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Gift of Christmas (Hebrews 2:5-13)
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Sunday Message recorded 14 December 2025
by Senior Pastor Victor Morrison
First Baptist Church - Columbus, TX, USA
1700 Milam St.
Columbus, TX, USA 78934
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Transcript
Celebrating Christmas Performance
00:00:06
Speaker
I wanna say to the children, i was so blessed. You guys did a great job. Thank you so much for showing us what Christmas is all about.
00:00:19
Speaker
Yeah, someone told me that was their favorite one that our children have ever done. And I agree 100%. that was That was really good. So thank you so much for presenting it and telling us the whole story. That's what we're gonna be looking at today. You know, anytime that we have the children perform, I'm so excited when everything goes off smoothly.
Humorous Christmas Skit Incident
00:00:39
Speaker
Jody and I did a Christmas skit with our church in Northern Alberta. We were about 850 miles above the u s border. And so we we wanted to celebrate Christmas with them. So we had them do a Christmas program.
00:00:54
Speaker
And I knew that we were in trouble when the shepherds came down the aisle and one of them had taken off his belt from his robe and was whipping the other one in front of him.
00:01:05
Speaker
And that would have been bad enough, but he was saying, own Comet, own Cupid, own Donner and Blitzen. And I thought, oh, no. But then we had one other little incident when the angels were coming out of the side door.
00:01:19
Speaker
They said, and behold, the angels, you know, came and two of them got their wings caught up and they got in a fight right there in the doorway. So anyway, I didn't see any of that kind of thing. So it went off great. And so thank you all so much for presenting it to us.
00:01:35
Speaker
Just a reminder, like Josh mentioned, that this afternoon at 4 o'clock at the high school auditorium, the Columbus Community Choir and Orchestra will be also putting the spotlight on Jesus.
00:01:47
Speaker
And I go there each year and always so blessed. And so I just encourage you to go today if you can.
Themes of Jesus' Supremacy
00:01:53
Speaker
you know, two weeks ago, Josh opened our Christmas series by pointing to the star of Christmas.
00:02:00
Speaker
He was admiring the supremacy of Jesus by looking at Hebrews chapter one, verses one through four. And then last Sunday, we reviewed the four visits by angels during the first Christmas.
00:02:15
Speaker
We observed that the angels announced the majesty and the identity of the eternal Son of God that was then born in a manger.
00:02:27
Speaker
The writer of Hebrews seems to interrupt when he goes from chapter 1 into chapter 2, where we're going to be today. We're going to look today at chapter 2 of Hebrews, chapter 2, verse 5, down through verse 13.
00:02:42
Speaker
But there's a bit of an interruption as he tries to give a warning of neglecting so great a salvation. You know, God gave us a tremendous gift by the Lord Jesus Christ. He gave us a tremendous gift that was all wrapped up in Christ. And that is salvation in Christ and eternal life in the Lord.
00:03:02
Speaker
And so Hebrews chapter 2, verses 5 through 13 helps us not neglect such a great salvation. It helps us just to sort of open up the amazing gift of the Christ of Christmas.
00:03:15
Speaker
And I think as we unwrap such a great salvation, we're going to see that it's going to show us from beginning to end.
Christmas Eve Candlelight Service
00:03:24
Speaker
You know, our Christmas Eve candlelight service will be coming up on December 24th at six o'clock here in this room.
00:03:31
Speaker
And you know, it's not designed to interrupt what your family has planned for Christmas, but it's actually designed to assist parents to seek to sculpt their children's understanding of what Christmas is really all about.
00:03:46
Speaker
And so I encourage you to come. We always try to be brief. They limit me to three points or less. And so, no, I'm kidding. David said that, but I do try to limit myself. We shoot for the whole thing to be over in 45 minutes.
00:03:59
Speaker
And you don't, there's no dress code for the Christmas Eve service. Come as you are. If you dress up, that's great. If you dress down, that's great. But please come and bring your heart to worship the Lord.
00:04:11
Speaker
I want to kind of summarize what we're about to read, because when we read it, you kind of think, what has this got to do with Christmas? Where are we going with this? I don't see the gift of Christmas that is coming across in this passage.
God's Original Intent and Humanity's Fall
00:04:24
Speaker
But let me just summarize what we're going to see from verse 5 of chapter 2 down through the beginning part of verse 8. is God's going to review something. And what he's going to review for us is his original design of mankind.
