What If God Was One of Us?

Dear Heavenly Father, thank You so much that You love us, that You care for us; that You sent Jesus to do something for us, that we could not do for ourselves. Thank You that there's a new arrangement, a new agreement that we live in, that we live by, it's called the New Covenant. Help us to truly discover all that we have in this New Covenant, and to experience it to the full. We pray as we go into Your word today, that You would open up our hearts and minds, and by your spirit, take the things of the Lord Jesus Christ and make them real in our hearts. We thank You for this and we praise You for it, in Christ name, Amen. Red Flag Green Lights. Last week we set up the book of Hebrews, and we had a proposition. The writer of Hebrews wrote this particular letter for one reason, and one reason, only. That was to show that the New Covenant is superior to, and takes the place of, the Old Covenant. That's the proposition. That's what the writer of Hebrews is wanting to prove to his readers. That's the point he is making. He is utilizing all sorts of things from Jewish history to help make that point. So what is the book of Hebrews about? The superiority of the New Covenant, and the fact that it takes the place of the Old. Pretty simple, isn't it? Very simple, and I think if we have that as the premis, as the base line for this particular book, when we read it, things just make sense. So, last week, we looked at the very first warning, and it was basically this: To pay close attention; careful attention to what you have heard. The Lord Jesus came on the scene, and He announced salvation to you. So pay attention to that. Pay special, close attention to what you heard. Now, you had heard a message that came to you from Moses, and that message was binding, and any disobedience brought punishment, how much more regarding this announcement of salvation, will those who disregard it, be punished? That was the warning. He used several different things to help prove that particular point. He talked about the prophets. Why should we pay more attention to Jesus? Because Jesus is superior to the prophets, and we listed out 7 different things as far as His superiority is concerned: He's God's Son, He is the heir of all things, He's the Creator of the universe; He's the radiance of God's glory, the exact representation of Who He is. He sustains all things, and He provided purification for sins. Notice that there are 7 points. Seven in the Jewish mind was the number of completion. It represents the number of God. So there were 7 points the writer of Hebrews which would have known this, made about Jesus concerning His superiority to the prophets. Then he took a look at angels. Angels were very important to the minds of the Jewish people. We had a slide that showed the fact that Moses was called out, of the people of Israel, to lead them; to be God's leader, to take them out of Egypt and carry them to the Promised Land. So Moses was chosen out of that group of people. Moses alone had access to God. We see that first at Mount Sinai, when he went on top of the mountain, and God met with him and provided the Law, gave the Mosaic Covenant. But within that process, within that interaction, it was known to the Jewish people that there were angels that were sent to the top of that mountain to help mediate this covenant; this Old Covenant. Paul referenced that in the book of Galatians, that The Law was mediated by angels. Stephen, right before he was to be ***, gave this story of the history of Israel. Part of that history was the fact of angels being significant in bringing the words of God to the people. So, they had this high idea about angels. So, they placed importance upon the angelic community. Well, we should pay more attention to what Jesus said, because not only is He superior to the prophets, He's superior to the angels. He has a better name. Jesus has the better name. He's called the Son of God. He is worshipped by angels. So when Jesus walks into the presence of angels, what do they do? They bow down and worship Him. We see that at the birth at Jesus' birth. This host of angels appear singing "Glory to God in the Highest" Why? Because Jesus had been born. The Savior of the world. So angels worship Jesus. Jesus created the angels. That's why they worship Him. He created them. He has an eternal throne. He is unchangable. He is seated at God's right hand. The position of prominence and power and prestige. Jesus sits there. Jesus announced this salvation that has come to us. Again, the writer of Hebrews makes 7 points about Jesus and His superiority to angels. Why? Because in Jesus, the work of God is now complete. In Jesus, the goal of God for mankind has been reached. It's a complete story, now. All that we read in the Old Testament was an unfolding story with still more to come. It's like a television series, this particular year, this past year, we got hooked on "The Firm". Anybody see the television show, The Firm? Based on the novel by John Grissham? Well, every week, it left you hanging. There was still more to come. You watched it next week, and you're hanging again, and there's still more to come. That's the way the Old Testament