Our great reward and God’s pleasure

Hebrews 10:37-38 For yet in a very little while, He who is coming will come, and will not delay. But My righteous one shall live by faith; And if he shrinks back, My soul has no pleasure in him. The author had been encouraging his readers that there is a great reward for enduring and holding fast to their confidence in God’s promises in Christ. Today we learn what that great reward is. It is Jesus, Himself. He is our possession. He is our great reward. He is our Helper.  Jesus promised that He would return. All believers throughout all of history since Jesus ascended into heaven have been waiting for the sky to unfurl and for Jesus to return in glory with His holy angels. Paul articulated our hope well in Phil. 3:20-21. “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.” The author in Heb. 10:37 asserts this reality. Jesus is returning, and when He comes, He is our reward. This is a reference to Habakkuk 2:3-4. “For the vision is yet for the appointed time; it hastens toward the goal, and it will not fail. Though it tarries, wait for it, for it will certainly come; it will not delay. Behold, as for the proud one, his soul is not right within him, but the righteous will live by his faith.” You’ll notice that the Holy Spirit inserted “He” for “it.” In Habakkuk, “it” referred to the vision that God gave the prophet. In this verse, the Holy Spirit focuses our attention on Jesus. His main point is that Jesus’ promised return is certain. He is certainly returning just as the vision God gave in Habakkuk’s day was certain to happen. God gave the promise and delayed its arrival so those who are righteous may be revealed. How are they revealed? They are revealed as they run the course set before them by God (a course with hardship and suffering) by the faith God gave them through Jesus. In chapter 12, we learn how we are to run this course of life—fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. So we are encouraged today that the faith by which we run and hold on to our confidence in Christ isn’t dependent on us alone. It’s 100% dependent on the grace we receive as we draw near to the throne of God through Jesus Christ. He authors and perfects our faith as we run. In this verse he again encouraged his readers not to throw away their confidence. He encourages them by what God is pleased with. He’s pleased with the faith of His Son being displayed in our lives for His glory. He is not pleased with anyone who shrinks back, casts off their confidence, or takes their eyes off of Jesus in unbelief. His point from Habakkuk 2:4 is that everyone who has been made righteous in Christ will not shrink back when the going gets tough but will run with endurance by the faith God has given them. They will run with eyes fixed on Him by His grace until He returns. Those who run by faith will feel that their wait has only been for a little while. They will experience Jesus’ presence as if there was no delay in His promise. They have Him now! Do you want to please God? Then run your race living to love with endurance, fixing your eyes on Jesus. He will give you the grace to trust and love. With Jesus, God is pleased.