In Jesus, God became One of Us
Hebrews 2:14-15
This morning we’re going to talk about Christmas. And when you stop and think about it, Christmas is a fascinating phenomenon. At this time of year people all around the world are giving gifts, putting up Christmas trees, singing about the birth of Jesus and about chestnuts roasting.
So where did Christmas start? The story is a little murky – but I’ll try to tie together a couple strands. In the 1500’s followers of Jesus chose a day once a year to celebrate the birth of Jesus – in German this was called “Christkindl.” And when German immigrants came to America they brought with them the celebration of Christkindl.[i]
So how did Santa Claus get into the picture? In the 4th century there was a man named Nicholas who lived in Turkey. He was a strong believer in Jesus Christ, and was known for giving gifts to the poor. He was designated as a saint by the Catholic church – so he was Saint Nicholas, and the church established a day in December to honor him. In Dutch “Saint Nicholas” was translated Sinder Klass, which Dutch immigrants brought to America.
So Christkindl was Americanized into Kris Kringle, and Sinder Klass was Americanized into Santa Claus, and then in the late 1800’s Macy’s started using Santa Claus in advertising – and the rest is history.
But both the German celebration of Christkindl and the person of Saint Nicholas point back to Jesus Christ – who was born 2,000 years ago in a manger in Bethlehem. So who was Jesus Christ? And why was his birth so important? The answer to that is found in the Bible, God’s Word.
There’s lots of passages we could look at, but this morning I want to focus on Hebrews 2:14-15. Let’s turn there together. If you need a Bible, go ahead and raise your hand and we’ll bring one to you. Hebrews 2 is on page 1002 in the Bibles we are passing out.
Now you might wonder why we should pay any attention to what’s written in the Bible. That is a crucial question. Let me give you the short answer. There’s four main reasons I believe this book is truth directly from God. One reason is because this book says that it is truth directly from God. That doesn’t prove it – but it should make us pay attention. The second reason is because the first half of this book contains dozens of prophecies miraculously fulfilled in the second half of this book. The third reason is because history and archaeology confirm the historical and geographical information in this book. And the fourth reason is because when I read this book I meet God Himself in its words.
That’s why I believe this book is the Word of God. And here in Hebrews 2:14-15 we read what it meant for Jesus to be born --
14 Since therefore the children [that’s us] share in flesh and blood, he himself [Jesus] likewise partook of the same things [so Jesus partook of flesh and blood], that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil,
15 and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.
This passage talks about what happened when Jesus was born: he partook of flesh and blood. But to understand how amazing that is, we need to notice something else this passage says about Jesus before he was born.
This passage teaches that Jesus existed before He was born as a baby. Notice those words “He himself likewise partook of the same things.” Jesus partook of flesh and blood. You and I start existing the moment we are flesh and blood; but not Jesus. Jesus partook of flesh and blood – which means Jesus existed before he was a baby.
This is crucial for understanding Christmas. Jesus existed before he was a baby. He Himself taught this in John 8:58 when he said “before Abraham was, I am.” So how could Jesus exist before He was born as a baby? None of us existed before we were born as babies – so how could Jesus?
It’s because Jesus was God. Like I said last week – the Bible teaches that God is three persons, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. It’s not that each member of the trinity is one-third of God; it’s that each member in Himself is fully God. The Father is all of who God is; the Spirit is all of who God is, and the Son Jesus is all of who God is. So before Jesus was born as a baby, He was fully God.
Think of what this meant for him: it meant that Jesus, along with the Father and the Spirit, had always been with no beginning. Go back millions and millions of years; there had never been a time when Jesus was not.
It meant that Jesus, along with the Father and the Spirit had infinite power and sovereign authority. Think of the fact that everything was created through Jesus. A year ago we talked about creation and studied the size of the universe – remember? Think about taking a trip around the globe – that’s a long ways. 240 million trips around the globe is one light year. Our galaxy, the Milky Way, is 100,000 light years wide. And scientists tell us there are at least 50 million galaxies like this in the universe. All this was created through Jesus.
That’s Jesus before He was born: He was fully God. He had always been, with infinite power and sovereign authority. But then Jesus did something amazing. Read v.14 –
Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things.
Jesus partook of flesh and blood, which means Jesus became man.
Jesus, who was fully God, became fully man. This does not mean he stopped being God. No – he was fully God the whole time he was on earth. But Jesus, God the Son, took on a human nature and a human body. He became fully man.
We read in the Gospels about how Jesus became tired (John 4:6). How he felt hunger (Mat 21:18). That’s because He was fully man. And what do you think about that Christmas carol in which we sing about the baby Jesus that “no crying he makes.” That’s not from the Bible; that’s just from a Christmas carol. And I don’t think that’s right: Jesus was a real baby – with all that meant, including crying.
So this baby born 2,000 years ago in Bethlehem was fully God. God had been born as a man. Our Creator became one of us.
Now some of you maybe have thought that God is just way out there; that He doesn’t care about us; that He doesn’t get involved with this world and with our lives. But in Jesus God become one of us. You can’t get more involved than that.
So why did God do this? The author of Hebrews tells us in vv.14-15 --
14 Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things [so Jesus partook of flesh and blood], that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil,
15 and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.
Jesus became a man so that by dying he could destroy the devil and deliver us.
