Sunday Morning Service 8:30AM-Jesus Better Than The Angels pt 2 - Hebrews 2:5-18 Pastor Ryan Nichols

Good morning church family. It's good to see you guys. I'm really glad you're here. Glad you guys can make it out this morning. If you want to stand with me, we'll pray and we'll get started. Father, thank you for another day and we thank you for allowing us to be here in your house this morning, Lord. And God, as we come here to worship you and open up your word, we ask your blessing upon this time, Lord.

Help us to focus on you and to lavish praise upon you and to sit everything else aside for a little while. We love you and we praise you and in Jesus' name, amen.

There was between us, by your grace you came and broke them down. In case we are no less, you can go ahead and have a seat if you like.

Yours in Jesus' face tomorrow, the sea is raging on Jesus Christ. I say that it is well, cause I was sending back to life. Father God, we just thank you for who you are. We thank you for who we are in you, Lord God. That we are a son and a daughter of the King Most High. And Lord, help us to rest in that today. Help us to rest, Lord, in the fact that we are your child.

We are your creation, Lord God, and that you love us very, very much. That the King of all kings, the Lord of all lords, thinks about us and loves us. Would you guys go ahead and stand with me for the last one?

This our God, sing with me how great this our God is. Our God, vendor of the King, rejoin, rejoice by his voice, trembles at his voice. Sing it out, how great our God is. Father God, may we see you. May we see you, Jesus. Just how great you are this morning. Father God, you are a great and mighty God. And we ask that you do a great and mighty thing here this morning by the power of your Holy Spirit.

Father God, as Pastor Ryan comes, Lord, move mightily. Give him the words to speak. And give us ears to hear and a heart to receive that word. We ask it in Jesus' name. Amen. Let's have some fellowship.

Good morning. Good morning.

If you could begin the process of finding your seat. Grab a bulletin. We'll get ready to go over some announcements.

Welcome to Calvary Chapel. I'm glad that you are here this morning. A handful of things to take note of in your bulletin. And as always, on the left-hand side are the things that go on throughout the week. So find a spot to get plugged into. In the middle section, fellas, don't forget that we have a men's breakfast coming up this week, this Saturday. Down at the other end of the hallway, 8 a.m.

And so come join us. For that, ladies, remember we swapped places with you guys. You guys will be next Saturday. But this coming Saturday, fellas, February 14th, 8 o'clock a.m., we'll celebrate Valentine's Day together. I'm just kidding. Hearts everywhere. Who lets me up here? A couple of things that are not in your bulletin. We have a, last year, last couple of years, we've done March Madness.

I'm looking to see if, nope, there it is. Kind of a fundraiser. It's a fundraiser for our missions. And so we've saved the date from March the 21st. We'll be doing a thing at the Rec Center. It's always a lot of fun. It's a terrible basketball game, but it's always a lot of fun to be a part of. And it's just a fundraiser. A lot of good things happen there. And then also, if you are interested in missions, there will be a meeting right after this service to talk about the potential of a Guatemala mission trip.

So Jana, Jana will be, Ross and Jana will be hosting that meeting back in the Agape room. I'm looking at you to make sure I'm saying this correctly. Yep, in the Agape room, right after the service. So if you're interested in that, go see her. So those are the things that are going on. But one last thing that we need to do this morning. So we have been needing to add to our board.

We've lost a couple of board members because they have graduated and gone home to be with Jesus. And so we've needed to add some elders and some deacons. And so we have been praying for a very long time for this because we didn't want to. We didn't want to go about this quickly and do the wrong thing. And so we spent a lot of time praying, seeking the Lord and throwing different names around.

And so today I would like to. So if I could have my board come up, the guys, my elders and deacons that are up here now. Because we've got a new elder and a couple of new deacons that we're going to be installing this morning. And so these guys, we feel like, meet the qualifications of First Timothy and the qualifications of what an elder or a deacon is supposed to be.

So. We'll bring up Brian Davis because we are going to be installing him as an elder. And then we'll be bringing up Mason Warren because we are going to be installing him as a deacon. And then we're going to bring up Drew Christman. Is Drew here? Oh, there you are. You had a jacket on earlier. So I'm looking for a black jacket as a deacon as well. So we just want to pray over these guys.

Of course, the role of the elder is a spiritual leader. The ability to teach and just that responsibility of helping to lead in that way. And then, of course, the deacons handle more of the physical aspects of the needs of the church. But they will all be a part of our board that will help make the decisions for how we move forward from here. And I want you to know we did not arrive at this easily.

It took a lot of prayer and a lot of seeking the Lord. But this is who the Lord laid on our hearts. So we want to lay hands on them, as it says in Scripture, and pray for them that God would fill them with the Holy Spirit to do the job that he has for them. So if you would. Join me in prayer. And if guys, if you'd gather around.

And so, Father, we come before you. And Lord, I lift up these men to you right now. I thank you that you have blessed us with new leaders. I thank you that you have blessed their willingness to serve. And Lord, I thank you for for their willingness to take on responsibility. And so right now, Lord, I just ask for a fresh move of your Holy Spirit in their lives.

Father, for a fresh filling of your Holy Spirit in them as they take on this new role. And Father, for all of us as the body of Christ, that we would continue to seek out our role. And so, Lord, I lift up these men and I lift up this board that you would give us wisdom as we make decisions and as we as we move forward. And Father, I just lift up this fellowship here at Calvary Chapel of Ark City.

