A Great Salvation
Notes
Transcript
Let’s pray.
Great God and heavenly Father, thanks for bringing us together today. Help us to understand your word as we work our way through it this morning. We can’t understand anything without the work of your Holy Spirit, so we pray that in your grace we’d make the best use of our morning and strive to grow in the power your Spirit provides. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
This morning I want to start by showing you one of the most controversial images which I’ve ever seen on the internet. Usually when someone tells you that you run far and you run fast, but it’s too late because here we go.
A man online uploaded this picture of his newly primed rims, and some smart person zoomed in on one of the cards he had used to do it. That there, my friends, is one of the rarest bits of cardboard you could get your hands on on the planet earth.
Yes, I’m a geek, and it means that I know, as you might, that that is a Black Lotus from the card game called Magic. And it’s a card that sells not for hundreds, but thousands and thousands of dollars online.
Here is a rare, priceless bit of geek culture, and he had used it as a paint shield. Needless to say, he felt a bit sheepish.
Now you may not find yourself in the near future with any valuable Magic cards in your household. But the book of Hebrews is specifically written to let you know that if you are a follower of Jesus, you have something infinitely more precious than a black lotus or whatever else you might consider valuable.
Look at v1 -
1 Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.
The word there translated “much closer” is a word that implies a continued intensifying act; it’s a follower of Jesus’ responsibility to keep on growing in our knowledge and understanding of what we’ve learnt about Jesus, because like a car whose wheels are out of alignment, we naturally drift away from him. We will naturally tend to treat our most precious possession as a paint shield.
In verses 2-4 he continues what he was saying about the angels; in quick summary he says that if what previously had been given by angels in the law of Moses had proved reliable and brought punishment for abandonment, how much worse will it be if we leave the salvation that comes from the one who is greater than the angels?
So in the coming verses, he’s going to give us three reasons, three reminders, why we should consider Jesus to be our most precious possession. And there’s one common thread running through these three reasons, and it might not be what you think.
Reason 1: Jesus is a Perfect King
Reason 1: Jesus is a Perfect King
First, in v5-9 he tells us that Jesus is a perfect king.
5 For it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking. 6 It has been testified somewhere, “What is man, that you are mindful of him, or the son of man, that you care for him? 7 You made him for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned him with glory and honor, 8 putting everything in subjection under his feet.” Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him.
First, the author brings up a quote from the Psalms. It’s always encouraging as a preacher when you read v6 and hear him say “it has been testified somewhere”. It’s somewhere in the Bible, I can’t remember right now. Well, it’s a quote from Psalm 8, and it’s talking about how incredible it is that God has made humans ‘just a little lower than the angels, crowning them with glory and honour.’
However, he says there at the end of v8 that ‘we do not yet see everything in subjection to him;’ that is, we don’t see the world in subjection to people in general, do we? There’s bushfires, floods, storms. I stubbed my toe on a pile of books yesterday. That’s a world that is not in subjection to me.
Your world might not be in subjection to you either - you might be feeling that today. You might be feeling as though things are very out of control in your life, as though things are in a death spiral and you’re barely hanging on. Your daily experience might not be one of being ‘crowned with glory and honour.’
9 But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.
We don’t see the world in subjection to us, but we do see Jesus, who now reigns over the world. People often say ‘well, how can Jesus be reigning now when so much bad stuff happens in the world?’ But that gets it backwards. We don’t challenge Jesus’ rule by looking at the bad stuff. Jesus’ rule changes how we look at the bad stuff.
That’s what he’s saying here - our perspective on the world from a human’s eye view is unglorious, dishonourable, and out of control. But when we see Jesus, we understand that he is in control, and so whatever goes on in the world goes on according to his plan and purpose. That might make it hard sometimes to reconcile, but it’s a far sight better than an out of control world on the road to nowhere.
Jesus is precious, because Jesus is a perfect king.
Reason 2: Jesus is a Perfect Saviour
Reason 2: Jesus is a Perfect Saviour
Second, Hebrews says that Jesus is precious because he is a perfect saviour.
10 For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.
Now, you’re probably noticing the common thread that I’m not mentioning yet, but I promise we’ll get there! He says here that God’s purpose was to ‘bring many sons to glory,’ that is, bring together for himself a family of children who enjoy the blessing that sons did in the ancient world. And he says that Jesus is the one who is ‘the founder of their salvation,’ its architect and builder.
If you’re a follower of Jesus, this means that you aren’t just some face in a multitude to Jesus. Jesus is the founder not of the salvation just of the multitude, but of your salvation. He looks at you and knows you better than anybody else ever will, and he loves you. He’s founded your salvation to bring you as a precious possession to God.
14 Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.
This is what it means earlier when it says that Jesus was ‘perfected.’ We often struggle with the idea that Jesus was ‘perfected,’ as it makes us think that he’s gone from a place of imperfection to a place of perfection, as though he wasn’t morally perfect in some way.
