Post by arete on May 19, 2014 19:45:30 GMT
Introduction:
“As Christ is the end of the Law and the Gospel and has within himself all the treasures of wisdom and understanding, so also is he the mark at which all heretics aim and direct their arrows” (John Calvin). To avoid heresy in our own belief, we must know the Jesus who is, the Jesus revealed in the Scriptures. Not the Jesus we want or imagine. We cannot want or imagine a savior more perfect, more beautiful, more worthy of worship. So we come this morning to the second chapter of Hebrews as the author teaches us who Jesus is and what Jesus has done. We are obligated to know this, to believe this and to act accordingly. So warned, let us turn to the letter to the Hebrews…
Context:
From the beginning of Hebrews, the author has repeatedly confronted us with the superiority of the Son of God. The Son is the creator. The Son is the perfect revelation of God the Father to mankind. The Son is higher than the angels, but is also the sole source of salvation for sinful men. The divinity of the Son of God and the grandeur of who he is and what he has done were reinforced with multiple passages of Scripture. Beginning in chapter 2, the author confronts us with the humanity of the Son of God and calls him by name, Jesus. Jesus’ ministry of salvation and suffering climaxed in making sinful men into saved brothers. In the passage this morning, the author shares his wonder at the great salvation found in Jesus Christ alone as we turn to Hebrews 2:14-18…
Body – Hebrews 2:14-18 – ESV
14 Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. 16 For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. 17 Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. 18 For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
Incarnation (vv. 14-15)
Since therefore… The author continues to build upon all of his statements about the Son of God. He is making a case for Christ as the perfect high priest which reaches a crescendo in Hebrews 5.
The children of God share in the flesh and blood of Christ. The word for share emphasizes that those who Christ saves takes hold of him. We have a communion with him. Because he offers it, we get to share in the redemption he alone provides.
Christ partook of that flesh and blood. The wording here explains that Christ participated in our humanity. He originated the communion & fellowship that we have with him. There is a reason he partook of flesh & blood that was so that he could die. He also must be human to be our high priest.
1. Christ destroyed death in death. Death is the just punishment for sin. But Christ did not sin. The Sinless one tasted death and in his sinlessness, he made death die. Christ also sowed the seeds of the devil’s final destruction. The devil is powerful when compared to mere men, but he is only a created being and is subject to his Creator.
2. Christ delivered us from the fear of death. The fear of death is a form of slavery. Fear of death could keep us from doing what is right. But in Christ, we have no fear of physical death because we have eternal life. The devil desires that men should be damned to hell as he is damned and to live in terror. Jesus Christ brings life and light and delivers us from this fear.
Illustration:
When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 15:54-57 ESV)
Application:
Christ sets us free from the penalty of sin. Our physical death remains unless we live till rapture. Even that is a grace gift so that we need not remain in a body riddled with sin. Instead, we look forward to eternal life in heaven and a perfect immortal body free from sin’s curse. Christ has done this. He took on flesh and blood and he also took on himself the penalty for our sin; your sin; my sin.
Salvation (v. 16)
For surely… The author again makes it clear that there is superiority over the angels. Christ is superior to the angels. He did not take their likeness. Christ took the likeness of man, made a little lower than the angels.
The angels are not part of this salvation. They can marvel at it. I imagine it is very strange to see the Creator Son of God stoop down so low as to be born in flesh and blood. While rebellious angels were cast out, imagine how strange it is for God to go to such extremes to save his image bearers from sin.
What does this word “help” mean? Literally, the word means to “take hold of”. The wording is meant to paint the picture of pushing or pulling someone bodily out of harm’s way and to their rescue. The wording also marks that Christ identified with us. He took on a human nature, not an angelic one.
Who are the offspring of Abraham? Christ is one of them. He is descended in his humanity from Abraham. Hebrews would definitely consider themselves descendants of Abraham. However, more than genetics is at stake.
Illustration:
Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. (Galatians 3:7-9 ESV)
Application:
Christ condescends to us. He took on humanity. He endured a body of flesh and blood to fulfill the promises made since Genesis 3 and those to Abraham to bless the whole world through Abraham’s line. We struggle to lower ourselves to a child’s level sometimes. We struggle to lower ourselves down to help an alcoholic. Christ lowered himself from heaven to meet us in the filth of our own sin. This is important!
