As you remain standing, please open your Bibles to the Book of Hebrews, which is where we are at during this advent season. Chapter two of Hebrews. I was going to say I forgot the study, but no, I didn't. Hebrews, chapter two. I might have forgotten my voice, but Lord willing, I did do a little study for today. Hebrews 2, we're going to be in verses 5:13 today. And then next Lord's Day, Pastor Jeremy is going to be in verses 14-18. Hebrews 2, hear the word of God. 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? You made him for a little while lower than the angels, and you have crowned him with glory and honor, putting everything and subjection under his feet. Now, in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him, 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.

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. 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. And again, I will put my trust in Him. And again, behold, I and the children God has given me. That is the word of the Lord. Amen. You may be seated. Our God in heaven, we would this morning receive the exhortation of the writer of the Book of Hebrews. We would see Jesus this morning. We have not gathered here for any other reason. We have not gathered here for any other purpose. We have not been called here or summon here for any other reason under the sun, except for Jesus. Jesus is the Alpha, the Omega, the Beginning and the end, the first and the last. We would see Jesus today in the scriptures revealed to our hearts, so that our hearts might say yes and receive him by faith.

Faith comes from hearing the word of God. That as we see Jesus, we might be then led to follow him on the pathway that He has blazed, the trail that He has blazed for us through suffering into our eternal inheritance that awaits for your people. And so we thank you for Jesus, who is the better Adam, he is the better Captain, and he is the better brother than any could ever have. In Jesus' name, we pray and Amen. Amen. The Book of Hebrews is actually a sermon. It's one sermon, and that's the way the writer talks of it at the very end in chapter 13. He says, Bear with me in my word of exhortation. He considers the entire letter that he has written a word of exhortation, a sermon to be delivered to God's people when they receive it. And in this sermon, the writer of Hebrews continually calls us to see Christ, to look to Christ. Over and over and over and over again. It is Christ that is put before us. We look with me in verse 9 for a moment. There's something we do not see in verse 8, but in verse 9, we see Him, namely Jesus.

We see Jesus because He's revealed to us right here in the scriptures. Chapter 3:1 says, consider Jesus. If you're going to do anything, look to Christ. Consider Christ. Think on Christ. Muse on Christ, love Christ, consider Christ, the writer says. In chapter 12, we are familiar with these words, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfector of our faith. Verse 3 of chapter 12, consider Jesus over and over and over again in this sermon that the writer of Hebrews has given to us. We are told to never allow Christ to be eclipsed from the sight of faith. Never, ever, ever leave our eyes off of Christ in the race of endurance that we are running. We can never find ourselves looking anywhere else at all except for Christ and Christ alone. Horatious Bonar said this, For every one look at your circumstances, take 10 looks at Christ. For every one look at yourself, take 10 looks at Christ. In other words, always be looking away, away from yourself and away from that which weighs you down, and always be looking to Christ, always. And the reason why we want to look to Christ always is because He is the only one that can get us to our destiny.

Christ is the only one who can get you to the end. Christ is the only one who can carry you and lead you all the way to that which God has waiting for you in terms of your inheritance in the future. And so because Christ is the only one who can get you to your destiny, why would you look anywhere else? Not only can nothing else get you to your destiny at all by turning away from Christ. We misunderstand that what the destiny itself is. Look at verse 10. For it was fitting that He, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory. You see, that's your destiny. That's your future. That's your hope, is that you will be brought fully and finally to the glory that Adam fell short of. The glory that Adam fell short of, Christ himself has come so that you might actually make it to that glory that Adam fell short of. Well, what is that? That glory? What is that destiny that waits us? This is where we struggle sometimes because we've been lied to for so long. Our destiny, what awaits us in the future, that which Christ takes us to and he makes sure we get there, is right there before us in verse 5.

For it was not to angels that He subjected the world to come. You see, there is a world to come. There is a city to come. There is an age to come. There is a kingdom to come. There is a destiny that awaits for all who are in Christ Jesus, and it is a new heaven and it is a new earth. And in that new age and in that new kingdom and in that new world that's broken in now but will not be consummated to the end, there is waiting for you, listen, a share in the very reign of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ will share the seat of his throne with you. And you will not only rule over angels, as Paul says, 1 Corinthians 6, you will exercise a Dominion over the creation that will fully cooperate with your leadership, so that according to who Christ has made you, you will bring your imprint of life upon the new heavens and the new earth as you exercise Dominion alongside of Jesus in the world that is to come, and you will do so as a receiver of everything that Jesus is the inheritor of.

