WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:12.280 Okay, so in Hebrews chapter 2 we have part of the scripture teaching about a flesh and 00:00:12.280 --> 00:00:16.800 blood Jesus and I think that's very important. I think it's very important to think about 00:00:16.800 --> 00:00:22.280 that and maybe particularly just now because I've done about you but I often ask the question, 00:00:22.280 --> 00:00:31.080 who can possibly understand God? He is so far away from my everyday existence at every 00:00:31.080 --> 00:00:37.840 level and that makes him difficult to understand. He's eternal and he's invisible and I can't 00:00:37.840 --> 00:00:46.159 see him. He sees everything and I can't, he knows everything. I certainly don't, he even 00:00:46.159 --> 00:00:51.519 knows my thoughts when I'm lying in bed at night and that's a weird and quite a scary 00:00:51.519 --> 00:01:00.719 thing to think about someone who knows us at that thought level of our lives. He's 00:01:00.719 --> 00:01:07.280 not created, he has always existed, he's always right, he's always good, he's the source of 00:01:07.280 --> 00:01:15.359 all life, he doesn't change, he's not like us at that level and he exists everywhere 00:01:15.359 --> 00:01:24.359 but beyond his creation and he's personal, he's a spirit but he's personal and he's 00:01:24.359 --> 00:01:32.039 separate then from his creation. He exists outside the 100 billion galaxies that are 00:01:32.039 --> 00:01:39.719 so far being discovered in this universe and he understands at the other level, I mentioned 00:01:39.719 --> 00:01:45.760 this the other week, one of the 30 trillion cells that each person has with each cell 00:01:45.760 --> 00:01:54.480 containing the 3 billion DNA-based pairs making up the human genome. I hope you're impressed 00:01:54.480 --> 00:02:06.920 with my knowledge there. And that begins to help us to recognise how beyond our understanding 00:02:06.920 --> 00:02:16.120 God is and yet we are image bearers of God, we're made for him, we're spiritual beings 00:02:16.120 --> 00:02:23.800 but we're not made to be him, we're made for him and we're made to be accountable to 00:02:23.800 --> 00:02:32.960 him. And I think if you summarise the genesis of sin, it's where it all went wrong, isn't 00:02:32.960 --> 00:02:44.240 it? It's where it all went wrong when we moved from being made for him to wanting to be him. 00:02:44.240 --> 00:02:50.159 The seed of sin is wanting to be like God, not in the created image way that we were 00:02:50.159 --> 00:02:56.200 but to be like God in who God was and his glory and his power. We wanted to be equal 00:02:56.199 --> 00:03:05.719 with God, humanity wanted that and in many ways sin even in our own lives now has that 00:03:05.719 --> 00:03:15.199 core reality, it's an overreaching into something that is not possible for us to be. I'm a 00:03:15.199 --> 00:03:23.439 bit of a hasher when it comes to DIY, not great and I've got great ideas of what I 00:03:23.439 --> 00:03:32.120 could do with DIY but quite often I'll overreach myself and I'll take on something that's 00:03:32.120 --> 00:03:37.520 far beyond my ability to do and much better at destroying things than actually building 00:03:37.520 --> 00:03:47.639 and creating things. But in a sense a million times more than that is what we've done with 00:03:47.639 --> 00:03:58.319 God is that we've completely overreached as human beings and tried to take God's place. 00:03:58.319 --> 00:04:04.079 We want to be Lord of our lives, I want to decide what's right and wrong, I want to be 00:04:04.079 --> 00:04:14.479 a judge and you know we see that coming across so much in our lives and even if I muck up 00:04:14.479 --> 00:04:20.879 I want to be the one who's in control of my life. We push God off the throne, we reject 00:04:20.879 --> 00:04:30.240 him and we choose not to believe him and in a sense that's the core reality of where we 00:04:30.240 --> 00:04:38.039 are but the trouble with that is in the world in which we live we're not able to control 00:04:38.040 --> 00:04:46.720 our destiny in the way that we've been deceived to believe that we can. We can't be sovereign, 00:04:46.720 --> 00:04:52.160 we see that all