HEBREWS 2:1-9 - So Great Salvation

Introduction

A couple of weeks ago I gave a presentation to the incoming freshman students and their families at Penn State DuBois about their financial aid eligibility and how to manage their funding for college. And every year I give them a solemn warning that they need to read the emails we send them. I plead with them, I appeal to their better natures, I tell chilling tales of students over the years who have made shipwreck of their academic careers because they went into default on their payments because they never read the emails I sent them telling them to come in and sign a paper or submit a document that would release their aid.

And just like every other semester, all of the students in the room nodded their heads solemnly and promised to faithfully read all of the emails that came to them from the Office of Student Aid. But at the end of the semester, without fail, there will be a handful of those students who will call me in a panic on the last day of the term saying that their bill never got paid and now they can’t enroll for the next semester. (And when that day comes I won’t say “I told you so”, but I will think it, good and hard, in their direction…)

The writer of Hebrews is doing much the same thing in this book: He is writing to the New Testament equivalent of the Israelites on the border of Canaan, warning them not to neglect the terms of the Covenant that binds them to Christ. They must not treat Christ the way their forefathers treated Moses. We will see this as a recurring theme throughout Hebrews:

Hebrews 3:12 (LSB)

See to it brothers, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God.

Hebrews 4:1 (LSB)

Therefore, let us fear, lest, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you may seem to have fallen short of it.

Hebrews 4:11 (LSB)

Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall into the same example of disobedience.

Hebrews 10:26 (LSB)

For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,

Here in our text we see the first of these warnings in this book:

Hebrews 2:1 (LSB)

For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away.

Hebrews warns the New Covenant people of God not to repeat the failures of the Old Covenant people of God when they stood on the brink of entering the Promised Land. They are living in the last days before the destruction of Jerusalem (Hebrews was written in the late 60’s A.D.) Their world is about to be forever decimated by the Romans: The Temple destroyed, the city razed to the ground, the people massacred and carried off into captivity. When the Temple in Jerusalem comes crashing to the ground, it will bring the whole Old Covenant World down with it—and the writer of Hebrews warns his readers to be ready for the new world they are about to enter—the Dominion of the New Covenant under the reigning King, Jesus Christ.

And so this is part of why Hebrews opens with such a magnificent picture of the supremacy of Christ’s reign over all other rivals. They are going to see their entire world, their whole way of life decimated and destroyed—they need to know that Christ reigns over all things even so. That His Covenant can never be overthrown or destroyed or broken.

And so as we move into Chapter 2, we see how the beginning of verse 1 points us back to the argument of Chapter 1— “For this reason (the supremacy of the reign of Christ) we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard… (the New Covenant of salvation by the blood of Christ, the Gospel.)

In organizing the flow of the argument this way, the writer of the book of Hebrews provides a powerful antidote to our constant temptation to slip into the heretical belief that the God of the Old Covenant was vengeful and strict, but the New Covenant God is a different God altogether; He is kind and gracious and forbearing and simply “overlooks” disobedience because of Christ.

But the point that Hebrews is making here in this chapter is that the grace of the New Covenant does not make obedience less important; it is even more crucial! The supremacy of Christ’s reign over all things means that the Covenant He has inaugurated is even more demanding of obedience; that Christ both demands and deserves greater submission and allegiance.

And so this is the heart of our text this morning—this passage is the author’s way of warning us:

Do not mistake the GRACE of the New Covenant for Christ’s INDIFFERENCE to DISOBEDIENCE

The grace of Christ in salvation does not mean that He takes sin less seriously, or that His holiness doesn’t mean as much to Him as it used to, or that the obedience of His people is now less important for a right relationship with Him. But this book will show us over and over that as bad as the consequences and penalties were for disregarding the Old Covenant, the consequences and penalties for despising the New Covenant are even more dire.

In the first couple of verses, as we see, the supremacy of Christ’s reign demonstrated in Chapter 1 shows us that there is

I. No ESCAPE for those who NEGLECT His Gospel (Hebrews 2:1-3a)

Hebrews 2:1–3 (LSB)

For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away. For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every trespass and disobedience received a just penalty, how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?...

