Into the Hands of God

Sometimes the most profound statements are some of the simplest statements. Today in my Bible reading I was reminded of one of the simplest yet most profound statements in the Bible, which reads,

It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Hebrews 10:31

That summary sentence comes at the end of a seminal passage in Hebrews. When I concluded reading that portion of God’s Word I was reminded of the terrifying consequences of living a life of intentional sin. Listen to the sternness of the writer’s words.

If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," and again, "The Lord will judge his people."

Hebrews 10:26-30

The writer of Hebrews gives us three definitions of sin:

1. Sin is to trample the Son of God under foot.

2. Sin is failure to see the sacredness of sacred things.

3. Sin is insult to the Holy Spirit.

As one commentator noted, “Sin is not disobedience to an impersonal law; it is the wrecking of a personal relationship and the wounding of the heart of God whose name is Father.”

While praying this morning I contrasted Hebrews 10:31 with 2 Samuel 24:14, where the Bible says,

David said to Gad, "I am in deep distress. Let us fall into the hands of the LORD, for his mercy is great; but do not let me fall into the hands of men."

Contrasting the two situations (Hebrews 10:31 & 2 Samuel 24:14) I thanked my Father that I have fallen into His hands according to His mercy through Jesus Christ and not His wrath. What about you? The writer of Hebrews warns us, “It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”