TODAY...Jesus Knows

Our God is secure in His identity! That is probably not a big surprise to most of you. But the truth of the matter is that humanity has often struggled with the identity of God. We have a lot of preconceived notions about the way the Creator should behave.
 
He has no need to gain my approval or yours. But this does not mean that He doesn’t care what we think of Him. In fact, God would want us to know that there is nothing more important than what we think of Him. This will shape how we view the world, people and all that life brings us. On my own I will usually end up with one of two views of God – 1] God is all-powerful, out there and pretty scary or 2] God is connected to me, very convenient and even defined by whatever I want.
 
Both views of God are destructive, while at the same time having aspects of truth. These views and all other incorrect views will ultimately destroy our faith and God’s place in our lives. God is all-powerful and connected to me at the same time. The God of Scripture is the perfect culmination of all that is Good and right because He is the one that made all that is good and right. This comes into focus in Jesus.
 
He is God and fully connected to us. In fact, He literally becomes human while still being fully God. This is called the Incarnation of Christ and it is one of the primary aspects of God that humanity tends to struggle with. We aren’t comfortable combining an Almighty God with a God that is humble enough to join us in living on this planet with all its dirt, mess and death.
 
So far, in the first chapter of Hebrews we have seen that Jesus is the Creator and sustainer of all. We have been taught how he is much greater than the angels and that He is nothing less than God Himself. That is awesome and fitting for God! But then comes our text for this week. The second chapter of Hebrews shows us that Jesus is also very humble! He even comes to us as our servant. This is just too much for some people. The truth of the matter is that unless we have been a bit “offended” too, we probably haven’t thought enough about this amazing attribute of our God.
 
If this is a ho-hum thing to our faith then we are lacking an understanding of our sinfulness or the depth of God’s love for us. Our need is great but God’s grace is greater. Our death is a very real problem that is far beyond our ability to fix, but Jesus’ humility entered in and conquered even death. Jesus became one of us so that He could blaze the trail for us to get back to God. We read this is Hebrews 2:
 
14 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— 5 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. 16 For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. 17 For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. 18 Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
 
Today… He Knows,
Pastor Nick