Remember the passage from Deuteronomy 28 that we read earlier in our worship that laid out the penalties for neglecting the Old Covenant under Moses? Deuteronomy 28:45 sums up all of those warnings in this way:

Deuteronomy 28:45 (LSB)

“So all these curses shall come on you and pursue you and overtake you until you are destroyed, because you would not listen to the voice of Yahweh your God to keep His commandments and His statutes which He commanded you.

The rest of the Old Testament is a record of that very thing happening. They did not listen; they neglected the covenant established with YHWH, and they suffered all the just penalties of their covenant-breaking disobedience against God. And in the same way the people of the New Covenant are warned about

The disaster of DISREGARDING Him (cp. Deut. 28:45)

The Israelites suffered a long history of disaster and defeat because they repeatedly ignored and disregarded the covenant they made with YHWH. Verse 2 of our text says that this was “a word spoken through angels”—The Apostle Paul says the same thing in Galatians 3:19, saying that the Law was “ordained through angels by the hand of a mediator”. The writer of Hebrews is clear—if a covenant delivered by an angel would bring such disaster on a people who disregarded it, how much more calamity will come upon a people who disregard a covenant delivered by the One Whom angels worship??

What does it mean to disregard the New Covenant? The heart of the New Covenant (as we observed during the Lord’s Supper last week) is the blood of Jesus Christ. Remember that we read last week from 1 Corinthians 11:25: “This cup is the new covenant in My blood…). The New Covenant is sealed by the blood of Christ—so that means that disregarding the New Covenant means disregarding why the blood of Jesus Christ was shed. Disregarding the Old Covenant led to disaster, and disregarding the blood of Jesus Christ and why it was shed is also a path to disaster.

This is why we include Paul’s chilling warning during our remembrance of the New Covenant each time we observe it:

1 Corinthians 11:29–30 (LSB)

For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly. For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep.

To disregard the New Covenant means to discount or disregard or demean the blood of Christ shed for the forgiveness of sins. If your allegiance to Christ is based on how He gives you purpose in life or how He has helped to make you a better person or has given you hope in the midst of your despair or has given you an example of how to try to be a better person, then you do not understand the purpose of the blood of Christ.

If you regard yourself as a basically good person who finds Christianity an interesting and fulfilling religion; if you consider your life pretty well put-together and your allegiance to Christ and His teachings have come about because you personally approve of their high morality and profound impact on Western civilization and personally feel as though the whole world would benefit from adhering to its tenets the way you do—if your Christian identity is wrapped up in all that, and yet you have never been utterly laid low by the reality that the blood of Christ has rescued your wicked, depraved soul from eternal damnation under the wrath of His Father, you do not understand the Gospel. And that kind of disregard of the New Covenant will be an eternal disaster for your soul.

Do not mistake the grace of the New Covenant for Christ’s indifference to disobedience. We see the disaster of disregarding Him, and in verse 1 we are warned against

The danger of DRIFTING from Him (v. 1)

Hebrews 2:1 (LSB)

For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away.

The Greek word underneath the translation “drift away” is only used here in all of the New Testament; the sense of it is to “flow past” or “glide by”. It could be compared to our English idiom, “go with the flow”—the idea is of passively going where the current takes you, not paying attention to where you’re at. Like floating on an inflatable raft in a swimming pool with your eyes closed, and then when you open them you’re surprised that you’re not facing at all the direction you thought you were!

What does it mean to “drift away” from the Gospel that we have heard? Much of the problem comes when we use the grace of God in the Gospel as an excuse for laziness instead of an encouragement for obedience. This verse says pay attention to the Word we have heard—but we leave our Bibles unopened for weeks on end and shrug our shoulders and say, “Well, I’m saved by grace, not by works!” And we drift away from the truth of God’s Word.

The writer of Hebrews will warn his readers later in this letter

Hebrews 10:25 (LSB)

[do not forsake] 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.

And yet, we roll over and hit the snooze alarm on Sunday morning or ignore Men’s Prayer Breakfast invites or skip Sunday School because “I’m saved by grace and not works”—and we drift away from the people of God.

The writer of Hebrews exhorts us to

Hebrews 4:16 (LSB)

...draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

But instead of praying, we hang on to our anxiety and begin to blame God for the trials and difficulties and struggles we face. We allow our spirits to become embittered by what we perceive as His failures to take care of us the way we want, or that He does not keep His promises—and we drift away from the promises of God.