was. There was still more to come. There were these little snippets of information, that were being released to man by God, through the prophets and through angels and at various times and at various ways. But the story wasn't complete. Now, in Jesus, we've made it to the final chapter. Why? Because Jesus is God's final word to man. So pay close attention to what Jesus has said. Now, we have the next proposition, and we're going to look at that in just a moment. Several years ago, there was a song, and it had this particular line in it, "What if God was one of us?" It was one of the top 40 popular songs. The kids sang it. Most adults would only know it if they heard their child maybe sing a line out of it. We didn't rush out and buy that particular song, that's was the kid's song. But it had this line: "What if God was one of us?" Well, God isn't one of us, but the story is, that God became one of us. In that act, brought the story of God's work to redeem mankind to it's completion. That's what this message is all about, this particular morning. The fact that Jesus became one of us. So, here's the red flag that the writer of Hebrews plants in chapter 3. We're going to take a look at this particular red flag, and then we're going to go back to chapter 2, and fill in the back story. Why does He give us this particular warning? So he says here in Hebrews chapter 3, verse 12, "See to it brothers, "that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God" That was the issue at stake with his particular audience. They were in a dilemma. They were at a crossroads in life. They were trying to figure out which way to go. So the writer of Hebrews is writing this letter to urge them to keep moving forward with Jesus. Don't turn back and go to your old way of life. Why? Because that old way of life ends in death. This new way with Jesus ends in life everlasting. So I urge you to keep going forward with Jesus. You've heard what's been said. You've received the announcement of salvation that Jesus brought to you. Move forward with what He has told you. Believe that He is truly the Messiah, the Annointed One. Believe that He has saved you from your sins. Believe that He has established a place for you in the very presence of God. So move forward with Jesus. So, here he says, "See to it brother that none of you have a sinful "unbelieving heart." Sinful. The word in Greek is "poneros" Poneros. It means evil in a moral or spiritual sense. Wicked; malicious. It's not just a sinful heart out of ignorance because you don't know something. It has this idea of moral wickedness, bound up in the meaning. It's an evil which corrupts others. It's like a malignancy. find cancer in the body, malignant tumor; whatever it might be. There's an opportunity for that to spread, and to start impacting other areas of the body. That's when it's at its worst. So, this particular word, this sinful word, it's an evil that corrupts others. So, what was happening with the Hebrews was this: we read about persecution throughout the New Testament. But here, the message of Jesus, entered into the picture. Jesus came unto His own, but His own received Him not. But to those who did receive Him, God gave the right to become children of God. So He came to His own, came to His own people. I mean, He was born in Bethlehem, He was raised in Nazareth, His ministry took place around the shores of the sea of Galilee. He marched down to Jerusalem on numerous occasions. He rubbed shoulders with His people. He rubbed shoulders with the religious leaders. He met and healed just the common folk. That's who this Jesus was. As He kind of journeyed through Israel, He announced truth about the Kingdom of God. He announced truth about Himself; He announced truth about what was up ahead in the coming world. Jesus announced all of that, and the first people who believed...I mean when Peter stood up at Pentecost, and he talked to the people of Israel about Jesus; this man whom you've crucified, whom God raised from the dead. Talked about Jesus, and at the end of His sermon, about 3,000 people responded, and were added to the church. They were all Jewish. They were all Jewish. So, a number of Jewish people started following Jesus, and they became voices in that particular country; pointing others to Jesus Christ. Well, the leadership took umbrage with that. They said, "no, no, no, no, no, no," "we cannot let this Jesus continue. We cannot let talk about this Jesus continue. "We've gotta shut it down. We've gotta silence that voice," and so to do so, persecution started happening. The louder the voice for Jesus became, the more intense the persecution became. That's why these Hebrews were in such a dilemma. "What do I do? If I go forward with Jesus, I'm going to suffer at the hands of of my brothers. They're going to persecute me; they're going to ostracize me. They're going to "make it hard for me to just live in Israel." So there were these people that had this maliciousness about them; who were trying to keep folks from following Jesus. There was this evilness, this wickedness, this corrupt nature in what they were doing. We still see that happening in the world today. Talk to a Jewish person who hears the gospel