FIXED: Jesus IS Better

Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.

Hebrews 12:2

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that
so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the
cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

Hebrews 12:1-3

Here are the specific things Jesus is better than in Hebrews:

• Angels: Jesus is superior to angels because he is the Son of God, the Creator, and worthy of worship, while angels are merely ministering spirits (Heb 1:4-14).
• Prophets: While God spoke through prophets in the past, He has spoken definitively through His Son, who is the radiance of God’s glory (Heb 1:1-3).
• Moses was a faithful servant in God’s house, but Jesus is the Son over the house and is worthy of greater glory (Heb 3:3-6).
• Joshua: Joshua brought the Israelites into the Promised Land, but Jesus brings a superior, eternal “rest” (Heb 4:8-9).
• Aaron and the Levitical Priesthood: Jesus is a better priest in the order of Melchizedek—sinless, immortal, and not needing to offer daily sacrifices for himself (Heb 7).
• The Old Covenant: Jesus mediates a “better covenant” built on “better promises,” which is established in his blood rather than written on stone (Heb 8:6).
• Animal Sacrifices: Jesus’s sacrifice of himself was “once for all,” whereas the blood of bulls and goats could never take away sins completely (Heb 9:12, 10:4).
• The Old Testament Law/Tabernacle: Jesus provides a better sanctuary and a direct path to God’s presence, rather than a restricted earthly tent (Heb 9:11-24).
• Earthly Inheritance/Hope: Jesus provides a “better and lasting possession” and a “better hope” that allows believers to draw near to God (Heb 10:34, 7:19)

Two categories:

1. Everything that hinders
2. The sin that so easily entangles.

1. Everything that hinders

3 common weights we carry that slow us down in our race

1. Stress and anxiety
2. Religion
3. Sin Struggles

Heb 4:12-The Hebrew writer says,

“In your struggle against sin you’ve not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.”

Sin will separate & sin will build a wall

Psalm 32- “When I kept silent,” before I threw off that guilt and the shame, before I repented and confessed… “When I was silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand (he says to God) was heavy upon me, and my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer.”

2. Sin That Easily Entangles

“the sin of unbelief, of not having faith. “