Understanding the New and Living Way - Part 2
Understanding the New and Living Way
Bible Study of the Book of Hebrews
Chapter 2.
A Warning against Drifting Away
2 So we must listen very carefully to the truth we have heard, or we may drift away from it. 2 For the message God delivered through angels has always stood firm, and every violation of the law and every act of disobedience was punished. 3 So what makes us think we can escape if we ignore this great salvation that was first announced by the Lord Jesus himself and then delivered to us by those who heard him speak? 4 And God confirmed the message by giving signs and wonders and various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit whenever he chose.
We must take careful note of verse 1 "We must listen very carefully to the truth". James 1 v 22 tells us "But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves." In order to Do the Word we must learn how to Listen first.
"Or we may drift away from it." This word drift is very interesting, it means to be carried slowly. We can very easily be distracted and find ourselves being carried slowly away from the truth, the longer we drift, the further away we get from the right place. "Or we may drift away from it." This word drift is very interesting, it means to be carried slowly. We can very easily be distracted and find ourselves being carried slowly away from the truth, the longer we drift, the further away we get from the right place. Imagine an aeroplane on route to it's destination, and the pilot makes a wrong calculation and turns a few degrees to the left or to the right. If he does not make the correction, the further he flies, the further he will drift from the correct path. He will think, by now we should be near our destination but will find that he is far away.
I often think about driving a car, we are constantly keeping an eye on the road ahead and holding the steering wheel, adjusting to every bump, bend or turn in the road. So it is with our lives, everyday relying on the Holy Spirit leading us and on the Word of God showing us the way.
Psalm 119 v 105 "Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path."
Proverbs 10:17
Whoever heeds instruction is on the path to life, but he who ignores reproof goes astray.
So therefore we take this warning, and pray that we will not fall into temptation.
Matthew 26 v 41. "Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak!”
Matthew 6:13 Jesus taught us to pray:
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
So we must learn how to walk with the Lord, daily, in close fellowship, with an open heart and open ears. Listening for his voice leading and guiding us. There are many scriptures about hearing and knowing the voice of God. I would encourage you do a study on these scriptures for yourselves.
Lets continue reading Hebrews 2
Jesus, the Man
5 And furthermore, it is not angels who will control the future world we are talking about. 6 For in one place the Scriptures say,
“What are mere mortals that you should think about them,
or a son of man that you should care for him?
7 Yet for a little while you made them a little lower than the angels
and crowned them with glory and honor.
8 You gave them authority over all things.”
Now when it says “all things,” it means nothing is left out. But we have not yet seen all things put under their authority. 9 What we do see is Jesus, who for a little while was given a position “a little lower than the angels”; and because he suffered death for us, he is now “crowned with glory and honor.” Yes, by God’s grace, Jesus tasted death for everyone. 10 God, for whom and through whom everything was made, chose to bring many children into glory. And it was only right that he should make Jesus, through his suffering, a perfect leader, fit to bring them into their salvation.
11 So now Jesus and the ones he makes holy have the same Father. That is why Jesus is not ashamed to call them his brothers and sisters. 12 For he said to God,
“I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters.
I will praise you among your assembled people.”
13 He also said,
“I will put my trust in him,”
that is, “I and the children God has given me.”
14 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. 15 Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying.
16 We also know that the Son did not come to help angels; he came to help the descendants of Abraham. 17 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. 18 Since he himself has gone through suffering and testing, he is able to help us when we are being tested.
Lets look at vs 5 - 8. You gave (Son of Man) - them authority over everything. This was God's original plan for creation. This scripture is referencing Psalm 8 v 4 which says "what are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them?"
The greatest mystery is God's love for mankind. That he would send his only Son to die a cruel death on the cross, in order to carry away all sin. But when we begin to understand his original plan for creation, we can begin to unravel this great love mystery.
Reinhard Bonnke made this comment - God does not love - He is Love. And the reason he loves us so much is that he loves us so much. Read that again, and let that sink in.
God is our creator, and he created us on purpose with purpose. The first Adam, in the garden of Eden sinned, giving up his dominion and legal right to be God's representative on the earth. To take care of God's creation. But Jesus came to restore that which was lost, not just those who were lost. Jesus came not just to take us to heaven but to restore and liberate us to live in the plan and purpose Father God has designed for each one of us.
Luke 19:10, "For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost."
v 9 teaches us that Jesus came down to our level. In Hebrews chapter 1, we saw that Jesus is superior to angels, now we see that he was made lower - he came down to our level. Ponder this for a moment, don't skip over this saying, yes, I know that. Consider, what this means.
Philippians 2 v 5-8 says "You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.
6 Though he was God,
he did not think of equality with God
as something to cling to.
7 Instead, he gave up his divine privileges;
he took the humble position of a slave
and was born as a human being.
When he appeared in human form,
8 he humbled himself in obedience to God
and died a criminal’s death on a cross."
God's original plan, was to have sons on earth to do his will. Because of the sin nature we all inherited from Adam, we could not come to God. We were separated, but Jesus came to reconcile us back to Father God. There was only One Way - a perfect blood sacrifice.
Hebrews 9 v 22 "In fact under the Law almost everything is cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness [neither release from sin and its guilt, nor cancellation of the merited punishment]."
But look at verse 11 again "So now Jesus and the ones he makes holy have the same Father. That is why Jesus is not ashamed to call them his brothers and sisters."
Note: All men are NOT God's children. We are adopted as sons through Jesus Christ alone.
John 1:12-13 tells us "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God."
But once we have received the gift of salvation, by acknowledging Jesus as Lord, we are NOW the children of God.
Romans 8 v 17 says "And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering."
Most people are not aware of the fear of dying, but there is within everyone a knowledge whether conscience or not about death and eternity. Many, through traditions and denial have hardened their hearts, but each man has an appointment they have to keep - that is to stand before God on the day of judgment. On that day there will be no excuse or no-one else to blame, we will each be accountable before God.
In this chapter, we see that Jesus did not come to save angels, but man. That is why Jesus had to become 'human' or 'flesh'. he is the perfect advocate and intercessor, he became just like us, so he knows how we feel. He understands the 'physical' weaknesses and frailty of mankind. He was a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. Isaiah 53. He felt our pain, he suffered our pain. He not only loves us, he truly understands.
I urge you to read over this chapter again a few times and ask yourself these questions.
What must I do to not drift away?
Why is it important that I understand why Jesus became a man?
What does this mean to me?
What does it mean to me that I have authority in the earth as a son of God?
NOTE: Son of God - refers to both men and woman.
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