Hebrews chapter 2, I've entitled
this message, One So High for One's So Low. If you get the
message of Hebrews chapter 2, you'll see that it's about the
Lord Jesus Christ, about Him not only as Son of God, but as
the Son of Man, who stooped so low to save those who were so
foul and perverse and guilty in themselves. So that's what
this chapter is about. It's about how He did that, how
He actually saved us from our sins. And then it's also about
the emphasis of His reigning glory because of what He did.
and how that he has already taken possession of our inheritance
in glory and will bring this world to an end so that we look
forward not to what we have in this world or what the world
can give us, but to the world to come where he has earned all
for us and will give us all things with himself. As we read a moment
ago, in Romans 8 where Ramel said that if God has not spared
his own son but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not
with him also freely give us all things? That's the wonder
of God's grace. So we're going to begin in Hebrews
chapter 2 after we pray. If you want to turn to Hebrews
2 if you're not already there. Hebrews is a wonderful book of
scripture that teaches us in great clarity the greatness of
our Lord Jesus Christ, not only in his own person, but in his
work and the greatness of what he has done for us. Eye has not
seen, ear has not heard the things God has prepared for them that
love Him, and yet He has revealed them to us by His Spirit, and
this is how we know it from His Word. Let's pray. Father, we
thank You for the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior, our hope,
our all. He, Lord, not we, has done all
to please You and to fulfill all of our righteousness and
to take away all of our sins. And it is to Him we look, not
to ourselves, for all strength and all grace. And it is for
Him that we look, not this world, not a life that we're going to
enjoy here in the world, but in the world to come. We pray,
Lord, that you would show these things to us, each one, in our
hearts. that we would be convinced of the truth of your word, convinced
of the greatness of our Savior, convinced of the horrible, terribleness
of our sin, and that judgment that we face that we might, with
great thanksgiving in our heart, embrace Christ in gladness of
trust for his great grace and mercy to us that he would so
give himself to save us from our sins, to have us for himself
and to give us with himself eternal glory. We ask these things for
the sake of your body, for the glory of your name, for the glory
of our God and Father. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Hebrews chapter 2. In the first chapter, we read
about Jesus Christ, first of all, as the Son. The theme of
chapter one is the Son. Remember, in these last days,
God has spoken to us by his Son. So the theme of chapter one is
the Son. Of course, that's the theme throughout. We don't lose
the theme of Christ being the son of God by leaving chapter
one, but we gain something that is hinted at and only introduced
in chapter one, which is Christ as man, the son of man. And so
the theme of chapter one is primarily the son of God. The theme of
chapter two is the son of man. The Lord Jesus Christ is both
son of God and son of man. He is the son of God in himself,
in his divine person. But as son of man, he is the
son of man by God's choosing him, by God appointing and providing
him and sending him into the world. In Hebrews chapter 10,
he says, a body hast thou prepared me. And that was his prayer when
he came into the world, when God sent him to save his people
from their sins. He had to become the Son of Man
to save us because that's our nature. We are people born of
Adam and we are therefore partakers. We have flesh and blood. And
so he himself had to take part of that nature that we have.
So the writer of the book of Hebrews raises this question,
what is man? In Hebrews 2, verse 6, it says,
what is man that thou art mindful of him? And that question is
raised against the backdrop of the greatness of the Lord Jesus
Christ as Son of God. because he has already introduced
Christ as the Son of God, and then slightly introduced him
as our High Priest in chapter 1, verse 3, and Son of Man. He goes on in chapter 2 to ask
this question, what is man that thou art mindful of him? And
that question is important because it sets the stage for What follows? Man is made lower than the angels
for a little time. That's what it means when it
says he was made a little lower than the angels in verse seven
of chapter two. Thou hast made him a little lower
than the angels. God made mankind lower than the
angels for a time. Not forever, but for a time.
