Hebrews 2, page 1001.
If you can get that open.
That's where we're going to be together this evening.
Let me pray one more time as we come to God's word.
Our Father, we ask that you would speak and that we would listen
And that your spirit would work in each of our hearts.
We ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.
Michelangelo only ever signed one of his sculptures, the Pieta.
It's a statue of Mary holding her crucified son.
And this statue stood in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome from 1500.
And it was there for four and a bit centuries until somebody in 1972 got past security
and took into it with a hammer.
Mary's arm was in smithereens.
Her nose was very badly damaged as well.
That makes throwing paint over Van Gogh's sunflowers or soup, wasn't it, over Van Gogh's sunflowers.
Seemed a bit like child's play.
But what had happened was this treasure of Renaissance art, Michelangelo's beautiful creation,
became a marred masterpiece.
And it took experts an age to restore it.
That sense of a marred masterpiece is a great description of you and me.
Men and women, boys and girls, we are a marred masterpiece.
That we are a masterpiece, the crown of God's work, comes from the creation story.
God made everything, and we're told when we read those first verses of the Bible,
that those things were good.
Trees, good.
Mangoes, good.
The silverback gorilla, good.
And then he made mankind and looked at his handiwork and he said,
Very good.
Unique.
Distinct from everything else.
Wonderful.
All by God's design.
And that's actually where our author starts this evening.
Verse 5 of Hebrews chapter 2, including Psalm 8.
Psalm 8 begins as a meditation on that creation story.
The psalmist looks at humanity in wonder.
He looks at us as we are now.
He does that in wonder that God would bother with us.
God is so vastly glorious, so supremely wonderful,
and we are so insignificant by comparison.
And the psalmist says,
What is man that you are mindful of him?
But as he goes on,
that declaration from Genesis chapter 1
is at the front of his mind.
Look at verse 7.
You made him for a little while lower than the angels.
You have crowned him with glory and honor,
putting everything in subjection under his feet.
He's saying,
You gave mankind this place of honor and dignity,
and you gave them this world to rule.
That was our original design.
We were created to glorify God and enjoy him forever.
But we know that we blew it.
We blew it.
We chose to reject God's ways in his world.
We squandered our potential,
and we damaged what God had made,
and we are inescapably marred.
We're broken.
But unlike the Pieta,
the vandalism doesn't come from outside of us.
It is an inside job.
Many years ago,
I heard a preacher referring to sin
like the employee of the bank
who goes down and opens the door for the robbers.
And he said,
Every sin you see is an inside job.
And it's a good way to put it, isn't it?
Because our sinful hearts cause the problem.
Our sinful hearts open the way for sin to come in.
But here's the thing.
Just as the Pieta was restored by master artists,
it took them a long time to be sure,
but just as it was restored by master artists,
Hebrews 2 tells us that this is what God has done for us.
Through His Son.
So the divine Son of chapter 1 of Hebrews,
the supreme one,
supreme over all things,
including, we heard last time, angels,
that supreme Son is now shown to move in our direction.
He's coming to put right, verse 5,
the world to come.
The world to come.
Do you notice he says there,
it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come,
of which we are speaking.
So it's the era that he is talking about now,
chapter 1, verse 2,
in these last days.
He's talking about the world that followed
the old order of the Jewish way of things.
Old covenant Israel.
This is the era of the new covenant.
It's not simply some time far off,
another world in the new creation.
It is this world.
God has come to put right this world,
and in particular, chapter 2, verse 10,
can you see,
He's done that to bring many sons to glory.
God is coming to restore us to the presence of God
that we have forfeited through sin.
That's what Hebrews 2 is about.
You could say that's what salvation history is about.
And it is a remarkable story.
The way Hebrews 2 unpacks it for us,
it is a remarkable story.
It first of all describes how this supreme son of chapter 1,
here's our first point,
takes our humanity.
How he takes our humanity.
