The Author of Our Salvation

[0:00] We're going to be in Hebrews chapter 2 tonight, verses 10-18.

[0:18] This is by the author of our salvation.! This whole section is by the author of our salvation, the Lord Jesus Christ. Let me read beginning in verse 10 of chapter 2.

[0:36] 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.

[0:53] For He who sanctifies, and those who are sanctified, all have one source.

[1:03] 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 praises.

[1:18] 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.

[1:56] For surely it is not angels that He helps, but He helps the offspring of Abraham. He doesn't help angels. He helps Abraham's children.

[2:08] That's us. 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.

[2:28] For because He Himself has suffered when tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted. Obviously, they're discussing there the Lord Jesus Christ. He's our high priest.

[2:39] He's merciful. He made propitiation for our sins, the atoning sacrifice. He suffered.

[2:53] He's able to help those who are being tempted, because He was tempted, but without sin. And I think verse 10 of Hebrews chapter 2 is referring to both God the Father and Christ the Son.

[3:12] Kind of goes back and forth. That verse begins with the words, it is fitting. I think it's interesting.

[3:23] What the Father accomplished through Christ Jesus fit perfectly with His character. It also fit perfectly with the wisdom of God.

[3:36] Mere man could never, mark this thought down. I've said it before and I'm going to say it again. Mere man could never make up the cross.

[3:50] Mere man could never make up the cross. Because we're not capable of coming up with a fictional story where God comes to earth in the form of His Son, the person of Jesus Christ and He comes down here specifically to die for the sins of His people.

[4:13] We couldn't make that up. The Jews were abhorred at that thought because the Old Testament says He who hangs on a tree is cursed. And you know what?

[4:25] That's right. He took our curse on the tree. Jesus hung on a tree and He was cursed for us. But to come up with that story, that takes perfect wisdom.

[4:44] Perfect wisdom. As kids like to say now, you can't make this up. The cross is also totally fitting because we have on display there the perfect holiness of God.

[5:08] Now we look at the cross and we think that's anything but holy. But it's the perfect holiness of God. And it does that in two ways.

[5:20] One, the cross was the greatest display of God's holiness. And secondly, the cross showed us the extreme hatred that God has for things sinful.

[5:37] He hates sin in the extreme and nailed it to the cross of His Son. The cross was also the greatest display of the power of God.

[5:54] Only God could accomplish much by the cross of Christ. The Lord Jesus accomplished in a few hours what it will take lost and unredeemed men and women an eternity to accomplish.

[6:17] And at the end of that eternity, it's not finished. They've got to add a bunch more eternities. So what am I saying there? The penalty for sin is death.

[6:33] Eternal death. When you've been there for eternity, you haven't reduced by one second the amount of time you have to stay there if you're not in Christ.

[6:46] It's an amazing thought. A scary thought. And I've used that with people. Pastor, I imagine you have. Mike McBride probably did.

[6:57] But you know, I have guys tell me, well, you know, I think you get another hearing when you die. And I said, when you've been there 450 trillion millennia as we measure time, a millennia is a thousand years.

[7:17] When you've been there 450 trillion millennia, you will not reduce by one second the amount of time you have to spend there. Not by one second.

[7:29] Unredeemed men and women will have to stay there for eternity if that's the only avenue left open to them to make atonement for their sin.

[7:45] The only other avenue that's open is that Christ made atonement for us. And if you're in Christ, then He's made atonement for you.

[7:56] And if you're not, get there before you turn the lights out tonight. Because you don't know when He's coming back and you don't know when you're going to be with Him.

[8:09] We don't know those things. What else is the cross? The cross is the supreme expression of the grace of God bestowed on sinful mankind.

[8:30] I've got to tell you guys, I'm a father, two sons. I can't send them to the cross for the sins of people.

[8:42] God did that. But if you want to see the grace of God in action and to what He did for sinful mankind, look at the cross.

[9:03] The greatest example of the graciousness of God, of the grace of God, we could say, or the graciousness of God in Christ is found in the fact that the cross was substitutionary.

[9:25] In other words, Christ took our place on the cross. He didn't deserve to be there. He didn't do anything to deserve the cross.

