He Shares Our Humanity

So grateful for the time the Lord has given to us to worship Him tonight and it has been a long week, but it’s been also great to be able to be with all of you night after night on Zoom.

Thank you for everyone who has joined. We had a great turnout every single night and in worship and in word, and we were able to gather together in person tonight to look into time, spend some time in God’s word and just also spend some time in prayer towards the end as well.

We are going through the book of Hebrews in our season of fasting and prayer, and we’ll also go through the first part of the book of Revelation towards the end of it, but we’ve already gone through about five chapters, Hebrew chapter one through five. We haven’t done justice to those chapters because of the limited time that we have every night.

So what I want to focus on tonight is what we just briefly touched on, on Tuesday night, which is from Hebrew chapter two. And just to a quick recap of the introduction that we had to the book of Hebrews. There is this idea throughout this book of Jesus being better, and it’s probably one of the last New Testament books to be written. Probably the only book that was written after the book of Hebrews is probably the book of Revelation, and so you have this second generation Jewish believers who are facing persecution, not only in the immediate vicinity of Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria, but even to the ends of the earth, Christians are starting to face tremendous persecution.

So the question comes, especially to people who came from Jewish background, who knew the God of the Old Testament, who has certain idea of what the truth is, whether Christ is really worth all the suffering that they’re going through. So this writer, whoever it might be, it’s not clear to us after years and years of research. In fact, one of the most interesting theories about the authorship of the book of Hebrews that I have ever heard, and I think which also merits some consideration, is the fact that it was written by Aquila and Priscilla. And if that’s the case, this will be the only book in the entire Bible that is written by a woman, because as you study the book of Acts, you saw how Priscilla was the one that actually took Apollos, the evangelist, and kind of taught him more about how Jesus’ way and all those things.

So it kind of makes sense with their knowledge of the Old Testament that maybe they are the authors of the book of Hebrews. Whatever the case might be, as one writer has so beautifully said, out of all the books in the New Testament, this is the one book for which we do not know who wrote it. But it’s also the book that probably speaks about the excellency of Christ more than any other book. So as if the person who wrote it did not want his identity to be known, kind of stepped to the background and said, it’s not about me, it’s not about anyone else, it’s about the one person that I’m writing about, Jesus gets all the glory. He or she did not even want to be distracted by who the author is, because the attention needed to be completely upon who this book exalts, and that is the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.

So we come to Hebrew chapter two, I want to just focus on two verses tonight in the few minutes that I have in front of me before we’ll spend some time in prayer. So come with me as we go through Hebrew chapter two, verses 14 and 15, and I’m going to read verse 14 to you, and we’ll come to verse 15 towards the end.

Verse 14 reads like this, since the children have flesh and blood, He too shared in their humanity so that by His death He might break the power of him who holds the power of death, that is the devil.

So much to unpack in just one verse. The first thing that we see immediately is that phrase, since the children have flesh and blood. In fact, in the original language, it actually is backwards. It says, since the children have blood and flesh, but flesh and blood I think sounds a lot better. I thought it was a little bit easier.

Where do we get this phrase from, flesh and blood? This is actually coming from Hebrew tradition. Anytime they talked about human nature, they would use the phrase flesh and blood. So writing to a Jewish audience, and you will see this phrase in other passages of scriptures as well, you see why human nature is being described by this phrase that we have flesh and blood.

We can identify with that, right? We have blood and we have flesh. That’s what make us to be human beings. Blood gives us life. Flesh gives us our nature. Our sinful nature, fallen nature are all termed in God’s word by this one word, flesh. And so this terminology of flesh and blood shows to us our mortality and also our fallen nature.

And then you should not just miss on the first part of the sentence either. Look at the term of endearment that is used to address each one of us. We’re called children in God’s word. And that is an immediate context of this passage where the author told us that we are children of God and our Lord Jesus Christ is our older brother, and we have become part of the family of God. In fact, in the previous verse, he says, I will declare Your name to My brothers in the presence of the congregation. I will sing of Your praises. And again, I will put My trust in. And again, He says, here am I and the children God has given Me. So the word here am I is spoken by the Son and then He uses the words and the children has given Me.

So in a term which Jesus Christ is identifying Himself as the person who has given birth to a new birth people, and we have all become part of the family of God. And one of the most beautiful terminologies that the New Testament gives to us, identity is the fact that we are children of God. It’s not just that we are saved. We are children of God.