00:04:39
Speaker
What did he make us to do? What was his design according to Genesis chapter one? What a gift. God was saying to mankind, I want you to rule, to have dominion over the face of the earth, over the animals and over the earth and all of these kinds of things.
00:04:57
Speaker
But when we get to the second part of verse eight, it's kind of like there's a hinge there and there's going to be a turn. And he's going to address the terrible results of mankind's fall into sin.
00:05:09
Speaker
What a loss. What a loss that we would not live up to who God actually wanted us to be as as man and woman and who he created us to be. So then you drop down to verses nine through 13 that we're about to read, and it announces Christ's recovery, the recovery of the original destiny for mankind.
00:05:31
Speaker
That's why for many of us, when it comes to Christmas, we say, what a savior, what a savior that he came and he repaired all of these things.
Hebrews Reading and Jesus' Sacrifice
00:05:41
Speaker
So if you would stand with me in honor of God's word, I wanna read Hebrews chapter two, verses five through 13.
00:05:50
Speaker
For it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking. It has been testified somewhere. What is man that you are mindful of him or the son of man that you care for him?
00:06:07
Speaker
You made him for a little while lower than the angels. You have crowned him with glory and honor, putting everything in subjection under his feet." Now, in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control.
00:06:24
Speaker
At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him. I love verse 9 because it's going to turn the focus from us to Jesus.
00:06:36
Speaker
But we see him. who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God, he might taste death for everyone.
00:06:57
Speaker
For it was fitting that he for whom and by whom all things exist in bringing many sons to glory should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering. For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. Some translations say one father.
00:07:17
Speaker
That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers. saying, I will tell of your name to my brothers in the midst of the congregation. I will sing your praise.
00:07:31
Speaker
And again, i will put my trust in him. And again, behold, I and the children of God has given me. Let's pray together.
00:07:42
Speaker
Lord, I thank you for the children that you have given to these families. We've been so blessed this morning already. We could almost dismiss and already the gospel has been told to us through their actions, through their skit. And I thank you so much for it.
00:07:58
Speaker
I thank you for the adjustment on some of the words of that song and how that song also told us the whole story. And Lord, this passage, it too tells us the whole story.
00:08:09
Speaker
Sometimes we forget the beginning. Sometimes we forget the ending. Sometimes we forget what it's really all about in between. But I pray that today you would take these verses and just show us three simple truths that we need to remember as we go into this Christmas season.
00:08:26
Speaker
For truly you've given us an indescribable gift, a gift so great there are no words to adequately describe it. So bless our time together. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
00:08:39
Speaker
Thank you you. may be seated.
00:08:43
Speaker
You see, these verses display as though with a wide-angle lens. They cover a generous God giving mankind an incredible gift and saying, I want you to be in charge of the planet that I just made, all these animals and everything.
00:09:02
Speaker
But you'll also see in this passage, even though he was generous, even though his gift was indescribable, you're going to see a rebellious world abusing his gift.
00:09:13
Speaker
And then you're going to see a gracious Savior step on the scene. A gracious Savior who's able to restore the gift that we were given.
Mankind's Responsibility and Consequences
00:09:24
Speaker
So let's begin where God began to reveal His original design for humanity as described in Genesis chapter 1. verses 26 to 28. I don't know if you've ever read that passage, but you should read that passage in Genesis sometimes because it tells us that we were intended to have dominion, but I feel like now we are under the dominion of so many things that have gone wrong, but I get ahead of myself. So let's go back.
00:09:53
Speaker
Let me give you the first point in today's message. And that is a review of the original design of mankind. Why did God make us? What did he have in mind when he made us?
00:10:05
Speaker
Well, I think verses 5 through 8, especially the first part of verse 8, it tells us it's like a recap of God's plan and purpose for mankind from the beginning.
00:10:16
Speaker
If I were to try to summarize it and break it down, what we see in these verses, I would say it reminds me of responsibility and dignity, humility and authority.
00:10:27
Speaker
So let's look at each one of those real quickly. First is responsibility. What was the responsibility that God entrusted to Adam and to Eve?
00:10:38
Speaker
Responsibility to manage the world. That's what the responsibility was. You know, that's why he's saying here in verse five, he didn't give that responsibility to angels, did he?