The word little there means a duration of time, a short time. Angels
were in God's order are higher than people at this time. But in the world to come, the
angels will be the servants of God's saints. And there's a good
reason for that, and we're going to look at that in a little bit
here. The point here, though, is that
we can't really form correct views of our position as men
and women unless we have first a correct view of the greatness
of our Savior as God and as the one who God has appointed to
be heir of all things. So to answer this question, what
is man that thou art mindful of him? God says that this is
a question we should be asking. God asks it and He answers it.
In Psalm chapter 8, we looked at that last week. We stand amazed
that God would have any interest in, consider at all, care for
men, especially that He would save men because we are sinful. And we are, in ourselves, in
our minds, and by our works, we are the enemies of God. Romans
8, 7 says the carnal mind, which we are by nature, is not subject
to the law of God, and we cannot be. Our nature is so perverse,
we can't change it. We can't change ourselves, we
can't take away our guilt, we're helpless and hopeless. God has
to have sovereign grace upon us. He has to consider us as
people, as man, as we use the word man to refer to our own
nature. But he has for a time made us
lower than the angels. But in the world to come, that's
what he says in verse five, for unto the angels hath he not put
in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak. But he goes
on, he says, but one in a certain place, Psalm 8, said this, what
is man that thou art mindful of him, or the son of man that
thou visitest him? Thou madest him a little lower
than the angels, thou crownest him with glory and honor, and
did set him over the works of thy hands, talking about man.
Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet, for in that he
put all in subjection under him. He left nothing that is not put
under him. But the problem is, is we don't
see that, do we? We don't see all things put under
man. So what we have here is creation. God compares us to
his creation. And in comparing us to his creation,
he asks this question, what is man? He's really insignificant,
nothing. Man is nothing. He's a fallen
creature. And he's now, for a time, made
lower than the angels. But God said in his word, therefore,
it must be so and must be fulfilled that he has put all things under
man. So the question is, how did God
put all things under man? Did he put all things under those
born to Adam? And the answer is no. It wasn't
in Adam that all things were put in subjection to man. Then
how? How will God's word be fulfilled?
And that's the revelation he's bringing out here. Not to the
angels. No, no, but to Christ the man,
Christ the son of man. God has put all things in subjection
to Christ and to all those in Christ the Lord. Not to those
in Adam, but to those in Christ. And so he contrasts Christ in
chapter one to the angels as the creator, as the one who they
are commanded to worship, as the only begotten son. They are
his servants and they serve him by serving his people, the heirs
of salvation, the last verse of chapter one. But here we see
that something else is going to happen. In the world to come,
all things will be put under Christ as they now are, but not
to Christ only, but to him with his people. And this boggles
our mind, doesn't it? It draws us back and makes us
wonder how could God refer to us as those to whom he would
put all things in subjection. But it's all for Christ's sake,
you see. It's all for what he has given us in the Lord Jesus
Christ. How did God do this? How did
he just arbitrarily predestinate us to be with Christ, the heirs
of all things? to be those to whom God has put
the world to come in subjection. And even the world now is considered
ours. He says in 1 Corinthians 3.21-23,
all things are yours. The world, life, things present,
things to come, all things are yours. The apostles, the ministry
of the gospel, even the world, everything is working together
for our good. So all things are now ours, but we don't see it,
do we? It does not yet appear what we
shall be, but we know when he shall appear, 1 John 3, verse
2, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. And
therefore, having this hope in ourselves as the sons of God,
then we have great confidence. So this world now is a temporary
thing. The life you live is obviously
temporary. You're going to die. And it won't
be long. You might have 10 years, 50 years,
maybe 75 years. Who knows? The Lord knows. But
God has appointed a time for us to die. It's in his hands. It has been appointed unto man
once to die. So we will die. And this world
will be folded up as a garment. Christ who created it, for whom
it was made, is going to put it away. And then he's going
to create it new. And in that new world, in the
world to come, the Lord Jesus Christ will reign with his people
over all things. And the angels will be lower
than his people. Because what? Because we are
the sons of God. Now I want you to think about
what scripture has said as Rommel reminded us from Romans chapter
8. And let me ask you this question, does God love angels? Does he? My brother Terry asked me that
question a few weeks back. He says, does God love angels?
