Bridges are amazing! My favorite bridges are those that take you somewhere new. In the world we live in there are many proverbial bridges that promise journeys of enlightenment, prosperity, relational harmony, and freedom from stress. These bridges are good, but the bridge of spirituality promises a better way. Spirituality is a bridge from the natural to the supernatural, the mundane to the extravagant, the created to the uncreated, and ultimately from mankind to God.
What do you think it means to be spiritual?
Jews have always been considered Spiritual. During the years of the early Church’s formation spirituality was redefined (or better explained). Before Jesus is was based on a system of predisposed rules and regulations (the Mosaic Law). After Jesus life, death, and resurrection spirituality was defined as a relationship with God in/and through Jesus. In short, spirituality was based on regulations and now it’s based on a relationship.
The author of Hebrews encouraged the early church to not look to angels (God’s spokesmen for sharing the mosaic law) but to look to Jesus. Today we will wrestle with how your struggle compares to Jews in the early church. We will identify the eternal truths of this scripture, and attempt to build a bridge that will apply to your spiritual journey. Read Hebrews 1 and 2 with this in mind.
|
People Group
|
A Good Way Predisposition |
A Better Way |
|
Jews |
Mosaic Law |
Relationship with Jesus |
| Modern World |
? |
Relationship with Jesus |
To better understand your predisposition (rules and regulations) lets ask a few questions.
- What types of moral/spiritual traditions did you grow up with?
- What types of moral/spiritual traditions did you personally incorporate through personal exploration, education, friendships, and other influencers?
- On a scale of 1 -10 (1 being very little and 10 being very strong) how deeply do your moral/spiritual traditions influence your actions?
Now that you have a better understanding of your predispositions lets examine the scripture to discover how the author bridged the gap from the Mosaic Law to a relationship with Jesus. Then we will examine that correlation to see if there are transferable thoughts (if needed) that could help build a bridge from your predispositions (rules and regulations) to God’s disposition (a relationship).
| Jewish Bridge to Jesus | The Modern World Bridge to Jesus |
| Signs, miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit 2:4 | Signs, miracles, and gifts of the Holy |
| Jesus made man (lower than the angels) now crowned with Glory through his life, death, and resurrection. 2:9 | Jesus is one of us, and more than us (He is God). |
| Jesus calls us brothers and sisters 2:12 | Jesus wants a relationship |
| Jesus freed man from the devil’s grips 2:14-15 | Jesus saves us from brokenness |
| Jesus sympathizes and understands 217-18 | Jesus sympathizes and understands |
- What aspects of the bridge do you need?
- Spend time praying, reading, and committing yourself to doing what it takes to build a better bridge to having a relationship with Jesus.
