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David Campbell Jr.

That Great Shepherd of the sheep: Hebrews 13:20-21

Updated: Nov 9

That Great Shepherd of the sheep

Hebrews 13:20-21 New King James Version

20 Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, 21 make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

            It is by the grace of God that things are accomplished in our lives. It is not by our wisdom or our own power or strength. The longer you walk with Jesus the more you find out without Him that you are nothing. The maturing process of growing in Christ teaches us how much we truly need to rely on Jesus Christ.

            Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead. It was God who raised Jesus Christ from the dead. God is the The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit. The word peace here means the state of well-being and concord.[1] When our hearts and minds are fixed on Jesus Christ, His peace fills our lives. Without God we cannot encounter or live in His peace. If God can raise Christ from the dead anything is possible. Jesus has already overcome sin, death, and the grave. All of us have marching orders from God to accomplish His purposes on this earth. But it is only possible as we daily walk with Him and rely upon Him. His grace is key for all things.

            That great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant. Our covenant with Jesus Christ is an everlasting covenant. It is based upon His shed blood and the finished work of Calvary. Because He has overcome sin, death, and the grave it is a covenant that will never end. The word everlasting is the Greek word aiōnios and it means eternal, long-lasting. Describing the nature of something as enduring or eternal. This adjective is related to the noun αἰών (aiōn, “age”). It describes the quality of something as lasting the eon or enduring the age. Many of the instances in which this word occurs are in reference to something eternal, especially eternal (aiōnios) life.[2] Jesus is our great Shepherd. The reason we have peace, hope, and love is because of Jesus Christ. Regardless of how dark or chaotic the world gets it doesn’t matter if we know Jesus Christ personally. What I will never understand is how anyone navigates this world without knowing the good shepherd. We are truly sheep and without Him we are lost. But when we come to know Him, we come into a covenant relationship with the Living God that will never end.

            Make you complete in every good work to do His will. What is the driving force in your life every day when your eyes open and your feet hit the floor. Is it the will of God or is it your own selfish desires. Because of the grace of God, the purposes of God are possible to be accomplished in our lives. The word complete here is the Greek word katartizō, and it means to complete thoroughly, i.e. repair (lit. or fig.) or adjust:—fit, frame, mend, (make) perfect (-ly join together), prepare, restore.[3] It is Jesus Christ who makes us complete and perfect. All our sin is nailed to the cross of Calvary, the righteousness of Jesus Christ is applied to our lives. When the will of God becomes the driving force in our lives, we will begin to live our purpose out of why we were created.

            Working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. The will of God being accomplished in our lives is well pleasing in the sight of God. In this world we have two choices, either surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and live for Him or live for ourselves and serve the devil. Living for our own selfish human desires will simply lead to destruction. What if we are struggling with an area of temptation in our lives? Does God give up on us? The answer is emphatically no. God’s desire is that we would draw near and understand for His will to be accomplished in our lives we must rely fully upon His grace.

            The word working is the Greek word poieō and it means to make, do. Describes the act of making, producing, or creating. In the nt, this is a very general and frequent word for making and doing. It is only occasionally used for God’s act of creation. This sense appears mostly in four nt books: Acts, Romans, Hebrews, and Revelation. God created (poieō) the heavens and the earth (e.g., Acts 4:24); the author of Hebrews says that God made (poieō) the world through his Son (Heb 1:2) and that what God has created (poieō)—heaven and earth—will be shaken (Heb 12:27). God also made (poieō) humans (Acts 17:26; Rom 9:20), male and female (Mark 10:6; Matt 19:4; compare Gen 1:27); Paul says that Jesus Christ has made (poieō) peace by creating (κτίζω, ktizō) Jew and Gentile into “one new human being.”[4] God is literally by His power and grace making and accomplishing His purposes in our lives. It is only possible as we abide in Him. Those who struggle do so because they have not come to learn about the fullness of God’s grace available to us and that we must rely upon Him moment by moment.

            The word pleasing means to delight (give) — verb. to give pleasure to or be pleasing to. When we live for God and His purposes, we bring great pleasure and delight to our Father in Heaven. Our standing before Him is never based on our merits, performance, or behavior. If it was then His love would be conditional, and we would have something to boast about. But everything we receive from God is because of His grace and mercy towards us. If we choose to live in rebellion then because of His love for us, he will indeed discipline us. But as we abide and grow in Christ, we will see the purposes of His kingdom accomplished in our lives.

            All glory goes to Jesus forever and ever. We live this life for the sole purpose of glorifying Jesus. The danger many must guard against who begin to accomplish things for God’s kingdom and are granted greater influence is becoming puffed up with pride somehow beginning to think this is about us. When we are committed to the simplicity of simply glorifying Jesus Christ in all things, we will see His purposes accomplished in our lives. Because of His shed blood we have an eternal covenant. Through Jesus Christ God has a perfect will for our lives. The more we abide in Christ and grow in Him, we simply come to understand the beauty of grace and salvation. Even amid suffering for Him we are able to say thank you because of His great love for us.

Prayer

Father thank you for Jesus. Jesus thank you for being our Good Shepherd. Thank you for leading and guiding us each step of the way. Thank you for your goodness and your love and that you have great and mighty plans for us. Father remove from my life anything that would hinder your work. May every thought and desire be fully surrendered to you. In the mighty name of Jesus, Amen!


[1] Jonathon Lookadoo, “Peace,” ed. Douglas Mangum et al., Lexham Theological Wordbook, Lexham Bible Reference Series (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2014).

[2] J. A. McGuire-Moushon and Rachel Klippenstein, “Eternity,” ed. Douglas Mangum et al., Lexham Theological Wordbook, Lexham Bible Reference Series (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2014).

[3] James Strong, A Concise Dictionary of the Words in the Greek Testament and The Hebrew Bible (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2009), 40.

[4] Michael E. Peach, “Creation,” ed. Douglas Mangum et al., Lexham Theological Wordbook, Lexham Bible Reference Series (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2014).

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