[00:00:04] Thank you for listening to the Calvary Monterey podcast. Please visit Calvary.com to learn more about our church and visit
[00:00:11] NateHoldridge.com for additional Bible teaching from our senior pastor, Nate Holdridge.
[00:00:18] In verse 5, it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come,
[00:00:23] of which we are speaking. It has been testified somewhere
[00:00:27] what is man that you are mindful of him or the son of man that you care for him?
[00:00:31] You made him for a little while lower than the angels. You have crowned him with glory and honor,
[00:00:37] putting everything in subjection under his feet. Now, in putting everything in subjection to him,
[00:00:42] he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him,
[00:00:48] but we see, verse 9, him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus,
[00:00:56] crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God,
[00:01:02] he might taste death for everyone. For it was fitting that he, verse 10, for for whom and by whom
[00:01:09] all things exist, what a beautiful description of God, for whom and by whom all things exist,
[00:01:14] in bringing many sons to glory should make the founder of their salvation perfect through
[00:01:20] suffering. For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he
[00:01:26] is not ashamed to call them brothers, saying, I will tell of your name to my brothers in the midst
[00:01:33] of the congregation. I will sing your praise. And again, verse 13, I will put my trust in him.
[00:01:38] And again, behold, I in the children God has given me. Since therefore the children share in
[00:01:43] flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things that through death,
[00:01:48] he might destroy the one who has the power of death. That is the devil and deliver all those
[00:01:54] who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. For it is surely verse 16, not angels
[00:02:01] that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. Therefore he had to be made like his
[00:02:07] brothers in every respect so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest
[00:02:12] in the service of God to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For because he himself
[00:02:19] has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. So let's pray briefly and
[00:02:27] then jump into this Lord. This is your word. We thank you for it and ask that you would give us
[00:02:33] some illumination today that we might be able to apply this to our lives. We come here from
[00:02:39] all different types of walks of life and going through all kinds of different experiences.
[00:02:44] And we need you today, Lord. We need your help. We need your grace. We need your guidance. We need
[00:02:50] Lord, your high priestly work as we're going to see here today in our lives. And so we ask
[00:02:56] for that. We pray that you give us a deeper vision for it today in your word. We thank you Lord
[00:03:02] and we praise you in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Humanity is hurting. This world is not as it
[00:03:16] should be. There's chaos, there's sickness, there's war, there's famine, there are natural disasters
[00:03:31] and we feel helpless in the face of so many of these things. And that's just humanity in general.
[00:03:43] That says nothing about your life in particular. You may be here this morning and you're saying to
[00:03:49] yourself, man, there is a pain in my heart. There is a burden that I'm enduring. There is a
[00:03:54] affliction that I'm dealing with. Why all this chaos? Where is God in the midst of all of this?
[00:04:07] On the passage in front of us today, the author wants to show us God's original intention and
[00:04:15] plan for humanity. That we were the pinnacle of God's created order. And that his purpose for us is
[00:04:24] that we would live at the top of creation with all of creation existing in subjection to us.
[00:04:34] But what we're going to see is that we've lost that subjection through sin, but that Jesus Christ
[00:04:40] came to do what we could not do so that we could be joined to his new humanity. And so that even
[00:04:48] though we lost our glory, he could make a way to bring us back to glory in him and by his blood.