the time whether it's with illness or with COVID just now or with death 00:04:52.160 --> 00:05:00.759 whether it's post death or sorry pre birth or post birth whether it's with unrequited 00:05:00.759 --> 00:05:08.240 love or whether it's being made redundant or being opposed by people or restrictive laws 00:05:08.240 --> 00:05:15.800 in the society in which we live there's a million things every day that expose our overreach 00:05:15.800 --> 00:05:22.719 trying to be what we can't be and we recognise our vulnerability and our brokenness in our 00:05:22.720 --> 00:05:30.880 lives and the response to that so often in our day to day living I think is threefold 00:05:30.880 --> 00:05:41.120 very quickly is rage is anger and frustration and maybe just denial so very often this lack 00:05:41.120 --> 00:05:51.520 of ability to be God or to be like God in our lives makes us very angry with life. We 00:05:51.519 --> 00:05:55.759 see it very much just now well we see it always in society and we see it in our own hearts 00:05:55.759 --> 00:06:00.159 but we see it with a lot with key keyboard warriors don't we we blame there's always 00:06:00.159 --> 00:06:05.839 someone to blame for our inability to live the way we want to live and it may be leaders 00:06:05.839 --> 00:06:10.799 it may be family or inner families it may be our boss and maybe drivers on the road 00:06:10.799 --> 00:06:16.759 or cyclists or pedestrians at kind of trivial level it may be the incompetence of other 00:06:16.759 --> 00:06:22.319 people or it may be God himself we're angry and we blame and we blame and we blame all 00:06:22.319 --> 00:06:29.719 the time and I wonder if sometimes we reflect on our anger and when we when we when we display 00:06:29.719 --> 00:06:36.599 anger and as a response what that's saying about us and what it's saying about why we 00:06:36.599 --> 00:06:43.279 want to be in control and why we often blame God for what is happening in our lives so 00:06:43.279 --> 00:06:49.199 it can be rage or it can also be frustration and we're often frustrated in life because 00:06:49.199 --> 00:06:55.839 we we we make really bad gods we're we're not good gods and so we're often frustrated 00:06:55.839 --> 00:07:01.879 we don't understand what's happening we crave kind of that independence that would allow 00:07:01.879 --> 00:07:06.879 us to do what we want and the control but then sometimes even when we get that independence 00:07:06.879 --> 00:07:11.839 and control well life just sucks anyway and there's always that shadow of impermanence 00:07:11.839 --> 00:07:19.560 attacking us or we can just be in denial you know we can suppress the reality of God 00:07:19.560 --> 00:07:29.799 and just almost forget that whole reality and not face up to him and just live in a 00:07:29.799 --> 00:07:36.199 kind of shallow existence happy enough trying to make a difference judging ourselves by 00:07:36.199 --> 00:07:42.039 our own standards and many in the world do that hoping that it'll all turn out in the 00:07:42.039 --> 00:07:49.759 end okay ignoring death as an enemy as if it will never happen and just we can even 00:07:49.759 --> 00:08:00.039 do that as believers stop praying stop growing stop obeying and just live in a kind of shallow 00:08:00.039 --> 00:08:05.919 neutrality as it were and all of that step these issues these problems I think that we 00:08:05.920 --> 00:08:14.400 face stem from us stem from our sinful desires to try and be God to try and be in control 00:08:14.400 --> 00:08:21.680 and try and almost ignore him and ignore his reality because maybe we don't understand 00:08:21.680 --> 00:08:28.800 him or he's just it's impossible for us to grasp what it would be like to be God and 00:08:28.800 --> 00:08:34.920 I think I do believe that's why we need a flesh and blood God that's why we need Jesus 00:08:34.919 --> 00:08:41.839 Christ coming in the flesh and verse 14 I'm going to look at 14 at the end and that section 00:08:41.839 --> 00:08:47.439 since therefore the children share in flesh and blood he himself likewise per took of 00:08:47.439 --> 00:08:54.039 the same things so and that same things are flesh and blood and the Bible continually 00:08:54.039 --> 00:08:59.719 