Sermon Brief
Date Written: June 11, 2008
Date Preached: June 15, 2008
Where Preached: OPBC (AM)
Sermon Details:
Sermon Series: A Journey Thru Hebrews
Sermon Title: Jesus Recovered Our Lost Unity!
Sermon Text: Hebrews 2:10-13
10 For it was fitting, in bringing many sons to glory, that He, for whom and through whom all things exist, should make the source of their salvation perfect through sufferings. 11 For the One who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one Father. That is why He is not ashamed to call them brothers, 12 saying: I will proclaim Your name to My brothers; I will sing hymns to You in the congregation. 13 Again, I will trust in Him. And again, Here I am with the children God gave Me.
(HCSB)
Introduction:
What is man? Who are we? Why were we created? What is our destiny as created beings of God?
Philosophers have argued for centuries over the question…“What is our destiny?” Now as a Christian who reads and believes God’s Word, I know what our destiny is… I know why we were created… I know who we are… and I can answer those questions!
But in our world today, we have people attempting to redefine humanity and purpose of the human being, and the main thrust behind these people is that they want to leave God out of the picture!
A human secularist would tell you that humanity is nothing more than an evolved species of lifeform that was fortunate enough to survive the evolutionary process…in fact here is a quote from the latest Humanist Manifesto about humanity.
Humans are an integral part of nature, the result of unguided evolutionary change…Life’s fulfillment [or our purpose or destiny] emerges from individual participation in the service of humane [human founded and human conceived] ideals.
We aim for our fullest possible development and animate our lives with a deep sense of purpose, finding wonder and awe in the joys and beauties of human existence, its challenges and tragedies, and even in the inevitability and finality of death.
Humanists rely on the rich heritage of human culture and the life stance of Humanism to provide comfort in times of want and encouragement in times of plenty
There are those on the fringe that believe humanity is the scourge of our planet and because of humanity, we have all the problems we have… problems like disease, famine, pestilence, global warming… every malady known is tied to humanity and how we are the problem!
For the Christian, we believe it is our destiny is to follow the will of God. For the pagan it is humanity’s destiny is to seek as much pleasure as one can find. And still there are others who reject the entire idea of humanity having any real purpose or destiny! The believe that we are merely random animals who have evolved at a higher rate than the other animals!
The believer has to ask himself or herself the question, “Does God’s Word say about anything about this question?” Yes it does, in fact the Bible is filled with statements and writings about humanity and our destiny. When we go back to the very beginning in Genesis 1 we can see that God sets forth a purpose for humanity when He creates them!
26 Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.” 27 So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. 28 Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.”
From that beginning we can see that God created humanity to first commune with Him and rule over the earth. But let’s also look at what the writer of Hebrews tells us in Heb 2:6-8…
6 For in one place the Scriptures say, “What are mere mortals that you should think about them, or a son of man that you should care for him? 7 Yet you made them only a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor. 8 You gave them authority over all things.” Now when it says “all things,” it means nothing is left out. But we have not yet seen all things put under their authority.
Here the writer of Hebrews confirming his understanding of the Creation story and what God was saying! The writer of Hebrews understood that humanity was the apex of God’s creation and that we had been created by God for great and mighty things! However, the writer acknowledges that we have not achieved these things as of yet! So what he is trying to say in this passage is that WE [humanity] have not become what God created us to become! Well, we see that we were created with a destiny, let’s clarify what it is!
1. What WAS our destiny? 2:7
Created to commune with God, and rule over His creation…
7 You have made him [that is humanity] a little lower than the angels; You have crowned him [see Gen 1:26] with glory and honor,and set him over the works of Your hands.
Here the writer of Hebrews is celebrating the destiny God lays forth for humanity and that is a created being who has been placed in a place of honor by the Creator.
“made…a little lower than the angels” what does that phrase mean? When we look at this passage we see that it is drawn from Ps 8:4-6 and it is tradition that to quote a portion of the psalm that it would be well recognized by his readers, and they would possibly recall the entire psalm.
So the psalmist is quoting from Psalm 8 here and when we look at that psalm we can see that it is a praise of God for the glory of his creation. The psalmist revels in the creative power of God and based on God’s creative power, what is man compared to God?