And according to what Pastor John preached last week, Jesus inherits everything. Everything was created so the son might inherit it. Listen, everything was created so that the son might inherit it. And you were created so that the son might share with you, and you were redeemed so that the son might share his inheritance with you. And you were redeemed so that the son might shareinheritance with you. So what your future is, your future is sharing in the reign of Christ, sharing in the glory of Christ, and sharing in the inheritance of Christ. That is your destiny. And that is why all those who have looked to the city to come, all those who have seen the age to come in the scriptures, all of those who have looked past the temporary character of the things that we are involved in now, all of them who have looked to that future have done the most in this life. You see, because their lives became what? Expendable for the kingdom that is coming, you see. And Jesus Christ is the one who is going to make sure that you get to your inheritance. And Jesus Christ is the one that's going to make sure that you get to your destiny.

He's going to make sure that you get to it and that it gets to you. Well, how is that possible? How did Jesus do that? How does Jesus become the one in which we can look to so that we are assured that He will get us to our destiny? The answer is incarnation. The answer is Christmas. The answer is that God became man. That's how. In order for man to get to his future destiny, God had to become man. The son of God had to take our dilapidated humanity to himself. Now, please understand this, church. We can't to mentalize the incarnation. It was not a silent night. There was blood on the ground. You could hear a woman cry in the alleyway that night on the streets of David's town. Mary birthed the baby, just like every other woman, births the baby with all the pains and all the agonies and all the terror and all the trying. And that bumming Joseph helping her out at her side with no other women there to help her. Just that guy. We got to quit sentimentalizing that. But we also have to not sentimentalize the fact that the incarnation is not Jesus coming into a world that was compatible with the world that the first Adam was in.

The first Adam was created into a world was already working his way, was already waiting for Him. Everything was where it should be, waiting for him to move it where it was supposed to go. Jesus doesn't come into a world equal to Adam's first world. Jesus comes into our world. He comes in east of Eden with all the darkness, all the death, all the sin, all the suffering, dying. Jesus chose to come into a world of darkness, a world where He would face everything that we would face. He would face it as an infant, having His parents having to run for their lives to Egypt. He would face it as a child at the temple, misunderstanding. He would face it as a youth, losing his father, probably in death, because Joseph is no longer seen anymore. He knows what it's like to go through that season of life where you lose a parent when you're a youth. Later on, he knows what it's like to be abandoned by his friends. Every facet of the incarnation of Jesus Christ, he was submitted to and gave himself to the very sufferings of our lives so that he could be that high priest for us in every way.

He did not remove himself from the fabric of a life that faces death, sin, and adversity, and trial, and suffering in every way. You see, Jesus entered as incarnation in order to live his life out inside the brokenness of the story so that He could repair it from the inside. Nothing of that which is hostile to us did Jesus relieve Himself from. He was willing to come in and face everything that was hostile to us so that He could bring us home to glory and into our inheritance. And how did Jesus do that? He does that in three ways. Number one, first, He's the better Adam. Secondly, he's the better Captain. And thirdly, he's the better elder brother. Jesus taking up those three offices, being better than all of those. Other brothers we could have, other captains we could have to lead us and other Adams. Jesus himself ensures that you will get to your destiny. And what he ensures, listen, is that your life with all of its brokenness and your life with all of its suffering and all of its darkness and all of its triumphs and all of its goodness are folded in to the future glory that will be yours on the other side so that nothing in your life is wasted.

Nothing in your life is wasted. So let's look at Jesus first as the better Adam. Let's go. Start with me in verse 5. For it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come of which we are speaking. The angels are not the inheritors of things. They are the servants of things. And now He moves on from there and making sure that we understand that the world to come does not belong to the angels. But originally that world to come belonged to the first Adam. And so what the writer of Hebrews does here is He moves us to Psalm 8. But remember that Psalm 8 is a commentary on Genesis 1, okay? So we have to have that echoing in our souls. And so as we move in, it is not to angels that He's subjected the world to come. Verse 6 says, It has been testified somewhere. What is man that you are mindful of him, or the son of man that you care for him? You have made him for a little while lower than the angels. You have crowned him with glory and honor, putting everything and subjection under his feet.