[00:04:56] And that even today right now, while we're still dealing with the ramifications of the chaos
[00:05:03] and fall and brokenness, he can help us to endure the testings and the temptations that are bound
[00:05:10] to come our way in this life with a promise and plan to deliver us ultimately from this life and
[00:05:17] take us into his place of glory. Right? So that's what we're going to look at today. The author
[00:05:24] makes a simple statement in verse five, you know, kind of connecting us to what we've seen
[00:05:29] in the previous weeks because the author has told us at this point that Jesus is greater than the prophets
[00:05:35] and also that he's greater than the angelic realm. In fact, we saw last week that not only
[00:05:40] is he greater than the angelic realm, but he created the angelic realm and the angelic realm
[00:05:44] exists to worship him. That's why he tells us in verse five as a little bit of a recap
[00:05:50] that it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come. That was not God's plan
[00:05:55] for the angelic realm. The angels are there to serve God, but they're not there to
[00:06:00] oversee humanity. They're not here to watch over creation, but that was God's original intention
[00:06:08] for human beings. That's why we have in verse six, seven and eight a quotation from the
[00:06:13] author of Psalm eight. Now, Psalm eight was written by David and David one day observing
[00:06:20] the stars in the sky, the handiwork of God's creation. He said this, let's read it together
[00:06:26] in verse six again. I know I read the entirety of it, but let's read it again. He said,
[00:06:30] it has been testified somewhere when the author to the Hebrews says that he does. It's not some
[00:06:35] flippant attitude that he has about the Bible like somewhere, some play. I think it might have
[00:06:39] been a fortune cookie. I don't know somebody said this. No, he what he's going to do is
[00:06:44] verbatim quote, Psalm eight. So he's very clear on where this came from. He knows exactly
[00:06:48] where it came from. This is his way. Most scholars think of saying all of the Old Testament scriptures
[00:06:55] were written by God. It doesn't matter that David wrote it, that he was the human instrument. I
[00:07:00] don't need to allude to that. I just need to say God testified of himself some place in the Old
[00:07:07] Testament. And this is what he said. He said verse six, what is man that you are mindful of
[00:07:12] him or the son of man that you care for him? You made him for a little while lower than
[00:07:17] the angels. You have crowned him with glory and honor, putting everything in subjection under his feet.
[00:07:24] Now try to go back in time with me and think about David actually writing this song.
[00:07:30] You know, sitting there like I said, looking at the stars in the sky. He actually said in verse three
[00:07:35] of Psalm eight before the portion quoted before us today, he said, when I look at your heavens,
[00:07:41] the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you've set in place. I asked the question,
[00:07:46] what is man that you are mindful of him and the son of man that you care for him?
[00:07:50] There was just this attitude within David and an attitude within the author to the Hebrews. And
[00:07:55] I think should be an attitude in us that says God, it is amazing that you care
[00:08:03] for humanity the way that you do. When I consider the stars and the galaxy, when I
[00:08:10] consider the fine tuning of the planet that I live on, when I consider the variation of the land and
[00:08:17] sky and sea, when I consider all of that, when I consider that it seems like my human body was
[00:08:23] perfectly designed in that this planet and earth was perfectly designed for me to live in and upon.
[00:08:30] When I consider all of that, God, I'm just blown away that you would care like you do
[00:08:38] for humanity in general. But maybe for you, you've had this experience not just on a major scale,
[00:08:49] but on a minor scale in your own heart. Maybe you've had those moments like I have where
[00:08:55] you're given the opportunity to be out at night under a clear and beautiful sky.
[00:09:01] Maybe you're out in the forest. Maybe you're away from civilization a little bit.
[00:09:06] I actually had this experience this last Thursday, my running buddy and I on Thursday.
[00:09:10] We always run late in the day. And so we're on these runs now where we're in the forest when it
[00:09:16] gets dark. And so we turn on our headlamps and we're just kind of cruising through the dark.
[00:09:20] It just feels so manly. It's just my only way of describing it. It just feels so good.
[00:09:28] And we had this moment where we just turned off the headlamps this last week and just were
[00:09:34] looking out at just the stars. It was just the wind had blown that day and so everything was so clear.
[00:09:40] And just that feeling of looking up and just feeling so little, so small,
[00:09:48] so tiny, so insignificant, just a blip but known by God, loved by God, cared for by this infinite
[00:09:58] Creator. So the psalmist, David and the author of the Hebrews, he's saying that look we are
[00:10:05] blown away by God's individual love and care for us and his care for all of humanity. But that is
[00:10:12] not the only thing that David and the author to the Hebrews was excited about. He was excited
[00:10:17] not only about God's care, his heart for us but also his plan for us. And that's what I
[00:10:22] want you to see in this passage. Look again in verse seven and eight. He says,
[00:10:27] You made him for a little while lower than the angels. You have crowned him with glory and honor,
[00:10:33] putting everything in subjection under his feet. What he's alluding to there is the purpose
[00:10:41] and plan of God for humanity. That we, though we are made by God a little lower than the angels,
[00:10:49] we are intended by God to be crowned with glory, with honor and have everything in his created order
[00:10:59] in subjection under our feet. Now you might not believe me when I'm saying this. So
[00:11:06] I want to take you back actually to Genesis chapter one so that you can see it with your own
[00:11:12] two eyes, God's original intention for you and for me. In Genesis chapter one, it's an easy one
[00:11:17] for you guys to find if you want to turn there in your Bibles. It's the first chapter of the book.
