The Work of the Son: “He Came to Destroy an Enemy”

Text: Hebrews 2:14-15

Theme: Why God’s Son Became Human? To Defeat Death and the Devil

Jesus came to do the works of the Father. In John 5:16-17 Jesus said “ ... My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working.”” (John 5:17, NIV84). I'd like to take several Sunday evenings to share with you what those works were. Five things ...

Christ came to Rescue a Lover

Christ came to Destroy an Enemy

Christ came to Proclaim the God's Truth

Christ came to Dispel Spiritual Darkness

Christ came to Save Sinners.

Last Sunday I told you that He Came to Rescue a Lover. That lover, of course, is the Church. Jesus died for His Church.

There is another work the Jesus came to accomplish. He Came to Destroy an Enemy. Here in Hebrews, chapter 2, the Apostle tells us the Jesus came To defeat death and the devil, vv. 14-15. Tonight’s passage declares the good news that, in Christ, we have conquered death and the devil. We no longer have to fear either.

I. WE ARE CREATURES OF FLESH AND BLOOD

1. this, I’m sure, comes as no great surprise to any of you

Hebrews 2:14 "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, ... "

ILLUS. The body is a masterpiece of exquisite design. It is beautifully engineered, and is governed by dozens of control systems—each interacting with and affecting the other.

• A man’s brain has 10 billion nerve cells to record what he sees and hears.

• His skin has more than 2 million tiny sweat glands—about 3000 per square inch—all part of an intricate system which keeps the body at an even temperature.

• A "pump" in our chest makes our blood travel 168 million miles a day—equivalent of 6720 times around the world!

• The lining of our stomach contains 35 million glands secreting juices which aid the process of digestion.

And these are but a few of the involved processes and chemical wonders which operate to sustain his life.

a. the flesh is a significant part of our identity and life

b. because God created the human body, the Bible portrays it favorably as integral to our humanness and even our happiness

1) God looked down at a naked Adam and said, “It is good!”

c. it is this body that allows us to ...

1) interact with the physical world and each other

2) communicate with fellow humans and with God

2. the author says that we are partakers of flesh and blood

a. the word partakers in verse 14 is the word koinonia and means to have fellowship, communion, or partnership with

b. it means that all men—great or small, rich or poor, righteous or evil—share a common nature

3. it also means that all men share a common fate

"Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:" (Romans 5:12, KJV)

a. just a few verses later, in Romans 5:17, the Apostle Paul reminds us that we live in a world where death reigns

1) here is the doctrine of original sin—not only are we fallen in Adam, we sinned in Adam, and the soul that sins shall die

b. the Psalmist David reminds us that the shadow of death is our constant companion

A. DEATH IS OUR RELENTLESS ADVERSARY

ILLUS. There have been many times I have stood with a family as a loved one died. I was there when my mother died. There is always a sense of helplessness. Sometimes heroic efforts can save a life for a few days or even a few years. But death stalks everyone like a relentless hunter tracking his quarry. Neither fear of it nor our attempted flight from it, can stop death.

1. we are living in an era where medical science is advancing by such leaps and bounds that the average physician is hard pressed to keep up with the technology

a. today, it seems that much of the human body can either be replaced, repaired, regenerated, or transplanted

1) most of our joints can now be replaced or rebuilt with steel and plastic

2) laboratories can now take a few cells of skin from a burn patient, place them in a special nutrient solution and laterally grow, in a few short days, large patches of skin that can them be grafted back onto the patient

3) some members of our church see clearly through the corneas of others

4) limbs can be reattached

5) hearts, lungs, kidneys, and livers can all be replaced

ILLUS. Dr. Sergio Canavero of Italy even believes that a time is coming when we will be able to do head transplants.

2. but, with all our advances, man is powerless to prevent that which fills his heart with dread

a. we can repair the body

b. we can heal illnesses

c. we can prolong life

3. but no matter how hard we try, we cannot cheat death—you cannot prolong life forever

“Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” (James 4:14, NIV)

4. the author tells us in verse 15 that the fear of death subjects us to a lifetime of bondage

a. death is probably the most unpopular subject known to man (unless, I suppose, you’re a funeral director)

1) we don’t even like using the word so we substitute euphemisms

2) when someone dies, we say: They passed away, or They departed, They expired, or They succumbed

ILLUS. Personally, I always like Rush Limbaugh’s definition ... Assuming room temperature.

