Christ, the captain of our worship, Hebrews 2:10-18

I presume that if I were to ask you why you came to church today, you would answer something along the lines that you are here to worship God.  The next question though I would ask is, what is worship?  And to that I suppose I might get a great variety of answers.  Worship seems to have a rather loose description today in ecumenical circles. 

I had a friend that recently passed away, and she had never been to our church, but she had heard of it.  She lived outside of DC, but never came to this area to the beach.  However, she did visit Naples, Florida during the winter a few years ago and while there she saw an ad for a worship service on the beach.  So being familiar in theory with what we do here, she decided to go and try it out.  And she said that it was a lot of fun. She said that during the service they had some music playing and a giant beach ball that the congregation kept bouncing up in the air.  

Now, I guess that might be entertaining.  But I doubt that qualifies as worship.  I commonly hear people asking, “What is the worship style of your church?” People tend to think that there are a variety of flavors available, such as at Baskin Robbins, and you just need to pick the kind that you like.  However, our worship should not be about pleasing us, but pleasing God.  The quality of your band, the quality of your meeting place, the quality of your congregation, or the quality of your speaker is not indicative of the quality of your worship.  God is the judge of what worship is acceptable to Him.  Cain and Abel both came to worship God.  But God accepted Abel’s worship, and not Cain’s.  It’s important that we know what is pleasing to God.

And by the way, that shows that sincerity is not a guarantee that your worship will be acceptable.  Jesus said, “God is Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.” So it’s essential that our worship is according to God’s truth.

Another question is what happens when we worship?  What is Jesus doing as we worship? I think this passage today reveals that Jesus is engaged in His High priestly ministry. In chapter 8:2 Jesus is described as a minister in the tent which God erected. “We have such a high priest, who has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens,

a minister in the sanctuary and in the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man." The Hebrews used to have a tent, a tabernacle, and then a great, beautiful temple, but in the New Testament they had someone’s living room, a river bank, or a beach.   But Hebrews tells us that this new covenant is far better than the rituals and ceremonies of the old temple service.

How is that possible?  How is this spiritual worship better than the pomp and ceremony, the costumes of the priests, the burning candles and incense, the aroma of burning sacrifices? The difference is as the author of Hebrews told us in vs.9, in spiritual worship we see Jesus.  We look at Him, we study Him, we obey Him, we serve Him.  We worship Him.  He is the physical manifestation of the nature and essence of God.  And the Spirit of Jesus is in the midst of the true tabernacle, His church.  He said, “Where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there  in their midst.”

So the first aspect of true worship is that Jesus is the worship leader; He is the Chief Shepherd, or the chief pastor of the church.  He is the captain of the church.  He leads HIs children into the presence of God.  To come before God we must be holy, righteous.  And we are made righteous by the author of our salvation, who is Jesus Christ. Vs10, “For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.” Only by representative suffering may man regain his purpose of fellowship with God. It is necessary that our debt be paid and our Lord has paid the debt. And by paying the debt, God is freed to give to men what he has determined to give them, adoption as children of God, and by extension the inheritance of authority and kingship over the earth.

Conceivably, God could have engineered a way to save us that did not require the suffering of the Son of God. But it was fitting for Jesus to save us at the cost of His own suffering and death. This is the ultimate illustration of the fact that real love, real giving, involves sacrifice. As David said: “I will not offer to the Lord that which costs me nothing.”  (2 Samuel 24:24). God’s love for us revealed  itself in sacrifice and God could not make a substitutionary sacrifice unless He added humanity to His deity and suffered on our behalf.  And in like measure, our worship requires sacrifice. Love requires sacrifice. Worship without sacrifice is just empty flattery.

There is a principle of hermeneutics which is called the principle of first mention.  That is, if you are trying to understand a word of scripture, then it is often a good idea to go to the first place in the Bible that the word is used, and as you study it’s usage in that context, it will usually be an indication of how you should interpret it in later passages. 

And it’s interesting that the word worship is first used in the Bible in reference  to sacrifice.  Abraham, you will remember, was obeying God by taking his son Isaac to the mountain that he might sacrifice him to the Lord.  And as Abraham is considering what must have been the horror of that thought, that he would put to death his son, in hope that God would raise him up again from the dead in order to keep his promises to Abraham, he turns to his servants and says, in Genesis 22:5, “Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go over there; and we will worship and return to you.”  

Can you conceive of the word worship being used to convey the idea that you would offer up your son in obedience to the Lord in a sacrifice?  And yet that is the context of the word worship.  And I would suggest that sacrifice is what God requires of us in worship today.  Consider Romans 12:1,”Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, [which is] your spiritual service of worship.”

So the author of Hebrews says, it was fitting for God, from whom are all things, and to whom are all things, to perfect the captain of their salvation through suffering.  Why was it fitting?  Because Hebrews 9:22 says that  without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins. Because before the grace of God could be expressed, the justice of God had to be satisfied. Thus it was fitting that Jesus had to pay the ultimate price for our transgressions, so that we might receive the grace of God.  God couldn’t and wouldn’t wink at sin.  God didn’t stop counting our sins in the church age.  He just counted them against Jesus.  He punished Jesus so that we might be made righteous and holy.  So that we might become adopted into the family of God.

