JESUS, THE PIONEER AND PERFECTER

This post by kathylarkman was originally published at GRACE PLACE

Hebrews 12:1-3
“… fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.” (NIV)
I love this description of Jesus. It reminds me that, like pioneers going off to America or Australia, he has gone ahead of me and blazed a trail. The future is not a terrifying landscape, uncharted and unknown. Jesus, my pioneer, went there first. And even better, he finishes every job he starts, because he is the ‘perfecter’, too, adding all the final touches to present me as perfect in Him.
Jesus is the pioneer because he is the only one who has died and been raised into new life. He is the pioneer who gives us the Holy Spirit. He is the pioneer who is even now in heaven with the Father.
If I fix my eyes on him, I can follow his pioneering trail. Whatever I face in my life, I know that he was there first:
Rejected by those you love? Jesus was rejected first.
Physically suffering? Jesus suffered first.
Abandoned by friends? Jesus was totally deserted first.
People tell lies about you? Jesus was wrongly accused first.
Feeling the pain of giving things up? Jesus gave up everything.
But the path Jesus has set for us to follow is also pioneering in other areas:
Want to please God? Jesus shows us how.
How to get to heaven? Jesus himself is the way.
Staring at Jesus all the time gives me the best example. Whenever I’m unsure, I can look to him for the way forward.
But sometimes it’s an overwhelming example because I can’t live up to it. This is why the second half of the verse is so amazing. Not just an example, Jesus is the “pioneer… of our faith”. He went ahead of us, making a way for us to have faith.
Jesus’ death and resurrection is the pioneering treatment for our heart disease, so that we can confidently say, ‘Yes Father God, I believe your promises, that in Jesus Christ you will save me, keep me, transform me, glorify me, just as you promised, because you keep your promises; you sent Jesus and he died and rose again just like you promised.”
Jesus is also the ‘perfecter’. He doesn’t just start off the work of faith and abandon us to become holy by our own efforts. He stays with us and sees the job through. He perfects us. He doesn’t leave us half-finished but sticks with us right to the end – just as he promised, “I will never leave you, nor abandon you.” (Hebrews 13:5)
So fix your eyes on Jesus. He goes ahead of us and he sticks with us to the end. You won’t have to look far to find him. He is always speaking to us in the Bible, through Christian songs and friends, and his Holy Spirit lives in us. He leads us through whatever joys and sorrows come our way. We can be confident that our faith is not misplaced – God keeps his promises – because Jesus the pioneer went there first and Jesus the perfecter sticks with us to the end.