Hebrews 2: 10 For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to prefect the author of their salvation through sufferings. Hebrews 12: 2 Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
As someone who enjoys reading and writing, I find it interesting that Hebrews calls Jesus the “author” of our salvation and our faith. The dictionary does not add much nuance to the word author, “a writer of a book, article or report”, but the thesaurus gave these suggestions: wordsmith, playwright, lyricist, originator, creator, instigator, prime mover, architect, designer, engineer, divisor, planner, agent. “Wordsmith” is a great word! I picture Jesus moving the words and sentences of faith about on a large design board until they are all in the exact right position. “Instigator”, in my experience is not often used in a positive way. For example, “which child instigated the fight that resulted in your black eye?” But Jesus nudges us, maybe even goads us into a fuller faith. What about “architect”? The One who designs our faith and does the planning so that it can be exactly as He imagines. The idea of lyricist strikes my imagination and makes me smile. Picture your faith as a song sung to the glory of God, and Jesus humming as He writes the lyrics. The songs that touch our hearts the most are those that resonate with emotions we feel and situations we've experienced. All that thick, black, sometimes sticky gunk that looks like an unidentifiable Rorschach test to me, is the ink Jesus uses to design my faith! When I give it to Him, He will draw that which I see as an ugly stain, through the quill feather of the Holy Spirit, make sense of it and order it, turning it into a beautiful song, worthy to be sung before the throne of God Almighty! The verses from Hebrews connect the authoring of our faith with the suffering Jesus went through. There are many Bible passages that speak of singing a new song to the Lord. Psalm 149 speaks of singing the song as part of a congregation and with dancing, but also says in verse 5, “Let them sing for joy on their beds.” So I encourage you to take your experiences and emotions; the good, bad and ugly, and present them as an offering to our Lord. Let Him do what only He can do, and watch as He designs, engineers and devises them, writing the lyrics of a new song that only you can sing! Psalm 96:1-6 Sing to the LORD a new song; Sing to the LORD, all the earth. Sing to the LORD, bless His name; Proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day. Tell of His glory among the nations, His wonderful deeds among the nations, His wonderful deeds among all the peoples. For great is the LORD and greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are idols, But the LORD made the heavens. Splendor and majesty are before Him, Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.
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