00:10:49
Speaker
No, he gave it to mankind. He looked to us and he said, I'm going to entrust you with something very precious. I've given you a planet. I've given you trees and vegetables and I've given you animals and so many things.
00:11:03
Speaker
And he said, I want you to take care of it. I want you to manage it. That's your responsibility. As a matter of fact, Not only did he not say that to the angels, but sometime you should write down 1 Corinthians 6.
00:11:18
Speaker
1 Corinthians 6, verses two and three. You may not realize this, but someday all the believers, all the ages, those of us who have trusted in Jesus Christ, we will not only judge the world, we will also judge angels.
00:11:33
Speaker
And I'm thinking, what is that about? So I don't know what that's about, but all I know is that's what is promised in 1 Corinthians 6. Verses 2 through 3. But then I come to verse 6, which is a quote actually from Psalm 8, verses 4 through 6. So the writer of Hebrew continually goes back to the Old Testament. This is a great book to bridge the gap between the Old Testament and the New Testament.
00:11:59
Speaker
It fits together so perfectly. But he reaches back in Psalm 8, 4 through 6, and he quotes this. He says, um it has been testified somewhere, what is man?
00:12:12
Speaker
that you're mindful of him or the son of man, that you care for him. do you know that God said, you know what? I care about my creation. Maybe you feel like that nobody even cares about your life.
00:12:25
Speaker
but I want you to know that God does. It says that he does here. When he talks about son of man in this passage, in this verse, he's not talking about Jesus in that regard. He's talking about all of us.
00:12:37
Speaker
He's saying, you know what? I really care about you and I could go on and never have anything to do with you. What is it that God owes us? Don't you you feel like we owe him?
00:12:48
Speaker
i mean, he gave us the oxygen to breathe. He knows that we need water in order to survive. So he he provided water on this planet. I feel like we owe him. That's who owes. not He doesn't owe us anything more.
00:13:02
Speaker
But just think that he's mindful of us. He's watching your life and cares about your life. You know, what chances would the average person have of approaching a celebrity or a VIP, a professional athlete, maybe just for one-hour visit?
00:13:21
Speaker
Yet, you know what Christ did? At Christmas, it tells us what he did. He had been with the Father for all eternity past, never a beginning. And he gave all that up.
00:13:32
Speaker
Just like John Miller said in his prayer, Christ gave it all up to come down to a small town to invite some shepherds in on it. And then he was born in a feed trough, in a manger.
00:13:45
Speaker
And so I'm thinking, wow. That's so incredible. I mean, if you
Jesus' Humility and Sacrifice
00:13:50
Speaker
think about in the football world, the college football world, Fernando Mendoza, the quarterback for the undefeated Indiana Hoosiers, was just awarded the Heisman Trophy.
00:14:00
Speaker
So what do you think the chances would be if I just wanted to hang out with Fernando for an hour and have a a coffee or something, could he meet with me or would he meet with me? Probably not. I mean, he's a nice guy.
00:14:12
Speaker
I encourage you to listen to his speech when he said it's only six minutes long, but man, it's incredible. He gives God glory right off the top. And then he goes straight to his mom and dad, said, I wouldn't be anywhere without you guys. It's incredible to hear what that young man said.
00:14:29
Speaker
kind of leads me to the second thing. If you're going on down, you'll see that humility is in the makeup while we're waiting. You know, it says that we're less well we're let you you made him, talking about mankind, for a little while lower than the angels.
00:14:47
Speaker
You've crowned him with glory and honor and so forth. Lower than the angels. Does that mean that God loves us less than he does the angels?
00:14:58
Speaker
No, it doesn't. No, he doesn't love us less. It also doesn't mean that we are less important to God than the angels. You're very important to God. The difference between us and the angels is they're only spiritual, but we're spiritual and physical.
00:15:14
Speaker
You know, man is lower than the angels. Did you notice? But it's only for a little while. For a little while, because out there in the future someday, we're going to find what we were created for.
00:15:27
Speaker
That authority from the master that was by God's will. When he says in verse 8, you have crowned him with glory and honor. And notice that it says everything was put in subjection. Twice it says that.
00:15:42
Speaker
It left nothing outside his control. Once again, we're still in Genesis 1. We're still talking about at the beginning. All these things were such a great thing.
00:15:54
Speaker
But you know what? Something happens when you go down into verse eight, the last part of it. If I were to summarize what we just read, i would give you three statements.
