Our Great and Perfect Savior - Part 1

If you would, take your Bible and turn back to Hebrews chapter 2. Like I said, we will be in verses 10 to 18. And what I mean by that is we'll be in those verses this week and next week because this will be a part 1 and a part 2. Now this morning we are in our third message here in chapter 2. But before we march right into these new verses we need to make sure that we see how what we are learning in chapter 2 is related to all that we learn in chapter 1. All these things are connected. Really these are multiple messages that form one message and this all flows together.

Simply in chapter 1 the author was writing to this small Jewish congregation and he was writing to do three things, eradicate, explain, and exalt. The way I see it, chapter 1 can be explained with these three words, eradicate, explain, and exalt. He was writing to eradicate the faulty views that these Jews had concerning angels. We've learned that for centuries they had exalted angels to an unbiblical and terribly erroneous place and they did this by abusing and using the Old Testament Scriptures to form these faulty beliefs.

And also he was writing to explain that Jesus was in fact the promised Messiah of God who had come to provide salvation for man. He thoroughly explained that while Jesus was on earth he was God while at the same time being man. He was in fact the God-man and even though for a time he was made a little lower than the angels he certainly was God's promised Messiah. And he used, that is the author of the book here, he used the Old Testament Scriptures to prove his case. And ultimately the author was writing to exalt Jesus.

Jesus had humbled himself by becoming a man and even humbled himself to death on a cross but he had been raised from the dead, but not only had he been raised he had been exalted to the right hand of God the Father which is the highest most exalted place. So the author helps us see and understand here that Jesus was and is the exalted one, the supreme one, the preeminent one. But a question, how does what we are seeing here in chapter 2 relate to chapter 1? Chapter 2 verses 1-4 we saw how the author was warning these Jews to pay very, very close attention to what they had heard concerning this Jesus.

They had heard the message of salvation in Jesus and the fact that he was the promised Messiah of God. And he warned them not to neglect such a great salvation found in Jesus that was right before them. And we know why he gave them this warning. In this congregation there were some who were not true believers and they were tempted greatly to go back. They were tempted to go back into living under the old covenant, under the law and their former way of life in Judaism. Simply some of these Jews were struggling to believe that the Messiah had truly become a man.

Some were struggling, some were rejecting, but that was the point of their contention. I thought about this last night. Many people in our churches and in our community have the very same struggle but a different struggle. Let me explain. Many do not struggle to believe in a Messiah who became a man, but they struggle to believe in a Messiah who is Lord. And they prove that by how they live. And so look church, we must see that Jesus cannot be divided like we would divide a cake when we cut a cake we take the piece that we like you know. We take the piece that has a little more icing on it. You might not do that but I do.

We can do that with a cake but we cannot do that with Jesus. We cannot divide Jesus so that we take a piece of Jesus that we like and we reject a piece that we do not like. We take all of Him or Jesus rejects all of us. In chapter 2, verses 5-9, the verses we covered last week, we saw how the author was writing to explain God's destiny for those who were redeemed in Christ Jesus. Before the fall of man, God's destiny was for man and mankind to have the responsibility to govern and rule all of the creation perfectly and totally. But that was all ruined by sin.

Because of sin, at best man's ability to govern and rule the world was and is restricted. At worst man's ability to govern and rule the world was and is ruined. And that rule is certainly restricted. That rule is certainly ruined. We can see that in our world today. But man's destiny to rule the world was recovered by Christ. We learned that last week. Man's destiny to rule the world was recovered by Christ and his death on the cross so those who are redeemed will one day rule in the new world to come. We learned that in verse 5. We know why He explained these things.

These Jews somehow believed that it was the angels who were destined to rule the world to come, but they were in terrible error here. So He explained that the angels were created as servants, not rulers. As servants they were not to rule and govern the new world to come, but it is man to rule the world to come. But not just any man, only those who were redeemed in Jesus. Now look at how all of this flows together. Theologically the author was writing to exalt Christ above man and even the angels. He was writing to explain that Christ was and is the Supreme and the preeminent one and He is writing to exalt Him in that manner.

But practically the author was writing to warn them not to be careless with the message of salvation in Christ. He was warning them not to neglect such a great salvation that was right before them. And He was writing to explain that how they reacted to all that they heard determined their ultimate destiny. If they neglected or even outright rejected salvation in Jesus, they would lose this destiny to rule the world to come. But if they embraced and received salvation in Jesus, they would attain this destiny to rule the world to come. And I don't know about you, but for me right here is a good place for us to pause and to praise God.