As I've said, in Psalm 8,
David is speaking about mankind.
As he begins, he's talking about mankind
and the high calling that we were given in the beginning.
But the author of Hebrews then makes the connection with Christ.
Look at verse 9.
Now, in putting everything in subjection to him,
he left nothing outside his control.
At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him.
He is a marred masterpiece.
He doesn't rule as he should.
Verse 9,
But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels,
namely Jesus.
The psalmist knows that because of sin,
we don't have dominion over the earth,
but there is a particular man who has come to put this right.
The Lord Jesus.
So, when the Son of God took on flesh that first Christmas,
the eternal Son was made a little lower than the angels.
Now, if you were here last week,
you'll remember that I mentioned...
You'll remember.
That's presumptuous.
What I said last week was that angels are a measure of status of being.
You remember?
To be above the angels...
In the way the Bible talks,
to be above the angels is to be God.
To be below the angels is to be human.
And here we see that for a little while,
the Son, who according to His divine nature is higher than the angels,
takes to Himself the means by which He can become lower than them.
One of the early church fathers sums this up like this.
He says,
The Son of God deigns to become and to be called Son of Man,
not changing what He was, for it is unchangeable,
but assuming what He was not,
for He is full of love to man.
What He's saying there is,
all the grandeur and splendor and majesty of the One
who is portrayed in chapter 1
humbles Himself to take our humanity.
That profound truth that we sing,
our God contracted to a span,
incomprehensibly made man.
God, who is higher than the angels,
coming for a little while below the angels,
taking up residence in Mary's womb,
taking flesh.
And that humiliation marked every aspect of His ministry.
Baptized by John, you remember,
identifying with sinners.
Embracing temptation in the desert for 40 days
as the second Adam.
Living in perfect obedience to the law of God.
The Lord Jesus is the model of true humanity.
The question is, why?
Why did He make that descent from glory to earth?
It's a shocking thing to think about.
Why would the God of heaven and earth
contract to a span incomprehensibly made man?
It is a shocking thing.
And the answer is even more shocking, actually.
He did this in order to be able to suffer and die.
That's what we're told.
Verse 9,
But we see Him who for a little while
was made lower than the angels,
namely Jesus,
crowned with glory and honor
because of the suffering of death,
so that by the grace of God
He might taste death for everyone.
Christ has been crowned as King.
He is ruling and reigning this evening
from the Father's right hand
in a human body.
But that exaltation only came
because of His obedience to death.
Do you see the way the writer says that?
That's the reason that He gives.
He is crowned with glory and honor.
The Lord Jesus enjoys a restored humanity
because of the suffering of death.
He has been exalted
because He was humbled.
He reigns now
because He was obedient
to the Father's plan of redemption.
And this was only possible
because He took to Himself
the ability to suffer and die.
Because He made that journey
from glory to be one of us.
There was no other way.
Verse 10, have a look.
It was fitting that He,
for whom and by whom all things exist,
in bringing many sons to glory,
should make the founder of their salvation
perfect through suffering.
He's saying,
if God, for whom and by whom all things exist,
would bring men and women
back into His presence,
restore the masterpiece,
bring them to glory,
have them rule with Him,
as Psalm 8 tells us,
the only fitting way for this to happen
would be through the suffering
and death of the one
who was a qualified Savior.
When it says here
that Christ was made perfect
through suffering,
that's not suggesting
that there was any deficit in Him.
He wasn't imperfect
before His suffering.
Rather, the word is,
literally it is,
He is the founder,
He is the pioneer
who goes ahead of us,
and so He is therefore
a perfectly fit Savior.
And He is that,
verse 11,
because He is one of us.
Look at verse 11,
For He who sanctifies
and those who are sanctified
all have one source.
He who sanctifies,
the Lord Jesus,
and those who are sanctified,
His church,
all have one source.
Because of the shared humanity,
He is our perfect representative.
He can act on our behalf.