reminds us that if we're going to understand God then we needed him to become flesh and 00:08:59.719 --> 00:09:04.759 blood in order for us to understand so there's something uniquely expressive in the nature 00:09:04.759 --> 00:09:13.879 of God through the incarnation when Jesus became flesh Jesus becoming flesh makes him 00:09:13.879 --> 00:09:19.399 someone got it makes him a God that we can understand it reveals him it glorifies him 00:09:19.399 --> 00:09:25.759 in a way that nothing else could ever have done it's the only way he could have expressed 00:09:25.759 --> 00:09:33.759 his grace his sacrificial love and his commitment to redeem us to save us it's the crucified 00:09:33.759 --> 00:09:41.240 God is the greatest revelation of the supernatural character of God and helps us to understand 00:09:41.240 --> 00:09:48.240 him in our lives so it helps us understand and he we needed a flesh and blood God to 00:09:48.240 --> 00:09:58.720 redeem us to bring us back from a lost eternity and from the effects of sin and what sin was 00:09:58.720 --> 00:10:07.440 and what sin is and what sin does in our lives angels couldn't do that Jesus the title of 00:10:07.440 --> 00:10:15.519 this address is Jesus is no angel angels and don't cut it it's not good enough for a spiritual 00:10:15.519 --> 00:10:23.160 being to have come and told us about God as as the only way angels themselves are a bit 00:10:23.160 --> 00:10:27.960 mysterious and separate from us and they're not like us they're not image bearers they're 00:10:27.960 --> 00:10:32.240 not sovereign they're not they're not like God they're not sovereign they're infinite 00:10:32.240 --> 00:10:43.120 and they're not eternal they're servants who are sent to serve those who believe but Jesus 00:10:43.120 --> 00:10:53.680 was no angel and I'm going to try and be a little bit theological for a moment here and 00:10:53.679 --> 00:11:00.679 it's impossible for us to be gods okay it's impossible for us to be God and to be human 00:11:00.679 --> 00:11:07.159 God alone can be God and human and that's the deep mystery of both having God Jesus 00:11:07.159 --> 00:11:15.599 having a divine nature and a human nature and he alone can be God in the flesh and he 00:11:15.600 --> 00:11:25.000 shows us what we need to see the only way we could grasp the character of God and his 00:11:25.000 --> 00:11:32.320 love and his worthiness is by seeing Jesus is by coming to know and understand Jesus 00:11:32.320 --> 00:11:43.560 Jesus is God translated into our language Jesus is God that we can come to know not only 00:11:43.559 --> 00:11:50.639 in his life but through his work because he's come to he has come to show us God but also 00:11:50.639 --> 00:12:00.679 to set us free from sins great companion which is fear verse 15 it says he came that we might 00:12:00.679 --> 00:12:05.439 destroy the power the one who has power of death that is the devil and deliver all those 00:12:05.440 --> 00:12:14.240 who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery and that's the great reality 00:12:14.240 --> 00:12:22.240 of not having God in our lives is that we live with great fear a fear of not being in 00:12:22.240 --> 00:12:30.960 control a fear of the future a fear of failure a fear of rejection a fear of not meeting 00:12:30.960 --> 00:12:39.000 somebody's standard whether it's in a marriage or in a workplace or whatever it might be 00:12:39.000 --> 00:12:45.639 and fear of the future and fear of judgment and fear of death he came to release us and 00:12:45.639 --> 00:12:56.440 free us from that because of his great work all the all the all the all the out working 00:12:56.440 --> 00:13:03.720 of sin in our lives he came to redeem us from and he could only do that by becoming the 00:13:03.720 --> 00:13:13.960 God man becoming Jesus Jesus Christ flesh and blood God and we make miserable flesh 00:13:13.960 --> 00:13:22.400 and blood gods we can't do it we we simply can't save ourselves by claiming God's throne 00:13:22.399 --> 00:13:31.600 but he left his throne to open up the way back for us to be truly human made in God 00:13:31.600 --> 00:13:44.279 image but not trying to become gods so the exercise of God becoming flesh requires