Is that what we were doing earlier? Is He worthy? Is He worthy? He certainly is. Right here is a good place for us to praise God. Praise God that He loved and loved sinful man so much so that He provided a Savior for lost humanity. And that lost humanity is us. Praise God that He provided a Savior that would not only save men from their sin and sure damnation to come, but that He provided a Savior to go to the cross so as to redeem sinful man and to recover that lost destiny. What a great God that we serve. Is He worthy? Yes, He is. What a great Savior that we serve. Is He worthy? Yes, He is.

Our Savior was and is much greater than those angels. Don't we see? Really, there's no comparison. How could these Jews have ever fallen for that error, but they did. Now starting here in verse 10, the author continues to explain and proclaim the greatness of God's Savior, that's Jesus, and to the surprise of these Jews. He does so by continuing to enlarge on the true humanity of Jesus and all that He did and all that He provided in going to the cross. Now this leads me to the title of the message. It's rather simple. I title this, "Our Great and Perfect Savior." Our great and perfect Savior.

Now let's read our verses and then I will explain how we will divide them. Let's start with verse 10. I'll read down to verse 13 because that's where we will pause in our study this morning. Let me back up to verse 9. "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. 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." That can be considered brothers and sisters. "Saying," verse 12, "I will tell of your name to my brothers. In the midst of the congregation I will sing praise. And again, I will put my trust in Him and again behold I and the children God has given me." Now this is how we're going to approach our verses. First from verses 9 to 10 we will look at Christ the author of our salvation. And then from verses 11 to 13 we will look at Christ the source of our sanctification.

Now next week we will look at third, Christ the destroyer of Satan's control of man. That's from verses 14 to 15. And then last, Christ the comforter of man in life. That would be from verses 16 to 18. So let's get started in dividing our verses. Number one, Jesus the author of man's salvation. This is in verses 9 to 10. Number one, Jesus the author of man's salvation. Now to understand what the author is saying in verse 10 we have to see that this is connected to verse 9. I know I said earlier sometimes it's difficult to decide where to divide, where to start, where to stop.

But in verse 9 we see that while Christ was on earth, He was made a little lower than the angels. And not only that, His obedience to the Father took Him even lower. He suffered death on the cross as the substitute for man's sin to provide salvation for men and men. And in verse 10 we see that the author continues to explain certain vital truths about this salvation plan that really we see starting in verse 9 going, starting in verse 5 going down to verse 9. Now out of verse 10 I want us to see three facts about God's plan for the salvation of man. The first fact, all of these things, I'm referring to what we see in verse 5 down to verse 9.

All of these things were fitting for God. Now if we look at what I call the modern translations, the modern translations I usually refer to the English Standard Version, the New American Standard and the Legacy Standard Bible. If we look at those translations we see this word fitting. The English Standard reads, "For it was fitting." Now this word fitting in the original it means that which is proper, that which is becoming, that which is fitting.

And what the author was saying here was this, all these things that the author was presenting, pertaining to salvation that is found in Jesus, these things were not random, these things were not by chance or coincidence. These things were becoming of God, they were proper. All these things fit in with the nature and the character of God. I'll give you an example. It helped me. Maybe this will help you. Personally, I firmly believe that we should teach our children good manners. More specifically, I firmly believe that we should teach our little girls how to behave like little girls, how they should behave.

When they get a little older, we should teach them to behave as young ladies should behave. And as they continue to grow older, we should teach them to behave as ladies. I don't know about you, but it seems that manners are lost in our culture today. And in teaching our young girls to behave like young ladies, we may tell them that certain things are not proper, they are not fitting of a young lady. And what the author is saying right here is this, all these things that he has presented pertaining to the way of salvation that is found in Jesus, it was proper, it was fitting for God to do these things.

These things are fitting and proper of God and for God. Now think about how the original audience saw all of these things. They did not see the promised Messiah of God becoming a man and dying on the cross like a criminal as fitting and proper for the promised Messiah of God. They did not see these things as compatible to what they expected in God's promised Messiah. I love what John MacArthur says here. He says it was fitting means that what God did through Jesus Christ was consistent with his character. I like that term. MacArthur says all of these things, they were consistent with the character of God.

You know I held on to that phrase and I came back to it even this morning. MacArthur goes on to say this is a little lengthy but it is very good and I'm quoting, it was consistent with God's wisdom. The cross was a masterpiece of wisdom. God solved the problem which no human or angelic mind could have solved. What he did was also consistent with his holiness for God showed on the cross his hatred for sin. It was consistent with his power. Being the greatest display of power ever manifested, Christ endured for a few hours what will take an eternity for unrepentant sinners to endure.

