Better Than Religion - Part 2

of Grace. Already we've seen this brilliant author, this writer of Hebrews who is articulating the gospel and commenting like a brilliant trial lawyer building the case that Jesus is greater than Moses, and Jesus is greater than the angels, and Jesus is God, and therefore what Jesus has brought is greater than what the angels brought. And you know what I mean, I'm talking about Mount Sinai, I'm talking about the law. I'm talking about how the law was ordained by angels, and yet the new covenant is ordained by Jesus himself, our high priest. So what Jesus brings is greater, what angels bring is lesser, and so the new covenant is superior, and the old covenant by comparison is inferior, Hebrews even says this to us quite directly. And so today with that as our backdrop, chapter one is behind us, we dive into chapter two, and here we go. Starting in verse one of Hebrews two, it says, "For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard so that we do not drift away from it." Now this word drift away, this expression in the original language, it's kind of like a boat that's drifting on the sea, and how do boats end up a drift? Well somebody's on that boat, and what's up? They're not paying attention. They're not paying careful attention to the current in the sea, or they're not paying very good attention to the shoreline, and they've lost their focus. Maybe they're chatting away in the boat, and next thing you know, it's a drift. So this is not some sort of violent opposition to the gospel. No, he's saying be careful by just not being distracted. Don't be distracted, don't go adrift, make sure you have a laser focus on the shoreline, on Jesus, on the message I'm telling you about, pay good attention because it's worth it. You don't want to be adrift and hit a storm. So he starts with this incredible foundation. He's already laid it in chapter one, and he said because Jesus is important, because Jesus is greater than angels, because the gospel is greater than the law, let's be all

ears and all eyes, and be really careful to make sure we get it. Because the finished work of Jesus is worth it. Then he says, and here's his argument, if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty. He's saying, don't you remember? Don't you remember what happened? In the Old Testament, I mean, don't you remember what happened when they would disobey? It wasn't pretty. It'd be like him, the writer today, being transported into our era, into our time period. And he says, hey, imagine if every traffic violation out there were enforced. Oh my goodness, imagine the tickets, imagine how much money you'd owe, imagine how much trouble you'd get in if every traffic violation was enforced. Well under the Old Testament law, that's what it was like. Every infraction, every issue was addressed, every act of disobedience was punished. And so now here's his logic as we journey into the next verse. What he's going to say is that if it was a big deal to disobey the law with all of that punishment, then guess what? How much more serious is it to hear the gospel and reject it, to hear the new covenant and say no thanks? If you were paying attention Hebrews in the Old Testament times, if your forefathers were paying close attention to the message of God, then how much more should we all be paying That's what he's saying. And so we see this in verse three. How will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard. So are we really gonna neglect it? It's like you have a lifelong struggle, some kind of disease that you've struggled with your entire life. And then you finally come across a doctor who has the cure for your disease.

And he literally puts it in your hand, the very medicine that will cure you. Are you gonna look at that medicine, look at that medicine right in front of your face, laying right in your hand and then ignore it and say I'll pass? Don't neglect so great a salvation. Wow. So the author of Hebrews is using some brilliant argumentation. He's saying, look, it was first spoken through the Lord, and then it was confirmed to us, those of us who heard, and he's about to say, how was it confirmed? Well, we even saw it accompanied by miracles and signs and wonders and gifts and all these things, and yet you're gonna ignore the greatest message on the planet. Now, again, don't miss the elephant in the room, folks. Remember Hebrews, it's that book that everybody's scared of, you know? First of all, it's one of the least studied books. Second of all, it's one of the most feared books. So people ignore, you know, and then finally when they do dive in, they get freaked out by chapter six and chapter 10, the warnings in Hebrews. Well, we've already seen in Hebrews one and two, who are those warnings for? They're not to scare Christians. They are about people who are neglecting the gospel, neglecting salvation, just like if they rejected the law, now they could reject grace and reject so great a salvation. Those are unbelievers. This is not about scaring Christians into submission. This is about scaring Hebrews into sensibility, saying, "The gospel has arrived, Messiah has come, are you kidding me? You're really gonna take a pass? Don't, don't pass on this gospel. It is too great a salvation." Verse four, he talks about those signs. God also testifying with them both by signs and wonders and by various miracles

