Hebrews 2, Chapter 10.
How is it that God can purify the human conscience (Hebrews 9:13-15)? This was our previous topic. How could God heal and make clean the conscience of someone like me who had deliberately seared and ignored my conscience? Why does he have the winsome ability, or even the desire, to do this? Hebrews 2 spells this out for us.
Rather than working through this book from the beginning straight to the end, I’ve chosen to write about Hebrews with the theology interwoven with the application, for we aren’t an audience of intellectual equality with the first-century recipients of this letter. In the first century, a letter to the church was read out loud to the entire gathering, and then each family’s scribe or they themselves made copies. Next, each one memorized the entirety. The scroll of the letter no longer was necessary at that point, for they each “owned” the letter in their hearts. The ancient mind had a huge capacity for meditation with all of this biblical truth stored within.
Therefore, when hearing the last chapters of this letter, one which we looked at last week, the reader would automatically apply what had been read and memorized from the early chapters that we’re examining today. We are not like this. Social media and the firing of new information at us in sound bites and blasts of noise have interrupted the ability of our brains to contemplate that deeply. This is tragic. In writing here, I’ve adapted.
In Hebrews Chapter Two, after detailing the Son’s preeminence over the angels and over all of creation, the authors explain this significant truth:
But God, being the Creator and the Artist of all he had made, chose not to subject the created world to the angels. Not to spirit beings like angels did he entrust this world and all he had designed and brought into being. No, he entrusted it to humankind, often translated to “man.” The Greek word used here is anthropos, and it means “humanity,” to men and to women.
Therefore, since this is true and this is a weighty matter with which to be entrusted, Chapter 2 opens with the sobering reminder that we “must pay closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it” (2:1).
Have you ever witnessed anyone drift away? Or, have you ever drifted?
As I testified last week, I deliberately fell away. A harm of enormous proportions had occurred. At thirteen and fourteen I couldn’t have even described this, but my heart gradually grew cold toward God, the One who had allowed this to happen. I didn’t comprehend then that I needed to hurl my whys at God and to turn toward him, rather than away from him to find help, understanding, and healing. And so, I quit reading God’s Word, day by day reading less and less, until eventually I randomly opened my Bible, read the first verse my eyes fell upon, and then called it quits each day. The absence of honest communication with God and the cleansing of his Word then allowed me to sear my conscience and to gradually, step by step, fall increasingly into sin, until no one could even tell that I was a Christian.
So, why would Jesus come to die for someone like me? “How can we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?” Hebrews 2:3 hurls the question at us, warning us additionally that every transgression or disobedience receives a just retribution or recompense (2:2b). We pay for what we do.
Why fall away? We have plenty of evidence and many reasons to remain:
The message in God’s Word is reliable. It has been tested and proven over and over again. The preservation of the Scriptures above and beyond any other work of ancient literature is without question. Tens of thousands of scraps of those handwritten copies made in the first centuries remain as a testimony. At the University of Michigan, I’ve seen early second-century copies on papyrus of the letter to the Ephesians.
Then there are the signs, wonders, and miracles witnessed and attested to by hundreds and thousands, the majority still alive as eyewitnesses when the first gospels and the letters were written. All were preserved carefully in human minds and in the written word in thousands of documents.
As a young teen, I knew none of this. I was just a lost kid. But God…
“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 subject to his feet” (Hebrews 2:6b-7 ESV).
Nothing was left outside of humanity’s control. Adam had it all, until he sinned and lost it. As a result, “at present, we don’t yet see everything in ongoing 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” (Hebrews 2:8b-9).
Why would Jesus come and do this? Why would he cram his deity into a conceived human being in the womb? Why would he be born, endure the discomforts and pains of life in a human body, grow to manhood, live an entirely sacrificial life, and then die a gruesome death?
Why would Jesus do this? Why would he be born, live a sacrificial life, and die a gruesome death? Why? Because he loves broken and wounded human beings and wants to comfort us, heal us, and make us his own. Click To TweetWhy? Because he loves broken and wounded human beings, all of us in all of our sin, and wants to comfort us, heal us, and make us his own. Love impelled him to act, to do something to pay for our sins and to draw us to himself. God is love. The gift of his Son is proof. He became human to become a member of our family and to bring us back to God.
10 For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering. 11 For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers (Hebrews 2:10-11 ESV).
The process of life and of ministry, of beating and of crucifixion proved and perfected Jesus. By that I mean, it proved his divine nature, demonstrating that he indeed is fully God while simultaneously being fully man, for no mere human man could have endured all of that without sinning. But, he did, and in doing so, he made us his family and bought us back from the grave.
Hebrews 2:12 informs us that Jesus’s actions and words call us “brothers,” adelphos, family members. In our midst, as God’s representative and God in the flesh, he sang the Father’s praise, so we could see God as he had never been seen before. As a human man, he put his entire trust in God, the Lord of hosts, both he and the “children God has given” him (Hebrews 2:13c).
He regards us as his own “little children” (2:13c), the Greek word used here for “children,” paidion, is a term of endearment. We are his little girls and little boys, his sweetie-pies, his baby boys and baby girls, his squidges. The list of endearing terms for beloved children is endless. That’s what we are to Jesus, his very own.
Like a loving parent, he planted his own body between us and the oncoming danger, the life of despair apart from God, the eternity of separation from the Father. He hurled himself into the gap. He threw himself in front of the attack of the evil one. He took the hit.