And it got me to thinking about that. You see, if God has given
his only begotten son for us, what does the scripture say?
We must know from that, that it is because of his unspeakable
love. It was 1 John 4, 9 and 10, it
was, this is the way we know love, that God has given His
Son that we might live by Him. God has shown His love to us
in that He made Christ the propitiation for our sins. For God so loved
the world that He gave His only begotten Son. This is the way
we know love, is what God has given His Son for us. And he
says, as Rommel also pointed out, that the gift of his son
is really God giving all to us. The highest, everything that
God has is in his son. And so he is given everything.
for His people. This is love we cannot comprehend,
really. It exceeds the height and depth
and length and breadth of our understanding. Ephesians 3 says,
the love of Christ passes knowledge. But if God gave His Son, and
did not just give Him, but delivered Him up for us all, did not spare
Him, Christ gave himself for us. What does that say about
according to God's own logic in Romans 8 32 that he will with
him give us all things We are precious to God beyond understanding,
not because of what we are in ourselves. Never let that thought
enter our minds, but because of God's own purpose of grace. His love is everlasting love
for us that never ends and never changes and never increases because
in Christ it's as high as it could be. Now this love of God
for his people was never spoken of towards angels. Consider that. And if God so loved his people
that he gave them this title, sons of God, he is our father. Christ is called our brother
or he calls us his brethren. And we're all of one. then it's
clear from scripture that the angels cannot, as servants to
Christ and servants to his people in the world to come, they will
be below the Lord Jesus Christ and his people. We are the body
of Christ, you see. And how did this happen? This
happened by God's eternal electing love. He has chosen us in Christ
before the foundation of the world. By His eternal adopting
grace, He has adopted us, predestinated us unto the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ to Himself. And He has made us accepted in
the Beloved, in Christ. All this is from Ephesians 1,
verse 4-6. And He has redeemed us by His
blood, Ephesians 1-7. So God has chosen us in Christ,
adopted us by Jesus Christ, and by his redeeming blood has made
us his sons. And that's what this next verse
is going to teach us here in Romans and Hebrews chapter 2.
Look at this in Hebrews chapter 2, verse 8. We're going to continue
reading to verse 9. Thou hast put all things in subjection
under his feet, under man, but not man under Adam, not man and
Adam, not man by himself. Not even man helped by angels,
but only in Christ. He says, for in that he put all
in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under
him. But now we see not yet all things put under him, not under
mankind, not man in this world, but we see Jesus. Here we see
all things put under the man, the son of man, the Lord Jesus
Christ. who was, and this is why, who
was made a little lower for a time, he was made lower than the angels
for the suffering of death. Why was Jesus made lower than
the angels for a time? To suffer death. How was he made
lower than the angels for a time? He took on our nature. He was
made, he was born as the son of man. In the fullness of time,
God sent forth his son made of a woman, made under the law that
he might redeem us who were under the law. And so he was made a
little lower than the angels for this purpose, for the suffering
of death. But because he suffered that
death, it says he is crowned with glory and honor. We don't see mankind. We don't
even see God's people, his chosen people, made all things subjected
to them. But we do see Jesus, and all
things are now presently subjected to him. Things in heaven and
things in earth. 1 Peter 3.22 says all things
are subject to him. Principalities and powers, all
things in heaven and earth. Jesus said all things in heaven
and earth, I have power over all things in heaven and earth.
