WEBVTT 00:00:07.040 --> 00:00:12.720 This sermon was recorded at Faith Evangelical Free Church in Grand Forks, North Dakota. 00:00:19.920 --> 00:00:24.640 Let me open God's word for us to Hebrews chapter 2. 00:00:24.879 --> 00:00:27.199 Hebrews chapter 2. 00:00:28.000 --> 00:00:34.079 And we're going to read there from verses 5 to 18, if you will follow along with me. 00:00:37.759 --> 00:00:44.320 For it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come of which we are speaking. 00:00:44.799 --> 00:00:46.719 It has been testified somewhere. 00:00:46.960 --> 00:00:53.039 What is man that you are mindful of him, or the son of man that you cure for him? 00:00:53.600 --> 00:01:06.239 You made him for a little while lower than the angels, and you have crowned him with glory and honor, putting everything in subjection under his feet. 00:01:06.799 --> 00:01:13.040 Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. 00:01:13.920 --> 00:01:37.359 At present, we do not see everything in a subjection to him, but we do see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor, because of the suffering of death, so by the grace of God he might taste death for every one. 00:01:38.159 --> 00:01:51.840 For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering. 00:01:52.159 --> 00:02:00.400 For he who sanctifies, and those who are sanctified all have one source. 00:02:00.719 --> 00:02:05.120 That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers. 00:02:05.760 --> 00:02:20.400 Sing, I will tell of your name to my brothers, in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise, and again I will put my trust in him, and again, behold, I and the children God has given me. 00:02:20.800 --> 00:02:43.520 Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. 00:02:44.080 --> 00:02:50.719 For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. 00:02:51.439 --> 00:03:05.360 Therefore, he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God to make propitiation for the sins of his people. 00:03:06.240 --> 00:03:14.400 For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. 00:03:14.560 --> 00:03:17.120 Let us pray and ask God to bless this word. 00:03:17.360 --> 00:03:32.479 I pray, Heavenly Father, that you will guide me through the scriptures here, that your name may be glorified, that the truth may set us free, and that the gospel will once again refresh our hearts and encourage us. 00:03:33.280 --> 00:03:36.319 I pray for our time together here in your word. 00:03:36.879 --> 00:03:38.159 May it be enriching. 00:03:38.319 --> 00:03:41.439 May we be noble Bereans in Jesus' name. 00:03:41.759 --> 00:03:42.400 Amen. 00:03:44.400 --> 00:03:49.919 I'm not sure how many of you have become aware of this campaign. 00:03:50.000 --> 00:03:53.039 It's an ad campaign that began last year. 00:03:53.360 --> 00:03:54.319 He gets us. 00:03:54.719 --> 00:04:01.680 The he gets us campaign is a phrase that is appearing all over social media platforms. 00:04:01.759 --> 00:04:09.360 And we even saw some commercials aired at the 2023 Super Bowl. 00:04:09.520 --> 00:04:22.800 And every commercial connects a modern cultural theme like intolerance, bigotry, religious hypocrisy to the uniquely human experience of Jesus Christ. 00:04:23.040 --> 00:04:30.399 You see, the the aim of the He Gets Us campaign is to show that Jesus is one of us. 00:04:30.720 --> 00:04:41.279 He, like us, faced family strife, persecution, misunderstanding, poverty, loneliness, and even being raised in a single parent household. 00:04:41.600 --> 00:04:42.800 He gets us. 00:04:44.079 --> 00:04:52.079 The aim of the campaign is to reinduintroduce people to the Jesus of the Bible. 00:04:52.399 --> 00:04:57.680 And also help correct some of the distortions created by his followers. 00:04:57.839 --> 00:04:59.199 That means you and I. 00:04:59.439 --> 00:05:05.759 And how things might have been different if only we would have followed his example. 00:05:06.000 --> 00:05:16.959 If we were like him, in his compassion, his acceptance and his love and his forgiveness, the world would have been a better place. 00:05:18.000 --> 00:05:36.160 The organizers of this campaign say we believe that Jesus is fully God and fully man, but they're rather inviting us to explore the empathetic side of Jesus, that he is one who really gets us because he became one of us. 00:05:36.240 --> 00:05:41.519 And this, by the way, is the title of my message this morning, He became one of us. 00:05:41.839 --> 00:05:47.680 And I will show you from scriptures that there's more than him just getting us. 00:05:48.000 --> 00:05:53.360 He became man for a much greater purpose. 00:05:53.839 --> 00:06:03.519 The question then is: did Jesus become one of us so that he can understand us better, so that he can be more empathetic? 00:06:04.000 --> 00:06:10.399 Or maybe he could be an example for us that we can see and feel and touch. 00:06:11.600 --> 00:06:19.680 The question is, did God give his only begotten Son to serve as an example of love and compassion and acceptance? 