"preeminent: when drifters see jesus"

8/8/2019 "Preeminent: When Drifters See Jesus"

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Preeminent: When Drifters See Jesus

(Hebrews 2:1-18)

With the Current

There have been fewer 20th

Century preachers whose message of Gods wonder enthralled and

continues to capture the imagination of the American Church than A. W. Tozer. Tozer attributes drifting

from God to our loss of awe for Him. Here is a fuller quote from a citation I used last week.

As believers, we too often find ourselves taking God for granted ; we are no longer awed by

God and His majesty and His grandeur; we are thankful for the Lord Jesus Christ, but we spend little time

contemplating the fact that He is God in human flesh. In a nutshell, we might say that many of us have

lost the wonder of it all.

The heaviest obligation lying upon the Christian Church today is to purify and elevate her

concept of God until it is once more worthy of Him and of her.

Erwin Lutzer, long-time pastor of the historic Moody Church in Chicago, gave this insight about

the famed pastor-author from the Southside:

One of my great encouragements is to be friends with those who were personally acquainted

with A. W. Tozer. This man, who knew God so intimately, had days when he was so discouraged he felt

he could not continue as a minister. A man who instructed thousands in the deep things of God often

felt he was a miserable failure.

We all feel discouraged. The believers to whom the epistle to the Hebrews was written most

certainly did. And the danger they faced was drifting. For this reason we must pay much closer

attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it (Hebrews 2:1).

Drift away refers to letting a current carry you downstream. When I was youngster I enjoyed

family vacations on the lake. We camped in a large cove and could float on an inflatable raft for hours

without drifting far from our tent. But, life is not a lake. It is a river. Sometimes the current is easy and

other times strong. Drifting away means youve tricked yourself into believing there is no current so

strong you need to be wary.

There is an undeniable connection between our drifting with our inability or unwillingness to

see, relate to and consider Christ as preeminent. To treat Jesus as prominent is to see Him as one of

manyperhaps, the most favored. To worship Christ as preeminent means He is your one and only.



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Given the ease with which drifting can happen there are three questions we need to answer to

help us remain faithful. Since currents are at first soothing and easy, how do I know if Im drifting?

What single, core truth do I need to realize? What does God do to keep me from drifting?

How do we know were drifting (2:1-4)?

What does drifting look like? The answer, I believe, has to do with the way we thinkour

rationale. A mind spiritually adrift will think wrongly about God in terms of His justice and mercy. For

instance you might say, I wish God was more like He was in the Old Testament. We need His wrath to

fix all the evil in our world. Or, you might imagine an opposite scenario, Im glad God isnt like He was

in Old Testament timesoften vengeful and unmerciful. Those two strands of distorted thought have

deceived many such as they did the two prodigal sons in Jesus parable (cf. Luke 15:11-32).

In essence, the author of Hebrews confronts the temptation to drift by addressing our tendency

to misunderstand God, especially the manner in which He is the most different than usthe fusion of

His mercy and justice.

If the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and

disobedience received a just penalty, how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? That is

especially true in light of the reality that the Lord Jesus Himself declares Gods justice and mercy

eternally met together in the cross.

Calvary becomes the watershed moment of human history. So significant that God confirmed

the message of the apostles in declaring Christs work with signs and wonders.

There is something in us which wants to distort the justice of God (legalism) and the grace of

God (license). This is always a sure sign of drifting from Christ. It is when we either attempt to turn the

judgment of God into a self-righteous judgmentalism of others or twist His grace into a license to do

what we want.



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All of ancient history moved towards the cross, and everything following it flows out of it. In the

cross Gods wrath collides with His mercy. Jesus who deserves only favor receives Gods justice. We

who deserve Gods retribution are granted mercy. Thats everything for us. Our whole life pivots on it.

The fear isnt so much that we might do a u-turn from it, but gradually drift away. Proverbs 3

describes Gods wisdom in terms of beauty and pleasure. Then, the authors dad warns, My son,

do not let them vanish from your sight; keep sound wisdom and discretion (v.21).

You might be drifting if you diminish either the justice or mercy of God. Dont lose sight of the

cross.

What truth do drifters need to know (2:5-8)?

There are certain longings which will never be satisfied until Jesus reforms all of creation for His

glory. Psalm 8, quoted in Hebrews 2:5-7, is a beautiful song declaring the majesty of God in creation.

Were it written in more recent centuries it would be categorized a transcendental poem. The

Transcendentalist poets emerged from the New England states in the mid 1800s out of frustration with

the coldness of institutionalism. But, many of them listened to the unmet longings in themselves and

saw divinity as their own soul. Romans 1 makes it clear that we will always worship something. When

our life feels vacuous, who and what we turn to is our god.

The creation into which Jesus, the God-man, came is pleasant and violent, satisfying and cruel.