00:16:06
Speaker
The first one is God created us. Do you know that every one of you, you're no mistake. God wanted you exactly to be like he made you to be.
00:16:17
Speaker
But also, like we learned in verse six, God cares. God cares about us. That's why he says, what is man that you're mindful of him or the son of man that you even care for him?
00:16:29
Speaker
You know, that's why you should cast your anxieties on God. Maybe you're all worked up about something that's coming with the Christmas celebration of your extended family. Or maybe you'd say, no, it's not that. It's something at work.
00:16:42
Speaker
Or maybe you would say, man, I'm facing a major decision next year. I'm worried about my health.
Human Rebellion and Suffering
00:16:48
Speaker
I don't know what might be on your mind, but I want to just tell you 1 Peter 5, 7 says this, casting all your anxieties on him.
00:16:57
Speaker
Why? Because he cares for you. Casting all your anxieties on him because he cares for you. You know, everybody doesn't know that. As a matter of fact, in Psalm 142, verse four, there was a man who wrote that song and he said, no one cares for my soul.
00:17:15
Speaker
Do you feel that today? Do you feel that going into the Christmas season? You feel no one cares for your soul. Yes, they do. Yes, they do.
00:17:26
Speaker
God cared so much. He sent his son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's where we're going to go in just a moment. But I know that anybody can feel that way because the disciples were in a boat with Jesus.
00:17:38
Speaker
A storm blew in. Jesus was asleep. These were professional fishermen, some of them. They thought they were going to die. They wake Jesus up and listen to what they said. That's recorded in Mark 4, 38.
00:17:51
Speaker
thirty eight Teacher, do you not care that we're perishing? I can't think of anything that would be more hurtful to say to Jesus than, don't you care that we're perishing?
00:18:03
Speaker
I mean, it's because we're perishing that he came. He came because we're all surrounded by death. He came so that we could have eternal life. And I'm thinking, man, God created us, but also God never stops caring for us. The other thing is God crowned us, at least at the beginning.
00:18:22
Speaker
He said, you crowned him. That's man. That's not Jesus in this verse. he You have crowned him with glory and honor, putting everything in subject and under his feet.
00:18:33
Speaker
Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. Wow. If you read Genesis chapter 1, Genesis chapter 2, you would say, man, it's a great world. It's a great life.
00:18:49
Speaker
It's great being human, being man, being woman. But you know what? Genesis 3, something happened. Something happened and it's uncovered for us.
00:19:00
Speaker
Something happened in Adam and Eve's life. They fell. They fell into sin. And you know what happened as a result? They lost their authority. They lost their dominion.
00:19:11
Speaker
And so how will it ever be restored once they've lost it? So we need to look at verse 8 and consider the implications of this. See, that's the second point is the results of the original dominion.
00:19:24
Speaker
descent of mankind, the fall of mankind. So if God's plan was for humanity to rule over the planet and have dominion, then here's the main question everybody wants to ask.
00:19:37
Speaker
Then why don't we see it? That's exactly what verse 8 says, right? At the last part, at present we do not yet see everything in subjection to him.
00:19:49
Speaker
Yep, that's exactly right. If you were to read Romans 8, verses 18 through 25, you would hear words like sufferings, corruption, groaning.
00:20:03
Speaker
Doesn't that describe the world we live in? Sufferings, groaning, corruption, It describes fallen creation. We live in a fallen world. It's broken. It's not like God made it. It's not like God wanted it to be.
00:20:18
Speaker
We did it. We did it by our own rebellion against God.
Adam and Eve's Disobedience
00:20:23
Speaker
And so humanity's choice to rebel against God and against the creator led us to this place where now you don't see us as in charge like God wanted us to be.
00:20:35
Speaker
So when you go into Genesis 3, what you see is man's fall to sin. And it's looming so big behind this verse 8. It doesn't say a lot about it here in Hebrews chapter 2 and verse 8, but it's in the background.
00:20:51
Speaker
Genesis 3, 17 through 19 describes how Adam and Eve's disobedience resulted in removal from the Garden of Eden. Oh, wait a minute. That's where the Tree of Life is.
00:21:02
Speaker
They're not going to live forever anymore because they can't go to the Tree of Life. So they're cut off from the Garden. they're cut off from the tree. They're cut off from life. Human race began to be subject to things like sickness, injury, and death.
