we turn again to God's Word in
the portion where we read Hebrews chapter 2 and I'll read again
the last three verses Hebrews chapter 2 the last three verses
from verse 16 for Verily he took not on him the nature of angels
but he took on him the seed of Abraham wherefore in all things
it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren that he might
be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to
God to make reconciliation for the sins of the people for in
that he himself has suffered being tempted he is able to succor
them that are tempted and taking up the subject matter of the
humiliation of the Incarnation, what we witness in the Incarnation
of the Eternal Son of God, in particular the words that we
find here at verse 16, for Verily he took not on him the nature
of angels, but he took on him the seed of Abraham. And speaking of that humiliation
of Christ in the incarnation, I want this morning to deal with
some three headings. First of all, to say something
with regards to the mystery of the person of the Lord Jesus
Christ. and then His Majesty as God, the Eternal Son of the
Eternal Father, and then finally His manifestation in the flesh. First of all then, the mystery
of the person of the Lord Jesus. He is the one who is being spoken
of here in verse 16, for verily He pronoun is clearly in the context
referring to the person of Jesus of Nazareth back in verse 9 Paul
says, but we see Jesus who was made a little lower than the
angels for the suffering of death. This Jesus who is made lower
than the angels It takes upon Him not the nature of angels,
but rather the seed of Abraham, the same Jesus is also seen to
be the Son of God in the opening chapter where we read there.
Remember how this epistle to the Hebrews opens, God who at
sundry times and in diverse manner spake in time past unto the fathers
by the prophets hath in these last days spoken unto us by his
Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things. by whom also He
made the worlds, who being the brightness of His glory, and
the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the
word of His power. How He is spoken of as that one
who is evidently equal to God the Father. In fact, He is referred
to as God by the Father, there at verse
8 in that first chapter, but unto the Son, He says, Thy throne,
O God, is forever and ever. A scepter of righteousness is
the scepter of Thy Kingdom. All the mystery then of the person
of this Jesus, who is none other than the Eternal Son of the Eternal
Father. equal to the Father and to the
Holy Spirit in that great mystery which is God, the doctrine of
the Trinity. Remember the language again of
this Apostle, the same Apostle Paul when he writes to Timothy,
he declares there that without controversy great is that mystery
of Godliness, that God was manifest in the flesh. Professor John Murray makes the
observation that the first mystery of being is the mystery of the
Trinity. He says that is the first, that
is the greatest of all mysteries. The mystery of God, the mystery
of the Trinity. But Professor Murray goes on
to say that the second mystery is that of the incarnation. And that's what we have here.
How that God became a man. How that the eternal Son of God
was manifested in the flesh. These are the two great mysteries
that are set before us here in the Scriptures. First there is
the great doctrine of God. The great truth of the Triniton. the language that we have in
the Old Testament, emphasizing to us the uniqueness of God,
that there is only one living God, only one true God. Hero
Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. And clearly there, particularly
in the Old Testament, we see the unity of the God and there
are No more gods than that one true God, the great I AM, Jehovah,
the God of Israel. And there are indications there
in the Old Testament that whilst God is one, yet there are three
persons in the Trinity. We don't have time to go into
those Old Testament intimations concerning the doctrine of the
Trinity, but there's evidence enough in the Old Testament,
but it's when we come to the New Testament. It's the way in
which God has revealed himself in these last days as Paul is
writing to these Hebrews, Time passed, he had spoken unto
the fathers by and through the prophets, but now in these last
days, why God has spoken unto us by His Son, Him who is the
image of the invisible God. And in the New Testament we see
that great truth of the three persons, three distinct persons. and yet one undivided Godhead. There are three that bear record
in heaven. The Father, the Word, and the
Holy Ghost. And these three are one. Now that scripture in 1 John
5, 7 is so despised. Now it's written out of the modern
versions and perversions of Holy Scripture. They don't like the
doctrine of God. And yet this is that great mystery. And this mystery is an eternal
mystery. It is a mystery that has always
been because God is from everlasting to everlasting. And it is, as
I've said, a mystery that we find revealed to us ultimately
when we come to the New Testament Scriptures. to comprehend the
great three, one is more than highest angels can, or what the
Trinity hath done from death and how to rescue man. But, but
this we know, the language of the hymn writer, how he speaks
of the Trinity involved in the great work of redemption. All
true Christians, this may boast, The truth from nature never learned
that Father, Son and Holy Ghost to save our souls are all concerned. Salvation is of the Lord, that
salvation that was purposed by God the Father, that salvation
that was procured in the fullness of the time by God the Son, when
He came into this world to accomplish that great work that He had undertaken
in the Eternal Covenant. And how that salvation is to
be experienced here is that gracious work of the Spirit who takes
of the things of Christ and reveals them unto the sinner. All the
