Hebrews 12: 1-2
Therefore,
When we see a "therefore" we need to ask what it's there for. Here, we've just gone through God's Hall of Heroes, all the saints that came before us who lived their lives and accomplished great feats, "by faith."
since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses
Here we're told that all these saints are surrounding us, watching us.
to the life of faith,
They're watching us to see how we are living our lives by faith.
let us strip off every weight that slows us down,
Whatever is keeping us from running freely the course set before us.
especially the sin that so easily trips us up.
All the little distractions that tangle our feet, dangerously trying to bring us down.
And let us run
We need to run freely, not walk or saunter lazily, through life.
with endurance
There are many things that we need to learn to endure; many trials, troubles, terrors, weariness and griefs.
the race God has set before us.
This life is a race, so we need to be running. It is a relay race, so we are to prepare the next generation to take the baton of faith after us.
We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus,
Jesus is our example. He never did slow down His ministry, nor was He ever in a hurry. He always relied only on His Father, never His own initiative, in everything He did. So we follow Jesus as Jesus followed His Father.
the Author and Finisher of our faith;
He, along with His Father and the Holy Spirit, devised this whole plan, designed our whole Universe including our Earth, and decided before He ever started to create, what He would do to redeem us. And He concluded that part of His Plan of the Ages--we now put our faith in His sacrifice, rather than an animal, to complete our salvation from sin and our redemption from this broken environment of our World System.
Who for the joy that was set before Him
That joy was knowing that we could spend Eternity with Him, in His glory (see John 17:24).
He endured the Cross, despising the shame,
He did not relish the Cross, He had to endure it. He had to hang there unclothed, in full view of the populace, as a condemned criminal--the very opposite of Who He is. And even separated from His Father for the first time in all Eternity! Something I cannot even fathom. It was this joy that gave Him the strength to do it. He loves you and me that much.
and is set down at the right hand of the Throne of God.
Now, today, Jesus has died, risen, and ascended back into Heaven, again enjoying the glory He shared with the Father from eternity past. Now that He has accomplished everything we need to be right with God--born into His own Family, cleansed and forgiven--He will complete the rest of His plan to redeem every person who turns to Him in faith, and to redeem this Earth that has been plundered by ungodly men; before He "makes everything new." That will conclude His whole Plan of the Ages, our ages.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