Lord, you have blessed us so much in the past few years. And and we have watched your faithfulness as we have navigated difficulties. And Lord, you have seen fit to continue to to grow us. And so, Lord, we just want to be faithful to you. And so, Father, I thank you. I pray that you have provided and I pray that you would continue to do so. Jesus name. Amen.

Amen. Thank you, gentlemen.

So continue to pray for us and for these men as we as we continue to to take the lead here. It's a big responsibility. I didn't intend to say this, but the Lord kind of laid it on my heart. You know, we've been talking a lot about Solomon on Wednesday nights. And then oftentimes I feel just like Solomon, who when he was presented with what do you want? Solomon said, well, this is a great people that you've given to us.

And it's a big responsibility. This you've given to us, Lord, I need wisdom. And and that's the way I feel right now is I feel like I need wisdom. We continue to see growth in numbers, which is great. But what I really love is that I feel like we see growth in people. I see people continuing to to grow in their walk with the Lord. And we just want to continue to have the wisdom necessary to to point people to Jesus.

So for our responsive reading this morning, we are going to be in Psalm eight looking at the new American standard so that we sound the same. If you need a copy, should be one in a row around you. And as you are turning to Psalm eight, if you are able, please stand in the honor of the reading of God's word.

I will read the odd verses. If you will follow along with Pastor Allen and the even verses. Psalm eight for the choir director. I never know if I say that right. So on that instrument, a psalm of David. Oh, Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name and all the earth who have displayed your splendor above the heavens. From the mouth of infants and nursing babes.

You have established. Your strength because of your adversaries to make the enemy and the revengeful cease. When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have ordained. What is man that you take thought of him and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him a little lower than God and you crown him with glory and majesty.

You make him to rule over the works of your hands. You have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen and also the. Beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, the fish of the sea, whatever passes through the paths of the seas and read verse nine with me. Oh, Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth and father, we do praise you for how majestic you are and yet you see fit Lord to commune with man.

And so father, I pray that as we spend time in your word this morning, seeing Jesus more clearly, I pray that you would do just that for us, that you would give us a clear vision of Jesus father, that you would. Move in our hearts and lives in Jesus name, amen. You may be seated and if you would open up in your Bibles to the book of Hebrews chapter two, Hebrews chapter two. Well, we said that much of Hebrews, while we've given it an overarching theme of, but we see Jesus, which we'll look at much more today, that specific verse.

We've given it the overarching theme of, but we see Jesus, but really what happens in the book of Hebrews is, is the writer to the Hebrews proves that Jesus is better than. All of the things that people could put their hope in besides Jesus. And so what we will look at today is part two of something that we started in chapter one, that Jesus is better than the angels. So in chapter one, just to bring everybody back up to speed, we were told that, that Jesus is so much better than the angels, specifically in his divinity.

In other words, in his Godhead, we said that he had a greater status, a greater power and a greater authority because of his deity better than the angels. And then of course, at the beginning of chapter two, we had a little parenthetical. Statement of a, of a warning where he says, beware of drifting, because if the message that came through angels, which are less than Jesus carried with it, a penalty, if you disobeyed, i.e. The law, if you disobeyed the law, then how shall we, if we neglect so great a salvation escape because our great salvation came to us through Jesus, who was so much better than the angels.

Now, starting in verse five, he will return to the subject of Jesus being better than the angels. But why? Why? Because while he looked at the deity of Jesus in chapter one, he will look at the humanity of Jesus in chapter two, which is kind of interesting because two of the main directions that cultish thought goes with Jesus is either one, it denies his divinity or number two, it denies his humanity.

One of the issues that they were dealing with around the time of the writing of the book of Hebrews was a specific teaching called docetism, which denied the. The humanity of Jesus, along with Gnosticism, which, which also did the same thing. And so the writer to the Hebrews here spend some time looking at the humanity of Jesus. And so in chapter two, he's going to do two things.

Number one, he's going to remind us of God's intention for man. But number two, he's going to show us God's work through the humanity of Jesus. And so we start in verse five of chapter two. And this is what it says for. 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 were concerned about him?

You have made him for 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. But we do see him who was made a little 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.

Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise also partook of. The same that through death, he might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is the devil and my free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives for assuredly, he does not give help to the angels, but he gives help to the descendants of Abraham. Therefore, he had to make his he had to be made like his brethren in all things so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest and things pertaining to God. To make.

To make propitiation for the sins of the people, for since he himself was tempted and that which he was suffered, he is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted. I promise we're going to unpack all that, right? I, I have, as I've been studying this week, I spent a lot of time going, huh? That's good stuff. I don't know what any of it means. My wife and I go on a little drive every day.

That's our time to catch up and talk about life. And my. My wife said, so what do you have going on tomorrow? I'm like, I'm pretty much just studying because I have no idea what I'm doing in Hebrews right now. Like, that's a really, really hard book to teach. And luckily, God is faithful. I think I read through seven different trends, seven different translations of the Bible just to arrive where I have today.

So this is the best I've got. Just know that we're going to do what we can here. So the first thing that he tells us, though, is he tells us of God's intention for man. I want you to notice what it says. Verse five. For he did not subject to angels the world. To come concerning which we are speaking. But he has testified saying, what is man that you remember him or the son of man that you are concerned about him?

