Art Toombs Ministries
Online Bible Commentary
Come to Christ
Hebrews 12:22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, 23 to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, 24 to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel. (NKJV)
The early Eastern Church (Dionysius and Clement, both of Alexandria), from the second century, claimed Paul was the writer of Hebrews. The Western Church later agreed.
Luke translated the letter to the Hebrews into Greek, according to Clement in the second century. Luke was with Paul during his second Roman imprisonment and was his amanuensis during Paul’s final days (2 Timothy 4:11).
It is likely that Luke was also Paul’s amanuensis for this letter. My conclusion is that this was Paul’s last writing, written in late 67-early 68 A.D.
In this letter, Paul is writing to Hebrews who have converted to Christianity from Judaism. Family and friends are likely pressuring them to return to Judaism, so Paul is writing to these Hebrew Christians to encourage them to remain steadfast in their faith and not to return to Judaism.
The book of Hebrews is divided into two main topics Through Hebrews 10:18 the topic is the superiority of Christ to Judaism. The rest of the book is devoted to exhortations to obedient living, a fitting conclusion to Paul’s writings.
Initially, in this second topic, Paul gave examples of great men and women of faith who were honored for their obedient living. Now, he turns to exhorting Christians to obedient living.
In this passage, Paul continues his warning, which began in verse fifteen, to not miss out on salvation. This warning was to the first century Hebrew Christians, but applies also to all people today. Paul was attempting to discourage the Hebrew Christians from returning to Judaism.
In the previous passage, the Old Covenant Law of Moses was portrayed on Mount Sinai as a covenant of fear and judgment. In contrast, in this passage, the New Covenant of Jesus Christ is portrayed as a covenant of blessings.
Paul begins this passage by writing “But you have come to” (v. 22a). In portraying the New Covenant Paul lists eight blessings. When we “come to” Christ, we “come to” these eight blessings.
The blessings are discussed below:
(1) Paul writes, next, that we have come to “Mount Zion and to the city of the living God” (v. 22b). He contrasts Mount Zion with Mount Sinai, where Moses came to receive the Old Covenant from God.
Mount Zion, unlike Mount Sinai, represents “the city of the living God”, not just a mountain used temporarily by God. It is a blessing to come to the home of the living God.
(2) Paul writes that we have come to “the heavenly Jerusalem” (v. 22b). It is a blessing to come to Heaven, and to bask in its beauty.
(3) We have also come to “an innumerable company of angels” (v. 22c), It is a blessing to be serenaded by “innumerable” angels in Heaven, so many angels that it is impossible to put a number on them.
(4) We have come to “the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven” (v. 23a). These are the New Testament saints, those believers of the church age.
It is a blessing to come to them and to fellowship with them for eternity. It is a blessing to be included with the “registered”, those whose names are included in the Book of Life.
(5) We have come to “God, the Judge of all” (v. 23b). It is a great blessing to come to God the Father, to be warmed by His glory, and to be able to worship Him in person.
(6) We have come to “the spirits of just men made perfect” (v. 23c). These are the Old Testament saints. It is a blessing to come meet them, know them, and learn from them.
(7) We have come to “Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant” (v. 24a). It is a great blessing to come to see Jesus, face to face, to worship Him, to thank Him personally, and to sit at his feet and learn. Just as Moses was the mediator of the Old Covenant, Jesus is the mediator of the New Covenant.
(8) We have come to “the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel” (v. 24b). The blood of Christ represents grace and forever forgiveness of sin.
The blood of Abel, shed by his brother Cain, represented vengeance and temporary covering of sin. It is a blessing to come to Christ as one who is forgiven through grace, forever.
In conclusion, to come to Christ means to experience these blessings, and much, much, more. It is a blessing that far outweighs anything else.
It is worth giving up anything else. It is our best hope, our only hope.
Come to Christ. You will never regret doing so.