persons of the Godhead involved in the salvation of sinners. But that mystery, as I said,
is an eternal mystery. It's revealed in the fullness
of the time, but it is that that is from everlasting. It is the
doctrine of God. But then, here is the difference. The mystery of the Incarnation,
what Professor John Murray refers to as that other great mystery,
the mystery of the Incarnation came to birth. The mystery of
the Incarnation is not eternal. there was a time when there was
not the mystery of the Incarnation, but when the fullness of the
time was come. God sent forth his Son, made
of a woman, made under the law. And though there has been, over
all the centuries since the coming of the Lord Jesus, such great
controversy concerning this this mystery of God manifest as a
man. There were grievous heresies
in the early church. There was particularly the heresies
of the Arians who denied the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ
And now as a result we find that there were those great doctrinal
statements drawn up, the creeds. One thinks of such creeds as
the Nicene Creed or the Athanasian Creed. And now, in those creeds,
we have a succinct statement of the doctrine concerning the
person of the Lord Jesus, in the language of the Athanasian
Creed, who although he be God and man, yet he is not two, but
one Christ. There is a mystery. In the person,
the one person of the Lord Jesus, there are two distinct natures.
He is God's, and He is man, and there's no mixing and intermingling
of the natures, they are distinct, and yet He is one person. And
we cannot begin to fathom these great mysteries, the doctrine
of God, the doctrine of the person of the Lord Jesus, it was much
contended. there in the early church, even
at the time of the Protestant Reformation. There were those
who would come and deny again the deity, there were the Sassinians,
there was that uncle and his nephew in Italy, who propounded
heretical views again concerning the person of the Lord Jesus.
Though the reformers had to address that that had been addressed
in the early church and even when we come into the 19th century
there was much contention amongst strict Baptists with regards
to the doctrine of the person of the Lord Jesus. There were
those who denied the truth of His eternal Sonship. They didn't
deny His deity, they recognized Him to be God but they referred
to Him as the Word of God. But they said that he was only
God's son by office. They denied the truth of his
eternal generation and some might be aware of how Mr. Philpot was
one who was raised up to contend for the eternal sonship of the
Lord Jesus. But then even in more recent
times there are those amongst professed St. Baptists to seek
to undermine the doctrine of Christ. They deny the truth now
of his human nature. They say Christ had no human
soul. What a grievous heresy is that. Always contention over the great
mystery of the person of the Lord Jesus. And yet how vital
the doctrine is. One thinks of those words of
John Newton, what thinking of Christ is the test. To try both
your state and your scheme, you cannot be right in the rest,
unless you think rightly of Him. Oh God grant that we might have
right views then, with regard to this mystery. We cannot reason
it, we cannot fathom it, we cannot explain it. There is that mystery
of God Himself, the doctrine of the Trinity, and there's this
other great mystery that was revealed in the fullness of the
time, the mystery of God's manifest in the flesh, the Savior of sinners. But turning in a second place
to say something with regards to His Majesty as God. He is
God. He is God. And we see Him here
in this second chapter. verse 8, Thou hast put all things
in subjection unto His feet. For Him that He put all in subjection
unto Him, He left nothing that is not put unto Him. But now
we see not yet all things put unto Him, but we see Jesus, who
was made a little lower than the angels. Now, there of course
the apostle is referring to the language of the Psalms Psalm
8 and Psalm 144 what is man that thou art mindful
of him or the son of man that thou visitest him who is the
man that is being spoken of well ultimately this is the man Christ
Jesus he is that one who is the second man. He's the last
Adam. He's the Lord's from heaven. He is that one who is the true
man. But here we see that he is also that one who has all
power and all authority. There is a majesty that belongs
to him because he is also God without controversy. Great is
that mystery of godliness. It's God. It's God who was manifest
in the flesh. The words of our text here at
verse 16, verily, and you know the force of that word literally,
it's the word Amen in the original. And we can render it as truly,
or so be it, it is that that cannot be controverted. We have
it as verily in our authorized version, verily He took not on
Him the nature of angels, but He took on Him the seed of Abraham. Oh, He was, you see. He was before
ever. He took on the seed of Abraham. He is that one who is from everlasting. He is the eternal Son of God. Remember how he is spoken of
by Paul again, writing there in Philippians chapter 2, who
being in the form of God, he says, who being in the form of
God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God. And then later in that same chapter
Paul goes on to say, and being found in fashion as a man, He
became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. There are two interesting words
there in verses 6 and 8 of Philippians chapter 2. The words form and
fashion. Who being in the form of God. We are told that that word that
is used, form, as regard to the inner, the essential, the abiding
nature of a thing. That word form indicates the
very mode of being, the mode of existence. He is in the form
of God. You see the strength of the particular
word that he is using. Paul, writing under the inspiration
of the Spirit, is made to choose his words very specifically.