You have made him for a little while lower than the angels. You've crowned him with glory and honor. You have appointed him over the works of your hands and you have put all things in subjection under your feet. God's intention for man. Now, the first thing that I want to tell you is I want to remind you what God originally intended for man. If we were to go all the way back to Genesis chapter one, we would read all about the creation and we would read about those six days of creation.

And on that sixth day of creation that God said, let us make man in our image after our likeness. And as he made man in the image of God, a lesser image of God, but the image of God, nonetheless, he put him in the garden and he gave him dominion over all the creatures. That's actually what it says in the scripture that that he was to rule and reign over all of creation. That was Adam's job.

That is what God intended for us to do. God's intention is not that creation or not that we would serve creation, but that creation would serve us, that we would that we would rule and reign over it. The problem is Adam gave the title deed to the earth. He forfeited his right of ruling over the earth to Satan when he sinned. Matter of fact, if you were to look at the temptation of Jesus.

It's presented to us in the gospels, right? There's one there's one particular temptation of Jesus that that is given to us that I've always found kind of interesting. And it's and it's when Satan takes Jesus up on a high mountain and he shows him all the kingdoms of the earth, right? Obviously, he doesn't actually see them as a spiritual thing. He sees all the kingdoms of the earth and Satan says something very interesting to Jesus.

He says, all of these can be yours if you will simply bow down and worship me. Do you notice that no time does Jesus say those aren't actually yours? No, he he considers. He sees the point that the earth had been sold into the slavery of sin because we had a God given right to rule over creation. And we gave that right up because we wanted temporary pleasure.

And so we gave up our right to rule and reign over the earth. And we've been suffering the effects of that ever since. And of course, Jesus responds by saying by not allowing that to happen. Because what ultimately Satan was telling him is you can avoid the cross, which will purchase back the earth. By simply bowing down to me. Of course, Jesus didn't give in.

He met that temptation head on. And he went forward with what God had intended for him. But we see that man had an intention created in us by God. And we have failed in that intention. Now, the good news is this. The good news is that God has a future plan for us. And the future plan for humanity, which is what he calls here. For he did not subject to angels the world to come.

Oftentimes in biblical speak, we refer to that as the millennial kingdom or the millennial reign. At that point in time, we will once again do what God has called for us to do. Only we will rule and reign with Christ. Because he will be the ultimate fulfillment of what God intended for man's intention. And so he uses this psalm here to point this out. The psalm that we just read, by the way.

I did that specifically. The psalm that we just read. That what is man that you refer to? Remember him or the son of man that you are concerned about him. You have made him for a little while a little lower than the angels. But have crowned him with glory and honor. And have appointed him over the works of all of your hand. In other words, that's still who we should be.

But for in subjecting all things to him. End of verse 8. He left nothing that is not subject to him. But now we do not yet see. All things subject to him. In other words, it is not yet what it's intended to be. I think we can all agree with one thing. No matter where you sit in any political, economic, spiritual place. We can all say one thing. This ain't it.

This is not surely what God intended. As a matter of fact, the entire story of humanity is man's inability to govern man. It's interesting because if you read in the Bible. If you read the book of Judges. Or you read the book of 1 and 2 Samuel. Or you read the books of 1 and 2 Kings. Or you read the books of 1 and 2 Chronicles. Which is where we are on Wednesday nights.

You find one thing. Man has an innate inability to govern man. We are not good at it. That's why when God established the nation of Israel. He said no kings. Right? He was the first one to have a no kings protest. He said no kings. I'm your king. You do what I say. And man couldn't do that. They said no. We want a king like all the other nations. He said okay.

If you're going to have a king. He needs to follow these rules. And they still couldn't follow the rules. And man has always had an inability to govern each other. And listen. It hasn't changed today. Because what we are seeing in culture. Whether it's the culture that we live in the United States. Or the cultures that we see throughout the world. Is we see man's inability to govern man.

Because sin always gets involved. Sin is always involved in these things. Which is why our hope can never be in a leader. Our hope can never be in a government. Our hope always has to be in Jesus. And we should always seek to hold every leader accountable. To the rule and reign of Jesus. But we'll never have that. Until we actually have Jesus. Things are not yet what they are intended to be.

But do you know what else the Bible is a story of? The Bible is a story of man's inability to govern himself. Man's inability to govern himself. Because left to our own devices. We will always seek one thing and one thing only. What I want. I want to be my own God. Which is exactly how Adam sold the world into slavery to Satan. As he said, I will be my own God.

Determining what is good and what is evil. And all of history. All of biblical history. All of human history. Is a story of man's inability to govern himself. And that's the other thing we're seeing happen in our culture right now. All restraints are being thrown off. All restraints. Again, I don't care what side of anything you sit on. All restraints are being thrown off right now.

And people are doing whatever is right in their own eyes. We are living in the time of the judges right now. Everyone's doing what's right in their own eyes. And the problem is if what's right in your eyes looks different than what's right in my eyes. We're going to war over it. And I will fight you for it. That's what we see happening. And if we allow our focus to be on that.

If we allow ourselves to live at the end of verse 8. Where we don't see all things subjected to him. We will find that we become hopeless. Which is why the entire book of Hebrews I have put the focus of. But we see Jesus. Because that's exactly how we segue into this next thing. So he is now going to talk to us. He's shown us God's intention for man and man's failure in that intention.

