LOOKING TO JESUS

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:1-2 ESV)

A teenager had decided to quit high school, saying he was just fed up with it all. His father kept trying to convince him to stay with it. “Son”, he said, “you just can’t quit. All the people who are remembered in history didn’t quit. Thomas Edison, he didn’t quit. Douglas MacArthur, he didn’t quit. Elmo McCringle…” “Who?” the son burst in. “Elmo McCringle”, replied his father. “Who the heck is Elmo McCringle?” asked the son. “See,” the father replied, you don’t remember him. He quit!”

One of the most significant utterances ever to come from the mouth of Jesus was spoken on the cross. In the midst of His grand passion, as He suffered the pangs of the agony of death, Jesus managed to gasp, "It is finished."(John 19:30) That is when Jesus quit life; when His task was finished. Not before. Not until. The work had to be finished.

The Apostle Paul stated it this way: "But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God…Forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus…I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith " (Acts 20:24; Philippians 3:13-14; 2 Timothy 4:7). So at the end of his life Paul said, "All my life has been like a fight and like a race. Keeping faith has been a struggle. I have fought the good fight and run the race of perseverance." And before he died Paul made clear that this view of his own life was his view of the Christian life everybody is called to live. In 1 Timothy 6:12 he says, "Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called." And to explain, he said in verse 11, "Flee [the love of money]—flee all this; pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, gentleness." Note the two words: "flee" and "pursue"—flee the love of money and all the evils that grow out of it, and pursue faith and love and perseverance. These are the words of war: Flee! Pursue! Paul knows nothing of coasting or casual Christianity. Paul simply does not recognize a Christianity that is not running a race and fighting a fight. Nor does the author of the letter to the Hebrews

The writer of Hebrews describes the Christian life as a race. When you are in a race, it is extremely important where you look. Nothing will throw off your stride or slow you down like looking at your feet or looking at a runner coming up behind you, or looking at the crowd in the grandstands. The Christian race is the same. Some may look too much to themselves, what they are doing, or on others and what they are doing. Some people will focus upon the difficulties and the obstacles along the way. Some will keep looking back at the past, whether losses or better days. Some will keep their eyes upon the goal; the finish line. Where you are looking will determine whether or not you finish the race.

The writer of Hebrews wants to encourage us to look to Jesus. "Looking to Jesus the founder and perfecter of our faith."(Hebrews 12:2). He uses the Greek present participle that implies the idea of a constant attention during the race. He exhorts us to focus continually upon Him. Jesus will keep us running and winning. Fixing our eyes on seeing Jesus is what saves us and strengthens us.

Who is He? He is the author and the supreme example of our faith. Jesus has gone through everything we have to face, and by faith, He faced it successfully. Like a pioneer He started and finished the race in triumph! That is why He can help us to succeed! He has gone ahead; he knows what paths to take and what ones to avoid. He is also the perfecter of our faith. He worked to author faith and to perfect faith. He works to begin it and He works to complete it in our lives.

Not only that, but the very Jesus we look to is ever present with you and in you through the Holy Spirit. “I am with you always…” (Matthew28:20). “I will never leave you nor will I ever forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5). “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.” (John 14:16-17). Did you know that the Holy Spirit’s work is to help us to turn our eyes away from self and our problems to Jesus; but Satan’s work is just the opposite of this, for he is constantly trying to make us look at our problems, others, and ourselves instead of Christ. All those gazes upon ourselves, our problems, and others will never bring us any strength, help us to find comfort, or give us any hope and assurance.

The Holy Spirit turns our eyes entirely away from self and turns them to Jesus. He tells us that “Christ is all in all.” Remember, therefore, do not look at your fragile hold of Jesus Christ, look at Jesus Christ! Do not look at your feelings about yourself and your life, look at Jesus Christ! Do not look at your little faith you have in Jesus Christ- look at Jesus Christ the author and finisher of your faith! Do not look at your weakness and failings as a Christian, look at Jesus Christ and His blood and His work! Do not look at your loose grip on Jesus Christ, look at Jesus Christ’s grip upon you! Do not look at your little hope in Jesus, look at Jesus, the source of your hope!

Charles Spurgeon says that “We shall never find happiness by looking at our prayers, our doings, or our feelings; it is what Jesus is, not what we are, that gives rest to the soul. If we would at once overcome Satan and have peace with God, it must be by “looking unto Jesus.” Keep your eye simply on Him; let His death, His sufferings, His merits, His glories, His intercession, be fresh upon your mind; when you wake in the morning look to Him; when you lie down at night look to Him. Oh! Let not your hopes or fears come between you and Jesus; follow hard after Him, and He will never fail you.”

I encourage you to keep running, persevering, and fighting. How? By looking to Jesus, who “is at work in us to will and to do his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:12-13). Look to Jesus who will “complete what He started in us.” (Philippians 1:6) Look to Jesus who while you run and fight can enable you to “be strong in Him and the power of His might” (Ephesians 6:10).

Psalm 123:2, “Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maidservant to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the LORD our God, till he has mercy upon us.”
2 Chronicles 20:12, “…we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you."
Isaiah 45:22, "Look to Me, and be saved,All you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other."

Hear again what the writer of Hebrews says, ‘Look to Jesus’! Don’t waste your look, looking at yourself, that look won’t help. Hebrews says, ‘Look to Jesus.’ “Look to Jesus! See Him hanging on the cross the cross bearing your sins and the wrath of God that you deserved upon myself. Look at Jesus who died and buried. Look at Jesus; He rose again. Look at Jesus; He ascended to heaven. Look at Jesus; He is sitting on the throne at the Father’s right hand. Look at Jesus, He is coming again. Are you tired, defeated, discouraged, weak, feel like giving up, can't take another day, hopeless, helpless, and lost? Do you hear dear reader? Look to Jesus! Look to Jesus!” Look! Look! Look! Maybe something is clicking inside of you. You know this is what you need to do. Look to and trust in Jesus Christ. Look to Jesus, take heart, trust him, and run.

Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith,
Pastor Bill