Source: https://nightlightblogdotcom.wordpress.com/2015/09/
Timestamp: 2019-04-23 11:02:34+00:00

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Hebrews 2:10-18, Made Like His Brethren.
1. It was in accordance with God’s purpose of bringing “many sons to glory,” v. 10.
As we mentioned in the last post, the Cross was not some “emergency measure,” some response to an “oops” moment in the Divine mind, as some have said. We’ve dealt at length with this in other posts, so won’t get into it here, except to say that redemption isn’t just some haphazard, hope it all works out, sort of thing.
2. It was in accordance with God’s purpose to supply a Redeemer, “the captain of their salvation,” v. 10.
There used to be a “gospel” song which attempted to picture the scene in heaven when redemption was planned. It alleged that God searched all through heaven trying to find someone who would go to the Cross. Finally, Jesus stepped forward and volunteered. While I can’t even begin to understand what happened when redemption was planned, I do know that this is NOT how it happened!
3. It was in accord with the fact that man sinned. By a Man, he would be redeemed, vs. 14, 17, Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same,…Therefore in all things He had to be made like His brethren.
This also tells us, in agreement with the rest of Scripture, that man cannot redeem himself. Even Israel, in the Old Testament given a law that, if kept, would make a person righteous, utterly failed. Cf. Deuteronomy 6:25; Romans 9:31. They failed to realize that the Law was given to reveal their, and our, need of a Savior, not to be that savior.
Our country will soon be visited by the head of the largest religious organization in the world. But all the pomp, all the glitter, all the ceremony, all the everything that organization involves, cannot do a single thing – one single thing – toward the salvation of those who embrace it, despite its claim that apart from it there is no salvation. In fact, it only adds to their condemnation, because it denies the sufficiency of the life and death of the Lord Jesus to save sinners and tends to point people to His mother instead of to Himself.
Furthermore, God cannot die. He is eternal. Angels could not get it done, because they themselves are responsible to serve and obey God. Their obedience would be of no help to others. Man cannot do it, because he is a sinner himself and even his very best, those acts of goodness we think so much of, is tainted by sin. So He, Jesus, had to be made like His brethren. He had to take humanity to Himself.
4. It was done in a way that seems counter-intuitive, through death, v. 14. How could a dead man save us? Two other men died that day, as well. Why is Jesus’ death any different from theirs? We’ve dealt with this at length elsewhere, so won’t get into it so much here. The other two men were dying because they had been found guilty of breaking Roman law. This had nothing to do with their sins before God. The Lord Jesus had been found “guilty,” though falsely, of breaking OT law.
Jesus was condemned, humanly speaking, because He paid no attention to the multitude of traditions and rules that the scribes and Pharisees had added to the OT law, and because He criticized them severely for it. Furthermore, in contradiction to atheists and other unbelievers, He did claim to be God. In fact, this is really the reason He was crucified, John 19:7. See also Matthew 27:40, where they threw His claim into His teeth.
Jesus was condemned, divinely speaking, because He came to take the place of “His brethren.” Though His conception was different from theirs, to prevent Him receiving the sinful nature of his father Joseph, and thus from Adam, He experienced everything they did, and do, except that, as Hebrews 4:15 says, He was without sin. He was holy, harmless, undefiled, Hebrews 7:26.
Some people have trouble with the idea of God’s justice or wrath. They so concentrate on His “love” that it seems to be all they believe He exhibits. And John 4:8 does say, God is love. However, that verse appears in a specific context about how we’re to treat our Christian brothers and sisters.
1 John 1:5 says, This then is the message that we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.
If that verse had been written by modern preachers, they would probably have said something like, in the words of a very popular tract of some years ago, “This is the message: God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.” It’s interesting in this connection that the early church in Acts never mentioned the love of God. Only one word in the original used of “love” is found in the book, and that’s in reference to some folks on an island who showed “kindness” to Paul and his shipmates after they survived a shipwreck, Acts 28:2. We get our word, “philanthropy,” from that word.
Quoting John 3:16, folks seem to think that the Gospel is about the love of God. But you need John 3:36 to finish the thought of John 3:16, as well as John 3:17, 18.
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, as it is written: ‘The just shall live by faith.” For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse (emphasis added).
Not popular words in our culture of “tolerance” and “diversity” and “inclusiveness”. But they are the very basis of that which is “good news,” namely, that One came and did something about them, something we cannot do.
Taking a few verses out of context, we have built a god of our own devising, one who apparently will simply just pat us on the back like a benevolent grandfather and say, “That’s alright,” regardless of what we do or are.
In that time prior to the capture and destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans, an extremely wicked people, Habakkuk said to God, “You are of purer eyes than to behold evil,” Habakkuk 1:12. He just couldn’t understand how a holy God could use such a wicked nation to judge His own people.
In perhaps the earliest OT book, from the standpoint of when it was written, one of Job’s friends contrasts the characters of God and man: “What is man, that he could be pure? And he that is born of a woman, that he could be righteous? If God puts no trust in His saints, and the heavens are not pure in His sight, how much less man, who is abominable and filthy, who drinks iniquity like water!” Job 15:14-16. Job’s three friends misunderstood the reasons for Job’s suffering and they got into trouble for it, but here, at least, one of them understood the chasm that stands between God and man. One is completely Holy, the other is completely sinful.
Jesus Christ came, not to make a way that man could bridge that chasm, but to be the bridge Himself.
We are sinners, Romans 3:23. Sin must be punished, Ezekiel 18:4. On the Cross, Jesus took that punishment, 2 Corinthians 5:21. Though we’ll never understand what was really involved in that transaction, it’s as simple as that. Christ died for sinners, 1 Timothy 1:15. Those who believe on Him are saved from that punishment, and from the sins that bring it. That’s the “good news.” That’s the Gospel.