But now he's going to show us God's work through the humanity of Jesus. And ultimately there's going to be five things. That he tells us. We will cover the first two of them today. The first thing that he tells us about the work. God's work through the humanity of Jesus. Number one is that he tasted death for all. Notice what it says in verse 9. 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. Now. I've said this before. But I do not prefer the translation in this verse. Because it takes all of the focus off where I think the focus needs to actually be. I actually prefer the New King James translation on this.

Because in the New King James translation. And when you read it in its full effect. Which I'm about to do. You'll see what I'm talking about. Into verse 8. For in subjecting all things to him. Meaning man. He left nothing that is not subjected to him. But we do not yet see all things subjected to him. But we see Jesus. See how much better of a translation that is.

Because it puts all of the focus back where it needs to be. It puts all of the focus back where we've got to get our focus back to. Because if we focus on everything that is not intended to be in this world right now. You will absolutely lose hope. And you will begin to sink in the mire that is the world that we live in today. If all of your focus is on conservative or liberal.

If all of your focus is on I serve. Whether you support him or not. If all of your focus is on the Epstein files. On who's in them. Quite frankly I don't want to read any of it. Somebody said have you read any of that? I'm like nope. I don't plan on it. Unless it happens accidentally. I do not plan on reading any of that. Because I do not need to get drug through all of that garbage.

And I'm going to pray for every investigator that has to. Because I'm here to tell you right now. The kind of things you'll read in that change you. I've been changed by enough things that I've seen in this job. I don't need to subject myself to anything that I don't have to. Because I know beyond a shadow of a doubt. That when you get drugged down by that kind of thing.

It drags you into the mire with it. It drags you down with it. And the problem is when we get our eyes off of Jesus. And we get on all of these other things. We get drugged down into it. Which is why we're seeing the anger and the hatred. Be spewed like it is in our culture right now. When we get drugged down with these things. We find that we create a new common denominator.

And now it's like well at least I'm not that bad. Right? And we start comparing ourselves to each other. It's like my sins not that bad. Because it doesn't look as bad as what's in the Epstein files. So I must not be that bad of a person. Because you just drug yourself. Down into that mire. And you just drug yourself down into that muck. And the problem is we have to not live in the.

We don't yet see all things subjected to him. And we need to live in the. But we see Jesus. Amen. And this is what he says here. And this is what I want to point out to you here. We see the fulfillment of Jesus in everything. What we could not do. Jesus did. What we could not do. Jesus has done for us. In Romans chapter 8. It says this. It says. There is therefore now no condemnation.

For those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus. Has set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do. In that it was weak through sinful flesh. God did. By sending his son. In the likeness of sinful flesh. He condemned sin in the flesh. That we might be the righteousness. Of God. Because what we could not do.

What the law could not do. Jesus has done. And that's what we need to focus on. Is we need to focus on what Jesus has done. Not what we can't do. What Jesus has done. Not what the government can't do. What Jesus has done. And not what the muck and the mire around us. Has done. And not what the muck and the mire around us. Want to pull us into. We have to keep our eyes.

On Jesus. Because he is the fulfillment of everything. Jesus is our creator. He is our sustainer. He is our savior. He is our sanctification. He is our righteousness. He is our friend. And he is our Lord. He is our everything. First time I ever got to speak in front of a group of people. I told you all along. When I preached the sermon it was Psalm 23. I actually lied about that.

That's on me. I'm confessing that to you right now. The first time I actually gave a message. Was at the Bible college that I went to. And they allowed all of us knucklehead kids to get up. And give a little devotion. The very first devotion that I ever gave. Has been the message that God continues to bring me back to. It's been the message that has resonated in my heart.

For my entire life. Ever since I was a 20 year old kid. That didn't know. Come here from Sikkim. The message that I taught. Was turn your eyes upon Jesus. And I used in that message. An analogy. It was out of the gospels. If you remember. In the book of Matthew. It's somewhere around chapter 13 ish. I think. Jesus had just fed the 5,000. Remember miraculous thing that he did.

Right. I still want to know how that whole thing worked out. That's not what I'm talking about. I don't want to get distracted. He still needed some time with his father. So he tells his disciples. You guys get in a boat. Go to the other side of the sea. I'll join you later. Jesus goes up on the mountain to pray. The disciples get in the boat. And they go across.

When they get about halfway in the middle of the sea. A great storm. Actually the word that she uses. One of my favorite words for a storm. That I like to use every time it storms. It's a great tempest. Sometimes. This is a great tempest. You must be really smart. That's right. So a great storm arose. And as this great storm arose. They're getting tossed about in this boat.

And they are convinced that they're going to die. But then here comes Jesus walking on the water. It was the third watch of the night. It's the darkest right before it's dawn. And there's Jesus walking to them on the water. And they're absolutely terrified. Because nobody walks on water. That's not a normal thing. But no one's ever walked on water before. And so Jesus comes walking to them on the water.

And they're like it's a ghost. And he's like I'm not a ghost. It's me. It's Jesus. And Peter says if that's you. Command me to come out to you on the water. And Jesus says I want you to get out of the boat. And come walk to me on the water. So Peter gets out of the boat. And he starts walking to Jesus. This is how I always kind of picture. You know. I mean that would be a hard thing to do.