[00:11:23] In Genesis chapter one on the sixth day of creation, the last and final day of creation,
[00:11:30] listen to what God said in verse 26 of Genesis chapter one. It says, Then God said,
[00:11:38] Let us make man in our image after our likeness. Now a couple of things. First of all,
[00:11:45] you see God saying things like us and are, but we also know that God is one. So what this is hinting
[00:11:51] at is the triunity of the Godhead that God is father, son, and spirit. And you're seeing it right
[00:11:57] there in Genesis chapter one. So he says, though, Let us make man in our image after our likeness.
[00:12:05] Now God had not said this after he created the day and night. He had not said this
[00:12:09] after he created the galaxies. He had not said this after he made the land or the sea
[00:12:13] or the sky. He had not said this after creating plant life or animal life in the sea or on land
[00:12:19] or in the air. He had not said this about anything, but after creating all of those things,
[00:12:24] he then says, Now we're going to make humans and I'm going to make him in our image.
[00:12:33] There's going to be something special about this part, this portion of my creation. But let's go
[00:12:40] on. He goes on to say in Genesis one, 26 and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and
[00:12:49] over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping
[00:12:55] thing that creeps on the earth. So God created man in his image, verse 27, in the image of God,
[00:13:02] he created him male and female. He created them. So the pinnacle of his creation was neither
[00:13:10] female nor male. It was humanity and he created human, male and female to complement
[00:13:17] and fulfill to complement each other and fulfill the image of God together. And God blessed them,
[00:13:23] verse 28, and God said to them be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and
[00:13:29] have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing
[00:13:37] that moves on the earth. The word that you should notice there in that passage that I just quoted
[00:13:43] to you is the word dominion. This was God's intention for humanity that they would have,
[00:13:48] that we would have dominion over the creation that we live in. But here's the problem.
[00:13:56] Let's go back to Hebrews chapter two and read of the problem. It says in the second half of verse 8,
[00:14:03] now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. In other words,
[00:14:09] Adam had it all. He was the chief of God's creation. Everything was subjected to him.
[00:14:16] But at present we do not yet see everything in subjection to him.
[00:14:24] In other words, as we look around at humanity, though God's intention originally is that all of
[00:14:31] creation would be under us and we would have dominion over it. We are not living in that reality.
[00:14:37] We are living in a different world. We are living in a world of chaos. We are living
[00:14:43] in a world that is out of control. And that out of control state where we lost the intention
[00:14:51] that God had for us occurred because of sin. After Adam and Eve ate the fruit of the tree of
[00:14:57] the knowledge of good and evil, certain and specific events unfolded. God had said,
[00:15:03] the day that you do that you will surely die. And one of the first things that occurred
[00:15:07] is that God told Adam and Eve that there would be a strife between them where there was a
[00:15:14] partnership collectively, previously to manifest the glory of God, to live out his image together
[00:15:22] man and woman became at odds with one another. Secondly, the ground was touched. The ground
[00:15:31] that previously Adam worked make no mistake. He had a job before the fall of humanity. It was
[00:15:36] God's desire that he would work, but it's just that he was working with the earth and the earth
[00:15:42] was working with him. It was a partnership together, but God said to Adam after he fell
[00:15:48] into his sin that now the ground will yield thorns and thistles. And by the sweat of your
[00:15:53] brow you will eat bread. You are at the mercy of the earth. You'll plant, but you don't know
[00:16:00] that you're going to harvest. And you don't know what kind of harvest is going to come.
[00:16:05] You get into real estate and the economy tanks. You don't know what is coming. It is a constant
[00:16:12] fight for survival. After that occurred their sons, Cain and Abel, they were no longer in
[00:16:19] partnership with each other. Cain becoming jealous of Abel and killing him, taking his life.
[00:16:27] So brother family against family, Laimek another man, another character in Genesis,
[00:16:32] entered into polygamy, a parade of death passed by and a flood destroyed nearly all of humanity.
[00:16:41] And after that flood the animal kingdom began to live in fear of the humanity that was supposed to
[00:16:51] be in caring dominion over them. And we are still living in that fallen and broken state.