5. It was done to deal with the very origin of sin, that through death, He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil, v. 14.
There seem to be two extreme views about the devil. Some deny that there is any such being – or God, or angels. What you can see is all you get. Then there are those who apparently can’t talk about anything else: Satan this, Satan that, demons this, demons that. So they run around rebuking him, or seeing demons behind bad thing that happens in life.
Now it is true that Scripture tells us that Satan is the god of this world, 2 Corinthians 4:4. It also describes him as the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in [energizes] the sons of disobedience, Ephesians 2:2. But Satan is not an all-powerful being. He is limited, just like we are, though far more powerful. And one day, he and everything he represents, will be no more.
6. The Lord Jesus came, not just to be a Savior, but to be a merciful and faithful High Priest. Since much of the rest of the book deals with this, we’ll just mention it here, by way of introduction to the rest of the book.
But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone, Hebrews 2:9 (NKJV).
It seems to me there are two main ailments, if I can call them that, that inflict modern Christianity. On the one hand, we have those who don’t really believe the Bible and so Christianity is all about social issues – justice, fairness, equality. To be sure, social issues are important, but they’re not to be addressed according to the latest opinion polls or those who have the loudest voices or can cause the most damage or be the most violent. On the other hand, there are those who do believe the Bible, but we’ve grown so familiar with, so accustomed to, its message that we don’t really stop to think what it’s saying.
A case in point is the fact that I’ve already received my first Christmas catalog. Christmas will soon be on us and we’ll be inundated with displays of the Nativity, and all the trappings that accompany the modern observance. Little children will put on their bathrobes – do they even still wear such things? – and gather as Mary and Joseph, the shepherds and wise men, around a little doll in what’s supposed to be a manger. Cameras will flash. Parents will smile. Then in a few days, all the decorations will be put away, and life will go on.
I’m not trying to preach against the observance of Christmas, though we’re nowhere told to observe our Lord’s birth. In fact, we don’t even really know the day of the year on which He was born. And His birth, though absolutely necessary, isn’t what saves us.
So what am I trying to do? What does all this have to do with Hebrews…?
Up until now, the writer has been showing the superiority of the Lord Jesus over angels, who were very important in the Old Testament. The verse before us is the first time he mentions the name, “Jesus,” although things he has already mentioned refer to our Lord’s earthly life. “Jesus” was the Lord’s human name.
In this verse, we see the two “phases,” if you will, of the Lord’s humanity. He was made “a little lower than the angels,” though far superior to them. This refers to His birth, His life, His death and His resurrection. And, as a human being, He has been “crowned with glory and honor.” This refers to His ascension and His present position – as a human being – at the right hand of the Father. Through all this, He was and remains God. He is the God-man.
…we see Jesus,…made a little lower than the angels….
I’ve always read this verse as “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death,…” That is, He was made lower than them, He became human, in order to die for sinners. That’s how the KJV, with which I grew up, has it. However, the NKJV has it as we quoted it at the beginning of the post. This looks beyond that death to the honor and glory the Lord Jesus received because He died for sinners. Cf. Philippians 2:9, 10.
This verse isn’t the first time the writer has mentioned the death of our Lord. In 1:3, he wrote that our Lord, having by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. This certainly indicates more than the fuzzy views of His death most Christians have today, that He did something on the Cross, but we’re not really sure what it was. At the very least, we don’t really stop to think of what was involved in that awful, bloody death.
He “purged our sins.” The word translated “purged” means “to cleanse, purify.” And the writer says that He did this by Himself. In other words, His death on the Cross, His payment for sin, didn’t require the sinner’s “acceptance” of it to make it effective. It only required that God accept it, and this He did, as shown by the resurrection and the Lord’s placement at the right hand of the Father’s throne.
Having said that, I’m afraid that some might take that to mean that I don’t believe that we must believe on the Lord Jesus in order to be saved. Nothing could be further from the truth. I do believe that – because that is what the Scripture says. My point is that I’m afraid that for far too many people the emphasis is on what THEY do, instead of what the Lord Jesus did. If you ask people about their hope of heaven, their answer will probably have “I” in the first few words.
Now, it is Scripturally true that we believe, and must believe, and are saved by means of that faith, but our “hope” must not be centered on what we do, but on what the Lord did: that death that took care of, took away, our sins. There’s so much more that we could say about this, and probably should, but we must go on.
That He by the grace of God should taste death for everyone. The KJV has it, “for every man.” There is, however, no word for “man” in the original. The verse could translated “for all,” or, “for the whole.” This, of course, brings up the question, “all what”?” “the whole what”?
The writer doesn’t leave us guessing. He himself tells us in the next few verses. V. 10 talks of many sons. V. 11 refers to brethren. V. 13 says, “Here I am and the children whom God has given Me.” So we are justified in saying that Christ “tasted death” for every “son,” every “brother,” every “child,” not indiscriminately or haphazardly, but in accordance with the will and purpose of the Father.
To hear some preachers, one would think that all that happened when our Lord left the glories of heaven, was that the Father hugged Him and wished Him luck. Not so. Not so. The Cross was not “an emergency measure,” as one writer put it. Nor is the plan of redemption “a colossal failure,” as another writer put it. How could a Christian even think such a thing?? As much as we might have questions about it or not understand it, what happened on the Cross was a carefully worked-out way to save sinners. Without this “working out,” there would be no salvation, cf. Romans 9:29, and no hope. There would be only certain condemnation.
Ah, we’ve only skimmed the surface of something which Ephesians 2:7 tells us will take God Himself the ages to come to show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
Oh, listen, what is your hope of heaven? For there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved, Acts 4:12. Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved…, Acts 16:31.

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