Notice that word “perfect.”  In no way does that infer that Jesus was not perfect.  He was perfect in all things, without sin, blameless, otherwise He could never be the spotless Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world.  But perfect in this sense means complete.  He completed our salvation by becoming obedient unto death.  He completed the Father’s plan, He was faithful.  He persevered even unto death. He added something to His nature which made Him the complete, perfect Savior.  And that was human nature.  He became like us, that we might be made like Him. That we might be His brothers and sisters in God’s family.

And that leads us to another characteristic of worship which is presented here in this passage. 

Jesus is gathering us into worship as God’s family.  “For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all from one Father; for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren,.” We are all of the same human family, so Jesus is not ashamed to call them (that is, us) brethren. He could not be our brother unless He was also human like us.

So that is what He means when the author quotes from Isaiah, “I will put my trust in Him.”  Jesus put His trust in God, that because of His righteousness He would not allow His holy One to see decay, that God would raise Him from the dead.  So we as His brothers, put our trust in God as well, that God will raise us from the dead because of the righteousness of Jesus Christ which He applied to us.

The next verse is another quote from Isaiah; “Here am I” says Jesus, “and the children you have given Me.”  The church of Jesus is designed to become family.  The principal perspective of  New Testament worship is that the church is a family.  That is how we impact one another, as family. We are to love one another as we love a family member.   Worship is the assembly of the family of God.   

We are coming to God our Great King, in all HIs glory, but we are coming as HIs children.  Accepted into the family of God by the atonement of Jesus Christ on our behalf.  Church programs can not change us, but our adoption changes us. Col.1:13 “For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son.”  We have become children of God. Made like Jesus, with His nature, clothed in HIs righteousness, conformed to HIs image.

And that act of being conformed to His image is indicated in the phrase, “sanctified.” Sanctification is essential for worship.  I think it is really better to read it, “For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one…”  Jesus sanctifies us, but we are being sanctified.  Sanctification is a progression.  We are justified by faith in Jesus Christ.  But we are sanctified, or set apart to righteousness in obedience to our profession, as we follow in the footsteps of Jesus.  Eph. 2:10 “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”

Sanctified means to be consecrated, holy, set apart for service to God.  It was used in the temple worship to describe vessels used in service to the Lord which were first sprinkled with blood, and then set apart to only be used for holy service.  That is what we are to be; holy to the Lord. Set apart, consecrated.  We are no more to be consumed with common things, worldly things, but to be set apart for good works. 

Going back to Romans 12, after it says we are to present our bodies to the Lord for service, which is our acceptable service, it then follows, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”   Our worship then requires sanctification, being set apart from the world, to be ministers of God.

Not only does Jesus sanctify us for worship, but Jesus leads us in our worship.  The writer quotes from Psalm 22. “I will proclaim your name to my brethren, In the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise.”  Notice first that our relationship to Jesus is emphasized again. Jesus did not divest himself of his humanity because he had finished his work on earth.  He was raised in that humanity, and ascended to heaven in his humanity, and remains in his humanity that he might forever be our brother. 

And then notice two things in this verse that Jesus does to lead us in worship.  He proclaims or preaches the name of God to His church, and Jesus leads the singing in the congregation. The word congregation there is the Greek word “ekklēsia” which is the word we get our word church from.  It means “called out ones.”  Ties right in with being sanctified, doesn’t it?  We are called out from the world, into the adoption of sons, that we might be the family of God.  And in that family, Jesus leads us in worship of God.  His word is proclaimed, and HIs songs are sung.

It’s interesting to remember that the songbook of Jesus was the Psalms.  That is what the book of Psalms was for the Jews, it was their hymnbook.  And everywhere you turn in the New Testament the Psalms are being quoted or referred to.  Jesus quoted the Psalms extensively.  

Paul said be filled with the Spirit as you are singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.   Our access to understanding the emotional life of Jesus is found in the Psalms.  This is where David expresses Christ’s personality and His emotions. Consider this Psalm that Hebrews is quoting, Psalm 22.  We find Jesus quoting from this Psalm while suffering on the cross.  Vs.1, “My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?”  The whole Psalm goes on to describe the sufferings of the cross. It’s interesting that the author just finished saying it was fitting for Jesus to have suffered, and then quotes from this Psalm to show our relationship to Him.

What’s important for us to remember about the Psalms is that they are scripture.  And so though we don’t often sing the Psalms today, but it remains that when we sing songs, we need to be singing scripture, and teaching doctrines of the gospel, even as the Psalms do.

I’m afraid that all too often our popular songs we sing in the church today do not really reflect the complete gospel as taught in the Psalms.  Some folks must think that for a song to be praise to God, it must be joyful and upbeat.  But I would suggest that is not what a study of the Psalms teach. The Psalms express worship in all aspects of life; not only in exuberance and cheerfulness, but also in fear, anxiety, heartbreak, loneliness, brokenness,  and repentance.  Unfortunately the church has abandoned singing the songs that Jesus sang.  But ironically the author of Hebrews talks so much about the new and better era of the church, but uses the Psalms to tell us about Jesus.