Christian, this Covenant of Grace into which you have been brought is not less potent than the Old Covenant of the Law! The Israelites suffered the unflinching justice and retribution of YHWH for disregarding a covenant delivered by angels—how then can you escape if you neglect the Covenant authored by the Omnipotent Reigning Christ Himself?

Do not mistake the grace of the New Covenant for Christ’s indifference to your sin. There is no escape for those who neglect His Gospel, and the end of verse 3 and verse 4 warn us that there is

II. No EXCUSE for not BELIEVING His Gospel (Hebrews 2:3b-4)

From the end of verse 3 into verse 4 we see two reasons why we are utterly obligated to believe the message of salvation Christ has brought:

Hebrews 2:3–4 (LSB)

...That salvation, first spoken by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard, God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will.

This covenant was “spoken by the Lord”—it came from the mouth of Jesus Christ Himself as He began His ministry on earth:

Mark 1:14–15 (LSB)

Now after John had been delivered up into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

That Gospel, spoken by the reigning Lord over all things, was “confirmed to us by those who heard”— we have not excuse for not believing this Gospel because

We have trustworthy WITNESSES in His WORD

The apostles that Jesus called saw and experienced and confirmed everything that happened, writing them down so that we can be confident that these things are true. Luke begins his account that way:

Luke 1:1–4 (LSB)

Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as those, who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word, handed them down to us, it seemed fitting for me as well, having investigated everything carefully from the beginning, to write it out for you in orderly sequence, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty about the things you have been taught.

John the Apostle ends his book the same way:

John 20:31 (LSB)

but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.

And he begins his first epistle with the same statement:

1 John 1:1–2 (LSB)

What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we beheld and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life— and the life was manifested, and we have seen and bear witness and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us—

There is no excuse for not believing this Gospel—we have trustworthy witnesses in His Word, and

We have powerful DEMONSTRATIONS of His SPIRIT

This is what verse 4 of our text tells us:

Hebrews 2:4 (LSB)

God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will.

The apostles faithfully passed along their witness of Christ’s death, burial and resurrection in the Gospels, and they faithfully proclaimed the terms of the New Covenant in their writings. And the Holy Spirit of God confirmed the truthfulness of their testimony by wonders and signs and miracles, such as we see in the Book of Acts.

But even within the Apostles’ own lifetimes, the period of miraculous gifts waned—once the testimony of the Apostles was established in the writing of the New Testament, the need for such validation of the truth of the Gospel through miraculous signs passed away. (For instance, in Acts 19 we read that Paul was working such extraordinary miracles that people were healed just by touching an apron he had worn, but by the time he writes his second letter to Timothy—written around A.D. 65—he leaves Trophimus sick at Miletus. A strange thing to do if he still had the power to heal via handkerchief!)

But that does not mean that we are left today without powerful demonstrations of God’s Spirit that validate the truth of the Gospel, are we? We may not need the signs and wonders and miracles anymore—but we do see the truth of the Gospel established by the operations of the Holy Spirit in our lives through the gifts He gives us:

Romans 12:6–8 (LSB)

but having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: whether prophecy, in agreement with the faith; or service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching; or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with generosity; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.

If you have ever seen the miraculous change that takes place in the life of a sinner who comes to faith in Jesus Christ, who is transformed from a greedy, selfish miser into an open-handed and generous giver, from a harsh and hateful misanthrope to a cheerful, merciful friend; if you have ever witnessed the miraculous way God equips and builds up His people to serve one another in the Body of Christ, the church, then you have seen the demonstration of the power of the Gospel! And more than that, you know the power of this New Covenant because of what God’s Spirit has done in your own life!

There is no excuse for not believing this Gospel—not when you have seen the power of God at work through it in your life and the lives of others. There is no escape for those who neglect this Gospel, by disregarding it or by drifting away from it. The grace of the New Covenant is not a sign of weakness of its Author, or a sign of His apathy or permissiveness regarding sin. If the Israelites suffered disaster because they broke a covenant mediated by angels, how much worse the disaster for those who break a covenant mediated by the One angels worship?

