The Wednesday after Judica (Passion) Sunday
Posted on April 9, 2025 by under
Scripture: Hebrews 6:13-20 (NKJV)
6:13 For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, 14 saying, “Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you.” 15 And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. 16 For men indeed swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is for them an end of all dispute. 17 Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, 18 that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us.
19 This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, 20 where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
Devotion
God’s “swearing by Himself ” superabundantly shows “the immutability of His counsel.” For Him not to keep His promise, He would not just have to change His mind, but to stop being Himself and become someone else—which His very name declares impossible!
The oath formula, demonstrated by God in making this promise to Abraham in Genesis 15, was that one should be so destroyed as to be split in two, so that the one you failed to keep your promise to could walk between the parts of your body. Every time you read “‘As I live,’ says the Lord…” it is a shorthand way of referring to that Genesis 15 procedure. It is a unilateral declaration by God, saying, “If I’m unable to do this, I will cease to be.”
Understanding that, along with the meaning of God’s name, “I am that I am,” truly is our consolation. It is our “anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast,” so that nothing can ever rob us of what He holds securely for us! Taking the words of Exodus 3:14 in their basic sense, the declaration of God’s very name is that He is self-existent, self-perpetuating, and absolutely not contingent or dependent upon any but Himself. It means that He who has been from eternity will continue for eternity with no modification of His powers or His will. No one can make Him change or turn Him aside!
Collect: We beseech Thee, Almighty God, mercifully to look upon Thy people, that by Thy great goodness they may be governed and preserved evermore, both in body and soul; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Collect for the Season of Lent
Almighty and Everlasting God, Who hatest nothing that Thou hast made, and dost forgive the sins of all who are penitent: Create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of Thee, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