When He took our humanity
to Himself,
He was then able
to stand in our place.
And this was essential.
Verse 17,
Have a look,
if He would deal with our sin.
Therefore,
do you see,
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.
If our sin
will be removed,
if it will be dealt with,
He must take our humanity.
And that is what He did.
The God of glory
became one of us
so that He could suffer
and die for us.
He took what we deserve
for our failure
in order to bring us to God.
So,
the Son of God
in chapter 1
becomes a son of Adam,
not changing what He was,
but assuming what He had not been
in order to deal with our sin
and bring us to glory.
Is that not staggering?
The distance between us
and God
was infinite.
And He came down
and reached across
that chasm.
He came from the loftiest height
into the depths
of our rebellion.
He came from the sublime
perfection of heaven
to the angry hatred
of our world.
We didn't care for Him
one bit.
We weren't saying,
oh, please come and save us.
Please come and restore us
to the glory that we had
in the beginning
while we were yet sinners.
We hadn't a thought for Him
or a care for Him
in the world
and He made that journey.
And He did it to taste death
for everyone
and bring many sons
to glory.
And sons here
is the language
of inheritance.
It refers to both men
and women.
If you're a woman,
you want to be a son of God
in this sense
because it means
that you're an heir
of salvation.
It is a staggering thing
that the Lord Jesus did this.
He took our humanity.
But it is on that theme
of inheritance
and becoming heirs
that our author stays.
You see,
the Son takes our humanity
in order to,
point number two,
make us family.
That's verses 11 to 18.
He takes our humanity
in order to make us family.
That's the language that's used.
Can you see it?
Verse 11,
For he who sanctifies
and those who are sanctified
all have one source.
That is why he is not ashamed
to call them brothers,
saying,
I will tell of your name
to my brothers.
In the midst of the congregation
I will sing your praise.
And again,
I will put my trust in him.
And again,
behold,
I and the children
God has given me.
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,
and deliver all those
who through fear of death
were subject to lifelong slavery.
For surely it is not to angels
that he,
it's not angels that he helps,
but he helps the offspring
of Abraham.
The Son of God
became a son of Adam
in order to make us
sons of Abraham.
He did it in order
to make us children
of the promise,
to bring us under
God's covenant care.
He is bringing us to glory,
but we are going there
as his children.
Now,
one thing that that means
is that you have Christ
as your older brother,
and he's not ashamed of you.
Did you hear that?
He is not ashamed of you.
Think about that for a minute.
Lots of us have siblings.
Boys and girls,
look up for a moment.
Lots of you,
I assume,
have siblings that
sometime or other
have embarrassed you.
Annoying younger brothers
obsessed with toilet humor.
You don't want your friends
to meet them.
Maybe it's sisters
who talk a bit funny
or dress a bit funny.
You don't want your mates
to know that
she's your sister,
and we're a bit ashamed
to associate with them.
It could be like that
in the church,
can't it,
if we're honest with ourselves.
We have brothers and sisters
in Christ
that say and do things
that annoy us
or make us cringe
or they're socially awkward
or they're a bit intense
with bad personal hygiene.
Maybe they have extreme views,
we think.
If only they were
just a bit,
you know,
less out there
with what they thought
about things.
Pick your poison on that.
There are lots of things
we get irritated about
with our brothers and sisters,
whatever it is.
We think,
oh, they embarrass us.
We'd rather not be associated
with them.
There is none of that
with Christ.
even though we all
behave in foolish ways
and all kinds of different ways
a lot of the time,
even though we slip up often,
Jesus is not ashamed of you.
Maybe you need to hear that
this evening.
Be reminded of the fact
because there's a voice
in your head that,
well, you're ashamed
of yourself, actually,
because you did it again.
You slipped up again.
You did that thing
that you try so hard
not to do.
You committed that sin again.
Jesus is not ashamed of you.