Right. He's walking on water. It's impossible. He could walk on the water. But then we're told in scripture. That he began to look at the wind. And the waves about him. He began to look at all the political issues. That were going on. He began to look at all of the garbage. That was happening in the world. All of the hatred that was happening in the world. All of the anger that was happening in the world.

All of the social media stuff. Okay he didn't really do all that. But he looked at the wind and the waves around him. And do you know what happened when he started looking at the wind and the waves around him? He sank. Why? Is it because the wind and the waves were so bad? No he couldn't walk on water on the best day. He sank. Because he took his eyes off Jesus.

But then he did the right thing. He prayed the shortest prayer in the entire bible. He said Lord help. And of course Jesus looked at him. And he said. Peter why are you a moron? You shouldn't have taken your eyes off me. You should have known that on the best day you couldn't walk on water. No. Jesus reached down and pulled him up out of the water. He put him in the boat.

He said you have little faith. Why did you doubt? Is that you today? Are you sinking? In all the garbage that's going on around you? Are you sinking in all of the issues that are happening in this world? Do you need to put your eyes back on Jesus? Because I am here to tell you right now. We will live the rest of our lives. On top side of the planet earth. that this is not what god intended but we see jesus and you've got to put your eyes back on him

because he is the only one who is the steady anchor in this garbage world that we live in he says but we see jesus who was made a little lower than the angels made a little lower the angels that speaks of his humanity do you notice that it unites directly with what he says up here in verse 7 look back up at verse 7 you have made him speaking of man a little lower than the angels and you've crowned him with glory and honor well jesus the perfect man was also made lower than the angels that speaks of his humanity when was jesus made lower than the angels when he took on the form of a man and dwelt among us one of the most mysterious things about the incarnation of christ is that jesus was 100 god but he was also 100

man i don't know how to make it make sense there are certain things that i do eventually just have to believe by faith but he's god and he's able to do it he took on the form of a man he dwelt among us for a little while he was made a little lower than the angels and yet because of the suffering of death he was crowned with glory and honor he was crowned with glory and honor through the suffering of death now once you think about something once you think about what the crowning achievement of the life of jesus was the crowning achievement of the life of jesus was not that he opened the eyes of the blind the crowning of the crowned and glory of the life of jesus

was not that he could feed the five thousand it was not that he could walk on water it was not that he could restore the lame that he could that he could raise the dead even long distance than CONINC impresens do he wanted to. It wasn't that he could restore hearing to the deaf. None of those. It wasn't that he could heal the leper. Those were not the crowning glory of Jesus's life on earth. What was

the crowning glory of Jesus's life on earth? It was his death. Why? Because that's the entire reason that he came. I get, I get tired of false things that people say about Jesus. And I've wanted to put something on social media about this, but I know that it just becomes noise. So here's what I'm going to say. Jesus was not a political martyr because that's one of the things that I've seen go

around here recently. We know Jesus was a political martyr. I'm like, well, you know, no, he wasn't. Jesus was not a political martyr. Jesus was a willing sacrifice. As a matter of fact, if anything, Jesus was both political and religious, and it was both the Jews and the Gentiles, meaning that Jesus was killed by all of us. But he gave his life freely. Do you remember what happened when they

came to arrest Jesus in the gospel of John? They come to arrest Jesus, and I always call this the last I am statement of Jesus. They come to arrest Jesus, and they say, are you Jesus of Nazareth? And he says, I am. And do you remember what happened? Right? Everybody fell back. They fell down because of the great power of the fact that Jesus just declared his name. I am. And they

all fell down, and they all get back up, and they're like, are you Jesus of Nazareth? Right? Because they don't want to fall down again. And he said, yeah, it's me. His disciples are like, let's fight him. Come on, Jesus. We brought swords. Let's fight him. And Jesus goes, listen, listen, listen. Simmer down, boys. I could call down a legion of angels at any

time that I wanted to, but that's not what I'm supposed to do right now, because I am a willing sacrifice. It's just like the fact that Jesus was never a political refugee. We need to understand that. I see people saying this, you know, Jesus was a refugee. No, he wasn't. He moved to a different part of the nation, right? He wasn't an immigrant. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with

immigrants. I'm saying, let's be biblically accurate in things that we say. We can say, treat others kindly without falsely portraying what scripture says. Anyway, I didn't mean to go off on that. What was I talking about again? Oh, yeah. The crowning achievement of Jesus, was his death. And of course, the jewel on the crown was his resurrection, because it proved that his death was accepted by God. But we see Jesus,

who for a little while was made lower than the angels. We see him crowned with glory and honor through the suffering of death. Why? So that by the grace of God, he might taste death for everyone. So that by the grace of God, he might taste death for everyone. That word taste is a Hebrew idiom, meaning to partake fully of. To partake fully of. In other words, he fully partook of death

for everyone. There's a theological term for that. It's called the substitutionary death of Christ. That he died in your place. A death that you should have died, and he did it for you. And he tasted death for everyone. And he did it, listen, by the grace of God. In other words, his death, where he tasted of death, where he partook fully of death for all of us,

is God's greatest gift to us. I have a devotional text that I sent out to a bunch of kids, and we're in the book of Ephesians right now. And my wife's on it too, and she's a couple days behind everybody else. And so she had a book of Ephesians, and she had a book of Ephesians, and she had a book of Ephesians. And she had read Ephesians chapter three the other morning. And there's a prayer at

the end of Ephesians chapter three that's prayed, and it says, Paul prays that you would know the height and the depth and the width and the length of the love of God. That you would know the love of God that surpasses all knowledge. So she had just read that that morning, and her and I try to get up earlier than the girls so that we can pray for them every morning. And I'm sitting there sending out my next devotional text. And I'm sitting there sending out my next devotional text.

