Jesus, The Son of God

A lot of us spent time over the last few weeks searching for a perfect gift, trying to find that right thing for the right person that's just appropriate given your relationship and what that person needs or wants or desires. For those of you who did that, I hope that that worked out well for you on Friday. For a lot of us, I think, that quest for a perfect fit really goes beyond Christmas shopping into a lot of different facets and aspects of our everyday lives. So a lot of us have been on the quest or are on the quest for that perfect relationship, the perfect fit of a person who completes you, or you're on a path looking for the perfect job, the perfect fit for your situation in life, your needs, and that sort of thing. the perfect fit in terms of your living circumstances, the right place, the right home and accommodations, and all of those kind of things. And if we really think about that, we're all on a quest, as it were, for our right fit in the universe. What is my place? What am I here for? What am I made to do? How can I be used for the greatest good? We thought about that a little bit last week, and we talked about how the Bible's answer to that question is very clear, very resounding. That the purpose for the universe, what we're all here for, is Jesus. It's to make much of him. We were created by him, we were created for him. The goal of our existence is to glorify Jesus Christ. We saw that he as God is at the center of the universe, both as the creator and as the redeemer. But this week we're going to see that not only is that true with respect to His divinity, that Christ is divine, He is the Son of God in terms of His divinity, but it's also true with respect to His humanity as the Son of Man in terms of His incarnation and particularly the suffering on the cross. That's how we understand the fitness, how all the universe fits together. If you're just joining us this morning, we welcome you. We're continuing a series through the book of Hebrews that we started last week. Hebrews is a letter that's anonymous to us. We don't know who wrote the book. It's clear that the audience, the original audience knew who the author was. It's a letter, really a sermon written to Jewish Christians in the first century and encouraging them to hold fast to Christ, not to give into the temptation to go back to the comfort, the safety of Judaism. to trust Christ and to hold fast to Him until the end. And so this morning we're going to be in Hebrews 2, beginning in verse 5 and going all the way through verse 18 of chapter 2. That's page 1001 of the Pew Bibles. If you don't have a Bible, we welcome you to take that as our gift to you. Take it and read it. It is God's Word. What I hope for us to see this morning in the sermon is that Jesus' suffering makes Him uniquely fit to reign over mankind as King. Jesus' suffering makes him uniquely fit to reign over mankind as king. And it's only when we understand that that we find our fit in this universe, in this world. So we're gonna look at two points this morning. First, the glory of the Son, and second, the suffering of the Son. So let me read Hebrews 2 for us. For it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking. It has been testified somewhere, what is man that you are mindful of him? Or the son of man that you care for him? You made him for a little while lower than the angels. You have crowned him with glory and honor, 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, 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. 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. For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source, That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers, saying, I will tell of your name to my brothers in the midst of the congregation. I will sing your praise. And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, behold, I and the children God has given me. 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, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. 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. Amen. So, as I said, first, we'll look at the glory of the sun in verses five through nine. Let me let me read the first part of that again so that is it's fresh on our minds. For it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come of which we are speaking. It's been testified somewhere. What is man that you are mindful of him or the son of man that you care for him? You made him for a little while lower than the angels. You have crowned him with glory and honor, putting everything in subjection under his feet. So you can see we're picking up right on the heels of last week's message that Jesus is greater than the angels. Last week we thought about how Jesus is superior to the angels because of his divinity, because of his unique place in the universe. He is the son of God. He is creator and redeemer. He is greater than the angels. But in this part of the sermon, the author is shifting his focus to Jesus' humanity. And verse 6 begins with one of our favorite references, somewhere. We've all said that before, right? It says somewhere, this. And this particular somewhere we know is Psalm 8. This psalm is reflecting upon mankind's place in the universe. It's a really beautiful psalm. It's reflecting upon God's creation, this vast, massive place that we live in, this this massive world, all the things in the universe