HEBREWS: “A Greater Savior (Hebrews 2:10 - 3:6)" | 9/3/23
Hebrews 2:10 - 3:6| 9/3/23 | Will DuVal
This morning is our THIRD Sunday together in our study of the book of Hebrews, and our subtitle for the series summarizes the book’s main point, namely, that “Jesus is Greater”. Thus far, we’ve identified Jesus as “A Greater Word” (He is greater than the prophets) and “A Greater Heavenly Being” (Jesus is greater than the angels). But this morning, we are going straight to the heart of the gospel, to who Jesus most essentially is: He is a greater Savior.
Time would fail us to mention all the great SAVIOR-figures throughout the course of literature and film. Gandalf and Harry Potter, Aslan and Neo, Superman and E.T. Just last week, I got introduced to a NEW one: the Iron Giant. Have you seen that movie, from the late 90s? I don’t know how I missed it until now; wonderful movie, about a giant robot from outer space that lands on earth, befriends a young boy, scares the U.S. government, and ultimately sacrifices himself in order to save the boy and the whole town. It’s a beautiful story.
I only had one issue with it: it kinda PLAGIARIZED. As a matter of fact, that’s what ALL these stories have in common - The Lord of the Rings, Narnia, The Matrix… they’re really all just inferior imitations, appropriations, knock-offs of the One TRUE Story about the One TRUE Savior: JESUS. And this morning, the author of Hebrews is gonna retell His story, and remind us why Jesus is the GREATEST Savior of ALL. And he’ll point us to THREE PROOFS here - three ways in which Jesus saves us; more specifically, three ways in which YOU AND I now reap the REWARDS of salvation, at JESUS’ expense.
Hebrews 2:10 - 3:6:
“For it was fitting that he [GOD], 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, 12 saying,
“I will tell of your name to my brothers;
in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise.”
13 And again,
“I will put my trust in him.”
And again,
“Behold, I and the children God has given me.”
14 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, 15 and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. 16 For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. 17 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. 18 For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, 2 who was faithful to him who appointed him, just as Moses also was faithful in all God's house. 3 For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses—as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. 4 (For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.) 5 Now Moses was faithful in all God's house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later, 6 but Christ is faithful over God's house as a son. And we are his house, if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.
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#1 - The first way in which Jesus SAVES us - in which you and I BENEFIT at Jesus’ expense - is that we now enjoy a greater COMMUNION WITH God because of Jesus’ greater SUFFERING (2:10-14a). And I’ll give you a one word summary of each main point as well, and I’ll even ALLITERATE them, so maybe they’ll be more memorable for you; #1 - Jesus saves us from ALIENATION - Jesus himself SUFFERED alienation from God the Father, so that you and I would never have to, so that we can instead enjoy COMMUNION with God.
And we get both sides of this “divine exchange” - OUR profit and Jesus’ payment; Jesus’ suffering for our glory - right off the bat here in v10:
“it was fitting that [GOD], for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.
Interestingly, the author starts with our reward, and he mentions it almost in passing: that in saving us, through His Son Jesus, God the Father is “bringing many sons to glory”. What does that mean?
Most vitally, it means God is bringing us to HIMSELF! God is referred to, in Scripture, as “the God of glory”
Ps 29:3 “ the God of glory thunders… over the waters.”
Acts 7:2 “The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham…”
Ps 24:8 calls Him the “King of glory”
So in bringing “many sons to GLORY”, first and foremost, God is bringing us to HIMSELF! To the God OF glory, to whom ALL glory and honor and praise are DUE.
Some understand “glory” here as referring to HEAVEN; God saves us by bringing us to HEAVEN, to “Glory”.
Others interpret it as a state of being to which God is bringing us; God will one day “glori-FY” us in Heaven.
But all those renderings ultimately bring us back to God HIMSELF: what MAKES Heaven “Glory”, and what effectuates our OWN glorification once we’re THERE, is the presence of GOD. It is our COMMUNION with God; our ONENESS with Him.
And that is the focus of vv11-14:
*Jesus “sanctifies” us; he makes us HOLY. WHY? So we can enjoy communion with GOD. God is holy; sin can NOT enter His presence. So in order to get INTO God’s presence, where there is “fullness of joy”, (Ps 16:11) we must first be made HOLY. And Jesus ACCOMPLISHES that for us. HOW??