And I look over at her, and I say, I don't know what I'm going to talk to the kids out in Dexter about this morning. I want a different thing with them. And I'm like, I don't, it's just like I can't, I don't know, I'm just, I'm blank. And I just need to hear something from the Lord about what to share. And she said, God, I love my wife. She just drops little dimes on me every now and then.

She said, why don't you tell them about the height and the depth and the width and the length of the love of God? Because that's probably what they need to hear more than anything else in the world. And I said, that's a, that's a good word from you right now. And so I began to think about that and pray about that. And I thought there's no better verse that I can use to explain the heights and the depths and the width and the length

of the love of God than Romans chapter five, verse eight. Because Romans chapter five, verse eight says, but God, demonstrates literally continually proves his love for us. And that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. He tasted death for all of us. He partook fully in death for all of us as God's gift to us so that we wouldn't have to. The height and the depth and the width

and the length of the unknowable, unsearchable, love of God. He tasted death for us all. And number two, he is the author of our salvation. Once you notice what it says in verse 10, for it was fitting for him who, one more time with feeling, for it was fitting for him for whom are all things and through whom are all things and bringing many sons to glory to perfect the author of their salvation.

Through sufferings. For it was fitting. That word fitting means befitting or becoming of the character of another. And the another that's being spoken of here is God. So it was befitting and becoming of the character of God for him to perfect the author of the salvation of our salvation through sufferings. But before he gets to that, he describes this God. And so I think it's important when statements like this are made that we go back and look at them.

It says, for it was fitting for him. God, meaning God, for whom are all things and through whom are all things. And we are reminded that God is both the source of all things and the purpose of all things. I don't know that we can fully plumb the depth, even in this fallen world that we live in, of just how powerful it is that God has created all things. That God has created all things and he did them so masterfully.

He did them so wisely. And so many things, even in this fallen world that we see in creation, are done so wisely. So I've made it known far and wide that I do not enjoy wintertime. And I've made it known even farther and even wider how much I hate the snow. Have you picked up on that from me? I feel like I've tried to put that out as best as I possibly could.

However, do you know that there is beauty for nature in the fact that God has provided snow for us? I have to remind myself. I have to remind myself of this because I get irritated because I did snow removal for too long. Do you know that when the ground gets frozen, that blanket of snow is like a protection over the ground from the harsh temperatures? So it's almost like a protective blanket over the soil.

Do you know that the way that snow soaks into the soil allows the soil to get the most good out of the moisture that is in there? You see, when the ground gets cold, it can't take in the rain. And so rain tends to run off. That's why this time of year when we get a rain, there's much more runoff because the ground is colder. It can't soak it in. And so snow has that slow soaking ability to get into the ground.

And do you know that God provides fertilizer through the snow? There's actually nitrogen in the snow that as it melts into the ground, it provides nutrients for the soil and for the grass. Now, I don't know anything about farming, but I do know about turf. And I'm going to give you another piece of free advice here, okay? I won't charge you for this one at all.

One of the best, it would have been better if I told you about this two weeks ago. It's neither here nor there. You can use it next year because hopefully we're done with snow. A seeding philosophy that many turf guys use is that before it snows, they go out and they throw seed out. Because as the snow melts, that seed settles into the ground. You don't have to do anything to disturb the soil.

It basically melts the seed into the soil and allows it to begin the germination process. Isn't it fascinating? Isn't it fascinating? God was like, they're going to probably, there's going to be some guys that hate this. Some of them are going to love it. But I'm going to make the ground look prettier than it did before. And I'm going to give it some nitrogen.

I'm going to protect the soil. And if they're smart, and I'm not, they'll put seed down before it snows. And beautiful things are going to happen. Why? Because he is the source of all things. And he is wise beyond our understanding. Science keeps trying to catch up with God. Science keeps going, well, you know, God was wrong on this. And then they study more and they're like, never mind, he was right.

Because he's the source of all things. But not only is he the source of all things, he's the purpose of all things. I was reminded of that this week. And I get reminded of it all the time, that God truly is the purpose. That God created us on purpose and he created us with purpose. And that purpose is to know and to serve God. So many people, young and old alike, are trying to figure out what their purpose is in life.

Why am I on top of this giant rock? Why am I on top of this? A ball of soil and grass. And a little bit of water, most of which is undrinkable. Why am I here? And the reason why they can't figure it out is because they won't start with the right purpose. They won't start with the purpose of God. You see, if you start with God, you gain purpose in everything else that you do.

If you start with your purpose is to know and serve God, then that gives purpose to everything else that you do. Not only does it give purpose to everything else that you do, but it gives purpose to everything of who you are. You see, I was reminded this week. There are no mistakes with God. You are not a mistake. And I don't know who needs to hear that here this morning,

but I bet somebody needs to hear that your life is not a mistake. The way God made you is not a mistake. What the rest of the world may say is a defect about you. What the rest of the world may say is not right about you, not normal about you. It's from God. And he did that on purpose. Because he wants to bring glory to his name through some aspect of who you are.

