This Month’s Sabbath Sermon –

Hebrews 2: The Humanity of Christ

We welcome all our visitors. You will want to re- Scripture explains Scripture, and Deuteronomy
turn to our little congregation again and again; for, 33:2 provides the explanation:
H you see, this church is founded on the Word of God. “The Lord came from Sinai, and rose up from
S
That makes it an old-fashioned church, the kind your Seir unto them. He shined forth from Mount Paran,
2 grandparents used to attend. and He came with ten thousands of saints. From
Last week we began a study of the book of He- His right hand went a fiery law for them.”
brews. If you missed last week’s church service, we There you have it! One of the most majestic expe-
can supply you with copies of that sermon on He- riences in the history of our world occurred on the
brews 1, either in an 8½ x 11 reading format or a 5½ day when God came down from heaven and spoke
x 8½ sermon presentation format. the Ten Commandments to the people! Clothed in
But, now, let us open the precious Word of God. clouds on top of Mount Sinai, prefaced by thunder
The book of Hebrews, chapter 2. We will begin with and lightning, the Voice of God spoke! We know, from
verse 1: the above passage, that the Lord came down in the
“Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed glory of ten thousand angels. Little wonder the Isra-
to the things which we have heard, lest at any time elites shook with terror.
we should let them slip.” So Hebrews 2:2-3 is referring to the Ten Com-
It is the will of God that we earnestly study His mandments, spoken on Mount Sinai! The fearful
Word. Communion with our kind Father, through warning given in those two verses speaks of the fate
prayer and the study of His Word, should be our of those who willfully disobey those commandments!
chiefest delight. Indeed, Deuteronomy 4:9 should be How very solemn is this life! How we must daily
written on the walls of our home. Turn with me to cling to Christ, our only Saviour, that we may be
that beautiful passage: strengthened, moment by moment, to obey His holy
“Take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, law! Galatians 3:19 also speaks of the law and the
lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have angels, and mentions Christ:
seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the “It [the law] was ordained by angels in the hand
days of thy life.” of a Mediator.”
Let us never forget the truths we have found in The law was given in the presence of the angels.
the Word of God, the sweet experiences we have had They agree to its principles, for they have always
by obeying His rules for our life! The warning of Hosea obeyed God’s laws. Through the enabling grace of
4:6 should ever be remembered. Christ, our Mediator, it is written on our hearts. Only
“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. in His strength can we obey it.
Because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also Hebrews 2:2-3, which we have just read, is the
reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to Me, see- first of several passages in the book of Hebrews which
ing thou has forgotten the law of thy God.” contain fearful threatenings. John Bunyan said they
The last part of Hosea 4:10 summarizes the ter- were the most fearful threatenings in all of Scrip-
rible danger: “because they have left off to take heed ture. Yet the first of them, this passage here, reveals
to the Lord.” May it be our diligent work, individu- what they are all about: Obedience to the law of God
ally, that this is never said of any of us, never penned is required from mankind, and it can only be obeyed
by the recording angel in our record. through the help of Jesus Christ. So we find that the
Now, back to Hebrews, chapter 2, verses 2-3: warnings contain a wonderful promise! Those who
“For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast, are God’s trustful, obedient little children will escape
and every transgression and disobedience received His wrath against sin and sinners. They are secure
a just recompense of reward;—how shall we escape, in the everlasting arms. The promise is given in He-
if we neglect so great salvation, which at the first brews [Link]
began to be spoken . . to us by them that heard
“He is able . . to save them to the uttermost that
Him.”
come unto God by Him.”
A world of warning is to be found in those words!
Returning again to Hebrews, chapter 2, notice the
We must examine them closely.
wording of the last part of verse 3:
What is meant by the phrase, “the word spoken
“How shall we escape, if we neglect so great sal-
by angels?” It is obviously the key to both verses. It is vation,—which at the first began to be spoken . .
also clear that continuing disobedience to it will bring to us by them that heard Him.”
eternal death.