Now, in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. So God created Adam. And as God created Adam, He created him to be a little lower than the angels for a little while. Please understand this, okay? Adam was created in his originality a little lower than the angels, but that was only going to be for a little while. Because Adam himself had a future, a future that he would grow up to, a future that if he had obeyed the Lord by faith, he would have matured to. And eventually, Adam would have had everything subject to him, including the angels. In other words, God began by giving Adam a small Dominion. And the more that Adam matured and the more that Adam grew, the more that Adam obeyed, and the more that Adam trusted, and the more that Adam remained faithful, his Dominion would have grown andexpanded, and eventually it would have moved outside the garden and it would have moved across the whole world, and eventually even would have included Adam growing up and himself exercising Dominion over the angelic world. The whole world to come, you see, was promised to Adam from the beginning, and nothing was left out.

God promised Adam and Eve everything. The whole of everything will be yours, Adam and Eve. You don't have to do anything for it. I'm just giving it to you. You just have to trust me and obey me, and it's all yours. And someday, even though you are a little lower than the angels now, you will be exalted above the angels. I'm not holding anything back from you, Adam. The tree is temporary. You being a little bit lower than the angels is temporary. When you yourself prove yourself, I will move you above those things. That's the whole story of Adam. Adam had a future and a present in front of him. But then the end of verse 8 comes. Well, if that's the case, God gave all that to Adam, why does the end of verse 8 in the way it does? At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to Adam. Why is everything a mess? Why is everything a wreck? Why is there so much hostility and evil in the world? Why do we not yet see what God promised we would see? Everything under an Adam. Well, because the first Adam forfeited it.

The first Adam had to go through what we call a disinheritance. He lost his inheritance. He lost his inheritance because he refused to wait upon the Lord, refused to wait for God's timing to move him forward to in the story. He wanted everything and he wanted it now. He wanted it prematurely. He wanted it early. Gk Chesterton talks about opening Christmas presents early. He talks about those who can't wait during the season of Advent, who just have to have it all now. He talks about the fact that we wrap the presents up. And then maybe if we wrap up this doll, maybe an arm or a leg will flop out under the tree and hang there the whole time and you get a chance to look at it. And Chederson says, I think we should do the same thing to people who want to celebrate Christmas early and refuse to add them. We should wrap them all up like that and put them under the tree, and maybe one of their arms will just fall out and hang out too. You was like, You got to stay in the pace. It's Advent is waiting time.

Christmas is celebration time. Don't rush them. Don't move them. Adam couldn't wait, you see. He had to have the tree of the knowledge of good and evil early. He wanted authority over the angels too early. He wanted everything right now. And what happened was he disobeyed the Lord. And in his disobedience, his dominion became troubling, and his inheritance went away. And he was cast out of Eden and disinherited. But you see, God had an eternal plan for a better Adam, a better Adam to come and actually carry us to the glory that the first Adam fell short of. You have to read Romans 3:23 that way, for all of sin and Adam and fall short of the glory of God. We ourselves are short of what Adam was short of, and that's the glory of God. But you see, a better Adam comes to make sure that his sons get to glory, you see. The better Adam makes sure we get to our destiny. Look at verse 9. We do not see everything in subjection to the first Adam, but verse 9, but we do see him who was made for a little while 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.

Where do we look now? What do we look to now that we live downstream from the consequences of the first Adam's disinheritance. Where do we look now that we live downstream and in our very lives under the disobedience of the first Adam? When the consequences of the first Adam wreak havoc on the world, where do we look? We look to the better Adam. We look to the better Adam who's come to bring about a reversal and a restoration to reverse what the first Adam got us into and restore to us what we lost in the first Adam. And that's what verse 9 is about. We see Jesus who what? Look at it, who took our place. Jesus, who was the son of God eternally. Not only is Jesus above the angels, Jesus created the angels. They were his artistry as the divine, eternal logos of God. I'll make this angel this way and that angel that way and that angel that way. I'm going to give this angel this name, Gabriel. I'm going to give this angel this name, Michael. And I'm going to give this angel this name. And all Jesus is the creator of all of that angelic host.

And all that those angels have known for the whole heavenly life that they have lived is that the son of God is full of splendor and wonder, and they have worshiped him for ages upon ages. And now he is made, the son of God, he is made for a little while lower than the angels. You see, Jesus comes as our representative and he steps in to our humanity, but it's our dilapidated humanity. It's in the likeness of sinful flesh. You see, Jesus didn't have a superhumanity. Jesus had the humanity that could get sick and have a cold when he preached in the synagogue. Jesus had the humanity that could get hungry and get tired. Jesus had the humanity that could grieve when he was betrayed. Jesus had the humanity that could get angry when he saw injustice. So the humanity of Jesus is a humanity in the likeness of sinful flesh yet without sin, the Bible tells us. And so Jesus subjected Himself in the incarnation to be for a little while lower than the angels. Why? Because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God, He might taste death for everyone.