Propitiation (v. 17)
Therefore… The author wants to drive home a truth about salvation based on everything he has said about the nature of the Son of God and his ministry to sinful man.
Christ had to become a man to save men. To fulfill God’s promise to save us that began right after man fell in the Garden – Christ obligated himself to come to earth in person and take on our humanity. Sin requires payment. A man sins and therefore a man must die. The divine Creator took on the humanity of his creature made in his likeness to save him from sin.
Christ’s humanity is tied to being our high priest. The high priest stands between man and God. He mediates their relationship. Man is too sinful to go before God. God is so holy that sin cannot come into his presence. The Hebrew High Priest imperfectly fulfilled this role since he was a sinful man. Christ is the sinless man. He is the one who truly extends mercy to us as he truly serves God perfectly. No, no one stands between us & God except God the Son who perfectly represents God to us & us to God.
What is propitiation? The word means to satisfy. This is a teaching some people cringe about – that God is a wrathful God. He must hate sin. He must, in holiness and justice, punish sinners. We who sin deserve God’s full wrath for our rebellion against him. Christ paid the penalty we owe to God for our wicked and rebellious hearts. Also tied up in this teaching is expiation. That means that as Christ paid our debt, he separated us from our sin and cancels our debt.
Illustration:
…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 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. 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. (Romans 3:23-26 ESV)
Application:
Christ satisfied God’s wrath on our behalf. For every sin we have committed and for everyone we commit, Christ has paid our debt in full. Do not permit this truth to become twisted in your heart as an excuse to sin since all has been paid. The Father who endured our punishment to be poured out onto his Son will discipline those who treat the blood of Christ in such a sinful manner. Be thankful for Christ’s sacrifice. Be solemn in considering his suffering. Do not treat this lightly.
Temptation (v. 18)
For because… the author explains the foundation for Christ being the perfect high priest
Christ suffered…when tempted. We focus on the sufferings of the cross and rightly so. There was also suffering in temptation. Christ felt the full force of temptation, but did not sin. Being who he is, temptation must have been far more distasteful for him than for us.
Christ is our help in temptation. The word for help means to be the one who renders aid and furnishes what is necessary to help. As our high priest, he is able to bridge the gap between us and God by providing divine assistance in our temptation and being our advocate when we fall into sin.
iv. How can God be tempted? The key is word “suffered” that accompanies his temptation. There is a sense in which we cannot know what this is like. We have never been sinless or perfect. Nevertheless, in his humanity, Jesus felt temptation as strong as any we have experienced. He suffered in that temptation. He was afflicted and felt the draw and allure of temptation and yet never once sinned. It is not even possible for him to sin. Because he suffered this, he is our great help in temptation
Illustrations:
To relate a story how an omniscient God could know temptation and yet become human and know it in another sense, the following idea helps, but should not be taken too far. A female doctor can study the process of birth and know everything there is to learn. But her knowing is different when she becomes pregnant and delivers her first child.
God had one Son without sin; but He has no son without temptation. Charles Spurgeon
Application:
Christ is our perfect mediator. He understands the power of temptation while never condoning sin. There is always a way out of temptation into righteousness and Jesus himself is that way. When tempted, cry out to your high priest, your savior, your Jesus. He will hear that cry and move to help you with the power of God, the Holy Spirit who lives in you.
So What? What do we need to know now?
Our sin debt is paid. We all owe a debt of sin. God has a standard and we have failed it miserably. Rather than leave us trapped in sin and death, he has provided a savior.
Our savior is both God and man. He has stooped so low. He has reached out to us by becoming one of us. Yet he remains fully God. He applies his righteousness to our behalf so that we may approach God and so that God’s wrath is satisfied.
Our response is praise and worship. He is so very worthy. He deserves our thanks, our service, our life, our all and none of it begrudgingly but wholly out of love.
Our response is to tell others. The old adage is that Christianity is one beggar telling another where to find bread. We deserve death and hell and get neither. We all know someone who needs to know the hope of salvation in Jesus Christ.
The author of Hebrews has presented to us the Jesus who is and he is far more than any human heart could hope for…He sets us free; he comes down to our level; he does not leave us there; he paid the debt we owed to the Father; he is our guard in temptation and forgives when we falter and sin. This is our Savior.
