Leading Us Hebrews 2: 14-18

Hebrews 2:14–18 NLT

14 Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death. 15 Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying. 16 We also know that the Son did not come to help angels; he came to help the descendants of Abraham. 17 Therefore, it was necessary for him to be made in every respect like us, his brothers and sisters, so that he could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before God. Then he could offer a sacrifice that would take away the sins of the people. 18 Since he himself has gone through suffering and testing, he is able to help us when we are being tested.

Background

We don’t know WHO wrote Hebrews...

We don’t know exactly when it was written, but it seems to have been written before the destruction of the temple in 70 A.D.

It was clearly written to people who understood the Hebrew Old Testament (especially the Psalms and the sacrificial system). It would seem that the letter was written to remind Hebrew followers of Jesus that they need to rely on Christ, and Christ alone, for salvation - there is no need to return to the sacrificial system, as it all points towards it full completion in Jesus Christ.

Also, as an aside, it would seem that angel worship has somehow crept into the church and the author is reminding the church to worship Christ alone who is superior than the angels. Angels are our help, but salvation is through Christ alone.

The Story of Hebrews

We have picked up on a very short snippet the letter this morning.This snippet helps us to see the Grand Story of Hebrews...

The story...

God comes to us and does for us what we cannot, should not, and would not do for ourselves. God came to us in Christ to provide the way through death so we no longer have to fear it, but also so we can be made pure before God.

Gregory of Naziansus declared “The unassumed is the unhealed.” Christ had to assume ALL of humanity in order to heal ALL of humanity. These brief passages explain how God, in Christ assumed ALL of humanity in order to heal ALL of humanity.

Story of Dad grabbing my hand at Disneyland

The Son came to grab us by the hand and lead us through our darkness back to the Father...

The author had already written… Beginning - glory to the Son who rescued us

Hebrews 1:1–4 NLT

1 Long ago God spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets. 2 And now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his Son. God promised everything to the Son as an inheritance, and through the Son he created the universe. 3 The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command. When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven. 4 This shows that the Son is far greater than the angels, just as the name God gave him is greater than their names.

God spoke long ago through the prophets and the Old Testament, but now God has appeared and spoken through Jesus Christ. It is the SAME God who speaks - and therefore the SAME message. But now, this message comes from the Son who is the exact imprint of the father. Before we could hear the Father’s voice (live over a telephone) but now we can see what the Father looks like.

The idea is how a coin would be imprinted with the EXACT imprint of the emperor. So we see in Christ the EXACT imprint of the Father.

The one who created the universe is the one who has stepped foot into His creation.

John 1:1–5 NLT

1 In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He existed in the beginning with God. 3 God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. 4 The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.

John 1:14 NLT

14 So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.

John 1:18 NLT

18 No one has ever seen God. But the unique One, who is himself God, is near to the Father’s heart. He has revealed God to us.

Bob Ross stepping into his paintings...

But, he stepped in to cleanse US and to MAKE PURIFICATION for our sins (more on that later…). He stepped into creation to RESTORE creation!

And, now he is seated in the place of honor at God’s right hand...

Here there is the reminder that the Son is greater than the angels. The Son created, yes, but He receives double honor because of the purification He made and the exaltation He received. No angel can claim that. So, there is a message on what we worship!...

But, how did the son do this? This is where this passage begins to highlight that story...

He did this by becoming one of us and leading us as Champion who died on our behalf...

Hebrews 2:14–18 NLT

14 Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death. 15 Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying. 16 We also know that the Son did not come to help angels; he came to help the descendants of Abraham. 17 Therefore, it was necessary for him to be made in every respect like us, his brothers and sisters, so that he could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before God. Then he could offer a sacrifice that would take away the sins of the people. 18 Since he himself has gone through suffering and testing, he is able to help us when we are being tested.

Again, the unassumed is the unhealed. Christ came and assumed what it meant to be humanity. He ACTUALLY changed his nature - not just pretending to be human, but actually becoming FULLY a human...

He had to become a human in order to die and be the Champion, or pioneer, who leads us through death.

But, he also had to become like us to be our Great, High Priest. The Jewish people understood that a priest was JUST LIKE THEM. The priestly lineage was a human lineage. The priest understood what it meant to be human and could intercede between humanity to God. Providing for God what was necessary for all humanity. The priest would offer sacrifices on behalf of all the people in order for the people to be ceremonially purified. The priest would do this as a representative for the people - providing what God required for ceremonial purity to take place.

Jesus, the Champion, pioneer, author, perfecter, leader (to borrow an image from Hebrews 2:10) and High Priest leads us through the fear of death and into a new relationship with the Father. He guides us in the midst of our darkness...