Now many of you, most of you sitting here don’t have children, but one thing that children does to you is that they change your priorities the moment they are born. And you also have to understand that the Heavenly Father, who is the creator of the whole universe, the God who holds everything together, His main priority in the universe has become you and me.

And so you need to understand the value that is considered by the word children. You know, when you have your home, there is something that we call making our homes childproof. You know what that means? Making sure that everything that is breakable is what? Above their two feet height. Making sure that there’s nothing sharp objects anywhere in the home.

So you basically almost rearrange your home completely when you have a child coming into your home. Your sleep patterns change. The way you, Joel, I’m talking to you, your life completely changes the moment that little person comes into your home. And that happens to all, you can ask your parents, it has happened in our life as well.

And you think it’s not only when they’re infants, even when they are toddlers and they’re going to be like in their middle school and high school. I mean, whether you want to believe it or not, our life revolves around our children. I mean, that’s what we think about all the time. Our schedules are aligned with our children’s schedule. You know, they really need to go to baseball practice, they need to be picked up from school. Everything changes around children.

And so that kind of a priority change happens in the kingdom of God as well. People who are far away, people who are enemies, people who should not have anything to do with God at all, have now been made near. And not only that, God has given us a new title. We are children of God, born into the family of God.

And everything that God does today, the primary concern that He has is for the church. And the most important thing in the mind of God today, out of all the things happening in the world, is how is My church doing? Because we are children of God. Just like an earthly father would be so concerned about the well-being of his earthly children, how much more will the Heavenly Father be concerned with the well-being and the care of the heavenly children that He has?

That’s why Jesus, even in this earth, reminded us of that. He said, you know, you are sinful people, and even in your sinful nature, you are really good at giving good gifts to your children, even as fallen earthly fathers. He says, how much more will our Heavenly Father, who is so perfect, who is so good, who does not have any kind of defect in Him, delight to give good gifts to His children?

So don’t forget this great terminology of the New Testament, children, and we have flesh and blood. Look at Galatians 3, verse 26, we did not become children of God by accident. We in Christ Jesus, you are all children of God through faith.

We became and got this title of children of God, not because of your righteous deeds, not because of pilgrimage, not because of your holy works, not because of your heritage. It is by faith and grace alone that you become part of the family of God, and we are children of God only because we are in the Lord Jesus Christ. That’s what gives us the right to be known as children of God.

Jesus Himself said, for everyone who believed in Him, He gives them the right to be known as children of God. So what did Jesus do in this verse 14? We have flesh and blood, we have human nature, we have sinful nature. He too shared in their humanity. He too shared in their humanity.

When you study this, you know, when I was looking through these verses and kind of looking at the root language and studying it, my heart was just overjoyed at seeing the gracious nature in which God did to save us from our sins and to make us children. There are two words for sharing that can be used in the Greek language. It is these two words.

One is kononoyo, which literally means all of us sharing human nature. We’re all human beings. We all share human nature. If I were to stand here and tell you that I share a human nature with you, I would use the word kononoyo, and basically in that regard, I did not really have a choice about it.

I did not have any choosing in where I was born. I did not have any choosing as to who I was born to. I did not have any choosing as to when I was born. I did not have any choosing as to what country I was born to. In fact, not a single human being ever born on the face of the earth had any choosing as to when, where, or how he or she was born.

Only one person did, and that person willingly chose to enter into the human race. And he also chose what? The time, the place, and the mother who would carry his physical body into this world. Only one person has ever done that.

None of us ever existed before we were born in this world. All of us only started our life at the moment of conception in our mother’s womb. And it’s only Jesus who was preexistent and who willingly, wanting to share our human nature, entered into time and space and became a human being completely by choice.

You see the difference between the two? And because of that, the writer of the book of Hebrews does not use the word kononoyo, which would have meant sharing of a human nature. He used the word meteho, which literally means a voluntary acceptance of humanity.

See, Jesus being sharing in the humanity was a voluntary thing that He did out of His great love for us. You and I sharing humanity, guess what? We had no choice. We were born, and because of that, we share human nature. But Jesus Christ sharing our humanity was a completely voluntary thing to do, which meant is that before He did that, He was perfect.