Before the heavenly host,
before the watching cosmic powers,
in the face of accusation
from the devil,
when the devil comes and says,
is he one of yours?
Jesus says,
that's my brother.
She's my sister.
And he's not ashamed to do that.
Because for each one of us,
our salvation reveals
the purpose and the power of God.
Your story of salvation,
whether you had the privilege
of growing up in a Christian home,
and you can testify to the fact
that there was never a day
when you didn't know
and love the Lord Jesus,
that brings glory to God.
If you have had a different story,
and it was a total mess,
and he saved you
in a really radical way,
that brings glory to God.
Wherever you've come from,
your salvation reveals
the power and the purpose of God,
and he gets glory for that.
Satan says,
well, they're terribly bad, you know.
Do you think God doesn't know that?
Yes, they are,
but that is how far
my forgiveness extends.
Have you seen how dark
their heart is?
Do you think I don't know that?
That's how wide my mercy flows,
and it would flow even wider
if you could find someone
that you think is even worse.
You see, Christ doesn't bring us
to glory,
as one author put it,
holding his nose.
He doesn't...
When he saved us,
he was pleased to do so.
In fact, he was so pleased,
verse 12,
that he praises God for it.
It's a quote from Psalm 22, 22.
I will tell of your name
to my brothers.
In the midst of the congregation,
I will sing your praise.
We are aware of the joy
that our salvation
should bring to us.
We should rejoice in the fact
that we have had our sins forgiven,
our conscience cleansed,
and that we are made new,
and that we are on our way to glory.
We know that.
But here we see the joy
that our salvation brings to him.
Christ is celebrating
because he saved you.
And he stands up
in the midst of the congregation,
and he says,
God be glorified
that he has redeemed
my brother, your name,
my sister, your name.
We can far too easily forget
that our God
is everlastingly full of joy.
We worship and serve
a God who delights
to save people.
You know that, don't you?
He takes great joy in you.
I think lots of us,
lots of Christians,
believe that God has saved them
because he has to kind of
keep his word.
He saved us,
but he's not really
that pleased about it.
We're so sinful,
we're so inconsistent,
we're so weak,
and we imagine God
is just a bit
perpetually disappointed with us,
just kind of rolls his eyes.
One author says this,
God is glad,
and God is joyful.
Now, most Christians
can deal with that
assuming it's an attribute
of God thing,
that is,
he is those things
in himself.
Note this, however,
he rejoices over his people
with gladness.
He looks at the church
assembled as we are now,
and he breaks into song.
Do you ever think that?
Stop and wonder about that,
that God in Christ
wanted to save you,
and he rejoices in having done so.
He doesn't regret it.
In fact, he's so happy about it
that he sings about it.
And here's the thing,
if he's not ashamed of you,
don't you be ashamed of him.
What I mean is,
don't mumble your way
through our songs
that give him praise.
Don't step back from him
when you're told to
in the workplace
or when you're at school,
boys and girls.
And don't be shy
when it comes to speaking
about him to others.
He isn't ashamed of you,
don't be ashamed of him.
And,
if he isn't ashamed of you,
don't you be ashamed
of yourself.
Lots of us, I think,
operate under a cloud of shame.
I did it again.
I'm such a failure.
Say,
repent of your sins,
remember the promises
of the gospel
that he forgives you,
get back on your feet
and go again.
He isn't ashamed of you.
He isn't ashamed
to call you his brother.
Now, there's more to say.
Let's keep going.
Part of being in the family
is that Christ calls us brothers,
but using the language
of the Old Testament,
Isaiah chapter 8,
verse 18,
we then see he also
calls us children.
Through faith in him,
we are the children of Abraham.
And look at what that entails.
Do you see?
He took our humanity
all the way to death,
verse 14,
so that through death
he might destroy
the one who has
the power of death,
that is the devil,
and deliver all those
who through fear of death
were subject
to lifelong slavery.
