Excluded to be Included
Nobody likes being excluded, there is a deep human need to belong and be appreciated. To be included though, to enter into belonging somewhere, we have to leave somewhere else. Exclusion is necessary for proper inclusion. A husband leaves his father and mother and becomes one flesh with his wife. He forsakes all other women, leaves them so that he can be devoted to his wife. Remember, when the world excludes us for the sake of Jesus, we aren’t just leaving the world, we’re being included in the Kingdom.
Scripture
Hebrews 13:7-14 ESV Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. 8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. 9 Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them. 10 We have an altar from which those who serve the tent have no right to eat. 11 For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp. 12 So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. 13 Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. 14 For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.
Bible Study Questions
Hebrews 7:13 calls us to remember certain leaders, to think about the way they lived and died and to imitate them. What is the critical thing, mentioned in the verse, that that makes these leaders the right people to follow.
How is Jesus even better than the leaders that we are to remember and imitate, and what does this tell us about Him (Hebrews 13:8, Psalm 102:26-27)
When we have the Word of God, the Scriptures, we have everything we need to know to follow the Lord Jesus Christ faithfully, He doesn’t change. The Hebrew Christians were being tempted back into the Temple worship system, His teachings were being changed (Hebrews 13:9). In what ways are we tempted back into the world by changing teachings?
On the Day of Atonement, the sin offerings were burned up outside the camp of Israel and not even the priest were allowed to eat them (Leviticus 16:27, Hebrews 13:10-12). What alter is the author talking about that Hebrew Christians are allowed to eat from, even though it’s “outside” the city? (Romans 3:23-25)
What could it mean for us to “go outside of the camp and bear the reproach that Jesus endured”? (John 15:18-20)
When are we transferred from the world to the Kingdom of God? (Colossians 1:9-14)
What city are we looking forward to, the one in which we belong? (Revelation 21:1-5)