Those possessed of genuine love have God’s life in them and are well acquainted with Him. Those who are not have no knowledge of Him, for God is love. 1 John 4:7-8, PARAPHRASE.

Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, all you who hope in the Lord. Psalm 31:24 NKJV.

Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven whose sin is put out of sight! Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of guilt, whose lives are lived in complete honesty! Psalm 32:1-2.

In our Friday Zoom Retreat, we talked about altars for remembrance of what God has done for us. And looking at the altar Joshua built with the 12 stones, we can easily think that was in the momentous Biblical ancient days of old. But our own memories and experiences are themselves altars of remembrance of all God has done for us to bring us to closeness with Him now. Creator God – Father, Son, Spirit, is here now working in lives today as surely as He was in all the momentous times recorded before and in all those prophesied yet to be. I confess I was and still am anxious about sharing Hebrews with you. I’m no theologian and this is wonderful and deep! And then I realized that Hebrews is where we meet Jesus, the Son, Creator God. In the notes it said the author is unknown and written probably before AD 70 when the temple was destroyed because Hebrews highlights the sacrificial ceremonies of the Temple and there is no mention of its demise. Whether written before or after that event, the Temple was but a marker showing us Jesus, because He was before the Temple as He is eternally here with us now and always. Let’s meet Him together in our chapter, Hebrews 1. God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they. For to which of the angels did He ever say, “You are My Son, today I have begotten You”? And again, “I will be a Father to Him and He shall be a Son to Me”? And when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says, “And let all the angels of God worship Him.” And of the angels He says, “Who makes His angels winds, and His ministers a flame of fire.” But of the Son He says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, and the righteous scepter is the scepter of His kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness above Your companions.” And, “You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of Your hands; they will perish, but You remain; and they all will become old like a garment, and like a mantle You will roll them up; like a garment they will also be changed. But You are the same, and Your years will not come to an end.” But to which of the angels has He ever said, “Sit at My right hand, until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet”? Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?

Why learn about Jesus the Son in Hebrews? Because He is the one who, as you look back at your life with eyes to see what could not have been random, was there. As you give thanks for events in your life that felt deep and powerful even if but for a moment, let those memories be markers of altars of where God Himself met you personally. And as you reflect on how those events shaped you in your life, it helps to know Him as He is and will always be. He is the radiance of His glory…and the exact representation of His nature…and upholds all things by the word of His power. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are shown in each other. Our lives today are not separate from the momentous times recorded. They have meaning now in our time unfolding. And He tells us the same thing He told His disciples then and the prophets of old…Follow Me…I AM. And as we meet Him in Hebrews and in every book of Scripture, remember this promise, this marker of His covenant love – Those possessed of genuine love have God’s life in them…for God is Love. And we can be acquainted with Him as surely as was John the Disciple and Apostle who followed Jesus right into eternal life. How? Trusting Him and looking back at moments in your life when you knew something meaningful, something different and good and not of this world as it is now – but of this world as it was created to be…with Creator God with us.