that we see and understand, and yet mankind has this really unique place. So the created order is God, angels, mankind, everything else. And the author is marveling that here we are, mankind, not even second on the list. We're third on the list. We're lower. We're more like the creation than the spiritual realm. And yet, God has given us this amazing role. We have a personal relationship with him, and we have authority over creation. The psalm seems to be really reflecting on Genesis 1. God creating man, he stops and talks about man in a way he didn't talk about anything else when he was creating. God said, let us create man in our image, and he gave him a unique capacity and responsibility to represent God and the world in this unique role of having dominion over the earth. It's a privilege that's not given to angels, it's given to man. But as the author of Hebrews is interpreting that psalm through the lens of Christ, he's giving it a different focus that we wouldn't have known otherwise. So he uses the phrase, the son of man, which generally can refer to just a son of a man, right? Just a person, a human being. But here we see he's using it very technically. And in fact, we know that it's the title that Jesus often used of himself, the Son of Man. And it seems to me that's what the author is focusing on here. There's a singular emphasis on subjecting everything to one individual. And verse 9 makes it clear that the verse is referring to Jesus. Everything has been put in subjection to Him. And that's a lot like what we heard last week in chapter 1. Jesus is the heir of all things. He's seated at the right hand of the majesty on high. And so he goes on to apply that. He says, God subjecting all things to Jesus means nothing is outside of his control. Nothing is outside of his control. And that's amazing, right? That's amazing, especially for us to think of a human being for whom nothing is outside of his control, right? Because so much of our lives, we feel like nothing is inside of our control, right? Jesus's authority here should be of great comfort to us. Nothing Nothing is outside of His control. So that means when things are going well, our lives should be characterized by worship and praise and thanksgiving. We should delight in His rule. And when things are not going well, at least not according to how we think they should be going, we should be trusting Jesus anyway. We should be acknowledging that we are not sovereign, that He is sovereign, and that we trust that He has promised He's working all things together for good and that He will do that. And for this reason, that truth also comes to us as a warning. We have to give credit where credit is due. When we find ourselves prospering, when things are going well, we are required, we're obligated by God to give thanks. We don't get to take credit. And on the other hand, when we are confronted with the reality in this text that all grumbling, all complaining is ultimately against Christ. So your spouse, your job, your family, your home, your car, Your health, your income, your relationships, all those things are part of all things that are subject to Christ. And so our complaints ultimately rise up to the top and they reflect a mistrust in Him. Now the author goes on to explain why we find ourselves in this tension of all things subject and yet this experience of things don't seem to be well. He says right now we don't yet see this. We don't yet see all things in subjection to Him. And that's helpful to us, right? Because how are we supposed to understand Jesus's sovereignty, his reign, when so much evil is happening? And he says that what is happening now, what is now, is not what ought to be and not what will be. And he has told us in verse five, what he has in view here is the world that is to come there. There is a coming world that Jesus now reigns in it. It's coming. He's bringing it about when all will be well, it'll be a place of perfect justice and righteousness. All things will be brought into subjection to him and the world will be as it should be, but it's not yet that. Our text promises that God is at work to bring the world into perfect resolution. We don't know exactly how that's going to work. We don't see that right now. But he tells us there is one thing that we do see, and that's Jesus. We see him. We see him for a little while made lower than the angels, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death. So we know that with respect to his divine nature, Jesus is greater than angels. They worship him. They serve him. But we see that in the incarnation, he's made lower than angels. He's made a man. He emptied himself, as we heard in Philippians 2. He emptied himself of divine glory in order to take on human flesh and become one of us. If you've ever seen the TV show Undercover Boss, you might be tempted to think of the incarnation like that. So in the Undercover Boss, the owner or the chief officer of the company, he disguises himself, and he goes into the company, and he works various jobs for a few days, and he learns kind of more about the inner workings of the company. And then he returns to his position with a better perspective. And sometimes he implements the changes that he learned from the other employees, takes their feedback, and that sort of thing. The Incarnation is not like that. The Son doesn't just come to Earth to have a handful of experiences to get a better perspective