The Cost of Abandoning Christ
Hebrews 2:5-14
A few years ago we had what we called a water bottle outreach at Lazy 5 Recreational Area. It was during one of the music festivals they used to have there, before Covid, on weekday summer evenings. We would hand out water bottles and invitations to our church. And it came about that the three of us, I believe it was Steve, Blair, and one other, and we shared a picnic table with a real estate agent who was willing to talk about spiritual things. So I shared the Gospel with him and found that he had a number of issues with coming to Christ. The first was his background. He had been brought up in a large Catholic church in Reno and was immensely bitter about his experiences there, especially with the priest, whom he said deserved to be in prison. And his second issue was his recreation. He was a fisherman like I am, and he enjoyed going fishing on Sundays where he felt he could worship God in creation.
As I talked more and more with this fellow, it became evident that he was a person who loved God’s gifts, but in loving God’s gifts, had little interest in loving the giver, God Himself. And so in a sort of last-gasp effort to help him understand where he was in his relationship with God, I offered him a sort of parable. I asked him how he would feel if he had a son who loved all the things that he gave him but didn’t take the time to show his love and appreciation for him personally. That he was always off enjoying the things given, but if he was, as it turned out, a near complete ingrate in relationship to the one who had provided all the good things he enjoyed.
Well, I didn’t get far with that illustration when he admitted, “You got me.” For, as he would explain, he had precisely that kind of son, an 18-year old who so thoroughly enjoyed all that his father had given him that he had had little time or interest in loving the source of all the things he enjoyed, his earthly father.
I tell that story this morning because that apparently was much the situation for the Jewish Christians in Judea who had been suffering so long for their faith, and who were contemplating abandoning Christ and returning to Judaism to find some relief. They had nearly begun to forget all the benefits of knowing Christ, and being loved by Him, and instead had become so focused on the struggles of continuing to follow Christ that now they were beginning to think the whole exercise was not worth it.
And isn’t it true, in my life as well as yours, that our attitude toward life is determined by our focus. If we choose to focus on the difficulties at the expense of the benefits of any part of our life, we will inevitably be drawn away from that part of our lives. But if we remember the benefits, especially of our relationship with Christ, we will be drawn toward Him. And I seem to remember a Psalm, 103:2, that goes something like this with regard to our relationship with God, “And forget none of his benefits.”
And that seems to be the focus and encouragement of the writer to the Hebrews as we come into the second part of chapter two this morning. He is focused on helping these struggling Hebrew believers to continue in their walk with Christ by reminding them of all the benefits that are theirs in their relationship with Christ. He is in effect telling them, “don’t abandon Christ, forget none of his benefits! He is your future king, your wonderful Savior and a faithful and merciful high priest.
In Hebrews 2:1-4 we encountered the first of the warning passages in the book of Hebrews. In light of the fact that these Jewish Christians were thinking about returning to Judaism, he had warned them that in light of the greater salvation that the Son of God Himself had offered, how would they escape if they neglected so great a salvation. As you might remember, he had been comparing the Old Testament Law and the revelation that had come through angels, as it did in the Old Testament, and the fact that God had lately revealed Himself in a most personal and ultimate fashion—by means of the Son of God, God in the Flesh, Jesus Christ Himself. Now he returns to the matter of comparison. Not only is God’s revelation through Christ greater than the revelation through angels, but Christ Himself will rule and reign in the Kingdom to come. And His first point in verses 5 through 18 seems to be this:
Don’t abandon Christ now, because He’s going to be your future and eternal king. Don’t abandon Christ now, because He’s going to be your future and eternal king.
Verse 5: “For He did not subject to angels the world to come.” “He,” of course, is a reference to God the Father. And as glorious as the revelation of the Old Covenant was, the mediators of that covenant are merely ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation. The mediator of this New Covenant which they were now being tempted to abandon was no less that the Son of God Himself who would soon be the eternal ruler and king of the world to come.
And so, speaking to Jews who had regard for the authority of the Old Testament, he again fills his exhortation with quotations from the Old Testament. This time the quote is from Psalm 8:4-6. Now, as he read verses 5 through 8 it’s helpful to remember that at the time of this writing, the Bible’s verses had not been assigned chapters and verses. The writer seems not to be concerned about the location of what He’s quoting, but simply the content of the Scripture, so we read again, beginning in verse 5: “For He did not subject to angels the world to come, concerning which we are speaking. But one has testified somewhere saying, ‘What is man, that you remember Him, or the Son of Man that you are concerned about him? You have made him for a little while lower than the angles; You have crowned Him with glory and honor and Have appointed Him over the works of your hands; You have put all things in subjection under his feet.”