[00:16:59] So God's plan, what was God's purpose for you and for me? Well he had this high and exalted plan
[00:17:04] that we would have everything in dominion be in dominion over all things. We were supposed to
[00:17:11] be crowned but through sin we lost that crown. And we still live in that time. We still live
[00:17:20] in that world. Life is like I mentioned a struggle for survival. Think about all the
[00:17:25] natural disasters that unfold here on earth. You know we don't know when they're going to come.
[00:17:35] We don't know when they're going to happen. We're at their mercy. This is part of the fall
[00:17:42] that we're living in. Even our own bodies as much as we take care of them, we try to be all faithful
[00:17:48] you know and eat clean and exercise and all of that. But you can do all of those things
[00:17:54] and a cancer can come into your body. We just don't know. You can exist with total sanity,
[00:18:01] total clarity of thought and then boom one day something happens inside the brain and a depression
[00:18:07] comes upon you or your memory begins to fade and an illness of the mind comes in to your body.
[00:18:16] We just don't know. We're at the mercy of this chaotic world that we are living in.
[00:18:23] We've tried to respond to it of course. We've built hospitals and developed medicine and created fire
[00:18:30] departments and police departments and militaries and things like that in order to try to deal with
[00:18:36] the brokenness that we're living in. And that is God's common grace in a sense to enable us to do so.
[00:18:42] But it does not negate the fact that we are a far cry from what God originally intended for us
[00:18:50] to be. Right so that's the reality we could end this sermon right here and you guys could just
[00:18:55] leave all sad you know bummed out like okay that's what we were supposed to be we didn't get there
[00:19:01] because he's saying there in verse 8 he's saying we don't see it right now
[00:19:04] we don't see everything in subjection that we're not living that as much as you might try to
[00:19:09] control your little world it's not in your control. So we don't have subjection today
[00:19:16] but what do we see let's read it in verse 9 but we see him who for a little while was made lower than
[00:19:26] the angels namely Jesus crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death so that
[00:19:32] by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. You know who we see we don't see
[00:19:40] humanity with creation in subjection to it but we do see Jesus. It's interesting the author
[00:19:47] to the Hebrews he talks about Jesus through the whole book you've probably picked up on that already
[00:19:52] the whole book is very directly about Jesus and I'll have a lot of different titles for Jesus but
[00:19:58] nine times in this book he's going to refer to Jesus by his earthly human name Jesus
[00:20:03] it's a way for him every time he uses Jesus's earthly human name it's a way for him to talk
[00:20:11] about Jesus's humanity and what he's announcing here is he's saying look all of humanity man we
[00:20:18] fell. We do not have creation in subjection to us but there is one human one human who made it
[00:20:27] one human who did it one human who succeeded one human who was able to regain that crown
[00:20:38] that humanity lost that's why he talks there in verse 9 about Jesus he also like us was made
[00:20:45] lower than the angels in his incarnation and he was crowned with glory and honor because of
[00:20:51] the suffering of death so how do we here's a question how do we get that crown and original
[00:20:58] intention of God back well we get it through Jesus that's why it says in verse 10 that it was fitting
[00:21:06] that he for whom and by whom all things exist and bringing many sons to glory should be made
[00:21:12] should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering you see what Jesus did
[00:21:18] is that the father sent him to help us notice that in verse 10 bring many sons and the text means
[00:21:26] sons and daughters to bring many to glory this is his way of saying we lost all of that but God
[00:21:35] wants to bring you back to that and how does he bring you back to that with he says the founder
[00:21:41] of your salvation or the captain of your salvation that word founder is a word that means captain
[00:21:47] or author or leader or originator it means that Jesus went first I told you a few weeks ago that
[00:21:55] I recently went to Yosemite with pastor Josh he took us on this cool camping trip a few of us
[00:22:01] you know backpacking trip and we're just kind of going out into the wilderness and
[00:22:05] I'm not wondering like where do we go what's happening I'm just following him you know you
[00:22:11] know where to go you are blazing the trails the same thing with our salvation with this life Jesus
[00:22:17] lived that life first he shows us the way he is the founder of he's the captain of he blazes that
[00:22:24] trail for us and it was a salvation that cost him notice it in verse 10 his own suffering
[00:22:31] it says that he was made perfect through suffering and when it says that about Jesus it doesn't mean