In God honoring worship, not only is Jesus the worship leader, but Jesus does the preaching of the word.  “I will tell of your name to my brothers.” In the preaching of the gospel it is Jesus himself who speaks.  In the power of the Spirit of Christ, Jesus preaches as He is preached. Romans 10:14 “How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?” 

It is oxymoronic that we can claim to worship God without the preaching of the word of God.  1Cor. 1:21 “For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.”  To know God, is to worship God.  Jesus proclaimed the name of God means that He proclaimed the attributes of God, the wisdom of God, the plan of God. 

In Ephesians 2, Paul says that Christ preached to those who were near, and those who were far off. Those near were those who heard Him, those far away are those who heard the apostles preaching. For instance, Christ preached in Ephesus through the preaching of Paul.

Another aspect of worship is that Jesus delivers us from the power of sin and death and the devil. [Heb 2:14 “Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil.”  We can’t worship the Lord if we are held captive by Satan.  

David said in another Psalm, “if I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.”  Our bondage to sin keeps us from fellowship with God, which is the heart of worship. Jesus died on  the cross not only to deliver us from the penalty of sin, which is death, but also the power of sin. Romans 6:8-11 “Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him.  For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.”

The second part of this principle is found in our text in vs15, “and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.”  Sin is addictive, is it not?  All sin has an addictive quality to it.  And whatever you are addicted to, you are enslaved to.  The unsaved person lives a life of sin because they believe this life is all that they can count on.  “Eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”  The theme song of the 60’s generation was expressed by a band called the Grassroots, with a song called “Let’s live for today.” Sha la la la la la live for today, Sha la la la la la live for today, And don't worry 'bout tomorrow, hey“ Live for today.  That’s the motto of the world.  As John Lennon said, imagine there is no heaven, there is no eternal life.  Get as much as you can because you only have one life and it’s going fast.  But Christ has come to show us a better way, a way to eternal life, a way to be set free from the lies of the devil.

The final aspect of worship is that Jesus has come to help us in our need.  The goal of worship is not to meet our needs, but the wonder of worship is that when we worship Jesus, He also meets our needs.  Vs16 “For assuredly He does not give help to angels, but He gives help to the descendant of Abraham.”  I said last week that angels are not offered salvation.  Those angels who rebelled against God are condemned to eternal punishment.  But God has made it possible to reconcile man who rebelled to come to Him.  

And specifically that is those who are descendants of Abraham.  We are told in the scriptures that to be a descendant of Abraham is to be of the faith of Abraham. Galatians 3:7 “Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham.”

Jesus is able to help us because He is One of us, He is fully human and fully God.  He is able to help us because He suffered in all things as we have suffered, yet without sin.  Vs17 says, “Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.  For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.” 

When we come to Jesus in worship, believing in Him as our Lord and Savior, coming to Him in our time of need, in our time of loneliness, or abandonment, or suffering, or sickness, or temptation, or depression, or anxiety, coming to Him no matter what the trouble may be, we can find in Him an ever present help in time of need.  He is able to empathize with our weaknesses, having experienced the same temptations and trials of humanity that we experience.  Yet because He is also the sinless Son of God, our great champion who has defeated the enemies of mankind,  He is able to help us, to be our faithful High Priest, to be our Mediator.  Because of the surpassing greatness of His atonement, God has adopted us as sons, and we share in the inheritance of sons, even in the inheritance of Jesus Christ.  

Romans 8:32 “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?”  We have a tremendous inheritance, in which God has promised good to us, He has promised life to us, even eternal life, and an eternal inheritance in glory with God.  

The final question for you today in light of all this, is are you a son or daughter of God?  Have you been made holy and righteous through faith in Christ Jesus?  Have you received the adoption that is offered as children of God?  Worship of God is only possible as we have been made holy by faith in what Jesus has accomplished for us.  Trust in Him today as your Savior and Lord, that you might be made a child of God and receive all that God has desired for us.

Jesus our Champion, Hebrews 2:5-9

In ancient times, there was a type of warfare that was often employed, which is illustrated in the familiar story of David and Goliath.  Everyone here I am sure is familiar with this story.  But what I want to emphasize from the story is the manner in which the battle was fought between the Philistines and the Israelites.  Goliath was the dread champion of the Philistines.  And everyday he would come out and taunt the army of God and challenge them to put up a man who would fight him.  And if you remember, he offered the Philistines to be the slaves of Israel if their champion should win, and said that if the Israelite lost, then they Israelites would serve the Philistines.  

Now that was a popular method of combat in those days; to allow your champions to duel together which decided the fate of the battle.  It meant much less cost and loss of life for either side.  But if you remember, the Israelites had no one that wanted to take on the giant.  Goliath was such a formidable, powerful warrior that defeating him must have seemed impossible and a sure way to an early, inglorious death.  But of course you know the story, and David, who was a type of Christ, (those of you who have been coming to Bible study knows this) David who was a type of Christ offered to take on the champion.  And by the strength of God, he prevailed.  

Though the Bible teaches this is an actual, historical event, it also serves as a metaphor of what Christ did on our behalf.  We as the church are the army of God, and the devil is the ruler of this world, who taunts us, and tempts us, and has enslaved the world through his deceit.  But Christ came to our rescue, and as our champion, as the Captain of the hosts of the Lord has fought against evil and prevailed, and we that are his have prevailed as well.  We are no longer enslaved to the devil and the world, but we are victorious over sin and death through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Martin Luther, the great reformer who lived in the 1500’s, wrote a hymn called “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God,” in which he speaks of this victory over Satan.  