on humanity. No, the Son comes to enter into the very heart of the human dilemma. He comes to suffer with us, to die for us. It's inescapable. The Incarnation, the coming of the Son of God into the world, the Christmas story that we've been thinking about for the last few weeks, it's ultimately a story about death. We'll think about that more in the next point, but I want us to see right now that Jesus is being crowned with glory and honor is the result of his suffering of death. It's uniquely tied to his humanity. The glory and honor that Jesus has as the son of man is in fact the reason for the creation. The creation exists to exalt Jesus Christ, the God man, as the ruler over all things. And it comes about through his death. So friends, let's just think about the weight of that. That is a staggering claim, especially considering what we've been thinking about last week and even this morning. There's nothing outside of His control. There's nothing outside of His control. Jesus has sovereignly brought about His own death for the purpose of His own exaltation. This text looks to Jesus as the new Adam. He's reigning over a new race as its head, over a new world, with everything in that world in absolute subjection to his authority as king. And we see that, as such, he has a representative role for us, so that the last phrase of this section highlights that, so that he might taste death for everyone. We think about tasting like going to Costco and getting a little sampling of everything. But here he's talking about tasting that is authentic experiencing. He's not just hearing about it and learning about it from afar. He's got his hands on it. He's taking it on personally. He's dying for others. He's experiencing death so that others don't have to. And again, we'll think about that more in a moment. Finally, and most significantly, I think, in this section, we see that all of this is by the grace of God. This highlights the fact that Jesus's representative death, his subsequent representative glory, is completely undeserved. Friends, none of us deserve to exist. None of us deserve to have a relationship with God. And certainly, none of us deserve forgiveness of sins, glorification with Christ. But by the grace of God, they are offered to us in Christ. And all of that comes about from Jesus by his suffering of death. So let's turn to that now. The suffering of the son in verses 10 through 18. 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. For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. And that is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers, saying, I will tell of your name to my brothers in the midst of the congregation. I will sing your praise. And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, behold, I and the children God has given me. 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 power of death, that is the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. For surely it is not the angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. 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. This is a deep and rich section exploring the suffering of the incarnation. And so we'll consider it in four points. The necessity of Christ's suffering, the fraternity of his suffering, the purpose of his suffering, and the result of his suffering. So let's first look at the necessity of the suffering in verse 10. So this verse begins with the phrase, it is, it was fitting. And the author is saying is that it's entirely appropriate. It was essential. It was necessary that Christ suffer. So it was fitting that he for whom and by whom all things exist and bringing many sons to glory should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering. So let's, let's just kind of unpack that phrase by phrase. So the he refers to God. God is the one for whom and by whom all things exist. Bringing many sons to glory is referring to us. It's describing our adoption into God's family, our glorification as a result of that new identity. Jesus is crowned with glory, and through him, we share in that glory. The way that that took place was by making the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering. So the founder of salvation is Jesus. It's talking about Jesus and what he's done. And the word founder, we understand as somebody who started something. And maybe pioneer might be a better way of understanding. Not just starting something, but leading us into something, into a new place. He's leading a new people there. We see that suffering, Jesus' suffering is essential to what's happening. He tasted death for everyone. The author says that he was made perfect through suffering. Now we know that Jesus is God. We know that being made perfect can't refer to his character. He wasn't perfected in the sense that he started imperfect and sort of gradually became perfect. But the point is that God's plan required perfect obedience. As the one creating and bringing others into this salvation, he had to endure suffering. He was made perfect in the sense of his role. And that's what the author is describing here. So we see the pathway to perfection was suffering. It's something that's essential to our experience as human beings. And so it was absolutely necessary that the one who would represent us in every way would do so through suffering. At the beginning, at the outset of this section, I just want us to think about the scandal that