Hebrews 12:23 Commentary and Bible Study

We could say to the writer of Hebrews, ‘We are still on earth. You are addressing mere mortals, we are still here, not in heaven.’ Yes, but because you are saved, it is as good as if you were there already. You have come ‘to the general assembly’, a great convocation, ‘and church of the firstborn.’ Is firstborn a reference to Christ – the church of Christ – because he is the firstborn among many brethren, because he is the head of his people? Or is it a reference to us – we ourselves are like the firstborn? The firstborn was the one with the inheritance and we have an inheritance. The firstborn had all the privileges and we have great privileges. The word is plural and refers to every believer. We all inherit and we all enjoy the privileges of the firstborn child, even though there are many of us.‘And to God the Judge of all.’ This has a special meaning. Why introduce God the Judge in the description of the great blessings and privileges of Christians? Because throughout the Bible God is the judge of the widow and the fatherless. He is also judge in the sense that he is the protector of the needy, the guardian of the widow and the fatherless, so the reference to God as Judge has this sense. It does not mean that he will be the judge of his dear people but that he acts to protect them. He will judge Satan and his hosts and the unregenerate and we will be the inheritors and the inhabiters of eternal glory.‘And to the spirits of just men made perfect.’ I am still a sinner. I am still on earth. I am still in the body. They are disembodied spirits waiting for the final day, when they, with us, will receive their glorified bodies. The moment they were transported as disembodied souls into the presence of Christ, they were made perfect: perfect in holiness, with unlimited understanding, perfect in happiness and bliss. But we have this in common – we are just, justified. We come to worship, and we are joined not only with the angelic hosts in this worship, but we are joined by the writer of the epistle, we are joined with all those who have loved the Lord, and who have died and who gone in spirit into the presence of Christ. They are in constant worship and devotion, and we are joined with them. We do not see them, but we are joined with them in status. They are the redeemed before God, so are we. We are joined to a large extent in knowledge, because although they know so much, we have the essence of the same knowledge. We are in communion with Christ. Yes, our communion is obscured in many ways, and theirs is unrestricted, but we have much in common with them. We are in the same family. They are, at the moment, in the better place, but we are not far behind.