message. Heart response; they know it's going to be difficult if they move forward. They know that their families are going to reject them. They know that they can't go back home ever again, for the most part. Same would be true of a Muslim. Somebody that grows up in a Muslim country and a Muslim family, and they hear the good news about Jesus. Guess what's going to happen if they move forward with Jesus? Persecution. It's just the way it is. Just the way it is. That's a dilemma. What do I do? What do I do? The warning is: Don't get caught up in that evil which corrupts. Don't be led astray by what those who stand against and opposed to Jesus are trying to say to you. Don't turn back. There are a lot of folks that listen and they just stood at a distance. This Jesus thing over here, and they're just standing at a distance. That's what he says, "See to it that "none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God." Connotation of that phrase, "turns away" isn't that you turn and go the opposite direction, it's standing aloof, or standing away from God. There's this persecution looming I hear this good news about Jesus, and I'm attracted to it, but I dare not take a step in that direction because there's other things over here. So I just stand at a distance from the gospel. That's what they were doing. The encouragement is, don't stand at a distance, go close! Let the gospel of Jesus engulf you. Let the gospel of Jesus take root in your life. Let what Jesus has done for you, become you very way of life from this point forward. Don't stand at a distance. Move to the person and work of Jesus. Now, that's where so many people are today in the world, aren't they? In America, statistics say that 87, close to 87% of Americans claim to be Christians. That's a lot, isn't it? If that's the case, why are we dealing with the issues that we're dealing with today, on the political landscape? Why are we arguing about abortion? Why are we arguing about marriage and what it is? If 87% of us are Christians, we already know what it is. We already know what the bible has to say. So what does the fact that those issues are front and center saying to us about the 87% who claim to be Christians. That the vast majority are probably standing at a distance from Jesus. They've heard the gospel, they've grown up in a church, they may have even sung in a choir; worn the nice little Cherub robes. When I was in high school, our church took the high school choir on a choir tour. We went places and we'd wear our robes and sing in churches. Some of the folks in the choir really had an understanding about Jesus. The vast majority of us didn't. We were in church, but we were standing at a distance from the real thing. Some of us later in life, moved forward with Jesus. Others, retracted back. That's just the way it is. Of course, we had to wear those little robes, and we had another uniform just thinking back on those uniforms, I can see why anybody would walk away from Christianity (chuckles) Those were the ugliest things I ever put on my body. That's what this is saying: Don't stand at an arm's distance from Jesus. If you're going to experience what He's bringing to you, you have to jump in, both feet. We're afraid of the ocean, a lot of us are. So we'll stand on the shores and we'll look at it, but we'll never get in and experience what the ocean really is. That's the way it is with Jesus. So don't stand away from this gospel message. Go forward. Now he's going to give the reasons why. So, if you have your bibles, turn to chapter 2 of the book of Hebrews, and I'm just going to read for us, Hebrews 2, verses 5 through the end of the chapter. "It is not to angels that He has subjected the world to come, about which we are speaking, "but there's a place where someone has testified, 'what is mankind that you are mindful of him?' "the Son of man that you cared for them? You made them a little lower than the angels, "crowned them with glory and honor, and put everything under their feet. In putting everything under them, "God left nothing that is not subject to them. yet at present we do not "see everything subject to them. But we do see Jesus, Who was made lower than "the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honor, because He suffered death, so that by the grace "of God, He might taste death for everyone, and in bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that "God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect "through what He suffered; both one Who makes people holy, and the those who are made holy, "are of the same family So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters, and he says, "I will declare your name to my brothers and sisters in the assembly I will sing Your praises. "And again, I will put my trust in Him. And again, He says, Here I am, "and the children that God has given me. The children have flesh and blood "He too, shared in their humanity, so that by His death, He might break the power "of him who holds the power of death, that is the devil, and free those who all their lives were "held in slavery by their fear of death. For surely it was not angels He "helps, but Abraham's descendants. For this reason, He had to be