00:06:20.000 --> 00:06:24.480 Is our comfort in life and death that Jesus gets us? 00:06:26.000 --> 00:06:31.600 Well, if he is one of us, we need to understand what Scripture has to say. 00:06:31.839 --> 00:06:36.399 The reasons was for him becoming one of us. 00:06:38.399 --> 00:06:43.360 There are many helpful values and principles in the He gets us campaign. 00:06:43.439 --> 00:06:47.519 I don't want to bash it this morning, but there is more to it. 00:06:48.079 --> 00:06:49.680 There's more to it. 00:06:50.000 --> 00:06:59.040 If we look at the passage we just read, we will see that there are three accomplishments of the incarnation. 00:06:59.199 --> 00:07:06.160 Jesus becoming one of us came to fulfill three purposes. 00:07:06.399 --> 00:07:09.680 Number one, the restoration of humanhood. 00:07:10.160 --> 00:07:15.360 Number two, the redemption of humanity that is in bondage. 00:07:16.319 --> 00:07:22.639 And then thirdly, the reconciliation of humanity with divinity. 00:07:25.759 --> 00:07:30.000 Let's take a look at the first point I would like to make here. 00:07:30.639 --> 00:07:36.000 And if you could for a moment go back to Hebrews chapter 1, verse 3. 00:07:36.319 --> 00:07:53.279 And it reads there speaking of Jesus, he is the radiance of his glory and the exact representation of his nature. 00:07:53.439 --> 00:08:05.360 What it's saying here is that Jesus Christ coming in the flesh is an exact representation of the image of God in human form. 00:08:06.240 --> 00:08:19.040 And the image here is that of the impression of a king or an emperor or a ruler impressed on the back of a coin. 00:08:21.279 --> 00:08:27.839 Even today we have coins that bear the image of the nation's ruler. 00:08:29.199 --> 00:08:36.879 And what the author is doing here is saying, look at Jesus, he is that perfect example of the image of God. 00:08:37.120 --> 00:08:38.399 But guess what? 00:08:39.840 --> 00:08:48.480 There were other creatures created in the image of God, not angels, verse 5 of chapter 2. 00:08:49.519 --> 00:08:55.759 For it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking. 00:08:55.919 --> 00:09:03.039 And what the author does here is he quotes for us Psalm 8, which reads as follows, verses 4 and 5. 00:09:03.279 --> 00:09:19.279 What is man that you take thought of him, and the Son of Man that you care for him, yet you have made him a little lower than God, or in different translations, angels, and you crown him with glory and majesty. 00:09:21.919 --> 00:09:30.159 What the author is saying here is that humans were created in the image of God. 00:09:32.879 --> 00:09:39.120 It's an allusion to the Genesis 126, 127 account. 00:09:39.600 --> 00:09:47.360 Then God said, Let us make man in our image after our likeness and let them have dominion. 00:09:47.519 --> 00:09:50.159 There are two things evident here. 00:09:51.039 --> 00:09:59.679 And it's also evident in verses 5, 6, 7, and 8 of Hebrews 2 is that God, number one, created humans in what? 00:10:00.080 --> 00:10:00.879 His image. 00:10:01.039 --> 00:10:03.679 But he also gave them the job to do what? 00:10:04.480 --> 00:10:07.200 Exercise dominion and rule. 00:10:07.440 --> 00:10:10.320 That is how God created humanity. 00:10:10.960 --> 00:10:11.840 And guess what? 00:10:12.000 --> 00:10:20.080 He did not create angels in the image of God, and he did not give angels rule and authority over his created order. 00:10:20.399 --> 00:10:35.039 God made humans in his image to serve as image bearers, and he charted humanity with the duty of exercising authority, rule, and dominion all over all the created order. 00:10:36.879 --> 00:10:45.679 And he commissioned human beings to be his image bearers and to be co-regents on this planet. 00:10:46.000 --> 00:10:49.200 And he did not do that for angels. 00:10:50.559 --> 00:11:01.120 And so the divine design for humanity and humanhood was to be that of being God's representatives, to bear his image, to be his example. 00:11:02.240 --> 00:11:04.720 But look at what verse 8 says. 00:11:06.000 --> 00:11:07.679 The end of verse 8. 00:11:08.000 --> 00:11:14.399 But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him. 00:11:15.200 --> 00:11:22.639 Now I agree that this portion of scripture has messianic overtones, and so does Psalm 8. 00:11:24.240 --> 00:11:32.080 But the first four verses here, verses 5, 6, 7, and 8, does not speak of Jesus. 00:11:32.320 --> 00:11:34.639 It speaks of humans. 00:11:34.960 --> 00:11:38.320 God's intended design for humans. 00:11:42.399 --> 00:11:45.279 And so what is God's goal here? 00:11:45.919 --> 00:11:57.039 With the incarnation, making Jesus one of us, making God the second person, God the Son, one of us. 00:11:57.279 --> 00:12:11.360 Well, it is one to restore that image, that God-bearing image, and number two, to restore man's proper place in the created order. 