Romans 8 reminds us that we along with every created thing groan for our ultimate redemption in

Christ. A small group of New England transcendentalists such as Luci Shaw and Madeline LEngle knew

that if they had longings which could not be met by any created thing, then it must mean they were

created for another world. And, their eyes were opened to the majesty of God in and through nature. A

lesser known author was Marjorie Phifer. Listen to her description of the incarnation:

He stretched skin over spirit like a rubber glove, aligning Trinity with bone, twining through

veins until Deity square-knotted flesh.



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We, whove been made to be filled with the glory of God, have yet to see what that is like.

Were not in Heaven yet. When you and I expect life to make us truly happy whether by romance, gain

or significance, we are in danger of drifting. 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. I can just hear the elderly

John once again,

See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God;

and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved,

now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be we know that when He

appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope

fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure (1 John 3:1-3).

Until then we should embrace Habakkuk 3:17-18 as our core ethic. Though the fig tree should

not blossom and there be no fruit on the vines, though the yield of the olive should fail and the fieldsproduce no food, though the flock should be cut off from the fold and there be no cattle in the stalls, yet

I will exult in the LORD, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.

Dont let Christ, His cross, His empty tomb vanish from your sight. Dont drift away! Seeing

Jesus changes everything.

How does God want us to see Jesus (2:9-18)?

He became one of us so He might taste death (v.9). Hear the passion of the drifter whos

regained his vision of the Lamb of God, 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.

Remember Joan Osbornes One of Us (later made internationally famous by Sheryl Crow).

What if God was one of us; Just a slob like one of us; Just a stranger on the bus; Trying to make

his way home. If God had a face what would it look like and would you want to see if seeing meant that

you would have to believe in things like heaven and in Jesus and the saints and all the prophets

Jesus is Gods answer to that what if question. What would God look like and be likewhat

would He do if He were one of us. That Jesus is God, that He gave Himself on the cross and rose again is

the hope of our soul, the anchor of our heart, the reason we dont drift.



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It was appropriate for Jesus to suffer so He could become the one able to bring us to glory

(v.10). Scripture defines glory as eternal life and pleasures evermore. That is to say, glory is the

enjoyment of our deepest longing finding its eternal satisfaction in Christ Jesus. Death is the opposite

of such glory. Jesus tasted deathor His souls severance from the pleasure and fulfillment of His

Fatherso that we might be brought to glory or life. To the Father, Christs sacrifice bringing us to

glory was fitting or appropriate. Nothing is left undone in the Saviors suffering to secure our

eternity and to make us sons of glory. The author of salvation or the trailblazer, lead pioneer lived

His life with definition, focus, purpose. For the joy set before Him, endured the cross, despising its

shame. He was made perfect that is He finished what was started.

He makes us into Gods family for whom God is never ashamed (v.11-13). He has begun a good

work in you and He will finish it. He has made you one of His family. Now He seeks to sanctify you as

His sons and daughters. For Him there is never any embarrassment in calling us His children.

Look at us. We are a motley crew are we not? Havent you ever been embarrassed of one of

your children or siblings? Were reminded of three proclamations made by God which might compel us

to keep our eyes on Him for His acceptance of us. First, if we are to be a congregation of pioneers

instead of drifters we must sing to one another the praise of Christ. I will proclaim Your name to My

brethren, in the midst of the congregation I will sing Your praise.

Second, we must entrust our every longing to Him. I will put my trust in Him. Third, we must

never distance ourselves from our church family. Behold, I and the children God has given me. Jesus

is the Head of the Church. The Church is His body. To try to relate to the head without the body is to

treat Jesus like a body-less head. Absurd! In the words of Joshua Harris, Stop dating the Church!

He frees us from slavery to the fear of our idols death (v.14-15).

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 might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.



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Without Christs redemptive love we will always relate to life like an addict. Whatever we fear,

we are enslaved to. When we turn anything in this life into an ultimate thing, we are treating it as

something we cannot possibly lose. Can you hear the triumphant cry when finally we are freed from

treating life as an idol? No longer fearful of death, O death where is your sting?!

He became a merciful and faithful High Priest so He could make propitiation for us (v.16-18).

Has there been a more comforting passage than the one which concludes chapter 2?

Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a

merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the

people. For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of

those who are tempted.

Propitiation simply means that Jesus was made our mediator (high priest) by satisfying Gods

wrath. On the cross the justice of God and His mercy collide in violent beauty. For Jesus was severed

from the Father in whose presence there are pleasures forever more. He became acquainted with the

sorrow of sin, the emptiness of unmet longings and the rejection of God because of sin. For us there is

the beauty of mercy. He did this for all of us.

I think of the bridge analogy taught to me as a child. God is holy and we are sinful. We are

separated by the chasm of our wickedness. But Jesus became the bridge who spanned the gap.

He is a sympathetic and faithful High Priest. He was tempted as we are. He knows what it is like

to be tempted when you feel alone, to be offered something of this life as an ultimate thing. When

Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness, he didnt tell Him to take a U-turn. Instead he enticed Christ to

drift by settling for something less than His Father.

Remember Jesus, because Jesus remembers you. Look to Him, for He is looking to you.

"preeminent: when drifters see jesus"

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