Benediction:
“O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
– 1 Corinthians 15:55-58
“As Christ is the end of the Law and the Gospel and has within himself all the treasures of wisdom and understanding, so also is he the mark at which all heretics aim and direct their arrows” (John Calvin). To avoid heresy in our own belief, we must know the Jesus who is, the Jesus revealed in the Scriptures. Not the Jesus we want or imagine. We cannot want or imagine a savior more perfect, more beautiful, more worthy of worship. So we come this morning to the second chapter of Hebrews as the author teaches us who Jesus is and what Jesus has done. We are obligated to know this, to believe this and to act accordingly. So warned, let us turn to the letter to the Hebrews…
Context:
From the beginning of Hebrews, the author has repeatedly confronted us with the superiority of the Son of God. The Son is the creator. The Son is the perfect revelation of God the Father to mankind. The Son is higher than the angels, but is also the sole source of salvation for sinful men. The divinity of the Son of God and the grandeur of who he is and what he has done were reinforced with multiple passages of Scripture. Beginning in chapter 2, the author confronts us with the humanity of the Son of God and calls him by name, Jesus. Jesus’ ministry of salvation and suffering climaxed in making sinful men into saved brothers. In the passage this morning, the author shares his wonder at the great salvation found in Jesus Christ alone as we turn to Hebrews 2:14-18…
Body – Hebrews 2:14-18 – ESV
14 Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. 16 For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. 17 Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. 18 For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
Incarnation (vv. 14-15)
Since therefore… The author continues to build upon all of his statements about the Son of God. He is making a case for Christ as the perfect high priest which reaches a crescendo in Hebrews 5.
The children of God share in the flesh and blood of Christ. The word for share emphasizes that those who Christ saves takes hold of him. We have a communion with him. Because he offers it, we get to share in the redemption he alone provides.
Christ partook of that flesh and blood. The wording here explains that Christ participated in our humanity. He originated the communion & fellowship that we have with him. There is a reason he partook of flesh & blood that was so that he could die. He also must be human to be our high priest.
1. Christ destroyed death in death. Death is the just punishment for sin. But Christ did not sin. The Sinless one tasted death and in his sinlessness, he made death die. Christ also sowed the seeds of the devil’s final destruction. The devil is powerful when compared to mere men, but he is only a created being and is subject to his Creator.
2. Christ delivered us from the fear of death. The fear of death is a form of slavery. Fear of death could keep us from doing what is right. But in Christ, we have no fear of physical death because we have eternal life. The devil desires that men should be damned to hell as he is damned and to live in terror. Jesus Christ brings life and light and delivers us from this fear.
Illustration:
When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 15:54-57 ESV)
Application:
Christ sets us free from the penalty of sin. Our physical death remains unless we live till rapture. Even that is a grace gift so that we need not remain in a body riddled with sin. Instead, we look forward to eternal life in heaven and a perfect immortal body free from sin’s curse. Christ has done this. He took on flesh and blood and he also took on himself the penalty for our sin; your sin; my sin.
Salvation (v. 16)
For surely… The author again makes it clear that there is superiority over the angels. Christ is superior to the angels. He did not take their likeness. Christ took the likeness of man, made a little lower than the angels.
The angels are not part of this salvation. They can marvel at it. I imagine it is very strange to see the Creator Son of God stoop down so low as to be born in flesh and blood. While rebellious angels were cast out, imagine how strange it is for God to go to such extremes to save his image bearers from sin.
What does this word “help” mean? Literally, the word means to “take hold of”. The wording is meant to paint the picture of pushing or pulling someone bodily out of harm’s way and to their rescue. The wording also marks that Christ identified with us. He took on a human nature, not an angelic one.
Who are the offspring of Abraham? Christ is one of them. He is descended in his humanity from Abraham. Hebrews would definitely consider themselves descendants of Abraham. However, more than genetics is at stake.
Illustration:
Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. (Galatians 3:7-9 ESV)
Application:
Christ condescends to us. He took on humanity. He endured a body of flesh and blood to fulfill the promises made since Genesis 3 and those to Abraham to bless the whole world through Abraham’s line. We struggle to lower ourselves to a child’s level sometimes. We struggle to lower ourselves down to help an alcoholic. Christ lowered himself from heaven to meet us in the filth of our own sin. This is important!
