The Book of Hebrews 2:9-13 By the grace of God
Hebrews 2:9-13 · Vern Peterman · May 12, 2013
Hebrews, No. 06
Holly Hills Bible Church
https://www.hollyhillsbiblechurch.org/teaching/messages/4926351586205

Transcribed from the recording by SermonAudio, so expect the occasional misheard word.

Good morning. And again, happy Mother's Day to the mothers young and old among us here. We're certainly thankful for the immense part that the mothers have had in our lives. And my own mother is here, and so I would publicly like to thank her for that.

Today, we're going to continue in this study of Hebrews And we'll be in Hebrews 2, 9 through 13, as Wayne just read for us here. And this verse, Hebrews 2, 9, that we had a portion of on the screen is a very pivotal verse, pivotal in the book of Hebrews for sure.

Christ is referred to previously up to this point as the Son, capital S-O-N. Hebrews until this verse very interesting that you think well Jesus and Christ and those kinds of words that would be in there no Jesus was referred to as the Sun up until this verse so the entire first chapter of He's referred to as the Son. The first part of chapter 2 up until this point, He's referred to as the Son.

Now, originally, excuse me, the first point here, He's called Jesus. One of the things we're going to find is that there are some particular things that Jesus is called as we proceed through the book of Hebrews. I have a listing on the screen here. This is not in your handout, but it is an important introduction and we're likely to encounter others. As we mentioned, Jesus is called the Son, capital S-O-N, in the first chapter. And earlier in chapter 2, up until this point, now he's called Jesus. In the very next verse, 2.10, the Author.

In 2.17, which we'll get to next week, the High Priest. And that theme will continue on in subsequent chapters.

Hebrews 3.1, the Apostle. And shortly thereafter at 3.3, a Builder. He is called, finally, in chapter 3, Christ. So very interesting. The first chapter, Son. Second chapter, Jesus. The third chapter, Christ. So a unique approach there. He is in chapter 6, 12, the forerunner. The forerunner. The two names together, Jesus Christ. By the way, that's not his first and last name, just so you know.

Jesus Christ in 10.10. Perfecter. It's interesting, we previously have seen that Jesus was perfected, but now the perfecter of us, in 12.2, and in 13.20, the Great Shepherd. And by the way, that's very interesting. It's the only time that the word shepherd, or pastor, as it's sometimes called, is used as a title in the entire New Testament. Isn't that interesting? Okay, so we'll be taking a look at that as we proceed through Hebrews and bring that up again.

Hebrews 2.9 is pivotal not just for that, it is also a place where grace is mentioned the first of seven times in Hebrews.

So grace is used here in this verse and we're going to discover that Hebrews provides some important and in some cases unique insights into grace. We went through a series called Law and Grace and guess what? We're not done. We've just scratched the surface, right? And so we're going to see in this passage and in subsequent passages as we walk our way through Hebrews, this word grace is going to continue to unfold as a very important and insightful word. We're going to get unique insights into this word grace and what it means as we step our way through the book of Hebrews. And then we do see Him.

We do see Him. Now notice that present tense. Some of you may be thinking, wait a minute, this was written several decades after Christ ascended. How can you use that in present tense? How do we see Him right now? Through the Word. This was a focus that we had earlier in the month of March in our series called Beholding the Lord Through His Word.

We saw in 2nd Corinthians 3 18, but we all beholding the glory of the Lord John 1 1 through 18 we saw his glory full of grace and truth again 1st John 1 1 through 4 we have seen with our eyes the word of life and Then finally as we will also see in Hebrews 12 1 and 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus this passage here is telling us the same message we see the Lord through the Word of God we behold the Lord through his word and so he begins that scene here in the second chapter in the twelfth chapter he'll return to it again now something else in this verse Hebrews 2.9 is also pivotal angels again but not for the last time angels as we saw shows up in the plural in the first chapter of Hebrews again plural here in the second chapter one more time and we're going to see angels again but not until chapters 12 and 13 always in the plural so angels will be brought up for the last time in Hebrews 2.16 the passage will look at next week until we get to chapters 12 and 13, the last two chapters.