00:12:12.639 --> 00:12:15.279 Now what does verse 8 say to us? 00:12:15.519 --> 00:12:18.000 Verse 8 says, we do not see this. 00:12:18.159 --> 00:12:19.600 This is distorted. 00:12:20.399 --> 00:12:23.759 The image of God and humanity is distorted. 00:12:24.240 --> 00:12:34.159 The rule and authority of man over the creation has fallen by the wayside, and that began in the Garden of Eden where things went south. 00:12:34.399 --> 00:12:46.240 The image of God at the fall in humanity, while yet still created in his image, that image became marred, warped, and even distorted by sin. 00:12:46.879 --> 00:12:54.159 I'm not sure if you did these things as kids, but we would put coins on the railway tracks. 00:12:54.240 --> 00:12:55.279 Did you do that? 00:12:55.759 --> 00:12:56.080 Okay. 00:12:56.799 --> 00:13:02.159 And so what you would do is you put the coin on the railway track, and the train goes over it. 00:13:02.240 --> 00:13:11.120 And if you look at the railway track, that image often is impressed faintly on the railway track. 00:13:11.360 --> 00:13:17.279 But as the train goes over it, it kind of distorts the president's face, and we would go, yeah, we like that. 00:13:17.679 --> 00:13:21.440 But that's essentially what sin has done. 00:13:21.759 --> 00:13:25.200 The fall has done with the image of God. 00:13:25.360 --> 00:13:26.960 It's marred it. 00:13:27.360 --> 00:13:42.240 And therefore, God sent his only begotten Son to take on human form, to restore the image of God in humanity again. 00:13:43.120 --> 00:13:44.559 Look at verse 9. 00:13:44.639 --> 00:13:56.559 This is how God restores the image of God in humans and restores humanity to its rightful place as co-rulers over all the created world. 00:13:56.720 --> 00:13:58.080 Read verse 9. 00:13:58.399 --> 00:13:59.679 But we do see him. 00:14:00.000 --> 00:14:01.679 Verse 8, we do not see. 00:14:01.919 --> 00:14:03.840 Verse 9, we do see. 00:14:04.480 --> 00:14:22.000 We do see him who was made a little lower for a while than the angels, namely Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. 00:14:22.240 --> 00:14:26.639 So he was made human like us in every aspect. 00:14:26.879 --> 00:14:38.000 Verse 10, it was fitting for him for whom all are all things, and through whom are all things, and bringing many sons to glory. 00:14:38.159 --> 00:14:49.360 And it's speaking of that restoration of the image of God in humans, to the perfect author of their salvation through suffering. 00:14:50.399 --> 00:14:55.039 To perfect the author of their salvation through suffering. 00:14:55.200 --> 00:15:04.240 All that means is that Jesus had the human experience completely, except becoming a sinner. 00:15:04.960 --> 00:15:09.279 Jesus had a perfect human experience. 00:15:09.440 --> 00:15:12.639 He experienced humanity in all aspects like us. 00:15:12.879 --> 00:15:18.080 Jesus was not, as the Germans would say, an ubermensch. 00:15:18.559 --> 00:15:20.799 He wasn't a superhuman. 00:15:21.039 --> 00:15:24.240 He was a human like you and I. 00:15:25.120 --> 00:15:28.320 He would go, wow, it's dry today. 00:15:28.799 --> 00:15:31.759 And my skin is kind of dry. 00:15:32.320 --> 00:15:35.279 He would say it's hot and I'm tired. 00:15:35.840 --> 00:15:46.320 The eternal son became one of us for this, to restore humanity to its rightful place. 00:15:46.399 --> 00:15:48.080 And how does he do that? 00:15:48.240 --> 00:15:50.399 Verse 11 has your answer. 00:15:50.720 --> 00:16:02.000 For both he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one Father, or if you have an ESV, one source. 00:16:02.080 --> 00:16:09.200 And therefore he is not ashamed to call us his brothers. 00:16:10.000 --> 00:16:14.399 You can't call somebody a brother if you're not a human. 00:16:21.120 --> 00:16:27.759 For the express purpose of restoring that image of God, that former glory that humans had. 00:16:28.159 --> 00:16:34.399 John 17, 22, I have given them the glory you gave me. 00:16:34.960 --> 00:16:49.440 2 Corinthians 3.18, we are all with unveiled face, as in the mirror, the glory of God, and are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory. 00:16:53.200 --> 00:17:08.559 Paul also reiterates this idea that humans not only will their former glory be restored through the second Adam, but he will also put them in a place of rule and authority. 00:17:08.799 --> 00:17:10.400 1 Corinthians 6.3. 00:17:10.720 --> 00:17:14.319 Do you not know that we shall judge angels? 00:17:14.559 --> 00:17:16.640 Did you know that, brothers and sisters? 00:17:16.880 --> 00:17:24.160 You will, as 2 Timothy 2.12 says, if we endure, we will also reign with them. 00:17:27.200 --> 00:17:41.359 And so here we have one of the great purposes of Jesus becoming one of us, and that is to restore humanity to its former glory and to restore its place of rulership. 00:17:41.920 --> 00:17:47.440 And he does that through regeneration, verse 11. 00:17:47.680 --> 00:17:52.559 But he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified. 