The Unfinished Symphony: One Story, One Perfection Text: Hebrews 11:39-40
Introduction: The Heresy of Individualism
We have just marched through the great hall of faith. The author of Hebrews has taken us on a breathtaking tour, showing us the portraits of the giants of the Old Covenant. We have seen Abel's worship, Enoch's walk, Noah's obedience, Abraham's pilgrimage, Sarah's laughter, Moses' choice, and Rahab's defiance. We have seen prophets who stopped the mouths of lions and women who received their dead raised to life. And after this grand procession of heroes, the natural modern, evangelical impulse is to read it like a collection of inspirational biographies. We treat it like a shelf of books about spiritual superheroes, each with their own self-contained story, designed to make us feel either motivated or inadequate.
But this is a profound misreading. To read Hebrews 11 this way is to import the radical, democratic individualism of our age back into the text, and in so doing, to gut it of its central point. The Christian faith is not a solo enterprise. Salvation is not an individualistic spiritual quest. God is not saving a disconnected series of spiritual monads; He is building a city. He is raising a body. He is assembling an army. The story of redemption is one story, with one author, one hero, and one people. And the climax of this chapter drives this point home with the force of a battering ram.
The final two verses are not a sentimental epilogue; they are the interpretive key to the entire chapter. They tell us that the story of Abel is not finished. The story of Abraham is not finished. The story of David is not finished. They were all running a race, but they have not yet received the prize. They were all fighting a battle, but the victory parade has not yet begun. Why? Because they are waiting for us. And we are waiting for those who will come after us. This is a corporate reality, a covenantal reality that shatters our self-centered pietism. God is telling one story, and we are all characters in it. The Old Testament saints wrote the early chapters, but the book cannot be completed until the final chapter is written. And that is what these verses teach us.
The Text
"And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised, because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect."
(Hebrews 11:39-40 LSB)
The Great Disappointment (v. 39)
We begin with the apparent paradox in verse 39:
"And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised..." (Hebrews 11:39)
The first clause is emphatic. "All these," from Abel to the last of the prophets who were sawn in two, received their commendation. They were approved by God. The Greek word here is the same one used for Jesus when the Father says, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Their faith was the real article. It was not a sham. God looked upon their trust in His promises, and He credited it to them as righteousness. There is no question about their salvation or their standing with God. They are secure.
But then comes the hammer blow: they "did not receive what was promised." What does this mean? Did God fail to keep His word? Did they believe in vain? Not at all. We must distinguish between the promises and the ultimate Promise. Abraham received a son, Isaac, as promised. He received the promise of a great nation. David received the promise of an eternal throne. But none of them received the ultimate fulfillment to which all those smaller promises pointed. They received the down payments, the earnest money, but not the final inheritance.
What was the ultimate Promise? It was the coming of the Messiah, the establishment of the New Covenant, the forgiveness of sins through His blood, the resurrection from the dead, and the consummation of the Kingdom. They saw it from a distance. Abraham rejoiced to see Christ's day, and he saw it and was glad (John 8:56). But he saw it as a far-off reality. They lived in the age of shadows, types, and prophecies. They had the blueprint of the cathedral, but they never saw the cathedral itself. They died in faith, clinging to the promise that a Redeemer would come, that a city whose builder and maker is God would be established on earth. They saw the promise, but they did not see the thing promised. They had the word, but not the Word made flesh dwelling among them.
The Divine Provision (v. 40a)
Verse 40 gives us the reason for this divine delay, and it is a glorious one.
"...because God had provided something better for us..." (Hebrews 11:40a)
The entire plan of history is governed by God's perfect wisdom and timing. There is nothing accidental here. The reason they did not receive the fulfillment is that God, in His eternal counsel, had planned "something better" for those of us who live in the era of fulfillment. This is not to say that we are better people or that our faith is superior. Far from it. It is simply to say that we live on this side of the cross and the empty tomb. The least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than John the Baptist, not because he is more righteous, but because he sees the reality that John only announced.