So the first two chapters mention angels, the last two chapters mention angels, always in the plural. And by the way, always in the plural, never mentioning a name. We find from elsewhere the names of Michael and Gabriel. Other than that, we don't have any angel names. Angels, as we said before, were all created all at once. They have no gender and do not reproduce.

Jesus said that We will be like the angels are now, neither male nor female, neither married nor given in marriage. So your maleness and femaleness, that's for here. I know a lot of you guys will be really sad to leave your maleness behind, but that's the way it's going to be. Maleness and femaleness is for earthly times. Angels have no gender and do not reproduce, never have.

There was a time window in the ancient past for the angels to choose for or against the Lord. As we have revealed in Revelation chapter 12, a third of the angels chose not to follow the Lord and were cast from heaven. Their wills, all the angels' wills, are now fixed. That is, they are constantly choosing for or against the Lord.

The angels of heaven are always choosing to obey the Lord. because their wills are fixed. They're not tempted and wondering and thinking, why should I or shouldn't I? Or I'm really tempted today. They don't go through that. Angels are not said to be made in God's image, the point we made last week.

It's very clear from the book of Genesis from starting with chapter 1. all the way through the book and even into the New Testament. First Corinthians and the book of James continue the theme that we human beings are made in God's image and likeness, not so of the angels.

And one of the points we made about angels is there's a lot of angel mythology still out there. Everything from little angels being these little tiny babies to angels having romantic inclinations to angels being either some gorgeous babe or a buff dude that looks like he's been lifting weights for a thousand years. And all those are mythologies. As a matter of fact, there's no indication that any of this is true from scripture, which is the only thing we can really count on with regards to angels.

We pointed out in last Sunday's handout, the angels of heavens are God's servants sent on assignment, sometimes to earth, to deal out judgment, reveal truth, and enforce righteousness. They are not sexual beings, but when they do appear, they appear to be in male form. Not for the sake of reproduction, but for the sake of form.

Oh, one other thing. You know, all our popular mythology, you know, about angels. One of them, we've got all sorts of songs, including, you know, things like songs about some angel face, you know, and usually about some gal that's got an angel face. Well, let me tell you. One of the first things the angels do when they appear to a human being is, don't be afraid. So if this gal's got an angel face, whoa, watch out. Here's what you do have in today's handout.

The angels of heaven are spiritual beings As are we human beings. They're spiritual beings, so are we. We're not of the same category. It does not appear that there's any changing of form from one to the other. That is, angels to human beings are human beings to angels. That's also a part of the mythology, and it gets into our songs and things of that sort, popular songs where somebody dies and they become an angel. That just never happens. That's mythology. That's not reality. Human beings never turn into angels. Angels never turn into human beings in any permanent form. Now, having said that, the sun became lower than the angels. He voluntarily became lower than the angels.

Jesus Christ, while still fully deity, he was fully God, and as we saw in today's passage studying the Gospel of John elective, he repeatedly claimed to be God. While still fully deity, set aside for a time the great privileges of deity, such that he took on for that time a place lower than the angels, and he did so for a specific reason. the one who commanded angels the one who commanded angels now for a time volunteers to step into time to become lower than the angels he did so voluntarily it wasn't a heavenly whoops wasn't that he voluntarily became lower than the angels then born of Mary fully God and fully man while christ was born of mary at the right time and by the way the bible does say that christ was born at the right time and was sent by the father only to the lost sheep of the house of israel very interesting matthew chapter ten as we studied some months ago jesus sent his disciples two by two he said go only to the lost sheep of the house of israel do not go even on a road that leads to the gentiles when christ in chapter fifteen had an appeal from a Phoenician woman, a Canaanite woman. He said, I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Christ suffered and tasted death for everyone.