Now David, the writer of Psalm 8, was probably doing what many of us do when we gaze at the vastness of a clear, starry night—at the vastness of God’s creation—and paused to wonder what in the world was it about man, or David himself, that God had taken any interest in him at all. My own experience, of course, with this, is that I saw myself as a speck on a speck in this fast universe at the age of 13 and began to wonder what possible difference I could make in such a vast place. I began to wonder about my purpose for existing, especially that I seemed so incredibly insignificant in light of the vastness of the heavens. As David wondered what is man that you remember him or the Son of Man that you are concerned about Him, as a prophet of God, God’s answer came to him immediately.
Now it’s at this point in the Psalm that it takes an interesting turn. The Son of Man in verse 6 is not David, but rather a future greater Son of Man whom we now know as Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God. It just so happens Jesus’ favorite name for Himself was Son of Man. The Son of Man as revealed in Daniel 7:13-14 was the one who came with the clouds of heaven before the Ancient of Days and was presented with an everlasting Kingdom over men. And so what is now being said of the Son of Man is especially relevant to Jesus, the Son of God. And we might find this a bit of a revelation for ourselves, because right here Scripture admits, that for a time, the Son of God, the Son of Man, Jesus, was made for a little while lower than the angels. This is a reference to the incarnation of the Son of God. He was made for a little while lower than the angels because he became a man, and men are, at this current state of creation, lower than the angels in authority in power, though that will not always be the case.
Then prophetically, David sees into the future and sees that the Son of Man, as a model for the rest of mankind who will come to believe in Him, will ultimately have a very grand destiny in the whole scheme of Creation. He will come to be crowned with glory and honor. Verse 7b, “You have crowned Him with glory and honor, and have appointed him over the works of your hands; you have put all things in subjection under his feet.”
In other words, after the Son of God’s incarnation, when he was briefly made lower than the angels, He would be exalted. He would be crowned with glory and honor in heaven, and this in part has already taken place at the ascension of Christ. But why is He crowned with glory and honor. Because He is a King, He is the Eternal King. And God the Father will appoint Him, Christ, over the works of your (God’s) hands; You (God) have put all things in subjection under his feet.”
So this passage serves as a proof that the Old Testament confirms that Jesus, the Son of God, will have all of creation subjected to Him—a motivation for Jewish believers, a strong motivation for these Jewish believers not to throw Jesus under the bus, so to speak, at this point in their lives in light of the fact that He will be their future king. In other words, don’t mess with Jesus! Don’t blow Jesus off! You will face Him in the next world as the Ruler of All Creation. You will face Him either as Savior or Judge, and believe me, you want to face Him is Savior, and not as judge, otherwise you will have hell to pay. So the exhortation in effect is, endure a few more years of suffering so that you can experience glory with Jesus in the world to come. Don’t blow Him off now because you don’t want Him to blow you off in eternity.
Benefit #1: You stick with Jesus, and you’ll also experience that same glory and honor with Him ruling and reigning with the King in the Kingdom to come.
So what is man that God takes note of Him. He is, along with Jesus, among those who will rule and reign with Jesus in the kingdom to come. The willingness to suffer now as Jesus once suffered is mentioned throughout Scripture as the key to being exalted in the Kingdom to come. If we suffer with Him, we will rule with Him, as it says in II Timothy 2:12.
So we actually have an incredible destiny, a great purpose, that is in line with our questions about what our purposes might be. It is grand beyond our imagination, but it all depends on our maintaining a right relationship with Jesus, not abandoning Him in light of present suffering or difficulty.
Now the writer goes on and notes that we do not yet see all things subjected to Christ. Rest of verse 8: “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, but we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of the suffering of death, crowned with glory and
honor, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.