[00:22:37] that he was imperfect morally before this moment no it doesn't mean that at all Jesus has always been
[00:22:43] and as he's always been he's always been morally perfect there's been no flaw in him
[00:22:49] but he became complete as our savior he became perfect as our savior through his suffering
[00:22:59] it was one thing for him to say my heart is to save you my compassion is toward you
[00:23:06] but his compassion became complete and perfect there upon the cross if you've ever wondered
[00:23:13] about your value before God you must look to the cross of Christ when you see Jesus with his arms
[00:23:19] outstretched and pegged into that cross and his feet pegged into that cross you know the price
[00:23:25] that he was willing to pay for you this is the the evaluation that he places upon human beings
[00:23:32] he was made perfect the salvation was was made possible through his suffering
[00:23:39] so what does that mean then well because Jesus did that there's this cool new relationship
[00:23:46] that we have with him remember God's intention God's intention was that we would be the
[00:23:51] crowning pinnacle of his created order we lost some of that image of God through sin
[00:24:00] but when Jesus comes into your life what happens to you well notice in verse 11 it says
[00:24:08] that Jesus is not ashamed to call you his brother it's not a shame to call you his
[00:24:15] brother now that that word for brothers is a Greek word that can depending on the context be
[00:24:19] translated either brothers or brothers and sisters so for all of our all of the sisters
[00:24:27] in christ here today you know i'm like i don't want Jesus calling me brother or bro you know
[00:24:33] it's a word that is that covers both genders and here what we learn is that
[00:24:41] Jesus is the founder of our salvation and he brings people who believe in him into his
[00:24:46] family to a degree that he is not ashamed to call us his siblings in other words before the
[00:24:56] father you have the position the standing of christ and he looks at you and he's not ashamed
[00:25:03] for you to be his brother or his sister that is an astounding concept i remember when i was
[00:25:10] in high school my freshman year of high school i went to pacific grove high school and i had a
[00:25:17] buddy who was a fellow freshman with me and he had a brother an older brother who was a senior
[00:25:24] but he didn't go to our school he went to robert louis stevenson or it's now just called stevenson
[00:25:28] out in pebble beach in the forest and he was a really good basketball player and we were
[00:25:33] basketball players also so a couple times a year our teams would play each other you
[00:25:38] know pacific grove versus rls and we would play our little freshman game you know where it would be
[00:25:44] us out on the court and then like seven moms that were there also watching the game you know
[00:25:50] very small you know crowd and all of that no one was there we play our game and then we'd go we
[00:25:55] shower up get cleaned up and then we go back into the gym we'd kind of sit through the jb game
[00:25:59] and then we'd go and we watch the varsity game and the crowds you know would come in we
[00:26:04] felt like it was millions of people you know and all that the gym would fill up but his brother was a
[00:26:10] really good athlete a really good player and his name was lou so every time that lou touched the ball
[00:26:17] we thought it we were so cool because lou kind of sounds like boo and sometimes in sports you
[00:26:22] know when guys have names around with boo you know as you're cheering him on but you say
[00:26:26] lou and so we'd all be in the corner just a bunch of freshmen all geeky you know we're
[00:26:31] like lou you know and we just thought we were so cool everyone's kind of looking at and all we
[00:26:35] wanted we just wanted we just wanted lou at some point like a timeout or some little moment where
[00:26:41] he could just to kind of look over and just be like what's up guys like I like you guys you
[00:26:46] know and it never happened never happened never acknowledged us you know as far as I know
[00:26:53] but it's what we were hoping for and I could just imagine him out on the court just thinking
[00:26:57] to himself like that is my little brother and his dorky friends I am so embarrassed by these guys
[00:27:04] why are they doing that you know kind of thing Jesus comes along into our lives
[00:27:11] and though there is so much that we do that is embarrassing
[00:27:16] so much that we do that is shameful so many sins that we commit that cross the line so many
[00:27:23] habits that we get into that are just abhorrent though that is the reality by his blood when he
[00:27:30] makes us a child of God he comes into a state where he is not ashamed to call us his brothers
[00:27:39] though we though we lost all that glory through sin he makes a way to bring us back into
[00:27:49] the family of God and he is not ashamed he is not embarrassed of us he's proud of us he loves us
[00:27:59] he is excited to present us before his father listen I I I've been walking with the Lord for