00:21:18
Speaker
There were two brothers. Cain actually murdered his brother Abel. I felt like murdering my brother went a few times, but I never did it. But I understand that tug, you know.
00:21:30
Speaker
But you know what? The planet was created in perfection. It was created with stability. But sin brought instability. Sin brought things like, have you ever heard of any of these?
00:21:44
Speaker
Earthquakes, volcanoes, floods, tornadoes, fires, hurricanes, droughts, blizzards. Some people question God because of all those things. And I wonder if God's like, hello, that's not me.
00:21:57
Speaker
You did that. Your rebellion against me messed up the the way that I had planned this world to be. you know that in our church family, because I've been here 18 years, I've seen church members fall across the years.
00:22:13
Speaker
And it's not funny. It's not easy. It's like sometimes they fall, they break a hip. Sometimes they fall, they injure a shoulder. They break an arm. I've seen some suffer a head injury from a fall.
00:22:26
Speaker
I'm telling you, a fall can be dangerous. But I think that several years ago, there was a horrifying fall during a w Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey circus in Providence, r Rhode Island, that those who were there, they probably never forgot it.
00:22:40
Speaker
The audience was estimated to be about 3,900 people, many of whom were children, just like up on this platform this morning. There were so many children.
00:22:51
Speaker
But everything was going well in the performance until a sun at sudden and unexpected accident occurred. See, a small group of eight female acrobats were performing what is known as a human chandelier.
00:23:06
Speaker
They probably almost looked like a human chandelier. But those eight performers were held by their hair from a canopy. It's nothing but, there's no cord, it's just their hair.
00:23:19
Speaker
And they're 35 feet off the ground. The metal apparatus snapped and that thing fell on top of those ladies. And you know, it took 10 men to lift that thing off of them.
00:23:32
Speaker
And so I was thinking, wow, what happened? Well, of course they were injured. Three in critical condition, two serious condition, three in good condition. All suffered life-changing injuries, but all of them survived.
00:23:47
Speaker
You know what? The Lord placed a brief spiritual sketch of the painful results of the fall of man in Ephesians 4, 17 through 19. If I would just read these off, you're going to say, I've seen that.
00:24:02
Speaker
I've experienced that. I got a t-shirt that said, man, I've been there. I've done that. Let me read to you what it says in that incredible passage that tells us what was the extent of the injuries when mankind fell.
00:24:16
Speaker
Well, this will tell us. It says, now this I say in testifying the Lord that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do. Here's the first one. In the futility of their minds.
00:24:28
Speaker
There's emptiness. It's aimless. You ever known anybody that was like aimless? There was nothing there. There's so much to live for. And they feel like I'm just so empty. I feel so worthless. I feel so fruitless.
00:24:41
Speaker
I feel so that life is just futile. But not just emptiness, there was also darkness. Darkness because it goes on to say in verse 18, they're darkened in their understanding.
00:24:54
Speaker
It's like, why do people not see the moral values that the Bible presents and that we try to live out on a daily basis? Well, it's because of the darkness, the gloom.
00:25:05
Speaker
They've lost a perception of moral values. But the fallout from our rebellion doesn't end with just emptiness and darkness. It goes on to include deadness. We're separated from the one who created us.
00:25:18
Speaker
We're separated from the life giver himself, from the Lord God. And so that's why it says we're alienated from the life of God. Then it goes on to say because of the ignorance that is in them due to their hardness of heart.
00:25:31
Speaker
Have you ever wondered how people could say something, how they could do something that is so hurtful, that is so outrageous? It's because of that hardness of heart. Their heart becomes callous.
00:25:45
Speaker
If you want to study the hardness of heart, and and the deadness of being separated, alienated from God, all you got to do is read the Old Testament book of Judges.
00:25:56
Speaker
All you got to do is read the Old Testament book of Lamentation. All you got to do is read the New Testament book of Revelation, and you'll see so much callousness and hardness and deadness You'll say, I don't even want to spend time in those.
00:26:11
Speaker
You'll see numbness that's described in Ephesians 4.19. They have become callous. It means to lose sensitivity. Have you ever noticed some people can do sin and they're not shaming up about it at all There's no shame. There's no prick in their conscience.
00:26:27
Speaker
And it leads them to become very lewd in their conduct. They've given themselves up to sensuality, he says. It's sort of like what Romans 1, 24, 26, 28, three times God says, when you reject me, then I can give you over to a depraved mind.