God 00:13:44.279 --> 00:13:53.120 emptying himself of his glory it involves humility it involves servanthood it involves 00:13:53.120 --> 00:14:04.720 obedience it involves controlled power it involves amazingly hiding his glory and Philippians 00:14:04.720 --> 00:14:09.879 2 speaks a lot about that and you can read that at your leisure and so the interesting 00:14:09.879 --> 00:14:19.279 thing is the only way we can see God's glory is if God hides his glory if he veils his 00:14:19.279 --> 00:14:25.200 glory Philippians 2 speaks about that and there's so that's the remarkable truth is 00:14:25.200 --> 00:14:33.559 the only the only way we can grasp begin to grasp the glory of God in Jesus is because 00:14:33.559 --> 00:14:41.679 God has hidden his glory because it's beyond us to grasp unless it's in the person of 00:14:41.679 --> 00:14:53.519 Jesus Christ and that's an astonishing relative you ever get time to read a short small book 00:14:53.519 --> 00:15:02.839 that's an old book by a man that I knew briefly as a boy it's called the cross in the experience 00:15:02.840 --> 00:15:08.399 of our Lord by Ari Finlesson he's to be a professor in the free church college and 00:15:08.399 --> 00:15:15.960 has got a marvellous insight into the person of Jesus and him being a flesh and blood 00:15:15.960 --> 00:15:26.440 Jesus our longing for being self-sovereign for wanting 00:15:26.440 --> 00:15:33.400 all the glory without God it destroys us absolutely destroys us because we are human the only 00:15:33.400 --> 00:15:43.160 person that could live out the glory of God as a human being is the person the son of 00:15:43.160 --> 00:15:53.080 God Jesus Christ and only as we see Jesus Christ the veiled glory of God in Jesus Christ 00:15:53.080 --> 00:15:59.600 and put our trust in him are we able to reflect to the glory of God in our lives as we were 00:15:59.600 --> 00:16:08.920 created to do so only God can become a God man Christ took on flesh and blood he had 00:16:08.920 --> 00:16:17.879 to he had to become one of us he was conceived he spent nine months in the womb he was a 00:16:17.879 --> 00:16:26.399 newborn he was a toddler he had to learn to talk and to walk and to read to understand 00:16:26.399 --> 00:16:34.559 family dynamics he had brothers and sisters and cousins and aunts and uncles he worked 00:16:34.559 --> 00:16:43.759 he made friends and he lost friends he knew grief and loss and he became dependent he 00:16:43.759 --> 00:16:51.399 was misunderstood he was hungry and well fed he was thirsty and his thirst was slaped he 00:16:51.399 --> 00:16:58.080 was poor he was cold he was naked he was clothed he was hated he was loved he suffered 00:16:58.080 --> 00:17:11.759 he was tempted he laughed he cried he slept he got up and he went to bed why because he 00:17:11.759 --> 00:17:26.920 had to become flesh and blood because only a God man can die God can't die in heaven 00:17:26.920 --> 00:17:36.359 God is a spirit can't die only God in the flesh can die and there was no other way for 00:17:36.359 --> 00:17:44.159 us to live and have death defeated except for Jesus except for God to pay the price 00:17:44.159 --> 00:17:51.159 and in order for God to pay the price he had to become a human being to die he had to have 00:17:51.159 --> 00:17:57.679 flesh and blood and that's the astounding reality of the cost and the commitment of 00:17:57.680 --> 00:18:06.880 Jesus to you and to me he's perfect yet he is punished in death for grasping for our 00:18:06.880 --> 00:18:12.920 grasping at sovereignty and our our trying to replace him in our lives as we rejected 00:18:12.920 --> 00:18:21.480 God God the Father rejected Jesus in our place he's rejected by the infinite and he's rejected 00:18:21.480 --> 00:18:34.680 by all on the cross God the creator of all life and the person of his son is crucified 00:18:34.680 --> 00:18:43.799 and only God only God can defeat death as it says and the and the power of death in 00:18:43.799 --> 00:18:53.319 the devil only God can do that and only God can be raised to a new life for a humanity 00:18:53.319 --> 00:19:01.319 that tried themselves to become God or like God in the wrong way and because he's raised 00:19:01.319 --> 