He did not have to do what He did, and He would still be God, and He would still be content, and there would be nothing wrong with Him. But He willingly, voluntarily entered into human race with all of His struggles and pains and the suffering that He went through out of His great love for us. And He did that because He wanted to do certain things for us.

Look at Galatians 4:4-5. When the set time had fully come, what time? The time set by the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, specifically here, the Father has set the time. The Son said long time ago, when the time comes, here am I, I will go. When that time came, the Father said, it’s time for you to go, and the angel came to Mary and said, the Holy Spirit will come upon you, and a child will be born upon you. The incarnation of Jesus into this earth. When the set time had fully come, God sent His Son, but the Son was willing to share in our humanity.

He was born of a woman. I love the precise nature of God’s Word. It doesn’t say born of a man, it says born of a woman. Why? A man was not involved in the human nature of our Lord Jesus. Born of a woman, because a woman just carried Him.

Born under the law. Now, this is one of the reasons why Jesus had to have a human nature. He is born under the law. See every human being born in this world is born under the law, the law of God, the righteous requirements of God. And guess what? We all fail at keeping the law.

And because of that, the Bible says, and God’s judgment says, if you break the law, you will surely die. Because He also had to share in that same nature as ours, born under the law. But the difference here is this, even though He is born under the law, He’s the only one who kept the law, fulfilled the law, and did it perfectly so that He can save each one of us who are born under the law and could not keep it to perfection.

Let me repeat that again. Jesus Christ is born under the law, just like you and me. The difference is that every single one of us broke the law, and we are deserving of death. But He, even though He is born under the law, kept the law, fulfilled the righteous requirements of the law, and because of that, He can save everyone else who is born under the law.

What a glorious way in which God achieved our salvation. This whole idea of Jesus entering into humanity immediately comes to mind the question of why didn’t He ever become an angel? Because remember, even millions and millions of years ago before you and I fell, angels had fallen. But the Son of God never became an angel to save them.

He became a human being to save each one of us. I don’t have an answer as to why He never became an angel and never offered salvation to them. But only thing I know, I am so glad as I stand here before you, even this evening, that God willingly entered into human race to save me and to make me a child of God, because apart from Him, I would be lost forever.

And look what He did. Born under the law to redeem those, each one of us who are under the law, and to do what? What I said to you in the beginning, that we might receive adoption to sonship. So this whole idea of us being children, this title would never be ours unless and until He was born as a human being, under the law, fulfilled the righteous requirements of the law of holy God, and redeemed those who are under the law, all of us who broke the law.

He redeemed us. And not only that, He adopted us into the family of God and gave us a title to be known as children, sons and daughters of the living God.

So why did Christ do this? Christ did this because Christ shared in our humanity so that we can share in His divinity. This is why Christ did that. Christ voluntarily became a human being, fully God and fully man. In theology, we call it the hypostatic union, something that we cannot even comprehend.

Usually we say something is 50% and 50% equal 100%. But when it comes to Jesus, He is 100% God and 100% human being. And in fact, there are a lot of false teachings out there that either deny one or the other. Some deny His divinity, others deny His humanity, but the Bible teaches that He is fully God and fully man.

In fact, when you read through the gospels, have you ever wondered why it tells us about the fact that Jesus ate? He wants to remind you that He is a human being, just like you and me. Have you ever wondered as to why He said that He was thirsty? He wants to remind you that He was a human being, just like you and me.

Have you ever wondered why He says that Jesus wept and Jesus laughed, Jesus had joy? All these emotions that we had, He was fully human, just like us. Not only that, we know that He bled, He perspired, He had sorrow, He had anger, He needed food, He needed protection. He had all the things that a human being would do.

Why? Because He wanted us to share in His divinity. See, think about the greatness of God’s love towards us. God, who is eternal in nature, entered into the human race and shared in our humanity so that through His grace, we can also one day, and even today, share in His divine nature.

The Bible never teaches that you become mini-gods. That is not biblical theology and not correct teaching either. You will never become God. But through the grace of God, you can become like God by sharing in His divine nature.

And that starts the point of salvation, when the Holy Spirit comes inside of you and starts transforming you from the inside out. And suddenly, this fallen human nature that is characterized by flesh and blood suddenly has a desire for godly things. And you start doing the things that God wants you to do.