You see, church, listen, you have an enemy and I have an enemy. And Adam had an enemy. An enemy that God told Adam very clearly. Adam, listen to me, Adam. Listen to me, Adam. Adam, in the day that you eat, it all dies. It all dies. You die. Your relationship with God dies. Your relationship to the creation dies. Your relationship to your wife dies. Your relationship to your kid dies. Your relationship to yourself dies. All of your relationships, Adam, all of the related life that you have in the day that you eat, Adam, it all dies. You die. Everything that you stand for, everything that you represent as Adam dies. You see, that's the one thing that we can't fix is the death of things. It cannot be fixed. But you see, there's a better Adam who has come. The better Adam who has come in his name is Jesus. And he was made for a little while lower than the angels so that he could answer that death issue. That death of your relationship with God, that death of your relationship with creation, that death of your relationship with other people, that death of your relationship in the homes, and that death of your relationship with yourself, right?

Because guess what? Apart from Jesus, you're nuts. And in Christ Jesus, you're still nuts, just only partially so. Someday you won't be nuts at all, right? Because of this, because Jesus Christ suffered for you. He entered this world and He took every single point of suffering that was possible. And He met it and He absorbed it in Himself. Pastor Jeremy is going to talk about this next week. This is what makes Christ the high priest that you can take every single bit of your troubled life to. But not only just any suffering, but the suffering of death. He was willing to face the greatest enemy we have and to answer it and to overcome it, you see. And he did it. He tasted death for everyone. He went through the suffering of death because of the grace of God, you see. The lavish heart of God. You want to talk about a Christmas present? You want to talk about a Christmas present? You want to talk about a big giver? This is the big giver. This is the best Christmas present you could ever ask for. That the lavish grace of God would give you His incarnate son to take all of the suffering of life upon Himself and face the ultimate suffering itself, which is death.

And not any death, but death on the cross. And because Christ went through that, you see, because Christ went through that suffering of death. That was not the final answer, you see. Because this better Adam, because he stayed true, where the first Adam did not stay true. Because this Adam remained faithfulful, where the other Adam was unfaithful. And this Adam remained faithful where you are not faithful, where you are unfaithful, because this Adam remained faithful, Jesus at every point. Look at what it says in the middle of verse 9, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor. You see, Jesus has entered in. He's the only one who has entered into the destiny. He is there. He is the one crowned and He is the one with glory. The reason why He can bring you to the future is because He's already there and He's blazed the trail. He's gone through the suffering, out the other side, raised from the dead, ascended on high, and now Jesus is crowned with glory and honor, and He's waiting to crown you with the same. You see. He's waiting to give that and to share that with you. And you're going to say, Well, I'm going to turn around and throw it back at His feet.

Fine. That's fine. That's a great passage in Revelation. But it doesn't mean He didn't crown you. It doesn't mean He didn't glorify you. It meant that you did the right thing with it. When you got it, you knew it all came from Him. So you offered it right back to me. It doesn't mean it's not yours, you see. But He is the one who's already there, you see. And because He's there, He's guaranteed to get you there. He didn't fall short like the first Adam did. The first Adam is east of Eden going, How did I get here? The second Adam is crowned with glory and honor. He knows exactly how he got there because he suffered death for you, and he suffered death for me. And so that's why Jesus is the better Adam. But he's also the better captain. Look at verse 10. For it was fitting that he for whom and by whom all things exist, and that's the father, okay? The Father, along with the son and the Holy Spirit, is the one for whom and by whom all things exist. The father is involved with the son in the economy of salvation, and the father is involved in bringing many sons to glory.

Look at it. It was fitting that he, the father, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the captain of their salvation perfect through suffering, you say. Look at that verse. God, the Father... Church, listen, God, the Father, and God, the son have conspired together to make sure that you and I, and all of God's people make it to our inheritance. God, the father and God, the son have conspired together to make sure that you make it to glory, that you make it to the Dominion, that you make it to the world to come, that you make it to the age to come. You see, this is not only the work of the son, this is the work of the father, as well as the plan and purpose of the Father for whom all things exist to make sure that you, yourself, come into a share of that and bringing many sons to glory. It's not a question of whether it will happen or not. Okay? It's as guaranteed as His name is guaranteed. But I want you to notice something, that the fittingness of this in getting us there.