“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 he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham (those who believe). 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 suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted” (Hebrews 2:14-18 ESV).
Like me, he was injured. Yet, unlike me, he did not sin and fall away. He did not turn away from God. Rather, he suffered the injury, yet without hardening his heart and falling into sin. Having suffered in all things as we, having been entirely human while being fully God, he knows how we feel.
He knows!
Therefore, this merciful and loving Savior knew how to come after this broken girl and win her back. He knew what circumstances to allow into my life that would woo my heart and turn me to faith. His love won me.
Only a Savior who comes in human flesh, born a baby in a cow stall, living a difficult life, and suffering all sorts of mistreatment and harm knows how to win broken and bleeding human beings. Jesus won me. As you ponder the Christ child, who he grew up to be, and what he did for you in his life and on that cross, may he win your heart as well.
Jesus won me. As you ponder the Christ child, who he grew up to be, and what he did for you in his life and on that cross, may he win your heart, for he loves you. Click To Tweet
I love your honesty Melinda. It’s so easy to fall away when life gets tough, but thankfully He never fell away so that He could save the broken.
Thank the Lord for that, Brittany! His perfect life saved us. That he would endure what he suffered and overcame so that he could gain us eternity with him is the clearest evidence of a love so vast that we can barely even begin to comprehend it.
I love this, Melinda! I’d never considered that before: “We are his little girls and little boys, his sweetie-pies, his baby boys and baby girls, his squidges. The list of endearing terms for beloved children is endless. That’s what we are to Jesus, his very own.” Praise God for the precious ways He cares for us!
Psalm 119 contains terms in Hebrew that describe a father dandling a baby on his knee when describing God’s love for his people. The Greek words used in the NT passage, usually written by Paul, picture us as the adorable children upon whom the Father dotes. The sweet little things we do, which nobody else sees or doesn’t consider to be sweet, God sees and coos over.
Ah, look at her, she’s saying that cute little thing again that everyone finds annoying, but I know why she says it and what’s in her heart when she does. I remember the moment that sparked the story. I was there. Ahhh! She’s so precious! That truth carries me through life, awakening awareness of how much I am cherished.Thanks for commenting, Jessica. You’re precious!
I love how you circle back to the heart of the matter in this fine and practical series. You’ve written a terrific series on the supremacy of Christ and our relationship with Him. And how important it is to understand that Jesus came by choice, fully aware, because He loves us. Our relationship with Him matters. So glad it is, among other things, a parent-child relationship.
Thank you for your kind words about this series, Stephen. The more times we move through a book of the Bible, the more we glean, for we can build on top of what we previously learned. I feel that the closer I scrape down to the bones, the more practical the application, the more real and raw the realization of how much I need Christ, and thus, the farther I can step into a deeper and more trusting faith. I hope and pray that is so, for the older I grow, the more weak that I realize I am.
Beautiful honesty that produced an amazing faith in you and in each of us. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and heart.
What would we do without him? We’re all sinners. We may as well be honest, so that others can find their way to him more easily, by recognizing that if he could love US, then he can most certainly love THEM.
How humbling it is to remember our King came to this Earth because of His great love for us. I was thinking yesterday how He came to die for every sin, which means even the ones that I look back on and think, “That was so silly and selfish. How could I have done that?” He died a horrible death to cover even those silly and selfish sins. And that is a humbling thought indeed. All because He loves us.
So very true, Emily! Even the petty ones, the ridiculous one, the complaining and whining ones, the niggling selfish ones. These are what put Jesus on the cross, for this type of sin is more common than our large sins. Knowing this, he still came. He still stepped into our petty and ordinary lives and became one of us. What a gracious Savior we have!
I am thankful that even when I wander away, He seeks me, finds me, and brings me back to Him.
Me, too, Melissa! I feel the same. Prone to wander, Lord I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love. Here’s my heart, Lord, take and seal it. Seal it for thy courts above. Amen.
You are such a gifted writer! I hope to write as well as you someday (with more practice!). I love how you weave in theological truths, a little bit of apologetics (good for you!), and personal life experience. That spells excellent teaching woven with the truth that is an amazing part of it all – Jesus’ humanity mixed with his divinity. The wonder of it…
Wow, Lisa! Thank you for your kind words! What you describe is what I aim at when writing theology. Jesus told stories, so we know that storytelling is an important tool in the imparting of theological truth. When we weave in anecdotes and tales from real life it enriches and helps make tangible the theology. As you know, the apologetics are essential.
I think you’re an excellent writer! You do a superb job condensing rich theological truth and facts into a format that allows us to understand the evidence for the truth of our God’s existence and of the holy Scriptures. That’s an essential skill in your field, a gift to the body of Christ, and the difference between life and death to the person seeking the truth. Well done!
Beautifully and deeply written, Melinda! I love this line: “The absence of honest communication with God and the cleansing of his Word then allowed me to sear my conscience and to gradually, step by step, fall increasingly into sin, until no one could even tell that I was a Christian.” How easy it is for this to happen, at any point in our walk with the Lord. Our schedules become rushed, we rush through our prayers, we rush through our communication with others, we rush through our Bible reading until it no longer has the room to encourage and challenge as it should. But for God! Thankfully, He does not skimp or give up on us!