we're looking at, of a suffering God. So in the first century, the cross was described as a stumbling block for the Jews who saw it as a curse. How could God accept anybody who was cursed by hanging on a tree? The Greeks viewed it as folly, as madness. And that really continues to today. There's no other belief system, there's no other faith system that has a category for a sovereign God who suffers. And yet we see that it's at the very heart of our faith as Christians, to our understanding of God and of ourselves and of the gospel, a God who suffers. It is necessary. Second, we see the fraternity of Christ's suffering. So in verses 11 to 13, he says, for he who sanctifies and those who sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers. We think about sanctification as the process by which God sets someone or something apart for his purpose. And we see that the one who sanctifies is Jesus. And those who are sanctified are Christians. The one source is God the Father. And the text is speaking of this common identity that Christians have with Christ. The Son has it by nature. He is the Son. He exists eternally as the Son. And his people have it through adoption. Because of adoption, because of Christ's work in adopting us into God's family, we too are God's children. We are both sons of God. And as we saw last week, he appeals to the Old Testament to prove that this is the point that God has always been trying to make. This is what God's plan has been all along. So he says, I will tell of your name to my brothers. In the midst of the congregation, I will sing your praise. And this quote is from Psalm 22. And Psalm 22 is really fascinating. The first half of Psalm 22 is almost like a script for what's happening on the cross. So just a few things that come right out of Psalm 22. Starting with, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? The mocking and the head wagging and the cry, the making fun of Jesus saying, let the Lord deliver him. the dry mouth and the thirst, the pierced hands and feet, dividing garments and casting lot for clothing. All of that comes right out of Psalm 2, like a script, again, a divine script for what's happening on the cross. So that's the first half of the Psalm, but then it shifts. It shifts to praising God for salvation and then this confident resolve to lead others to trust God. It ends with a promise that all nations will worship the Lord as one exalted King. So the connection between suffering and praise and glory may not be clear to us at all just reading Psalm 2, but the author is saying Jesus is the one who makes sense of it. His suffering leads to salvation, leads to glory, leads to exaltation. And then a similar idea is conveyed from the next two quotes that are from Isaiah chapter eight. He says, I will put my trust in him and behold, I and the children God has given me. So the first declaration is Isaiah resolving not to give in to the temptation to cave in to the Israelites around him who are seeking to abandon their faith in God. Isaiah is resolving to trust God despite his suffering. And then the second quote gives us a little more context as to why he has that confidence, because of his children. God had promised Isaiah and given Isaiah children as signs to confirm that he was keeping his promises, that he was going to protect Judah even as he judged Israel in the north by Assyria. And so Isaiah was going to suffer as a result of his faithfulness, but the children that God had given him are a reminder that God was sovereign, God was at work, God was going to bring about his purposes. And so again, the author of Hebrews is using that truth, not only to show the necessity of the incarnation that is foretold, but also how the incarnation, through the incarnation, God the Son is identifying with us as his people in a profound way. So listen to the language that's repeated here just in these few verses. So verse 10, bringing many sons to glory. Verse 11, brothers. Verse 12, brothers. Verse 13, children. 14, children. 16, offspring. 17, brothers. All of this is the language of adoption. It looks into the divine purpose of creation, everything that exists, and exalts the son over all things to create for himself a people. And not just a people in general, but a family. In the incarnation of Jesus Christ, God the Father says to us, his people, I want you. Not, I need your help on my team. Not, come work for me. Not, I'm lonely and I need companionship. God the Father says, I love you. I want you as my child. Come. Come be a part of my family. And he shows that. He demonstrates his love by sending his son to die. Now we may be tempted to wonder how Jesus feels about that. That's what God the Father thinks and says, but what does Jesus feel? But here the text clearly tells us. It says, that is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers. Most of us have been in a position at some point in life where we were ashamed of somebody we were with, right? Either we were ashamed of them or they were ashamed of being with us. And that's a terrible feeling. It's a dehumanizing feeling. But this text assures us that Jesus never feels that way to any of God's children. It's quite the opposite. He's not ashamed to call us brothers. He's not ashamed to leave divine glory, to empty himself, to be humbled to the point of death on a cross in order to purchase our adoption. Jesus is joyfully executing the Father's plan. He's