Hebrews 6:18 English Standard Version (ESV) so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.

When we escape the trap of sin we might not think of ourselves as refugees. We live in the same city, home or apartment we lived in before coming to Christ but now we live in a new kingdom, the Kingdom of God. We are refugees from the world so let us look at our refugee status in comparison with what we know about refugees in the natural world.

Refugees will flee imminent danger being displaced by war or persecution. There is an immediacy to their escape taking only the clothes on their backs and the ones they love. When fleeing sin, it is not so apparent that we are now refugees from the world. We still have all that we had in the world, clothes, cars, toys, and friends that are still lost in a world of sin.

It is in the Word of God that we must find our new station in life, one of kingdom dwelling and our refugee status. It is living in the world but not of the world. It is a change of address in the mind and heart, not our street address.

Spiritual concepts are new to the spiritual refugee and there is one thing in common with these two types. That is one of dependency on the gracious kindness afforded us. In this spiritual kingdom, it is God’s good graces that provide for all our needs in this new life. We might not understand it right away but that does not stop God from providing for us.

The hope that is set before us in Hebrews 6:18 are the promises of God and in this He is not a liar and will provide. To understand all those promises and just how they work, we must study the Word of God and come to understand how these promises are supplied. Worldly refugees have distribution centers where food and water are dispensed. In God’s Kingdom, they are provided in His Word, His church, and His precious gifts.

Game Changer by Larry Perry

John 3:16-17 English Standard Version

¹⁶ “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

Just as Jesus announced to Nicodemus in yesterday’s reading, now is the time. If anyone has never understood why God should choose to sacrifice His only son to offer the gracious free gift of salvation, let it be known, now is the time to receive Him. This was the only way God could justify man’s presence in His Temple.

Jeremiah 5:4 English Standard Version (ESV) Then I said, “These are only the poor; they have no sense;
for they do not know the way of the Lord,  the justice of their God.

Only God could justify a people who were helpless to help themselves. To satisfy His Holiness and justify mankind, He had to come and execute justice on their behalf. He had to become the acceptable substitute in order to set man free from the snare of sin.

Romans 3:24-26 English Standard Version

²⁴ and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, ²⁵ whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. ²⁶ It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Propitiation means acceptable substitute. His sacrifice had to be perfect in order to have the power to do only what God can do, to set aside sin in order to have a relationship with mankind. He is just because He did nothing wrong in living life as the Son of Man. His sacrifice is spotless as demanded by the sacrifices for the sins of the nation.

His sacrifice had to be a free will offering in order that the gift of salvation could also be free.