There is no escape for those who neglect this Gospel; there is no excuse for not believing this Gospel. And the author of Hebrews goes back again to the Old Testament—to Psalm 8—to demonstrate that there is

III. No EVADING the FUTURE of this Gospel (Hebrews 2:5-9)

The author returns to a point that he made in Chapter 1 regarding the rule of Christ—he quotes from Psalm 8, which is David’s song about the dominion Adam was meant to have over all creation:

Hebrews 2:5–8 (LSB)

For He did not subject to angels the world to come, concerning which we are speaking. But one has testified somewhere, saying, “WHAT IS MAN, THAT YOU REMEMBER HIM? OR THE SON OF MAN, THAT YOU ARE CONCERNED ABOUT HIM? “YOU HAVE MADE HIM FOR A LITTLE WHILE LOWER THAN THE ANGELS; 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”...

As we saw last week, where Adam failed, Christ succeeded—He is the New Adam, the Man of flesh and blood Who rules over all Creation as the representative of God (because He is God Himself!) The rest of verse 8 concludes:

Hebrews 2:8 (LSB)

...For in subjecting all things to him, He left nothing that is not subject to him.

The fact that Christ has been given all authority and all power and all control over everything in all Creation is the greatest comfort, the greatest inducement to submit to this Gospel, because it guarantees that all the promises of this Gospel will come to pass! This is what R. C. Sproul was getting at in his famous “maverick molecule” quotation:

If there is one maverick molecule in the universe, one molecule running loose outside the scope of God's sovereign ordination, then ladies and gentlemen, there is not the slightest confidence that you can have that any promise that God has ever made about the future will come to pass. (Retrieved from https://www.ligonier.org/podcasts/ultimately-with-rc-sproul/no-maverick-molecule, 01/05/2024)

Do not disregard this Gospel, do not drift away from the promises of the New Covenant inaugurated by the blood of Jesus Christ:

His DOMINION is inevitable... (vv. 5-8)

We are tempted, aren’t we, to look around the state of this world and wonder, “Is Christ really reigning over this world? Is His power and authority really holding sway over every molecule? Because when you look around, it sure doesn’t seem like it! There is still so much wickedness and rebellion, so much sickness and frailty, so much darkness and despair—this does not look like the reign of a victorious Christ over His enemies!”

But the writer of Hebrews is quick to answer that objection at the end of verse 8, isn’t he?

Hebrews 2:8 (LSB)

YOU HAVE PUT ALL THINGS IN SUBJECTION UNDER HIS FEET.” For in subjecting all things to him, He left nothing that is not subject to him. But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him.

We are assured by Holy Scripture that, even if it doesn’t look like it, the dominion of Christ has already begun! Some theologians try to express what the inspired author of Hebrews is saying here in this verse with the phrase “already/not yet”—Christ has already been given all dominion and authority (Matt. 28:18), but we do not yet see that dominion revealed in the world around us.

But the Scriptures are clear that we are not left without assurance that the dominion of Christ is inevitable

…because His RESURRECTION is accomplished (v. 9)

Hebrews 2:9 (LSB)

But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels—Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.

The first Adam plunged the world into sin and death, the last Adam was plunged into death for the sake of the sin of the world. The first Adam doomed his descendants to futility and groaning; the Last Adam set His people free from the darkness and futility of this world. His dominion has already been established; He is making all things new. He has not purchased redemption only for a slow trickle of people; He has not suffered and died and risen again to be perpetually ignored and written off by the world. He is not standing outside the great global convocation of power and authority with hat in hand, begging for “a seat at the table”. Jesus Christ died and rose again to purchase this whole world for His own dominion—and He shall have it! He is not waiting to take dominion; He is reigning now, and the Good News of His resurrection from the dead and the forgiveness of sins that He has secured by His suffering and death is the means by which He will transform this dead world into a living dominion of His glory!

So Christian, do not neglect such a great salvation; do not drift away from such a Savior! Do not let the flow of this world cause you to drift away from this Gospel; do not allow the deceitfulness of your own remaining sin whisper lies to you about the “grace” of God that would overlook or disregard your wilful disobedience—the Scriptures here warn you that your spiritual ancestors died by the thousands in the wilderness of Sinai because they drifted away from faithfulness to the OId Covenant. The New Covenant does not erase those sanctions; the greater clarity of the Covenant of Grace and the greater Blood that sealed that Covenant means that we are called to even greater attention to what we have heard; even greater vigilance against drifting away.