All powers given to me in heaven and earth. And so we know it's
put under him. Even today, he reigns. And he says in Hebrews 1.3 that
when he had by himself purged our sins, he sat down on the
right hand of the majesty on high. So all things are now subject
to Christ. So we see Jesus, the Son of Man,
and who is the son of God in his divine nature, ruling over
all things. All glory and honor has been
given to him. He was the appointed heir of
all things, and he now possesses all things, because he was made
lower for a time than the angels. for the suffering of death. You
see? His place in glory is the result
of what he did. It's a reward for his obedience. It's a reward for his love, for
his father as man, his God as man, and for his people, the
ones God had given to him. This is why he's crowned. In
Philippians chapter 2, it reads this way. In Philippians chapter
2, It shows us that this is the result of his obedience. Philippians
chapter two, he says in verse three, let nothing be done through
strife or vain glory, but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem
other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own
things, but every man also on the things of others. In other
words, consider your brethren in Christ to be better than you.
Because it's true, isn't it? When you see yourself as for
what you are, don't you realize that? Don't you think, I have
no right to even be here amongst God's people. They're better
than me. That's the way we should have
this attitude. And we should have the attitude
not to look on our own things, but on the things, the needs
of others. Whatever God has given us is
for the service of Christ and for His people. Verse 5, Let
this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who himself,
being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with
God. He was equal with God, but he didn't consider it robbery
because he is God. But the one who is God, it says
in verse 7, made himself of no reputation and took upon him
the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men."
This is the son of man. For a time, he was made lower
than the angels because he took our nature. And he appeared as
man. And we saw him, we saw no beauty
in him because as man, he looked like a sinful man. Because he
looked with all, he had all the weaknesses of us, even though
he had no sin. He was made in the likeness of
sinful flesh, but he was not a sinner. But he suffered, as
a man, he suffered all the weaknesses that we have. So that he was
tempted, he was tired, he was hungry, he was disappointed,
he was sorrowful. All these things were true of
him. He bore our sicknesses and carried our sorrows. And so he
was made in the likeness of men and being found in fashion as
a man. Remember the devil tempted him.
He says, if you're the son of God, command these stones to
be made bread. And Jesus said, it is written,
man shall not live by bread alone. He is the son of God, but he
took the place, even before his enemies, as man. He didn't assert
himself as the son of God. He knew he was. God's own word
testified to it. But he didn't have to prove it
to Satan. He came in the form of man, because
he was man, and as a servant. He didn't come to be served,
he made himself of no reputation. He took all the things that a
servant would do, he took. He washed his disciples' feet,
he fed people, he preached, he served, day and night, praying
for them. And so he says, he humbled himself.
And he became obedient even unto death. even the death of the
cross. And verse 9, wherefore God, wherefore,
this is the reason why, God also hath highly exalted him, and
given him a name which is above every name, that at the name
of Jesus every knee should bow. Jesus the man, Jesus the son
of God, of things in heaven, every knee should bow of things
in heaven, things in earth, and things under the earth, that
every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory
of God the Father. He's Lord as man. He's the King
of kings, the Lord of lords, the Lord of glory, the Prince
of life, as man and as God. He's the one in Daniel, look
at Daniel chapter seven. on his ascension. He came to
the Father in heaven and God put everything under his feet
with all honor and glory forever and ever. Daniel chapter 7, this
is describing what happened when the Lord Jesus Christ ascended
from this earth, having accomplished our salvation, having risen from
the dead, having put away sin and destroyed the works of the
devil, and put death to death. In Daniel chapter 7, verse 13,
he says, I saw in the night visions, and behold, one like the Son
of Man. came with the clouds of heaven,"
remember when He ascended? "...and came to the Ancient of
Days," God our Father, "...and they brought Him near before
Him," they brought Christ near, "...all the host of heaven bowing
before Him. And there was given Him dominion
and glory and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages
should serve Him." His dominion is an everlasting dominion which
shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not
be destroyed. You see, the Lord Jesus Christ,