And you suddenly start, not perfectly, but with the help of God, start fulfilling the righteous requirements of the law in your own life. That’s what’s called sanctification. A desire to follow after God, a desire to seek after God, a desire to worship, a desire to pray, a desire to spend time in God’s presence.

These are all because of the fact that God has placed His divine nature inside of you. And you have a hunger for the things of God. That is the life of God in the soul of man.

Look at 2 Peter 1:3-4. He says, His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life. Nobody can ever say, God, You have never given us everything that I need to live a godly life. But the Bible says, His divine power, the Holy Spirit’s power has given us everything that we need for a godly life.

Through our knowledge of Him, who called us by His own glory and goodness, through these, He has given us His very great and precious promises. So through them, you may, what? Participate in the divine nature. The word participate that is used over there, it’s the same word that is used in Hebrews chapter two, verse 14 as well.

Christ is participating in our human nature so that you and I can participate in the divine nature of God. God is willingly stepping inside into the brokenness of our human existence so that we can maybe be made whole and without Him doing that, we will never be able to participate in the divine nature of God.

Why? Our sin, our lostness, our dead state will always keep us alienated from God and we will never be able to participate in divine nature unless and until He participated in the human nature of man.

And having done that, escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. So see what I said in the beginning, is participation in the divine nature is literally a changing of the desires of your life and a changing of the priorities of your life.

One day we will see Him just as He is and the Bible says we will become just like Him. Not becoming mini gods again, but our knowledge will be changed and our bodies will be changed and we will see God and we will, and you know, we don’t even fully know the greatness of the glory that is awaiting us.

But even in this side of eternity, you have eternal life in you and that God has given to you and you have an opportunity to participate in the divine nature of God because Jesus entered into humanity.

Why did He do all those things? And next, the writer of the book of Hebrews tells us not only to make us participate in the divine nature so that by His death, He might break the power of him who holds the power of death, that is the devil.

This is why Jesus entered into humanity and took on human nature because through His death, He wanted to break the power of death, who might break the power of him who holds the power of death, that is the devil. He wanted to defeat the devil and that is why He entered into humanity.

Now pay very close attention to this verse. It is not by His birth that He defeated the devil. If Jesus lived in this earth for hundreds of years and died a normal life and lived a normal life and died a normal death, He would have never defeated the enemy on the cross. It is the way He died, the sacrificial nature of His death that allowed Him to defeat the devil.

And then the word death. When we hear the word death, you know, immediately what comes to our mind is funerals and our loved ones dying, but death in God’s word literally just means separation. That’s all that it means. There are three things, the three kind of deaths the Bible teaches about. They are this, physical death, spiritual death, eternal death.

Now we’re all very familiar with physical death. When our loved ones die, when the soul and the spirit is separated from the physical body and the body is no longer have any kind of life in it, we call it what? Physical death, we say the person has died.

But every person born in this world is also born spiritually dead. What do I mean by spiritually dead? Again, separation. The spirit of the man is separated from the spirit of God. And the life inside of you is dead. And that’s what spiritual death is.

In fact, before you were born again, that’s why the word born again is used. You are spiritually dead. You are physically alive, but spiritually dead.

Then what is eternal death? Eternal death is eternal separation from God. That’s what happens in eternity. In fact, we use a terminology like heaven and hell and all those things. And we talk about the glories of heaven and the horrors of hell. We try to describe it.

But the simplistic way of understanding heaven and hell is this. Heaven is where you are in unhindered fellowship with God forever. Hell is in place in which you have no fellowship with God and you are separated from God forever.

Even today in the world, there’s a Holy Spirit in this world. That’s why even for people who are not believers, this world is still kind of a bearable place to live. But imagine a place where there is no presence of God. Imagine a place where there’s absolutely no fellowship with light. That place is known as hell.

Anyone who does not believe in the Lord Jesus Christ will live for all eternity without having any kind of a fellowship with God. The Bible actually calls that with the word second death. In fact, the first death is when you die physically. Spiritual death happens, and then you die physically.

And the Bible says there’s second death that is waiting for you, which is eternal separation from God. Jesus came into this world to bring a solution to all three of these problems. Physical death, spiritual death, and eternal death.

So the beautiful thing is that the death of Jesus destroyed the power of death. The death of Jesus destroyed the power of death.

