God Cannot Lie
Hebrews 6:18
“so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us.”
God Cannot Lie
In the days of temple worship in Jerusalem there were priests in charge of offering up sacrifices on behalf of themselves and others for the atonement of sin. There were burnt offerings, peace offerings, sin offerings, guilt offerings and drink offerings. These offerings were symbolic coverings of a multitude of sins. Sins ranged from those that were known to be committed to those that didn’t know they were committed.
In order for Israel to perform these offerings they need a temple and priests. It is sin in the Jewish world to offer a sacrifice without a temple and have not been performed because the temple was destroyed in A.D. 70. The Law would appoint priests in order to perform sacrifices. There were many of them because they were weak and they died. They needed to have families in order for the process to continue. The ritual of sacrifices was something that was performed over and over because of the weakness of the covenant and the people. The Law could not make anyone perfect – Hebrews 7:19. The design of all the sacrifices, Law, and priest hood was to point to something better.
The Law and sacrificial system serve as a picture. When you look at a car you see the entire car. When you get up close you see the different parts of the car that make up the entire car. The Law and sacrifices are the nuts and bolts that make up all that Jesus performed. You may also look at the Law as a blueprint of the Person and works of Jesus Christ. The Law is a tutor to lead us to Christ – Galatians 3:24. Each category of the Law is fulfilled in one Person, our Lord Jesus Christ.
Hebrews 6:18 starts off with the statement of, “so that by two unchangeable things.” The two unchangeable things are a promise and an oath. A promise is defined as, “a declaration or assurance that one will do a particular thing or that a particular thing will happen. An oath is defined as, “a solemn promise, often invoking a divine witness, regarding one’s future action or behavior.” God is the one who makes the promises and swears by Himself as there is no one greater than Himself that He will keep His promises.
The next part says that it is impossible for God to lie. His very being is truth. Every word that comes from the mouth of God is true. He cannot lie! Jesus is quoted as saying in John 14:6, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” Jesus represents the Fathers nature in human form. If the very being of God is truth then Jesus is true and all that He did is true. If this is the case and it is, we have a secure never changing hope that we can rest in.
Part of Hebrews 1:3 says, “When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.” If the Law and the sacrifices in the Old Covenant could purify sins then there would never have had to been a change. But, as we read earlier, those things were just pointing to the true sacrifice of Jesus Christ. This sacrifice is the only one that counts and will never be duplicated, performed again, or added to.
The sacrifice of Christ was once for all time. In doing so God was pleased and provided Jesus with the seat of power where He has ownership and authority over all things both in heaven and on earth. In doing so, “God raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus – Ephesians 2:6.” This is our hope! The temple priests went into the holy of holies once a year for many years. Christ entered into the true holy of holies never to have to enter again. He sat down because His work is done. When He did so did we. Although we have not currently realized it yet, God has, and this is our hope!
God says that anyone who believes in His Son will have eternal life – John 3:16. Anyone who does not will not have eternal life. This promise comes with an oath and cannot be changed because God cannot lie. The first act of obedience is putting our faith in God by trusting the promises His Son secured for us. When we trust His promises we trust Him and have fellowship with Him. Trusting in anything else leads to eternal death. Let’s praise God by anchoring our souls to this hope and encourage others to do so as well!!