giving his life to make us holy and fit for adoption as sons, to be his brothers, to be co-heirs with him, to share in his glory. So Jesus too is saying, I love you. I want you. You are welcome here. You belong here. Brothers and sisters, that should give us confidence and ballast to navigate this world of hostility. We're talking about the king of the universe, the one who is exalted, crowned with glory and honor. Not only does he pardon our rebellion, not only does he allow us to serve him in his kingdom, he adopts us as sons, as brothers. So friends, if Christ is not ashamed of us, how could we ever be ashamed of him? The king, the king overall has chosen us to be with him. And yet so often we walk around caring what the other servants think, don't we? Especially if it means we have to suffer for it. But this text reminds us that Jesus suffered for us in order to give us the resolve, in order to give us the strength, the courage we need to suffer for him. And even more, I think this text should enable us to witness boldly. Because Jesus has suffered, has brought us out of our bondage to sin, out of slavery, out of the orphanage, as it were, into his kingdom. That should give us compassion to look toward those who don't yet know Christ, to see them, to see ourselves in them, to know that they too are struggling, they too are helpless just as we were. Christ came to us, his message came to us, and to go to them. The King is still adopting. And while the invitation to adopt exists, we should follow the example of our older brother Christ and labor to see many more sons brought to glory. Jesus is not ashamed to call us brothers. He sings the praise of God in the midst of the congregation. He's gathered together with the children of God. You see here how much the incarnation is about the church. The emphasis here is on this corporate identity, on the family of God. Jesus didn't come to secure innumerable individual relationships, a list of friends. He came to secure a people, to unite them to himself, to God the Father, and to one another as one family. That means we should be careful, I think, how we use the term brother. Sometimes we just get in the habit of saying it generically to refer to friends, to people who have a vocation with us in common, or a hobby, or an interest, or race, or something like that. But we should be careful. We should protect the term brotherhood. Because what we see here is that through the work of Christ, he has assembled a people for himself with a much deeper bond than any other bond that exists in the entire created world. So when we greet one another and we regard one another as brother, we are acknowledging the fact that we are united together because of a common love for Christ, a common identity of being loved by Christ, so that we will be united together forever, unlike any career, any interest, even unlike blood. We actually learn from this that our adoption into God's family changes our identity to the core. It supersedes every other human relationship. It doesn't eliminate other relationships, but it changes those relationships so much that Jesus says to follow him means to hate everyone else, at least in comparison. It means that no claim from a parent, from a child, from a sibling, or a spouse can keep you from your obligations to God the Father. We see here in this text the value that Jesus placed on the church. He was not ashamed to call us brothers. I wonder if you're a Christian here this morning, do you value the church like that? Do you see your primary identity in Christ such that you are united to others who are in Christ in a way that you're not united to anyone else on earth? Do you show your allegiance to God's people with your time, with your energy, with your money? Would someone observe your life and see that you prioritize the church over everything else? I want us to press that in and just think about your relationship with a local church. Because now, more than ever, it's really easy to be identified as a Christian in general, but not with a local church. We find our expression as Christians in common specialty causes with those of similar life circumstances, similar interests, and in many ways, that kind of Christianity really looks like everything else in the world. But in a local church, we're actually protected from adding something non-essential to the gospel. So all true churches have in common the gospel. That's what it means to be a true church. And then in local churches, we're organized around the gospel and other secondary issues, things that we have to work out in order to make progress as a kingdom and not just fight with each other. So things like the ordinances, things like church government, membership, and those kind of things. And because of that, a church is different from any other kind of Christian organization. Now it's not to say that a whole church can't get distracted and lose or add something to the gospel, but a church is intrinsically safer than something like the EACMA, the Eastern Albemarle Christian Moped Association, which I just made up. But so often we're tempted to identify ourselves as Christians with something like that and not with a church. Like the family, we are assembled not because of a common interest, but because of a common identity. And we're forced to accommodate to one another, to defer to one another, to consider the good of the whole over and against the