The psalmist reveals that man was created a little lower than the angels, but this not because the angels were more important or special to God… because humanity is God’s ultimate creation.
But humanity was created a little lower than the angels in that they could not pass between the spiritual and physical worlds, they did not have the abilities that the angels were endowed with, and they did not have the strength of the angels.
But we find the writer of Hebrews following this phrase up with a statement that makes clear God’s intention and destiny for His ultimate creation and that is, “…You have crowned him with glory and honor,and set him over the works of Your hands…”
What did the writer mean? Well God crowned humanity with glory by creating us in His image… we are made in the image and likeness of our Creator.
Then God gives His ultimate creation to the responsibility and honor of governing this world… the world he was created to live in, govern, and have dominion over! All in the earth was given to humanity under his authority… what an honor from our Creator to give us control and dominion over His creation!
When we look at v.5 we see that this world was NOT created for the angels to have dominion over or to rule, but we see it is for humanity to rule and take care of… God created humanity to care for His creation. Angels were not given this responsibility or authority.
God’s intention for humanity was to rule over this earthly creation and to commune with Him on a regular basis. We know that this was His desire because in Gen 1:26 God reveals that He is creating humanity for the purpose of governing and overseeing the earth and all that is in it. We can see this in v.8 of our passage this morning as well!
8 You gave them authority over all things.” Now when it says “all things,” it means nothing is left out.
26 Then God said, “Let us make human beings IN OUR IMAGE, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.”
Also in Gen 3 we find God walking in the Garden to commune with His creation in the cool of the day. The implication here was that God created Adam and Eve and desired to commune with them personally!
Now can you imagine that? Can you imagine that the Creator of the Universe wanted to personally commune with His creation… and the wonderful news here is that He went to the Garden and He sought them out!
So now we know what was humanity’s original destiny! Now we know and understand what God desired for His creation. But we must understand that God did not desire a robotic, compulsory communion, God created humanity with a freedom of will and then God instilled boundaries for humanity to obey.
It was those boundaries and requirement for obedience that leads me to my next major point…
2. How did we lose our destiny? Romans 3:9-10
God created us innocent and perfect in the Garden. God created us to commune with Him and care for His creation! However, when disobedience came forth and sin entered into the world, humanity was no longer innocent before God but was fallen and sinful.
And so the writer of Hebrews is teaching us under this presupposition that all NT writers accepted…and that is humanity is sinful… that humanity is a fallen creation and has lost its original destiny!
It was God’s desire that humanity stay within the boundaries He had set for humanity and that they would commune with Him in paradise, but humanity rebelled and did not obey the boundaries God had set and we were cast out of paradise… we lost our destiny!
God’s destiny for humanity was paradise and perfection in communion with Him. However, humanity turned away from that destiny seeking its own destiny.
In the garden, Satan convinced Eve to partake of the fruit and told her that it would make her like God. Eve liked that idea, and she took of the fruit in full disobedience to God’s command.
Scripture tells us that our desires and our self centered heart is tainted by our sinful nature and that NOTHING we do can earn us a spot in paradise. There is nothing that we can do on our own to gain what we have lost!
In Romans 3:9-10 the Apostle Paul wrote, “…9 What then? Are we better than they? Not at all. For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are ALL UNDER SIN. As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one…”
It is because of sin that humanity’s destiny has changed! No longer is humanity destined for paradise with its Creator! Now, because of our sinful nature and our selfish and self-centered hearts we are destined for eternal separation FROM our Creator.
Scripture tells of a place God has created for all those who reject and turn away from Him, the Bible calls that place Hell. The Bible describes hell as a place of terrible torment and suffering, a place where that suffering is eternal.
Hell is a place of eternal loneliness, pain and anguish. Hell is a place where God is going to withdraw His presence for all eternity. Hell is a destiny that you don’t want! Hell is a place we all want to avoid, but according to Scripture, we cannot avoid it, as now hell is our destiny! All because sin is our nature!
Well preacher, you sure have thrown a wet blanket on this service… if I am destined for hell, if there is nothing I can do about it…then why am I here? If that is my destiny…I have NO hope!
Well when we finally come to the conclusion that we are sinners and that we have NO hope on our own, I believe we are ready to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ! You see the Greek word for “Gospel” is u-on-gal-lidzo which translated literally means GOOD NEWS!
