written by the apostles of Christ:-
a) Paul wrote many epistles to teach his readers about the age to come (Cf. 2 Thessalonians 2; 2 Corinthians 5).
b) Peter urged his readers to bear with suffering on earth because every believer should be looking forward to the day of the Lord’s return (Cf. 2 Peter 3:10-14).
c) John was given a special series of visions where the main focus was on the age to come in the Book of Revelation.
THE DANGER OF TAKING FOR GRANTED THE ETERNAL REALM
Sadly too many believers are earth-bound! They run the danger of becoming too bogged down to the mundane things of life. When the spiritual realm, and “the powers of the age to come” lose their special appeal, the believer will find it “impossible” to restore them to the Lord fully.
When all these blessings are taken for granted (collectively), then the believer is in far greater danger than he has realized! He will find that it is impossible to return to his first love for the Lord!