self. We don't leave the church just because we don't get our way any more than we don't leave the family because we don't like what's for dinner. We care for one another as family. We suffer together. We rejoice together. And friends, that's how the gospel is put on display. If you claim to be a Christian, but you aren't part of a local church, I pray you'll see the priority. You'll see the value that Jesus places on the church, and you'll commit to one. And if you are a church member, I hope you'll be challenged to think about how the brothers and sisters here or wherever your local church is, how you're called to follow Christ's example, to sacrificially give yourself to them. Christ came and died to identify with us as brothers. Third, let's look at the purpose of his suffering in verses 14 to 16. He begins with, since therefore the children share in flesh and blood. And so this refers to the weakness, the flesh and blood is our weakness, the fragility of our human condition. As opposed to angels, we're made of stuff that can get hurt and break down and eventually die. It says he himself likewise partook of these same things. So Jesus didn't share in them naturally, he was the son from before the foundation of the world, but he willingly took them on. And he goes on to say that he did it so that through death he might destroy the one who has power over death, that is the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. So this verse makes it crystal clear. Jesus came and took on flesh and blood so that he could die. It's through his death. So just think about that. The moment of Jesus' life that appeared that his defeat was actually inevitable. The moment that seemed least victorious, least triumphant. The moment that seemed that something else had won was actually the moment of his greatest victory. So the author is showing us two reasons Jesus came to die. First, he came to die that through death he might destroy the one who has power over death, that is the devil. And second, that he might deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. So we see that Jesus's death destroys the devil. So the devil is, is one of the many terms used to describe the, the demonic leader of the rebellion against God. We see him mentioned in a handful of places in scripture, most explicitly, probably at the temptations of Adam and Eve in Genesis three, and then at the temptation of Christ. From elsewhere in scripture, we know that he's also at war now with the church. So this text tells us that Jesus has destroyed the devil through his death. Now that doesn't mean the devil is dead and gone. It means that he's been stripped of his power. It means he's been disarmed. He's been defamed. Everything, including Satan, will be put under the feet of Christ. Satan's power over those who believe has been rendered completely ineffective. And so to be clear, let's think about Satan's power. He doesn't have power by right. We remember the story, Satan gained power when he deceived Adam and Eve, when he tricked them into believing the lie, you will not surely die, and they ate of the forbidden fruit. And the result of that, the result of Satan's lie, Satan's deception, is that he now has power over mankind. We now exist in a world that's broken, and we have a broken relationship with God. We deny God's existence, we reject his authority, we doubt his goodness. Satan rules and enslaves us with the power of death by convincing us that there is no God, that if there is a God, he won't judge us, that our sin isn't that bad, or that somehow we can earn our way back to God if we do enough good things. Satan continues to say to us, you will not surely die, even while the inescapability of death gnaws away at our souls. And so we see Satan's power at work everywhere. We see a world that's redefining good and evil, that's insisting on tolerance and refusing to accept or believe absolute truth. We see it in 125,000 babies murdered in wombs every single day around the world. We see it in religion, from places that call themselves churches, that look a lot like this, but that say that God loves you and accepts you just like you are, to all the way across the other side of the spectrum, to men who commit acts of terrorism so that they can die as martyrs, as the one way of assurance of their own salvation. That's the lie, that's the power of Satan, that's the lie of death. But for Christians, that lie, that slavery, that power is gone. Because Christians know that Jesus is the resurrection and the life. And we know that if we believe in him, even though we die, yet shall we live. We know that death didn't hold Christ, and therefore it cannot hold those of us who are in Christ. And so we see that Jesus' death, it exposes Satan's lies for what they are. Jesus's death tells us that there is a God, that God is holy, that God will judge every sin, but that there is salvation from God's wrath, and that through faith in Jesus Christ, our sin can be forgiven. God can count the penalty of our sin in Jesus's death. He can give Jesus's perfect life to us so that we can be adopted into God's family and delivered from slavery to sin and Satan. See, the text tells us that we were all at one time in bondage to sin, but that Jesus came on a rescue mission. He's bound Satan. He's leading his people out of Satan's captivity and into freedom. And that's the beauty and the truth of the gospel. If you're not a Christian