CHRIST OUR CHAMPION Text: Hebrews 2: 5-18 5 Fr He has nt put the wrld t cme, f which we speak, in subjectin t angels. 6 But ne testified in a certain place, saying: "What is man that Yu are mindful f him, Or the sn f man that Yu take care f him? 7 Yu have made him a little lwer than the angels; Yu have crwned him with glry and hnr, And set him ver the wrks f Yur hands. 8 Yu have put all things in subjectin under his feet." Fr in that He put all in subjectin under him, He left nthing that is nt put under him. But nw we d nt yet see all things put under him. 9 But we see Jesus, wh was made a little lwer than the angels, fr the suffering f death crwned with glry and hnr, that He, by the grace f Gd, might taste death fr everyne. 10 Fr it was fitting fr Him, fr whm are all things and by whm are all things, in bringing many sns t glry, t make the captain f their salvatin (1) perfect thrugh sufferings. 11 Fr bth (2) He wh sanctifies and thse wh are being sanctified are all f ne, fr which reasn (3) He is nt ashamed t call them brethren, 12 saying: "I will declare Yur name t My brethren; In the midst f the assembly I will sing praise t Yu." 13 And again: "I will put My trust in Him." And again: "Here am I and the children whm Gd has given Me." 14 Inasmuch then as the children have partaken f flesh and bld, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that (4) thrugh death He might destry him wh had the pwer f death, that is, the devil, 15 and release thse wh thrugh fear f death were all their lifetime subject t bndage. 16 Fr indeed He des nt give aid t angels, but He des give aid t the seed f Abraham. 17 Therefre, in all things He had t be made like His brethren, that (5) He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining t Gd, t make prpitiatin fr the sins f the peple. 18 Fr in that (6) He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able t aid thse wh are tempted. Prpsitinal Statement: Christ is ur Champin every day f the year! At Christmas we celebrate Christ's incarnatin, when the Wrd became flesh and dwelt amng us, but we d nt want t frget bth the practical applicatins as well as the practical implicatins fr every day f the year! FCF: We all suffer. We need encuragement t persevere (whatever ur circumstance). We need t trust ur faithful Gd (just as Christ did, with the help f Christ). We need t knw that we have One wh truly sympathizes with yur weaknesses, yur struggles, yur fears,
yur testings, temptatins, etc. Yur Champin stands befre the thrne f Gd as yur representative and Mediatr! Intrductin Christmas is past nw. Christmas is when we celebrate the Incarnatin f Christ- - when the Wrd became flesh and dwelt amng us! It is a new year and we g back t ding ur "everyday rutine" minus the celebratins, family get-tgethers, eating, and decrating that uniquely characterize the Christmas time f year! Well, nw that we have taken dwn the Christmas tree, securely put away all f ur baubles, bells, and bread pudding, let us nt frget the Incarnatin f Christ and it's significance fr every day f the year! The authr t the Hebrews in ur text wants t encurage the saints t cntinue lking away frm themselves t the Authr and Perfecter f their faith! He wants them t nt feel the pain and discuragement that we ften painfully feel each day f the year, particularly when we are underging a tempting and trying times. We must be strng and knw that Jesus is ur Champin. The Incarnatin f Christ and his earthly ministry was fr us and it has bth practical applicatins and implicatins fr every difficult day f the year! 1. Christ perfected thrugh sufferings Christ experienced suffering in his flesh, lived perfectly accrding t Gd's righteus standards and was raised fr ur justificatin. He experienced glrificatin after Gd made him cmplete r perfect thrugh his sufferings. Christ is called ur archegs, r ur Captain, Pineer, Champin, even, Pathfinder. He blazes a trail f salvatin ahead f his peple thrugh suffering, that his peple must fllw him thrugh. Gd prepared him fr his sacrifice n the crss. v. 10- Gd bring suffering t his peple. He brught suffering t Christ, that is, he allwed it in rder t achieve a greater gal. That is exactly what he is ding in ur lives. Sufferings in ur lives as Christians d nt mean that Gd desn't care, but exactly the ppsite, he is making and cnfrming yu t lk and act like Jesus-wh als was made perfect, that is fit, t be yur perfect representative t bring yu t glry. Remember Rm. 8:28: All things wrk tgether fr gd t thse wh lve Gd, t thse wh are the called accrding t His purpse. This means that Christ's sufferings are an example f Gd's great eternal purpses in ur pain! Christ's sufferings, as well as ur wn tday, are t glrify Gd and t make us mre fit fr heaven as the hymn says!