Well, the author only gives us a HINT here in v11, when he explains that both JESUS - “he who sanctifies” - and US - “those who are sanctified” - that we “all have one source”, the Greek reads: “all are OF ONE”. Of one WHAT?
We have to skip ahead to v14 to get the answer - it says: “the children share in flesh and blood”. So Jesus and mankind are all “of one NATURE”. That’s what he’s talking about here: Jesus’ HUMAN nature, his OWN humanity. V14: “he [Jesus] himself likewise partook of the same things” - the same flesh and blood, as US, in his humanity.
The last TWO weeks, in chs1 and and FIRST half of ch2, the author of Hebrews was combating a common 1st c heresy that would later come to be known as ARIANISM, which denied Jesus’ DIVINITY. Some of the earliest false teachers in the 1st c church claimed that Jesus was NOT truly God; he was just a man. So Hebrews OPENED with the declaration of Christ’s DIVINITY: He is the Creator and Sustainer and “HEIR of all things” (1:2); “He is the radiance of the glory of God”, “the exact imprint of his [very] nature” (1:3); God the Father even REFERRED to Jesus, the Son as “O GOD”, and “You, LORD [Yahweh]”; so he made it absolutely clear that Jesus is fully GOD!
But NOW, this morning, in the SECOND half of ch2, he’s countering the exact opposite heresy, Docetism, from the Greek word “dokeo” meaning “to seem or appear”; in other words, Jesus only SEEMED to be HUMAN. The Docetists had no PROBLEM believing Jesus was fully GOD; THEIR hangup was believing he was truly HUMAN.
So you had SOME in the church claiming Jesus was just a MAN; OTHERS believing he was fully God but NOT really a man at all. And the author of Hebrews is writing to correct BOTH of them: “Jesus wasn’t 100% man, 0% God… and He wasn’t 0% man and 100% God; rather, Jesus was 100% man AND 100% God!”
Jesus was “made like his brothers in every respect”, v17 says; same flesh and blood, same SOURCE, fully man.
And now the author quotes two OT passages, in vv11-13, to prove Christ’s oneness, his SOLIDARITY with us, as a fully human, flesh-and-blood man:
First, he quotes Psalm 22 (v22): “I will tell of your name to my brothers…”. This psalm, originally written by David, was quoted by Jesus HIMSELF on the CROSS: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Psalm 22 is all about God’s deliverance from SUFFERING - as a matter of fact, persecution is the backdrop for BOTH of the OT passages quoted here. Because remember: that’s the context of this 1st c church in Rome to whom the letter of Hebrews was WRITTEN: they were being PERSECUTED. And this pastor is writing to EXHORT them to STAY THE COURSE; don’t fall away, in the midst of your suffering. And his encouragement here is the reminder that we have an elder BROTHER, Jesus, who “SHARES in our flesh and blood”, who was “made LIKE us in every respect” - even in… especially in His SUFFERING - and yet, who ENDURED the cross that he might “bring many sons” - His BROTHERS - to GLORY.
Similarly, in vv12-13, he quotes Isaiah 8 now (vv17-18), attributing these words to Jesus: ““I will put my trust in him… Behold, I and the children whom the Lord has given me”. In context, God had just called the prophet Isaiah to warn Israel of their sin and the Lord’s JUDGMENT. But Israel didn’t want to LISTEN. So Isaiah had to make up his mind: “Whether they’re listening or NOT, I am going to be obedient to God’s calling, and PREACH repentance, and leave the REST up to GOD” - “I put my trust in HIM… both me AND my children”. JESUS’ warning, His call to repentance, in HIS generation was just as rejected - he was “a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to… Israel” (8:14), another messianic prophecy from Isaiah 8 - and Hebrews draws this comparison to argue that just as Isaiah remained faithful - going so far as to implicate his own KIDS in his ministry, so too should WE now expect, if we are truly God’s children, Jesus’ brothers and sisters - that we TOO will suffer, like Jesus SAID we would: “If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also.” (Jn 15:20)
And his point goes both ways: yes, we now suffer because Jesus suffered; but conversely, and even more importantly, JESUS came to suffer with us, FOR us, because WE were suffering. THAT’S his MAIN point here in vv10-14: that Jesus “brings us to glory”, he “sanctifies us” for communion, for perfect relationship with God the Father… HOW??