00:26:45
Speaker
And you don't know which way is up. It means no longer do you have a compass. Wow. You know, if we reject God, we become numb toward his voice, numb toward his warnings, and we drift toward lewdness and immorality.
00:27:01
Speaker
It goes on and unpacks so many things, the uncleanness and the greediness and so forth. But I think what I'm trying to help you see is in verse 8 of our text in Hebrews 2, what does it mean when it says we don't see man on top of his game?
00:27:18
Speaker
That's why. that's That's all I'm trying to get you to see. And I know you see it every day because depravity, man can't change it. Disease, man can't eradicate it.
00:27:29
Speaker
Deserts, man can't reclaim them. Depletions, man can't replenish them. Disciplines, man can't seem to control himself and be disciplined. That's why we cannot avoid death and destruction.
00:27:42
Speaker
It just follows us around. So now we come to Christmas. into this fallen, broken world. The Lord sent his son in the form of a precious baby, once again placed in a manger located in the small town of Bethlehem.
Jesus Restoring Humanity's Destiny
00:28:01
Speaker
And the whole world probably thought, How can he help? This is not going to make a difference. Oh, but he has. Oh, but he's made a huge difference in my life. And I think he's made a huge difference in your lives.
00:28:14
Speaker
If we had people in this room to stand up and give testimony, you wouldn't believe how many lives have been changed just because Jesus came at Christmas and he went to the cross. And after he went to the cross, the father raised him from the dead I want to close with three things here from these last verses, verses 9 through 13.
00:28:36
Speaker
See, the recovery of the original destiny of mankind is why Jesus came. Hebrews 2, 9 through 13 gives us three phases of Christ's recovery of the lost dominion of humanity.
00:28:49
Speaker
Here's the first one, simple. The incarnation of the Son of God. You see, he'd always been with the Father, but you know what? In order to fix our problem, he had to come here and become like us.
00:29:02
Speaker
And that's why Jesus was born. That's why he became a man. i love it because in verses five through eight, we saw a man. We saw him favored and then we saw his failure.
00:29:13
Speaker
But now when you get down to verse nine, the focus shifts to Jesus and he becomes flesh. And that's a game changer. That changed everything down here on this earth.
00:29:25
Speaker
As a matter of fact, the apostle John, he's the he also testified, said, I saw him. If you read 1 John 1, verses 1 through 3, he said, we saw the one who was from the beginning. We saw him with our eyes. We heard him with our ears. We reached out and we touched him with our hands.
00:29:42
Speaker
Don't think for a moment that Jesus is a fable, that Jesus is some story. Jesus really came and he changed lives then and he's changing lives today. And he can give you hope and change your life.
00:29:57
Speaker
But he had to come. That's why when it says, but we see him, there's so much in those words, but we see him. What that means is the God that was invisible, he just became visible.
00:30:10
Speaker
And so many wrote about him and how he lived. You'll see that in order for him to do that, guess what he had to do? he had to step down from his position because as the son of God, he and the father, the spirit, they were always in control.
00:30:25
Speaker
But the son had to step down and lower himself and take a lower position. Why did he do that? He did that for you. He did that for me. He did that for us.
00:30:36
Speaker
He did that for ah every tribe, every people, every tongue, every nation. But notice that it says Jesus crowned with glory and honor. You see, Jesus also came. He became a man. But here's the difference in him and me and you.
00:30:51
Speaker
We're fallen. We're broken. We sin. We disobey God. He never sinned. His life was perfect. So you see the perfection despite his humanity, but then you see his payment for humanity.
00:31:04
Speaker
It's kind of leading us into the next phase, right? The first phase was his incarnation, but oh, the second phase is gonna be God saying, you know what?
00:31:15
Speaker
There's a reason why I rolled up my sleeves. There's a reason why I'm coming into that muddy world to make a difference, and that was salvation. You see, phase two of his recovery effort included salvation through the sun.
00:31:30
Speaker
Jesus stated why he came to earth in Luke 19.10, to seek and to save that which was lost. You know, if you don't know what save means, it means rescue, right? That's why a guy like zach Zach Williams can write a song so powerful about his own testimony of how the Lord changed his life.
00:31:49
Speaker
And the name of the song is, You Are My Rescue Story. If we were to rewind the tape in your life, I guarantee you there was a point where you were rescued, I was rescued. For me, it was when I was a freshman in college.
