The Incarnation
Notes
Transcript
Read: Hebrews 2:14-16
Read: Hebrews 2:14-16
14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, 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; 15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. 16 For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.
We talked Sunday about the wonders of the Incarnation and being Re-Wondered at its glorious truths.
“Mighty God and fragile baby, here a lowly manger holds, But it’s still the greatest story ever told” - Gaither’s
Tonight I would like to explore the theme of the incarnation a little more.
I attempted to explain what the incarnation was - God sending His Son in the likeness of sinful flesh. God in flesh in skin.
We talked about the mystery of Godliness in 1 Timothy 3:16 of Jesus being manifest in the flesh.
We read tonight some more truths about the incarnation:
We begin with the author setting the stage:
9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.
the author then goes on to give us the two-fold goal of incarnation. I want to spend some time tonight talking about those.
1. Destroy the Devil - Hebrews 2:14
1. Destroy the Devil - Hebrews 2:14
14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, 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;
Satan obviously had power over us that had to be broken in order for us to be brought into a right relationship with God through Jesus Christ.
Luther said, “even the devil is God’s devil,”
Dr. John MacArthur says, “Satan's primary power over man and supreme weapon against him is death. Sin, of course, gives Satan his power over us; but the power itself is death.”
Paul agrees with this when he writes: “The wages of sin is death” Romans 6:23
But I do want to note that God did not owe Satan a ransom -
The ransom theory of the atonement claims that the death of Jesus somehow paid a ransom to the devil. But, as Oden rightly noted, this theory is contrary to Heb 2:14–15 where the author explicitly stated that the death of Christ was a triumph over the devil, not a ransom paid to him.293 1
293 293 Oden, Word of Life, 399; cf. Col 2:13–15.
1 David L. Allen, Hebrews, The New American Commentary (Nashville, TN: B & H Publishing Group, 2010), 220.
But God wasn’t going to leave us under the power and control of the Devil.
Hebrews 2:14 tells us that Jesus took on flesh and blood so He could die in order to “destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil”
MacArthur continues “The only way to destroy Satan was to rob him of his weapon death — physical death, spiritual death, eternal death. “
God required death because of sin (As we said earlier - the wages of sin is death Romans 6:23)
Satan knows if he can keep people under the bondage of death until they die - they will for ever lose their opportunity for salvation.
Men cannot escape death - but God had a plan - it was part of the goal of the incarnation - To wrest from Satan the power of death.
Back in 1946 the Japanese bombed pearl harbor with tons of artillery and many many planes and submarines, on December 7th. It was, “a day that will live on in infamy” the president said.
But a short time later we dropped a couple of atomic bombs and suddenly the Japanese emperor didn’t feel so powerful and was ready to talk surrender.
MacArthur writes, “If you have a more powerful weapon than your enemy, his weapon becomes useless… Satan’s weapon [death] is extremely powerful, but God has a weapon even more powerful —eternal life— and with it Jesus destroyed death and the Devil’s power and eventually the Devil himself.
“Death is the power of Satan’s dominion, and when Jesus shattered Satan’s power He also shattered his dominion.” John MacArthur
The Incarnation lured Satan into defeating himself by his own weapon. By killing Jesus he forfeited his legal rights, for he killed One who had not sinned! And by the Resurrection the power of death was decisively broken. If Adam gave Satan an advantage in the cosmic struggle, Christ overturned it, and gave the advantage once for all to God. If Adam sold the human race into slavery to Satan, Christ delivered it. - Richard S. Taylor, Beacon Bible Commentary, Volume 10: Hebrews Through Revelation (Kindle Locations 570-573). Beacon Hill Press. Kindle Edition.
2. Deliverance from bondage of death - Hebrews 2:15
2. Deliverance from bondage of death - Hebrews 2:15
Christ came not only to destroy the devil but that He might...
15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
Richard Taylor writes: “Grammatically these two purposes are coordinate, but in human experience man's fear of death must be related to Satan's power of death; therefore the destruction of Satan's power would in itself be the ground—or at least a partial ground—for the deliverance of Satan's victims.”
As believer’s in Christ the bondage is broken by the deliverance from fear:
7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
We know “The sting of death is sin” (1 Cor. 15:56) has been removed by the atonement.
I’m so thankful we have this tremendous reality and truth.
That God came near 1. To destory the devil and 2. To deliver from the bondage of the fear of death.
I know Corey read this Sunday night - but last week sometime as I was thinking and pondering this great truth and praying that I could see it through fresh eyes - these words came to me and so I typed them out:
May I never loose the wonder 12/2020
May I never lose the wonder
Of the story told of old
Of a God of love and glory
Coming to this sinful world
He came not in splendor
Pomp or royally
May I never lose the wonder
That He came for the likes of me
May I never lose the wonder
Of the child and the manger he laid in
The God of glory and power
Reduced to dust and skin
May I never lose the wonder
Of the message the Angels brought
Goodwill, peace, Hosanna in the highest
The Savior, Redeemer, Messiah, Lord
Let me look with wonder
As the Shepherds and Magi do
In awe adoring, enraptured
Not just again, let me see it anew.