What do I mean by the power of death? You might be asking, wait a minute, I have seen Christians die. So what does it mean by He destroyed the power of death? The power of death refers to the grip of death. It’s fearful, that terrible quality of death by which death is able to put fear and hold people captive that it has taken captive.

That’s exactly what it means by the power of death. The unwillingness of death to let go. And the Bible says, the one who has the power of death is the devil.

Now you might be asking the question, how does Satan or the devil hold the power of death? I thought God was in control of life. In fact, when He showed you the scriptures, we see that God determines how long we’ll live, not Satan. God determines life and death for all human beings, not Satan. So how is it that Satan holds the power of death?

And here’s the reason why, how Satan holds the power of death. If you go back to that slide where it talks about the three things, physical death, spiritual death, and eternal death, Satan has a role to play in all three of these. He will make sure that people are deceived and they remain in spiritual death. He does that.

What about physical death? If he’s able to hold someone in captivity in spiritual death, when they die, they are still under the power of death because they have no hope of resurrection. And if Satan is able to hold people captive in spiritual death, they also ensure that human beings remain in eternal death forever, separated from God.

Because you know why? It is appointed unto every man once to die and then the judgment. Once a person is dead, there is no hope of salvation. And so you can see how Satan really holds the power of death in that. If he can hold the people captive in his power, he will ensure that all three of these things remain dreadful in the lives of his captives. I hope that makes sense to you.

Both physical death, spiritual death, and eternal death, he will ensure in the life of the unbeliever he holds the power of death. Another way of understanding the power of death that he holds is that he, in the sovereign will of God, God has allowed this universe that we live in, this world that we live in, to be under his control. And you know what in this world is? Death everywhere.

So as one who is ruling over this part of the world where death reigns, this is his kingdom. So you know what Jesus did? He invades into the kingdom of the enemy. His death on the cross ensures that there’s an answer for every single one of these powers of death through the cross and through the death of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross.

The death of Jesus Christ really destroyed the power of death. One of the important things that we see in this verse is that we’re destroyed. The Bible does not say that He completely annihilated the devil. In fact, every single one of you can testify to the fact that the devil is alive and well. We all face, even as Christians, his attacks, his deceptions in our lives all the time.

But what Jesus did was that He made sure that the power of death, the power of the devil is disarmed on the cross. Today, Satan is still alive, but He is not destroyed, but He is disarmed.

The passage that we read earlier, Colossians 2, verse 15 talked about that. Jesus disarmed the powers and authorities. He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

Through His death on the cross, He disarmed the powers and authorities, and Satan no longer holds the power of death. You know why? Those who believe in Jesus are no longer under His grip anymore.

That’s why Jesus said in John 14:19, the disciples were really wondering, Lord, where are You going? How come we don’t get to see You anymore? And He says, before long, the world will not see Me anymore, but you will see Me. And then He says that famous line, because I live, you also will live. Death will no longer have the grip upon you that it did once because I am going to be risen from the dead. And through My resurrection, I will make sure that the problem of death will be answered by My death and resurrection.

And then the Bible tells us what Jesus did. Verse 15, by dying that death, Jesus freed those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. Verse 15, free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.

This is mainly talking about Old Testament saints. Do you know that the Old Testament saint, when he died, had absolutely no idea where he was going? In fact, he did not even have a full understanding of resurrection. We see some few verses in the Old Testament that talk about the fact that one day we will rise again and all these things, but they had a fear of death because they did not really know what was going to happen to them.

And I preached about this a couple of weeks ago at the funeral. And I said, but when you come to the New Testament and come into books like Philippians, we see Paul looking forward to his day of death. Why? What made all the difference? Because he knew that the moment that he was absent from the body, he’ll be present with the Lord Jesus Christ.

That’s what changed. The Old Testament saint could never say that because he went to a place of rest, Abraham’s bosom, and he had no idea how long he would be there. But he had no promise of paradise. He had no promise of being with God, of any of those things until Jesus came.

But once Jesus came, died and rose again, every person who dies immediately is transported to the presence of Christ. Our soul is in paradise, enjoying the presence of Jesus the moment we are absent from the body.

And why did Jesus take on flesh and blood? Look at 1 Corinthians 15, verse 50. I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.