But the word ‘perfect’ doesn’t just mean ‘morally good,’ does it? That’s not what it means here. It means he was made a perfect saviour - look at the verses. He took on flesh and blood (which as the Son of God, we can agree that he didn’t have before). He partook of weak flesh and blood which is in slavery to death so that he could destroy the one who holds onto the power of death - the devil.
Jesus’ becoming flesh, being born as a baby, was in a sense a perfect undercover job. He became like us so he could start the revolution among us. The saviour had to live among the slaves so they could be free.
This leads to the third reason Jesus should be the most precious possession.
Reason 3: Jesus is the Perfect High Priest
Reason 3: Jesus is the Perfect High Priest
Take a look with me at vv17-18
17 Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. 18 For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
Because this perfect saviour was made like us in every way, that qualified him to be a ‘merciful and faithful high priest’ for us. Hebrews is going to go into more detail about this later on in the book, but right now it’s important for us to look at what a high priest is, and what kind of high priest Jesus is.
First, many of you will know about how the old sacrificial system worked in Israel. There was a system of priests and sacrifices set up in order that a perfect and holy God could live in the midst of a sinful and rebellious people. God and people were separated by sin, but through this system God instituted, he could live among them and they had access to him.
The high priest was the one who was set apart above all others to make atonement for everybody and everything - he was where the buck stopped when it came to dealing with sin in Israel.
33 He shall make atonement for the holy sanctuary, and he shall make atonement for the tent of meeting and for the altar, and he shall make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly. 34 And this shall be a statute forever for you, that atonement may be made for the people of Israel once in the year because of all their sins.” And Aaron did as the Lord commanded Moses.
So this bloke was someone who lived among the people, who came between God and the people, and atoned for their sin. Every year a sacrifice was made and the high priest was the channel through whom the business of redemption took place.
But now, Hebrews says, all Christians everywhere have a high priest who comes between us and God - Jesus.
17 Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. 18 For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
Jesus was like us in every way so that he could become this priest. He’s now the one who stands between sinful people and a holy God. Hebrews is going to go on and talk about how much better Jesus is than the earthly priests.
This whole idea is one of the pillars on which the church has to stand. Throughout history, the direction of the church has undermined this; the church set up priests and orders of ministers to get in between God and the people. People said ‘yes, I understand that Jesus mediates between us and God. But who mediates between us and Jesus?’ That’s how we got Mary worship - she mediates between us and Jesus. That’s how we got confession and the priest system - the priest mediates between us and Jesus. You can just imagine in the face of all this Jesus going “huh?” He was the one made just like us in every way. Why do we need people between us and Jesus when he’s the perfect saviour?
That’s why Paul elsewhere can say:
5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
Friend, hear me clearly right now - if you want to come to God, there is only one person who is between you and him. That’s Jesus. And look at what kind of person he is -
17 Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.
He’s merciful and faithful. He understands your weakness, and he’s not going to give up praying for you. He’s not overbearing and impatient. He’s not changing and flighty. He knows you and loves you and his delight is to bring you to the Father, cleansed of sin and perfect in his eyes.
So throughout today we’ve looked at three reasons why Jesus should be the most precious possession to us. But all of these reasons fall flat if we don’t understand the thread tying them all together. What difference is it to me if there’s a bloke out there who is a great king, a great priest, a great saviour?
Well, the single thread running through the three of these wonderful truths is the thread that ties it to you.
Why is Jesus qualified to be the perfect king?
9 But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.
He died in the place of who? Everyone. Sinners in every place in history have a single hope in the face of a world full of self-interested failed kings; a king who died for them, in their place.
Jesus is the perfect king because he died and rose again.
What qualifies Jesus to be the perfect saviour?
10 For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.
Suffering. Christians don’t worship a distant saviour. We worship a saviour who suffered the consequences of sin so his people never would. He’s a rescuer who lays down his life for sinners like us in the face of oncoming judgement and condemnation.
What qualifies Jesus to be the perfect high priest?
17 Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.
Again - his death. That word there - ‘propitiation’ - is a very precious word for Christians. Propitiation is the act of turning God’s holy anger at sin aside onto himself, and bringing friendship between us and him.
The single thread that runs through the preciousness of Jesus is the cross. It was there that he became king, he became saviour, he became the great high priest. Outside of the cross of Jesus, we have no hope.
Jesus isn’t just some nice or precious thing that you can add to your life, like a rare playing card. He’s our most desparate need - whether we’re old hat at this church game or only just starting to know about him. Has he become old news to you? Has he become sidelined in favour of what you’ve convinced yourself are more pressing issues in your life, or in our culture? As the world around us changes, don’t drift. God’s desire for our church today is that we see Jesus for what he truly is - our most precious and our most necessary possession of all.