Even everything that's happened in your life, God has purpose. For all of it, he's going to use all of it. But you won't know that purpose if you don't know your creator. See, if you don't start with the fact that God is your purpose, then it strips everything else in your life of its purpose. Then jobs seem meaningless. Difficulties seem just like difficulties.

Tragedies are just tragedies. But if you start with the fact that God is a purpose, that God is your purpose, then everything else in your life has purpose. A tragedy is not just a tragedy. It's a way for God to bring comfort, not only to you, but ultimately to people around you. A difficulty in your life is not just there to make your life hard. It's there to fashion you into who God wants for you to be.

And what you consider to be not right about you, not normal about you, is actually how God wants to bring the greatest glory out of your life. Because God delights to take weak things and show himself strong. Through them. Because that's who God is.

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. I love what he calls them there, but I don't love the translation of what he calls them. Author of their salvation is a great translation. I don't want to say, I don't prefer the wording.

Again, I prefer the old and the new. King James on this one says the captain of their salvation. Probably because it sounds manlier to say the captain of their salvation. It has a little bit more of a military sound to it. Like, I don't picture a guy with a pen, I picture a guy with a sword. He's the captain of my salvation. Anyway, that's what it says about God.

That's who he is. That's who Jesus is. That it was fitting for him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, to give us an author or a captain of our salvation. That phrase author or captain means the leader, the originator, the founder, or the pioneer. Now, I can get behind those words. That's who Jesus is. He is the pioneer, the founder, the leader, the originator of our salvation.

That means that not only does he lead us to salvation, but salvation was his plan. Not only does he lead us to salvation, but salvation was his idea. That's why we are told in scripture that Jesus was crucified before the foundations of the world. Because he is the captain of our salvation. He is the author of our salvation. But it says something interesting about this author of our salvation.

Let me read it to you again. In bringing many sons to glory, I'll deal with that part in just a minute, to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings. Now, I hope you're a little bothered by that word. I hope that that bothers you a little bit, that that's what it says, because it should. Because you need to understand what it really says there.

Because when we first read that, you can think, so is there something not perfect about Jesus? I thought Jesus... I thought Jesus was sinless. I thought Jesus was born sinless. That's why the virgin birth was necessary. And I thought Jesus lived sinless. Otherwise, he couldn't be the perfect sacrifice for sin. So if Jesus was born sinless and lived sinless, then why did he have to be perfected?

You, with those questions, and I'm really glad you asked them, right? With those questions, you just started studying the Bible. You see, too often, we read what the Bible says, but we don't know what the Bible says. We close it, we move on with our life, and if it bothered us, we decide someone else can deal with that, and we move on. Don't do that. Take time to dig in and understand why it says what it says.

I read an interesting article that somebody sent me a couple of weeks ago. By the way, if you're here and I didn't respond to you, that's on me. I love that article.

What was I talking about? Oh, yeah. And this is what it said. It was the story of a pastor whose son, whose oldest son, started walking away from the Lord. And he said, Dad, I don't know if I believe you. I believe like you believe. And he goes, why not? He goes, I don't think I really believe in salvation. He goes, I don't even understand it. And the dad said, it bothered me, so I went home and I asked my youngest son, who has a really strong walk with the Lord,

do you understand what it really means to be saved? And he couldn't articulate what it means to be saved. He couldn't articulate what justification really was. He said, I realized something. I taught them to believe, but I had not taught them what to believe. And too many of us in the church today are content. You're not content to have a simple faith, which is great, but you should not be simplistic in your faith.

You should know why you believe what you believe. You should study things out so that you can give an answer. Because I'm here to tell you right now, the generation that's coming up, this generation of Gen Xers or Gen Zers. No, I'm Gen X, the best generation. This generation of Gen Zers or Gen Alphers, I don't even know what they are anymore. The kids under the age of 20, they got questions.

And they're not content with your bogus answers. They are not content with you saying, well, you just got to believe. They're not okay with that. Why? Well, why? And I love that about them. Because I love that they're not willing to just take it at face value. They want to be taught. They want to know. They're tired of garbage. They're tired of fake. And they want reality.

And listen, brothers and sisters, those of you over the age of 20, you better start figuring it out. Because you know that we're losing. You're losing kids because you can't answer their questions. I don't mean to put too much pressure on you here. But at some point in time, you've got to realize that kids start asking questions, not when they're in college.

Kids stop asking questions shortly after college. Because nobody answered their questions when they were 14. Because nobody answered their questions when they were 12. That's what we're actually finding. And we started finding that out 10 years ago. It's probably even more now. You know, they say that if you don't start. Capturing the heart of a kid between the ages of 4 and 10, the chances of you getting to them with the gospel drop exponentially.

That's why what happens in that wing over there, I call the most important ministry in the church. That is not babysitting. And you should pray for those Sunday school teachers because they are doing the work of Jesus over there. They're the ones in the trenches. So, if Jesus was sinless, if he was born sinless, and if he lived sinless, but this says he was born sinless,

but this says he was perfected, what must that word perfect mean? Now, if you were going to start studying this, here's the first thing that you would do. First thing that you would do is start looking at some other translations of the Bible. Well, maybe something words it a little differently to help me understand this. If that still didn't work, you'd pull out a Bible dictionary.

