We have a better possession—Jesus, Himself

Hebrews 10:34 For you showed sympathy to the prisoners and accepted joyfully the seizure of your property, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and a lasting one. We are encouraged today by the underlying motivation for living to love with Jesus. It’s our eternal union with Jesus now and in the future in a new heaven and earth. We know we have an inheritance which is imperishable, undefiled, and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for us (1 Pet. 1:4). We know this world is not our home; in fact, we know that the minute we leave this world, we are finally, ultimately free from all sin, death, and suffering. It was this understanding that motivated the believing Hebrews to show sympathy to their brothers and sisters who had been imprisoned for their faith. They also had their property taken from them, and they received it joyfully? Are you kidding me? Doesn’t that catch your attention? What if Christians became the greatest enemy of the state, and they imprisoned us and took our lands and property from us? Would we accept it joyfully?  Here’s the point. There were some very mature believers to whom Hebrews was written. Do you remember the mark of maturity we studied in Hebrews 5? It’s piety. Piety is receiving well whatever hardship or suffering God gives us in this world, like Jesus did as He suffered for our sins. He learned obedience through the things that He suffered, and so do we. We learn to obey God’s command to abide in Him, to draw near to Him for grace to love and trust Him, and to love those He puts in our paths.  I want us to notice that the possession we have is Jesus, Himself. We have the very life of the Father and the Son dwelling in us now. I read John 17:23 this morning. “I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me and loved them, even as You have loved Me.” Jesus is in us, and the Father is in Him.  We also have a kingdom that cannot be shaken! It is a lasting one. Later in chapter 12:27-28, the author wrote, “This expression, ‘Yet once more,” denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe.’”  One of the foundational worldviews of Jesus is that the Father’s love is enough. He satisfies the deepest desires and needs of my soul. That’s what He believed, and if He lives in us, then that faith and satisfaction dwells in us. The joyful acceptance of suffering for Jesus’ sake issues forth from that deep, unshakable satisfaction of the heart and soul rooted in Jesus Christ, Himself. As we live to love with Jesus, we may expect God to glorify Himself and His Son through the loss of things and relationships so we can show what we really possess in this life: the indestructible, eternal life with Jesus Christ. When we root our satisfaction in this world in Christ, the Father and Son are joyful. When they are joyful, their joy becomes our joy as we experience their pleasure. So if God takes away an earthly possession, we joyfully receive it as an opportunity to display our greatest treasure, which cannot be taken away—living to love with Jesus.