5. death is our relentless adversary

B. SATAN IS A SLANDEROUS ACCUSER

1. Satan, according to Rev. 12:10 is the accuser of the brethren who stands before the throne of God and accuses us before God’s throne day and night

a. while a powerful spiritual being, we must remember that Satan is not—I repeat, is not—God’s evil twin

2. the ancient world maintained the idea of a cosmic dualism, similar to that espoused by the "Star Wars" series and New Age thinkers of our day

a. this dualism promotes the idea that good and evil exist equally in the world and the universe

3. unfortunately this idea has crept into Christian circles

a. too many professing Christian have the idea that the devil is on par with the Triune God, and that a spiritual tug of war exists for control over the universe

1) sometimes God wins out; other times the devil wins out

4. let there be no misunderstanding at this point!

a. our God has never been subject to the devil

1) there has never been one moment in the history of the universe when the devil has had the upper hand

ILLUS. He may thing he has the upper hand, but it never pans out for the devil. On Good Friday, he rubbed his hands together and thought, “Allll, right!” On Sunday morning he said, “Oops. Didn’t see that coming.”

2) our God does not feel threatened by what the devil might do

3) nor does our God worry that somehow He might not have power to overcome the evil one

b. the devil's domain and power are limited

1) he is not sovereign nor is he infinite in his scope or power

2) yet our writer refers to him as him who had the power of death, that is, the devil (v. 14)

5. in what way does the devil have the power of death?

a. did the devil create death?

b. death was the divine sentence against sinners pronounced in the Garden

"But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." (Genesis 2:17, KJV)

1) death is the awful reality of divine judgment, not satanic

6. but death is the realm in which Satan works

a. he waves the flag of death to sinners in order to intimidate and hold us under his evil sway

b. he makes it his business to slander the truth of the gospel, to deny its power, to confuse its simplicity, and to attempt to turn sinners away from the sufficiency of Jesus Christ

7. but God is still supreme in his sovereignty – death is not a sphere that has broken loose from God's command

II. JESUS BECAME FLESH AND BLOOD

Heb. 2:14 “. . . he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;”

1. while few Evangelical Christians have problems with this statement, it has not always been universally accepted

a. the Graeco-Roman mind of that day found the whole idea of incarnation distasteful

1) one early heretical group of Greek-thinking Christians—the Docetists—believed that Jesus was a temporary appearance of God disguised as a human

2) another group of Jewish-thinking Christians—the Ebionites—believed that Jesus was a mere man who was indwelt by God’s power at his baptism and abandoned by God at the crucifixion

3) neither believed that Jesus was God in the flesh

b. these early heresies seem far removed from our time, but they are distant cousins to similar heresies that are alive and well in our own day

2. to combat untruth, Paul proclaims truth—Jesus became flesh and blood

A. HE BECAME FLESH AND BLOOD THAT HE MIGHT DESTROY THE DEVIL AND DEATH

1. delivering believers from the curse of sin and the clutches of the devil demanded nothing short of Jesus taking the place of those who stood eternally condemned because of their sin

a. from the world’s point of view, the method of Christ’s victory was ironic

b. he destroyed death’s power by dying!

2. in this verse, the Apostle Paul reminds us of the great mystery of the ages—that God he also became flesh

a. the word also in this verse means in a somewhat similar manner not altogether in a like manner

b. it seems like splitting hairs, but it’s an important distinction

1) you and I, are by nature, flesh an blood

2) Jesus was not by nature flesh and blood

3) His nature was that of God—Divine in every way—but He clothed himself in human nature for the sake of providing redemption for mankind

“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:” (Phil. 2:5-7, NIV)

c. when Jesus became flesh and blood He did not cease to be Divine

3. he took part of the same

a. some have the mistaken idea that Jesus was somehow insulated from humanity, as we know it

b. the Apostle Paul wants us to know that—physically—He was just like us

1) the weight of our collective temptations assaulted him

2) the emotional and mental pain of loss, separation, and grief were his

3) he knew what it meant to be ridiculed, made fun of, criticized, talked about, and totally misunderstood

4) he understood what it was to live under false accusations even to the point of being treated as a common criminal

c. Jesus became our blood relative

1) in fact, in the original language the phrase is blood and flesh not flesh and blood