 From the beginning, those who have heard of the happened? How can mankind be restored to their
wonderful news of salvation, through Christ, have Edenic home?
shared it with still others. Then, when Jesus was on Oh, “but we see Jesus!” We see Jesus! This is
the earth, His disciples heard His words and they where we receive the answer: as we see Jesus! —
too began to share the message. As they did so, God Jesus, who earlier had been crowned with glory and
clearly showed that they had the right message, as honor,—took human flesh, was made in the likeness
we see in the next verse, verse 4: of men, lower than the angels, and then stepping still
“God also bearing them witness, both with signs lower—to the suffering of death, the tasting of death,
and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of that, by the kindness of God, He should recover man
the Holy Ghost, according to His own will.” from the dark pit of despair.
This verse links with the previous two verses. After 22 verses of introduction, the Apostle has
There is a terrible threatening for those who willfully brought us to our Redeemer. And, in bringing us to
disobey, but there is a glorious promise of empower- our Saviour in verse 9, Paul has presented the steps
ment for those who will submit to the will of God. down which Christ took.
And that message must be carried to all the world! “But we see Jesus,—who was a little lower than
Now, in arriving at verse 5, the Apostle Paul—the the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with
author of Hebrews—brings us to a new point. He had glory and honour; that He by the grace of God should
mentioned how the angels were present when the law taste death for every man.”
was given on Mount Sinai. But he wants us to know This passage parellels that of Philippians 2:6-8,
that it is not the angels who are the important sub- which also speaks about the steps down.
jects in this matter of salvation. “Who, being in the in the form of God, thought it
Hebrews 2:5— “For unto the angels hath He not not robbery to be equal with God; but made Him-
put in subjection the world to come, whereof we self of no reputation and took upon Him the form
speak.” of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men.
Paul is telling us that the dominion of the earth And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled
made new will not be given to the angels, but to some- Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the
one else. death of the cross.”
Just as in chapter 1, we were told that Christ Jesus did all that for us! He went from the high-
was more important than the angels; so now we are est place to the lowest, to deliver us from sin. And,
told that the key figures in the plan of salvation, and someday soon, to raise us up—from the lowest to a
the future dominion, are men and Christ. Men must place by His side, a home in His kingdom.
choose to accept what God provides, and Christ alone There are those who deny those steps down. They
can give it. say Christ did not go all the way to the bottom. They
That is the message of Hebrews 2:5-9. Let us read agree with us that Christ never once sinned, but they
this passage and see what it tells us: say He did not fully become like us. But Jesus did
“For unto the angels hath He not put in subjec- not pretend take the nature of man; He fully took the
tion the world to come, whereof we speak. nature of man. This is clearly proven in the last part
“But one in a certain place testified, saying, What of the chapter we are studying today.
is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of Jesus Christ, who was fully God, united His di-
man, that thou visitest him? vinity with our humanity in a tie that is never to be
“Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; broken. He gave Himself to the human race, forever
Thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and to identify Himself with our needs. He who was fully
didst set him over the works of Thy hands. God became fully man. And in our nature, He tri-
“Thou has put all things in subjection under his umphed over temptation and sin. He did this to pro-
feet. For in that He put all in subjection under him, vide us with an example and assurance that, by faith
He left nothing that is not put under him. in Him, we too can overcome.
“But now we see not yet all things put under him. Christ fully became a human being. He fully ex-
—But we see Jesus! who was a little lower than the perienced our temptations, but never yielded to them.
angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory Christ was without sin.
and honour; that He by the grace of God should In the next verse, we are told that it was through
taste death for every man.” suffering that Jesus underwent this experience of tak-
Do you see the beautiful progression here? It is ing humanity upon Him.
not the angels who will inherit the new earth. It will Hebrews 2:10— “For it became Him, for whom
be men, who seem so inconsequential. Yes, it is true are all things, and by whom are all things, in bring-
they originally came forth from the hand of their Cre- ing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of
ator, only a little lower than the angels. And it is true their salvation perfect through sufferings.”
that originally Adam and Eve were appointed to hold As we are told in Luke 24:46, “Thus it behoved
dominion over all the earth. Christ to suffer.” It was part of the cup He must drink.
But it is clear that they no longer do. What has Hebrews 2:11-12:
H
“For both He that sanctifieth and they who are the wicked one. It is only by fully taking our nature
S sanctified are all of one. For which cause He is not that Christ could destroy the enemy of mankind and
ashamed to call them brethren; saying, I will de- empower us to resist temptation and sin.
