Heb 6:13  For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself,
Heb 6:14  Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee.
Heb 6:15  And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.
Heb 6:16  For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife.
Heb 6:17  Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath:
Heb 6:18  That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:
Heb 6:19  Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;
Heb 6:20  Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.

Last week we talked about God blessing mankind in Genesis.  How God got down on bended knee and promised Himself to us.  He promised His life to us.  Hebrews says when God could swear to us, by nothing greater than Himself, that He is bringing forth His life in us, He swore by Himself.  

Heb 6:16  For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife.

When something is promised, there can be a sort of questioning as to whether or not the promise is sure …. There can be things that cause doubts and insecurities as to whether or not what was promised is coming to pass or not.  Many times people have promised me things, and I’ve questioned whether it’s a serious promise or not.  I mean even in our lives with God, we can encounter things sometimes, that question whether or not God is really working life in us.  We can encounter things that try and say to us, has God really said.

If you look at the life of Abraham, God promised Abraham He would make Abraham exceedingly fruitful.  Yes, Abraham was strengthened by faith, but there was some strife and debate initially concerning Gods promise.   The deadness in Abraham’s body and in Sarah’s womb questioned the validity of Gods promise.  Abrahams initial reply was what shall you give me Lord, seeing I have no heir.  Just like with Abraham strife and debate and confusion tries to come to us when we see deadness in our lives and in the earth.  Confusion and debate as to whether or not life is working in us and in the earth tries to come in.  We can think what shall you give me Lord.  How can your promise be true.  Is life really working in me and in the earth, seeing this death and tribulation and corruption I see.  Will life manifest in me.  Will I see the fruit of your Spirit … will I be decorated in the fruit of Gods life. 

The reason you swear is to put an end to any strife or confusion or debate, surrounding whether or not the promise is coming to pass.  If someone promises me something, and I question the veracity of the promise, they might say I swear, to comfort me concerning the certainty of what they promised.  

God wanted to put to an end any question or doubt or dispute concerning His promise.  He wanted to put an end to anything that could cause us to question whether or not life was being made manifest in us.  God wanted to show us the immutability of His life coming to pass in us, so we can be comforted.  He desired to give us a sanctuary, a place of refuge.  A strong consolation.  A place of safety where all our anxieties could be quieted and made still.  God wanted to make our hearts still from the storms that rage in this world, that are always trying to dispute what He 
promised.  

When God wanted to do all that, because he could swear by nothing greater than Himself, He swore by Himself.  What it means is God swore by Jesus.  Jesus is God swearing, not cussing, but giving us an oath.  Jesus is God vowing His life is being made manifest in all those who believe, and in the earth.

To swear by something means to invoke a person or a thing as a witness.  God invoked the life He has in Himself; He invoked the life that manifested in the body of Jesus’ resurrection, as a witness of the immutability of His determination to work life in us.  When God saw there was nothing greater, that could bring an end to the disputation of deaths counsel in the earth, than the manifestation of His life in dead bones, He raised Jesus from the dead.  The resurrection is God swearing.  It’s Him showing us the immutability of His life.  The resurrection of Jesus is God showing us the immutability of His determination to work His life in us.  It’s God putting our minds to ease by showing us the death and corruption in the world cannot keep Him from bringing forth life in us.  That’s our strong tower.  The substance of His life is a sanctuary for us.  It’s a place of order.  It’s a place of refuge for us.  It’s our safe space, because we see God’s life brings forth order even out of the midst of chaos.  

Our inheritance isnt only eternal life.  A big part of our inheritance is the earth.  We are one with the earth.  Our bodies were taken from the dust of the ground.  If you look at the mineral content in the earth it’s made up of the same minerals our bodies are made of.  Just as Paul says no man hates his own body, but loves and cherishes it.  We love the earth.  There’s a knowing in our hearts that we belong here.  When we see the clear blue water and the stars and the sun and the mountains and the water falls and the blue sky, we like those things.  Earth is our home.  It’s our inheritance.  It’s something God gave to us as part of our inheritance.  You can never be happy if you see your inheritance being corrupted.  When we look at the earth and see all the wars and rumors of wars, and the all the corruption and rumors of corruption everywhere, the thought can come to us, that our inheritance is being stolen.  We can hear a voice trying to stir up strife in us.  We can hear a voice saying, has God really said you will inherit the earth.  Has God really promised you a glorified earth, where’s there no remnant of sin or death, and never can be again.  Look at the corruption taking over.  