00:17:53.119 --> 00:18:03.440 The NIV reads as follows, and I think it makes it clearer: both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy. 00:18:06.480 --> 00:18:07.519 I believe it was A. 00:18:07.680 --> 00:18:07.759 W. 00:18:08.000 --> 00:18:15.440 Tozer who once said that salvation does not restore our happiness, but it restores our holiness. 00:18:16.640 --> 00:18:18.319 That's a sweet saying. 00:18:18.640 --> 00:18:21.920 Not our happiness, but our holiness. 00:18:22.480 --> 00:18:34.559 Diedrich Bonnoffer lamented the fact that human beings who are unsaved live without an essential purpose, and that purpose of being the image of God. 00:18:35.440 --> 00:18:49.440 How can a human being that is in sin and that is kept in darkness accurately represent the image of God and man? 00:18:49.680 --> 00:18:59.920 But he says, Don Ofer says, he believed that salvation does not make us less human, it actually makes us truly human again. 00:19:00.160 --> 00:19:01.119 I love that. 00:19:01.839 --> 00:19:10.160 When we become children of God, brothers of Jesus, we do not become less human, we become what? 00:19:10.720 --> 00:19:12.160 Truly human. 00:19:13.039 --> 00:19:21.680 We don't become little gods, we become the way that God intended us to be, to be image bearers. 00:19:22.400 --> 00:19:33.119 Horatia Bonner once said, conversion, conversion as God's restoration of humanity to its original nature. 00:19:33.359 --> 00:19:42.799 He says the act of conversion or salvation is God restoring the original nature of humanity. 00:19:44.079 --> 00:19:49.839 God made Adam and Eve holy and righteous. 00:19:50.400 --> 00:19:52.799 They were made holy and righteous. 00:19:52.960 --> 00:20:01.119 And you too, dear brother and sister, you too have been made holy and righteous. 00:20:01.599 --> 00:20:07.759 In fact, we are not only holy and righteous, we are holy and righteous rulers to be. 00:20:08.400 --> 00:20:12.400 Look at uh, well, I'll just read it for you, 1 Peter 2 9. 00:20:12.480 --> 00:20:28.400 It says, but you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation for God's own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 00:20:28.640 --> 00:20:42.480 There's this glorious return of human holiness, but also the glorious return of man's rule over the created order. 00:20:44.960 --> 00:20:50.480 But there's a second reason for Jesus becoming one of us. 00:20:50.960 --> 00:21:03.359 God, the second person of the Trinity became one of us to redeem slaves from slavery. 00:21:05.759 --> 00:21:15.519 The word incarnation comes from the Latin word or the Latin concept of being made flesh. 00:21:16.960 --> 00:21:21.440 Being made flesh, and we see that in Hebrews 4.15. 00:21:22.640 --> 00:21:25.200 Go back one verse there for me in chapter two. 00:21:25.839 --> 00:21:36.160 Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise also partook of the same. 00:21:37.039 --> 00:21:41.359 Jesus became flesh and blood. 00:21:42.240 --> 00:21:51.680 Jesus would bleed if he cut himself by accident. 00:21:53.440 --> 00:22:02.079 Verse 15, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to Slavery all their lives. 00:22:02.319 --> 00:22:18.240 You see, what is happening here is the author is explaining to us how the Son of God partook of that which is unnatural to him, that is, being flesh and blood. 00:22:21.119 --> 00:22:37.759 God's not flesh and blood, but God was made flesh and blood for the purpose of breaking Satan's power and freeing those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. 00:22:40.000 --> 00:22:45.440 Death and dying are the consequences of sin and rebellion. 00:22:45.680 --> 00:22:47.359 And Satan knows that. 00:22:48.640 --> 00:22:52.640 Satan knows that you and I'm flesh and blood. 00:22:53.920 --> 00:22:59.440 And he also know we fear death and dying. 00:23:01.279 --> 00:23:07.920 And he uses it as a terrible weapon against us in one way or another to enslave us. 00:23:08.880 --> 00:23:16.799 Matthew Henry once said, Satan terrifies the consciences of men with the fear of death. 00:23:17.039 --> 00:23:24.400 Anyone who is flesh and blood will at some point in their lives grapple with this concept of death. 00:23:26.559 --> 00:23:38.160 And John Owens said that people are full of the fear of death, and so they live a life of anxiety because of the fear of death. 00:23:38.319 --> 00:23:46.319 You see, you and I, who are born again, Jesus took care of this fear of death. 00:23:47.839 --> 00:23:58.079 And so we are not quite as obsessed with this idea of death as much as it is for the unregenerate. 00:23:58.160 --> 00:24:08.480 And Satan knows that every person made of flesh and blood have certain anxieties when it comes to death and dying. 00:24:08.720 --> 00:24:13.519 And he uses that as a weapon to hold them in bondage. 00:24:13.839 --> 00:24:15.599 Look at verse 15. 00:24:15.920 --> 00:24:23.279 And might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. 00:24:23.440 --> 00:24:28.000 I don't understand it when people say to me, Well, I want to be free. 00:24:28.079 --> 00:24:31.759 I don't want to be held in bondage by religion. 