We believe, do we not, in the verbal inspiration of Scripture,
the very words. The words are the words of God. Now this word form then, how
strong a word it is. The inner, the essential, the
abiding nature of a thing is in the form of God. He thinks
it not proper to be equal with God. Equality with God is not
something he needs to grasp after. He is God. He is God. And then, being found in fashion. And the word fashion, we're told,
has to do with the external and accidental appearance of a thing. There's a difference. He is essentially
God. He always was God. But in time,
he comes and he appears as a man. He's a real man. His human nature
is a true human nature. It's that that was conceived
by the Holy Ghost in the womb of a virgin. And it's a real human body, and
it's a real human soul. But that human body, that human
soul is not a person, is it? What does the angel say to Mary?
That holy thing, it's a human nature that is joined to the
person of the eternal Son of God. Well, we see him as that
one then who bears about him all the majesty of God, being
in the form of God. He thought it not robbery to
be equal with God." We have it again here in what
Paul writes at the beginning of the epistle, "...who being
the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his
person, and upholding all things by the word of his power." He's
speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ. when He had by Himself purged
our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.
But see what He is. He is the brightness of God's
glory, the express image of His person. He upholds all things
by the word of His power. He is the image of God. He is the image of the invisible
God. In him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily, says the Apostle. And now in the course
of his earthly ministry there is a revelation of the truth
of his diet. How the miracles demonstrate
who he is. when He performs that first of
His miracles in Cana of Galilee, when He changes the water into
wine. We are told this beginning of
miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee and manifested forth
His glory and His disciples believed in Him. Oh, He revealed to them
by the miracles something of His glorious God. And doesn't
Nicodemus recognize that when that Pharisee comes to Jesus
by night, comes under the cover of darkness? Obviously a man
who has an inquiring mind, is he one who is truly seeking after
the Lord? You know how he is that one to
whom Christ speaks so explicitly in John chapter 3 of the necessity
of the new birth? our man cannot see the kingdom
of God except he be born again, born from above but how Nicodemus
approaches it we know we know that thou art a teacher come
from God no man can do these miracles that thou doest except
God be with him all we see then that the Pharisee must acknowledge
Something remarkable about this person. Even the demons recognize
him when the Lord begins his ministry. We see him there in
Mark chapter 1 in the synagogue at Capernaum. And he heals the
man with the withered arm. And what do the demons say? let us alone, what have we to
do with Thee, Thou Jesus of Nazareth? Art Thou come to destroy us?