By “sharing in our flesh and blood”, by “being made like [us] in every respect, ” by becoming “one SOURCE” with us - fully man - not being “ASHAMED to call us brothers” and sisters - when God the Father TOLD Jesus the rescue plan - “I’m gonna send YOU down, to become HUMAN just like them” - before God even GOT to the part about the cross, Jesus could have replied: “Ughh, REALLY?! HUMAN?! Come on, Father…” But He DIDN’T. He was “not ashamed to call [us] brothers”, to take on flesh, with us, and SUFFER.
This is how Jesus became the “FOUNDER” of our salvation, v10: it was “through [His] SUFFERING” on our behalf, specifically, if we flip back to v9 where we ended LAST week: through His “suffering of death” on our behalf; “by the grace of God he taste[d] DEATH for everyone.”
Which is a good segue way to point #2, but we can’t move ON there until we deal with this most seemingly problematic phrase in our whole text for this morning, there in v10, where it says that God “ma[de] the founder of [our] salvation [God made Jesus] perfect through suffering.” That seems theologically problematic, doesn’t it? It sure makes it sound like Jesus wasn’t ALREADY the perfect Son of God. What do we do with this phrase?
Well, I think there are 3 interpretive options:
Perhaps Jesus was imperfect until he died for us, and then God perfected Him. Some cults believe this about Jesus, and they proof text this verse: Jesus was 100% man and 0% God UNTIL his death and resurrection, and only THEN was He granted a divine nature, to become perfect. The problem with that interpretation is you have to ignore the rest of the NT, including, the first chapter and a half of Hebrews, as we’ve already seen.
The second option is to try and re-translate the word “MADE” here to mean something like “SHOWN” instead. Jesus was ALWAYS perfect, but God REVEALED Jesus AS perfect, in his death and resurrection. The problem with THAT reading is that in the Greek, there’s actually not a separate word here for “make”; “per-FECT” is an infinitive VERB; so it literally reads: “it was fitting… for God to PERFECT Jesus through suffering”.
But the third option is to look a little closer AT that verb - tele-O-sai, from the word “telos” meaning “END”, and to note that it CAN mean “to perfect”, but it can ALSO mean more literally: “to bring to an END”, “to COMPLETE”, “to CONSUMMATE”, to “bring through the FINISH line”.
THAT’s what Jesus did on the cross: he consummated the purpose for which he was sent here; God brought him through the FINISH line: “mission accomplished”! What did Jesus HIMSELF declare, from the cross? “It is… [FINISHED!]”
Which brings us to point #2: We enjoy a greater DELIVERANCE because of Jesus’ greater SACRIFICE (2:14b-18). Jesus saves us not only from ALIENATION from a holy God, by MAKING us holy, and bringing us TO Glory, TO God the Father, but in DOING so, Jesus ALSO saves us from the fate we otherwise DESERVE, namely, from AFFLICTION. Specifically, 4 kinds of affliction we find here, in vv14-18; let’s just read it again:
[Jesus took on flesh and blood] “that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery…. [let’s skip down to v17b; Jesus] became a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. 18 For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
Four Afflictions Jesus DELIVERS us from:
#1 - the enslavement of the DEVIL; v14: Jesus “DESTROYED the one with the POWER of death… the DEVIL.” The Creator God, our loving Father, graciously gave US the keys to the kingdom, back in Genesis 1&2: God blessed humanity with DOMINION over this world. And it took us ONE CHAPTER to turn around and hand those keys over to SATAN. And God had WARNED us, if we DID that, “on the day you REJECT me, DEATH enters the picture”. So from Genesis ch3 all the way thru Matthew ch28, for thousands and thousands of years, Satan held the KEYS to death. Which brings us to affliction…
#2- the power of (and the FEAR of) DEATH. V14 refers to the “POWER of death”, because for all those millennia, from Genesis 3 to Matthew 28, death reigned supreme; the scoreboard was like “Death - 55 billion; Humanity - 0”. And because we couldn’t ESCAPE the inevitability, and the FINALITY of death, Satan held us hostage - the text says: “lifelong SLAVERY”; these are STRONG, but TRUE words - we were in BONDAGE to the “FEAR of death”.