[00:28:08] 22 years now and I can testify that there is not a there is not a day that has gone by in my
[00:28:16] Christian life where there hasn't been something from that day if I'm honest in reflecting upon it
[00:28:23] that I look back that that that that I look at and say you know that that was embarrassing that I did
[00:28:29] that that was that was weird when I said that or when I thought that or when I felt that or when
[00:28:35] I reacted that way that was on Christ like but the Lord still in the midst of all of that he
[00:28:41] is not ashamed to call us his brothers and sisters in Christ that that should just floor us
[00:28:51] and he actually the author quotes from Psalm 22 which if you know anything about Psalm 22 you know
[00:28:57] that it is so clearly about Jesus it's the one that begins with my God my god why have you
[00:29:02] forsaken me which sounds familiar to you because Jesus said it on the cross but in that song
[00:29:08] notice in verse 12 Jesus said I will tell of your name to my brothers in the midst of the congregation
[00:29:13] I will sing your praise but also he then quotes from Isaiah chapter 8 where he says and I will put
[00:29:22] my trust in him behold I and the children God has given me you see in a sense the captain of
[00:29:31] our salvation the founder of our salvation Jesus when he became flesh and dwelt among us
[00:29:37] and lived this life you know one of the things that he did that he showed us he showed us how to
[00:29:42] live in trust and dependence upon God sometimes we have this picture of Jesus like when he came
[00:29:49] to earth he just had this like you know he took on humanity but you know he was just always
[00:29:54] constantly just tapping into that deity you know and every time things got difficult or hard
[00:30:00] he was just tapping into the divine side of himself so life was actually rather easy but
[00:30:07] no the bible teaches something contrary to that the bible teaches that he came in full dependence
[00:30:12] upon his father in heaven that he was leaning upon him learning of him crying out to him praying
[00:30:18] to him and Jesus showed us to a degree it's like he's looking at all of our brothers and sisters
[00:30:24] all of his brothers and sisters and saying look this is how I did it I had to trust my father
[00:30:30] every day I had to cry out to my father every day I had to lean upon him every day I had a feast
[00:30:36] upon his word when Jesus was tempted when Jesus was tempted and he shot back to Satan when Satan
[00:30:43] said turn these turn these stones into bread and all of that when Jesus was tempted with that
[00:30:50] he fired back from Deuteronomy he said it's written man shall not live by bread alone
[00:30:57] it's not like he was just like saying like I got a good verse it was his discovery
[00:31:04] he had figured out as he'd gone through the very bible that he had written he had figured out
[00:31:10] this is how humans live this is how they survive I'm trying to be the captain of this
[00:31:17] to show all my brothers and sisters this is how you do it you live not by bread alone but
[00:31:24] by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God you see he was trying to testify and demonstrate
[00:31:30] for us a life of trust and faith in his father that's why he says behold I am the children that
[00:31:37] God has given to me now you might be thinking to yourself okay well so we lost all of this and
[00:31:47] Jesus came and now he's brought us you know by his blood back into glory and all of that
[00:31:52] but I mean really how how closely could he identify with me well let's read it there again in verse 14
[00:31:59] it says since therefore the children share and flesh and blood he himself likewise partook of
[00:32:05] the same things that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death that is the
[00:32:09] devil and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery now here
[00:32:17] here's the thing so often we think of death as just one deal one event we think about it as the
[00:32:25] expiration of these bodies that they physically die but think about that for a second God said
[00:32:35] to Adam and Eve the day that you eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil
[00:32:40] the day that you eat it you will surely die they ate the curse was pronounced there was
[00:32:50] strife between them strife with the earth strife between their children death in the generations
[00:32:58] but their bodies did not expire immediately they were still physically alive they were dying
[00:33:06] there was a date that would come where their bodies would expire but God had said in the day that you
[00:33:12] eat of it you will surely die what what that means is that death is more than just the
[00:33:20] expiration of our bodies death is what we're living in when when a sickness comes into
[00:33:32] somebody's life that's part of death when a relational fracture becomes so severe that it
[00:33:39] is beyond repair that's part of death when we can't lead or organize things and get a group of people
[00:33:50] together for a common good that's part of death when nations rage against each other that's part of
