Preached Christmas Sunday, December 23, 2012 from Hebrews 2:14-15
Theme: Christmas is much more than the birth of a Babe—it’s the ‘decisive victory’ of the ages!
(Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are taken from The Holy Bible, New King James Version; copyright 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc.)
Most of us have Christmas traditions. Pastors have them too. One of the traditions that pastors have is to pace around in their study during the week before Christmas and ask, “What in the world do I say about Christmas that hasn’t already been said?” There are, after all, only so many passages of Scripture that tell us the story of Jesus’ birth.
Well; I have learned that there really isn’t any chance that we will ever run out of something to say about Christmas. If we look at it rightly, every passage of the Bible is telling us something about Christmas. The whole Old Testament tells us about the promise that the Savior would come to this earth, the four Gospels tell us about how that promise was kept in the Person of Jesus Christ, and the whole rest of the New Testament tells us about the results of His coming and doing the work of saving us.
The whole of the Scriptures—and indeed, the whole of our Christian faith—is about what we celebrate on Christmas! And we shouldn’t celebrate it at just one time out of the year. I’m glad, of course, that we do have a specific ‘Christmas holiday season’. But really, the great declaration of Christmas ought to be the theme that runs through our whole lives all year long!—the great declaration that
. . . God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved (John 3:16-17).
This morning I ask that you turn with me to a passage that we don’t often hear from on Christmas. It’s not a ‘traditional Christmas passage’. But it’s one that speaks very much of what we celebrate on Christmas. It’s a wonderful passage because it shows us that Christmas—viewed from the big picture—is much more than the celebration of the birth of a baby in Bethlehem. It’s, in reality, the ‘decisive victory’ of the ages!
That passage is Hebrews 2:14-15; and it says,
Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage (Hebrews 2:14-15).
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Now; I would like for us to look closer at this passage and appreciate what it tells us about this great ‘Christmas’ victory. But I hope you’ll bear with me this morning. Before we can really appreciate just what a great victory this passage tells us that Christmas is, we need to step back a bit—and I mean way back!—and look at a few other passages of Scripture first. To really appreciate it, we in fact have to step back in the Scriptures before time—before creation itself. We have to go back to what the Bible suggests to us happened in “eternity past”; and consider the eternal plan of the triune God.
You see; before anything existed, God already was. And God eternally exists in three co-equal, co-eternal Persons. Do you remember how it says in the Bible that “God is love”? That’s not mere sentiment. That’s telling us that three distinct, eternal Persons existed in essential unity of being—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And they eternally enjoy a fellowship of love. In that sense, God—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—is love.
And sometime in “eternity past” (if we can call it that), the three Persons of the triune Godhead entered into a “covenant” with one another—a divine agreement forged in love—that would result in an everlasting display of God’s eternal glory, and in our eternal joy. I believe we should talk about this “agreement” very carefully, because it’s something so wonderful and holy that it should only be spoken about by us—or even thought about by us—in a spirit of utmost reverence and worship. But we shouldn’t hesitate to talk about it; because God wants us to know about it. He revealed it to us in the Bible; and it’s something for which we should offer Him praise.
The place that it is most clearly revealed to us is in the first chapter of Ephesians. In that passage, the apostle Paul begins by telling us about the Father’s part of this great “agreement”. This plan originates in His initiative; and so, Paul begins by describing His role in it. The apostle writes;
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved (Ephesians 1:3-6).
So; there’s the Father’s part of this “agreement”. Paul isn’t writing about it to every person in the world—just to those that have been saved by faith and who are in Christ. And he tells us something truly wonderful—that, on the Father’s part, He “chose” us “before the foundation of the world” to be in Christ, to be “holy and without blame before Him in love”, and to be adopted by Him as His own dear children. Why did He do such a thing for unworthy sinners such as us? We’re told that it was “according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace”.
That was the Father’s part of this great, eternal “agreement”. And as for the Son’s part—whom Paul here calls “the Beloved”—the apostle goes on to tell us;
In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory (vv. 7-12).
So; when it comes to us whom the Father chose in His love, the Son’s part of this great divine agreement is to “redeem” us “through His blood”; so that the Father could gather all together into one in Him and make us sharers together with Him of a glorious eternal inheritance. And again, notice why this is done—”to the praise of His glory”.