A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing;

Our helper He, amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing:

For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe;

His craft and power are great, and, armed with cruel hate,

On earth is not his equal.

Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing;

Were not the right Man on our side, the Man of God’s own choosing:

Dost ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is He;

Lord Sabaoth, His Name, from age to age the same,

And He must win the battle.

And though this world, with devils filled, should threaten to undo us,

We will not fear, for God hath willed His truth to triumph through us:

The Prince of Darkness grim, we tremble not for him;

His rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure,

One little word shall fell him.

Now that is what this passage we are looking at today is teaching us.  Jesus has been presented in the preceding verses as superior to the angels in every way.  The author now goes to the next logical step, which is that not only is Jesus superior in position and authority, but also in power, and has defeated the angelic powers that rule in the heavenly places.  Ephesians 6:12 tells us this is so; “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual [forces] of wickedness in the heavenly places.”  And in defeating these angelic powers and overcoming sin and death, He has set free man from his enslavement to sin, and restored to man what he lost in the fall, which is his dominion over the world.  

Jesus is Superior, He is our Champion, He is the second Adam, He is the representative Man, He is fully God and fully Man, the hypostatic union of divinity and humanity in perfect fellowship with God, because He is the Son of God and perfectly able to intercede for men, because He is the Son of Man. So Jesus avails for man, as man’s champion, as man’s perfect representative, as foreshadowed by David triumphing over Goliath on behalf of the people of God.

Now the author of Hebrews broaches the subject of man’s favor of God by saying as his introductory argument what we read in vs5, “For He did not subject to angels the world to come, concerning which we are speaking.”  Note carefully what he says here; God did not subject to angels the world to come…”  The key is understanding what he means when he says, “the world to come.”  He is referring to the new heavens and the new world which will be remade at the consummation of the Kingdom of God, when Jesus Christ returns in judgment and to claim His church.  Peter says in 2 Peter 3 that this present world and it’s works will be burned up with an intense heat, but we are looking for a new heaven and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

The point that is being made, is that though we don’t see our destiny being fulfilled now, man was created to have dominion over the world.  Angels were not created for that purpose. But let me preface this by saying that I believe the Bible teaches that God has created man in two stages. The first stage was the physical creation in which the world was to be our dominion.  The second stage is the spiritual creation. In the spiritual creation we have been promised restored dominion over the world, or worlds.  But in the physical creation when man fell he relinquished his dominion to the devil and his angels.

Now let me try to explain. In Genesis 1:26 it says, then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."  God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.  God blessed them; and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

Now there is a month of sermons in those verses, but let me just focus on my point; God said man was to rule over the earth, to rule over all of creation, to subdue the earth.  We were made in the image and likeness of God, to be a fitting companion for God.  To rule and to reign with God.  But at the fall, man sinned, sin entered into the world, and death by sin.  And because man listened to the serpent’s lies and deceit, Satan usurped the power to rule this world which was rightfully ours.   Consequently, I John 5:19 says, “the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.”

A theologian named G. K. Chesterton once said, “Whatever else is, or is not, true, this one thing is certain. Man is not what he was meant to be. Instead of having the mastery, he is mastered. Instead of ruling, he is enslaved. Instead of being characterized by strength, he’s characterized by great weakness. Instead of being an ally of the Lord God, subject to Him, the Scriptures tell us that he is a rebel against God. Instead of being characterized by glory, he’s characterized by shame. Man seeks his destiny by tyranny and cruelty. There is still something planted within the nature of man that leads him to want to rule.”

So the present condition of man, mastered by sin, but he’s promised dominion. Martin Luther said, and I paraphrase, “man was tied in a knot, which only God can unravel.” What’s the solution? Well, after saying, “But now we do not see yet all things put under him,” the author goes on to say, “But we see Jesus.”

But it is not immediately as the Son of God which the author describes, but as the Son of Man.  And he quotes from Psalm 8, a psalm of David. The psalm is speaking regarding man, but it can also be interpreted Messianically, as the Son of God.  But literally, it speaks of man, and the author of Hebrews is interpreting it that way, though seeing it fulfilled in the representative man, the Man Christ Jesus.

In Psalm 8 which is quoted in part here in Hebrews, David speaks in wonder at the consideration which God has given to men.  He says, “What is man, that You are concerned about him?”  David finds it astonishing, as he considers the grandeur of the heavens, or looks out at far distant mountain ranges, and recognizes the smallness and insignificance of man in comparison to the magnitude of creation.

As David considers the creation of man, and God’s purpose in putting all things in subjection to him, David asks, “What is man, that you are concerned about him?”  David realizes that man was intended for so much more. I’m reminded of the song by a popular band called Switchfoot which has the line, “we were meant to live for so much more…”  We were meant to live with God, to be like God, to be one with God, and to rule with God. And David is astonished as he considers this.