[9:42] Nothing. He became our substitute. We believe in a substitutionary atonement. And you know, it's kind of amazing, but there's some people that don't believe in that today.

[9:55] There were some guys back in the Puritan era that didn't believe in that. Now, we've already seen in the previous lessons that Jesus suffered extreme humiliation on the cross.

[10:17] And let's don't buy into the things we see in Hollywood and these other depictions. Essentially, He hung there naked, beaten. We did a tour years ago over there at Eureka Springs.

[10:33] Passion went through their museum. They have an art museum or used to. I haven't been there in 30 years. Went through their art museum and there was one painting of Jesus had been filleted.

[10:46] You could see the ribs, the bones that had been laid open from the cat-o'-nine tails or whatever else. The humiliation that He suffered.

[11:03] We studied that humiliation in our November lesson. The fact that Jesus was willing to suffer is totally consistent with His loving and gracious nature.

[11:21] He loved us so much He was willing to go to the cross. He embraced His cross.

[11:32] I know in a couple of Hollywood depictions, some of it weren't too bad. The Passion of the Christ where He laid down on the cross and stretched His arms out and He hugged His cross and they make reference to things like that.

[11:51] And we don't want to lose sight of the fact that Jesus was the great sanctifier. Listen to these words starting in verse 11, chapter 2.

[12:04] I will tell of your name to my brother in the midst of the congregation. I will sing your praise. And again, I will put my trust in Him.

[12:16] And again, behold I and the children that God has given me. Christ is our sanctifier. That means He is the one who makes us holy.

[12:30] That is an amazing thought. And we studied that and you can read about that. Probably the best place would be Romans chapter 8. That whole chapter. is the one who makes us holy.

[12:47] And there's no one else. These people that say I believe in God but I don't believe in Jesus. I'm looking for someone else. You're not going to find anyone else.

[13:01] My advice is quit looking and embrace. Because you're not going to find anyone else. One of the most difficult and indeed impossible things to think of is any of us being holy.

[13:21] Wow, that just tears me up. I mean, you know, my problem is I know me and God knows me. but and when you when you when we think of those terms when we're alone in our closet by that I mean prayer closet it just doesn't want to compute.

[13:47] I'm holy. Sin is too powerful within us in thought in deed in conduct and and I look at my own life and say I'm anything but holy.

[14:02] But in Christ we are made perfectly holy. Holy to perfection.

[14:14] and I don't know none of you want to be like me but that's a struggle with me. But it's true. One of the most difficult things is to know that we're made perfectly holy by imputation.

[14:34] He imputes to us His righteousness. His righteousness. As one preacher has said we may not act holy but God treats us as if we are perfectly holy.

[14:48] Why does He do that? Because of the accomplishments of Christ. It's based on what Christ did. How can this be?

[15:00] With Christ Jesus living in us the righteousness of Christ has been credited to our account. Remember what talked about Abraham? Abraham and it was he believed God and it was accredited to him as righteousness?

[15:19] Listen to these words in Hebrews chapter 10 and it's going to be a while before we're there. We have been sanctified there's that word we have been sanctified that's made holy through the offering of the body of Christ once for all.

[15:38] All who believe have been sanctified through the offering of his body. The all in that verse is those who believe.

[15:53] Through his sacrifice we've been declared holy and have become one of those sanctified. Christ Jesus has removed from us the possibility that we are positionally sinful.

[16:12] Hebrews 10 14 for by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. Sanctification leads to perfection.

[16:28] Try this on for difficulty's sake. we have been made pure just as the Father is pure. We have been made righteous just as Christ is righteous. And again those are hard words to speak because I know myself.

[16:44] But just how wonderful and imponderable is this grace. Consider Paul's words 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 21 for by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

[17:05] One offering led to perfection of those who are being sanctified, being made holy. The sanctifier and the sanctified have one same father.

[17:24] Neither is the sanctifier and that's the Lord Jesus Christ ashamed to call us his brothers. How can he call us his brothers if we're steeped in sin?

[17:38] Well, we're not steeped in sin. We have his imputed righteousness. He has even declared us to be fellow heirs with Christ in inheriting the kingdom.