00:24:32.480 --> 00:24:36.079 I'm not in for your Christianity because I want to be free. 00:24:36.319 --> 00:24:39.519 Well, that's the exact opposite. 00:24:39.759 --> 00:24:41.440 Let me explain to you. 00:24:41.759 --> 00:24:49.839 Take, for example, addictive habits or other codependent types of behaviors. 00:24:50.799 --> 00:24:58.319 Are these not forms of escapism, the possible escaping from anxiety over death? 00:24:59.200 --> 00:25:07.680 Addictive habits and other codependent behaviors, are these not coping mechanisms for terrified consciences? 00:25:08.559 --> 00:25:16.240 Let's take it, dear brothers and sisters, let's think about legalism, alcoholism, sexual addiction, any other ism that there is. 00:25:17.039 --> 00:25:26.640 Don't these offer some temporary relief and some escape from the anxiety caused by the fear of death? 00:25:28.559 --> 00:25:37.039 People will say they uh they they they they don't think about death, it doesn't bother them, they kind of macho about death. 00:25:37.359 --> 00:25:38.640 But guess what? 00:25:39.119 --> 00:25:42.480 The behaviors tell a different story. 00:25:44.720 --> 00:25:55.759 If you drown yourself in alcohol, or or you take partake of some psychedelic drug, why are you doing that? 00:25:56.480 --> 00:26:01.359 I can see that you're all relaxed and nothing makes you anxious. 00:26:01.680 --> 00:26:11.519 No, that Slatan is using that to enslave people because he knows they fear death, as our passage says. 00:26:11.759 --> 00:26:15.759 John Owen says this slavery is involuntary. 00:26:16.000 --> 00:26:19.200 No one is in slavery because he wants to be. 00:26:19.359 --> 00:26:24.720 This slavery generates a strong desire to seek freedom. 00:26:26.480 --> 00:26:27.599 He's onto something. 00:26:27.680 --> 00:26:33.440 This slavery generates a strong desire to seek freedom by any means possible. 00:26:33.839 --> 00:26:37.119 This slavery clouds and tires the mind. 00:26:37.359 --> 00:26:42.079 Where slavery is total, it generates greater future evils. 00:26:42.400 --> 00:26:55.440 What he says, this attempt to escape, this burden that people carry, it clouds their minds and tires them. 00:26:56.079 --> 00:27:07.440 But all it does, it pulls them down even further and they wind themselves tighter into the chains and shekels of slavery. 00:27:08.319 --> 00:27:12.720 You see, Satan is very clever in this sense. 00:27:12.880 --> 00:27:24.960 On the one hand, he drives people in a direction with the fear that he has in his hands through death. 00:27:25.920 --> 00:27:30.240 But on the other hand, he offers relief. 00:27:30.720 --> 00:27:33.279 He says, Oh, look at this, you gotta die. 00:27:33.440 --> 00:27:35.200 This is terrible, you gotta die. 00:27:35.440 --> 00:27:38.160 But look, I've got an answer here for you. 00:27:39.119 --> 00:27:46.160 But those answers are what I call pseudo-reliefs, pseudo-escape. 00:27:47.440 --> 00:27:49.599 Let's think about legalism. 00:27:50.720 --> 00:28:04.240 If I could just make myself think that I'm a good person, a faithful attender to church, a generous giver, yeah, I now I don't need to worry about death. 00:28:04.960 --> 00:28:14.559 I often have people, I ask them, my office, they hit some hard times, and I say to them, so uh how's your relationship with God? 00:28:14.799 --> 00:28:17.200 Oh, I've got a wonderful relationship with God. 00:28:17.359 --> 00:28:17.839 Oh, really? 00:28:18.319 --> 00:28:19.279 Tell me about it. 00:28:19.440 --> 00:28:22.319 Uh oh, I talk to him all day long. 00:28:23.599 --> 00:28:26.480 Okay, so so tell me more about that. 00:28:26.559 --> 00:28:28.480 Well, no, I talk to him all day long. 00:28:28.720 --> 00:28:34.319 You see, that person, Satan has convinced that person that you don't need to worry about death. 00:28:34.480 --> 00:28:36.240 You are talking to God all day long. 00:28:36.319 --> 00:28:41.279 And where does talking to God all day long really give us a true escape from death? 00:28:41.440 --> 00:29:00.480 But let's think of other things like opioids and benzodiazepines and all kinds of therapies that are packaged in a way that people are given this coping mechanism, this promise of escape, offering people freedom. 00:29:00.640 --> 00:29:04.480 If you only take these things, you will feel so much better. 00:29:05.440 --> 00:29:11.519 But do these things offer permanent escape from death? 00:29:11.759 --> 00:29:22.160 Does it offer true peace and comfort to souls who have gnawing fears of death and dying? 00:29:22.880 --> 00:29:30.640 And as John Owen said, that these temporal escapes will only generate greater evils in the future. 00:29:30.880 --> 00:29:34.079 You see, people do one thing, and guess what? 00:29:34.640 --> 00:29:38.319 They don't feel better, they're still anxious, they're still worried. 00:29:38.480 --> 00:29:44.960 Okay, let's try this, and and then they go one step down into the abyss. 