and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will. So this message didn't just come as a tiny little whisper in the corner. It's true, God won't make a flashy, showy event of everything. It's true sometimes, I mean, think about Jesus. He didn't want credit for the miracles. He would do them and run off sometimes. His time had not yet come. He was humble. He was used by the Father in a brilliant way because He was always submissive, always dependent, always trusting Daddy Father, not to be a show-off but to do everything at the proper time. Now, this was the proper time, the proper time for signs and wonders and miracles and gifts, gifts according to God's will, meaning God's timing, God's plan. This was it, so the gospel came to Jerusalem powerfully. It wasn't some suggestion by some wimpy looking situation over there with some riffraff. No, these were, I mean, sick people were becoming well, dead people becoming alive, people who couldn't hear, suddenly could hear, people who couldn't see, now had sight. There were wonders and miracles and signs and it was attached to this message, this new covenant message. That's what he's saying. Are we really going to turn a deaf ear after everything we've witnessed? Come on. Verse 5, "For he did not subject to angels the world to come concerning which we are speaking." What does he mean? Well, I mean, angels don't inherit the world to come. Who does? Christ. Remember we talked about this in chapter 1, angels in comparison to Jesus. Angels are nothing in comparison to the Messiah. Jesus is God. He's a Son. He's heir of all things. He's the exact representation of God. And angels are nothing more than created beings, and they were created by Jesus himself. Jesus is creator of all, the author tells us. And so, do you think that the angels are going to inherit the world to come? Ah, that's Jesus. And by the way, not just Jesus, who else? Who else is going to inherit the world to come? Yeah, go ahead and say it. You, me, us, because we are co-heirs with Christ. And if you don't think we should go there in this passage, well, let me tell you, the author

goes there because he doesn't just talk about Jesus. He's going to talk about you and me in a moment. And he's going to say that we were made for a little while lower than the angels. Yes, Jesus was, and he says that, but he also talks about us, the church. We were made lower than the angels for a little while, but we are going to inherit the world to come. We are co-heirs with Jesus. Don't you worry about that final judgment. If you're in Christ, you're in air, and you're a co-judge with Jesus. You're going to judge the world, you're going to judge the angels, and you're going to inherit everything Jesus inherits. A co-air, that's what it means. But one has testified somewhere, verse six, saying, "What is man that you remember him or the son of man that you are concerned about him?" This verse is saying, "Why do you even bother, Lord?" Seriously, why do you bother with us? You're an amazing God. You created the universe. You put everything in motion. Look at us. All we did was rebel. This quote comes from Psalm chapter nine. Yes, verse six in Hebrews, chapter two, comes from the ninth psalm, and it's basically David is asking, "Why do you even mess with us, God?" Look at how we went rogue. We betrayed you. We went behind your back. We drew a circle around ourselves and said, "We are lords of this ring. Get out, God. Why do you mess with us?" Now, in a bigger context, we could ask, "Yeah, why, Lord? Why'd you send Jesus? Why'd you send Jesus, Father? Why'd you mess with us?" And this is the healthy question that Hebrews 2 is asking. It's like a leader, an emperor of a big empire, and he's walking down the street. Maybe he's in his chariot, rather, and he's got a whole group of people with him, the militaries with him, the bodyguards are with him, the servants are with him, everyone in this parade. And he opens the door to his chariot, and he gets out, and he sees a little kid sitting on the street corner, and he goes up to that kid, and he says, "What's your name?" And from that point on, you're just scratching your head. Whoa, what is happening? I mean, the emperor of this entire kingdom is now concerned about that little kid and wants to know his name. Why bother? See, that's the question the psalmist was asking thousands of years ago, God, why bother with us? And that's what Hebrews is quoting. Why bother with this whole new covenant, the bloodshed, the pain, the suffering? I mean, obviously the intuitive answer is because he So He's restoring you to His original design and His original desire to be with you forever. Wow. All right, verse 7, it says, "You have made Him for a little while lower than the angels. You have crowned Him with glory and honor and have appointed Him over the works of your hands." Now, that's talking about Jesus, but it's also talking about us because He just finished asking

