May 1, 2022 Preaching | Ptr. Jay Jackson
Last Sunday, Pastor Jay continued to take us through our series on Hebrews. A book that through its chapters shows us how God’s old covenant was made even better with His new covenant and the coming of our Messiah. A book that through its pages also leads us towards a call to follow Jesus and to bear His cross. So, in our journey towards understanding this book’s bigger picture, we turned the page to Hebrews 2: 5-18.
These verses begin with some bad news – the state of mankind today. We’re placed in charge of all creation, but we’re unable to fully subject it because of our brokenness, “God left nothing that is not subject to them. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to them” (v.8). We’re specially chosen by God to take charge of this planet since the days of Adam and Eve, but we’re unable to fully subject it because of our fall to Satan’s temptation.
It is against this backdrop of bad news, that the author of Hebrews sets the good news of our great salvation. It is amidst this brokenness that we see even better the beauty of what Jesus our Messiah has done for us on the cross. Jesus is better than the angels because though we did not deserve it, He humbled and offered Himself as a perfect sacrifice for our sins. “But we do see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone” (v.9). Though we are but a speck in the vastness of the universe, He saw us, loved us, and came to pay a debt He did not owe for a debt we could not pay. Through this act of grace, He frees us from the hold of sin, and calls us to become His brothers and sisters, God’s sons and daughters, members of His royal family.
Not only this, Jesus is better because he humbled Himself to share in our humanity. In doing so, He also became our perfect leader. One that leads not by telling us what to do from a lofty pedestal, but by influencing us and helping us live our lives by His very example. One that’s able to do this because He Himself experienced what it is to be human, to feel, to be tempted. “Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted” (v.18).
Jesus invites us to accept His gift of salvation, take up His cross, and follow Him. He calls us to seek His help to resist temptation, and to live our lives as His brothers and sisters. He goes ahead of us, beckons us towards Him, and asks us “Are you willing to follow Me?”.