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- Preaching the Living WORD through
the Written WORD - 2 Tim 4;:2 - |
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CHRIST
MANIFESTATION TO TASTE DEATH (He 2:9, 14-18) 12/23/12 Grace Bible Church,
Gillette, Wyoming Pastor Daryl Hilbert I. CHRIST BECAME LOWER THAN THE ANGELS (He
2:9) A. Manifested in the Flesh 1. The birth of Christ was significant to
the early church because it was the initiation of all that Christ would do in
the flesh as the God-Man. 2. In order for Christ to accomplish God’s
divine purposes, He had to be manifested in the flesh (Jn 1:14; 1Ti 3:16). 3. Christ had to partake of flesh and blood
if He was to be man’s mediator (He 2:14a; 1Ti 2:5). Therefore Christ became a
man to help mankind in salvation, not angels (He 2:16-17a). Fallen angels
have no hope of salvation (Mt 25:41; 2Pe 2:4; Jud 1:6). B. Little Lower Than Angels 1. In the order of creation and the positions
of created beings, man is a” little lower” (elatto,ō
- inferior in position, cp. He 2:7; Ps 8:5) than the angels. They are greater in rank
and power than man in God’s creation (He 2:6-7; 2Pe 2:11; 1Jn 4:4). 2. Since Christ became a man, he took on man’s
inferior position to angels. But it was only for a “little while” (brachu,s -
short or brief time).
Christ will always possess humanity as the God-man. However, Christ was
restored to His former exalted position and glory, which was higher than
angels. C. Crowned to Rightful Position 1. This exaltation is stated by the phrase,
“crowned with glory and honor” or literally “having been and continue to be
crowned.” 2. The author explains that “because of” (dia, with
an accusative) the fact
that He “suffered death” and accomplished man’s redemption, Christ was
exalted back to His former position and glory (Jn 17:5; Php 2:8-11). II. CHRIST BECAME A MAN TO TASTE DEATH (He
2:9) A. Purpose of Christ’s Incarnation was to
Taste Death 1. The purpose for which Christ became a man
was “so that” (ho,pōs - with subjunctive to indicate
purpose, equivalent to hi,na) He could die. 2. Having the very same form and nature of
the eternal and everlasting God (Is 9:6; Mic 5:2 cp. Jn 1:1; 8:58), it was
impossible for Christ to die until He took on flesh. 3. The phrase “taste (geu,omai) death” is used figuratively to mean to
experience or partake of something, which in this case is death. “Death” is
the Greek word tha,natos which refers to natural death (Mk 10:33; Lk 2:26). 4. The babe in the manger came with an
eternal purpose to die even before being born (Ac 2:23; 1Pe 1:20). It is what
Christ’s death accomplished that is important. However, these accomplishments
would never have been possible had the Son of God not come in the flesh so
that he could taste and suffer death. B. Aspects of Christ’s Experience of Death 1. Christ Experienced Physical Death a) Christ experienced physical death, which
proved that He was indeed human. Christ became a man and identified Himself
with man in His death. b) The curse of physical death that was
brought upon the entire human race by Adam (Ge 2:17; 5:5; Ro 5:12) had also
come upon the man Christ Jesus (Jn 19:33-35). c) However, Christ tasted death not only to
prove He was human, but especially to provide man with a mediator and
sin-bearer. 2. Christ Experienced Spiritual Death
(Separation from the Father) a) There is another aspect of Christ’s
experience of death, which could be called spiritual or eternal death. It is
the aspect of death and separation from God. b) Death actually carries the idea of
separation, whether it is physical death, the separation of the spirit from
the body or spiritual death, the separation of sinful man from a Holy God
(2Th 1:9). In fact, Scripture calls it the “second death” (Re 20:14; 21:8). c) Man was immediately separated from
fellowship with God the moment Adam sinned in the Garden. In addition, there
is a separation from God for all eternity for a sinner who enters eternity
without Christ’s atonement. This is both a moral consequence of the sinful of
man who cannot be in the presence of a Holy God and a necessity of the
righteous indignation of God against sin (Ro 1:18). d) On the cross, Christ cried out, “My God,
My God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mt 27:46). He was actually quoting Ps
22:1, a Messianic psalm, to direct His audience to His identification as
Messiah. e) He was also describing His immediate
experience of spiritual death, namely the separation from the Father. It was
at that time on the cross when the Father was imputing man’s sin upon the Son
as sin-bearer. “He made Him who knew no
sin to be sin on our behalf” (2Co 5:21). It was also at that time that
the Father, who cannot look upon sin (Hab 1:13), momentarily separated His
eternal fellowship from the Son. For all eternity, the Son enjoyed perfect
and intimate communion with the Father until He bore our sin (Ga 3:13). f) This is another sense in which the Son
tasted spiritual death. Christ experienced spiritual death and atoning death
so that the believer would never experience the “second death” (Re 2:11;
20:6). 3. Christ Experienced Atoning Death a) It is clear from the magnitude of
testimony from Scripture that Christ’s death was for the purpose of
atonement. In every book of the Bible, there are bountiful references and
allusions to the atoning death of Christ. So massive is the Scriptural
testimony to the atoning death of Christ that every reader must conclude that
Christ’s atoning death is the overarching theme of the Bible. b) Christ became a man so that He could die;
Christ died so that He could provide atonement. (1) Atonement is the concept that something is
done in an attempt to pay for sin. In the OT, God established that something
innocent must atone for someone guilty (Le 1:3-5; Le 16:11-15 cp. He 10:1-3,
10). (2) Man cannot atone for his own sin and
therefore will taste (experience) death physically (Lk 9:27) and spiritually
(eternal) (Jn 8:52) because the wages of his sin is death (Ro 6:23a). (3) Therefore, Christ took man’s sin upon
Himself, paid the penalty, and atoned for man’s sin before God by His death
on the cross (1Pe 1:19-19; 2:24). (4) The purpose of His death was that He might
taste death “for everyone” in the sense of substitutionary atonement (“for”
- hupe,r with the genitive - “on behalf of”,
“in place of”). (5) Christ tasted atoning death on man’s behalf
so that God’s righteousness and wrath would be propitiated (satisfied, He
2:17b), man’s sin and penalty would be forgiven, and man would enjoy eternal
life in the presence of God forever (Ro 5:8; Ti 2:14; 1Pe 3:18). III. CONCLUSION TO THE MEANING OF CHRIST’S BIRTH A. Christ was made for a little while lower
than the angels so that He could become a man. He became a man so that He
could die. He came to die because His death, and only His death, could
accomplish man’s salvation. Those tiny hands fashioned by the Holy Spirit in
Mary’s womb were made to take two great nails. Those little feet were made to
climb a hill and be nailed to a cross. That sacred head was made to wear a
crown of thorns, and that tender body wrapped in swaddling clothes was made
to be pierced by a spear. For this Christ came to earth. His death was the
furthest thing from an accident. And, despite the malignant evil that
crucified Him, His death was the furthest thing from a tragedy. It was God’s
ultimate plan for His Son and His ultimate gift for mankind. (MacArthur Comm., 1Pe 3:18) B. Though the early church did not celebrate
Christmas as we do, they believed and embraced everything that Christmas is
to portray, namely, that the Son of God was manifested in the flesh to be the
one mediator between God and man through the atoning death of Christ. The man
Christ Jesus was the only figure in history to have His obituary divinely
written long before the announcement of His birth. This is the meaning and
message of Christmas. |
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