he was made lower for a time. Now he is exalted above all things
in heaven and earth, all powers given to him because he did this. This humility and this humiliation
he suffered being made lower than angels for a time in our
flesh that he might take our sins and suffer our death and
bring us to glory. This is why he did it. He did
it to bring us to glory. Look at Hebrews 2 verse 9. He
is now crowned with glory and honor that he by the grace of
God should taste death for every man. You see that? Now in the
Greek, the word every man is one word, and it just simply
means every. Every of whatever we're talking
about. All of the ones we're talking about here. So in the
King James Version, the word man should be in italics because
they inserted it in order to try to clarify what every is
referring to here. But really, we can only understand
what the every means by the context. Who is the every that he's speaking
of here? Well, he goes on to show us what
it is. Look at verse 10. He says, "...in
bringing many sons to glory." So the every refers to the many
sons he brought to glory. And then in the same verse, verse
10, "...to make the captain of their salvation." So the every
here is the ones for whom Christ was captain, whom he saved. And then in verse 11 it says,
for both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified,
so they every are the sanctified ones, sanctified by the Lord
Jesus Christ. And then he says in verse 11
also, that he's not ashamed to call them brethren. So the Evry
are his brethren that he's not ashamed of because he and they
have the same father. They have the same nature. He
stood for them and stands for them as their captain. In verse
12, he goes on and says, they are the church. He says, I will
declare thy name to my brethren in the midst of the church. So
the Evry are the church. And then he says in verse 13
of chapter 2, I will put my trust in him, and again, behold, I
and the children which God hath given me. So they every are all
the children which the Father has given the Son to save. You see, and then in verse 14,
as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, 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. So the every are those whom he delivered by delivering
them from the fear of death and from the works of the devil.
And then he says, in verse 16, that he did not take on angels,
but he took on not the seed of Adam, but the seed of Abraham. So the every are the seed of
Abraham. And we know that the seed of
Abraham are all those who are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ.
So you see, in this verse here, verse 9, that the Lord Jesus
Christ is seen to be a substitute for the every children God gave
to him, who are his brethren, who are the many sons God predestinated
to be brought to glory by the Lord Jesus Christ, for whom he
is the captain, the ones he saved, their salvation, the ones whose
case he took on as the seed of Abraham, called the church, These
are the ones Christ is not ashamed of, these are the ones God gave
to him, these are the ones he saved, and these are the ones
he tasted death for. The Lord Jesus Christ did not
die for everyone, because when he died he tasted death for them
as a substitute, so that all those for whom Christ died and
bore that death, tasting death for them, they have escaped that
death. Remember in chapter 2 verse 3,
how shall we escape? What do we escape? We escape
the death due to us. How do we escape it? The Lord
Jesus Christ tasted death for every son, you see. And that's
the way we're brought to glory. because he was made lower for
a time, that he might suffer for us, and suffer according
to the justice of God, suffer what we should have suffered
for our sins, and he suffered in our place, he suffered that
we might not suffer, he suffered as our substitute. a substitute. When the substitute, the Lord
Jesus Christ, took our place, we no longer stood in that position. He stood there for us. He answered
God for us. And all that He did, He did for
us. All that He suffered, He suffered
because of our sins. He didn't commit our sins. But
he suffered for them. We didn't obey God, but he obeyed,
and we are rewarded for his obedience. That's the concept. That's the
meaning of the word substitute. Isaiah 53 says it, that it was
for our sins that he suffered. He was chastised. He was beaten
for our peace. And with his stripes, we were
healed. We weren't beaten, but he was
beaten. But we are healed because in
his beating, he took the stripes our sins deserved. And because
he took our stripes as our substitute, then we're healed. He took our
place. He took our sins. He removed
our sins from us. He suffered and endured the wrath
of God for us. Look at Psalm chapter 22. Because
in this verse, we saw in We didn't read that verse, but
in verse 12 in Hebrews 2, he says, I will declare thy name
to my brethren in the midst of the church while I sing praise
to thee. This is taken from Psalm 22. Now Psalm 22, you probably
remember, is that Chapter that was the first verse of which
was spoken by the Lord Jesus Christ when he hung on the cross.
