[Transcript represents full sermon's text]

       Hebrews chapter 2, starting in verse 1: “Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will” (ESV).

       Brought before our hearing today is the call to “pay much closer attention,” “to pay much closer attention.” A reminder, indeed, that all of us can use at one point or another, and surely, ought to make part of our continual practice. One may incorrectly suspect that the author is encouraging his readers and listeners to be sure they are practicing the Jewish Law—to make sure they keep it in practice. Actually, that’s not the core behind what he is saying. The call seems to be to take heart of those things from the past—teachings from the Old Testament, teachings from the Rabbis, and teachings from within their church. It has the feeling of when Jesus told his followers to pay attention to what the Scribes and Pharisees taught, but not to imitate their behaviors. Truly, with a variety of teachers there is always something we can learn. The approach might not be taken to imitate them directly, or even agree with their doctrine or whatever it is, still we can always learn something if we pay attention in observing what they are saying. Paying a more zoomed in attention allows us to take our own self-development, or spiritual development, more seriously. This is not said in the sense of being stoic or stern, but to make effort toward trying to become a better, more rounded person. Indeed, a lot of Christians already do that on a daily basis.

       The contrast is between paying closer attention versus what will happen if we don’t take that approach, and that consequence is stated with the phrase, “lest we drift away from it.” “[L]est we drift away from it.” Why would that be true? Why would it be true that we would drift way from what we have learned and practiced rather than just stay stable, in one place? It is because we all have, our born with, that inner sin-nature, that inner drive to want to regress in the other direction. In psychology and other self-development teachings it is often called the “ego.” All of us have that inner ego that is a problem. It’s like an uncivilized part of us, a part of inner-ness, like a wild-animal, that doesn’t want to heed to what has been learned. It wants to be animalistic in thoughts and behaviors. And one thing to note, quickly, is that we certainly cannot prevent certain animalistic thoughts from coming to our minds. It’s truly impossible due to this inner sin-nature. It is what we do with the thoughts, when they come, in that we don’t continue to ‘think on’ them. We either use a surrender method by letting them play out (what psychologists call cognitive flooding), or we distract ourselves so that we aren’t thinking about whatever it is. Unfortunately, we all recognize that if we didn’t do any kind of devotion on a daily basis, or any kind of study, we would be in bad shape in not too much time. We can liken ourselves to car or a machine that needs constant maintenance. It would be nice if we could learn things once, walk away, and practice them forever. But we know that’s not how we work.

       What does the author mean in stating that the Old Testament was “declared by angels”? How is that? Don’t we believe that the Holy Spirit guided men to write the Scriptures? Certainly. The author seems to be referring to the process by which God delivered the Law to Moses. In some way, of which the Scriptures don’t really explain, angels were used to read out or bring that message. Deuteronomy 33:2, in the blessing of Moses, says, ““The LORD came from Sinai and dawned from Seir upon us; he shone forth from Mount Paran; he came from the ten thousands of holy ones, with flaming fire at his right hand” (ESV). There, perhaps we get a glimpse into that. Or, we could reference Stephen’s sermon in Acts chapter 7, right before he was stoned to death, when we said, “the law as delivered by angels and [you] did not keep it” (53, ESV). Or, the Apostle Paul notes in Galatians 3:19, “the law… was put in place through angels by an intermediary” (ESV). Thus, it must have something to do with the fact that the Law was physically delivered to the Israelites versus the guiding of an author’s pen to write something.

       The writer speaks of persons in the Old Testament receiving “a just retribution” for their sins, and how this correlates with how salvation should be viewed in the new age. Not much analysis is needed to realize that in the Old Testament, with the giving of the Law, with the collective society of the Israelites, judgments were prescribed from offenses against the Law. A somewhat similar vibe, it is, to what we have today in the United States with punishments for violating the Law; however, the Israelites dealt with punishments for ‘moral’ offenses under their Law. We really don’t do that second part for certain things, such as sexual immorality for instance. Really, it’s the reverse, but that’s a whole other topic altogether. When God setup the Law with the Israelites through the angels, we could say in some sense that the Law was given because that’s somehow what the Israelites wanted. The desire was to be similar to their fellow pagan nations, interestingly enough. And, in the same way that we are aware that God later acquiesced in giving them a king, we might say that with some of the Law too there is an acquiescing. This would be especially true when it comes to the ‘punishments’ under the Law. In the same breath, we also know the Law does mirror ‘punishment,’ we might say, for those who are not in right relationship with God when they leave this world, when they die. If we are familiar with God’s provided salvation, and if we neglect that, in the same way Israelites were punished at times for sin, those who depart without dealing with the sin, those who neglect that opportunity of salvation from it, are going to be in trouble. One doesn’t have to become religious, but one does have to deal with their sin.