See, flesh and blood can never enter where? Into the kingdom of God. So you know what God did? God, who had no flesh and blood, took on flesh and blood so that we can one day enter into the kingdom of God.

To give us a body that is not flesh and blood, to give us a glorified body. God, who had absolute perfection, took on flesh and blood. And now He has a glorified body so that whoever believes in Him, we cannot enter into heaven with our flesh and blood.

So He gave us a glorified body, just like His, by His death and resurrection on the cross.

Look at verses 51 and 52, same chapter. Listen, I tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye. Ever thought about what the twinkling of an eye is? It literally means if you bat your eye, you will miss it.

At the last trumpet, the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable. You know what they’re solving? This problem of physical death is solved. Dead will be raised imperishable. And what about the ones who are alive? We will all be changed.

Look at verse 53, 54. The imperishable must clothe itself with the imperishable. I love the terminology there. It doesn’t say the perishable will clothe itself with the imperishable. It says the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable.

You know why that is saying that? Because the life of God is already inside of you. And the normal trajectory of your life is that you will put on an imperishable body that nothing in this earth or this world can ever stop that. You must put on imperishable because God has saved your soul.

And the mortal with immortality, when the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true. Death has been swallowed up in victory.

What victory? The victory on the cross has swallowed up death and death no longer has the power over your life.

You know, even as Christians, I know we want to live forever, but physical death is not something that we should be afraid of. I know the easy way. I mean, I want to live too. We’re all afraid of death because we are human beings. But in reality, physical death is not something we should be afraid of. Because the moment we die, what happens is that we are with the Lord.

And that’s exactly what the Bible tells us. And one day our bodies will be raised again and we’ll have a glorified body. Death has been swallowed up in victory. He quotes from the book of Isaiah. And then he says, quotes from the book of Hosea by saying, where or death is your victory? Where or death is your sting? The sting of death is sin.

What does that mean? The sting of death is sin. What brought death into our life is what? Sin. The sting of death is sin. And the power of sin is the law.

What does it mean by the power of sin is the law? See, sin can exist without the law as well. Even before the law was given, sin was there. But you know what the law does? It kind of props up sin and says, oh, you messed up. You know, murder was wrong even before God said thou shall not murder. But once it is written and given to you, what happens? It becomes a little bit more clear. And the transgression is stirred up.

Exactly what happens. The sting of death is sin and the power of sin is the law. But then he says, thanks be to God. He gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

You know how He gave us victory? By taking the sting away. Sin has been paid for on the cross. What about the power of sin that was in the law? Jesus fulfilled everything that the law required of it. And His righteousness is given to us so that the sting is gone, the power is gone. All that is left is victory over death.

And that’s why we cry out, where, oh, death, is your sting? Where, oh, death, is your victory? Thanks be to God who gives us our victory through the Lord Jesus Christ.

All this is possible. To have deliverance from physical death. What is that? The promise of resurrection. The promise of victory over spiritual death. When we believe in the Lord, we are no longer dead. We are made alive.

And our spirit that was dead now is able to commune with the Holy God. And the Holy Spirit comes to live inside of us. We are no longer under eternal death either.

When you die and go to be with the Lord, you are going to be with Him forever. Eternal death has no power over you because of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and your salvation because of Him.

I’ll end with this and then we’ll go into time of prayer. Tim Keller, who went to be with the Lord just a year ago, in his bestselling book, The Reason for God, reflects on this whole idea of Jesus coming into this world.

He writes, you know, he says, every kind of real life-changing love in this world involves some kind of exchange. He says, imagine you come into contact with a man who is innocent, who is being hunted down by secret agents or by the government or by some other powerful group. He reaches out to you for help. If you don’t help him, he will probably die.

But you ally with him. You who are perfectly safe and secure will be in mortal danger. This is the stuff that movie plots are made of. Again, it’s him or you. He will experience increased safety and security through your involvement, but only because you are willing to enter into his insecurity and vulnerability.

He says, say there’s an innocent man out there, and he is being hunted down by some bad people, but you know that he’s innocent. And you’re like, you know what? I need to help him. The moment you get involved with this life, you know what you’re doing? You are taking away your security and all the peace that you had, and you’re trading it away in order to save someone else.