I guarantee almost every app that has a Bible on it has some sort of a Bible dictionary in it. I know the Blue Letter Bible does. Where you can look up the world. What's that word perfect mean? And if it still doesn't make sense, then you can get out a commentary, which is also on the Blue Letter Bible app, and read what someone else has. But don't just read by and go, that doesn't make sense.

Page two. Dig into it. So, if Jesus was sinless, if he was born sinless, but this said he had to be perfected, the word perfect must mean something different. So, what does it mean? What that word perfect means is it means the consummation of, or the completion of. Notice what it says. The idea is the consummate. The consummation of human experience, of sorrow and pain that he had to pass through for our salvation.

It is the completion of the human sorrow and pain that he had to go through for our salvation. For it was fitting for him for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, and bringing many sons to glory to complete the salvation through Jesus through the suffering. In other words, all of salvation was consummated. And the suffering that Jesus experienced on the cross.

That's why two of the biggest things that Jesus declared from the cross were, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? And the very last thing that he said before he gave up the ghost, before he gave up his life, he said, it is finished. It is consummated. It is consummated. Paid in full. It's complete. That's what he means. It's not the doing away of some sin that he had.

It's the completion of the salvation that came through the suffering. And why did he do all of it to bring many sons to glory to bring many sons to glory? That was always the goal. You and I were born with a purpose. You and I were born on purpose with a purpose. But the one thing that has robbed us of our purpose. Is sin. And when sin is dealt with, our purpose is restored and it's restored partially on this side of eternity because our lives are made right with Jesus.

But that completion will take place the day that we go home to be with the Lord because we will shed this outer body. We will shed this shell that is still controlled by sin that is still dominated by this world. And we will have a brand new body that's no longer dominated by sin. That's why it says in the book of Romans that we grow. With a desire not to be unclothed but to be further clothed that that which is incomplete will be covered with that which is complete that that which is finite will be covered with that which is infinite.

That this corruptible would put on incorruption. As he brings many sons to glory. And so as we wrap things up this morning, I want to remind you of what I said earlier because there's one thing that you take away from this. If there's one thing. That you pull out of everything I talked about this morning. I want you to take this one thing away. But we see Jesus.

But we see Jesus. Because I want you to get your eyes back on the Savior who tasted death for us all. I want you to get your eyes back on the Savior who is the author of our salvation. I want you to get your eyes back on the Savior who is the completion of everything that we need. The fulfillment of everything that we need. The. Giver of all life, but also the purpose of all life.

But we see Jesus. I don't know what position everybody's in in their walk with Jesus in here this morning. I can almost guarantee there's somebody in here that doesn't know Jesus. That either you're questioning it or you don't even know if you believe the Bible anymore. But you do know you're tired of seeing all the muck and the mire around you. You do know you're tired of seeing all the garbage around you.

And I'm here to tell you right now. The only thing that's going to change. Is you you'll either be changed by Jesus or you'll be changed by the things that are around you. So today is the day for you to come to the author of your salvation for you to begin to follow the captain of your salvation. As always, there's nothing magical that you have to do. There is simply the confession of sin and the acceptance of this complete sacrifice that Jesus made for us.

But those of you that are in here this morning that are believers in Jesus Christ. I know what's happening in our world right now. And I know how easy it is to get our eyes off of Jesus. And I just want to challenge you to lay aside the things that are easily besetting you to lay aside the things that are easily distracting you and put your eyes back on Jesus.

Both the author and the finisher of our faith. Amen. Let's all stand. I was thinking about this during the last song of the last service. I'm about to close this out in prayer. And then, of course. Jared's. I'm going to lead us in this last song. You know, ultimately, worship is to be a response to who Jesus is. It's to be a response to what Jesus has done.

And I've just spent the last 45 or so and 52 minutes telling you what Jesus has done. And I want to challenge you to respond. To pour out your heart and worship to the Lord. To sing a little louder than you normally sing. Maybe you get really bold and you throw those hands up in the air. I won't finish that because I'll completely distract us. But really respond in worship.

I would love if we just absolutely blew the roof off this place because we're just singing it out. Sometimes we look at this as like, oh, this is just the last song that we sing. Let's hurry up and get it done because I want to get to lunch. And listen, I know that lunch is important. I like lunch too. How much better if we go out with joy and be led forth with peace because we have.

Praise God with all of our hearts. Amen. Father, we come before you and I thank you for who you are. I thank you that you have given to us Jesus. I thank you that you have given us the author and the captain of our salvation. Lord, I thank you that while the world around us is falling apart, Lord, we know that you are unchanging and that we can keep our eyes on you.

And so, Lord, may we with our mouths and with our hearts, praise you with every fiber of our being. Lord, we thank you and we praise you in Jesus' name. Amen. I love you all. Be blessed.

I would just thank you for who you are, for how great you are. Lord God, you are the author. You are the captain of our salvation, Lord. And God, we just give you praise this morning. We give you thanks. We give you honor. We give you glory. And Lord, as we leave here this morning, as always, I just pray your Holy Spirit continue to minister to us. Continue to change us.

Lord God, to grow us into who you called us to be. We love you, Lord, and we praise you. And in Jesus' name, amen. You guys have a wonderful week. God bless you guys.