       Thus, during Old Testament times, God delivers his Law through the use of angels, that those who heard that Law passed it on, and finally that God additionally bore witness that he was behind it by signs, wonders, miracles, and giftings from the Holy Spirit. Those are the three areas by which God made known to people that he was behind his Law, and assuredly, in this day and age, God still uses these methods in various ways, especially within his own people, the church, as he did back then with his own people, the Israelites. That being said, we also know what the Apostle Paul stated, “For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom” (1 Corinthians 1:22, KJV). Therefore, we as Gentile believers generally don’t need the “signs” to believe, but we like the “wisdom,” the logic and well-spokeness of writings and speeches. Sometimes we may ask for a sign, but really, it seems best when we can believe without the use of signs, simply by trusting God with what he says to be true in his Word. Additionally, we need to remember what Jesus stated in reference to signs, when he said, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign” (Matthew 12:39, ESV; see also 16:4). Indeed, it’s best to try to avoid desiring to see a sign when we can, since requiring a sign for something is honestly a lesser level of consciousness on our part. We may instead do this or that because we have ‘peace’ about it. Sometimes we are getting ready to act on something, and we just don’t have peace in taking a step forward with whatever it is.

       Moving along. Verse 5: “For it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking. It has been testified somewhere, “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 subjection under his feet.” Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in 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” (ESV).

       Bottom line, and to start, God did not create the world for the angelic beings. They understood that; we understand that. Satan, however, took what was not rightfully his to take. If we follow the line of thinking that Satan fell with one third of the angels after the Creation of the world, between Genesis chapters 1 and 2, it may be that once he saw the beauty of the world, and how magnificent it was, that it was “very good,” that he decided to try to take it for himself. And when that didn’t work, he then devised the plan, certainly out of jealousy, to take it from Adam and Eve. He had to do that, after all, since God had given mankind the right to have rulership over the world. When Satan deceived Eve, and Eve deceived Adam, Satan ended up with that authority. That authority lasted until the cross, at which point Jesus was victorious over Satan, taking back what Satan had stolen. The writer of Hebrews quotes Psalm 8 and verse 4 in the text we just read. There, David is questioning what man’s possible importance could be in comparison with the creation. Yet, we know from Genesis chapter 1, and verse 28, that God subjected the world to man, and then he used Christ to take it back. So, Christ takes the control of it back for man, as a man, when he says, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matthew 28:18, ESV).

       Yet, at the same time we do not see it in order fluidly and free of sin. Psalm 8 shows a sneak peak into the fact that Christ is coming, when it says, “you have crowned him with glory and honor, putting everything in subjection under his feet.” Christ became a human, and by what he accomplished on the cross and through his resurrection from the dead, he now has total subjection of everything, as we just noted from the Matthew 28. Note how the author states that “he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him.” So if mankind is not in control, is Jesus in control? Does he have the whole world in his hands, as the famous children’s song goes? Actually, we would say that Jesus, as God, is in control in that he holds the Universe together, as we talked about at the beginning of Hebrews chapter 1. At the same time, sin, sinful humans, and Satan are still affecting the world—and thereby have a degree of control, or power, or say, by default. While none of those forces still have total control, they still have a negative affect. Since God doesn’t will or cause evil to occur, we note the other responsible beings—again sinful humans and Satan with the fallen angels. And, of course, the earth is still affected by the curse. Thus, bad things still happen on the earth. Yet, despite all this, Jesus is still in control in the sense that he hold the ultimate power over everything. It doesn’t mean he literally ‘controls’ everything as if we were puppets, and Satan was secretly his fellow co-worker. But he has ultimate control. He is infinitely resourceful to work good out of evil.

       Nevertheless, we can appreciate that Christ has won the authority back to himself by what he accomplished on the cross, and by rising from the dead. Yes, for a little while, Christ was made lower than angels and equal with us—being born into and walking the earth as a human being. Yet, by his obedience, by doing what God wanted, and passing on what Satan wanted, he now is “crowned with glory and honor.” Remember? Paul told the Philippians: “Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name” (2:9, ESV). And the writer of Hebrews states this was so that “he might taste death for everyone.” This, obviously, would go against the notion of a pre-selected group of people by God who are going to be saved. Christ did what he did so that anyone and everyone can come to know God, not just certain prescribed individuals.

       Verse 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. For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. 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 praise.” And again, “I will put my trust in him.” And again,
“Behold, I and the children God has given me.”(ESV).