The psalmist goes on to say, “YOU HAVE MADE HIM FOR A LITTLE WHILE LOWER THAN THE ANGELS.”  The key to that sentence is “for a little while.” It can actually be interpreted two ways, and both are true; We were made a little lower than the angels, and we were made or a little while lower than the angels.  That is, until the world to come comes in it’s fulfillment.  This, I believe, is the reason for the jealous anger of Satan towards the church.  He wanted to be like the Most High.  But chapter 1vs14 says that God chose to make angels His ministers for the sake of those who would inherit salvation.  And salvation belongs to men, not to angels.  Angels who have rebelled against God are eternally damned.  But for man, who has rebelled against God, He has prepared a way for us to be reconciled to Him, and to escape our condemnation.  

In fact, in 1 Cor. 6:13 Paul said that we who are Christ’s will one day judge angels.  Angels are superior to us now in power, and in the fact that they are spirit beings, and not subject to natural limitations of the body such as we have.  But at the consummation, when Christ appears, 1John 3:2 says we shall be like Christ, for we shall see Him as He is.  At that time, we will no longer be lower than the angels, but we will be exalted, and glorified, and share in the inheritance of Christ.  What a magnificent thing to consider.  No wonder David said, “What is man, that you are concerned so about Him.”

David says, “You have crowned him with glory and honor, and have appointed him over the works of your hands, you have put all things in subjection under his feet.”  Now as I have already said, man lost his crown.  Man lost his glory at the fall.  Man no longer has dominion over the world, but the world has dominion over man.  As the scripture says, “in Adam all died.”  As Adam our forefather sinned, so sin passed to all men, and therefor all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

But God raised up another Adam, the Second Adam, to take the place as the representative man, as the author of a new creation, even Jesus Christ.  He as our champion was able to overcome the world, and triumph over sin and death, and He is exalted in heaven to sit at the right hand of the throne of God.  And through His victory, we are victorious.  Ephesians 2 tells us that we are spiritually seated with Christ in the heavenly realm.  Listen to this; Eph. 2:1-7 “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,  in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.  Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.  But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,  even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),  and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly [places] in Christ Jesus,  so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”

So for now, the author of Hebrews tells us in vs.8, though we were intended to have dominion, we do not yet see all things subjected to him.  The world is still in darkness.  Death and sin still exist in the world.  The angels of the rebellion still have a measure of power on this earth.  We do not yet see all things subjected to man. 

But we do see Jesus.  He is our champion. He is our representative. We do see Jesus who was made a little lower than the angels for a little while, but now He is no longer so, but He is seated at the right hand of the Majesty on High, God having put all things under His feet.

We see, as we look out over the world, creation is not subject to man. Man is not what he is going to be. All things are not yet put under him. But if we  look up and see Jesus, what do we see? We see the guarantee that these promises will be ours, because he is our great representative. He is the Champion that has defeated sin and death for all men.

There is something interesting which is inferred here, I believe, and verified elsewhere in the scriptures, that Jesus in making Himself a little lower than the angels, in taking upon himself human nature and human flesh, became one of us, and remains one of us.  He took upon Himself human nature, and remains so, for our sake. He betrothed human nature to Himself, forever. That He might be our great High Priest, the perfect Mediator between God and man.

Charles Spurgeon said, “We know that had (Jesus) only been God yet still he would not have been fitted for a perfect Savior, unless he had become man. Man had sinned; man must suffer. It was man in whom God’s purposes had been for a while defeated; it must be in man that God must triumph over his great enemy.” So Christ is forever wedded to human nature. He ascended into heaven in human flesh, and will in the same manner come again. 

Now that is love that is incomprehensible. Imagine a king of a great country, of great wealth and power, falling in love with a peasant girl in a far away country.  And because of his great love for her, laying aside the privilege and rank of his own country, to became a peasant in her country.  Or in a more contemporary setting, imagine a super hero movie where the supernatural, immortal hero falls in love with a mortal young woman, and somehow relinquishes his immortality for the sake of having his love on earth.  Such illustrations pale in comparison to what Christ has done for us in taking on human flesh and human nature, that He would forever be our bridegroom.

Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor.  Because He was willing to humble Himself even to the point of death, to subject Himself to torture from His own creation, to being reviled and yet silent, to being whipped, to being spit upon, to being naked and hung up for the world to walk by and shake their heads.  What humility was Christ’s.  And because He committed Himself to suffer death, He was crowned with glory and honor.  He was exalted to the right hand of the Father.  And because He is at the right hand of God, we can rest assured that His sacrifice was considered acceptable to God. 

As Paul says in Phil. 2:8-11 “Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.  For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name,  so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth,  and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Notice in our  text the last little statement, “That He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone,” which outlines the spiritual significance of His death.  In other words, the spiritual application of His death was to provide the means for the new birth to everyone who believes in Him. In dying, He died for us.  He died so that we might live.  He paid the price that was due to us, so that we might have life through Him. His death wasn’t merely His own physical death, but was the substitutionary atonement which was applied on man’s behalf.

Now that is the grace of God that the author speaks of.  Grace is getting what you don’t deserve.  Mercy is not getting what you deserve.  Grace is getting what you don’t deserve.  It’s a gift of God.  God gave His only begotten Son to die, so that whosoever believes in Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life.  That is the love of God.  It required a satisfaction of God’s justice.  But in addition to that, God gives us life by transferring to us the righteousness of Jesus Christ.  That results in new life.  Spiritual life.  We are a new creation.  Man’s second birth is by the grace of God, through Jesus Christ who tasted death as the representative man, as our Champion. Though He triumphed over sin, He suffered unto death, for our sakes.

