Hebrews 4: Exposed and Unashamed

When I first started my higher education at Davis College, the ministry training school where I met and became great friends with Pastor Liam, I freely and sorely admit that I had very little interest in reading my bible on my own time. After all, the holy, infallible, fully sufficient word of God was one of my textbooks! The bible became a great source of head information, but not of soul transformation. I loved Jesus, but I certainly didn’t love his Word. It felt like a chore to carve time out of my day to spend reading and meditating on scripture. Maybe you can relate to that.

What changed my walk with Jesus forever was that in my second year of school, I met my future wife, Angelina. Angelina had a sweet, gentle spirit, a beautiful singing voice, and a kind heart. There was really only one problem with her: she knew WAY more about the bible than I did! As a matter of fact, her passion and love and regard for the Word was intimidating to me. As silly as it sounds, it was my desire for her that led me to kickstart my bible reading, because I knew I didn’t have a shot with her if I didn’t.

Sitting down and reading the word of God every morning was a chore at first, but as I continued to read it every single day, this task turned into the greatest treasure of my days. I felt myself being encouraged, challenged, and convicted. I started seeing things in my own heart and mind and actions that were inconsistent with God’s character that I hadn’t seen before. This ancient book was shaping my soul and speaking into my life on a daily basis. Slowly but surely, God was transforming me from the inside out through his word.

Our call as followers of Jesus is to be transformed continually into his likeness. This is not an immediate change that happens upon salvation, but a continual process over the course of our whole lives called sanctification, and our sanctification is one of the greatest proofs that our salvation is genuine. But how can we be transformed if we don’t know what God requires? And if we don’t know what God requires, how will we see the inconsistency in our own lives? And if we can’t see the inconsistency, how will we ever be transformed? The author of Hebrews puts it this way:

“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account."
Hebrews 4:12-13

When you read scripture, something deeper is happening than a cognitive experience. Let’s stop and consider that phrase, “discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart,”. When you read the bible, the bible is actually reading you. It exposes our deepest desires, the roots of our actions, the intentions of our hearts. The very next verse takes this idea a step further when it uses the word exposed. In the original language of the book of Hebrews, the word we translate exposed is defined this way:

“to bend back the neck of a victim to be slain”

This invokes an image of someone standing behind us, thrusting our heads upwards to expose our necks, and laying a sword to it. What this ought to invoke in us is a sense of nakedness and vulnerability before God. As we read the word of God, the most vulnerable parts of our souls are laid bare before Him and before ourselves. The Word of God gives you eyes to see what God sees in you. Oftentimes we are blind to our failing, blind to our shortcomings, and yet God sees clearly the most vulnerable, ugly, shameful parts of your soul and heart, and the word of God helps us to see those things in truth. The word exposes the reality of who we truly are without a filter. It was author and pastor A.W. Tozer that once said, “An honest man with an open bible and a pad and pencil is sure to find out what is wrong with him very quickly.” How true this rings.

The problem, then, is that when we are laid bare by the word of God, it can cause us to feel a great deal of guilt and shame. We see the darkness in our lives and our natural reaction is to run like Adam and Eve and cover up our shame with some fig leaves. However, this is not how God has designed for us to live! He has not laid you bare to mock or punish or shame you for your downfalls.

“Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
Hebrews 4:14-16

We all have this nasty habit of running as far from the throne of God as we can when we see sin and failure in our lives, but God has called us to draw near. Why? Because the Jesus we serve experienced every temptation you did. My Jesus was tempted with rage, tempted with lust, tempted with pride, tempted with greed, tempted with bitterness, tempted with selfishness, and so when I come to him with my failures, I come to a Jesus that gets it, and has compassion for me. Our Savior is no stranger to our vices. Remember, it is not the great white throne of judgement that we are called to draw near to, but the throne of grace, to receive mercy for our failures, and grace to be overcomers in the future.

My encouragement to you today is this: read God’s word daily with purpose, that purpose being to obey God more fully. Take time to reflect on what you’ve read. Where the word exposes your weakness, bring it to God in prayer. When you fall into sin, approach the throne for mercy. When you feel tempted, approach the throne for grace. The call of Jesus today is for you to confidently step out of the darkness and drag your sin and weakness before Him in the light of his grace.


Jesse Kirkpatrick
Associate Pastor
Christian Church of Estes Park