You have heard the term the Good News of Jesus Christ or the Gospel of Jesus Christ! Well the ‘good news’ that Christ brings to our lives is that the destiny of our sinful nature can be changed! We do have a hope of escape from the eternal hell and torment that is our destiny!
But we cannot change our own destiny, Jesus is the only one who can change the destiny of a soul. If we accept Jesus Christ and the good news of what He has done, Scripture tells us that our destiny can be restored!
3. How is our destiny restored? Heb 2:10 read here!
The Bible tells us that Jesus came to this world in a special and unique way [born of a virgin] It also shares with us that Jesus lived a rather unique and special life [He did not sin]
The Bible tells us why Jesus lived that perfect life and it was to become THE perfect example for His followers and the perfect sacrifice for the sins of the world! And because Jesus lived this perfect life and became the perfect sacrifice, Jesus was willing to give Himself for our sake!
The Bible shares with us that Jesus gave His life on the Cross of Calvary for our sins and to save the lost! So many people will argue that fact because they say that Jesus was killed by the Romans and the Jewish leaders of His day. However, Jesus was not killed but He willingly chose to be on the Cross and Jesus made the choice to give His life!
But the good news does not stop with Jesus on the Cross, it goes further to explain that after 3 days in the tomb, Jesus did something no other man has done on his own and that is Jesus rose from the dead!
In doing so, Jesus conquered death and the grave so that His followers and those who submit to Him as Savior can know victory over this world, and regardless of what happens to our mortal bodies we will be clothed with His grace and given eternal life!
The fact of the matter is simply this, Jesus came to this earth to restore our destiny and reconcile humanity back to its Creator! What Jesus did on the Cross and through His resurrection offers humanity an avenue to salvation and redemption from the curse! Now wouldn’t you call that Good News?
You see what Jesus did on the Cross offers us a way to avoid the terrible destiny of hell that awaits all who reject Jesus and it enables us to secure a destiny of paradise with our Creator!
The salvation you can receive from Jesus has nothing to do with any action you take, have taken or will take, but it has everything to do with what Jesus has done to clear the way for you to be restored to your destiny of communion with God.
The only thing we can do is either accept or reject what Jesus has done. If we accept it, we are saved, NOT because of our acceptance, but because of what Jesus did!
If we reject it, we are destined for hell still, not because we have rejected Christ but because of the sin nature within us and the fact that we can do nothing to change the destiny of our sin sick soul!
Jesus Christ came to make a way…where there was no way! Jesus Christ came to allow you to know Him in His fullness, as your Creator and God! Jesus Christ came so that all of humanity would have the opportunity to be restored to the destiny their Creator originally desired for them!
Conclusion:
I want us to all realize that from the very beginning God desired great things for us, but we rebelled and sinned! We turned our backs on God… we ran away from His love, shelter and fellowship… we decided to pursue OUR desires and OUR selfish motives!
God in His agape [unconditional] love, did not turn away from us, but reached out to us in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus came to reconcile humanity and restore our destiny… the destiny God originally desired for us back in the Garden! Jesus came to open the door so that we could once again commune personally with God!
This morning you may not understand all I have said, but here is the one thing I want you to take from this message. Jesus said, “I have come to seek and to save the lost…” or we could say that Jesus said, “I have come to seek and to save those who have lost their destiny… I have come to restore that lost destiny!”
Jesus Christ died on the Cross for YOU! He died so that you could know and fulfill your true destiny here on this planet…that is to commune with God and be obedient to His calling! He died so that you could be restored to where God desires you to be!
2 Peter 3:9 says that God is not slow… but that He is patient and that He desires that all people come to repentance and know Him as Savior! Salvation of your soul is God’s desire…
Salvation of your soul is God’s desired destiny for EVERY HUMAN! Are you willing to allow God’s destiny to slip from your hands by refusing to accept it?
I call on all here today to surrender to the call of Christ on your life and submit in obedience to God… as Bro Parker comes to lead us in a hymn of invitation, I ask you all to stand, and as soon as the music begins to play…you step out and come down this aisle and submit your life to Christ… surrender to His Lordship this morning and know His power in your life today! Won’t you come!