Now what’s this about the devil? The Bible teaches that there is a real devil, who is a created being – an angel – who rebelled against God. In fact, the Bible says that the devil is the god – small “g” -- of this world.
And here we read that the devil has the power of death. Now if you are trusting Jesus – then this does not apply to you. The devil no longer has the power of death over you. But the devil has the power of death over everyone who is not trusting Jesus. What does that mean?
It all goes back to the problem of sin. See, because we have sinned against an infinitely loving and glorious God, God’s justice demands a payment of infinite punishment and death. And so God in His sovereignty has given the devil the power of death; he has the power to cast people into hell forever (and when he’s done his job God casts the devil into hell to be punished forever).
But these verses say that Jesus destroyed the devil and delivers us. How? Picture the devil’s power like a power cord plugged into a power outlet of God’s justice. The only reason the devil has the power to cast people into hell – is because of God’s justice. It’s like he’s a robot casting people into hell – and his power cord is plugged into an outlet called God’s justice.
But if someone else could pay the penalty of infinite death and punishment, then God’s justice would be satisfied, and the devil’s power cord would be unplugged. But who can pay infinite punishment and death? No man or angel can pay infinite death – because no man or angel is infinite. Only God is infinite. But how can God pay infinite death? God can’t die; God is immortal and indestructible.
Unless … unless God would be willing to become a man. Justice could be satisfied and the devil would lose his power if God would be willing to take on a human body and human nature that can die. That’s why Jesus was born. That’s why Jesus became a man – so he could have skin that could be scourged and flesh that could be flayed and nerves that could scream with pain and a body that could die.
When Jesus died on the Cross he paid the penalty of infinite death; he satisfied God’s justice. And so the moment you repent of your sin and surrender your life in trust to Jesus, the devil loses his power. His cord is unplugged from the outlet of God’s justice. He has no power over you anymore.
Not that you won’t die physically. But if you are trusting Jesus, then death has an entirely different meaning. First of all – God’s grace will give you everything you need for the process of dying. God is in absolute control over every detail of the way you die – and he will give you all the comfort, all the nearness, all the strength you need to die well.
And secondly – because of Jesus’ death and resurrection your death will not involve any punishment at all. No rehabilitation. No purgatory. No punishment at all. You will immediately be brought into the loving presence of your Father – every tear will be wiped from your eyes – you will be filled with joy in His love and care and goodness – and you will experience this in an ever-increasing way forever.
So because of Jesus you don’t need to fear death. There’s three kinds of people. There’s people who don’t trust Jesus and do fear death. There’s people who do trust Jesus and fear death. And there’s people who do trust Jesus and don’t fear death.
Let’s start with those who don’t trust Jesus and do fear death. If you are not trusting Jesus – then you should fear death; but that could change this morning. If you will repent of your sins and trust yourself fully to Jesus – the devil’s power over you will be unplugged – because Jesus paid the debt of infinite death that you owe. And so – because of what Jesus has done – you can be free from the fear of death – and you can live the rest of your life in the joy of knowing God, trusting God, obeying and worshiping God in the person of Jesus.
Others of you do trust Jesus but you still fear death. If that’s you – then at this point you could be tempted to feel really bad, to beat yourself up about what a terrible Christian you are, and leave here more discouraged than ever. But please don’t do that!
Listen to what a 16th century theological heavy-weight said about this. John Calvin was a church leader in Geneva, Switzerland in the late 1500’s. Here’s what he said:
“If anyone cannot set his mind at rest by disregarding death, that man would know that he has not yet gone far enough in the faith of Christ.”
So if you fear death – you have not gone far enough in trusting Christ. Don’t beat yourself up – look more intently at Jesus – see more clearly who Jesus is – learn more deeply what Jesus has done – and go farther in trusting Jesus.
See that the moment you are dying Jesus will be right there – loving, all-powerful Jesus – ordering every detail of your passing, and giving you all the grace and assurance and strength you need.
See that the moment you die you will come right into God’s presence without any punishment whatsoever – because Jesus was punished in your place – and you lived your life trusting Him.
And see that the moment you die and behold God face to face – you will experience the infinite joy you were created for; the joy that all earthly joys only shadow; and you will not miss anything on earth because of the overflowing joy of beholding God in heaven.
So if you are trusting Jesus but still fear death – you have not gone far enough in trusting Jesus. Don’t beat yourself up – spend more time seeing Jesus and trusting Jesus.
And the result is that you will be trusting Jesus and not fear death – like Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a pastor in Germany in World War II. He was part of the resistance, was arrested and put in prison. He was not good enough to avoid God’s punishment. But he trusted Jesus Christ – and because of Jesus he knew he would avoid God’s punishment.
So listen to how he responded when he knew it was time for them to execute him. Bonhoeffer had just led a worship service in the prison –
He had hardly finished his last prayer when the door opened and two evil-looking men in civilian clothes came in and said: “Prisoner Bonhoeffer. Get ready to come with us.”
These words “Come with us” – for all prisoners they had come to mean one thing only – the scaffold.
We bade him good-bye – he drew me aside – “This is the end,” he said. “For me the beginning of life.” (Eric Metaxas, Bonhoeffer, p.528)
Dietrich Bonhoeffer fully trusted Jesus – and had no fear of death. If you will fully trust Jesus – you will have no fear of death. So fully trust Jesus.