made like "them--fully human in every way, in order that He might become a merciful and faithful "high priest in the service to God, and that He might make atonement, or reconciliation "propitiation for the sins of the people. Because He himself suffered when He was "tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted." So God has a plan for us. We were the image bearers, God created man in his image. He created them both male and female. No other created being can make that claim. No other created did God say that about. We are the ones who are to bear the image of God. We are the ones that are bring the light of God into this world. That was our job, that was our purpose, that was our mission. Sin came into the picture, and changed everything. But sin, isn't an obstacle too big for God. So He always had in mind that Jesus would be the Lamb of God Who would take away the sin of the world. That was always God's plan: Jesus. That plan was to take place in a way that we could have never imagined. God was going to become one of us. He was going to show us again, our rightful place as human beings. That's what this passage is all about. So we're going to look at what God says about man, then we're going to look at what God says about Jesus, the man. How Jesus brings us back to our original purpose. So what do we learn about us in this particular passage? It's a great question that is asked, who are we that God is mindful of us? I mean, really? Have you ever thought about that? I mean, have you ever thought about why God would even pay any attention to you as a human being? I mean, we're insignificant, as far as God is concerned. We're weak, we're frail, we're flawed, we're sinful. We come into this world anti-God, unbelievers. We live to gratify the desires of the flesh. Yet, we hold a place in God's mind. We're right there. God does pay attention to us. Blows your mind, doesn't it? God of this universe thinks about me? Thinks about you? He cares for us. This word in Greek is epistomon, it means to know thoroughly, to understand, to be new with knowledge, understanding and expertise. So when it comes to man, God is the expert He thoroughly knows us, He understands us. That just makes sense, doesn't it? He created us. So He knows everything about us. We're still trying to discover the why's and wherefores of our existence. God already knows! He has the expertise to carry out in us, our ultimate purpose. So He cares for us, He knows us, He understands who we are. So what is man? We're a creation that God knows thoroughly, that God cares for thoroughly. We were made a little lower than the angels, our humanity was just a little lower than the angels, we were crowned with glory and honor. Can you believe that? WE were crowned with glory and honor, and we were given dominion over all things. We remember what God said to Adam and Eve in the garden. "You have dominion over all things. You name the animals, you're in control, you're in charge!" "That's what I've created you to be: In charge. To be one of My ambassadors "in this land. On this planet" So we were given dominion over all things. Through sin, we lost that dominion. We handed it over. Now the relationship that was once based on love and that sort of thing as far as mankind to the rest of creation, has been subjected to fear. We're scared of each other. We....animals are afraid, and we're afraid, and it's just this thing that we know that isn't quite right. But that's the way it is because of sin. Then, we're held captive by our fear of death. That's who we are. That's what sin has brought to us: this fear that has gripped our hearts, that holds us captive, and it's a fear of death. All of us are afraid of what's on the other side. We're afraid of that, because we don't know for sure. No one wants to die. The whole medical profession is doing everything in its power to extend life. Why? We're afraid to die. That's who we are; scared to death of it. Kinda funny, you know.. scared to death of....(chuckles) just seeing if y'all were listening. But we are, we're afraid to die, so we're in bondage to that, we're held captive to it. That's who man is. But what about Jesus the God-man? What do we know about Him? What does the writer of Hebrews want his audience to know about Jesus the God-man? Well, He too, was made lower than the angels. Just like us. He was made lower than the angels. He suffered death, and by grace tasted death for everyone What were we afraid of? Death! Jesus tasted death for everyone! The very thing that we were afraid of, He dealt with. He faced; and He went through it. So by grace He tasted it for everyone. He was crowned victor with glory and honor. This Jesus came out the other side, right? He died, He was buried, the third day, He was raised to life. He beat death. Though He was crowned with glory and honor, He was made perfect through suffering. This particular translation says He was the pioneer of our salvation, and was made perfect through suffering. What does that mean, to be made perfect? You mean Jesus was flawed? Is that what the writer of Hebrews is trying to tell us? That He had issues that He had to deal with cleanse Himself of, and get to a point where He could