2) the prominence of the word blood indicates that the ties that bind us are blood ties

d. the one part of human nature that Jesus did not participate in was sin

4. through death he might destroy him that had the power of death

a. God the Father desired that Jesus be born of the Virgin Mary, ordained that he should suffer and die, and set him free from the bondage of death by raising him from the dead

"This man was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him." (Acts 2:23-24, NIV)

b. it was through the humiliation and shameful death of His Son, that God expressed his love toward sinners

c. Christ was born in the humble surroundings of the Bethlehem stable so that He might die a redemptive death

1) He entered the realm of humanity for the solitary purpose of accomplishing, through his death, what was necessary for us to be in a right relationship to God

5. the result of Christ’s death is twofold

a. First, he conquered Satan

1) the word destroy in verse 14 in reference to the devil means to bring to nought or render impotent as though not existing

2) it means that though the devil is still alive, his power is seriously muted

b. Second, he set his people free from the fear of death

1) the word deliver in verse 15 means to set free, to loose

2) it was a word often associated with the freeing of a slave

3) it means that the sting of death has been removed

III. LESSONS FROM HEBREWS 2:14-15

1. why did God become a man?

a. it was man who sinned against God

b. it was man who stood condemned before God

c. it was man who must satisfy divine justice that was due for sin and rebellion

2. so God became a man, so that as man he might satisfy divine justice on our behalf

3. the results?

A. RESIST THE DEVIL AND HE WILL FLEE BECAUSE HE IS A DEFEATED FOE

ILLUS. Charles H. Spurgeon, the great English Baptist preacher of the 19th century once told his congregation about an old ploughman in the country he sometimes talked with. Spurgeon said that the old man’s words were often uncouth, but in spite of his course language, he said some precious things. The ploughman once told Spurgeon, "The other day, sir, the devil was tempting me and I tried to answer him; but I found he was an old lawyer, and understood the law a great deal better than I did, so I gave over, and would not argue with him any more, so I said to him, 'What do you trouble me for?' 'Why,' said the devil, 'about your soul.' 'Oh!' said I, 'that is no business of mine; I have given my soul over into the hand of Christ, I have transferred everything to him; if you want an answer to your doubts and queries, you must apply to my Advocate. And with that, the ‘ol devil fled.”

1. Jesus’ death on the cross striped the devil of his power

a. he may be a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour, but he also has a fatal wound

b. his power is not absolute

c. he’s been defanged, and declawed

2. Christ has not destroyed him as to his being, but as to his power and authority over the children and chosen of God

ILLUS. The devil still exists, but his power has been stripped. Just like a vicious dog that has been secured by a chain, he might bark and stretch the chain to its full length, but he is held at bay by something stronger and more powerful.

3. Jesus Christ, through his death, chained the power of the devil so that while he roars and seeks to intimidate, we must remember that at the cross his power was nullified

B. NOTHING CAN SEPARATE US FROM THE LOVE OF GOD

1. believers still die

2. however, the curse of God no longer rests upon the family of God, because Jesus removed it

a. we no longer have to fear the prospect of standing before a holy God for judgement

b. our judgment took place on the cross with Jesus in our place and the sentence of eternal death was annulled at the moment of our redemption

3. as those who have faith in Christ, when we face death, we do not enter the realm of the unknown

a. we must realize that death is not darkness for us but the promise of eternity with the Lord

ILLUS. Martin Luther saw this so strongly that he boldly wrote, "He who fears death or is not willing to die is not sufficiently Christian. As yet such people lack faith in the resurrection, and love this life more than the life to come."

4. Paul declared that through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, "Death is swallowed up in victory”

a. he then goes on to taunt death. "O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (I Cor. 15:54-57)

b. death's sting is sin, but Jesus Christ has borne our sins before the judgment of God at the cross

Winston Churchill, years before his death, had planned his own funeral, which took place in Saint Paul's Cathedral. He included many of the great hymns of the church and used the eloquent Anglican liturgy. At his direction, a bugler, positioned high in the dome of Saint Paul's, played "Taps," the universal signal that says the day is over. But then came the most dramatic turn: as Churchill instructed, as soon as "Taps" was finished, another bugler, placed on the other side of the great dome, played the notes of "reveille" ... "It's time to get up. It's time to get up. It's time to get up in the morning." That was Churchill's testimony that at the end of life, the last note will not be "Taps;" it will be "Reveille."

"Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is." (I John 3:2).