Everyone. Have you ever had somebody tell you, well, what I've done is so bad that Christ can't die for my sins? I've occasionally come across that. Well, guess what? This says it right here. Everyone. Nobody has done anything so bad that Christ cannot pay for their sins. Christ died for everyone on the planet for all time everywhere. Even the ones we've forgotten about. Even the ones we never thought about. Christ died for everyone for all time. from Adam until the last person born on this planet. The sun became lower than angels.

Why? So that he could die for the sins of you and me, and all the others on this planet. Now, this is also a fascinating verse, and it's the first place in Hebrews, verse 7, where grace is brought up. Now, whenever you see grace, and then somebody says, but, at the end of it, watch out. Except for now. I'm going to do it. However, this is an exception.

Absolute grace was extended to us by Christ's death on the cross for everyone on the planet. You and I are the recipients of absolute grace. And there's no way we could earn it. There's no way we could pay for it. There's no way we could merit it. Christ's death on the cross for us was absolute grace and nothing else. But that is only possible because Christ satisfied God's absolute holiness and justice. When Christ was there on the cross, taking your sins and mine upon himself, there was no grace between the Father and the Son. Every single sin had to be completely and totally paid for. No exceptions. Every single one.

So that when Christ was done, he said, it is finished. And that word was actually just one word. We say it is finished. That's three words in English. One word in the original language. It's an accounting term, meaning paid. Paid. That's what Jesus said.

Christ had to pay the complete and total price, no exceptions, for every single one of the sins of each one of us without any exceptions, without any omissions. He didn't forget anything. Every single one was paid for there on the cross, no matter how small, no matter how unknown, or no matter how heinous and horrific. Every single one was paid for. Jesus said, It is finished is the way it's commonly translated. It's all paid permanently. That's what the original language means. It's all paid permanently. Every single one. No exceptions. And he didn't die until that was done and said.

But this verse also said that Jesus was crowned with glory and honor because of that. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, as He was called beginning in the first chapter, was crowned with glory and honor, having been crucified, buried, raised, ascended, and seated at the right hand of the Father.

Okay? Crowned with glory and honor. And guess what? Those are the five things, those are the five things in which we were identified with Him when we were placed, baptized into, immersed into Christ. Okay? We were crucified with Him, we were buried, raised, ascended, and seated with Him. So as He went through those things, we did as well. He's crowned with glory and honor now, and we're spiritually seated there with Him in our eternal position in Christ. There where we've been blessed, and there where we have a citizenship.

He's crowned with glory and honor. This passage, one of the things you notice, He's crowned with glory and honor. Are the angels crowned with glory and honor? No. Not. No angel ever died on the cross for you and me. We were not identified with any angel in the death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and seating. No. Jesus alone, crowned with glory and honor.

You have here on Page 1, a slide that looks like this. The Lamb receives glory and honor in Revelation chapter 5. By the way, this is just before the beginning of the tribulation period, which could start this afternoon. This is the beginning of the tribulation period. It follows in the next chapter. So this is the way this passage reads.

And then I looked and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders and the number of them was myriads and myriads. By the way, that's the biggest number in the Greek numbering system. So it's like, that's as big a number as I can possibly come up with. And just, you know, myriads and myriads. Ten thousands of ten thousands is what it means. And thousands of thousands saying with a loud voice. And I don't do the loud voice anymore because it wakes up the kids in the nursery. Something fierce. Okay.

So, worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing. Is the Lamb worthy of glory and honor? yes he is okay we're not done and every created thing which is in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea and all things in them I heard saying to him who sits on the throne and to the lamb be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever and the four living creatures kept saying amen and the elders fell down and worshiped Jesus Christ the lamb is indeed worthy of glory and honor confirmed right here Confirmed right here. Now, in verses 10 and 11, it's full of pronouns. And as people read through it, they're going, who's he and him and all that.