And RIGHTFULLY so! Friends: if you don’t know what’s gonna happen to you when you die, or worse yet, if you buy into our prevailing culture’s LIE that NOTHING happens - you just… cease to exist; “So”, they say, “enjoy life while you can - ‘you only live once’” - listen: you can try and put some kind of positive SPIN on that worldview… “it makes my life MORE meaningful, cuz I’m not living for eternity; I’m just living for the here and now” (how “enlightened”) - sounds GREAT… until you start running OUT of the here and now. We’ll see how appealing that “no afterlife” theology is when you’re on your DEATHBED. I’ve never heard of an atheist who was perfectly at peace on their deathbed; how COULD they be?! “FEAR of death” is the only LOGICAL response, at that point. But just back the timeline UP now, and you realize even NOW that you will ONE day HAVE to face that reality, the FACT of your imminent death - it might not be today (although it COULD be; you never know…) - all you know for SURE is that the day WILL come, sooner or later, when you WILL stare death in the face for yourself. And when you face THAT reality - the inevitability, the finality of death - how can you NOT be AFRAID?! I spoke to a young man, in his 20s, here at this church, just last week, who shared his testimony with me - how the fear of death had ENSLAVED him for YEARS - since early high school, when he first came to GRIPS with his own mortality - “I WILL die… and THEN what? It TERRIFIED him. He told me he would go MONTHS at a time, barely able to leave his HOUSE. Another girl, here in our youth group - well, she USED to be; Thad told me ever since Covid… and then this war in UKRAINE broke out; apparently she has an emotional BREAK DOWN every time a helicopter flies overhead; she can barely leave the house anymore, so much anxiety - the FEAR of DEATH!
And friends, I’M here to tell you: if you don’t know what’s waiting for you, on the other SIDE of death, then that kind of response is COMPLETELY natural and normal - everyone ELSE out there are the CRAZY ones, living in utter DENIAL, sitting on a BUS that’s headed straight for a CLIFF, and they’re just smiling and enjoying the ride.
Friends: the ONLY way you get FREED, get “delivered” from the very rational fear of death, is by knowing the One who NOW holds the keys, because he STOLE them from the Devil. The One who declares, ““Fear NOT, for I am… and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and now I have the keys of Death and Hades” (Rev 1:17-18). The One who MOCKS Death: ““O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” …“Death is swallowed up in victory!”” (1 Cor 15:54-55)
And friends: the VICTORY belongs to JESUS! And everything changed on April the 3rd, 33 AD, because for the first time in HISTORY, the scoreboard read: “Death: 55 billion; Humanity: ONE!” And according to Hebrews 2:14, through HIS death and RESURRECTION, his OVERCOMING the grave, in VICTORY, Jesus has now DESTROYED the devil, DESTROYED the POWER of death, because death can no longer hold US in the grave either, if we belong to JESUS; He has DELIVERED us from the FEAR of death - we no longer have to FEAR it, because in those beautiful words of one of my favorite hymns we sing here: “the worst that can come / But shortens our journey and hastens us home”. That’s why the apostle Paul said, “For ME to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” It’s a win-win. The longer I LIVE, the more ministry for CHRIST I get to accomplish - what a JOY! But as soon as it’s OVER, I know I will IMMEDIATELY be INFINITELY happier still!
Because not only has Jesus delivered us from the enslavement of the DEVIL, and the power of DEATH, but He ALSO frees us from…
#3 - the weight of our DEBT (our SIN!). V17 says: “Jesus became a merciful and faithful high priest… to make propitiation for the sins of the people.” Propitiation is a very technical but important theological word, that means “appeasement of divine WRATH”. God is HOLY - not just sinless, but ontologically incompatible with sin. It’s not just that God DOESN’T sin; He CAN’T sin, and in his perfect HOLINESS, God can’t STAND sin. Moreover, God’s perfect JUSTICE compels Him to DEAL with sin. For God to SEE sin - ANY sin; not just the “BIG ONES”; not just OTHER PEOPLES’ sin… the sin you WANT Him to punish… ALL SIN… YOUR sin! - For God to SEE it, and simply turn a blind eye (“Eh, no big deal…”), that would completely undermine God’s JUSTICE, His Holiness, His entire divine CHARACTER. God rightfully and right-EOUSLY HATES sin; it makes Him MAD. God BURNS to see “wrongs” get “RIGHT-ed”; Jeremiah 4:4 “my wrath goes forth like fire… because of [your] evil deeds.””