[00:33:58] death we're living in it and so Jesus came to deliver us from that he wanted to notice there
[00:34:08] in verse 14 destroy the one who has the power of death that's satan he says that is the devil because
[00:34:15] when we fell into sin we handed over so much of our authority to the devil so Jesus came to destroy him
[00:34:23] and verse 15 also to deliver all of us who through fear of death were subject to lifelong
[00:34:30] slavery we're just in it under it and jesus came to deliver us from the fear of death not
[00:34:36] just the fear of dying that's that's one thing you know the the fear of dying i still i've had so
[00:34:41] many car accidents where people have crossed you know i had won a few years ago where someone
[00:34:45] crossed the center line and just plowed into me i think he was on his cell phone or something
[00:34:49] just plowed right into me and just really freaked me out and now i'm driving on the road somebody
[00:34:54] pulls out you know a little too quickly they're doing everything right but it's just what
[00:34:57] seemed a little too loose for me i still you know flinch i still you know it's like oh i'm
[00:35:02] afraid of that happening to me that's not what he's talking about the fear of dying in a particular
[00:35:08] way no it's a fear of the looming sense of like what's gonna happen what's gonna happen with me
[00:35:17] so jesus came to help us he says in verse 16 for surely it's not angels that he helps
[00:35:24] but he helps the offspring of abraham jesus did not come as a as an angel he did not incarnate
[00:35:31] as an angel he did not come to the angelic realm to save the angelic realm no their fate is sealed
[00:35:36] and done but he did come as the offspring of abraham he was he was of abraham he was of the tribe
[00:35:45] of juda he was of the family and lineage of david he came as a jew he came as a hebra
[00:35:52] jesus came incarnated as a jew to bring help to the offspring of abraham now you might be sitting
[00:36:01] here today going well like but i'm not i'm not a physical descendant of abraham and if you're
[00:36:08] saying that and you're saying but so you know i guess there's no help for me it's not that he's
[00:36:13] saying he only comes to the offspring of abraham he comes to humanity in general but as paul taught
[00:36:20] in romans to the jew first and also to the greek and by the way you can become spiritual seed of
[00:36:29] abraham or a spiritual descendant of abraham by simply believing in the lord it says in galatians
[00:36:35] three verse 29 if you are christ then you are abraham's offspring heirs according to the promise
[00:36:42] and how do you become heirs according to the promise how do you become abraham's offspring
[00:36:48] well it says in romans four verse three that abraham believed god and it was accounted to him
[00:36:53] for righteousness how do you come into the family of god how do you get the help of jesus
[00:36:58] how do you get this cool rescue that he's talking about that we lost that subjection we lost that
[00:37:04] dominion how do you get his help to climb out of that by faith by simple belief in what christ
[00:37:13] has done for you and taking your place upon the cross therefore verse 17 he had to be made like
[00:37:20] his brothers in every respect so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the
[00:37:26] service of god to make propitiation for the sins of the people for because he himself has suffered
[00:37:31] when tempted he is able to help those who are being tempted you see what what's happening here
[00:37:39] is that in order to bring many sons and daughters to glory jesus had to become like you and me
[00:37:47] how much did he become like you and me well it says there in verse 17 in every respect
[00:37:53] he had to become like us just think about that today i had to be honest with you i didn't plan on
[00:38:00] you know being in hebrus one and two during this time of year so that i could talk about christmas
[00:38:06] and the incarnation and stuff like that but we're just in these like epic christmas incarnation
[00:38:10] passages right now where god became like his brothers in every respect just think about
[00:38:19] what that was like you know the son of god becoming a baby a full on dependent i remember
[00:38:28] with all three of our with all three of our daughters it was like this celebration when they
[00:38:32] could get to the phase in their lives where they could put their pants on by themselves it was just so
[00:38:38] exciting they might not have been very good at it they might have been inside out backwards whatever
[00:38:42] but it was just like they did it without our assistance you know but it but there's a dependency
[00:38:51] you know a baby needs to depend upon his or her mother for provision for the for their
[00:38:57] mother's milk for sustenance and jesus endured that the one who created all flesh had to depend
[00:39:06] on other people to to provide for him to care for him and as he grew you know he went through
[00:39:12] childhood he went through i always trip out on this he went through puberty i mean if that's not
[00:39:19] identifying with us in our weaknesses i don't know what is you know to go through that like oh