That’s the Son’s part of this “agreement”. And as for the Holy Spirit, we’re told that in Christ
. . . you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory (vv. 13-14).
So; that’s the Holy Spirit’s part in this great eternal covenant. The Father agrees to choose us for salvation and adopt us as His own children; the Son agrees to redeem us through His own blood and make us joint heirs with Him of His glorious eternal inheritance; and the Holy Spirit agrees to “seal” us who have believed on Jesus and to guarantee us for that glorious inheritance. And all of this is done “to the praise of His glory”.
Now; this was an agreement that was entered into by all three Persons in eternity past. It happened—as Paul said—”before the foundation of the world”. It happened, you might say, ‘before history’. And as a necessary part of bringing about His eternal glory, it was also in God’s plan—in the course of history—that our first parents would fall into sin in the Garden and thus making it necessary for us to be saved. Bible-believing theologians disagree among themselves over just where—logically speaking— the fall would be permitted in God’s plan. Some say He permit it before His plan to create us; and others say He permit it after His plan to create us. But for right now, it’s enough for us to know that, as a part of His sovereign plan—forged “before the foundation of the world”—He permitted that mankind would fall and thus need to be saved.
And we know that story all too well; don’t we? It’s the story of how, in the Garden of Eden, the devil—in the form of a serpent—tempted Eve. God had told her husband Adam not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; “for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:17). But the devil deceived Eve and told her;
“You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate (Genesis 3:4-6).
The devil lied; and our first parents believed the lie. They disobeyed God’s command. And as a result of their disobedience, “death” occurred. It was a death of relationship with God; because man’s perfect fellowship with God was broken. And it was a literal death too; because Adam and Eve—and all their offspring—would eventually die and their bodies would return to the dust. And if God had not stepped in to do something about it, their fallenness would have resulted in eternal death to every human spirit; because fallen man would become separated from the holy Creator God throughout eternity.
But that’s when the great eternal “agreement” between the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit comes in. The agreement made “before the foundation of the world” made its appearance “in the course of history”. God spoke to the serpent—that is, the devil—and said;
“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel” (Genesis 3:15).
God was promising to the devil that he would one day be crushed a fatal blow—a blow to the head. And most remarkable of all is that this fatal, crushing blow would be delivered by a human being—someone who was the ‘Seed’ of the woman Eve. From her own body—generating from within fallen humanity—would come One who would destroy this work of the devil and deliver those that he had tempted into bondage to death.
And that, dear brothers and sisters, is what Christmas is about! Do you remember what I read to you about the great “agreement” between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit? When it came to those that the Father had chosen—we’re told in Scripture that the Son would redeem them and take away their sin “through His blood”. Well; think about it. How could the Son of God—an eternal Person who is spirit—have “blood” to shed in order to redeem fallen humanity? There would be no other way than by the Son becoming one of us—and thus have real, human flesh that could die in our place, and real human “blood” that could be shed for our redemption.
That brings us back to our passage in Hebrews 2:14-15. Listen to it again:
Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage (Hebrews 2:14-15).
As this passage reminds us, “Christmas”—viewed from the big picture—is much more than the celebration of the birth of a baby in Bethlehem. It truly is the ‘decisive victory’ of the ages!
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Notice what this passage tells us about the ‘victory’ that is Christmas; that . . .
1. IT WAS BEGUN WHEN ‘THE WORD BECAME FLESH’ (v. 14a).
The writer of Hebrews—who is writing to redeemed people—begins by calling us “children”; because we are chosen by God to be His adopted sons and daughters through grace. That’s our identity in Christ right now; and it’s our eternal destiny to be sharers with Christ Himself in the inheritance of God’s own children.
That’s what we are. But it’s hard to imagine that right now; because we’re made of frail stuff. We’re partakers of mere “flesh and blood”. That, of course, is not all that there is to us. We also have a spirit. But the aspect of us that is subject to death is the “flesh and blood” aspect. The apostle Paul puts it this way back in Romans 5:12;
Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned— (Romans 5:12).
