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Hebrews 2: 1-9
We invite you to join us for worship each Sunday morning at 9:30. You can also download our service at Baptist-Christian at iTunes. Last week we learned Jesus had to be fully human to represent us before God, to be a Substitute sacrifice, and to be a Mediator for us to God. Today we are going to consider four more reasons Jesus had to be fully human.
- TO FULFILL MAN’S ORIGINAL PURPOSE. Read Gen. 1:26 and you will see God intended Man to be His representative on earth. Our sin caused us to fail in that endeavor. Heb. 2:5-8 which quotes David in Ps. 8:4-6. The point is we don’t see all of creation subject to Man yet. Because Jesus lived a perfectly sinless life, He had/has all authority of creation, not only because He created it in the first place, but because as a man He obeyed God perfectly. We must learn to see ourselves as God’s stewards of earth, and earth as one of God’s gifts to us. Jesus had to be human
- TO BE OUR PATTERN AND EXAMPLE IN LIFE. Read 1 John 2:6 then 3:1-3. We learn that anyone claiming to be redeemed must walk as Christ walked. One sure way to know what is really in a person’s heart is to watch how they follow Christ’s example in their daily living. If a person claims to be a Christian, the proof of that claim is found in daily living activities of the person’s life. Eph. 4-6 details how a Christian’s life must look. Jesus had to be human
- TO BE THE PATTERN FOR OUR REDEEMED BODIES. Read 1 Cor. 15:42-44. There are four truths given in this passage concerning a Christian’s body. First, our new bodies will be imperishable. No one will dispute that as we age our bodies deteriorate. One day God’s going to stop that with an eternal body that won’t get old or decay. Second, our bodies will one day be raised in glory. The word glory is used to picture the Shekinah glory of God that people saw when He “filled the temple with His presence.” It declares honor, riches, position, and power. In the NT is denotes the majesty of God that causes men to revere Him. We read in Heb. 12:1 Christ was an exact representation of God’s glory. Third, our bodies are raised in power. That power won’t be physical or tyrannical power, it will be Christ’s power that will direct our bodies to live as Christ lived. It is through our bodies we show to others the great redeeming/reconciling power of God in salvation. Fourth, our bodies will be raised spiritual. Though we will have physical bodies, they will be totally controlled by the Holy Spirit’s direction in our hearts. We will live as Christ lived, doing all that pleases God because of our obedience to Him. The fun part of that will be we will want and enjoy living a life that pleases God. Imagine that!
- Christ had to be human TO SYMPATHIZE AS A HIGH PRIEST! Read Heb. 2:14-18 and 4:14-16. Though Christ had no sin nature, when He was tempted, He felt, not only the temptation to put self first, but He also felt the awful, horrifying, repulsive devastation that God feels because sin cuts His heart to the quick. The very thought that Satan would even try to make Jesus sin was so repulsive to Jesus that He immediately drove Satan away with Scripture. Sin was just totally impossible for Christ because He understood the full effect it has on us and on God!! Because He was tempted in all ways we are, yet He was without sin, we can also overcome all sin because of our salvation. If we can help you answer your spiritual questions, call us at (574) 643-9419.