It was consistent with his love in that he loved the world so much that he gave his only son for its redemption. Finally, what he did was consistent with his grace because Christ's sacrifice was substitutionary. The work of salvation was totally consistent with God's nature. It was entirely fitting for him to have done what he did. But then second, all of these things, all that we see from verse 5 to verse 9, all of these things bring many sons to glory. Here we again see the purpose of Christ's substitutionary death on the cross. Of course the purpose of the cross was to rescue and redeem lost sinners.

But here we see that these things happen to bring many sons to glory. But what does this mean? This phrase, bring many sons to glory. Here we have an allusion to all those who will be saved. This meaning refers to the many who will be saved. And this is in direct contrast to what these Jews believed. They did not envision salvation for anyone but the Jews. They saw the promised Messiah of God coming for them, not for them. They saw the promised Messiah of God coming for them, the Jews, not the them, the others, not the many. But what does this glory refer to? What does it mean that many are saved to glory?

In one sense, this needs to be understood in light of the splendor in glory to come when man is ultimately saved. That is life after death, heaven, glory. In Luke 23, 43, Jesus told the thief on the cross that he would be with him in paradise after death. It is obvious that Jesus was speaking of his ultimate salvation. That would be glory. We can say it like this. We were saved past tense when we came to faith in Christ. We are being saved present tense as we are sanctified throughout our life. We will be saved future tense when we leave this body, this life, this earth to be with Christ in glory.

But in another sense, this needs to be understood in light of the previous verses. Remember this is all going together. When God brings about the new world to come that we saw in verse 5, then the redeem will be fulfilling the reason why they were redeemed. The redeem will be ruling and governing this new world. The redeem will finally be redeemed to and for the glory that God intended for them from the beginning. And then third, all of these things, all that we see here in verses 5 to verse 9, all these things were the invention of God and under the rule of God. Now here we see when, where, and how these things came to be.

More specifically, we see where these things originated and more personally from whom they originated. Let's go back and read verses 9 to 10. See if you can pick up on it. 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 or experience death for everyone. For it was fitting or proper that he for whom and by whom all things exist and bringing many sons to glory should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering. Now here we have a key word that we really need to dig into.

This word founder, we see that in verse, in the English Standard Version. The English Standard Version says should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering. Notice the New American Standard says to perfect the author of their salvation through suffering. Listen to the King James. It says to make the captain of their salvation perfect through suffering. Again, the English Standard Version, founder of their salvation, the New American author of their salvation, the King James captain of their salvation. But which translation is right? All of them are. This word here in the original may be used in more than one way.

It can speak of a leader or a ruler or it can speak of one who begins something as the first of a series or it can mean the originator or the founder. And to me, I think that it is best to see that there are several layers of meaning here. The author is telling us that God was the founder and the author of this way of salvation. He is telling us that God was and is the leader and the ruler of this way of salvation. He is telling us that God is the captain of this way of salvation and that He has begun something and He will take it to its final completion.

One commentator said this, "This word contains the idea of supremacy, personal participation, and originating something." But before we move on, what does it mean that Christ was made perfect? Did you catch that in verse 10? What does that mean? Look back at verse 10, "For it was fitting or becoming 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." What does that mean? Now if we think about it, the idea of Christ being made perfect is rather odd and it smells of error. At first glance it seems to say that Jesus can change.

And if that was the case, He could be somehow less than, less than perfect, which would automatically mean that He could be imperfect. But that is not the case. That is not what the author is saying here. Simply Jesus, the eternal Son, can never be made perfect because He is perfect. But Jesus the Savior is much different. For Jesus to purchase redemption for men and man on the cross, He had to suffer all the punishment that sin deserved. Man could not be saved merely by the perfect life which Jesus lived on earth. He had to obey His Father's will. He had to go to the cross.

He had to go to the cross and to die on the cross, the just for the unjust. His obedience to the cross was completely necessary. So Christ was perfect in His being. But He was perfected in those obedience to the Father, not just in coming to earth as the promised Messiah, but coming to earth as the promised Messiah and dying as man's substitute on the cross. He was perfected in full obedience as the Savior. One commentator I read said He was perfected in His vocation.

So here in verse 10 we see that all the things that the author presents concerning Jesus in God's plan for salvation, all these things given from verse 5 all the way to verse 9, they were certainly fitting for God. God through Christ did all these things, why? To bring many sons to glory. And God was and is the author and the ruler and the captain of all of these things. And through His perfect obedience to the will of the Father and suffering on the cross, God the Savior was perfected. So what we see here is this. Jesus, He was and is the author and the captain of our salvation.