There’s a progression to what’s happening to Jesus. He’s achieved part of God’s glorious purpose for Him at the time of the writing of the Book of Hebrews. He has died for our sins, and he has been resurrected, but the emphasis here is now on His ascension to heaven, where we are told He now sits at the right hand of the Father. Because of his suffering and death we’re told, He is already crowned with glory and honor. That is a present fact, an indication that the rest of the predicted story will eventually come to pass. The Son of God has died for our sins and as the verse puts it, on account of that suffering, the very suffering of death, God has highly exalted Him, and crowned Him with glory and honor.
But it tells us something else. It tells us why the Son of God was made for a little while lower than the angels. It was so that He might taste, or fully experience death, for everyone.
Benefit #2 not to be forgotten, not to be set aside: The very Son of God, God Incarnate, now the glorious Lord Jesus Christ, humbled Himself and was crucified on a cruel Roman cross to pay the penalty for all mankind’s sins—to pay the penalty that you owed to God on account of your sins. Wow, what a Savior! And He’s God, and the future king. You don’t dare forget this benefit. Your salvation depends on Jesus’ death for you. Point #2: Don’t blow off Jesus or you blow off His death for your sins. Don’t blow off Jesus, or you blow off the most precious thing anyone could ever do for you, especially God Himself, when he suffered so you might live. We’re talking about the substitutionary death of Christ—Christ dying for you in your place so you wouldn’t have to. How could you even think of blowing off Jesus when He didn’t blow you off—but gave His life for your sins! Forget none of His benefits, chiefly this one, that He so loved you that He gave His life for you.
And it’s important note that because of His suffering and sacrifice of Himself for your benefit that He has been so exalted. In other words, suffering and sacrifice are part and parcel of the Christian life. To the extent we’ve been willing to experience it for Christ, to that extent we wall will be exalted and rewarded in the Kingdom to come.
Verses 10-13 tells us of a another benefit we dare not forget that comes as a result of the Son of God’s incarnation and suffering on our behalf. We dare not forget that we become part of God’s forever family. That we are considered brothers of Christ and children of God.
Verse 10: “For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings.”
Now why is it fitting? It’s because we believers as well are perfected through sufferings and made perfect for glory. A key phrase in verse 10 is the title for Jesus: “the author of their salvation.” The word for author can mean pioneer, captain, leader, forerunner. Jesus is the pioneer or forerunner of our salvation. He’s the first fruits of the resurrection. He shows us the way. He is the way. And the way of salvation for Him involved suffering, suffering on a cross, for our salvation and it resulted in His exaltation. If Jesus had to suffer to be exalted, how can we expect that our lives will not involve some suffering for our exaltation. He’s the pioneer of our salvation, and He shows us how it’s done—by such a love and commitment for God and for others that we’re willing to forego our pleasure for His pleasure and the good of others.
And notice whom He’s bringing to glory—he’s bringing “many sons to glory.” And here he stresses that we are part of the family of God, part of the family of Christ, heirs of God and of Christ and the Kingdom to come upon whom God the Father will lavish the riches of His glory. He continues on this theme in verse 11: “For both He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one Father, for which reason he is not ashamed to call them brethren. “He” is a reference to Jesus. And now more references from the Old Testament. First, from the Messianic Psalm 22 that speaks of Jesus’ proclamation after His crucifixion. There, Jesus, having been resurrected and exalted now says in verse 12, “I will proclaim Your name to My brethren (that’s you and me), in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise.” So Jesus is not ashamed to call us brothers with Him, for we all come from the same Father, God. And then he quotes, a bit oddly, a proclamation of Isaiah about himself and his children found in Isaiah 8:17 and 18—see verse 13 here; “And again, I will put My trust in Him (God)” “And again, “Behold, I and the children whom God has given Me.” Apparently, the Spirit of God and Christ speak through Isaiah here foreshadowing Christ and His relationship to the believers He saves. We are called brethren and we are called children of God. Thus the writer tells us of this great benefit. This is what we are inheriting. Not only a place in the Kingdom of God, but we will also be children of God, brethren of the great Son of God.
The warning then is this: Don’t forfeit this by abandoning Christ. Don’t you dare forfeit your forever family in Kingdom of God. You will be children of God if you endure to the end!
Benefit #4 not to be forgotten is freedom, release from death and the devil’s power. Yes, this is an incredible benefit not to be forgotten. You follow Jesus to the end, and you are free from the devil and the fear of death.
Verse 14: “Therefore, since the children share in 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, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.”