So let's clarify that. You have a slide here. I believe it's towards the end, if not the last one, on page one. And the pronouns go like this. For it was fitting for him, and that is, we're going to identify that as God the Father. For whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons, that's us, you and me, in the body of Christ, to glory, to perfect the author of their, that is the sons, us in the body of Christ, salvation through sufferings, Jesus' sufferings. For both he, Christ, who sanctifies, And those who are sanctified, that's us in the body of Christ, are all from one father. And by the way, that word father is inserted in there as being implied by the context, not because it's in the original language. For which reason he, Christ, is not ashamed to call them, that's us, who are in the body of Christ, brethren. Okay. You got that? Hope so. Okay. Let's step our way through those identifications that we just pointed out here.

So in verses 10 and 11, it's appropriate and fitting that God the Father, who is to be blessed and who has orchestrated all of the great spiritual accomplishments and conferred blessings, to bring many sons to glory. The blessed be the God and Father is the third verse in Ephesians chapter 1. That exact same phrase, by the way, also shows up in 1 Peter and it also shows up in the book of Daniel. Blessed be the God and Father.

To bring many sons to glory. It's fitting and appropriate to bring many sons to glory. A son, and it's important to recognize this, why does he use the word sons? Because I'm sure a lot of you ladies are thinking, you know, wait a minute, how come I get called a son? Right? Of course you're thinking that. Now, the reason is this.

A son does not mean male. Right? A son's not male. A son is one who is like in character and close in relationship. So when you see that kind of expression in the Bible, you know, we're sons or even a child of, that's the intent. Okay? Like in character and close in relationship. Even when it shows up in Ephesians chapter 2, for example, as the sons of disobedience, it still means like in character and close in relationship. Got that? Right? So you don't need to worry about it whether you're male or female. Right? Either way. Okay. So a son is one who is like in character and close in relationship. And you can relax about the gender thing. Okay.

It was God the Father who was brought to final completion and accomplishment. Christ's work on the cross. Let's take this. If Christ had gone and died supposedly for our sins, and the Father had no involvement at all, would that work? No. No. First of all, The agreement, as we'll study later in Hebrews, the agreement that that was to take place happened between the Father and the Son before God said, let there be light. Before God created anything, this whole deal, how are we going to deal with sin? Because it's going to happen. Adam's going to blow it. Adam's going to blow it. How are we going to deal with that? So this arrangement was made in eternity past. The second thing, for Christ to take the sins upon Himself would do absolutely no good at all if the Father was not there to look upon His Son with our sins upon Him and to turn away. It takes the Father for this to work.

Christ works on the cross on our behalf as wonders phenomenal and as astounding as that is as Immensely gracious as that is would do nothing if it wasn't for God the father It wouldn't have accomplished the intended goal Now God the son Jesus says he's called the first time here in verse 9 God the son Jesus was perfected and by the way that doesn't mean he was previously imperfect and What does it mean when we have it in brackets here?

That is, brought to final completion and full accomplishment. That's what's meant by that. Brought to final completion and full accomplishment in his sufferings on the cross for you and me. It didn't make him perfect, and he was previously imperfect. What it did is make him the completer. He's the completer, the one who accomplishes the things that God intended.

Jesus is the one who sanctifies us as this passage says by his work on the cross. What does sanctify mean? It means to set apart for a holy purpose. To set apart for a holy purpose. To sanctify means to set apart for a holy purpose. It is position, that is your eternal position, who you are, who God has made you to be. It is condition and its process. Those three things. Let me give you examples. This is not in your handout.

1 Corinthians 1.2.

Here Paul is writing to the church at Corinth, which is one of the most messed up church bodies in existence at the time. What does he do? He's writing to this messed up church that's squabbling and fighting. It has factions. They're approving immorality.

What does he say to this messed up church body? To the church of God, which is at Corinth, to those who have been And by that, that's a completed past action who have been sanctified, set apart for a specific and holy purpose. You saints at Corinth, you're really, really messed up. And only two chapters later, he's going to say, you guys are all fleshly.

