Amazing Chapters in the Bible for All of the Chapters in Our Lives, Pt. 3
(Great Passage for Dads)
Study Guide, June 20, 2021
Pastor Clay Olsen
https://www.facebook.com/eichapel/videos/904913236791257
It’s a tough world, so you gotta’ be tough. But there are other things you gotta’ be, too. And that is where our helps for Dads come into view from this amazing chapter that we began to explore last time. So let’s return to Hebrews, chapter two.
Last time we saw the Apostle speaking about our great salvation, and particularly, that everything in life centers around our great salvation that our great Savior provides for all who recognize their great need to be saved and therefore respond and receive it rather than reject or neglect it. For as the declaration stated: “How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?”
Fathers have a great responsibility to inform their children of this great salvation that our great Savior offers to all who call upon Him in repentance and faith. It is a great responsibility and a great privilege to sow the seeds of the gospel onto the soil of the hearts of those whom God has given into our care. And, yes, as Parents we each have failings and flaws, but also how encouraging it is to point our children to the Perfect Parent, our Heavenly Father, who calls for us all to become His forever children by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. So the message of Christ’s great salvation is to be the theme of our family’s life and living.
All right, well this chapter also reveals some other amazing key concepts about life and living that Dads can emphasize to their families about our great God. So, let’s look. And right away we find a statement from the Apostle that is one of the most encouraging things to hear for all of us who find Scripture memorization a little daunting at times. For as we’ll see, wasn’t it good of God to just let Paul include saying something that should encourage all of us who have ever had a little trouble recalling where a certain statement is found in the Scriptures? Like, “I know it’s somewhere in the Scriptures…I’ve read it dozens of times, but I just can’t put my finger on where it was”…You know what we saying? Well, listen to this encouragement…Heb 2:5-6 – “For He did not subject to angels the world to come, concerning which we are speaking. But one has testified somewhere, saying, “WHAT IS MAN, THAT YOU REMEMBER HIM? OR THE SON OF MAN, THAT YOU ARE CONCERNED ABOUT HIM?” NASB
Did you catch it? Another version says – “Someone has declared this somewhere in Scripture…” (God’s Word Version) You gotta’ love it, right? This shows us that even Paul was sometimes like: “Yeah, I’ve read this Scripture many times before…I know what it says…I just can’t quite remember exactly where, but I know that someone has declared this somewhere….” Now, don’t you feel a little better already about your wrestling with remembering where exactly that Scripture is that you’re trying to put your finger on? When we meet the Apostle Paul we’ll have to thank him for encouraging us about our Scripture memory! I think he will appreciate that, don’t you think? Maybe???
Actually, since all Scripture really is authored by God the Holy Spirit, it is amazing that God let him include that portion as a way that we could identify with even one of the Apostles when it comes to Scripture memorization. Anyway, that was just a little fun there. But what we do know is that the Apostle knew exactly what those Scriptures said, because he then quoted some of what the Psalmist David had also said about mankind. 7,8 – “You have made Him a little while lower than the Angels; You have crowned Him with glory and honor, and have appointed Him over the works of Your hands; You have put all things in subjection under His feet.” For in subjecting all things to Him, He left nothing that is not subject to Him. But now we do not yet see all things subjected to Him.” NASU
And this is absolutely fascinating because, for one thing, here the Apostle is building upon what the Psalmist said about mankind in Psalm 8. And what he is doing here is that he is using the great revelation about humanity from the Psalms to talk about both the humanity of Jesus, the Son of Man, and the deity of Jesus, who now was crowned with glory and honor and is soon going to have all things put under subjection to Him!
But we need to go back to that Psalm 8 revelation to catch the wonder of fantastic role that God had in mind for His human children. Check this out: Ps 8:3-9- “When I look at the night sky and see the work of Your fingers—the moon and the stars You set in place—what are people that You should think about them, mere mortals that You should care for them? Yet You made them only a little lower than God and crowned them with glory and honor. You gave them charge of everything you made, putting all things under their authority—the flocks and the herds and all the wild animals, the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea, and everything that swims the ocean currents. O Lord, our Lord, Your majestic name fills the earth!” NLT
This is one of the greatest passages in the Bible about God’s plan for man, as to why He made us and what plans he has for us. Dads, this is another ‘Big Picture’ concept that you can celebrate with your kids and with just everyone, really. The Psalm starts with amazement over God’s created heavens and earth. And it then goes onto being amazed that in comparison to all of this, why would God be so concerned with any of us? But then from there he goes on to this super amazement of realizing that God’s plan was and is for each of us to assist our Creator one day in the glorious honor of stewarding, and managing, and developing, and ruling over everything that God had created in the heavens and the earth! That’s right! We were created to first become God’s children, and then when Christ comes to reign over His new Creation, He plans to have us reign with Him, reigning with Him over all His created Kingdom!
