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Long ago
God spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets. And now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his
Son. God promised everything to the Son as an inheritance, and through the Son
he created the universe. The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses
the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of
his command. When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down in the place of
honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven. This shows that the Son is far greater than the angels, just
as the name God gave him is greater than their names. Hebrews 1:1-4(NLT)
And furthermore, it is
not angels who will control the future world we are talking about. For in one place the Scriptures say, “What are mere mortals that
you should think about them, or a son of man that you should care for him? Yet you made them only a little lower than
the angels and crowned them with glory and honor. You gave them authority over all things.” Now when
it says “all things,” it means nothing is left out. But we have not yet seen all things put under
their authority. What we do see is Jesus, who was given a position “a little lower
than the angels”; and because he suffered death for us, he is now “crowned with
glory and honor.” Yes, by God’s grace,
Jesus tasted death for everyone. God, for whom and through whom everything was made, chose to bring
many children into glory. And it was
only right that he should make Jesus, through his suffering, a perfect leader,
fit to bring them into their salvation. So
now Jesus and the ones he makes holy have the same Father. That is why Jesus is not ashamed to call them
his brothers and sisters. For he said to God, “I will proclaim your name to my brothers and
sisters. I will praise you among your
assembled people.” Hebrews 2:5-12(NLT)
The writer of Hebrews uses a word later in the chapter[2] that
calls us back to the genuine focus of the table, hilaskomai is translated
as atonement
(ἱλάσκομαι - to conciliate,
that is, (transitively) to atone for (sin), or
(intransitively) be propitious:—be merciful, make
reconciliation for[3]).
With that word we move from the Christmas tree to the
cross.
Atonement is what happened to our sin problem on the
cross; it is what blotted-out the stain of original sin. God was merciful towards all human beings in
doing something which was impossible for us to do – forgive our sin.
To be forgiven is not something anyone can do for
himself; it has to come from the outside.
The “simple” definition (if there is to be anything
simple with so complex an issue) is that we are all guilty of sin –
God knows it and, because of His righteousness, must judge it – but God chooses
to forgive us by grace. The “debt” of
sin is still a reality – someone must “atone” or pay the price; God decided to
do just that by coming to us and dying for us.
That’s what the manger was about; that’s the reason
for the cross! God came in grace and
mercy to do something about our sin. He
didn’t come so we could sing about the sweet little baby, born in a stable – he
came to die a violent sacrificial atoning death…so we could
live!
The Difference
Two true stories illustrate
the difference between life with or without the forgiveness Jesus came to bring
with his Advent and Atonement:
Life without Forgiveness
In Bristol, England nearly
25 years ago… 10 ten year-old boys led a little
toddler down a railway embankment and smashed his head in, leaving his body on
the railway line.
The anger and
desire for vengeance that came up against them was almost tangible…. They were children at the time of the murder,
but spent the rest of their childhood away from their families in an
institution, locked away from the rest of society. When the possibility for release came about
Jamie Bulger’s mother wanted them to be locked up for the rest of their
lives. She argued that her child cannot
walk free back into her arms. Those boys
took her son’s life; they should not have their lives. Even if they were released, there was a
strong risk that they might get killed by vigilantes, so in one respect they
will never be truly free.[4]
Our sin is just as “first-degree” as that group of
boys who snuffed out the life of a toddler.
And, we are just as captive by the penalty of our sin
as they are of their prison made with iron bars. Without forgiveness, we are slaves to sin and
death; no chance of parole from eternal death!
Forgiveness requires atonement.
The Forgiven Life
The second true story is from Dr. Maxwell Maltz, a
famous plastic surgeon:
One day, a woman came to see Dr. Maltz about her
husband. She told the doctor that her
husband had been injured while attempting to save his parents from a burning
house. He couldn't get to them. Both parents died, and the son’s face was
burned and disfigured. He had given up
on life and gone into hiding. He
wouldn't let anyone see him - not even his wife.
Dr. Maltz told the woman not to worry. With the great advances we've made in plastic
surgery in recent years, he said, I can restore his face.
She explained that he wouldn't let anyone help him
because he believed God disfigured his face to punish him for not saving his
parents. Then she made a shocking
request: I want you to disfigure my face
so I can be like him! If I can share in
his pain, then maybe he will let me back into his life. I love him so much; I want to be with him.
And if that is what it takes; then that is what I want to do.
Of course, Dr. Maltz would not agree, but he was moved
deeply by that wife's determined and total love. He got her permission to try to talk to her
husband. He went to the man's room and
knocked, but there was no answer. He
called loudly through the door, I know you are in there, and I know you can
hear me, so I've come to tell you that my name is Dr. Maxwell Maltz. I'm a plastic surgeon, and I want you to know
that I can restore your face.
There was no response.
Again, he called loudly, Please come out and let me help restore your
face. But again, there was no
answer. Still speaking through the door,
Dr. Maltz told the man what his wife was asking him to do. She wants me to disfigure her face, to make
her face like yours in the hope that you will let her back into your life. That's
how much she loves you. That's how much
she wants to help you!
There was a brief moment of silence, and then ever so
slowly, the doorknob began to turn. The
disfigured man came out to make a new beginning and to find a new life. He was
set free, brought out of hiding, and given a new start by his wife's love. It's a dramatic expression of human love that
gives us a picture, however faint, of the saving love of Jesus Christ, what we
call the Atonement.[5]
So, come and dine…In the
name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit!
[1]
Title Image: Gustave Doré, via Wikimedia Commons
[2]
Hebrews 2:17
[3] Strong’s
Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries ©2003, QuickVerse
[4]HomileticsOnline.com quoting Paul Roberts, “Sacrifice of blood and lives,”
November 19, 2000, Cothan Parish Church Web Site,cotham.bristol.anglican.org.
Reprinted with permission.
[5]HomileticsOnline.com, quoting
Maxie Dunnam, This Is Christianity
(Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1994), 60-61.
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