Then he says, consider parenting. Children come into this world in a condition of complete dependence. They cannot operate as self-sufficient, independent agents unless their parents give up much of their own independence and freedom for years.

If you don’t allow your children to hinder your freedom in work and play at all, and if you grow up, you only get your children when it does not inconvenience you, your children will grow up physically only.

He says, you know what? When you have children, if you don’t sacrifice your time and spend time with them, they will still grow because you are providing them with food and water, and they’re just growing in your home. They will grow physically, but they will not grow in maturity or emotionally because you are not sacrificing your time with them.

In all sorts of other ways, they’ll remain emotionally needy, troubled, and over-dependent. The choice is clear. You can either sacrifice your freedom or theirs. It’s them or you. To love your child well, you must decrease that they may increase.

You must be willing to enter into the dependency they have so eventually they can experience the freedom and independence you have. He says all life-changing love toward people with serious needs is a substitutional sacrifice. If you become personally involved with them in some way, their weaknesses flow toward you as your strength flow towards them.

And he’s using this to illustrate the way in which Jesus loved us so much by entering into our weaknesses and our humanity. How can God be a God of love if He does not become personally involved in suffering the same violence, oppression, grief, weakness, and pain that we experience?

The answer to that question is twofold. First, God cannot. Second, only one major religion even claims that God does.

You hear what I said? God can never be a God of love unless He is willing to experience the pain, the suffering, and all the violence that you and I experience on our earth today. And He says God cannot call Himself to be a really God of love unless He has walked in our shoes.

But He says God has. And only one religion in the world even makes the claim that He has. You know why that is? It is so scandalous. It is so unbelievable that God will become a man.

There are so many people in which men wanted to become God, but there’s only one true God who was willing to become a man. All of humanity is man propped up to be gods. People worshiping men as gods, but the one true God was the only one who was willing to become a man and enter into humanity and our brokenness so that we can be made whole.

And the greatest fear of our life, the fear of death, can be permanently taken away. You know why the Bible calls death the last enemy? You know why the Bible calls death the last enemy? It is the one thing that man can never solve.

It is the one thing that is a great equalizer, whether you are a billionaire or a poor man on the street, you will all die the same way. Death is a great equalizer. In spite of all of our technology, all of our medicinal practices, all of our science, we will never solve the problem of death.

Only in Jesus, death finds a solution. Only in Jesus, death loses its sting. Only in Jesus, death is swallowed up in victory. Only in Jesus, death is no longer the fearsome thing, even for the Old Testament saint it was. It becomes a great anticipatory thing that a New Testament saint is looking forward to.

And it’s only possible because of the cross, because Jesus entered into humanity.

We’re going to spend the next few moments, I’m going to ask you to break into small groups, maybe for the next five, seven minutes. Keep it very short. Short prayers. But I have three things that I want you to focus on prayer for.

One, in your groups, one person pray a prayer of thanksgiving that the Lord took on our nature to save us. Very short prayer that thank Jesus for becoming a man to save us from our sins.

Secondly, I want one of you to pray a prayer of victory in your group, confessing our victory over the attacks of the evil one as we rely upon the power of the Holy Spirit. The devil is real, but the devil is also disarmed. The devil is real, but his weapons are nothing compared to the weapons that we have. The devil is real, but the kingdom of God is greater. The one that is living inside of us is greater than the one that is in the world. And we need to have that confidence as we pray against the attacks of the evil one in our life, because we are children of God.

And finally, we’ll give you a minute to think about this. Every single one of you here can think of one person in your life that needs to be saved, that needs to come to know this Savior that I’ve been talking about tonight, of the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ in the days to come. So they can be saved from the fear of physical death, spiritual death, and also never suffer eternal death, which is the greatest tragedy of any human being could ever have, eternally being separated from God. Think of somebody in your school, in your work, in your family. Maybe it’s your neighbor. Maybe it’s the guy that you see every morning at your coffee shop. Maybe… I don’t know who it is. There’s one person that God’s Spirit is gonna bring to your mind.

In your group, mention that person’s name, and then one of you pray. You don’t have to remember all the names, but pray for all the people whose names are mentioned in your groups. Let’s pray that the Holy Spirit will work in their life so they will also know this Savior who came to save them from their sins. So just huddle up among you. We’ll go till about another seven, eight minutes, and then we’ll end in worship.