Are you feeling significant yet?! We were created to be co-regents with the King of the Universe! And again, Dads, this is something that you can marvel together about with your children…no matter what age they are! Marvel over God’s plans for His children…over God’s great role for His human children. Like, “Hey kids; Did you know that one day God is going to let us rule over all creation with Him? Oh yeah, just like Adam and Eve were to rule over the Earth, God is going to expand our rule to rule over the New Heavens and the New Earth!” Talk about a great future for us all!
However, as the passage goes on to point out, the Apostle had to explain another reality that had to be accomplished in order for any of this great future to become a reality. And that was that the Cross for Jesus had to come before the Crowning of Jesus. Notice: Heb 2:9-13- “But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower 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. For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings. For both He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one Father; for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, “I WILL PROCLAIM YOUR NAME TO MY BRETHREN, 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 WHOM GOD HAS GIVEN ME.” NASU
By the way, here is another Scripture passage that talks about God singing! The Prophet Zephaniah tells us that God rejoices over us with singing, and here we see Jesus singing. Can you imagine how God sings? Have you ever thought about what that is going to be like, listening to God singing with all of us, and with all of God’s creatures listening to God sing…with our mouths open probably…Amazing things are coming!
But back to what else was being explained…Now, remember, many of the people at that time thought that Jesus was only a man, and, as such, belonged to an order lower than Angels. And, as Paul pointed out in the book of Philippians, Jesus did lay aside His independent use of His divine attributes while on earth. Why?…For the purpose of living both a sacrificial life and then dying a sacrificial death as our substitute, as our Savior, as the unique sacrifice for all human beings who would trust in Him as their Savior and Lord. That is why the passage says that Jesus ‘tasted death for everyone’. He died as our all-sufficient sacrifice, in our place, so that we would not have to be eternally separated from our Creator and God.
But wait, there’s more! And here is another amazing thing that Dads can point out to their kids, and everyone, about our amazing God. Look at this: Heb 2:14-18- “Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could He die, and only by dying could He break the power of the devil, who had the power of death. Only in this way could He set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying. We also know that the Son did not come to help angels; He came to help the descendants of Abraham. Therefore, it was necessary for Him to be made in every respect like us, His brothers and sisters, so that He could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before God. Then He could offer a sacrifice that would take away the sins of the people. Since He Himself has gone through suffering and testing, He is able to help us when we are being tested.” NLT
One of the greatest marvels in all of Creation is that the Creator of human beings chose to become a human being Himself! Not only did God want to create a human family to spend eternity with, He also created a human body for Himself in which He could then spend eternity in it with us! God chose to become human Himself…that is, both fully human and fully God. And that is the greatest wonder of wonders of all the wonders in the Universe. Angels still marvel over the Incarnation of God, of seeing their Creator now in human form, Jesus Christ, who is the physical manifestation of the Eternal Godhead, Eternal Trinity of God!
Dads, you can tell your children that when God was designing the bodies for Adam and Eve, which would be the bodies that His future human children would also have, that He was also designing the kind of body that He Himself would one day move into and spend all eternity in. Of course, He would one day then upgrade it to an Immortal body, of course, just like our bodies are going to be upgraded to immortality, as well…Praise God! But again, in Jesus, God, the Christ, moved into a human body, and will forever be in a human body with the rest of His saved human family!
Of all of the things that can boggle your mind, that is the most mind-boggling thing of all! That God would become one of us so that He could save any of us who turn to Him as our God and trust in Him as our Savior. And to then just think: Somewhere beyond Earth, Jesus Christ is right now in His physical human resurrected body. And He is just waiting for the right moment to return to ‘rapture’ His church family, to transport His church family to the Father’s House…to Heaven. And then He will return with His church family to set up His Kingdom, where things finally will be done on Earth as they are done in Heaven.
Our great salvation…the great Creation…the great plan of the Creator for His creation…and for His children in reigning with Him over His new creation…Yes, Dads, these are some of the great teachings and realities of the Scriptures that you can talk about with your family and your church family and everyone, really!
Well, we know Dads rock…and we know God reigns…and we also know that one day all of God’s children are going to get to reign with Him. Praise God!