[17:53] We're fellow heirs. And Christ is also our conqueror. He's a conqueror. Who did the Lord conquer?

[18:09] He conquered Satan. He conquered Satan. Hebrews 2. Hebrews 2. 14. 15.

[18:22] Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same thing, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil.

[18:40] The devil has the power of death. God has given it to him for a time and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.

[18:53] Fear of death leads to slavery. And they've done studies in every culture, death is the greatest fear. I'm going to die someday.

[19:07] In this passage, we have the word share, and that is the Greek word koinonia. we use that a lot, particularly in 1 John, from which we get a number of very meaningful words.

[19:20] These include fellowship, communion, and partnership. Christ had to break Satan's power so that we could be brought to the triune God and presented to him.

[19:35] the primary power of Satan is death, and death was defeated at the cross. It no longer has mastery over those who believe.

[19:54] Now, to destroy Satan, Satan must be robbed of his most powerful tool, and that was death, the infliction of death.

[20:07] And the death spoken of here is all death. It embraces physical death, spiritual death, terminal death, eternal death. To break Satan's stronghold on mankind through death, the Lord Jesus came and died in our place.

[20:28] That's how He broke it. When that happened, all who would ever be in Christ were freed. Well, how are we free now?

[20:38] Again, Hebrews 2.15, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. We were in slavery, and He released us.

[20:53] And again, death is the greatest fear of mankind. Go to any culture. Christ defeated death at Calvary.

[21:06] And as a result, Christ became our sympathizer. He could sympathize with us. Hebrews 2.16, and following, for surely it is not angels that He helps.

[21:22] angels. Jesus wouldn't put here to help angels. Fallen angels or unfallen angels? But He helps the offspring of Abraham.

[21:36] 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.

[21:51] For because He Himself has suffered when tempted, He's able to help those who are being tempted. Have you ever been tempted? I mean the last 30 seconds. There is no redemption for angels.

[22:10] Christ did not die for angels. He did not shed His blood for angels. Only humans are redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, and only humans can benefit from the propitiation that Christ secured in the atoning sacrifice of the cross.

[22:32] It is of no small interest that Christ became a man, and when He did, took upon Himself human flesh, He became a member of the Jewish race.

[22:44] I find that fascinating. why did God shower the Jews with this special favor? Well, all we can really come up with is God the Father did it based on His sovereign pleasure.

[23:03] He did it because He wanted to do it. This is somewhat, though not fully revealed in Deuteronomy chapter 7, verse 7 and 8. it was not, and Moses is talking to the Jewish people, it was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set His love on you and chose you, for you are the fewest of all peoples.

[23:31] He's talking to His brothers, the Jews. You are the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that He swore to your fathers that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery.

[23:52] Were the Jews ever in slavery? They once said they had never been slaves to anybody. They were slaves of everybody. I mean, my gosh, just study Egypt and Pharaoh and the Assyrians and the Babylonians and the Romans.

[24:11] But the Lord brought them out with a mighty hand and redeemed them from the house of slavery from the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt.

[24:23] Fascinating. Fascinating. There's another question we can ask. If Jesus is God, why did He become a man?

[24:36] He's already God. And I think the best we can come up with is He did so to identify with us as our substitute. He's the God-man, the unique God-man.

[24:51] He wanted to help those of us who are tempted. He wanted to identify with everything that we experienced, yet without sin, because there was no sin found in Him.

[25:07] He is our high priest, priest, and we're going to really get involved in that in the coming months. He is our high priest, and He came to save us and sympathize with us in our infirmities.

[25:25] As our sympathizer, He is our merciful and faithful high priest. And I always spell those with capital H, capital P, to differentiate between the earthly high priest.

[25:41] He experienced, Christ experienced, the things we experience. And let me say this, He was tempted more fully than we shall ever be, yet without succumbing to sin.

[26:00] He never took one inch step towards sin. there was no one like Him and never shall be.

[26:13] He is the unique God-man. 100% God, 100% man. Not 50-50. 50. In every sense of the word, He is our sympathizer, able to sympathize with our infirmities, our temptations, our sins, and yet without committing any of those things.

[26:43] Thank you.