But, he was not only champion/leader, he was High High Priest

He offered the sacrifice that would take away our sin (as a priest would do)

This word is translated as atonement - righting what was wrong in order to bring estranged parties together.

Sometimes propitiation - Making a sacrifice or offering to God which satisfies his justice and thus removes His condemnation of the worshipper.

Expiation - Describes the purging of sin from the human heart

Some don't like these words or phrases. To them, these words make God sound like a cosmic bully, or war lord, who is vengeful and wrathful. Atonement seems to carry the best idea of what Christ did. He made us AT ONE with God - But, we CANNOT forget that it was because of His Sacrifice of HIMSELF. This also reminds us that THIS IS GOD’S STORY! God is NOT a cosmic bully who picked on a PERSON named Jesus. God is the ONE who became HUMAN and took on the name Jesus - so that GOD could provide the necessary sacrifice of himself. God is NOT a cosmic bully - the one hanging on the cross was NO ONE OTHER THAN GOD IN THE FLESH! God made himself to be the ONLY sacrifice that God would desire and require to make us pure! PERIOD

God came to lead us by the hand through sin and death by HIS OWN SACRIFICE OF HIMSELF!

The challenge for us is what do we DO with this God?

Hebrews 2:18 NLT

18 Since he himself has gone through suffering and testing, he is able to help us when we are being tested.

We must allow this sacrifice not simply to make us ritually pure, but to make our hearts pure - this sacrifice MUST lead to our holiness.

We can flee temptations and struggles because our High Priest - God- can lead us through them as well.

Later, the author would write...

Hebrews 4:14–16 NLT

14 So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe. 15 This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. 16 So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.

The image of the Great High Priest will be spelled out more fully in the next few days. But, the importance of this image cannot be overlooked today.

In the Old Testament sacrificial system blood would be applied to top of the Ark of the Covenant. This was known as the Mercy Seat. When the blood was applied God would pronounce mercy and forgive the people of their sinfulness - because of their faithfulness to offer the sacrifice. We must recognize that the mercy seat is also the judgment seat - where God judges sin - in order to provide for mercy there is a judgment against the sin that separates us from God. Yes, God grants mercy to those who provide sacrifice, but God also judges the sin of those who offered the sacrifice.

This image of the priest offering a sacrifice and sprinkling the blood of the sacrifice on the mercy seat is applied to Christ.

Christ did not pass through the earthly temple - he passed through HEAVEN. He went not to the earthly REPRESENTATION of GOD’S Footstool (the top of the alter was considered to be God’s footstool) He went DIRECTLY to God’s throne in heaven - He went to the REAL MERCY SEAT and applied the blood of the sacrifice that was offered. It has already been hinted at, but will be more clearly spelled out later, that the blood offered to grant MERCY was non other than Jesus Christ’s himself...

We receive mercy because Christ is our high priest who has gone through the heavens, who offered himself in making purification for our sins as one of us (later Hebrews will declare the Jesus is our high priest who offers HIMSELF as the sacrifice...)

Hebrews 9:13–14 NLT

13 Under the old system, the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer could cleanse people’s bodies from ceremonial impurity. 14 Just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our consciences from sinful deeds so that we can worship the living God. For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins.

So, Jesus who has gone through the HEAVENLY temple sprinkles the blood of the sacrifice upon GOD'S throne. Therefore, we approach God no longer with fear, but with confidence. Because of Christ’s sacrifice we will receive mercy and grace.

This is a two-fold promise

Mercy to cover our sins

Grace to help us in our trials!!

The point of this is to make us HOLY!

Hebrews 12:14 NLT

14 Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord.

The entire point of Hebrews is that because of the Son we are not only Forgiven, but we can be inwardly purified - holy.

The challenge is to hold firmly to our faith and allow it to recreate us into a new, not simply forgiven or ceremonially purified worshipper, but to allow it to make us TRULY PURE - TRULY HOLY!

So, we hold firmly to our faith by approaching God’s throne of grace no longer with fear and trembling, but with CONFIDENCE that GOD will grant us mercy and provide for us the grace we need to continue to hold onto our faith.

The work of the Son in his life, death, and Resurrection is still just as powerful today to forgive us and purify us.

Therefore, when we are tested in our faith and when we are tempted to step away there is mercy and grace as we approach God's throne. We no longer approach with fear, we approach with CONFIDENCE because Jesus our champion, High Priest, and Son of God has made that possible!

Cast the Nets

God’s love is so huge that God would do this for YOU!

Have you accepted Christ’s Championship in your life?

Have you allowed Christ’s Championship to purify not only your heart but your life?