So how does the fire get extinguished? Well, we could just stop SINNING. That’s ONE option. No evil deeds, no wrath… except it’s not just our DEEDS that are evil; Jesus said “out of the abundance of the HEART the mouth speaks,” and the hands act, and the brain thinks (Matt 12:34)… He said “When you HATE, you commit MURDER in your heart”, “When you LUST, you commit ADULTERY in your heart” - be honest: anyone here guilty of MURDER this past week? ADULTERY… this morning?! (We got some attractive folks here at West Hills - I am CONFIDENT there’s been some adultery going on RIGHT HERE!).
So how you liking option #1: “Just stop sinning”? How long do you think you’d make it, if you tried your very HARDEST, really set your MIND to it - “I’m just gonna CUT OUT THE SIN from my life”?
The holiest person in here: I give you… 15 minutes. ME: less than FIVE. 5 minutes is TOPS. 5’s probably the longest stretch I’ve EVER gone without ANY sin creeping in, and that’s generous; the truth is: there’s ALWAYS some sin still festering deep down in there, tainting things.
But friends, here’s the glorious truth of the gospel: Jesus has extinguished the fire, the RIGHTEOUS fire, of God’s WRATH against sin, by taking our place on the cross - dying the death WE deserved, because of OUR sin - Jesus “bore our sins in his body” on the cross and took the rightful PUNISHMENT that was owed US, to deliver us from our eternal spiritual DEBT, and offer us the eternal LIFE that only HE truly deserved. This is the divine exchange… the GOSPEL.
And believe it or not, the good news gets even better than that.
Not just the DEVIL…
Not just DEATH…
Not just our DEBT…
According to v18, our Great Savior EVEN delivers us #4 - from the dominance of our DESIRES, from temptations: “because [Jesus] himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.” What does that mean?
Anyone who’s been through a 12-step program gets it. How helpful do you think it would be, as an addict, to have a sponsor who had no prior personal experience for themselves? You make the call, **“Hey, I’m driving home from work, and I just passed a bar… passed the casino… passed the strip club… and I was feeling really tempted to pull in. So I pulled out my phone instead, and I called you.” You don’t want a sponsor whose reply is, “That sounds really hard”; No, you want someone who KNOWS, “That IS really hard! I’ve BEEN there, brother! But hang on - “hold fast”, as the author of Hebrews will say in ch3 - hang in there; cuz I’ve ALSO made it to the other SIDE of that temptation now, and victory is POSSIBLE. You CAN overcome this, and by God’s grace, and with a lot of HELP - v18 admits: we need HELP! - but WITH the help, you WILL overcome this.
Hebrews 4:15 says “we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as WE are, yet without sin.”
EVERY respect! There’s not a temptation we face, that Jesus DIDN’T.
Do you realize Jesus had CO-workers every bit as stupid and incompetent as you do? Have you READ the Gospels?! Go do a character study on the 12 disciples - you think YOUR employees are dim-witted and frustrating!? You better BELIEVE that Jesus was tempted to GO OFF on his co-workers from time to time - Jesus was tempted by ANGER… but without sin.
He was tempted by PRIDE. I bet there were times - this isn’t in the Bible, but we can imagine - someone comes up to Jesus and asks, “Rabbi, is it TRUE? What they’re SAYING about you? My sister in Bethsaida told me last week she saw you miraculously feed like 3,000 people!” If Jesus was truly tempted “in every respect as WE are”, that means he was at least TEMPTED to reply, “Actually… it was 5,000… and that was just the MEN… you know what, can I get your sister’s NUMBER; I’m just gonna real quick TEXT her and clear it up - we don’t want people thinking it was only 3,000…”
Jesus was tempted by PRIDE… but without sin.