that question about us. Why do you bother with us, God? And then He's talking about the Son of Man and all the sons of men, that is humanity. We were made lower than the angels and then look at what you do with us. If you're not following this verse, watch this because it reminds me of the writings of the Apostle Paul. What does God do for us through the gospel? We hear it, we believe it, and then we are crowned with glory, crucified, buried, raised, seated at God's right hand, crowned with glory, best seat in the house, appointed, and crowned with honor and glory that we never deserved and yet we've received. So, why did you go to so much trouble? Why did you take us out of the mud and take us to a coronation, our own coronation, the crowning of Jesus through the resurrection, but He's the forerunner and we follow Him out of the tomb and we are crowned as children of God, coheirs with Jesus, seated at God's right hand, as close as you can possibly get. Verse 8, "You have put all things in subjection under His feet, for in subjecting all things to Him, He left nothing that is not subject to Him, but now we do not yet see all things subjected to Him." We don't see it yet. I don't see it, do you? I mean, when you look around the planet, what do you see? You see war in the Middle East, you see violence, you see hate, you see murder, you see cheating and lying, you see a fallen world, you see all kinds of things, you don't see Jesus in everything, you don't see Him victorious everywhere, at least it certainly doesn't look like it, but what He's saying here is it's like we're getting a preview of coming attractions, it's like we're watching a ballgame and we get to read the final score before the fourth quarter ever ends and Jesus wins and we don't see it yet, but He's already won. Wow. Everything in subjection, the things we don't understand, the things we do understand, illness and suffering and questions that have no answers at present, things that perplex us as we say our own version of that famous question, why God, why? Why is this happening? Why do bad things happen to good believers, to good trees that can bear good fruit, they could be doing so much more ministry and have such a great effect and be so much more productive and yet they're weak and debilitated and sick and some of them dying, why Lord, why do bad things happen to the church? Why do bad things happen to me Lord? You've asked that and we don't see everything, we can't, we don't understand it, but this verse is saying here look at the score, look at the final score, Jesus wins and through Him you win, you're going to win, but right now you just, you don't have the whole picture. But we do see Him, verse 9, who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely Jesus, because of the suffering of death, crowned with glory

He might taste death for everyone. People say, oh, Jesus died for victory over sin and death, but don't say He was our substitute. Yes, go ahead and say He was your substitute. That's good theology. Jesus died for many reasons. He died to fulfill the law. He died to take away your sins. He died to achieve victory over sin. He died so that your old self would die with Him. He died as your substitute, which we read here. He tasted death for you. When people tell you Jesus died for this reason, but not this reason and this reason, but not this reason, be leery, be careful. Jesus died for a dozen reasons. And here we just get one of them. He died in your place. He tasted death for you so that you wouldn't have to taste death at all. We believers, we don't die. We fall asleep. Jesus said that. We're children of the resurrection. We never die. So what else do we see here? He's saying, remember the previous verse, we don't understand it all. It doesn't make sense. You're suffering.

You're troubled that you're enduring right now. It doesn't make sense. We don't see Jesus as victorious in everything at this present moment. It doesn't look that way. Yes, you've told us in verse seven, you've told us the final score and Jesus wins, but right now, what do we see? And He follows that up with, we do see. We do see Jesus. You know, it reminds me of being in a war, being in a battle. I think about some of my favorite movies related to wars that took place in this country. You know, the war for independence, for example. And sometimes the battlefield is really smoky. You know, a particular battle, you're in the midst of it. You got a thousand people on your left, a thousand people on your right. There's so many different people in different uniforms, some with no uniforms, some just townspeople, some soldiers, there's smoke everywhere. And believe me, there's confusion. And what are those soldiers looking for? Well, maybe you've seen a movie where they get it. They're looking across the landscape of that battlefield and they're looking for a flag. They're looking for their flag to be raised at the top of that hill, because when their flag is raised at that hilltop,

what does it mean? It means we've taken the hill, we've won the battle. And this is what the author of Hebrews is telling us, right here, he's saying we see Jesus, we see his cross, we see his resurrection, we see his finished work. We don't understand everything. There's more to come. The enemies are made his footstool, his ottoman to prop his feet up on, but it doesn't look that way right now, but we do see him, the flag has been raised, the flag at the hilltop. And so we put our hope in him and we fix our eyes on that cross. Verse 10, "For it was fitting for him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, and bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings." Wow, fitting for him. Why would it be fitting for him? Well, he had to suffer, he was going against the grain, righteousness versus sin, light versus darkness, an innocent life, a godly life, God himself assassinated. They hated him because of their own job security, the Pharisees. Why were they so mad at him? Job security, if this guy doesn't shut up,

we're gonna lose our jobs. Same with the apostles, they suffered. But Jesus is the forerunner. He's the first among many brethren to suffer. Think of him as a trailblazer, perhaps a family going through the jungle, and dad is out front. And he's got the machete, and he's just blazing a trail, and the family's right behind him. Jesus is a trailblazer. Jesus is the forerunner, the high priest, the one who enters the holy of holies before the rest, and we follow him in. Because of the trailblazer who suffered before us and suffered for us. Verse 11, "For both he who sanctifies," and notice this language, are you sanctified? He who sanctifies, and those who are sanctified are all from one Father, for which reason he is not ashamed to call them brethren. Oh man, this is one of my favorites in the chapter, because what we see here is not a God who's going to keep his distance, not a Messiah who's got a superiority complex. Now he's reaching out. He's inviting you in. He's saying, "I'm not ashamed of you." In fact, you know, I really like you. I want you in. Your family. We're together. Now maybe you've met people in your life where, oh, I mean, when the lights are on and the public is watching, they act like your best buddy. But then behind closed doors, they don't give you the time of day, and they ignore you. God's not like that. Jesus is not that. What we see here is the opposite. He's for you. Nothing separates you from him. And not only does he say, "I accept you as if I tolerate you or something." No. He says, "You're in the family. You got the DNA. You're in the kingdom. You're seated at my right hand. You're invited to the table to feast on the goodness of God. You're my brother. You're my sister." That's what we see here.