What is this "something better"? It is the substance over the shadow. It is the reality over the type. They had the blood of bulls and goats, which could never take away sin but only point to the need for a true sacrifice. We have the blood of Christ, which cleanses us from all sin, once for all. They had a priesthood that was mortal and sinful, constantly needing to offer sacrifices for themselves and the people. We have a great High Priest, Jesus the Son of God, who has passed through the heavens and ever lives to make intercession for us. They had a covenant written on stone. We have a New Covenant written on our hearts by the Holy Spirit. They looked forward to the coming of the kingdom; we have received a kingdom that cannot be shaken. This "better thing" is not a slightly improved version of their religion. It is the glorious, history-splitting, cosmos-altering arrival of Jesus Christ the Lord.
The Corporate Consummation (v. 40b)
The final clause ties everything together and reveals the heart of God's covenantal plan.
"...so that apart from us they would not be made perfect." (Hebrews 11:40b)
This is the punchline. This is where our modern individualism is brought to the woodshed. The word for "perfect" here is teleioo, which means to complete, to finish, to bring to the intended goal. It's not about achieving sinless perfection in this life. It's about bringing the entire project to its designed consummation. And the stunning truth is that God has designed history in such a way that the Old Testament saints cannot be brought to their final, completed state without us. And, by implication, we cannot be made perfect without them.
Think of it like a symphony. The Old Testament saints played the opening movements. They introduced the themes, the melodies of redemption, promise, and hope. But their music was left unresolved. It was beautiful, but incomplete. Then, in the fullness of time, Christ the conductor appeared, and with His life, death, and resurrection, the main theme crashed into history in full glory. We, the New Covenant church, are now playing that theme. But the symphony is not over. We are playing our part, and those who come after us will play theirs, until the final note is played at the return of Christ. Only then will the entire orchestra, all the saints from every age, stand together to receive the conductor's applause. Their perfection is tied to the completion of the whole work.
Or think of it as a building. They laid the foundation. They put up the initial framing. But they died before the walls were up, before the roof was on, before the cornerstone was laid. We are now living stones being built into that same house (1 Peter 2:5). The house is not complete with just the foundation. And it is not complete with just the walls. The entire structure, from the first stone laid by Abel to the last one placed before Christ returns, must be completed. Only then is the whole building "made perfect." They are not perfected without us because we are part of the same building. Their story finds its meaning and completion in our story, and our story is built upon the foundation of theirs.
Conclusion: Running in the Cloud
This truth is not an abstract theological point. It is intensely practical, and it sets up the exhortation that immediately follows in chapter 12. "Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses..."
Who are these witnesses? They are the saints of chapter 11. But they are not passive spectators in the heavenly bleachers, eating popcorn and watching us run. The image is not of a stadium. The image is that we are all running the same race together. They have run their leg of the relay, and they have handed the baton to us. Their gaze is fixed upon us, not as detached observers, but as fellow runners in the same race, urging us on. Their vindication, their final "perfection," is bound up with our faithfulness. If we drop the baton, we dishonor their leg of the race.
This is the death of lone-ranger Christianity. You are part of a vast, cosmic, historical body. Your personal holiness, your faithfulness in your marriage, your diligence in your work, your worship on the Lord's Day, it is not just about you. You are running for Abel. You are running for Abraham. You are running for the Huguenots who were slain for their faith. You are running for the martyrs in the Colosseum. They are waiting for us. They are waiting for the story to be brought to its triumphant conclusion.
God has given us something better. He has given us Christ, the author and perfecter of our faith. The faith of the Old Testament saints was remarkable because they believed with so little light. We have been flooded with the light of the gospel. They had the promise; we have the fulfillment. Therefore, we have no excuse for a wavering, anemic, or timid faith. Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus. For in doing so, we are not only running toward our own prize, but we are running in solidarity with that great cloud of witnesses, so that together, as one people, one body, one completed symphony, we might finally be made perfect in Him.