this morning, you too can have freedom. It's found in Christ through repentance and faith, to surrendering your life of sin and rebellion against God, and to turning to Jesus in faith, trusting him, trusting your life for him, trusting your eternal life to him. Please don't leave here without talking to somebody about Christ. Even as Christians, that we too have to remain in the truth of the gospel. Because Satan may be bound, he may be disarmed, but he's not gagged. He still whispers lies and deceptions. And so as Jesus is leading us out into freedom, Satan is telling us, he'll fail you. You'll die out there. Life is easier in here. There's nothing good outside there. There's nothing there for you. There's a better way if you go your own way. And we're so often tempted to believe those lies. but the gospel promises us that there is life in Christ and in Christ alone. That Christ will reign, that all will be well and right, and our only hope is to be found in Him. So remember as we heard at the beginning, we do not yet see all things in subjection to Him, but we do see Him. We experience Christ's freedom as we continue trusting in Him and obeying the gospel. If we think about the fear of death, At a basic level, a fear of death is a good thing. It's a common grace to have, right? Fear of death at one level will keep you from doing stupid things that will kill you. But the fear of death still stands as the supreme evidence that this world is broken, that things are not the way that they ought to be, and that our only hope is for God to come and fix it. I think we see Satan's enslaving power just by the great confusion that's around us regarding death. So think about, as a culture, how we deny death and how we insulate ourselves from death to make it feel less real. So in one way, and this is just a Again, a common grace. We, especially Westerners, are healthier and live longer than any people have ever lived on the face of the earth. That's something that's common to us. We're largely separated from death in our personal experience. Most of us have not been involved in war. don't even have an agricultural kind of existence, a farming existence where we're around death of animals. They're delivered to our plates in very clean packaged forms, not in the goriness of death. Most of us, when we even have been around death, it's usually in a very sterile context. At the same time, We are entertained like no other people by violence and death, make it seem quite fictional. You know, so video games you play, no matter how bad you are, you've got a new life and you start over and it sort of numbs you to the reality of death. And then when people do actually die, we have a theology of our age that's a salvation by death. Everyone who dies becomes a saint. We don't even like the word death. We don't even call these services funerals anymore. We call them celebrations of life. But despite all of our best efforts, the chains of fear still exist. And so we as a people are obsessed with looking younger, buying products, spending billions of dollars a year to look younger and feel younger. We are obsessed with our health, with diet, with exercise in order to preserve our lives as long as we can. We're obsessed with safety. So if you have children, you opened any packages on Friday, they're filled with warnings about how you can kill yourself with whatever product it is. We're also people who are plagued with anxiety and depression about the world. We treat those things clinically, which I don't deny that there could be clinical causes, but I think oftentimes the roots of those things are in fear. The world is not the way that it ought to be. We have reasons to be anxious, to be fearful, to be depressed. But Christians are set free from all of that. We know that death is not the worst thing that can happen to us. For Christians, we know that the worst thing that can happen to us is for us to stand before God in our sin. So we will be judged, we will be sentenced to death forever. But Christians know that Christ has died for us, that he will stand with us to claim us, to stand for us so we're set free from the fear of death. I wonder, friend, does your life reflect that kind of freedom? Are you more consumed with protecting yourself from death or trusting and basking in the glory of what Jesus has done for you? Verse 16 reminds us that it is not the angels that he helps, but the offspring of Abraham. I just want us to note, it's also not everyone that he helps. It's the offspring of Abraham. And he's not talking about just those physically descended from Abraham, but those who are spiritually children of Abraham by faith. And that's amazing news, friends. Not only is the son greater than angels, not only are angels sent to serve for the sake of those who will inherit salvation. but the Son himself, God himself, has come to us to help us. That's the good news of the incarnation, and that's why the Christian message is the message we need to hear every single day. One thing that's been particularly helpful to me just meditating on that over the past few weeks is the new song that we've learned, He Who Is Mighty. So let me read the lyrics to you. Oh, the mercy our God has shown to those who sit in death's shadow. The sun on high pierced the night. Born was the cornerstone. Oh, the freedom our Savior won, the yoke of sin has been broken. Once a slave, now by grace, no more condemnation. He