We know this is a chapter of scripture that speaks of Christ
while he was on the cross. What was he doing there? He was
suffering for us. He was dying for us. He was obeying
unto death for us. He was bearing the wrath of God,
the justice of God, due to us. He was bearing it instead of
us. And He was fulfilling all righteousness in His obedience
in so doing. As we just read in Philippians
2, verse 8, He was obedient even unto death, the death of the
cross. That obedience is our righteousness. So in Psalm 22, it opens, My
God, as He hangs on the cross, My God, My God, why hast Thou
forsaken Me? Because we were the ones whose
sins are the reason why He was forsaken. He bore them, that's
why He was forsaken. They truly became His. They were
imputed to Him by God the Father. So they were no longer ours,
but His. And His sufferings, which we
never felt, are no longer His, but they're ours. I mean, they
were His, but those sufferings were counted as ours. And so
we see this. Look at verse 25 of the same
chapter. My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation. I will pay my vows before them
that fear him. Verse 22. He says in the same
psalm. This is the psalm now where the
Lord Jesus Christ is suffering for his people. He says, I will
declare thy name unto my brethren. in the midst of the congregation
or the church will I praise thee. The word church just simply means
the gathered ones, the gathered congregation. And what does the
Lord Jesus Christ say? He's on the cross. He is making
atonement to God for our sins. He's offering himself as the
propitiation, the wrath appeasing, sin removing sacrifice to God.
And when he does that, what does he say? I will declare thy name
unto my, what? My brethren. My brethren. He's not ashamed to be called
their brethren. They were given to him. But we are his brethren,
how? How were we made his brethren? Well, by God's adoption. By God's
choice, that's what adoption means. Chosen among and put among
the children. But in Ephesians 1.5, he says
that we were predestinated unto the adoption of children by Jesus
Christ. So it was through the sin-atoning
death. That's the way. How did it please
God? How did it seem good to God to
bring His many sons to glory? According to Hebrews 2.10, God
the Father says it became him, it was fitting to him, it pleased
him, it seemed good to him, for whom are all things and by whom
are all things in bringing many sons to glory to make the captain
of their salvation perfect through sufferings. A perfect captain. A perfect champion, a perfect
forerunner through sufferings. We were brought to glory by the
sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ and His death. That's
why in that Psalm, Psalm 22, he says, Having suffered on the
cross, I will declare thy name to my brethren. Thy name, because
it was you, O my Father, who made a pledge from eternity to
accept my sufferings and death in obedience to your law, in
love to you and for my people as their righteousness, and so
accept them as your sons. It was because of your grace,
and I will declare your name to my brethren. This is why the Lord Jesus Christ
is exalted above all things. He was rewarded, awarded this
place. And we, having done nothing except
our sin, are rewarded for Christ's sake with all things, you see. He brought us to glory. He brings
us. We didn't bring ourselves. We
can't bring ourselves. He made us holy. We didn't make
ourselves holy. He says, they that are sanctified,
he that sanctifies, and they who are sanctified are all of
one. We're all of the same father, all of the same family, all of
the same brethren. All the same body. Christ is
the head, we're his body. We're all of one. We have one relation to God.