2
clare Thy name unto My brethren, in the midst of Fact number two: Christ did not take the nature
the church will I sing praise unto Thee.” of Adam; instead, He took the human nature of
Christ became our Brother by fully taking our Abraham’s descendants.
human nature. We become fully His brethren by ac- Verse 16— “For verily He took not on Him the
cepting His sacrifice on our behalf, and by yielding nature of angels; but He took on Him the seed of
our lives in obedience to Him and to the laws of His Abraham.”
kingdom. He made this clear in Matthew 12:49 and There are a number of other passages which show
50: that Christ took, not the nature of Adam, but that of
“He stretched forth His hand toward His dis- his descendants [Isaiah 11:1; Jeremiah 23:5; Mat-
ciples, and said, Behold My mother and My breth- thew 1:1-17; Romans 1:3-4; Revelation 22:16; Psalm
ren! For whosoever shall do the will of My Father 132:11; Matthew 12:23].
which is in heaven, the same is My brother, and That is why the heirs according to the promise
sister, and mother.”
are also said to be Abraham’s seed. —And we surely
Christ says to us, “Ye are My brethren, if you will want to be among these heirs!
do what I ask; if you will obey My laws.” —Oh, what a Galatians 3:29— “If ye be Christ’s, then are ye
privilege it is to be counted as a brother, a sister to Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the prom-
Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour! ise.”
But there is an even closer relationship which we Those are the two points which are most strongly
may enter upon. By faith, we can become His little contested. First, it is argued that Christ did not re-
children! ally take human nature. But Hebrews 2:14 says He
Hebrews 2:13— “And again, I will put my trust did. Second, it is argued that Christ only took the
in Him. And again, Behold I and the children which nature of Adam before his fall into sin. But Hebrews
God hath given Me.”
2:16 says He took the nature of Adam’s fallen de-
There is no relationship closer than a parent with scendants.
his little child. It is an obedient, loving, trustful rela- If we say that Christ only took the nature of Adam
tionship on the part of the child. Experiencing it, in before his fall, then we are saying that Christ only
deepest happiness we sing our Father’s praise: died for unfallen Adam! But, by saying that, we are
Psalm 18:2— “The Lord is my Rock, and my cutting ourselves off from the hope of salvation.
Fortress, and my Deliverer; my God, my strength,
Christ is our brother, not just Adam’s! Christ died
in whom I will trust.”
for us, not just for Adam. In our nature, Christ re-
Isaiah 50:7— “The Lord God will help me; there- sisted and overcame sin and died on the cross for
fore shall I not be confounded.”
us. He did not just die for unfallen Adam.
Hebrews 2:13 quotes Isaiah 8:18. In that verse The truth is that there is no “unfallen Adam!”
we are told: Adam sinned and Adam fell, and thus totally lost his
“Behold, I and the children whom the Lord hath unfallen state. From that point onward, “unfallen
given Me are for signs and for wonders in Israel.”
Adam” no longer existed! Christ did not die for
That is telling us it is astounding what Christ can unfallen Adam, because Adam before his fall needed
do through His humble, believing earthly children. no redemption. This whole idea that Christ took
Oh, that we may submit fully to His molding influ- unfallen Adam’s nature is ridiculous.
ence! The truth is that Christ took our nature, so He
But now, Paul takes us more directly to the na- could reach us; minister to our needs; and, by His
ture Christ took when He was incarnated. death in our nature, empower us in our nature to
The question has been asked, To what extent did resist and overcome sin.
Christ take man’s nature? The answer is clearly given But there are other important facts in this chap-
in this chapter. ter.
Fact number one: Christ fully took our flesh. Fact number three: In every possible way Christ
Hebrews 2:14-15— “Forasmuch then as the chil- took our nature. He had to do this, or He could not
dren are partakers of flesh and blood, He also Him- have become our great High Priest!
self likewise took part of the same; that through
Hebrews 2:17— “Wherefore in all things it be-
death He might destroy Him that had the power of
hoved Him to be made like unto His brethren, that
death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who,
He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in
through fear of death, were all their lifetime subject
things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for
to bondage.”
the sins of the people.”