They've got problems. Oh, you can't believe the problems that they have. Well, I guess you have to, right? It's in the Bible. But anyway, they have terrible, terrible problems. And he says, you're all permanently, positionally set apart and made holy. Wow. OK. If that doesn't make your head spin, let's look at the next one. Hebrews 10, so we're going to get there. 14 and 15, there's the process. For by one offering He has perfected for all time. Here, there's the permanent part, right? Perfected for all time those who are being in the process of being sanctified.

So there is position, there is process, and the third one is your condition. Paul writes to the church at Thessalonica. Chapter 4, verses 3 and 4, this is the will of God, your sanctification, that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality. In your condition, as you abstain from sexual immorality, you are being set apart conditionally as you do that for a holy purpose. God has a reason.

He's not just being stingy. He's not just being picky. He's not saying, I don't like that, and you know why I don't like that? It's because I don't like that. That's not what God's doing. There's a reason it has to do with in our condition being set apart. So we've been sanctified in our position, we can, and it is God's intent that we be sanctified as a process and in our condition.

He is also the author and perfecter. The perfected author and perfecter, this passage talks about Christ being perfected, that is, not that he is made perfect when he previously was imperfect, but that he is the one who completes and accomplishes. Christ is the author and originator of the faith of all of us, since he is the one who is the executor, to use a term out of estate planning and whatnot, executor of all of our salvation. He is a leader or pioneer. That's another way to look at this word that's translated author. A leader or pioneer in the faith that saves us. He gets it started. He takes the lead.

Hebrews 2.10 says that the Father perfected Christ, the author and originator.

And as we'll see when we get there, if the Lord allows so long, Hebrews 12.2 says that Christ, the author and originator, is also the perfecter of our faith. Isn't that interesting? The Father makes Christ the perfecter, the one perfected.

And now we'll see in Hebrews 12.2 that he is the same word, author and originator, but he is also the perfecter of our faith. Father perfected Christ, Christ will perfect us. See that? Now, sons and brethren, a family resemblance here.

Hebrews 2.10 says that we who believe are sons who are brought by God the Father by means of Christ. We're sons. And again, you don't have to worry about the male and female thing because you know what sons means. Like in character and close in relationship. As sons, we are like in character and close in relationship to God. God pulled it off. And God the Father in this passage is particularly credited with that. Our relationship with Christ is so close that He calls us His brethren. His brethren.

Hebrews 2.11.

Now, it's interesting, a number of you, I'm sure, have distant relatives. Nancy and I have been in recent contact with a cousin of mine, but somewhere on this chart here, you know, third cousin, twice removed, all that kind of thing, a cousin of mine who actually is fairly distantly related to me. But, okay, as a matter of fact, we haven't figured out exactly how many times we're moved in third or fourth. I have no idea.

But God, when he makes us part of the family, there is no complicated issue. We are sons of the Father. We are Christ's brethren. Period. Okay? God has no nephews. Okay? God has no grandchildren. Okay? And most certainly not any stepchildren. Okay? We are sons of the Father and we are Christ's brethren. That's what this passage makes clear. We have a direct family relationship. And the family resemblance is intentional. Like in character and close in relationship. Really close. Not even grandchildren. As sons of the same Father as Christ and brethren of Christ, we are close family. We are close family.

So Hebrews 2, 12, and 13 say this, saying, I will proclaim your name to my brethren. 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 whom God has given me. These are three quotes out of the Old Testament. In the Greek Old Testament, this is from Psalm 22, 22, Isaiah 8, 17, and 8, 18.

So that's where those quotes are from. The chapter and verse numbers that we have here were not included in the Bible until many centuries after the time when the Bible was completed. So that's why you don't have reference to these numbers here. But if you want to look those up, that's where they come from.