00:29:47.359 --> 00:29:58.799 Those of you who've been around before, let's say the 1990s, will remember something of the GDR and the Stasi, the infamous Stasi. 00:29:59.200 --> 00:30:00.400 Who remembers the Stasi? 00:30:01.759 --> 00:30:03.359 Well, really, you uh okay. 00:30:03.599 --> 00:30:05.519 Cold War, yeah, Paul Paul. 00:30:06.559 --> 00:30:17.599 The Stasi was uh the secret police in the former Democratic Republic of Germany, and it was a terrible regime there for over 40 years. 00:30:17.759 --> 00:30:30.640 But what they would do is they would take the captives, uh, take captive so-called enemies of the state, and they put them in prison, and they will wear these prisoners down. 00:30:31.200 --> 00:30:36.319 They will interrogate them, torture them, and they would do that for weeks on end. 00:30:36.480 --> 00:30:38.640 And you know they had a clever tactic. 00:30:39.039 --> 00:30:42.559 And I thought, man, these communists are smart. 00:30:42.880 --> 00:30:43.119 Okay. 00:30:43.599 --> 00:30:52.000 What they would do after weeks of being tortured and interrogated, telling people, just admit that you're an enemy of the state. 00:30:52.319 --> 00:30:53.920 We will let you free. 00:30:54.160 --> 00:30:58.400 What they do is they conveniently leave the cell door open. 00:30:58.640 --> 00:31:03.759 And then they will leave like the gate of the prison open and the main gate open. 00:31:03.839 --> 00:31:07.759 And the guy goes in the middle of the night, he's like, Well, the door is open. 00:31:07.920 --> 00:31:11.200 And he's like, sneaks out, and he tipitoes, Whoa, where are the guards? 00:31:11.279 --> 00:31:18.000 Oh, the guards are sleepy, and then he gets through the main gate and he looks up there, the the the tower, and that guard's sleeping. 00:31:18.160 --> 00:31:21.279 He's like, Wow, okay, amazing. 00:31:21.519 --> 00:31:26.160 And the guy will make a run for it, and he will make a beeline for his house. 00:31:26.240 --> 00:31:28.160 And guess who's waiting for him? 00:31:28.720 --> 00:31:29.440 The Stasi. 00:31:30.559 --> 00:31:36.319 And they would bring him back, and they would imprison him again and go through the same routine. 00:31:36.480 --> 00:31:42.720 And then some months later, they'll leave the gates open, and the guy would make a run for it. 00:31:43.039 --> 00:31:49.039 And just as he thinks, Oh, I am free, finally free, they take him captive. 00:31:49.200 --> 00:31:51.279 You know, they do it about three or four times. 00:31:51.440 --> 00:31:52.319 Guess what? 00:31:53.279 --> 00:31:57.039 That guy loses all desire to escape. 00:31:57.279 --> 00:32:00.400 That is what Satan does with people. 00:32:01.039 --> 00:32:03.200 He just lets them give up. 00:32:03.599 --> 00:32:08.720 He lets them give up because he's got all these imitations of freedom. 00:32:09.680 --> 00:32:13.680 He drives us to despair through the fear of death. 00:32:13.839 --> 00:32:22.079 He brings about anxieties of over death, but then drives us deeper into the abyss of despair and self-destruction. 00:32:22.319 --> 00:32:36.720 But at the same time, along the road, he will offer all kinds of vices to give us comfort and peace and freedom, which, like the Stasioni, enslaves us even more. 00:32:37.039 --> 00:32:42.559 And this is the very good news of Jesus becoming one of us. 00:32:42.720 --> 00:32:47.279 The Son of God became one of us to give us life and freedom. 00:32:47.519 --> 00:32:52.640 John 10, 10, the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. 00:32:52.880 --> 00:33:00.079 I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. 00:33:00.960 --> 00:33:03.759 And there's no half measures with God. 00:33:04.160 --> 00:33:06.640 He redeems us or he doesn't redeem us. 00:33:06.720 --> 00:33:09.599 It's either or there's no halfway plan here. 00:33:09.839 --> 00:33:13.759 Romans 6, you are no longer slaves of sin. 00:33:14.160 --> 00:33:16.000 You do not have to sin. 00:33:16.079 --> 00:33:19.359 Your sin does not need to hold you captive. 00:33:20.160 --> 00:33:23.599 You do not need to be enslaved in some addiction. 00:33:23.839 --> 00:33:28.400 You do not need to be dependent on someone else to make you happy. 00:33:28.720 --> 00:33:37.839 Jesus has set you free, for you did not receive a spirit of slavery that returns to fear. 00:33:38.960 --> 00:33:56.799 You do not have to live in fear of death, dear brothers and sisters, because Jesus died on your behalf to set you free. 00:33:58.319 --> 00:34:11.440 But there's one more accomplishment of the incarnation, and that is the reconciliation of enemies, arc rivals, arc enemies. 00:34:12.320 --> 00:34:16.559 Reconciled by the Son of God becoming one of us. 00:34:17.360 --> 00:34:19.840 To reconcile enemies. 00:34:22.960 --> 00:34:27.519 God's wrath was directed towards man because of sin. 00:34:28.320 --> 00:34:34.559 And man was hostile against God because of sin. 00:34:36.239 --> 00:34:42.159 Two parties, hostile and at enmity with one another. 