who is mighty has done a great thing. Taken on flesh, conquered death's sting, shattered the darkness, and lifted our shame. Holy is his name. Amen. That is the accomplishment. It's the purpose that Jesus came, is to destroy death and deliver us. So fourth, let's consider the result of his suffering. verses 17 and 18, starts with, therefore, he had to be made like his brothers in every respect. So he first reiterates the necessity. He had to be made like his brothers in every respect. It was inevitable. And again here, he became like us in every respect. Looks back to the flesh and blood weakness, the vulnerability of our condition, including everything up to death. And the result then is that he could be a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God. So for the next several sermons in Hebrews, we'll be unpacking what that looks like. But I think the main point that he's trying to make here is that he is the perfect representative for us. So he's a faithful high priest. He's faithful because he made propitiation for the sins of the people. That's a very technical theological word. It refers to the state of hostility that exists between God and sinners. God's anger burns hot against sin. He can't be in a right relationship with those who are in sin. God's holiness demands that sin be punished. And so propitiation teaches us that Christ's death took away our sin. It satisfied God's wrath against our sin so that we can have a relationship with God. Christ is faithful because this was the plan all along and he executed it to perfection. Christ is faithful because he suffered when he was tempted. So he's proven himself through suffering. He's showing that he was obedient to God. He's modeling obedience for us, proving that we can trust him. And he's also a merciful high priest. His mercy is demonstrated by the fact that he willingly gave his life to satisfy God's wrath against our sin. There was nothing wrong with Christ's relationship with God, and yet Christ willingly came to us, gave his life to suffer in our place so that we could have a relationship with God through him. He's merciful because he disposes himself to help us when we are tempted. He's gone ahead of us. He suffered to death so that we can look for him for wisdom. We can rely upon him for strength as we resist temptation. So if you think about it, who is the most helpful person in the gym? Who should be the most helpful person in the gym? It's the strongest guy in the gym, right? So if you're struggling with some weight, some machine, you don't look for someone who's about your level and say, hey, can you give me a hand here? You go to the strongest guy because you know he's been there. He's passed that test. He's lifted that weight, whether it's 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, whatever the mark is, He's going to have the advice. He's going to have the ability to counsel you through, to get you through, to help you through. If you want a spot, it's the strongest guy, right? That's the one you want. That's a little bit like what Jesus is like. He has endured unimaginable suffering, unimaginable temptation, not just physically, but to the very core of His identity as God's Son. And because of that, He, like no one else, can help those of us who are being tempted. He is our perfect, our merciful, our faithful high priest. There's no temptation that he can't overcome, no sin that he can't forgive, no guilt that he can't assuage. No matter what you're struggling with here this morning, it is clear that Jesus is able to help like no one else. So go to Jesus. Brothers and sisters, as we conclude this morning, let's just meditate again on the glory of God's plan. Here we have God the Son, the creator and sustainer of all things, subjecting himself to humanity, even human suffering and death, in order to stand in our place, in order to purchase us into his family, in order to destroy our enemy and set us free from his bondage. He's the great prophet who is the last and final revelation from God. He's the great priest who mediates between us and God, allows us to be brought into God's presence, removing our sin. He's the great king who rules over all things. And God's perfect plan is centered on him. It was fitting for him to come. It was fitting for him to suffer for us. It is perfectly fitting for him to reign over us. And it is only fitting for us to worship him. Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, we come before you as a people thankful for Christ. We praise you for your wisdom demonstrated in the plan that you established before the foundation of the world to sum up all things in Him. We praise you that Christ came to suffer, came to die. We thank you that by his death, he has defeated Satan. He has delivered us from the power of death. We thank you that he is our great high priest, that he made propitiation. He satisfied your wrath against our sin. We thank you that, as we'll consider in the coming weeks, that he ever lives to intercede for us. We praise you, Father, that you have crowned him with glory and honor. That you have put all things in subjection to him and that we will one day see all things in subjection to him. And we thank you, Lord, that we can participate in that. Through his death, he's brought us to glory. And we can reign with him. Father, help us now to serve him, to love him, to trust him. And we pray this all in Jesus' name, amen.