The Lord Jesus Christ and us both stand as the sons of God. This is unbelievable, unspeakable
grace that we should be called the sons of God. Made so by the
death and sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ. And therefore given
God's own spirit, the spirit of his son in our heart that
we now By God's grace, by his spirit in us, through faith,
look upon Christ and his work, and we say, Abba, Father. You see, he was made lower, but
now he reigns in all glory, in all the majesty of the Son of
God, as Son of Man, the conquering captain of our souls and our
salvation. having all the glory of God,
the express image of His person, the brightness of His glory,
because of His saving work as our mediator, the Son of Man. It's true, isn't it, that one
so high stooped so low to save one so foul and so guilty and
helpless, and to bring us to glory so unbelievably high, to
be seated with Him in glory. This is why he had to become
man, that he might suffer death, and he still is man. He who is
the eternal, unchangeable God, in the mystery of godliness,
great is the mystery of godliness, God was manifest in the flesh,
justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached on in the
world, preached in the world, believed on by the Gentiles,
and now is taken up into glory This is amazing, isn't it? This
is what our Lord Jesus Christ did. And so we see this and it
astounds us, doesn't it? It gives us a great sense of
awe. that God would consider us in
the Lord Jesus Christ. Isn't this the unbelievable theme
of scripture? That God would provide his son
and appoint his son and make his son all for us, as our surety,
our substitute, our mediator, our advocate, our intercessor,
so that everything Christ did, he did to God in our name, and
everything God rewarded him with, he rewarded him with his people. Amazing grace. We're one with
Christ. In this relation to God, we were
chosen in Him. That's the first way that we
were one with Him, elected by God the Father in Christ from
eternity. He has chosen us in Him before
the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without
blame before Him in love, in the love of God for His sons. Amazing grace. Like Rommel said
earlier, I can rest in that, can't you? The world that we
now live in is but a figure of things to come, isn't it? We see it, and it astounds us. When we consider thy heavens,
the works of thy fingers, the moon and the stars which thou
hast made, what is man that thou art mindful of him? It just astounds
us. Creation is so enormous, we can't
even fathom it. How much greater than the one
who created it by the power of his word? And yet the one who
created all things by the power of his word stooped so low to
save one so foul and bring them to heights of glory so immense
and great we can't even begin to fathom it. Truly, eye has
not seen nor ear heard the things that God has prepared for those
that love him. Isn't it amazing? Amazing grace. The Lord Jesus Christ, it's all
because of him. We have nothing, we bring nothing
but our sin to the whole transaction, right? When we were without strength
in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. Being now justified by his blood,
we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if when we were
enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his son,
how much more now, being reconciled, shall we be saved by his light?
These are the things that astound us. Christ, our substitute, our
captain, our covenant head in this eternal covenant of peace,
a covenant of grace made before the foundation of the world.
It's amazing. I want to point you just to one
more text of scripture here. And I've brought this to your
mind before, but I constantly am reminded of it. Look at Acts
chapter 15. Because these things teach us
that this is not an early... I mean, this is not a recent
plan of God's. This is not something God just
thought about in the reaction to our sin. This is something
God always determined. And therefore we have great confidence
that He will fulfill His eternal will. He says here, first of
all, while you're looking at or going to Acts 15, I'm going
to read this to you from Acts chapter 4. He says in verse 27
of Acts 4, For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou
hast anointed both Herod and Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles,
and the people of Israel were gathered together, listen carefully,
for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before
to be done. In all the world we see today,
we see the complete injustice, don't we? We see, it seems like,
the breakdown of all law and justice in our country and in
the world. People care nothing for God.
