“-God, willing more abundantly to show the heirs of His promise (that’s us!) the immutability of His counsel-(in that) it was impossible for God to lie- (and that) we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast.” (Hebrews 6:17-19)
In a nearly hopeless world, one source has remained a steady source of hope for millenia: God. God has revealed Himself through His creation and through His Word. Jesus is the Living and spoken Word; He is the express image of the Father and His life, ministry, death, and resurrection simply illuminated this dark world with the hope of living abundantly in the physical world and living eternally in the spiritual kingdom.
Literally, God’s Word is the anchor of hope to which our soul is attached. God was abundantly willing to share this hope with us; the heirs of His promise! He jumped at the opportunity of reconciling the world to Himself through the finished work of Christ His Son. He affirmed this through the immutability (unchangeableness) of His counsel, which here could mean His will, advice, or purpose.
The writer of Hebrews then affirms that it is “impossible for God to lie.” God could not deny the truth of Who He is, Who His Son is, and what has been shared through His revealed Word. In a sea of turbulent deceit, the sameness of God’s Word is a rock upon which to build our lives.
God Himself then becomes our strong consolation, our solace and comfort during the storms of life. Do I trust in God during my seasons of difficulty? And do “strong and consolation” seem to be a strange combination of words? I believe that it implies that God is serious about being our source of comfort.
Lay hold means to powerfully master or gain possession of a thing…to seize and retain. And how intentionally do I lay hold on that hope that is offered by God through His Word? Do I regularly access the hope that is made available to me?
Finally, this small section of Scripture finishes by calling this hope and “anchor of the soul both sure and steadfast.” These two descriptive words, though similar have a slight difference in meaning. “Sure” is certain or true, while “steadfast” means stable or held fast. Is this hope that is the anchor of my soul certain and true? Is it stable and holding fast to the rock that is Jesus? I say, “Yes!”