be seen as perfect in God's sight? That's not what this means. This doesn't mean flawless; this means He reached the goal. That's what the word perfect is all about. It's about completion; it's about maturity; it's about reaching the intended goal. How did Jesus reach His intended goal? Through suffering. That's how He reached His intended goal. How many of you have been watching the Olympics? When they cross the finish line and they get the gold medal, they have reached their intended goal. They've put in sweat, blood tears, hard work. They've suffered. Ryan Lochte said, "I haven't been out of a pool "in 4 years" Every single day, 7 days a week, swimming, and swimming and swimming and swimming. Why? Because there was a goal in mind and once he touched the edge of the pool, first, he had reached his goal. That's what this word is, He is made perfect through suffering; that it was the pathway that God chose for Jesus to reach His intended goal. and that was to be the pioneer of our salvation. Our salvation comes through Jesus' suffering. What was Jesus' intended goal? To save us from our sin. To put us into this New Covenant. To change us from the inside out. That salvation came to us through the very suffering of Jesus Christ. He's the captain of that, the pioneer of it; he's the originator of it. He brought salvation into being. Apart from Christ, there is no salvation. We're lost, we're hopeless; we're going to continue to live in this bondage to fear or... this bondage to death. Jesus originated salvation, and He brought it into being through suffering. He was made perfect through suffering. He shared in our humanity. He became like us. Guess what? He was tempted! You and I are tempted. Jesus is tempted, he was tempted. We read about that in Matthew chapter 4, when Jesus is taken out into the desert, led out there by the Spirit. He stays there for 40 days, and is tempted by Satan. I mean, everything that Satan had in his arsenal, he threw at Jesus. as I've said, Jesus got the nuclear attack. Satan doesn't need nuclear stuff for us, just the conventional weapons. We cave pretty quickly, don't we? Satan, as far as the temptations of Jesus, he kept pounding and pounding, pounding and pounding, to do everything in his power to get Jesus to cave, but Jesus said, "no". He continued to entrust Himself to His Father. So, He knows temptation. He knows that pressure that is applied by satan. He understands who we are. So he says, He cares for us, He knows us; and He has the expertise to help us in our time of need. He has become a merciful and faithful high priest. That's who this Jesus is. He wasn't born of the Levitical line; He wasn't supposed to be a priest according to the Old Covenant, He was of the tribe of Judah. Nothing mentioned in the Old Testament about anyone from Judah being a priest. Yet, Jesus, through suffering, the fact that He became one of us, the fact that He was tempted, has become a merciful and faithful high priest. He's the only that can represent us to God and God back to us. That's why the proposition is there; that this New Covenant that Jesus is bringing about is superior to, and takes the place of, the Old Covenant; because of the fact that Jesus is a merciful and high priest. So, this Jesus, who became like us, who shared in our humanity, who took upon Himself flesh and blood, who suffered through death, reaching the goal God had intended in bringing salvation to mankind; this is what He's done. He has made you holy. Pretty radical, isn't it? Me? Holy? Gosh, just the things that I think, the things that I do, the things that I say, God made me holy? He sanctified, He set me apart. That's what Jesus did. Could the Old Covenant do that? Could the Old Covenant set us apart? No, time and time again, we read that the Old Covenant simply points out our sinfulness, it shows us our faults. It's the x-ray machine that looks deep within and says something is drastically wrong. That's the Old Covenant. But in this New Covenant, God, in Jesus, makes us holy. He sets us apart. He sanctifies us. That is incredible news, that this could be truth about us. But it is. Why? Because Jesus brought it into being. This is the salvation that He has authored, that He has originated, that He has brought to us. He calls you brother or sister. Now that's fascinating. Jesus is God, we know that He is God, He made those claims. The apostles wrote about that as well. So if you know Jesus, you know that He is God. Yet, He became one of us. He shared in what our experience was to the point of death. Then He was raised bodily and the bodily Jesus, the one that they saw after the resurrection ascended into Heaven, and He has said that the relationship that He has with us is one of brother and sister. That's why we're joint heirs with Christ. That's why all that He has, we have. So He calls you a brother or sister. This Jesus broke the power of him who held the power of death. So He broke the power of satan. Broke the power of the devil. What was that power? The Law. Satan grabbed hold of the Law of God and used it against us. Keeping us trapped in that fear. How many times have you thought, "I might not be a Christian," based on what I've just done; based