I know Thee who Thou art, the Holy One of God." The miracles,
you see. Even make the demons to tremble
before Him when He cast out the demons and so forth. Even with
regards to His own disciples. in Luke chapter 5, there in the
opening part of that chapter where Christ performs another
miracle, that miraculous draft of fishes. How the disciples
have been toiling through the night and they found their fishing
to be all in vain. They not managed to gather much
of a catch. the Lord simply bids them to
cast the nets on the other side of the ship and they take in
a remarkable draught of fishes and it's Peter that impetuous
impulsive disciple of the Lord Jesus who recognizes now his
deity departs from the SS for I am a sinful man always overwhelmed
you see before that display of the deity of the Lord Jesus,
how we see Him revealing then something of His glory even in
the days of His humiliation here upon the earth. Out of those
favoured three again is Peter and James and John, together
with Him, who are taken into the Mount of Transfiguration,
and He is transfigured before them. And they see through the
veil of His human nature, they see something of the glories
that belong to Him. And they hear the voice from
Heaven, This is My Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear
ye, When we come to read then through
the New Testament, when we read in the Gospels, we see him revealing
himself as God. He even declares himself to be
the Great I Am. In John chapter 8, there at the
end he says, Verily, verily, before Abraham was I Am. Before Abraham was, I am. And earlier in the same chapter,
verse 24 of that 8th chapter of John, he says to the Jews,
if you believe not that I am he, ye shall perish in your sins. And you will observe there in
that 24th verse that the pronoun is in italics. He literally says
to those Jews, if you believe not that I am, ye shall perish. in your sins. Many, many times
we've referred to those opening verses in the 18th of John, where
they come to take him, come to arrest him in the garden. And
he declares, I am. Again, the pronoun in those verses
is in italics. They enquire after Jesus and
he says, I am her, as we read it in our authorised version,
but literally he says, I am, and they fall backward. They
fall backward, they cannot lay a finger upon him. He commits
himself into their hands. He is the one who has all power
and all authority. No man is going to take his life
from him. No, He has power to lay that life down. He has power
to take that life again. This is the commandment that
He has received of His Father. Oh, we see something then of
His Majesty. Even as we read through the Gospels. And then of course when we come
to the epistles, how particularly the Apostle Paul and John in
his epistles, how they unfold to us. the great doctrine of
the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. His deity, his humanity. Oh, there's a mystery here. There's
a mystery, it's like unto that first and greatest of all mysteries,
the mystery of God. One God in three persons, now
the mystery of God the Son. But God the Son manifests in
the flesh. God the Son become a man. But we still see, I say, the
great truth of His deity unfolding to us here in the Gospels. But then finally this morning,
there is also this manifestation in the flesh. The language that
we find here in the context of our text verse 14 he says for
as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood
he also himself likewise took part of the same and so in our text verily he
took not on him the nature of angels but he took on him the
seed of Abraham the words, the word flesh. It refers, says Dr. Gill, to the whole of human nature,
a real body, a reasonable soul. That's how the great Dr. Gill understands
it. He takes upon him human flesh
and blood. He's a real man. Now why does
he do this? There's a purpose in view. He
comes now as that one who is going to reconcile the sinner
unto God. Verse 17, Wherefore in all things
it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren. in order that
he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining
to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people."
Here is the reason, here is the purpose for his manifestation
in the flesh. Observe the word that we have
at the beginning of the 17th verse, wherefore Paul is making
a deduction. Here is the reason why he has
taken upon him the seed of Abraham. It behoves him to be made like
unto his brethren, he says. That again is a very strong word
that we have there. It's in order that. In order
that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things
pertaining to God. Oh, in all things. in all things he is identified
with those that he has come to say remember how back in the
ministry of Ezekiel we see how that man as he was to minister
to those who were in the exile had to identify with them he
says I sat where they sat and he sat astonished amongst them.
He goes where they are, where in a far greater sense the Lord
Jesus Christ is that one who has come where his people are
and has altogether identified himself with them. We read of
God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and
for sin, condemned sin in the flesh. The language of scripture,
remarkable really, how this one is so identified with the sinner,
he hath made him to be sin for us. Says Paul, who knew no sin,
that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. When we see him
in those Messianic Psalms. how remarkable it is, he is so
identified with the sinner that he speaks of himself as if he
is the sinner in Psalm 69 for example and that
Psalm is messianic The verse 21 of Psalm
69, we read, They gave me also gall for my meat, in my thirst
they gave me vinegar to drink. That's referred to in all the
Gospels concerning that drink that they offered to Christ as
He cried out, I thirst upon the cross. Psalm 69 is prophetic,
it speaks of Christ. but see the language that is
used in verse 5, O God thou knowest my foolishness and my sins are
not hid from birth. These words are as it were put
into the mouth of the Lord Jesus. I, O God thou knowest my foolishness,
he says. My sins, what the margin says,
my guiltiness, not hidden from them. The Lord Jesus has so come
to identify himself with the sinner. With the sinner. He will stand in the sinner's
place though he be altogether without any sin. No original
sin. No actual sins. Preserved by
the miracle of the virgin birth from every taint of original
sin. And throughout his life that
one who only ever pleased his father, the beloved son in whom
the father declared himself to be well pleased, that one who
is holy and harmless and undefiled and separate from sinners. And yet, how he comes to identify
himself with sinners, because he will reconcile the sinner
unto God. This is the work that he came
to do. We have it there, in the opening chapter of the epistle
to the Colossians how Paul writes to them as those
that were sometime alienated he says you that were sometime
alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works yet now
hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death to
present you holy and unblameable and unreprovable in his sight
All this is the great work that He came to do, to make peace through the blood
of His cross. That One who has made the great
sacrifice, who was born the wrath of God, John says He is the propitiation
for our sins. Here in His love, not that we
love God, but that He loved us and sent His Son. to be the propitiation for our
sins to bear in his own person that that was due to the sinner
even that rot of God that was the sinner's just desert and
he bore it and he cries out in all the agony of his soul my
God my God why hast thou forsaken me and who for? well it's all for Abraham see
Verily he took not on him the nature of angels, but he took
on him the seed of Abram. He is Abram's seed. To Abram and his seed were the
promises made. He saith not unto seeds as of
many, but as of one unto thy seed, which is Christ. Well, Christ is Abram's seed. All the Jews make their boasts
that they are the seed of Abraham, but Christ is the seed of Abraham.