And as He is now exalted on high, so we shall be.  We who believe in Him, who worship Him for who He is and what He has done, will be caught up together to be with Him, in the new heavens and the new earth, as His new creation, that we might receive glory and honor with Him.   O Lord, What is man, that you are thus concerned about Him?  I can hardly fathom this tremendous inheritance that you have procured for us.  The question remains, what is your response to this grace?  What is your response to Him today?  Will you bow your knee to Him, and worship Him, and exalt Him, and live for Him today?  He has given an invitation to all, to come to Him, to find remission of your sins and to have the new life which is eternal, in which we will find our fulfilled destiny as sons and daughters of God.  Do not delay.  Come to Jesus, the author and finisher of our salvation.

The danger of drifting away, Hebrews 2:1-4

Today I just want to examine these first four verses of chapter 2.  I don’t want to rush over this very important application and the question that Hebrews provides here in this section.  And so we are going to go word by word and line for line, to make sure that we get the full import of this message which was written to the early church, because it is applicable to the modern church as well, if not even more so.

Chapter 2 starts with the phrase “for this reason” or depending on your translation, it may say “therefore,” which points back to the argument given in chapter one, which was that it is the last days,  or the last era, and God has spoken in these last days through Jesus Christ, the Son of God.  The argument made the point that word or gospel which He has spoken is greater than that of the prophets of old.  They spoke having seen through a veil, not having the full revelation at that time.  But in these last days, God has spoken completely and perfectly through His Son.  Jesus is not a messenger from God, He is the message from God.  He has spoken perfectly through His Son. 

The other point made in this opening argument is that Jesus is far superior than the angels.  Angels, for all their supernatural power, are created beings.  And Jesus made all things, thus He made the angels.  Furthermore, He is the Son of God.  He is seated at the right hand of God.  And no angel was ever asked to sit at the right hand of God.  They were created to be ministering spirits for the sake of those who inherit salvation.  That is those of us who are saved.  Angels are messengers of God.  Jesus is God, and thus His message is superior not only because of His message, but because of His position.

Therefore, in light of all that preceded in the previous chapter concerning the superiority of Jesus as the Son of God, in light of the superiority of His word which He has spoken, the author then says, “For this reason, we must pay closer attention to the things which we have heard, so that we do not drift away.”

Now let’s break that down.  “We must pay closer attention to the things which we have heard…”  The KJV says we must pay more earnest heed.  The idea there is a danger of not paying close attention.  Earnestness indicates not only sincerity, but also a sense of intensity, and perhaps even urgency.  There is a very real and present danger to becoming complacent about the things of God.  The gospel is not just about a future salvation from hell, though it is definitely that.  But it is also a way of life.  Jesus said it was the words of life. It is the truth and the life.  It is the way to God.  It is the way of abundant life. It is the water of life that washes us clean.  It is the light that lights our path which keeps us from stumbling or even worse, from the  destruction that is on either side. 

It says specifically we must give more earnest heed to the things that we have heard.  Give heed to the word. Give heed to the preaching of the word.  Give heed to the reading of scripture. Give heed to the assembling of yourselves together.  The gospel, the word of God, is the things which we have heard.  They are like signposts on the road of life.  They are warnings to keep us from straying, to keep us from falling.  Bind the word of God upon your heart.  Write them upon your doorposts and put them on the back of your hands and upon your forehead.  In other words, take heed of the word.  Give earnest heed.  Pay closer attention.

We must pay closer attention because we are so easily distracted.  I think that the enemy has so designed the world so that there are  many distractions that keep us from the word. The world was a distracting place as it was, and then they invented cell phones.  People are so distracted now days that they are completely unaware of anything going on around them. People are routinely run over by cars or trains because they are distracted by their phones. The world is a distracting place.  And we need to renew a sense of urgency about what we have heard, lest we drift away from what is important.

That phrase, to drift away, speaks to the subtlety of falling away.  To drift is to be without an anchor.  To be without markers.  To be unaware of your bearing.  Sometimes I like to go to Assateague Island to surf.  And it’s a pretty neat surf spot if the wind and swell are in the right direction.  But one thing I don’t like about it is that sometimes it can be a little disorienting.  Especially during the winter time when there aren’t a lot of other people around.  I’m used to surfing at Indian River Inlet on the north side, and there is a jetty there which kind of keeps you in position.  But at Assategue there are not a lot of landmarks.  And a lot of times the current can really move you along without you realizing it.  I’ve often been out there for a while and then looked back at the beach and it looks totally unfamiliar.  Ive drifted so far along the beach, either because of the wind or currents, that I am not able to tell where I am.

And that tells us something about drifting.  Drifting is characterized by not realizing that you are moving.  It’s such a slow, imperceptible movement, and yet it is relentless. There is a danger in drifting in the Christian life. Let me tell you something that is very important.  Salvation is not obtained by our works, but salvation is worked out.  Phil.2:12 says, “work out your salvation with fear and trembling.”  In other words, the life of the Christian requires work.  