A welcoming with open arms. Wow. Saying, verse 12, "I will proclaim your name to my brethren. In the midst of the congregation, I will sing your praise." Now, you may not realize this, but that's about Jesus bragging on the Father. "I will proclaim your name, God. I will proclaim your name, Father. In the midst of the congregation, I will sing your praise." So Jesus is not ashamed of you, and Jesus is not ashamed of the Father, and this goes back to the deity of Christ. Look how big of a deal this message of Jesus is. He's God, and he represents you, and he represents the Father, and he's not ashamed to include you, to invite you, to accept you, to love you all the days of your life. And again, I will put my trust in him, and again, behold, I and the children whom God has given me. I love this. This is a bunch of Isaiah quotes. If you're wondering about the again and this verse, it's a combo of quotes from the book of Isaiah, but the big takeaway is very simple. "Behold me," Jesus says. "Behold I and the children," that's you, that's you, "the children whom God has given me." This reminds me of when we read the Gospels, and Jesus is in the middle of one of his famous prayers, not what we call the Lord's Prayer, not Matthew chapter 6, but when Jesus is praying that prayer in the middle of John, he says, "Those whom you have given me, Father, that they may be with me where I am." And that's the same prayer where he says, "The glory that you have given to me, Father, I have given to them that they may be one just as we are one, Father, I am them and them in us." I love it. Look at that secure, safe talk, that place of acceptance and love where you know you're okay, no matter what. And so, behold, I and the children, Father, the children that you have given me, my My brothers and my sisters, I'm not ashamed of them, I'm proud. flesh and blood he himself likewise also partook of the same that through death he might render powerless him who had the power of death that is the devil what's his first saying Jesus did what he did to free you so you wouldn't be scared to death of death you don't need to be scared of death people are freaked out about public speaking and death those are the two greatest fears at least last time they surveyed public speaking and death some people would would rather be in the coffin than give the eulogy but seriously though death that's pretty

scary and the fear of death even though it's in the future 10 seconds away 10 years away it robs us of the present I can't enjoy the present what this verse verse 14 is saying is it's like a warrior that sneaks in behind enemy territory in order to take down the tyrant on his own turf and so Jesus becomes one of us he takes on flesh and blood he partook of the same that we have to sneak into the enemy territory a fallen world and take down the enemy so that we would never have to be scared to die again verse 15 and that he might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives there you have it are you scared to die I'm kind of looking forward to it I don't look forward to the pain of dying you'd be crazy to want pain but I do look forward to seeing him face to face do you do you know how confident you can be there's no fear in love God's perfect love casts out fear all right a couple more verses to finish here for assuredly he does not give help to angels but he gives help to the descendant of Abraham again a comparison of angels and Jesus and then in verse 17 therefore he had to be made like his brethren in all things so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God to make propitiation for the sins of the people if you're interviewing doctors you know for that medicine we spoke about that miracle cure for the disease you got if you're interviewing doctors you want to make sure they know what a body is you want to make sure they know what medicine is you want to make sure they got a good education Jesus was educated in suffering so that he might suffer for us so that he might relate to us when we suffer Jesus got a real education in temptation so that when we're tempted we have someone that comes to our aid and he knows what he's talking about he knows what it's like to be dead to sin and alive to God he knows what it's like to be tempted to go a different direction and then to trust daddy father we have a doctor who has the education a comforter a counselor who's been there now the final verse of this chapter for since he himself was tempted and that which he has suffered he is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted folks we don't have some coach that screaming from the sidelines and has never played the game we have a

comforter a counselor a guide who's played the game who was injured in the game and kept on playing we have someone who knows what it means to play and suffer and trust and depend and to be victimized and assassinated and yet to be victorious he's the one that dwells within us and greater is he who is in us than he who is in the world what a powerful book this Let's give thanks. Father, thank you for this awesome letter, this epistle that warns unbelieving Hebrews. Watch out. Don't miss this great salvation. And then to us who are in Christ, to let us know that we're safe, that Jesus is our satisfying sacrifice, that we are forgiven once for all, that we have a counselor who gets us, who understands us, that He's not ashamed of us, that we're invited to be part of the family, and He lets us sit it at your table. Wow. Thank you, Father, for these powerful truths. Remind us of them in the moments we need the most. In Jesus' name, amen. Thank you. in Jesus' name. a.m. You You