And all those who are in Christ, they which are of faith, the
same are the children of Abraham. These are the ones that He comes
for. We see the truth even of His great work in terms of particular
redemption, it's for a particular people. It's for those who are in Abraham.
It's for believers and for non-others. And He comes to deliver. Oh, how He delivers His people.
For as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood,
we're told He also Himself likewise took part of the same that through
death he might destroy him that had the power of death that is
the devil and deliver them who through fear of death were all
their lifetime subject to bondage or he comes to deliver a people from all that that they know
of torment because of their sins all that dreadful fear of death
how He has vanquished sin and death, how He has triumphed so
gloriously in the resurrection. O death, where is thy sting?
O grave, where is thy victory? The strength of sin is death. But the Lord Jesus Christ is
that One who has gloriously not only suffered in the sinner's
place but risen for the sinner. and now ascended on high, and
there of course in heaven, what does he do? He suckers. He suckers
his people. That's what we're told, is it
not? The end of the chapter, in that he himself hath suffered
being tempted, he is able to sucker them that are tempted.
It's interesting again to observe the the word that he uses here,
this word to sucker it's one of those compound words there
are two parts to it the first part means to cry the second
part means to run to cry, to run how are we to understand
it? well it has this idea of sucker,
it's a good rendering, sucker as the people cry. So the Lord is that one who runs
to them. He comes so speedily. His help is instant. He is able
to succor them. He's there for them immediately.
God is our refuge and strength. A very present help, says the
psalmist, in time of trouble. or how he is that one you see
who is touched with the feeling of all their infirmities. That's what we're told later
in the end of the fourth chapter. We have not an high priest which
cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in
all points tempted like us, we are yet without sin. Let us therefore
come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy
and find grace to help in time of need." Or we can suck them. This is what he does, he is that
one who has become a real man. identified himself all together
with his people that one who is spoken of in
chapter 5 who in the days of his flesh when he had offered
up prayer and supplication with strong crying and tears unto
him that was able to save him from death and was heard in that
he feared though he were a son though he were a son the eternal
son yet learned he many thinks by all that he suffered how necessary then that he should
be manifest in the flesh that he should become to his people
bone of their bone and flesh of their flesh or how he comes
to take hold of them it's interesting to observe that we do have a
The marginal reading here, you will observe in the verse, the
16th verse, that there are several words that are in italics. And
you know the significance of that, we can omit those words
really, they're not a translation of anything that's there in the
original, they've been brought in by the translators to bring
out the sense. But if we omit them, verily he
took not on angels, but he took on the seed of Abraham. And the margin, indicates that
we could read it like this, verily, he taketh not hold of angels
but of the seed of Abraham he taketh hold. Oh, how he takes
hold of his people. And how has he taken hold of
his people in all the humiliation of the incarnation. He who is
God. How he becomes a real man. How
as a man he knows what it is to suffer, to be tempted. tempted
in all points like as we are. And so He's able therefore to
to succor His people. He feels for them. They cry to
Him. Oh, He comes immediately to their
aid. This is the one that He said before us then. The great
truth of His incarnation and all that that entails. The mystery
of it or the majesty of Him as that one who is truly God. and
yet how in the fullness of the time we see him manifested in
the flesh and all this for his people he comes to deliver them
who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to
bondage or let us be those then who would seek that we might
know more of him do we have that desire to know him? what do we
think of him? Or what think you of Christ?
Whose Son is He? Is He this One that we desire
to know and to contemplate, to meditate upon? Well, the Lord
help us and bless to us His own Word, for His name's sake.