The power of death
that the devil holds,
that's our fear of death.
We fear death.
All of us fear death
at one level or another,
not because our physical lives
will end.
We fear death
because we know
that it tells us something
about ourselves
that we don't like.
It tells us
that we deserve to die.
See, death isn't
a biological thing.
It's a moral thing.
It is the consequences of sin.
So when the devil accuses us,
we know that he has a point.
Fair enough.
If we came to an experience
of death,
an experience like death
as innocent people,
the situation would be
totally different.
But we're not innocent.
That's why we fear death.
And even as Christians,
for honest,
we're tempted to fear death,
which is why we need to grasp
what we're being told here.
Christ took our humanity
in order to take away
our fear of death.
And death's sting,
to use Paul's language,
that is the hold
that death has over us,
is removed because of the cross.
Christ has defeated the devil.
Jonathan Edwards,
the Puritan,
talks about Jesus going into
the belly of death
and when he's there,
poisoning death to death.
It's quite an image,
isn't it?
He's saying it's like
Jesus inflicts death
with a terminal disease
so that it spits
Jesus out to glory.
I don't know if you saw
this week the footage
of the canoeist in Chile.
And a humpback whale
comes up and swallows him.
His dad is in the canoe
behind filming him.
I can't imagine
what his experience was like.
And then the whale
spits him out
and he's unharmed.
Death is a little bit
like that for the believer.
We'll go into it,
but it won't be able
to stomach you
and it will eventually
spit you out to glory
because Jesus,
our pioneer,
has destroyed Satan
and has disarmed
his schemes.
The New Testament
has countless ways
to talk about this.
In his death,
Christ cast out
the ruler of this world,
John 12.
Christ disarmed
the rulers and authorities.
putting them to open shame
by triumphing over them
in the cross,
Colossians 2.
The cross is not just
defeat for the devil.
It's not just a points victory,
as it were.
He was destroyed.
It was a thumping.
So yes,
he still prowls around.
He is the great accuser
of God's people,
but he is a defeated foe.
His condition is terminal.
So his words
have no lasting power.
His promises
and his threats
no longer need
to pull us away.
Look at verse 18.
For because he himself
has suffered when tempted,
he is able to help
those who are being tempted.
The temptation
of these first readers
was to turn away
from Christ,
go back to their old lives.
Well, when Christ
took our humanity,
he shared in the same
struggles that we do,
but without sin.
So although the whole point
of his coming
was to die and rise
to bring many sons
to glory,
in his suffering,
he was tempted
to give up.
In Gethsemane,
he cried out in agony,
If there is any other way,
Father,
let it be so.
But he submitted himself
fully to the Father's will.
In his human nature,
he faced the temptations
and the sufferings
that come
in a human,
being human.
And what that means is
the writer of the Hebrews
is telling us
that he is able to help you
in the same struggle.
So you can hear this,
that he took your humanity
in order to save you,
that he made you family.
He's not ashamed of you,
but you've got to go
and live in a world
that is opposed to you.
Well, remember this.
Jesus faced the same
temptations and sufferings
that life in a fallen world brings.
He was without sin,
but he walked there
ahead of you.
And it means that he's able
to help you
in the same struggle.
He understands temptation.
He understands the human frame.
And he can help you
whatever your trials.
He can help you now
and he can help you later
when you face death.
Our older brother
has gone through it already
and he has taken away the sting.
When death's sting is removed,
the fear disappears.
Yes, you are a marred masterpiece.
We are marred masterpieces,
but the Son of God
became a son of Adam
in order to suffer and die
to make you a son of Abraham
and bring you to glory.
So what?
Well, look at chapter 3, verse 1.
Therefore, in light of all of that,
holy brothers,
you who share in a heavenly calling,
consider this Jesus.
Trust him.
Confess his name.
Know that he delights in you.
Lean on him
when times are hard.
And above all,
keep rejoicing in him.
Let's pray together.