Lighthouse scribes

A warning

Just before I tell you what I have learned from studying Hebrews 2, it’s important to remind you that Hebrews was written to Christians – men and women who had already confessed the Lordship of Christ, and accepted Him as the only way to God the Father. So, when chapter 2 opens with a strong warning, we, just like them, must heed what God is saying.

v 1-3 Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away (1).

I tried to break down the words as I understood them. ‘Therefore’…because of this reason. What reason? The revelation of Jesus as God, the Son of God, superior to angels and prophets. ‘Must’…as binding. In secondary school and university, there was always the compulsory part of an examination. There could be seven theory questions with the requirement to answer five, but of those seven, two would be mandatory questions. So, if those questions did not make the five that were answered, the student would lose marks automatically, even if they answered 5 of 7, as required. God isn’t giving any choices about this. ‘Earnest heed’…frequent observation, sincere attention. The purpose of all of this is to ensure that we don’t drift away from the truth. God expressly warns us that the more attention we give to the truth, the more steadfast we will be. If we stop paying attention, we will drift away. I know many people who have said, ‘It can never be me’, yet drifting is a slow movement, and people don’t wake up one day to openly deny God. Also, there is no stage of maturity or depth of fellowship that empowers us outside God. We are truly ordinary, and God is the extra.

Verses 2 and 3 should make every Christian sober. God is love; no doubt about that. But God has not required a lesser standard than he did in the Old Testament, or even ever before man sinned. If God punished the disobedience of the law and ordinances, we know that punishment awaits taking the message of salvation for granted. It is simple: if we do not hold the gospel and all it stands for in the highest esteem, then we are neglecting/ignoring/taking it for granted.

Jesus; 100% man

In Ch.1 1, we read about Jesus, who is the Son of God and is also God. In Ch. 2 verse 5 onwards, we focus on the humanity of Jesus. Jesus’ mission was to save man from sin and to do so required that he take on our exact nature. v10 and 14 show us why only God could take away the sin of the world and why God had to become like us for that to happen. The blood of goats and sheep isn’t equivalent to human blood, yet no human except the Christ who was born of the Spirit could be without a sinful nature. All of us were born in sin and shaped in iniquity—due to the corruption in the Garden of Eden. This corruption led to the loss of fellowship and authority that God had bestowed on man in the beginning (v. 7–8, Gen. 1). By the price Jesus paid, God restored us to Himself. Although mankind did not receive back the authority as was in the beginning. Instead, we see Jesus having authority over all things and giving us access to his glory by making us children of God.

Who runs the world? God.

Verse 8 reminds us of life before the fall. God’s plan was for all things to be subject to man. But the fall changed that, and now Jesus, the only man who made sin impotent, has received that authority. Though all things are no longer subjected to man, they are to Jesus. As Christians, our authority in the spirit is because of Christ’s finished works, and though we will be bold, we must not become exalted in our own eyes. Our everyday life of overcoming this world should draw us to humble adoration of the One who paid the price.

There is LOVE at home.

That is why Jesus is not ashamed to call them his brothers and sisters.

“I will put my trust in him,” that is, “I and the children God has given me.”

I don’t know about you, but when I meditate on the price that God paid to bring me home, it makes me cry with joy. It makes me humble and grateful. It makes me alive and ecstatic. There is truly nothing like knowing that I am loved where it matters the most. I know who I am. I am God’s child, I am Christ’s sister and co-heir, and I am thoroughly loved. So, when I am going through difficult times, I know Christ experienced human suffering and tests, too, and nothing I am going through is alien to him. He’s God, and I can be vulnerable with Him. Indeed, there is love, the right kind at home.

Love,

Osi

P.S I don’t think you can study Hebrews 2 in isolation. Here are a few scriptures I read alongside: 1 Cor. 15, Romans 8, 1 Jn. 4:9-10, Eph. 1:22-23, Gen. 1:26-28, Gen. 3, Ps. 8.