And since He is the captain, He will sail the ship of salvation for many to its completion. But before we dive off into the next verses, what should these things say to us? I don't know about you, but I see the greatness of God and the greatness of God's salvation. I see the greatness of God, the greatness of our God and the greatness of our God that gave us such a great and glorious salvation. I see our great God and the greatness of our salvation that He authored, that He rules and that He captains. And for those of us who were born again, oh there is great and wonderful comfort here. There is great love and worship here.

Because He is the author of all these things, He captains these things and He will sail this ship to its completion. So Jesus is the author, the captain of our salvation. And then number two, Jesus, the source of man's sanctification. We see this in verses 11 to 13. Jesus, the source of man's sanctification. Let's go back and read the verses. For He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why He, that's Jesus, is not ashamed to call them brothers. Brothers and sisters is an accurate way to see that.

Verse 12, "Sing, 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." Now back in verse 9, we saw that Jesus was man's substitute for sin, and in God's plan for the salvation of man. And in verse 10, we saw that God was the author and the captain of all of these things. And here in verse 11, we just see a continuation of this work of salvation. We see a continuation into the sanctification of the believer and the great unity between Jesus and God the Father and His people.

Now although we have three verses here, this is going to be a little shorter than what we saw here in verses 9 to 10, and this will be a little easier to grasp than maybe you expect once it's explained. But right off we need to ask a question. What is this sanctification? The English Standard reads, "For He who sanctifies, and those who are sanctified." That's easy to see. But what does this sanctification mean? This is actually quite simple. This word for sanctification here in the original, it means to separate, it means to set apart. It truly means to make holy. But notice what we see here in the verse.

First, the one who sanctifies or performs this work. This verse clearly says that the one who is sanctifying or doing the work is Jesus. That's why the Amplified reads, "Both Jesus who sanctifies and those who are sanctified." But then second, the ones being sanctified are who are on the receiving end of this work. Now it is not clearly stated, but as we come to understand the rest of the verse, it is obvious that the ones being sanctified are the redeemed. But notice what we have here. Take a step back and look at what we have here. Jesus is sanctifying. He is separating. He is setting apart. He is making holy those who are redeemed.

The redeemed are not sanctifying themselves because this phrase, "Those who are sanctified," is passive, which means they are passive in the work. So it is Jesus who is sanctifying. It is Jesus who is separating. It is Jesus who is setting apart, making holy those whom He has redeemed. There's more. Two things. First, the source of this sanctification. Notice what verse 11 says. The English Standard says, "But the one who sanctifies and the ones being sanctified," notice, all have one source. But if you have the Legacy Standard Bible, you will see that the Legacy Standard kind of adds something.

The Legacy Standard Bible says, "All have one source with the word 'one' capitalized." And that is because the one source here is God. God is the source of He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified. This simply means that God is the initiator of this sanctification. This sanctification was and is the plan of God, and this all emanates from God and for God. And then second, the result of this sanctification. Notice the last sentence of verse 11. "For He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source." Here's the sentence. That is why He is not ashamed to call them brothers.

Now if we know our New Testament, we know that believers are often called brothers all throughout the New Testament. But you might not know this. It is very unusual to see that believers are called Jesus brothers. But what we have here is this. Since Jesus was and is God the Father's appointed Redeemer to redeem a particular people, those who are redeemed, that would be His people, the church, they are truly united with God in His plan and purposes in redemption history. Therefore Jesus is not ashamed to call the redeemed His brothers.

The Bible scholar Tom Shriner says, and I'm quoting, "In any case, those who have the same Father belong to the same family and have the same source or origin because Jesus and those being sanctified by Him have the same Father, He thus Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters." So what we see here is this. The source of man's sanctification. Christ Jesus Himself sets apart the redeemed as holy. And because Jesus and those whom He redeems have the same Father, He thus Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters. Now question here.

In your own personal life, do you see Christ Jesus as near to you, close to you, in your very being? Are you intimate with Christ? Does Christ know you? Do you know Him? And do you know Him this way, like we see in the Scripture? Or is Jesus far away? Is Jesus distant? Is Jesus impersonal? But look at what we see here in verse 12 and 13. Just like what we've seen before, the author backs up what he says, how? By going to the Scripture, the Old Testament Scripture. And here we have three Old Testament quotations, one from Psalm 22 and two from Isaiah chapter 8. So let's look at these quotations.