[00:39:24] there's jesus he's in that all ports you know he's going to turn out all right but he just in that
[00:39:28] awkward you know kind of stage you know it's like it's okay he's going to be handsome someday you
[00:39:33] know kind of thing he endured that for us luke records that jesus grew in his childhood in
[00:39:41] wisdom and in stature there was somehow this growing consciousness of who he was and who his
[00:39:48] father in heaven was and he was developing the the the humanness in him was growing and
[00:39:54] expanding and developing powerful he became an adult and it seems that his adulthood was not
[00:40:05] all that easy it seems as you put it all together that jesus began his public ministry when he was
[00:40:11] 30 years old or so so he lived an adult life for a while before his public ministry began
[00:40:20] indications are that his father joseph who was a good man and would not have abandoned his family
[00:40:26] from what we know about him was not around during jesus's older years so traditionally we think that
[00:40:35] he probably died because he just not the kind of guy with the character to leave his family he
[00:40:39] was probably older something happened he died now keep in mind jesus was the oldest of a lot
[00:40:45] of siblings marion joseph had many natural born children after jesus's birth so who would be leaned
[00:40:52] upon to provide for all of those children would be jesus he had to go through the human experience
[00:41:01] of working with his own hands likely as a carpenter which might not always mean that you know the
[00:41:06] shaping of wood and making cool tables and stuff like that but in that culture they would
[00:41:11] work with the material at hand and in nazareth the material at hand was stone to be chiseling and
[00:41:19] driving and building with rock i mean this was a he was a tough person who had to learn how to buy
[00:41:26] the sweat of his brow care for the people the human beings that god had given to him
[00:41:31] he knows about that he's experienced that it was made like us in every respect
[00:41:39] and why did he do this well here's why verse 17 and 18 because he wanted to become a merciful
[00:41:48] and faithful high priest in the service of god now i'm not going to really talk about that today
[00:41:52] because the book of hebrus is really all about that we're going to learn about what it means
[00:41:55] that jesus is right now your faithful high priest but he did it by making propitiation
[00:42:03] for the sins of the people it says in verse 17 that means that he consumed in his body
[00:42:10] the judgment that was rightfully ours because verse 18 he himself suffered when tempted he's
[00:42:20] able to help those who are being tempted in other words what the author wants you to know
[00:42:25] is that you had glory we had glory originally we lost it through sin jesus wants to bring
[00:42:32] many of us back to glory and part of the way that he wants to do that is by right now helping us
[00:42:40] endure temptation because he was tempted i know how a lot of believers think we think well i know
[00:42:49] about temptation but i'm not so sure that jesus really knows about temptation you know he had
[00:42:55] was divine at the same time as being fully human and so when he was tempted you know he
[00:43:02] couldn't sin and all of that and i can i've tasted it i've given into it and so you know
[00:43:08] his temptation is different from my temptation but for me at least when i read of jesus's
[00:43:13] temptation in the wilderness where for 40 days and 40 nights he was without food without drink
[00:43:20] and the devil himself and all the demonic realm was focused on him during that period of 40 days
[00:43:28] trying to get him to commit one sin and his body was beginning to perish and expire
[00:43:36] and yet he stood in the face of that temptation when i read about christ's temptation i come to
[00:43:41] the conclusion i'm the one who doesn't know anything about temptation he went through it
[00:43:48] so that he could help you and me in our temptations today so the question that we should
[00:43:55] ask ourselves is this do i want his help do i want him to help me through temptation in life do i want
[00:44:05] him to bring me back to that place of glory that i lost through sin or do i like my temptation
[00:44:13] do i like my sin and do i want to stay where i am you see the lord he has a vision for your life
[00:44:25] but that doesn't mean that because he has a vision for your life you share that vision with him
[00:44:32] so the question again do you want the lord to help you in the face of temptation
[00:44:39] and that really in a sense is what we're going to learn in the book of hebra is how Jesus our great
[00:44:44] high priest is right now available to help us endure the pain and difficulty of life to bring us back
[00:44:52] to that place of glory thank you for listening if you like more teachings and information about
[00:44:59] calvary monoray please visit calvary.com you can also find books teaching through the bible
[00:45:05] and articles from our senior pastor at nateholdridge.com thanks again for tuning in see you next week