Because our first parents sinned, we—who partake with them of their flesh and blood—are subject to the same curse of death that they were subject to. But that’s when the writer of Hebrews tells us about the great victory that was begun on Christmas. He writes “Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same . . .”
Now; much about this most remarkable of all events—the Son of God becoming one of us—is left as a great mystery to us. But just think of what the Bible does tells us about it. In Luke 1:35—after Mary asked the angel how she could bare a child when she had not known a man—the angel told her;
“The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:35).
When the Son of God left His glory in heaven and became a member of the human race, He didn’t take any of our fallen nature to Himself. He was without sin. That’s why the angel could call Him “that Holy One who is to be born”. And even the writer of Hebrews is careful to say it that way. As fallen human beings, we are “partakers” of flesh and blood. But the writer of Hebrews uses a different word and says that Jesus was a “sharer” of that of which we are “partakers”. He took unto Himself all that was necessary of our nature to truly be one of us and to experience the death that we experience—yet entirely without sin. The apostle Paul puts it this way in Philippians 2:5-8;
Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross (Philippians 2:5-8).
Christmas is much more than just the celebration of the birth of a baby in Bethlehem. It’s when we celebrate the fact that—in accordance with the plan of the triune Godhead that was forged in eternity past, and brought about at the right time in the course of human history—the Second Person laid aside His rights and privileges as the Son of God, took full humanity to Himself (without taking to Himself the sinful aspects of our nature, and without ever ceasing to be fully God), and “shared” in “flesh and blood” with us so that He could truly die for us.
What love! What victory!
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That’s when the victory of Christmas began—when, as the Bible tells us—”the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). And the writer of Hebrews goes on to tell us that . . .
2. IT WAS COMPLETED BY HIS DEATH ON THE CROSS (vv 14b-15).
The reason He shared in our “flesh and blood” was so that He could die on our behalf on the cross. “Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” Think of it! The great birth we celebrate on Christmas ultimately means our victory through His death!
Notice first that, through His death, He rendered the hold that the devil had on us inoperative. “. . . that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil . . .”
Death was the only card that the devil could play against us. God had warned in the garden that on the day that our first parents ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they would surely die. The devil tempted them and they ate; and as a result, death spread throughout humanity—a death of relationship with God, a physical death of the body, and ultimately the death of eternal separation from our Creator. The great claim that the devil had against us was just exactly what it says in Romans 6:23; “For the wages of sin is death . . .” (Romans 6:23). But as the rest of that verse declares, “. . . the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord”.
As it says in Romans 3:23-26;
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified [that is, declared righteous] freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation [that is, that which satisfies the Father’s righteous anger toward sin] by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus (Romans 3:23-26).
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And notice second that, through His death for us, He also set the devil’s captives free.
Hebrews 2:15 begins with the word “and”; and this reminds us that one great aspect of the victory of Christmas doesn’t happen without the other. The devil is not only defeated, but the devil’s captives are delivered. The writer of Hebrews says that Jesus partook of flesh and blood that, through death, He might “release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.”
So long as the devil had power over us through death, we lived in fear. Death is a fearful thing apart from Christ; because after death, we must stand before a holy God. But Jesus partook of our flesh and blood and paid the “death penalty” for our sins—thus rendering the devil’s hold on us inoperative; and releasing us from that which had held us “subject to bondage”. As the writer of Hebrews puts it;
And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation (Hebrews 9:27-28).
And as Paul puts it at the end of 1 Corinthians 15:54-57;
“Death is swallowed up in victory.”
“O Death, where is your sting?
O Hades, where is your victory?”
And that’s exactly what we celebrate on Christmas—victory!
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I hope that, from all this, you can see how important it is that we view Christmas from the bigger picture of God’s eternal plan. Truly, Christmas—as the Bible presents it to us—is far, far more than simply the birth of a baby in Bethlehem. It’s the declaration of a victory that began when the Son of God became a partaker of our “flesh and blood”; and that was completed when He died on the cross—destroying the power of the devil, and releasing us from the terrible bondage of the fear of death. I hope that you will celebrate Christmas for what it is—the decisive victory of the ages!
But more; I truly hope you will be sure that you have placed your faith in the One who’s birth we celebrate. Then—and only then—will ‘the victory that is Christmas’ also become yours.
The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:54b-57).