2. Christ ur Sanctifier (the Cnsecratr f Gd's Peple) Christ was set apart and cnsecrated himself in rder t save and redeem his peple. This was dne t sanctify us. V. 11- Ntice hw Jesus and his peple are linked tgether: He wh makes men hly, and thse made hly. Ntice the phrase f ne in v. 11- Jesus and thse he represent are frm the same humanity. That is, Jesus was a Sn f Adam, as well as a Sn f Abraham. He was able t truly represent his peple - because he was frm the same cmmn humanity. Jesus was sanctified in rder t achieve ur salvatin. Our salvatin is t make us hly. His cnsecratin f himself in his life and death n ur behalf, has made a way fr us t draw near t the thrne rm f Gd with bldness. Remember: Sanctificatin is glry begun, and glry is sanctificatin cmpleted." 3. Christ ur Brther Christ was nt ashamed t call us brethren. Althugh we failed the righteus requirements f the Law, he had every right t deny us fr ur sin and unfaithfulness t ur Creatr, but he was truly nt ashamed f us. V. 12-13- Qute frm Ps. 22- Messianic Psalm f Christ's agny n the crss in his death, but this qutatin is frm the transitin frm suffering t glry. Qutatins frm Isaiah 8: Isaiah's trust when Gd's judgment fell upn Israel was in the LORD t bring abut gd. Isaiah's children in the midst f Gd's judgment was a sign that Gd was faithful t keep his prmises! We are Gd's children and Christ's brethren because f his wrk n ur behalf. 4. Christ, Destryer f Death and Devil Christ tk the death that we deserved, picked up the swrd t fight against ur archenemy as ur champin. We wh had fllwed a creature, the Devil in disbedience rather than ur Creatr, Christ defeated death and the Devil by experiencing death upn the crss fr ur sins. V. 14-16- Christ came where his peple are "as they are" - flesh and bld- - truly human fr the purpse f nullifying the pwer f the devil. Remember man was t have dminin and rule ver Gd's creatin as his prince. Man rebelled against his Creatr and fllwed the lead f a rebellius
creature named the Devil, wh enslaved man in bndage t sin and death. Satan, is the Accuser, and a Liar, and has cnsistently thrughut the ages insisted that Gd bring abut the death penalty that his creatures s richly deserve! Satan desired Gd t enact the death penalty immediately! Christ ur Champin came and entered the Strng Man's huse, bund the Strng Man and was victrius ver death and the Devil. Read Luke 11:14-22 (cf. Cl. 2:14,15). Our Hpe because f this: Revelatin 1:18: "I am He wh lives, and was dead, and behld, I am alive frevermre. Amen. And I have the keys f Hades and f Death." 5. Christ ur Merciful and Faithful High Priest This made him fit t be ur High Priest - ur representative befre the thrne f Gd. V. 17- Christ as ur representative High Priest, makes a full and cmplete atnement fr ur sins and prpitiatin f Gd's wrath. Rmans 3:23-26: 23 fr all have sinned and fall shrt f the glry f Gd, 24 being justified freely by His grace thrugh the redemptin that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whm Gd set frth as a prpitiatin by His bld, thrugh faith, t demnstrate His righteusness, because in His frbearance Gd had passed ver the sins that were previusly cmmitted, 26 t demnstrate at the present time His righteusness, that He might be just and the justifier f the ne wh has faith in Jesus. 6. Christ ur Sympathizer and Help in Times f Truble: Testing and Temptatin - He is ur champin and there is nthing that we shuld fear knwing these truths. Just as the Hebrews were being tested and afflicted and were fearing death, s we g thrugh many tests, temptatins and afflictins, with the burden that we will all experience death. Hwever, when we are given life in Christ, we are n lnger slaves t sin and death. We have been raised with Christ and seated with him in the heavenly places! V. 18- Jesus suffered thrughut his entire earthly life. Examples: Jesus can help yu wh are tempted tday because he has perfect sympathy fr yu. There is abslutely n need t fear death! Because f Jesus' death fr yu, death means blessing, peace, the presence f Gd - NOT judgment; death means liberatin and jy, nt bndage and pain. What a surce f strength fr yu tday! T be assured that in the presence f Gd yu have as yur champin and intercessr, One wh has knwn
similar and even srer temptatins, and has withstd them victriusly, just because he lves yu! Benedictin: Hebrews 13:20, 21