       Comprehension is present, on an intellectual level, that Christ suffered and died for our sake. But what does that truly mean? What is the writer trying to convey when he says that Jesus was made “perfect through suffering?” Jesus was sinless—so it can’t be that. Jesus was obedient—so it doesn’t seem probable that further or more intense obedience would have really added anything to it. What did become manifest, what was made perfect, was that we, as humans, could now see the love that God has for us. God’s love was what was perfected—or shown to be what it really is for us. Jesus genuinely, authentically loved his fellow human beings, and this demonstration of love shows us how love truly works. Remember, Jesus told his disciples right before his crucifixion: “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13, ESV). A few of us may actually make that choice in this life. Yet, it in encapsulates the whole thing. All of us share a commonness in that both the Son, as well as ourselves, have the same Father. We were and are both obedient to one and the same Father. Jesus told the Father, in his High Priestly Prayer, “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word” and “All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them” and “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. (John 17:6, 10, 20-22, ESV). Therefore, Jesus as God shows his great love for us, and co-identifies with us.

       Verse 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, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham” (ESV).

       What was the point of the cross? Well, there were a couple things. Besides Jesus saving those who believe in him from their accumulated sins, he furthermore destroyed Satan’s rulership and power, gaining victory over him and triumphing over him. Jesus had said that was what he was going to do, recall, in Matthew 12 when we spoke of binding the strong man (see verse 29; also Mark 3:27). This was why Satan believed that killing Jesus on the cross would give himself ultimate victory. Jesus humbled himself, and Satan was lead astray into thinking he had captured the Christ, and that he was going to gain the ultimate victory. But then God turned the tables. By Christ dying on the cross, God instead gained ultimate victory, and won those who believe back to himself. Satan lost his dominion over the world. Really, he lost everything. It was the ultimate covert mission. It’s been stated in the past how Satan couldn’t understand why someone would die for others—he couldn’t understand the love behind it. His evilness had blinded him to that love. Satan was so immersed in evil that he couldn’t understand, and still doesn’t, understand love, and how love works. As humans, we have the image of God. That’s why we can understand love. Even the most depraved of us have some sense of goodness in us. Paul told the Corinthians, “For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it” (1 Corinthians 5:29, ESV). Even the most depraved of us can understand something of love.

       You see, that was the whole problem—that of death—and we went over this in our last study when we were going through John 11 and the resurrection of Lazarus. For all of mankind from the beginning, death has been the problem. Death is what no one ever, anywhere, has been able to solve. Even in our day, with all our technology and medical advances (which have been great in comparison with the past), no one has been able to solve the problem of death—to be able to find a way around it, an escape from it). Even dietitians, though they may give it a fanciful try, and though they may prolong our lives through better eating habits, haven’t solved it. No infomercial has the answer. The fear of death has enslaved mankind ever since Adam and Eve sinned. That’s why we have all the safeguards we have, from warning labels, to seat belts, to new public policies. We have been trying to work our way around death. And then, then, this Jewish fellow, this Israeli teacher shows up on the scene of human history, specifically and originally for the Jews, and he is able to overcome death. To a crowd it was demonstrated that he has the power over death. A man is raised from death back to life. No one has ever done this. Thus, he demonstrates that he has the answer that mankind has been looking for. Anyone who trusts in him can escape the consequences of sin—the reason why we die. And a certain group of people will in fact escape death altogether in an event the Apostle Paul talks about, which we refer to as the The Rapture. Indeed, the hallmark of the Christian should be that the person doesn’t fear death. The unbeliever does.

       Verse 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. For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted” (ESV).

       In the Old Testament, we recall the that Jewish high priest was the one who made the offering of atonement for the people’s sins—a temporary offering that covered people’s sins for a time period. It was necessary that the atonement, the sacrifice for sins, be made from a person in human flesh, from a person who was like us. The offering couldn’t be made by us because we are all tainted by sin. The writer of Hebrews is going to talk about this in chapter 9 as well. Thus, we would say that Christ offered himself as a sacrifice on God’s behalf for us, and moreover, that the sacrifice was offered for God (see Hebrews 9:14). It wasn’t that the sacrifice was made to meet every nook and cranny of the Jewish Law, as if often argued, or to satisfy an angry, wrathful God—to satisfy Jonathan Edward’s view of God). Anger is not something we, as humans, are supposed to have residing in our characters, and therefore cannot be a regular part of God’s character. The writer of Hebrews is going to note, in chapter 7, that the Law cannot make us perfect. So, even Jesus, following the entirety of it, wouldn’t be able to make us perfect. There’s more to it than that. For if the Law could give life, than Christ died for nothing. Again, God on the one hand acts as the One who brings us back to himself, and on the other hand, removes the hostility between us and himself by that former act. That is why—since Jesus was human flesh—that he understands the circumstances we go through, as humans, from the big ones to the small ones. He lived a life in the world like us and was successful, and now through his Spirit residing within us, can cause us to be successful.

- Daniel Litton