Propitiation (v. 17)
Therefore… The author wants to drive home a truth about salvation based on everything he has said about the nature of the Son of God and his ministry to sinful man.
Christ had to become a man to save men. To fulfill God’s promise to save us that began right after man fell in the Garden – Christ obligated himself to come to earth in person and take on our humanity. Sin requires payment. A man sins and therefore a man must die. The divine Creator took on the humanity of his creature made in his likeness to save him from sin.
Christ’s humanity is tied to being our high priest. The high priest stands between man and God. He mediates their relationship. Man is too sinful to go before God. God is so holy that sin cannot come into his presence. The Hebrew High Priest imperfectly fulfilled this role since he was a sinful man. Christ is the sinless man. He is the one who truly extends mercy to us as he truly serves God perfectly. No, no one stands between us & God except God the Son who perfectly represents God to us & us to God.
What is propitiation? The word means to satisfy. This is a teaching some people cringe about – that God is a wrathful God. He must hate sin. He must, in holiness and justice, punish sinners. We who sin deserve God’s full wrath for our rebellion against him. Christ paid the penalty we owe to God for our wicked and rebellious hearts. Also tied up in this teaching is expiation. That means that as Christ paid our debt, he separated us from our sin and cancels our debt.
Illustration:
…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 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. 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. (Romans 3:23-26 ESV)
Application:
Christ satisfied God’s wrath on our behalf. For every sin we have committed and for everyone we commit, Christ has paid our debt in full. Do not permit this truth to become twisted in your heart as an excuse to sin since all has been paid. The Father who endured our punishment to be poured out onto his Son will discipline those who treat the blood of Christ in such a sinful manner. Be thankful for Christ’s sacrifice. Be solemn in considering his suffering. Do not treat this lightly.
Temptation (v. 18)
For because… the author explains the foundation for Christ being the perfect high priest
Christ suffered…when tempted. We focus on the sufferings of the cross and rightly so. There was also suffering in temptation. Christ felt the full force of temptation, but did not sin. Being who he is, temptation must have been far more distasteful for him than for us.
Christ is our help in temptation. The word for help means to be the one who renders aid and furnishes what is necessary to help. As our high priest, he is able to bridge the gap between us and God by providing divine assistance in our temptation and being our advocate when we fall into sin.
iv. How can God be tempted? The key is word “suffered” that accompanies his temptation. There is a sense in which we cannot know what this is like. We have never been sinless or perfect. Nevertheless, in his humanity, Jesus felt temptation as strong as any we have experienced. He suffered in that temptation. He was afflicted and felt the draw and allure of temptation and yet never once sinned. It is not even possible for him to sin. Because he suffered this, he is our great help in temptation
Illustrations:
To relate a story how an omniscient God could know temptation and yet become human and know it in another sense, the following idea helps, but should not be taken too far. A female doctor can study the process of birth and know everything there is to learn. But her knowing is different when she becomes pregnant and delivers her first child.
God had one Son without sin; but He has no son without temptation. Charles Spurgeon
Application:
Christ is our perfect mediator. He understands the power of temptation while never condoning sin. There is always a way out of temptation into righteousness and Jesus himself is that way. When tempted, cry out to your high priest, your savior, your Jesus. He will hear that cry and move to help you with the power of God, the Holy Spirit who lives in you.
So What? What do we need to know now?
Our sin debt is paid. We all owe a debt of sin. God has a standard and we have failed it miserably. Rather than leave us trapped in sin and death, he has provided a savior.
Our savior is both God and man. He has stooped so low. He has reached out to us by becoming one of us. Yet he remains fully God. He applies his righteousness to our behalf so that we may approach God and so that God’s wrath is satisfied.
Our response is praise and worship. He is so very worthy. He deserves our thanks, our service, our life, our all and none of it begrudgingly but wholly out of love.
Our response is to tell others. The old adage is that Christianity is one beggar telling another where to find bread. We deserve death and hell and get neither. We all know someone who needs to know the hope of salvation in Jesus Christ.
The author of Hebrews has presented to us the Jesus who is and he is far more than any human heart could hope for…He sets us free; he comes down to our level; he does not leave us there; he paid the debt we owed to the Father; he is our guard in temptation and forgives when we falter and sin. This is our Savior.
Benediction:
“O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
– 1 Corinthians 15:55-58