Introduction

It has been debated for years who the author of Hebrews may be. Some say Paul, others say Barnabas, while others, namely Martin Luther, was convinced it was Apollos. This is the conclusion I have come to (remember, I'm no theologian)... we may never know who the author of Hebrews is, but I am convinced that it is God-breathed and will be used for my teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16)!

Moving on, the author wrote the letter of Hebrews to Jewish Christians who had started out strong in their faith, but for whatever reason, had shown a tendency to become lazy in their journey, if not decline spriritually altogether. This jumped out to me since the reason I decided to study Hebrews was because I felt I was becoming lazy in my spiritual life and felt burdened to delve into scripture. I honestly didn't know that was the purpose of Hebrews when I picked it to study. Coincidence? I don't think so. The letter of Hebrews served as a reminder to the Jewish Christians that Jesus Christ is the true Messiah, the Great High Priest, superior to the angels and prophets. Jesus Christ is supreme.

I am excited to study this book. While I believe in the absolute, supremacy of Jesus Christ, I know that I also sometimes struggle with verbalizing that Truth to those who do not believe the same. I work in the midst of people who believe in many different gods than Jesus Christ. I live in a world that tells me it's OK to believe in different gods... every god leads to heaven. I find these messages ludicrous and I do not believe them, nor am I tempted to do so. However, I think that satan has effectively used these messages to intimidate Christians and to silence them in their faith. In doing so, Christians have become content living a shallow Christian life, where they have a private faith, and are afraid to share the Truth. I know this has been true of me at times, so I assume I cannot be the only one out there who has this same struggle. The following scripture woke me up one day when I was enjoying my "private faith"... "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels." (Luke 9:23-26) OUCH! Hebrews picks up on this theme, and encourages its readers to GO DEEPER in one's spiritual life. As one understands the supremacy of Jesus Christ, I dare say that one will not be able to avoid going deeper without denying Christ altogether.