יּקנרק'ד

Hebrews Chapter 2  Verses 10-15 

:10 “For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. 11 For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren, 12 Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee. 13 And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold I and the children which God hath given me. 14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; 15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.”

“For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things…”  All things that God has done are done for his praise, honor, and glory.  His natural creation praises him: Ps. 19:1 “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handiwork.”  His work in salvation praises him: Eph. 1:14 “Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.”  For all that God has done, we should praise him: Heb. 13:15 “By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.”

The “by whom are all things” are all things that God has done.  Among the many things that God has done are included his creation of all things; his salvation of the elect from their sins; his work in their regeneration or new birth; his providential blessings upon us; his word that he has given us; his church that he has established; his giving us a hope of eternal life; and the multitude of his promised blessings upon us in our obedience to him. 

“In bringing many sons unto glory…”  Some people have the idea that there will be just a few in heaven, yet continually throughout the scriptures, the number that are redeemed from their sins and that will live in glory are described as a great multitude as the following verses show:

    1.  Gen. 22:17 “That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;”

    2.  Gen. 26:4 “And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed;”

     3.  Rev. 7:9 “After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;”

“To make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.”  Jesus Christ was and is perfect in every respect.  He was perfect in righteousness and holiness before he died on the cross.  He was perfect in all his works and totally without sin before he suffered on the cross.  His sufferings and death did not make him perfect as pertains to righteousness or holiness.  He was already perfect in righteousness, holiness, and glory.  What his sufferings accomplished was the salvation of his people from their sins.  Without his sufferings there was no salvation from their sins.  Thus, by his sufferings on the behalf of his people he became the perfect captain of their salvation. 

“For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one:” The word, sanctify, means to set apart or make holy.  The one who sanctifies or makes holy is God.  He set his people apart in the following matters:

    1.  Election before the foundation of the world: Eph. 1:4 “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:”

    2.  New or spiritual birth: 1 Pet. 1:23 “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.”

    3.  Salvation from the condemnation of sin: Eph. 1:7 “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;”           

    4.  The resurrection of the dead: 1 Cor. 15:51 “Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. 55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? 56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” 

That we “are all of one” the following verses attest:

    1.  Rom. 8:29 “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.”

    2.  1 Cor. 15:49 “And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.”

    3.  Rom. 8:17 “And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.”

    4.  1 John 3:2 “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.”

    5.  1 John 3:9 “Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.”

“For which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren, 12 Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee. 13 And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold I and the children which God hath given me.” 

From this passage of scripture we can glean the following:

    1.  Through Christ’s atoning blood the shame of sin has been put away and Christ has called his elect “brethren.” 

    2.  Christ declared the name of God unto the brethren and sang praises unto God with the brethren.  Singing praises in the midst of the church literally took place when Christ instituted the communion service and the last thing said about that was that “they sang a song and went out.”

    3.  God gave to Christ the elect.  This gift to Christ by God of a people is further witnessed by the following verses of scripture:

         a. John 6:37 “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. 38 For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. 39 And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.”

         b. John 10:29 “My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.”

        c. John 17:9 “I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.”

        d. John 17:11 “And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.” 

“Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; 15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.”

When the serpent beguiled Eve in the Garden of Eden and then led Adam to sin against the law of God, Both Adam and Eve died in trespasses and sins and brought upon themselves the penalty of death, both of the grave and the eternal condemnation of God.  This penalty, because Adam was the representative of all mankind, passed upon all men.  We all sinned in Adam.  The devil had the power of death and brought death upon all mankind in the Garden of Eden.  Subsequently, all wages for all sins is death.  Satan is the tempter and our depraved lustful nature wants to follow the temptations that Satan puts before us.  Since all sin brings about guiltiness before God and would result in both death of the body and eternal death, it was necessary that those sins be atoned for or else we spend eternity in a lake of fire of God’s wrathful judgment. 

We as children are partakers of flesh and blood.  Animal sacrifices could not atone for our sins.  Angels could not atone for our sins.  The only one who could atone for our sins had to be a perfect man.  Anything less than perfection would not suffice as an acceptable substitute for us.  Christ, himself, took part of flesh and blood.  He was conceived in the womb of the virgin of the Holy Spirit.  He was conceived and born without sin and he lived without sin, keeping the law and the prophets to a jot and a tittle.  At the appropriate time, he went to the cross and was made to be sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.  In this work of redemption, Christ destroyed the devil.  That is he destroyed his power of death.  The devil can no longer bring death unto us. 

The fear that God’s children have of death is that they doubt whether their sins have been atoned for and that they will spend an eternity in hell.  They are/were in bondage to this fear of death.  Thus, they fear death of the body and the eternal death of God’s wrathful judgment.  However, through the knowledge of Jesus and what he accomplished for us in covenant upon the cross we are delivered from the fear of death.  Our hopes rest in the finished work of Jesus Christ.  Heaven will be our home because of what Christ has done for us.  We have been delivered from the fear of death. 

Verses 16-18 

:16 “For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. 17 Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. 18 For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.”

From the above we can glean the following:

    1.  Christ did not take on the nature of angels.  Animal sacrifices were not sufficient to do away with sin.  Neither would an angel been sufficient to do away with the sins of God’s elect family. 

     2.  Christ took on him the seed of Abraham.  The “seed of Abraham” refers back to the book of Genesis and the promises that God made unto Abraham:

         a. Gen. 12:1 “Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee: 2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.” 

         b. Acts 3:25 “Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.”

        c. Gal. 3:16 “Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.”

According to the promises of God unto Abraham, one of the requirements for the Christ was that he be a natural descendent of Abraham. 

    3.  Christ was in all points like unto the elect family of God as it pertains to the flesh, except without sin.

    4.  Christ is a high priest and he came as a high priest in things pertaining unto God.  As a high priest he has mercy for his children.  Moreover, as a high priest he is perfectly faithful unto God in the office of High Priest.  Later in Hebrews it will be plainly shown that Christ was not a high priest after the order of Aaron, but a High Priest after the order of Melchisedec. 

5.  As a High Priest Christ made reconciliation for the sins of the people.  The High Priest was the one who made the offerings unto God.  Thus Christ was both the offering and the one who made the offering unto God. 

6.  Christ is by experience acquainted with suffering as he suffered being tempted and suffered in the flesh upon the cross of Calvary.  Moreover, because of his sufferings, Christ is imminently qualified to succour (relieve or aid) us in our temptations and sufferings.