Jesus Christ — Always

devotional dr. david olford Apr 05, 2022

One of the “great texts” of Scripture that stand like a “strong tower” is found in Hebrews 13:8

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever."

(NKJV)

We can gain great strength from this text, even as it stands alone. Our Lord Jesus Christ is faithful, He never changes. What an encouragement and comfort in a world that is constantly changing!

At the same time, this precious verse was not written alone, nor does it actually stand on its own. It is in the middle of a glorious passage of Scripture, Hebrews chapter 13. I have preached on this verse, trying to connect it to its immediate context. The outline below provides the main applications of one of the messages I have preached from this text.

I encourage you to read the section of Scripture (Hebrews 13:7-13) and then to think of verse 8 in that context. What I gained from this section is that – due to the “same-ness” of Jesus Christ, we can have faith in Him as leaders have in the past, we can gain grace from Him rather than from other false sources, and our hope can be placed in Him for the future. I think these truths are reflected in these verses in Hebrews 13, they are true to the message of Hebrews, and they are implications of Hebrews 13:8.

The three points under the last application are three emphases within Hebrews. The emphasis is that each one of these (covenant, redemption, salvation) is eternal. Jesus Christ has established an eternal covenant, He has provided an eternal redemption, and we now have an eternal salvation in and through Him. This stresses the eternal benefits of our Lord Jesus Christ who is the same forever.

To read this text literally (in its word order) as it stands in the Greek text, it reads as follows:

“Jesus Christ yesterday and today the same and into the ages”

What a glorious truth in English, in Greek, and in whatever language it is translated into for us to believe, know, speak, find comfort and strength, and to live by each day.