Benediction

Hebrews 13:20, 21
Now may the God of peace, who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus—the great Shepherd of the sheep—with the blood of the everlasting covenant, 21 equip you with all that is good to do His will, working in us what is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ. Glory belongs to Him forever and ever. Amen.

The benediction that completes the book of Hebrews is filled with reminders of what the author covered, and wants his readers to recall and act upon. He is sending the readers, us, out to accomplish two things. But I am getting ahead of myself. Let’s look at this.

“Now may...” introduces a coming action. Get ready. The Actor is “the God of peace.” This guides us on how we should approach problems. “Peace” is always better than war. We become attractive when we display a peaceful attitude and approach to life. This spills over into the lives of others with whom we interact. God is peace. So His people should also project peace when we interact with everyone.

And this God demonstrated His power by raising Jesus from the dead. Our Lord Jesus is both personal, our, and the boss–Lord. He is our master, leader, and helper. Is there a contradiction there? How can He be “our,” meaning a possession, and simultaneously the Lord? We use the phrase, “My Lord,” all the time without thinking what it entails. I belong to Him, but He also belongs to me.

An old children’s chorus said, “Now I belong to Jesus, Jesus belongs to me.” Never knew how profound that was until now. Did you? And if you recall the final phrase, you can rejoice. “Not for the years of time alone, but for eternity.” “Our Lord Jesus.”

Going on, and He was raised from the dead by the God of peace. If you want a set of credentials to introduce yourself to people, try peace, the power to raise from the dead, and the person Who has come back to life from the dead. Walking into a situation with this background almost immediately removes doubt, animosity, or fear.

But that is not all. The resurrection from the dead was facilitated by the “blood of the everlasting covenant.” The covenant, foretold in Genesis 3:15, was consummated on the cross and is a continuing covenant throughout eternity. Is it any wonder that Paul exulted in Romans 8:38 that nothing could separate us from Christ. It is an everlasting covenant. (A good verse to remember along with 8:28)

That was just the beginning. Look at the action phrase. “Equip you will all that is good....” Are we ever at a loss for goodness? Nope. ALL that is good is at our disposal. Do you imagine any of the prominent billionaires roaming the landscape today ever get a bill and go, “Oops, how are we gonna handle that?”

They just trot out the old check book and whip one off. And when we face a “goodness deficit” we need not wring our hands in distress. Just call on the “goodness fund,” and pay that thing off. Do you imagine that is why Paul also said that nothing is impossible for us? (“I can do all things through Christ, Who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13)

So we can do “all things.” Look at the modifier. “...to do His will.” This power of good is focused on one goal: To do the will of the God of peace. Why else would we want to wield such power and for Whom else should we wield it? Dumb question, there. Remember the “Magician’s Nephew,” from C. S. Lewis’ masterful Narnia tales?

In the story the hero was going to steal a magic apple to heal his gravely ill mother. Aslan, the Lion, told him that stolen apples would produce the opposite effect that he desired. But if it were given to him freely, it would do much good. That sounds strangely like a lot of “power” in our world today. The same is true in the spiritual realm. If we do His will, a lot of good will spill over into everyone’s lives.

But there’s more. Now the writer gets involved. “...working us US what is pleasing in His sight.” This is now a joint venture. He wrote the message for us, and he will share the pleasure, through Christ, of pleasing God. Not a bad cooperative action there. And the final focus is like the first: Christ, and the God of peace.

So our two “tasks” were to do His will and work what is pleasing in His sight. And our collaboration has produced the result of glory for ever and ever. Are we “adding to” God’s sum of glory? Never. We are sharing the exposure of that glory to the watching world. What a glorious thought.

Now may the God of peace, who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus—the great Shepherd of the sheep—with the blood of the everlasting covenant, 21 equip you with all that is good to do His will, working in us what is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ. Glory belongs to Him forever and ever. Amen.

Amen.