They blaspheme the Lord Jesus Christ. And we ourselves are
no different but for the grace of God. But look at this in Acts
15, in verse 13. In verse 12 he says, this is a defense
that first the Apostle Paul gave. and Barnabas, and then the Apostle
Peter, and now in verse 12, the Apostle James. They're all building
the case that we're saved by grace through Christ alone. Then
all the multitude kept silence and gave audience to Barnabas
and Paul, declaring what miracles and wonders God had wrought among
the Gentiles by them. And after they had held their
peace, I'm sorry, and after they had held their peace, James answered,
saying, Men and brethren, hearken to me. Simon, hath declared how
God at the first did visit the Gentiles, that would have been
Cornelius and his household, to take out of them a people
for his name. And to this agree all the words
of the prophets, as it is written, after this I will return and
will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down,
and I will build again, excuse me, and I will build again the
ruins thereof. And I will set it up. The tabernacle
of David was a physical temple. It was destroyed. But the Lord
promises in Amos that he's going to rebuild it. But he's not talking
about a physical building. He's talking about the people,
the temple of God. Verse 17, this is what he said
that he would do, building up this tabernacle, this spiritual
building, that the residue of men Not all men, but the residue
of men might seek after the Lord and all the Gentiles upon whom
my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things. So the residue of men with the
Gentiles on whom God's name is called, who does these things,
it's his work, verse 18, known unto God, are all his works from
the beginning of the world. You see, this is not something
God has done as a reaction to what he found happening in the
world. This is not something God has
done looking down to the corridors of time to see what we would
do. God delivered up his son according to his determinate
counsel and foreknowledge. All that men did in crucifying
Christ was precisely according to his eternal will. And that
will was known to God and worked out in time, a will that had
been established from before the foundation of the world,
to save those whose names God had named as His children, those
on whom His name was called. And so the Lord Jesus Christ,
before time, had therefore been appointed as the Son of Man,
had been chosen as our Captain, and had been appointed to this
suffering and death, to this humility, and He had agreed to
it, so that God had ordained His blood to be shed for us,
and by that shed blood we would be redeemed from our sins, and
from this present evil world, and from Satan. and we would
be redeemed not just from those things but redeemed as children
of God so that we would inherit as heirs of God and joint heirs
with Christ all things with the Lord Jesus Christ. This was known
to God before the foundation of the world. Therefore in time
in this world what we see is a fallen world which will be
replaced, and the world to come will be put, which is this present
world, is just a figure of. This world seems great to us,
we live in it, all things are provided, it seems stable, in
the sense that God, the sun continues to rise and set each day, and
God provides for us. But this is just a picture of
what the Lord Jesus Christ is preparing for those that love
him. John 14.1, I go to prepare a
place for you. And so he is going to bring us
to himself. And this is why, because he has
suffered and suffered death for us as the predestinated sons
of God and by his death made us his sons and given us his
spirit to know it too. And therefore we have these things
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Isn't He great? And isn't our
salvation so great that God would put it all on His Son? And the
Lord Jesus Christ faithfully did all that God gave Him to
do. He actually and truly saved His people. Our salvation is
all what Christ has done. Our reward for glory is all what
Christ has received for us. The certainty of it is God's
eternal character and his unchangeable counsel and word and oath to
Christ for us. And the certainty of it is that
Christ has died and has risen. The proof of it is that he reigns
in glory. And the comfort of it is that
he is now interceding as our advocate in his own person, the
crucified lamb now risen in victory, and God hears him, God will deny
him nothing. All that he asks will most certainly
be fulfilled. Therefore, we can be assured
that nothing can separate us from the love of God, which is
in Christ Jesus our Lord. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you
for a salvation so great, a grace so high, and love so infinite
in all directions that it's unspeakable, it passes knowledge, and yet
you've given us your Spirit that we can now by faith know for
certain that it is true. Even though we cannot plumb the
depths and heights and breadth and length of it. We know that
in Christ Jesus that it is your love and your grace and your
salvation of your people. And we look to Him, we flee to
Him to escape from the sin and the wrath due to us, and we flee
to him to escape the death due to us, and we find in him victory
over all of our enemies, even though in this present world
it doesn't seem so, by faith we are assured of it, and by
hope we look in expectation of it, because it all rests upon
what you think of our Lord Jesus, and not what you think of what
we are in ourselves, or what we've done, or even shall do.
And we're so thankful and we're so humbled by the fact that one
so high would stoop so low to save one so guilty and so helpless
and foul and bring them to glory to be with himself that we might
behold his glory and his beauty and he might disclose his heart
to us throughout eternity and show the exceeding greatness
of his grace and his kindness towards us through the Lord Jesus
Christ, our Savior and our Lord, whom we gladly own. And by your
grace, we now worship and thank you and praise you for him. In
Jesus' name we pray, amen.