The Glory and the Shame of Being Human

The greatest thinkers are holding conferences to explore this question. Here’s one answer they give. “What does it mean to be human? I have no idea, and I’m very happy with that. And I feel deeply human, and I love it.” Jon Kabat-Zinn, professor of medicine, UMass Medical School

Jane Goodall, “We are the fifth great ape. But the difference is that we have the ability to develop words and intellect.”

Working definition: Human beings are created in the image of God, dead in our trespasses and sins, and redeemed and restored through Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit.

We will be in Hebrews 2 today, and we will pick up where we left off last week. The writer has told us that God is speaking. He spoke long ago through prophets. He has now spoken a final message through His Son, Jesus. The message is gospel, good news. Chapter 2 begins by pointing out that if God is speaking, we had better pay attention. The gospel is a message of salvation. But this brings up questions. Who is being saved, and saved from what? This will get into questions about who we are as human beings, in need of salvation, but loved by God enough that He would save us. So the writer begins by telling us that if the gospel of God is a message of salvation, the worst thing you can do is neglect the message.

The Wages of Neglect

2:1-4 - God has been speaking salvation, we must pay attention

The background is the revelation of Torah to Israel at Sinai, attended by angels (Deuteronomy 33:2). There was fire and smoke, and a voice like thunder, and the people were terrified. The writer of Hebrews is saying that the testimony of Jesus and His apostles is just as significant. The Torah brought death and condemnation to sinners, transgressors of God’s laws and those disobedient to God (verse 2). It announced the wages of sin is death. The gospel Jesus and the apostles preached, and backed up with miracles and signs from God, is that there is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

God has done everything for you to be saved from the wages of sin. You can mock it, try to disprove it and deny it. But the worst thing you can do is neglect it. This is a salvation that is missed simply by not paying attention.

Out of all the things that you have to pay attention to, your family, your job, your chores, your hobbies, your investments, etc., where does hearing from God about salvation rank?

Are you paying attention to the message God is sending you?

The writer has introduced a view of humanity to us. Fallen into sin and disobedience, but offered salvation by God through Jesus Christ, working in the power of the Holy Spirit. Next, he will consider the implications of this message.

Being Human is Glorious

Quotes Psalm 8 in verses 6-8. Human beings are given a unique and glorious position in this universe. We co-reign with God on the earth. We have been created in God’s image, to spread shalom - justice and righteousness - across the earth.

You can see this every time a natural disaster or political catastrophe strikes. Human beings recognize their calling to rectify those things. It’s in our nature. We have been created in God’s image, and we have this glorious calling.

But there is this other truth at the end of verse 8, “At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him.”

Our Fall into Sin Brought Shame

We have fallen into sin, or as verse 2 puts it, transgression and disobedience. We have never lived up to God’s full intention for us. Far from it, we have corrupted everything we have touched on this planet because our sin runs deep in our hearts. As much as we may try to rectify our world, we end up making bigger messes, don’t we? Just the history of the United States involvement in foreign affairs over the last 60 years should be enough to tell you that relying on the most money, the latest technology, the best education, and the most dedicated patriots, human beings will only fix one thing by breaking something else. We need help from somewhere else.

The truth of the matter is that it’s worse than that. Because the One we need help from has sentenced us to death because of our sin and rebellion against Him. We are under a sentence of death from God. We need deliverance, and every person knows it, deep down. As verse 15 puts it, every human being “through fear of death is subject to lifelong slavery.” Enslaved to the same futile solutions to the world’s problems. It’s a real shame.

But here’s where the message God is sending us makes all the difference.

Jesus Restores the Glory

Look at what the passage says about Jesus. Starting in verse 8, human beings have not lived up to their position and calling. But verse 9, “But we see him...” Read 9-11

Jesus was God the Son, but took on the human flesh in solidarity with us. He has fulfilled our calling. He lived out perfect justice and righteousness. And because our world is upside down, the self-righteous religious and government leaders crucified Him. But God used the crucifixion of Jesus to turn things right-side up again. Because Jesus was the perfect human representative, His death was an atonement for sin. He turned the shame of suffering and death into glory and honor (verse 9). His suffering perfected God’s design for a perfectly obedient human being, and so all who are united to Jesus by faith, are united to Him in purity (verse 11 uses the word sanctified, “made holy”). Jesus restores the glory.

Because Jesus was willing to call us brothers, to take on our human condition, we now have a savior who understands us like no one else, but also understands perfect obedience to God, and the glory of fulfilling our calling as God’s coworkers on earth. So, Jesus frees us from shame, fear of death, and therefore slavery to the evil spiritual forces that would keep you from knowing God and living in His shalom.

In fact, because Jesus has risen and ascended to the throne of God (1:13), He helps us right now. He has a ministry to pray for us, and minister God’s grace to us.

Hebrews 2:17-18 “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. For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.”

We come in our sin and shame, and He reminds us of the salvation, forgiveness, and restoration we have through His work on our behalf.

The gospel of God is not that we become angelic. The gospel of God is that human beings, who were created for a glorious position, right next to the angels, fell into sin. But that God loves us and has sent His Son to restore us through His perfect obedience, death, resurrection, and ascension. God loves sinners. God trades glory for shame. Jesus restores the glory.

Jesus is shaping a culture. If we just look at this passage, we find words that describe the culture Jesus is shaping. There is

salvation for transgressors and disobedient (3)

glory for God’s children (10)

sanctification like Jesus (11)

brotherhood with Christ (12)

deliverance from the devil (14)

freedom from fear of death (15)

propitiation from our merciful and faithful high priest (17)

help when we are tempted (18)

I have lots of things that are broken in my house. I have lots of things that were once glorious, but have fallen into disrepair and uselessness. But of those things, the things that I have made have a special place in my heart. Some things I will throw away when they no longer work. But the things I have made I would rather restore them than throw them away. Do you have anything like that?

Take that feeling and apply it to people you know. Everyone you know was created for glory. But everyone you know has fallen into transgression and disobedience. The world will throw certain people away. The ones that have become useless. But God is not like that. The gospel of God, and the culture Jesus is shaping, should be reflected in our church community. Close your eyes and picture someone you know whose life has fallen into disrepair and has become useless to most people. You and I should be able to see the glory for which every person, no matter how much disrepair their life has experienced, was created by God. And see that no one is beyond the salvation of Jesus.