Hebrews 12:27-28 (NKJV) 27 Now this, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.
Yesterday we began looking at the background of this section of scripture. Paul is contrasting the delivering of the Law under Moses and redemption in Christ. In both cases there is record of a physical shaking; an earthquake that the people of each time felt in the natural world. However, in Hebrews we see the contrast between these two events from God’s point of view. In the Old Testament, the shaking was in the natural world only because God was delivering to his people a natural law only.
Here we learn that the shaking which occurred in redemption was not limited to the natural world. There was a natural component to the shaking because there is a natural component to our salvation. The real shaking occurred in the realm of the spirit. God shook the spiritual order and provided a spiritual salvation and access to a spiritual Kingdom of God.
The shaking in salvation was to eliminate everything in man’s relationship with God anything that could be shaken. The result is a relationship that is unshakable. Nothing can hinder man’s access to the Kingdom of God once he receives salvation in Christ. We may wander out into sin or unbelief and lose the protection and benefit of our Kingdom relationship, but it is always right there waiting for us. When we choose to repent, we are restored immediately to relationship with the Lord.
1 John 1:9 (NKJV) 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
As I read the above scripture, I began to think of my own life. What was it that caused me to do some of the foolish things that have brought problems into my life? Why did I fail to trust God at times when he has proven himself so faithful for so many years? Sometimes it is because I just willfully sinned. More often, it was because something had shaken my faith or my relationship with the Lord.
I began to look at these verses in a different light. What if this shaking God was speaking of was not just the historical shaking that occurred when Jesus purchased Salvation. What if this “unshakable Kingdom” was also something God wanted to do in my life? I believe that the context of the twelfth chapter of Hebrews points to that conclusion.
We live in very unstable times. Even in the best of times, life can be difficult. We all have weaknesses through which we are growing. We also may have weaknesses and sins that we are not addressing. Life produces challenges of all kinds. No one is immune to trials and tribulations. How can we come to the place where we stay in God’s unshakable Kingdom? How can we cover the weaknesses in our lives that cause us to be shaken when things get difficult? I believe the answer lies in this chapter.
What are the ways in which we get shaky in our walk? We may become shaky in our faith. Sometimes we just do not feel that we can believe God. We know he has been there for us before but somehow this time is different. We may begin to doubt our relationship with God. We may feel that we are unworthy of his help. We may feel that God does not love us. All of these things happen to every Christian. It is not a sin to feel this way. It is a sin to let these feelings go unchallenged.
If we look more closely at the things that shake us, we will find that the shakiness is a product of some vulnerability we have allowed to remain in our life. What can we do about those weaknesses? First, we can begin to strengthen them with the Word of God. We need to do our best to identify weaknesses in our lives and apply the Word to those areas.
Most of the time, we enjoy studying Bible topics in which are already strong. When we find something in the word that speaks to a sin or weakness, our tendency is to turn the page and find a verse we like! The truth is that we should do just the opposite. We should study the areas where we are weak.
The Word of God is food for your spirit. Just as protein builds muscle, fats build stores for later release and carbohydrates produce energy in our bodies, so the Word for a given topic will feed us in that area. We see what happens in the physical body when one type of food is consumed to excess and other types of food are neglected. The body gets weak and fat and cannot do what we need it to do. The same is true in the spirit. We need a good balanced spiritual diet. When we find an area of weakness, we should “bulk up” on that particular spiritual nutrient.
Another way to attack the shakiness that comes from living in the physical world is to cultivate our relationship with God in the spirit. We need to spend time in his presence. We need to pray, meditate in the Word of God and offer him praise and worship. This is akin to physical exercise. If we eat all the right foods but never exercise, we will never be strong. If we study the Word but never spend time in God’s presence, we will never be strong in the spirit.
We should do our best to cover our weaknesses and repent of known sin so that we will be strong in the Lord. However, sometimes we do not know what the weaknesses are. We may not know that we have opened our lives to sin. Other times we are simply lazy or careless. In those times, God has another way to help us become more and more unshakable. In those times, he does the shaking!
This is not a popular idea. Often, people do not understand how God shakes his children and they ascribe things to him that no father would do. God does not shake us by making us sick. I do not believe God shakes us with poverty or by destroying family relationships. He will certainly use those things in the shaking process, but I do not believe he is their author. However, God does shake us.
Some of what we go through is because God has indentified something that makes us vulnerable and he wants to shore up that weakness. He convicts us of sin and deals with our flesh because he knows that those things are open doors that our enemy can exploit to keep us from fulfilling our destiny or receiving the blessing God wants to give us.
Most of us either have been through such times or are in them now. All of us will go through them in the future. We must remember that God has a purpose. The second verse of this chapter speaks of such a time in the life of Jesus. Of course, the shaking he was experiencing was not for him but for us. Nevertheless, we can learn from his example.
Hebrews 12:2 (NKJV) 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Jesus was able to endure his time of shaking because he knew that there was a purpose in what was happening. He knew that the end would be a mighty victory. It was his endurance through the shaking of the cross that produced the unshakable salvation we enjoy.
We must trust that the shaking in our life today will produce something powerful in the future. What is God trying to do in you? He is making you unshakable!
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