And I want you to notice that the writer of Hebrews does not want this lost on us. In getting us to our destiny and the father's involvement in that included the father's relationship to the son. Son, as the father of the son, taking the captain of our salvation. And I want you to see this language at the end of verse 10, Making the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering. I want you to think about that for a second. What does that mean? Was Jesus imperfect before suffering? No, Jesus was not imperfect before suffering. Well, what does it mean for the father to lay suffering upon the son so that he could bring him to a place of perfection so that the son might bring you and I to glory? What does that mean? How does Jesus become perfect through suffering? You see that Greek word there, suffering, comes from the word tellos, which is goal. What this means is there was a goal for the humanity of Jesus that Jesus had to reach in order to bring you to glory. Okay? A goal out in front of Him. From conception, from the conception of Jesus through the cradle into the world, there was a trajectory that Jesus was on, a goal, a tell us that He had to meet in order for us to come to glory.

And the pathway, listen, this is very important, the pathway that Jesus had to walk to get to that end. The road that He had to take to get to that end was a series of sufferings that would move him in exorbitantly towards that goal. And he had to meet every suffering point in order to get to the next one. And so this is important for you guys to understand, in the Adamic humanity of Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ did not obey from imperfection to perfection. He did not obey from unrighteousness to righteousness. He obeyed from lesser maturity to more maturity. He listened. He obey from the obedience of a child to the obedience of an adult. Every single time that Jesus suffered, it increased His capacity to suffer more. And then Jesus would suffer more and it increased His capacity to suffer more. And then He would suffer more and it would increase his capacity to suffer more. Throughout his humanity, Jesus was receiving greater and greater capacities for suffering through the pathway of life that the father was leading him on. This is why he had to come as a baby, you see. He came as a baby so that he might move through all the seasons of life and meet the suffering of every season of life and overcome it so that he had greater capacity for the next one and then overcome it.

And then he had a greater capacity for the next one and then overcommit. And then he had a greater capacity for the next one. All of those led to the Garden of Gethsemane. You see, the Garden of Gethsemane was that ultimate moment. Whether or not Jesus would accept the ultimate suffering on our behalf, would He willingly drink the cup? What you have to understand that is three years before that, Jesus was not ready for the cup. Five years before that, Jesus was not ready for the cup. Ten years before that, Jesus was not ready for the cup. The entire human life of Jesus was a growing in his capacity to suffer, to bring him to the place where he would reach the goal, where he could look the cup in the face and say, not my will, but your will be done and to receive the silence of heaven and go to the cross, you see. That's what it means for Jesus to be made perfect through suffering. He made it to the goal so that He could go to the cross for you and for me. But he did not have the capacity for the cross when He was 30.

He did not have the capacity for the cross when He was 25. He did not have the capacity for the cross when He was 15. But he had the capacity for the cross when he was 33 and a half. And at that capacity, he had suffered throughout his whole life, and every previous suffering had prepared him for this suffering. That's what it says in Hebrews 5, if you just listen to these words, and I'm actually not going to be able to finish the last point, Hebrews 5, listen to these words. Hebrews 5:8, Although He was a son, He learned obedience through what He suffered and being made perfect. Do you see that? As a son, he learned obedience. What did Jesus? Was he disobedient? No. He moved from obedience to obedience as he moved from suffering to suffering. Although he was a son, he learned obedience. How? Through what he suffered. And then what happened? He reached the tell us. And being made perfect, he reached the goal where he could say yes to the ultimate. He became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, being designated by God as a high priest after the order of Melchizedek, you say.

Jesus is this one who was willing to subject himself to the Father's suffering so that he could finally get to the place where in his humanity, he could stare the cross in the face and say yes to the cross, which means through that, you will make it to the end. But what that also means is that as you follow the captain of your faith, Jesus, your road will be like His. Your road will be like His. It will include the sufferings of Christ along the way. And the sufferings of Christ are moving you towards the tell us the goal of ultimate Christ likeness and bringing many sons to glory. I'm not going to be able to finish this sermon this morning because of time. But let me leave you with this. We come this morning to see Jesus, to look to Christ. Why? Because He is the better Adam for you, and he is the better captain for you. And because of Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone, you will make it to your destiny because He's already there and He's going to make sure that you stand with Him on that day. Amen. Merry Christmas.

Let's pray. Our God in heaven, these are the best gifts we could ever have. Truer words, Lord, that we could ever receive. Bless us today as we receive these words and as we look to Jesus Christ alone. It's in His name that we pray. Amen. Amen.