There are the currents of the world which are pulling at you, and moving you away from the Lord.  In surfing sometimes it takes a lot of paddling to fight against the current. And likewise it takes a lot of effort to keep from being swept along by the world. The winds of the spirits are doctrines of demons that toss you here and there, like the waves of the seas, causing you to drift away from the truth.  Perhaps the tides of life are causing you to drift, the rise and fall of fashions and trends and popular things which cause you to be distracted from the earnestness that is essential to faith.

Make no mistake, folks, faith is not easy. It’s not easy believism.  Theologians tell us that faith is comprised of three elements, which in Latin  are  notitia, assensus, and fiducia, which means “knowledge, assent, trust.”  Knowledge is important in that you have to have knowledge of the truth, and then believe in the truth, that is assent.  To recognize and believe that something is true.  But to have saving faith, you need the third element, which is trust.  And trust, ladies and gentlemen, is not simply an intellectual exercise.  It is faith in action.  It is putting your actions to  faith.  True faith is  swimming against the current. It is persevering.  It is holding on tightly. It is standing firm. Standing firm against the schemes of the devil.

There is an old story about an ungodly, evil farmer that died.  And it was discovered in his will that he left his farm to the Devil. So the estate ended up in court, and they didn’t quite know what to do with his bequest – how do you give a farm to the Devil? Finally, the judge decided: The best way to carry out the wishes of the deceased is to allow the farm to grow weeds, the soil to erode, and the house and barn to rot. He concluded, “In our opinion, the best way to leave something to the Devil is to do nothing.” We can leave our lives to the Devil the same way – by doing nothing, by drifting wherever the currents drive us.

So how do we protect against drifting away?  First, we need a sure anchor.  Hebrews 6:19 “This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil.”  Jesus Christ is our anchor, He is our Savior, He is the strength of our life.  When we stay close to Him, and keep our eyes fixed on Him, He will be an anchor to us, to keep us from drifting. 

And again in chapter 10, we see that devotion to the Lord extrapolated to the devotion to the church. Hebrews 10:23-25 “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful;  and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds,  not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging [one another;] and all the more as you see the day drawing near.”  Hold fast, that is to hold on tightly. Persevere.  To physically put yourself in the place where you are encouraged, where you are strengthened.  A place where you are exhorted, and if necessary, where you are corrected.  You need to be in church on a regular basis if you want to keep from drifting.  The devil will attempt to distract you from devotion to church with every strategy imaginable.  I urge you to make going to church and Bible study an essential part of your week.  Just the physical act of putting yourself in church is an act of surrender to the Lord.  And it is an act of war against the devil.  And I will tell you, it’s an encouragement to other believers, and a testimony to those who are weak.  We need to stop thinking of church just as something that is for our benefit, and realize that it is in church that we can encourage one another.  As it said in chapter 10: let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another.

Now let’s consider vs2, “For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty, how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?”  What the author is referring to here is that the law in the Old Testament was conferred to Moses through angels.  There are three passages in the Bible that confirm this, I don’t have time to turn to them.  But in Deuteronomy 33:2, Acts 7:53, and in Galatians 3:19 they all speak of the angels of the Lord acting as messengers to Moses in delivering the law.  

And what he is saying to this primarily Hebrew audience is that you know the consequences and repercussions that were built into the law, and how the law given through angels was unalterable, or unchangeable.  Going against it was accompanied by dire consequences.  So if that is so with the word of angels, then how much more is it so with the word of the Lord Himself? Jesus came to earth and delivered this gospel in person.  Considering the significance and magnificence  of that, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?

Now let me speak a moment to the idea of how shall we escape? What are we escaping?  The idea of salvation infers that we are being saved from a calamity.  We are being delivered from condemnation.  We are being rescued from the judgment and wrath of God that is coming upon the entire world.

And I want to emphasize that coming judgment by turning your attention to a few verses in which it is talked about. Hebrews 9:27 says, “It is appointed unto man once to die and after that the judgement.”  There will come a day when God will judge man, and every word and deed will be called into question.  It’s not very popular today to talk about the judgment to come, or the wrath of God, but if it were not so, then why did Jesus have to die?  What are we saved from, if not from the condemnation of the world?  So I want to just read some verses that talk about the judgement to come and what we that have believed have escaped from.

Ecc. 12:14 “For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether [it be] good, or whether [it be] evil.”

John 5:28-29 “Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.”

Romans 14:11-12 “For it is written, [As] I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.
2Cor. 5:10 “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things [done] in [his] body, according to that he hath done, whether [it be] good or bad.”

2Tim. 4:1 I charge you therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom.” So without question, the Bible speaks of coming judgment.  And this judgment is often referred to as the wrath of God.

Romans 1:18 “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.” But thanks be to God, Christ has made a way to be saved from this coming wrath, when God shall judge the world.

Romans 5:9 “Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath [of God] through Him.”

2Peter 3:9-10 “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.  But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.”