This is another benefit that accrues to us on account of the incarnation of the Son of God! We have been freed from him who had the power of death, the devil. We have been freed from the bondage we as unbelievers experienced due to the fear of death.
Now, yes, this is a bit of a problematic thought. Our question as we read it is this: Does the devil really have the power of death, even yet today? Well, we see in the book of Job that he did not have the power of death in the Old Testament, except as permitted by God, who told Satan he could not touch Job’s life. More than that, Psalm 139:16 tells us that it is God who has numbered our days. So Satan does not generally determine when we die, though the New Testament mentions circumstances, such as rebellion against God and church discipline that may put us under his control to one degree or another. But generally, God determines that length of our lives and the day of our death. So what is meant by the thought that the devil has the power of death. Well, that power was established in the Garden of Eden when he tempted Eve and eventually Adam to sin. And death came on the whole human race as a result. Temptation, sin and death is the process that is in view. And when man fell in Genesis, man forfeited his place as ruler of God’s created order on earth as he rebelled along with his new king, Satan, and Satan came to be the God of this world, as Jesus described him three times. And as I John 5:19 puts it, the whole world is in the lap or control of the evil one, at least in this basic way—that our sin ultimately results not only in our physical and spiritual death. And that control extends as far as our fear of death, because out of fear of death and the intuitive sense that judgment lies beyond, as an unbeliever, we are willing to sin in whatever way we must to avoid that inevitable end. So through the fear of death we are indeed, as unbelievers, in bondage to the devil.
So the question then comes, how did Christ render powerless the devil. As it says here, it was through His death. It was through Christ’s incarnation, and then His death on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins, that sin and rebellion were removed from each of our individual histories when we come to faith in Christ. So we are now no longer destined for spiritual death, because sin has been forgiven and taken away. And now when we die physically, we immediately live spiritually. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. As Jesus put it, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me will live even though He dies and will never die.” John 11:28. And so now for those of us who believe, through the death of Christ, Christ has rendered powerless he who formerly had the power of death because of our sins—because Christ took away our sins. He paid for them. He satisfied God’s wrath against for our sin when He was punished for them on the cross.
So this is no small benefit. It ought to cause us to fear. It ought to cause us to give thanks. We have been delivered from the devil, from the death he intended for us, and from the fear of death by Christ. Warning #5: Don’t abandon Jesus—don’t subject yourself to the devil and death again. How foolish would that be.
And then benefit #6: Remember that it is Jesus, who by virtue of His incarnation and temptation can faithfully and mercifully help us deal with our everyday sin.
We need help. Jesus, on account of his experience in the flesh and the temptations even he experienced, in all points, yet without sin, is able to help us who struggle with it in this life.
Verse 16: “For assuredly, He does not give help to angels, but He gives help to the descendant of Abraham.” Of course the writer refers here specifically to descendants of Abraham because he’s speaking to Hebrew Christians. But the name applies to Gentiles as well, as we find it so applied in Galatians 3:29 and Romans 4, I believe. You don’t want to lose Christ’s help in your struggle against sin. You abandon Him and you do.
And His ability to help in a merciful way came as a result of His experience as a man, in his incarnation. 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.”
Who are his brethren? You and I who are believers. He had to be made like us, as a man, so that He might understand our plight, and truly, from His own experience, display the mercy as well as the faithfulness we need in relationship to God. He is our great High Priest. He is the Ultimate and only High Priest in that He alone was able to mediate on our behalf and bring reconciliation with the Father. Only His blood, the sacrifice of His life alone, could achieve that mediation and reconciliation successfully. And now having accomplished propitiation—that is the satisfaction of God’s wrath against us by taking it upon Himself, He now lives to mercifully and faithfully help us with our sins beyond all that He has already done.
Verse 18: “For since He Himself was tempted in that He has suffered, He is able,” (note the present tense—this is what He is doing for each of us now, today) to come to the aid of those who are tempted.”
Well, you consider these benefits, how could you abandon the Christ who has provided them. He’s the coming King to whom you will be accountable. He sacrificed His life for your sins, he established your eternal destiny as a fellow member of the family of God, He freed you from the devil and from death, and He has given and continues to give help as we deal with our sins as no one else ever could.
How could you think of abandoning such a loving Savior for a set of laws which no one can keep, and therefore can never save.
Let’s pray.
