HEBREWS 13:8-9: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. So do not be attracted by strange, new ideas. Your strength comes from God’s grace, not from rules about food, which don’t help those who follow them.” NLT

OBSERVATION: Have you met the NEW JESUS? He is the Jesus of our own making. There is the Southern Jesus, the Urban Jesus, the Conservative Jesus, the Liberal Jesus, the Progressive Jesus, the Non-Binary Jesus, and the list goes on and on.

Our culture has taken the unchanging Gospel, the unchanging Jesus, and fashioned it according to our own sinful lives. We have treated Jesus as a person who conforms to our needs and lifestyles rather than the one to whom every knee should bow and tongue confess.

The writer of Hebrews has spent his entire letter showing the glory, obedience, suffering, sacrifice, and the power of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. In his closing words, it is as if he pauses to make the strongest summary statement anyone could make regarding Jesus.

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”

Jesus, the Word of God, the Creator of all things, neither changes nor turns. Jesus is the same from all eternity. His love, compassion, mercy, and gift of salvation never change. Jesus is the constant in an ever-changing universe. He is the Rock in the book of Psalms. He is the Foundation of the New Testament Church. He is our only refuge, strength, and victory in our battle over sin, death, and the devil.

So why would anyone want to change Jesus?

It is much easier to change Jesus, our concept of Jesus, than to change ourselves. We like the idea of Jesus but we hate the idea of the cross. We want all the blessings of heaven but nothing to do with the call to suffering and obedience. If there was a way to keep all the things we love about our old life while claiming to embrace the new life – we would jump at it. And so…

We change Jesus!

Our message becomes one of Jesus + (fill in the blank). Jesus no longer is enough. We must believe in Jesus and also add our persuasion to the relationship. The message of Jesus Christ and Him crucified is not exciting enough. We want to add formulas to receive miracles and blessings. We want to add all the earthly trapping to our walk with Christ. We become those who hold the secrets of the kingdom because we have discovered the elusive (+) that is added to Jesus.

Yet, the writer of Hebrews breaks his thought. He pauses after saying – “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”. He pivots with a stern warning to the believers he loves and writes,

“So do not be attracted by strange, new ideas. Your strength comes from God’s grace, not from rules about food, which don’t help those who follow them.”

You can build a crowd with strange, new ideas. You can sell books with strange, new ideas. You can become famous and prosperous with strange, new ideas. The world and the church are filled with those who have become bored with the simple Gospel of Jesus Christ and have marketed their strange new ideas. We celebrate the first statement by the writer to Hebrews and ignore the latter. We must proclaim the latter and declare to all…

Jesus is enough!

Jesus never changes!

Jesus is the one and only sacrifice for sin!

Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Jesus is our Savior, Baptizer in the Holy Spirit, Healer, and Soon coming King!

The Gospel is a simple message. JESUS SAVES! Jesus humbled Himself, entered this world as a human, grew and developed into a man, lived a sinless life, walked the way of righteousness, fulfilled the will of the Father, took the penalty of our sins when He died on the cross, experienced death and separation from God for all men, defeated the power of sin, death, and the devil when He rose from the dead, offers the gift of eternal life to all who will believe, and Jesus will come again in glory and honor to set up His Eternal Kingdom where there will be no sin, no death, no suffering, and the enemy of our souls will be vanquished forever.

This is the simple message of Jesus! This message is the same yesterday, today, and forever. This is the message the church has been entrusted with. This is a message that does not need our help. We do not have to add special lighting and smoke machines to this message. We do not have to add flashy new rules to this message to make it attractive.

JESUS, THE SAME YESTERDAY, TODAY, AND FOREVER – is the only message that leads to eternal life. It is the power of God for all who will believe!

“For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile.” Romans 1:16, NLT

JESUS, ALONE, UNCHANGING – IS THE GOOD NEWS!

Have you met this Jesus?

In Jesus’ Name!