00:32:05
Speaker
When was it for you or when will it be for you? It can be today. You know, he says in that song, crying out from the pit of my despair, like a voice in the desert calling me out of the dead of night.
00:32:21
Speaker
That's the voice of the Holy Spirit lifting up Jesus and saying, there's hope for you. Jesus went to the cross for you. That's what he says here in this verse 9 and 10 and 13.
00:32:33
Speaker
You see, what was it that made him come? Oh, it's right here. Did you see it in verse 9? So that by the grace of God, by the grace of God, by the grace of God, he might taste death for everyone.
Salvation Through Jesus
00:32:50
Speaker
See, he paid the penalty that we He tasted death, not because he deserved death. No, he tasted death for us because he wanted to show grace to us.
00:33:02
Speaker
He wanted to show us unconditional love. And there's this provision of salvation that's hinted at in verse 10 where it says, for it was fitting that he for whom and by whom all things exist in bringing many sons to glory should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.
00:33:23
Speaker
Yeah, you know what? He provided salvation. The provision of salvation was a perfect life. And he said, you know what? I'm going to die and i'm going to pay the penalty that they deserve.
00:33:34
Speaker
And I'm thinking, wow, thank you, God. And what do we have to do? Do we have to be perfect after that? Do we have to really do everything we can to earn that salvation? No, I like the verse that the writer of Hebrews quotes in verse 13.
00:33:49
Speaker
Look at that real carefully. And again, I will put my trust in him. And behold, I and the children God has given me.
00:34:00
Speaker
You know, God only wants us to turn from sin, to put our faith and our trust in the finished work of Christ. And as we do that, he doesn't say, okay, your sins are forgiven. Now I'm i'm leaving you.
00:34:15
Speaker
You know what? There's something else here. If you'll look at verse 11 and 12, I'll be able to wrap it up. It says, for he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified. You know, sanctification, you know what that is? If you just break it down, it just means God's not going to just say, you're forgiven. I'm done with you.
00:34:34
Speaker
No, he says, you're for forgiven. Let's get started. Let's clean up your life. Let me show you why I created you. I'm going to restore you into everything that I have had in in mind for you from all eternity.
00:34:47
Speaker
I love it. And then someday, like verse 10 hinted at, it will be not only justification and sanctification, but glorification. You see, sanctification is when the Lord says, you don't have to put up with the power of sin.
00:35:00
Speaker
I can help you win that victory over sin day by day, temptation by temptation. Yes, we take one step forward and we take two steps back. We take one step forward, we take three steps back. But nevertheless, the Lord says, we're going to win this thing.
00:35:15
Speaker
I am not finished with what I started in your life. And when we get to heaven someday, that's where he says, you know what? Look around he say He's going to say, you see something missing?
00:35:28
Speaker
And people going to say, I'm not sure what you're asking. He said, where is sin? We're going to look around and say, there's no sin in heaven. He's going to say, that's exactly what I saved you for.
00:35:39
Speaker
I wanted you to come here so that you would know that there's a purpose beyond that earth. So I think when I read these verses 11 and 12, I think to myself, you know what?
00:35:51
Speaker
Sanctification means he's not finished. But sanctification also means we're not alone. Not only is Jesus helping us, the Father's helping us, the Spirit is helping us. You've got brothers that are mentioned, sisters that are mentioned.
Process of Sanctification
00:36:04
Speaker
That's why we can say, I don't have to live the Christian life by myself. The Lord's going to help me. My brothers and sisters in Christ, they're going to help me. And also it says that Jesus would say, you know what?
00:36:17
Speaker
I'm not ashamed to call them my brother. I'm not ashamed to say they're in my family. Maybe we do shameful things that we feel so bad, but you know what? Under the blood of Christ, this is the statement that God has said toward us that are under the blood of Christ. Romans 8.1.
00:36:33
Speaker
There is now, today, there is now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. Don't you know? You're not condemned. You are saved.
00:36:44
Speaker
You are sanctified. You are being sanctified. And he's just working in your life. And someday you'll go there to be with him in that perfect place. But also, i love it because you may say, why do they sing so loud at this church?
00:36:59
Speaker
We can't be silent. We can't be silent with such a great salvation like this. That's why it doesn't matter if it's a Christmas song, if it's a song of the resurrection of Christ, if it's a song, if it's about him, we want to sing it with everything we've got.