And then one more finishing up in Hebrews 10: 26 “For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,  but a terrifying expectation of judgment and THE FURY OF A FIRE WHICH WILL CONSUME THE ADVERSARIES.  Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on [the testimony of] two or three witnesses.  How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?  For we know Him who said, "VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY." And again, "THE LORD WILL JUDGE HIS PEOPLE." It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

Now that is what we are saved from; the judgement that is coming upon the world. But as the author here speaks, “how shall we escape this judgment if we neglect so great a salvation?” The word ancient Greek word translated neglect is amelesantes, also used in Matthew 22:5 (they made light of it). This refers to those who disregarded the invitation to the marriage supper. It means to have the opportunity but to ignore or disregard the opportunity.

Our salvation is great, because we are saved by a great Savior, we are saved at a great cost, and we are saved from a great penalty.  What a tragedy if we should neglect it.  I think that this speaks not only to the one who has heard the truth, but has not yet come to saving faith, but it also speaks to those who are saved, who have neglected their salvation in that they are not living as Christ died to enable them to live. They neglect their salvation because having been delivered from the corruption and condemnation of the world, they go back to be being enslaved to the weak and worthless elemental things of this world all over again.  They are caught up by distractions.  They are corrupted by lusts of this world, the lust for money, the lust for power, the lust for possessions.  And being corrupted in their minds, they become enslaved to their temporal passions, and neglect the things of God. 

Let me explain something about this great salvation.  There are three parts to our salvation. There is first of all justification.  Justification is imputed righteousness.  It is having our sins forgiven, and the penalty of our sins paid for by the blood of Jesus Christ who died as our substitute, in our place. That justification is by grace, that means it is by a gift of God, through our faith in what Jesus did for us, and faith in who He is.

The second stage of our salvation is called  sanctification. Sanctification is the process of being conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. Of being remade in His image.  Of dying to self and sin and living for Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit. Now this sanctification I think is where drifting most often takes place in the life of the believer.  A man can be justified by faith, yet the process of sanctification has been interrupted by being distracted, by being caught up in the rise and fall of the tides of the world, by being swept from your moorings by the winds and currents of worldly affairs. 

There is a third stage of our salvation which is glorification.  That comes when Christ returns and we are given a new body, when this sinful world is burned up and every thing is made new. But what I think Hebrews is warning us about is that it is this process of sanctification that is in peril because we are prone to drifting away from our purpose; to be holy, blameless, conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. And folks, do not be deceived, this sanctification is essential.  It is not an option.  Hebrews 12:14 says, “Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord.”

Now the author emphasizes the urgency of this gospel which we have heard by reiterating the origins and confirmation of the gospel.  Note first that it was announced by the Lord, that is the Lord Jesus Christ.  Jesus speaking in HIs first recorded message read from Isaiah and said, "THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR. HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES, AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED,  TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD."(Luke 4:18)  Now there are many other places where the Lord is recorded as speaking of the gospel of the Kingdom which He was preaching.  But that will suffice for now.  He announced the gospel of salvation.

Secondly, the author says it was confirmed to us by those who had heard Him.  That means that this author was probably not an apostle, because he is not placing himself in the position of having heard Jesus directly as His apostles had.  But he is saying that he had heard it confirmed through the apostles, those who had heard Him.  And that is the record we have in the gospels, the record of eyewitness testimonies.  Those who were with Him, wrote it down, that we might have the confirmation of eyewitnesses.

Thirdly, he says that God also testified to their truthfulness by signs and wonders with gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His will. 2Cor. 12:12 says “The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with all perseverance, by signs and wonders and miracles.”  So the authentication of a true apostle was the signs and wonders and miracles which God used to show that they were His apostles.  

There is a lot of interest today in signs and wonders and miracles.  But I believe the scriptures teach us that these miracles performed by the apostles were given to authenticate their message.  Consequently, when the scriptures were completed, there was no longer a need for authenticating miracles.   And furthermore, when the apostles passed away, there was no longer a need to authenticate their message.  There are no new apostles today, and there is no new revelation today.  However, that doesn’t mean that God cannot do miracles today.   I believe He does, but according to His will, as it says there in the fourth verse.  But the idea of the gifts of miracles to be given to a person today I think is no longer valid, in that the scriptures have been completed and God has spoken completely in His word.  And a thorough study of the scriptures will reveal to you that they are self authenticating.  They do not need authenticating miracles, except the authenticating miracle of a changed life.  

You either are a living testimony to the miraculous power of the gospel to save, or you are a stumbling block to the testimony of the gospel.  Your life is the greatest sermon many people will ever hear.  Do not neglect this great salvation.  Live it and share it, that God may get the glory for the great things He has done.

In conclusion then, I will reiterate the question; how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?  For those here today who may have never trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior, to live for Him, how else can you escape the condemnation of the world?  How else will you escape the judgment from God? Someone said the most dangerous word in the English language is tomorrow.  Don’t put off until tomorrow making a decision to surrender to the Lord. Tomorrow may never come. Don’t neglect to take up the offer of this great salvation.

And for those who have been justified by His grace, by the sacrifice and substitute of Jesus Christ for the penalty of your sins, how can you neglect such a great salvation? How can you neglect the purpose for your life, for which Christ died?  I pray that regardless of which camp you find yourself in today, that today you will not drift away, but draw close to Him, and come to Him, that you might fulfill your salvation.

I close with the benediction found in the last chapter of Hebrews, chapter 13:20-21. “Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord,  equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.