First verse 12 here in Hebrews is a quotation from Psalm 22, 22. Look back at verse 12. "I will tell of your name to my brothers. In the midst of the congregation, I will sing your praise." Now the point here in this quotation is simple. Psalm 22 is a Messianic Psalm and all these Jews would have seen this Psalm as Messianic. As a matter of fact, Jesus quoted Psalm 22 from the cross. But here in verse 22, it is clear Christ refers to his church, his congregation, his brothers. Do you see that? I like what Warren Wiersby says here.

He says, and I'm quoting, "This means we and the Son of God share the same nature and belong to the same family." My question for you is this. Are you in the family of God? Are you in the family of God? Or are you on the outside? Are you in the family of God? Or are you on the outside? And then the second quotation, we see this in the beginning of verse 13 in Hebrews. It's a quotation from Isaiah 8.17. Look at the verse. "And again, I will put my trust in him." Now the point here is simple.

The writer of Hebrews is emphasizing a point that he has already made clear in all of this teaching the fact that Jesus had completely identified with mankind by taking on human nature. He was and is the eternal Son of God who became a man in every way except sin. And he proved that he truly possessed on human nature while on earth by trusting his father. My question for you here is this. Do you prove that God is your father by trusting him in your life? Or do you prove that you have determined to be the captain of your own life by trusting himself or someone else or something else besides God?

Look folks, one of the basic characteristics of a born-again believer is that they trust in their heavenly father. Let me say that again. One of the most basic characteristics of a born-again believer is that they trust not just in God, no, in their heavenly father. Do you have that kind of relationship with him? Because this was unfolding for me this week and even yesterday when I came to this portion of scripture I looked back on my Christian life. I looked back on how I trusted my father. I looked back on how God called me into the ministry and how I trusted him.

And I looked back at times when that call was changed and God had another plan and things were difficult. There were questions. I didn't know how I trusted my father. I trusted my father. I trusted my father. Even when some question, even when said, "Chris, you should go this way or that way," even when things didn't make sense, I trusted my father. And how he had worked intimately in my life. Do you have that kind of relationship with the father? And then third, the second part of verse 13 is a quotation from Isaiah 8.18.

Real short, look back at the verse and again, "Behold, I and the children God has given me." Now the point here is simple as well. The writer of Hebrews is quoting this verse and saying that Jesus, those who he has redeemed and God the Father, all are a part of one common family. But notice this one word, children. Verse tell us this word can be translated, little children. Go back to the verse. "Behold, I and the little children God has given me." And my question for you is this church. Do we see ourselves as God's little children? Do we submit to God our Father as his little children? Do we relate to our God, our Father as little children?

In love, simple love, in submission, simply submitting to him and trusting him. Do we have that kind of relationship with him? Now take a step back from these Old Testament quotations and notice one common denominator. The word family. You see that? The word family. The writer of Hebrews is showing us that we, the redeemed, we are Christ's brothers and sisters. We are God's children. He is our Father and we trust him. Notice that common denominator? Family. And look church, Grace Life Church especially. We should be one family here in this congregation. You see? We should be families that represent one family.

This is clearly the family of God. Christ is our brother. We are his brothers. We are his sisters. We are God's children. He is our Father and we trust him. Trust him. So verses 11 to 13 are all about the source of our sanctification for the redeemed. God and because of this work of Christ setting apart the redeemed, he thus Christ is not ashamed to call the redeemed. That's us brothers and sisters and the redeemed are the very children of God. Again, do you have this kind of a relationship with God? Are you in the family? Or are you outside the family? Now as I close, think back to the title of the message. Our great and perfect Savior.

That is truly what we are seeing unfolding here. From verses 5 to 9 we see the destiny of the redeemed. We have been redeemed from sin. We have been redeemed from judgment. We have been redeemed from damnation and we have been redeemed to rule the world to come. And from verses 9 to 18 we see the great and perfect Savior who provided our redemption and we see more of who our Savior is, more of what he did and more of what he has provided for us. Now as we pause right here in the verses, I want us to think about these verses as a flower. Now to be honest with you, I'm getting into a little trouble here.

My wife has been on us to redo all of the flowers at our house. You know the drought just destroyed them all. She happens to point out that I have gone turkey hunting a few times and not paid attention to the flowers. So I have backed myself in a corner. But I want us to think about these verses as a flower. You know as a flower blooms, as a flower blooms it begins to bud. Then slowly it begins to open. And when it comes to full bloom, we see the beauty of that flower. We see the fullness of its beauty, isn't that right? And that is what we have here, more of the greatness and the perfections of our Savior being opened up to us.

Now will we ever see the fullness of our Savior? No. But we see the fullness of our Savior as God has revealed to us. So the title of the message, our great and perfect Savior.