Verses 14-15 tell us that Christ took our flesh—
Christ is not mediating today in heaven for
all of it: our bodies, our brains, our emotions—the
unfallen Adam; he is interceding for fallen human
whole body. And in that nature, trusting in His heav-
beings, such as you and me. He can only be our High
enly Father for help, He overcame all the power of
Priest because He connects earth with heaven; He is Mary, His mother.
fully man and fully God. John 1:1-2, 14— “In the beginning was the Word,
Fact number four: Only one who has experienced and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
our problems, our temptations, and our sufferings— The same was in the beginning with God . . And the
can today help us in the midst of our problems. Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.”
Hebrews 2:18— “For in that He Himself hath Hebrews 2:11— “For both He that sanctifieth and
suffered being tempted, He is able to succour them they who are sanctified are all of one: for which
that are tempted.” cause He is not ashamed to call them brethren.”
Only one who has had our infirmities can minis- Hebrews 2:14— “Forasmuch then as the children
ter to us as an effective priest. Here are three other are partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself
passages which say this same thing: likewise took part of the same.”
Hebrews 5:1-2— “Every high priest taken from Romans 8:3— “God, sending His own Son in the
among men is ordained for men in things pertain- likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin
ing to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacri- in the flesh.”
fices for sins; who can have compassion on the ig- 2 Corinthians 5:21— “For He hath made Him to
norant, and on them that are out of the way, for be sin for us, who knew no sin: that we might be
that he himself is compassed with infirmity.” made the righteousness of God in Him.”
Hebrews 4:14-16— “Seeing then that we have a We are required, by Scripture, to believe that
great High Priest, that is passed into the heavens, Christ fully took our nature. God’s Word is clear that
Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profes- those who deny this great truth, that Christ fully took
sion. For we have not an high priest which cannot our flesh, are of antichrist:
be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but
1 John 4:3— “And every spirit that confesseth
was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without not that Jesus is come in the flesh is not of God:
sin.”
and this is that spirit of antichrist.”
Hebrews 4:16— “Let us therefore come boldly But remember that, throughout the entire expe-
unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy,
rience, He never once yielded to temptation or sin:
and find grace to help in time of need.”
1 Peter 2:22— “Who did no sin, neither was guile
We are told in Scripture that Christ was like us found in His mouth.”
in yet another way:
1 John 3:5— “Ye know that He was manifested
Hebrews 5:7-9— “Who in the days of His flesh,
to take away our sins; and in Him is no sin.”
when He had offered up prayers and supplications
with strong crying and tears unto Him that was able John 14:30— “The prince of this world cometh,
and hath nothing in Me.”
to save Him from death, and was heard in that He
feared. Though He were a Son, yet learned He obe- There are over a thousand passages in the Spirit
dience by the things which He suffered. And being of Prophecy which clearly affirm this great truth, that
made perfect, He became the author of eternal sal- Christ took our fallen human nature and, in that
vation unto all them that obey Him.” nature, resisted all the temptations of the enemy and
While He was on earth, Christ suffered from temp- came off more than conqueror. We are told that, if He
tation; yet never once—in thought, word, or action— had not taken our nature, He could not be our High
did He, in the slightest, yield to temptation. Christ Priest and enable us to overcome sin as He did.
was made fully like us and is our perfect example. To simplify finding what you want to show oth-
He wrestled for help from the Father, just as we must ers, simply memorize two quotes: Desire of Ages, 49
do. This is another reason why He is now our perfect and 117. Then you will always be able to explain this
High Priest. truth about the human nature of Christ to others.
Since this is such an important subject, here are How thankful we can be that we have so much
several more passages which show that Christ took guidance from Heaven as we traverse the path to the
the nature that we have, not the nature of unfallen Promised Land. —vf
beings:
Galatians 4:4— “But when the fulness of the time
For an in-depth Bible and Spirit of Prophecy
was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a
woman, made under the law.”
analysis of this subject, purchase a copy of our
book, The Nature of Christ. 80 pp., 8½ x 11, $7.00
That would be the law of genetics. On His earthly
+ $2.00. It is quite thorough in its coverage.
side, Christ inherited chromosomes and genes from

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