on what I've just said; based on what I've just thought. Who's telling you that? Certainly not God, God's declares you to be a child. Jesus calls you brother or sister. This salvation that has come to you, has set you apart, has made you holy. So satan uses God's Law to point the finger of accusation towards you and it stirs up that fear once again. That's satan's tool. That's how he tries to keep us from experiencing all that we have in this New Covenant. But Jesus has broken that power. How did He do it? By fulfilling it. The Law demanded punishment. Jesus stood in our place was punished for us. So He took it away, took the Law away, nailing it to the cross It's come to an end. So He broke that power. He freed you from the fear of death. One of the most encouraging things to see Christians facing death. Because there's a totally different perspective in their hearts and minds than what you see out there in the world. There's a calmness about this experience. Why? Because there's this confidence that you know what's beyond the grave, and what's beyond the grave is something good and positive and fantastic, and beyond our wildest dreams and imagination. It's life in the presence of God, Himself. So you look at death and you say, "it's okay," It's okay, because I'm going to be with God, just as He has been with me. So He's broken that fear of death. He's made propitiation for your sins. That's how the fear of death is broken, because Jesus took away our sins. He reconciled us to God through His death. Then He helps us when we are tempted. Lot of times, when we're tempted, when these sinful desires start kind of coursing through our flesh and our old human self, we kind of shrink back from God. We don't want to bring those sins before Him, because we're afraid of what He might think about us. We don't want to lay that stuff on the table and say, "This is it! This is the yuckiness that's going on in my life!" Certainly don't want to do it with God, we definitely don't want to do it with each other. Why? Because we're afraid we justify that, and we rationalize that by saying, "You know, God just wouldn't understand, He doesn't know what I'm going through, He doesn't "know what these temptations are!" Really? Oh, I think He knows them real well. Satan's thrown every temptation at Jesus that He's throwing at you. Every single one of them. The world says you can have it all. Guess what Satan did with Jesus? He laid the entire world at Jesus' feet, and said, "you can have it if you'll just worship me" God's this all protector and all provider, and here You are, You're hungry, and You're starving, and You're famished, and You're weak, you know, just tell those stones to become bread. Use Your powers. as a human, become independent from Your Father, don't entrust Yourself to Him, just take matters into your own hands. Do what You know You can do. Well Jesus felt it. He knows...KNOWS what we're going through. He knows what's in our hearts. He knows what's there. So He's the first person we should go to when we're being tempted. Why? Because He has the expertise to help us. He actually cares for us. Go to Jesus "So see to it, brothers, "That none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. You've got this incredible person named Jesus Christ who's superior to the prophets, superior to the angels, He's God Himself who has become one of us. He shared in our humanity; He's tasted death. He broke the power of death He was crowned victor and honor with glory and honor. He stands as our merciful and faithful high priest. Why would you want to stand at arm's distance from Him? Why would you want to go back to something that keeps you locked up in fear and bondage? Move forward with Jesus. "But encourage one another daily, as long as it called today, "so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness There's a deceitfulness to sin; there's a deceiftfulnes to the philosophies of this world. There's a deceitfulness out there that tries to blind us to the reality of Christ. Don't let you heart, don't let the center of who you are be deceived, concerning Jesus. Move forward. What's the red flag? Don't listen to the philosophies of the world. Don't listen to religion or religious leaders who are giving out a message other than the one we know in Jesus. That's the red flag. What's the green light? Go with the Lord. Jump in, both feet. Take hold of Jesus, and experience this salvation that He authored, that He originated That He brought into being through His suffering. Let Him be your brother or sister. Embrace that! That's the green light: Go with Jesus. We'll let's pray together. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank You, that in Jesus we have everything. We thank You that He's the originator the author, the captain of our salvation. One who pioneered it through His suffering. Thank You that through His death that He makes that salvation available to us. He's removed the barrier of sin, and He's reconciled us to You so that we can experience a relationship, not one based on fear, but one based on love, the fact that You actually do care for us, that You know us, and that You love us. We thank You for that, we praise You for it, Amen.