Now, one of the things we want to point out, as we have previously, why do the quotes of the Old Testament differ from the words in the Old Testament when we read it? And the reason is good and solid and makes sense. The various English versions of the Old Testament were translated in the last couple of centuries from Hebrew, or in a few places from Aramaic, by scholars who were Christians in our Bibles. The Greek Old Testament was translated from Hebrew and Aramaic about two centuries before the birth of Christ by Jewish scholars who didn't know English, and they didn't know Jesus either, because they hadn't been born yet. So rather than a direct translation from Hebrew to English, it's Hebrew to Greek to English. is the way we get that when we read it in the New Testament. So hence, by the double translation, you'll get differences between what's quoted in the New Testament and what's actually in the Old Testament by the same reference.

One other thing, and the New Testament authors at times made interpretation and application of those Old Testament verses and passages that you wouldn't necessarily read from reading the Old Testament text itself. And that's the case here. If you read each of those passages, you wouldn't necessarily conclude the same thing that the author of Hebrews is concluding.

They made those interpretations and applications by apostolic authority, as apostles and by those who are sponsored by the apostles. What do I mean by sponsored? Let's take, for instance, Luke. Was Luke an apostle? No. But he wrote the book of Luke and he wrote the book of Acts. Who was his sponsor? The apostolic sponsor was Paul, right? We have Mark. Was Mark an apostle? Mark was not an apostle. Who was his apostolic sponsor? Peter. And we have in writing from Peter that he is the sponsor. So when you have a book that is not written by an apostle, it has an apostolic sponsor that goes along with it. As such, as they made these interpretations and applications, they were inspired to do so because all scripture is inspired by God, right? Now, let's take a look at the last point here.

God the Father, God the Son, the Father's Sons, and Christ's Brethren. See, God the Father here in this passage is credited with accomplishment. He was the one who orchestrated things, and before God said, let there be light, made arrangements for the things that Christ would do, and agreements, and also carry out his own part. as things were created and the world unfolded.

It was He who brought us as sons into a family relationship with Himself through Christ's cross work. You are sons, like in character and close in relationship, and you are brethren of Christ by the Father's doing. This passage gives the Father credit for that. By the Father's doing, you have an eternally close relationship with the Father and the Son. You are made by the Father's doing to be sons, and you are by the Father's doing brought in to be brethren, and Christ Himself will claim you as brethren.

God the Son, Jesus Christ, is credited here in this passage with sanctifying us, making us fit for and set apart for a holy purpose. Calling us brethren into family relationship with the father and it doesn't get any closer than that All of those are forever family relationships, okay, the relationship that you have with the father is not going to slip It's not going to go, whoops!

There's not going to be any of that where you suddenly lost out. You know, we had you in a relationship with the Father, but somehow it got kind of messed up along the way. Nuh-uh. Not happening. You will be son to the Father for eternity. You will be brother to Christ for eternity. A close family relationship forever. God the Father said it would be so, God the Son carried it out. To the credit of the Father and the Son. Jesus prayed for us to the Father in this way, and he prayed about a close relationship.

Look at this, John 17, 20 and 21. I do not ask on behalf of these alone, that is the disciples, but for those who will believe in me through their word. Is that you? Yeah, that's you and me. "...that they may all be one, even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they may also be in us." What does that say? Are you in the Son? Are you in Christ the Son? And what does it also say? You're in the Father. Oh. Oh. You're in the Father. You're in the Son.

"...so that the world may believe that you sent me." Christ prayed for you. He prayed directly to the Father for you. And what he prayed does not mean, here's God's not the old man upstairs. It's an intimate family relationship that he prayed about, that the Father intended and accomplished, and Christ also had an essential part in. We have intimacy positionally, with the Father and with the Son. And it is God's intent that that intimacy be carried on and lived out every single day on into eternity.

Let's pray. Lord, thank you as we look at this very special passage. Boy, what phenomenal relationship, intimacy, fellowship you designed and intended. And Lord, what a wonderful thing. We can be forever close with you, close to you, intimate with you, and we pray that we would be learning that each and every day from this day forward. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.