00:34:42.480 --> 00:34:58.719 And it was because of the fall, alienation brought about that that man was basically severed from his relationship with his creator, and he was therefore separated and alienated from God's mercy and goodness and compassion. 00:35:00.320 --> 00:35:11.199 But good news is that God became one of us so that he can make peace. 00:35:12.719 --> 00:35:16.400 Hebrews 2.17. 00:35:17.920 --> 00:35:21.760 Therefore, he had to be made like his brethren. 00:35:21.840 --> 00:35:25.679 That's once again speaking of the incarnation. 00:35:26.000 --> 00:35:29.199 And he was made like his brethren in all things. 00:35:32.559 --> 00:35:45.360 So that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in all things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. 00:35:47.280 --> 00:35:48.559 Now look at this. 00:35:48.800 --> 00:35:51.199 Let me quickly unpack this verse for us. 00:35:51.440 --> 00:36:04.480 God the Son, the eternal Son of God, became like us to experience humanity in every aspect. 00:36:06.559 --> 00:36:11.679 But he did so in service of God. 00:36:13.840 --> 00:36:15.840 And we benefit from it. 00:36:16.400 --> 00:36:21.760 That's where he gets us campaign, I think, falls short of telling us the whole truth. 00:36:22.719 --> 00:36:30.960 You see, he did not become one of us just so that he can get us so that God goes, oh, okay, so now I got humans figured out. 00:36:31.119 --> 00:36:39.119 You know, it's like, yeah, okay, I I I shouldn't be so hard on them, you know, because you know, life is pretty tough on this on this planet. 00:36:39.280 --> 00:36:42.719 That's not the that that's not the entire picture. 00:36:43.280 --> 00:36:56.880 Jesus, the Son of God, became one of us to serve as a high priest in the service of God. 00:36:58.639 --> 00:37:04.480 I believe it's in Job 33, where Job laments this fact. 00:37:04.639 --> 00:37:09.039 He says, How can I plead my case with God? 00:37:10.639 --> 00:37:15.360 Because God is is a judge and he's divine. 00:37:15.519 --> 00:37:18.320 I I don't know how to plead my case with them. 00:37:18.639 --> 00:37:20.639 He is God and I am not. 00:37:23.760 --> 00:37:33.599 And in Job 33, he says, I wish there was someone who can stand in between us. 00:37:33.840 --> 00:37:40.719 One who can touch the judge's bench and who can touch me. 00:37:40.960 --> 00:37:46.320 One who's able to put his hand on a human but also put his hand on God. 00:37:46.960 --> 00:37:49.440 One who can stand in the gap. 00:37:49.679 --> 00:37:55.039 And who do you who do you think would stand in that gap thousands of years later? 00:37:55.519 --> 00:37:56.880 The Son of God. 00:37:57.119 --> 00:38:00.320 One who could touch both man and God. 00:38:00.960 --> 00:38:01.440 Why? 00:38:01.760 --> 00:38:05.039 Because there is enmity and alienation. 00:38:05.360 --> 00:38:18.480 And that is where that word propitiation becomes so rich because it has to do everything with God and the problem God has with us. 00:38:20.320 --> 00:38:31.039 If we think of this word propitiation, and if you read out of the King James Version, you might read the word to make reconciliation, and I think that's a good word too. 00:38:31.119 --> 00:38:33.039 But let's think of propitiation. 00:38:33.280 --> 00:38:34.559 What does that refer to? 00:38:34.719 --> 00:38:40.880 It refers to the righteous wrath of God and the condemnation of all humans. 00:38:44.400 --> 00:38:50.800 Propitiation speaks of the righteous wrath of God and the condemnation of all humanity. 00:38:51.119 --> 00:39:01.039 Second propitiation refers to the satisfying of God's wrath, the appeasement of God's wrath. 00:39:03.360 --> 00:39:19.360 Propitiation connects the incarnation here for us, and that the Son of God and his death on the cross made a once-for-all act of reconciliation. 00:39:19.599 --> 00:39:35.840 Once for all, the Son of God stood there between God and humanity, gave himself as a sacrifice, dying on the cross to please God, to satisfy God's wrath. 00:39:36.079 --> 00:39:41.679 And as a result, there is reconciliation once again. 00:39:42.079 --> 00:39:48.639 God the Son became one of us to reconcile God with humanity. 00:39:49.360 --> 00:39:52.960 Think of Romans 5:10, your dear brothers and sisters. 00:39:53.440 --> 00:40:04.239 For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his son. 00:40:05.599 --> 00:40:15.760 Through the death of his son, he was able to reconcile God and humanity once again. 00:40:16.320 --> 00:40:30.239 That wonderful hymn, bearing shame and scoffing rude, in my place, condemned me stood, sealed my part, and with his blood, hallelujah, what a savior. 00:40:33.280 --> 00:40:36.000 You and I could die on the cross. 00:40:36.320 --> 00:40:46.480 The best and goodest person on this planet could die on the cross and say, I'm gonna die on behalf of all humanity, and it would have affected nothing. 00:40:47.679 --> 00:40:56.639 It took God Himself to become flesh and blood and die in our place, bearing our shame. 