He was tempted by LUST. I’m still waiting for the episode of “The Chosen” where Jesus accidentally walks in on Mary Magdalene in the bathtub. He was FULLY MAN. That means he was TEMPTED to linger and ogle. Heck, she used to be a prostitute, she was habituated to using her body to get men’s attention - she may have invited him right into the tub WITH her! “Tempted in EVERY way” - LUST - but without sin.
You say, “Well what about NEW temptations? Jesus wasn’t tempted by social media, TV, internet pornography…” - Yeah, but there’s nothing new under the sun. He faced all the same ROOT temptations - envy, idleness, lust.
You say, “But can he REALLY sympathize? Does he REALLY understand, if he never actually GAVE IN to those temptations?” Kent Hughes argues (87): “Christ knows the full force of temptation in a manner that we who have not withstood it [all the way] to the END cannot know… Which bridge has undergone the greatest stress: the one that collapses under its first load of traffic, or the one that bears the same traffic morning and evening, year after year?” Jesus knows the FULL weight of temptation, that you and I couldn’t even BEAR.
So what’s the UPSHOT of all this? Two things:
First, Jesus UNDERSTANDS. “He GETS us”. 1 Corinthians 10:13 says, “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common [universal] to man.” That means AS a man, Jesus EXPERIENCED it too, your temptation, yet without SIN. Lest we think that sinning is inevitable, just part of what it MEANS to be human - think again. “Consider JESUS”. It is possible to live a FULLY human life free of sin - actually, Jesus lived a MORE human life than us; sin makes us SUB-human, LESS than fully alive. Go back and read Genesis 1 & 2 again: sin wasn’t part of God’s original design for us.
So remember that, the next time you’re tempted and you cry out for HELP - that you’ve got a sponsor who GETS it; he’s BEEN there. Yet he didn’t give in.
But second: he’s not JUST a “sponsor”, a sympathetic ear, a good moral example, a cheerleader. According to the Bible, Jesus has now given us his very own SPIRIT, to live within us, and actually EMPOWER us for godly living. For overcoming temptation.
In our own strength, we absolutely CRUMBLE under the weight of anger, pride, lust, greed, envy, prejudice, gossip, discontentment. But when Hebrews 2:18 promises that Jesus offers us “help to those being tempted”, he’s not just a coach on the sidelines calling out plays - that’s helpful. A coach who’s BEEN to the Super Bowl and WON it, who knows what he’s talking about, is good. But what’s even BETTER? I’m coaching Ellery’s SOCCER team again this season. And it is equal parts exhilarating and FRUSTRATING for me, to run all over the field beside my players, yelling instructions at them: “KICK it!… harder than THAT!… No, kick it STRAIGHT!… not to the DEFENSE!” Sometimes I wish I had the ability to just press a button, and GIVE them not just my wisdom about soccer, but my SKILLS AT soccer…
Brothers and sisters: do we realize that’s exactly what Jesus has done for us, in giving us His Holy Spirit? The One he called “the HELPER” (Jn 14:26). That’s how Jesus is “able to help those who are being tempted”, because we now have the same POWER OVER temptation that once lived in HIM, now living in US. That is amazing!
Jesus delivers us from the enslavement of the DEVIL, the power of DEATH, the weight of our DEBT, and the dominance of our DESIRES. And how did he DO it all?
It was through his SACRIFICE. We hear “sacrifice” and we immediately think of the CROSS. And rightfully so. But we need to realize that wasn’t the ONLY thing Jesus sacrificed for us. I see at LEAST FIVE things he sacrificed here in just these 5 verses. I’ll be quick:
In his INCARNATION, Jesus sacrificed all the riches of HEAVEN, to come walk and sleep in the dust with us; v17 says, “he had to be made like his brothers in every respect” - experience the same hunger, the same chill on a cold night.
In his TEMPTATION, Jesus sacrificed all the PEACE of Heaven, to come endure provocation alongside us.
In his EXCRUCIATION, his anguish - v18 says, “Jesus SUFFERED” - he sacrificed the perfect JOY of Heaven, to endure PAIN alongside us.
In his EXPIRATION, his death - v14 says, it was only “through death” that Jesus was able to destroy the devil and deliver us from sin and death - he sacrificed His LIFE, to taste DEATH for us.