The Scriptures are clear on two great truths in regard to salvation—those who are elect cannot be separated from the love of God:

Romans 8:29–30 (LSB)

Because those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers; and those whom He predestined, He also called; and those whom He called, He also justified; and those whom He justified, He also glorified.

No one can remove the elect from the Father’s hand. If someone is truly regenerate, if he has been effectually called by God’s Spirit, then God will complete the good work He has begun, and they will be glorified.

But secondly, there is nothing plainer in the Scriptures than that there are people who claim the Name of Christ, who have some kind of real attachment to Him and to His people, who can and will be removed from Him because of unbelief. We are warned here in verse 1 of this chapter that we can drift away. We are warned in John 15 that branches can be cut off and thrown into the fire. We are warned in Romans 11 that if God did not spare the natural olive branches but threw them away for their unbelief that He can certainly do the same thing to gentiles who do not believe. We have Jesus’ warning in Matthew 7:22-23

Matthew 7:22–23 (LSB)

“Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, in Your name did we not prophesy, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name do many miracles?’ “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’

Just saying you are a Christian is not enough. This warning comes to you today: Have you identified yourself with God’s New Covenant people by a confession of faith and baptism? Have you been paying earnest heed to this word of His great salvation? Have you been drifting away ? Have you been neglecting this message? Do you think you will be protected from the consequences of disregarding this Covenant because you have perfect attendance at church and nod along at all the right points of the sermon?

Beloved, do not mistake the grace of the New Covenant for Christ’s indifference to disobedience. Christ is not mocked; your spiritual ancestors died by the thousands in the wilderness for drifting away from a covenant sealed by the blood of bulls and goats—you are bound by a Covenant sealed by the very blood of Christ Himself. If they died because they disregarded a covenant announced by angels, how will you escape if you drift away from a covenant established by the One angels worship?!

Many years ago a man named Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote a book called “The Cost of Discipleship” in which he wrote about a deadly form of misunderstanding of the Gospel, which he called “cheap grace”:

The essence of grace, we suppose, is that the account has been paid in advance; and, because it has been paid, everything can be had for nothing. Since the cost was infinite, the possibilities of using and spending it are infinite. What would grace be if it were not cheap?… Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate. (Retrieved from https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/423945-cheap-grace-means-grace-sold-on-the-market-like-cheapjacks Retrieved 1/9/2024)

Beloved, do not cheapen the blood of Christ. Do not treat it as a “get out of Hell free” card that means you can do whatever you want and then just get “forgiven” afterwards. That you can spend your life just however you feel like you want to and presume God will bless it because you’re “saved”. That you can have all the same desires and passions and goals and sensibilities of the fallen world around you because “Jesus died on the cross for your sins” and so it doesn’t matter how you live. This New Covenant of Grace is infinitely costly. Bonhoeffer writes:

Costly grace is the treasure hidden in the field; for the sake of it a man will go and sell all that he has. It is the pearl of great price to buy which the merchant will sell all his goods. It is the kingly rule of Christ, for whose sake a man will pluck out the eye which causes him to stumble; it is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple leaves his nets and follows him... Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son: "ye were bought at a price," and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered him up for us. (ibid.)

The salvation that you claim, Christian, cost the life of the Son of God—do not use that grace as a means to justify drifting away from following Him with everything that you are and have. With everything that is in you, with every breath in your lungs, with every motion of your will and every waking thought in your consciousness, never stop holding fast to the salvation that you have through the New Covenant that binds you to your Savior, Jesus Christ!

BENEDICTION:

Hebrews 13:20–21 (LSB)

Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, our Lord Jesus, equip you in every good thing to do His will, by doing in us what is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

FOR FURTHER REFLECTION AND DISCUSSION:

Write down something you learned from this morning’s message that is new to you, or an insight that you had for the first time about the text? ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________

Write down a question that you have about the passage that you want to study further or ask for help with: ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________

Write down something that you need to do in your life this week in response to what God has shown you from His Word today: ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________