00:40:58.320 --> 00:41:03.280 In our place, condemned, he stood, sealed my pardon with his blood. 00:41:03.360 --> 00:41:05.360 Hallelujah, what a savior. 00:41:05.679 --> 00:41:18.239 Jesus Christ satisfied God's wrath, sealed our pardon, and rose from the dead because he satisfied God's wrath. 00:41:18.480 --> 00:41:26.000 That is one indication that Christ, once for all, act on the cross, was sufficient. 00:41:26.639 --> 00:41:28.239 The resurrection. 00:41:29.199 --> 00:41:39.199 Because he rose from the dead because he was able to justify sinners and reconcile them with God. 00:41:39.440 --> 00:41:43.920 And so God Himself took the initiative here. 00:41:44.079 --> 00:41:48.960 He sent his only begotten son, number one, to restore humanity. 00:41:51.840 --> 00:41:57.360 Number two, he sent his only begotten son to redeem and enslave humanity. 00:41:57.440 --> 00:42:08.079 And number three, he sent his only begotten son to suffer and die, to reconcile and offer himself as a peace offering. 00:42:10.960 --> 00:42:23.679 One commentator says he averts God's wrath, intercedes for us, heals the brokenhearted, lifts up the fallen, and ministers to the needs of the people. 00:42:25.039 --> 00:42:31.760 And Jesus is so infinitely capable to minister to the needs of the people. 00:42:31.840 --> 00:42:40.559 And yes, he can heal the brokenhearted, and yes, he can lift up the fallen, because verse 18 says that. 00:42:57.840 --> 00:43:04.480 Because he became one of us, and he can help us, help us because he became one of us. 00:43:05.119 --> 00:43:10.639 Jesus, the Son of God, became one of us, and therefore he gets us. 00:43:12.400 --> 00:43:13.679 He is able. 00:43:32.800 --> 00:43:37.440 And he constantly ministers and intercedes for his people. 00:43:38.159 --> 00:43:45.920 For since he himself was tempted in that which he has suffered, he is able to come to the aid of those who are being tempted. 00:43:46.079 --> 00:43:49.039 Get this, Jesus understands. 00:43:52.480 --> 00:43:54.239 Yet he is without sin. 00:43:55.199 --> 00:43:56.159 He gets you. 00:43:57.760 --> 00:44:02.800 And that's about the only part that the Hundred million dollar campaign gets right. 00:44:05.199 --> 00:44:06.800 It's a great truth. 00:44:07.039 --> 00:44:12.719 It's a great comfort, but it's a great comfort to people who are in a relationship with Jesus Christ. 00:44:12.960 --> 00:44:15.360 This is not a universal comfort. 00:44:15.679 --> 00:44:18.559 He is not the sympathetic high priest. 00:44:19.360 --> 00:44:26.639 For everyone, he is the sympathetic high priest that restores his own people and ministers to their needs. 00:44:30.800 --> 00:44:38.559 For a hundred million dollars, I would say, how about adding another one dollar there and add these three truths? 00:44:42.000 --> 00:44:47.360 That Jesus came to restore humanity the way it was supposed to work. 00:44:47.920 --> 00:44:52.880 To redeem people who are kept as slaves of Satan. 00:44:53.119 --> 00:45:03.599 And number three, that Jesus came to reconcile sinners with the divine. 00:45:05.280 --> 00:45:09.920 Here is, I think, a sub-lesson here. 00:45:10.079 --> 00:45:15.039 I think here's a simple application here, dear brothers and sisters. 00:45:15.280 --> 00:45:29.840 Here people spend a hundred million dollars, churches, missions organizations, uh uh con denominational conventions, they're all chipping in, spending a hundred million dollars, and yet they beat around the bush. 00:45:30.559 --> 00:45:32.239 They beat around the bush. 00:45:32.480 --> 00:45:33.360 He gets us. 00:45:33.599 --> 00:45:36.000 Yeah, yep, whoopee. 00:45:37.679 --> 00:45:38.880 But there's a lot more. 00:45:38.960 --> 00:45:44.639 You why are you leaving out the meaty parts, the meaty parts that will actually have people transform? 00:45:44.880 --> 00:45:48.480 Where are the gospel transforming truths, dear brothers and sisters? 00:45:48.719 --> 00:45:50.159 I would ask them. 00:45:52.400 --> 00:45:54.639 And here's a lesson for us, I think. 00:45:54.800 --> 00:45:59.679 How often are we intent on sharing the gospel and we stop short? 00:46:00.239 --> 00:46:03.920 We stop short of giving people the real good news. 00:46:04.320 --> 00:46:08.719 We would say things, oh, God is love, and people would say, Well, I'm just sowing seeds. 00:46:08.800 --> 00:46:09.360 That's great. 00:46:09.440 --> 00:46:10.719 Let's sow seeds. 00:46:10.960 --> 00:46:13.360 But let's not be it around the bush. 00:46:15.119 --> 00:46:21.199 Because people are not living according to their purpose and they're unhappy. 00:46:22.800 --> 00:46:25.119 If we beat around the bush, guess what? 00:46:25.280 --> 00:46:28.000 That person will remain a slave. 00:46:29.760 --> 00:46:37.599 And if we we are not intent to share the whole gospel, the full gospel, and nothing but the gospel to people, guess what? 00:46:38.320 --> 00:46:46.559 People will remain unalienated from God, and they will be God's enemies until he returns. 00:46:46.800 --> 00:47:05.599