We need a place of sanctuary; we need a place of safety; a place of security; we need a safe space from the anxiety of what we see going on in the world.  All the suffering and corruption we see.  We need a place of safety from all the hell we see going on in the world.  We need something that can bring an end to the strife and debate and confusion.  

Rev 1:1  The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John: 

When John wanted to give strong consolation to the saints who saw the earth full of corruption and were experiencing great tribulation.  What he did is He unveiled Jesus Christ in their midst.  He layed bare the life that Jesus has in Himself.

The greek word for revelation is apokalupsis.  It’s our english word apocalypse.  When we think of the English word for apocalypse we think of a great catastrophe, or destruction. That’s not what the greek word means.  The greek word talks about a disclosure, a revelation, a manifestation, an appearance.  Thayers Greek Lexicon defines it as laying bare, a disclosure of truth.  The apocalypse is literally the revelation of Jesus Christ, and the life he has in Himself.  

The death and resurrection of Jesus is a sign of the apocalypse, and what it’s all about.  In revelation 1 alpha and omega says I am him who was dead and alive forever more.  The resurrection of Jesus is the firstfruit of the revelation of Jesus Christ.  It’s the firstfruit of the apocalypse.  Its God swearing to us, we will inherit a glorified earth, where there’s no possibility of sin or death, by unveiling His life to us in the body of Jesus’ death and resurrection.  

We can see a sign of the apocalypse inside the body of Jesus Christ.   Jesus’ body was made from the dust of the earth.  His body was earthy, and the corruption in the earth manifested in His body on the cross.  In the resurrection we see it wasnt his body that was being destroyed it was sin and death and corruption?  The reason we know is because Jesus came out of the grave bodily, free from any remnant of the sin and death that came upon him at the cross.  The cross was the fulness of sin and death and all its power to destroy the earth, welling up and manifesting itself, trying to dispute the promise of God’s life; telling us God is not working life in us, and in the earth.  And God brings an end to all strife, and confusion and debate, and gives us a strong consolation, showing us the promise is sure … by warring against the fulness of darkness and death, in the body of Christ, when He raised Jesus from the dead. 

The apocalypse has already happened in our hearts.  We see Jesus Christ now.  We see the life He has in Himself now, and we see what it does to death and corruption and tribulation.  If we want to say there’s catastrophe and destruction in the apocalypse, we want to see it’s the destruction of death.  It’s the destruction of every remnant of corruption, to the degree corruption ceases to exist and can never exist again.  

Heb 6:7  For the earth which drinketh in the rain that comes often upon it, and brings forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receives blessing from God:
Heb 6:8  But that which bears thorns and briers is rejected, and is near unto cursing; whose end is to be burned.

Paul says we abide in hope.  What it means is that hope is a refuge for us.  The hope of the gospel is the sheepfold the Father has made for us, to keep us from the wolves and the thieves and the robbers.  God sowed the seed of His life into the earth through the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus.  He did that to give you and I and Himself a certainty that, just as surely as we see death completely consumed in the body of Christ, we will see death completely consumed, and forever removed from the earth.  That is a place of refuge.  It’s the only safe space there is.  

When a man loves his wife, and she is giving birth.  He can be pressed in upon, and grieved at the pain he sees his wife going through, but in the midst of that he has a strong consolation.  A strong consolation is a comfort that superabounds over the grief you feel.  It just means the power behind the comfort is greater than the power that is causing the grief, so comfort wins out.  The strong consolation the husband has is he knows life is coming forth.  He knows the travail his wife is experiencing is because she is pregnant with the life of his child, and that her travailing is a sign of the life, that is coming forth, not a sign of her death.  

Prayer