This book, with the concept of all positive things being heavenly, points us to the very Christ who is in the heavens. In the gospels is the Christ who lived on the earth and died on the cross for the accomplishment of redemption. In the Acts is the resurrected and ascended Christ propagated and ministered to man. In Romans is the Christ who is our righteousness for justification and our life for sanctification, transformation, conformation, glorification, and building up. In Galatians is the Christ for our living versus the law, religion, tradition, and forms. In Philippians is the Christ lived out of His members. In Ephesians and Colossians is the Christ who is the life, the content, and the head of the Body, the church. In Corinthians is the Christ who is everything in the practical church life. In Thessalonians is the Christ who is our holiness for His coming back. In Timothy and Titus is the Christ who is God’s economy for us to behave ourselves in the house of God. In the Epistles of Peter is the Christ who is for us to take God’s governmental dealings through sufferings. In John’s Epistles is the Christ who is the life and fellowship of the children of God in God’s family. In Revelation is the Christ who is walking among the churches in this age, ruling over the world in the kingdom in the coming age, and expressed in full glory for eternity. In Hebrews is the present Christ who is now in the heavens as our Minister (8:2) and our High Priest (4:14-15; 7:26), ministering to us the heavenly life, grace, authority, and power, and sustaining us to live a heavenly life on earth. He is the Christ now, the Christ today, and the Christ on the throne who is our daily salvation and moment by moment supply. This is the Christ revealed in Hebrews. I love this description of Christ. I would do my best to influence you, impress you, and even compel you to love Him.
Here is a little illustration. Consider the chicken eggs we have for breakfast. The outside of the egg is a shell, and inside is the reality of a chicken. You do not eat the shell but the reality of the chicken within the shell. Often a baby chicken will hatch out of the egg, leaving the eggshell behind. In such a case, no one would eat the eggshell. You will forget about the eggshell and cast it into the trash can. This is an illustration of Judaism. Before Christ came, Judaism was an egg. One day, the chicken came out of the egg, meaning that Christ came out of that eggshell. Formerly, the chicken and the shell were one. At that time it was worthwhile to treasure the egg because the chicken was in the egg. One day Jesus was produced. The chicken came out of the shell. Now the chicken is not just walking on earth or soaring in the air; he is sitting in the third heaven. The chicken is there in heaven, and the shell is here on earth. Do not be so foolish as to wonder whether you must go to the chicken or remain with the shell. Certainly you must go to the chicken. Do not stay with the shell.
Let me say a word to the Jewish friends who still attend the synagogue. What you are treasuring is just the empty, broken shell. Forget about that, cast it into the trash can, and come to the chicken. The chicken is Christ. As the chicken, Christ is the life element, the life essence, and the life substance. Why were the Old Testament and Judaism so precious? Because until Christ came out of the shell, He was in them. Now, since He has come out of the shell, you must go to the chicken and not stay with the shell.
This principle may be applied to any religious thing. Baptism is good whenever Christ is in it. But once Christ has been removed from baptism, baptism becomes a shell. Any religious thing without Christ is a shell. We have the Lord’s table every Sunday, but if it is merely a table without the Lord in it, it is a shell. Even your Bible or your Bible reading may be a shell if you do not have Christ in it. Your ministry, your preaching, and Christian work might all be shells if they are merely religious activity without Christ. Anything that is fundamental, scriptural, religious and anything that is for God, yet which does not have Christ as its reality is a shell. Sisters, your head covering should have Christ in it, for without Christ, your head covering is merely an empty shell. Do not think that I am condemning just one thing. I condemn everything that does not have Christ in it. Even my message is a shell if it does not have Christ in it. Even this entire Life-study is a shell if it does not minister Christ.
We all must see how easy it is to have the shell without the chicken. It is very easy. What is religion? Religion is serving God, worshipping God, and behaving yourself to please God without Christ. Worshipping God, serving God, behaving ourselves before God, all are good, but if they are void of Christ they are merely a religion. Such worship, service, or behavior becomes religion. Only Christ is reality. Whatever we do and whatever we are might just be a shell. Some of these things are not even a shell, but even if they are a shell, they are nothing without Christ. We must have Christ! Do you like being an elder? That is fine, but Christ must be in that eldership. If you do not have Christ in your eldership, your eldership is a shell. Whenever you are treasuring a shell, you have to cross the river and bury yourself out of that shell. This is the message of the book to the Hebrews.
Hebrews is a book that is one hundred percent of and for Christ. This Christ is not a doctrinal Christ; He is a Christ today for our experience. Hebrews 1:1-3 tells as that Christ has accomplished everything and that He is now sitting on the right hand of the Majesty on high. Hebrews 4:14 says that He is the High Priest who has passed through the heavens. He has not only crossed over the river, but has passed through the heavens, entering into the third heaven where the holiest of all is within the veil. He is there now. Hebrews 6:20 says that He is the Forerunner. He has run the race, becoming the first to reach the goal. He was the first to enter within the veil. Hebrews 7:26 says that He is such a High Priest because He has become higher than the heavens. He is at the height of the universe. Hebrews 8:1, 9:24, and 10:12 all tell us that the Christ who died is now in the heavens; yet He is present. Oh, how we must come to contact Him! Forsake the shell! Forget the shell! We all must touch this heavenly Christ, this present Christ, this Christ today. He is so real, so living. He is now supplying us with all the heavenly life, authority, and power that we might live a heavenly life on earth. He is not only our daily salvation but also our moment by moment supply. He is such a Christ. We all must know and experience Him. Forget religion! We have the chicken! We no longer have forms or rituals—just reality. This is the content of the book of Hebrews. As we continue in our Life-study, we shall see the depths, the profoundness, and the richness of this book.
The contents of this book are not only the heavenly Christ, but the heavenly Christ with all the heavenly items: the heavenly calling (3:1), the heavenly enrollment (12:23), the heavenly gift (6:4), the heavenly things (8:5; 9:23), the heavenly holy places (9:24), the heavenly Jerusalem (12:22), and the heavenly country (11:16). We must see all these heavenly things.
It is a simple matter to recognize the sections of this book. Firstly, we have the introduction, which shows that God has spoken in the Son (1:1-3). Lastly is the conclusion (13:20-25). Between the introduction and the conclusion, this book shows the superiority of Christ (1:4—10:39) and also reveals the way to take and enjoy this Christ, the way of faith (11:1—13:19). Christ is superior to everything: to the angels, to Joshua, to Moses, and to Aaron. The covenant that He has made is superior to the covenant made with Moses. Christ is superior to everything. The way for us to reach this Christ, the way to take Him, is the unique way of faith. This is the book of Hebrews.