But most selfless and loving of all, in his PROPITIATION, Jesus sacrificed the perfect FAVOR of His Father, to drink the cup of God’s wrath for us instead.
Friends: Jesus did ALL that… for YOU. This is why he is our “greater Savior” - because he made the greatest SACRIFICE… for YOU.
And all you have to do - all you CAN do - to enjoy the DELIVERANCE that Jesus now offers you…
Freedom from the penalty of your SIN…
freedom from your bondage to sin and Satan…
Freedom from the fear of DEATH - you don’t HAVE to be an anxious atheist on your deathbed; don’t you wanna go like Tim Keller, whose last words to his son, weeping by his bedside, were: “There is no downside for me leaving, not in the slightest.” Don’t cry for ME, when I’M gone; I KNOW where I’m going!
But the only way to enjoy ALL of it, is by trusting in Jesus. His sacrifice for you. “God, I believe I am a sinner. But I believe you have delivered me from my sin and shame and slavery by offering your own Son, to die in my place on the cross. I am TURNING from my sin, and trusting in JESUS for my salvation.” Confess that with your mouth, believe it in your heart, and you will be SAVED.
Lastly now: #3 - We enjoy a greater CALLING because of Jesus’ greater FAITHFULNESS (3:1-6). Jesus saves us from AIMLESSNESS, from purposelessness - Jesus didn’t just save us FROM something; he saved us FOR something. For a greater CALLING. And what IS it?
We are God’s HOUSE, v6 says. Here’s his basic argument in ch3 now, vv1-6: BECAUSE Jesus died for us, to MAKE us God’s children - to ADOPT us - and bring us to glory, we are NOW his “holy brothers and sisters”, and AS such, we “share in a heavenly calling”, just like JESUS did… just like MOSES did. Remember, he’s writing to Jewish converts to Christianity, who were tempted to fall BACK into Judaism again. To worship the PROPHETS. To worship the ANGELS, who had delivered God’s OT LAW. To worship MOSES, who had RECEIVED the Law. But here’s his quick argument that Jesus is GREATER than Moses: remember back in Exodus, how the last 15 chapters were almost exclusively about the TABERNACLE - why was it so important? Because it was God’s HOUSE! What’s a “house”? It’s where you… [LIVE!]. The tabernacle was where God’s presence DWELT with His people, in the OT. And Moses was “faithful in God's house as a servant” (v5); “The word used to describe his servanthood - therapon - is… used only here in the NT. It denotes an honored servant who is far above a slave but is still a servant, somewhat like a squire to a great king” (Hughes, 96).
Moses was GREAT. An “honored servant” in the house. But Jesus BUILT the house. He built God’s OLD Testament house - do you remember who actually built all the parts of the tabernacle? It wasn’t MOSES; it was… [Oholiab and Bezalel… and all Israel!] But do you remember HOW they built it? Exodus 31 told us God FILLED them with… [HIS SPIRIT!]
JESUS really built the tabernacle - he just used Israel to accomplish it.
So too, today, Jesus is BUILDING God’s house - and what IS His house, TODAY? Where does God live TODAY? V6 tells us: “WE are His house!” The CHURCH! All the REDEEMED, washed by his BLOOD:
1 Pet 2:5 “you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house”
2 Cor 6:16 “we are the temple of the living God”
Eph 2: “you are… members of the household of God… being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.” (vv19-22)
So what’s our CALLING then? 2 things. 2 practical applications, exhortations, that he leaves us with here, in closing:
First, v1: “consider Jesus”. Who not only BUILT the house, but who is now LIVING there - living HERE! with US! WITHIN us. Don’t you want to be a house WORTHY of your occupant? God’s not trying to BUILD Himself a double-wide down in the trailer park. He deserves BETTER than that, doesn’t He? Let’s be a GOOD house.
And second, similarly, v6 now: let’s be a STURDY house. We’ve got to “hold fast our confidence and… our hope”, all the way to the end. Don’t be a house that gets blown over by the first little storm, a bridge that collapses under the first load of traffic. Stand STRONG. And the only way you do that, is by making sure you’re built on a firm foundation. The Rock. The chief cornerstone. The GREATER SAVIOR.
Let’s pray.