00:37:17
Speaker
We know there must be more than this brokenness. I think that it's in our DNA as human beings. That's why it's like there's an empty cavern inside of people. And they're saying, I don't know what it takes. I don't know what I got to do in order to fill up that place.
00:37:34
Speaker
Because we know there's something more. And you know what there is? It's Jesus. It's Jesus. It's abundant, eternal life. That's why he came.
00:37:46
Speaker
So at Christmas, I love it, you know, at Christmas we give gifts. I'm sure the kids have already probably made their list and checked it twice. You know, who cares what Santa's gonna do? I'm checking my own list twice. I understand where that's coming from. Yeah, when Jody's not at home, I go over there and shake our presents, see what I got under the tree.
00:38:05
Speaker
But let me tell you
Reflecting on the Gift of Salvation
00:38:06
Speaker
something. There's something really great I want you to know about these two verses. These two verses tell the whole story. John 3, 16, for God so loved the world that he gave, there it is right there, he gave his only son that whoever believes in him should not perish but eternal life.
00:38:27
Speaker
I love John 3, 16. That's a good verse you could share with someone this Christmas. But how about this one, Romans 6, 23, for the wages of sin is death, but the free gift, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
00:38:43
Speaker
Wow, are you willing to turn in repentance and faith and surrender to Christ today? If not today, what day? you know, this passage reminds me a little bit of a meaningful Christmas gift given to the pastor of the First Baptist Church of Houston.
00:39:02
Speaker
He's not the pastor now. As a matter of fact, now he's in glory. His name is John Bassanio, or he was John Bassanio. But for 30 years, almost 30 years, he was a pastor there at First Baptist Houston. But he also, during that time, was a chaplain for the Houston Oilers.
00:39:18
Speaker
They're now in Tennessee. We'll trade you. If you want to give us the Texans, we'll trade you the Titans. then So we'll trade back. But anyway... He was the chaplain for the NFL team, and when he got ready to step down in that role, they presented him with a football.
00:39:34
Speaker
It was a football, and had one scripture on it, and it had the signature of every member of that team of the Houston Orders at that time. They all signed it. You know what this is?
00:39:46
Speaker
Hebrews 2, verses five through 13. It's like God is giving you an opportunity to have the game winning ball. And it's like he's trying to say, look at who all was a part of this.
00:39:58
Speaker
You know, maybe when you saw these kids up here, you thought, look at how sharp those kids are. And they are sharp. But you know who helped make them sharp? Parents, a mom, a dad.
00:40:11
Speaker
Grandparents, grandmother, grandfather, but also there were others who who coached them, who helped them along the way. But if there's nobody else, then we certainly know that the Father who made them, we know the Son who came and died for them, we know the Holy Spirit who lives within those that have trusted Jesus Christ, they're all helping.
00:40:33
Speaker
And of course, what we learned last time, the angels are there to help. And so when the Father says, I want you to go help that one that's in my family, they go.
00:40:44
Speaker
Just think of all the team that has helped you to come to this moment. Maybe this is that moment of salvation.
Invitation to Accept Salvation
00:40:51
Speaker
Would you stand with me? I want to have prayer. And we're going to pray and ask God to bless our time. But I wanted to give an opportunity in case there was someone here and you would say, I needed to hear this because I didn't know.
00:41:04
Speaker
that the gift was for me. Maybe you feel you've been too bad. Maybe you feel, I've wasted my life. There's no hope for me. No, there's hope for you. You've not been too bad.
00:41:16
Speaker
Jesus came to save sinners like me, sinners like you, sinners like us. Would you go to the Lord in prayer? Let's pray together. Lord, we just looked in your word. We looked at Christmas and the gift of Christmas from beginning to end.
00:41:33
Speaker
Lord, and it's just a marvelous, it's a marvelous gift. No wonder the Bible says it's indescribable. And so Lord, maybe someone here, even though the gift has been offered, they've never received the gift.
00:41:48
Speaker
They've never said, I want to turn from sin. I want to put my faith and my trust in Jesus Christ, what he did for me on the cross, that he's now alive and can change my life. And I want to surrender my life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. I want to receive all that he has for me.
00:42:05
Speaker
So maybe that's the case. So bless our time. In Jesus' name, we give it to you. Amen.
00:42:15
Speaker
This is a ministry of First Baptist Church located at 1700 Milam Street, Columbus, Texas.