00:19:11.119 from the dead we can become like God in the right way as image bearers and that is how 00:19:11.119 --> 00:19:18.759 we were designed to live and for you and me that reflects the overwhelming and sacrificial 00:19:18.759 --> 00:19:26.159 love beyond anything that we can ever experience and if you're tempted to give up on your faith 00:19:26.159 --> 00:19:34.039 in Jesus Christ I simply ask you to fix your eyes on Jesus this flesh and blood savior 00:19:34.039 --> 00:19:42.639 whose glory was veiled so that we could see it and who becoming flesh and blood was able 00:19:42.639 --> 00:19:53.519 to die and was able to redeem it couldn't have happened any other way therefore because 00:19:53.519 --> 00:20:01.240 he himself has suffered when tempted and becoming flesh he is able to help those who are tempted 00:20:01.240 --> 00:20:06.359 so I close just by asking these questions today in your own experience what temptations 00:20:06.359 --> 00:20:14.200 do you face and I don't know what they'll be but know that he is able to help you because 00:20:14.200 --> 00:20:20.599 he is a flesh and blood savior because of the incarnation you know what is it are you 00:20:20.599 --> 00:20:30.720 tempted to be hugely selfish am I tempted to be hugely selfish and not to consider others 00:20:30.720 --> 00:20:37.880 and not to love God or love others well he knows that he's been tempted in that way and 00:20:37.880 --> 00:20:46.360 as overcome he is able to help us he attempted to be proud because we find humility tough 00:20:46.360 --> 00:20:54.039 he knows he's experienced that he's able to help us when we're tempted to overcome you 00:20:54.039 --> 00:20:59.759 tempted to go your own way it's much easier isn't it especially maybe just now to reject 00:20:59.759 --> 00:21:09.279 God or to reject his word and to struggle and find obedience impossible he knows he's 00:21:09.279 --> 00:21:16.160 been tempted and yet he's able because he's overcome these things because he's tempted 00:21:16.160 --> 00:21:25.559 without sin you angry going back to us at the beginning or frustrated or living in denial 00:21:25.559 --> 00:21:35.079 the angry at others or at God or at lockdown he's able just one day at a time he is able 00:21:35.079 --> 00:21:41.240 frustrated that so much is out of our control frustrated at your health or frustrated at 00:21:41.240 --> 00:21:48.919 your situation he knows because he's a flesh and blood savior he is able and it's the 00:21:48.920 --> 00:21:55.519 great temptation just to live in denial maybe just like everyone else seems to be living 00:21:55.519 --> 00:22:03.279 and to turn your back and just encourage you tonight to fix your eyes when Jesus that's 00:22:03.279 --> 00:22:09.920 all we can do during this pandemic much has been stripped back from us but he is this 00:22:09.920 --> 00:22:18.960 great flesh and blood savior and he's able and remember that and know his power and his 00:22:18.960 --> 00:22:23.680 resurrection glory in your life we're going to look at a lot of different aspects of his 00:22:23.680 --> 00:22:28.720 life and why he is such a suitable savior and why this is the only way it could have 00:22:28.720 --> 00:22:36.759 been for us I'm going to pray Lord we pray that you would help us to understand and know 00:22:36.759 --> 00:22:47.480 what it means to begin to grasp a flesh and blood savior we sing about a lot great words 00:22:47.480 --> 00:22:54.160 that we were singing there earlier we talk about it a lot at Christmas time in the incarnation 00:22:54.160 --> 00:23:03.319 but to think of God becoming flesh as being the only way that we could know God because 00:23:03.319 --> 00:23:13.559 of our sin and the only way we could begin to understand God and have a God who could 00:23:13.559 --> 00:23:26.159 save us by paying the price for satisfying God's own anger against our sin and being 00:23:26.160 --> 00:23:34.000 a propitiation and atonement for us by his blood he had to have blood he had to have 00:23:34.000 --> 00:23:41.480 a body and we rejoice that he is a glorified body now and is real and is interceding for 00:23:41.480 --> 00:23:58.279 us today help us to see that more clearly we pray in Jesus name Amen