Jesus: The Greater Atonement

Hebrews 2:2–3 NIV

For since the message spoken through angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, how shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him.

Hebrews 2:

Last week, we began to unpack the greater salvation that Jesus offers to each who come in faith to Him. In the Old Testament, the hope of man was rooted in an imperfect system of salvation. The book of Leviticus opens with defining 5 specific offerings to be given to the Lord, the burnt offering (voluntary offering of worship and atonement of unintentional sin), the grain offering (voluntary offering of worship and recognition of God’s provision), fellowship offering (voluntary act of worship and thanksgiving), sin offering (mandatory atonement for specific unintentional sin, confession of sin, forgiveness, cleansing), and the guilt offering (mandatory atonement for unintentional sin requiring restitution).

Each of these offerings served in the salvation that one could only find in God. We often focus on the sin offerings that were used for the atonement of sin, but God designed the offerings to be given with an intentional pursuit of God built into each one of them. At the heart of salvation is the plan of God to restore the broken relationship between God and his creation tarnished and marred by sin. It is this salvation that the writer of Hebrews pleads with us not to neglect. The offering system given by God to the Israelites became a rote system of legalism that pointed man back to himself instead of pushing him toward God.

It is this understanding through which the writer of Hebrews begins to point his hearers to the truth that Jesus is the greater atonement.

Hebrews 2:5–9 NIV

It is not to angels that he has subjected the world to come, about which we are speaking. But there is a place where someone has testified: “What is mankind that you are mindful of them, a son of man that you care for him? You made them a little lower than the angels; you crowned them with glory and honor and put everything under their feet.”, In putting everything under them, God left nothing that is not subject to them. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to them. But we do see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

Hebrews 2:5–8 NIV

It is not to angels that he has subjected the world to come, about which we are speaking. But there is a place where someone has testified: “What is mankind that you are mindful of them, a son of man that you care for him? You made them a little lower than the angels; you crowned them with glory and honor and put everything under their feet.”, In putting everything under them, God left nothing that is not subject to them. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to them.

Hebrews 2:5 NIV

It is not to angels that he has subjected the world to come, about which we are speaking.

Hebrews 2:5-

The writer opens this passage by pointing us to the hope of the Lord, the restoration of His creation. He points us back to . was written by David speaking about his place in the eyes of the Lord. David, the man after God’s own heart longed for the Spirit of the Lord to ever remain upon him. When He sins with Bathsheba and his sin is brought to light, David’s first plea is to the Lord to not take His holy Spirit from David. In , David looks at the Lord in all of His majesty and He stands in awe and wonder to how that amazing of a God could care enough of David and the rest of mankind to be intimately involved in their lives.

Hebrews 2:5-

The writer opens this passage by pointing us to the hope of the Lord, the restoration of His creation. He points us back to . was written by David speaking about his place in the eyes of the Lord. David, the man after God’s own heart longed for the Spirit of the Lord to ever remain upon him. When He sins with Bathsheba and his sin is brought to light, David’s first plea is to the Lord to not take His holy Spirit from David. In , David looks at the Lord in all of His majesty and He stands in awe and wonder to how that amazing of a God could care enough of David and the rest of mankind to be intimately involved in their lives.

David sees the position of man in comparison with the divine, but he sees beyond our created position to our given position by God. While our sin separated us from God, God will exalt us and lift us up to the position of glory.

The writer opens this passage by pointing us to the hope of the Lord, the restoration of His creation.

Now of course this position, this passage does not speak of David or any other man alone. We are in our sin and thus our relationship with God is severed. We are not divine and no amount of good works, Scripture reading, prayer, mission trips, or keeping of the law will change that.

The writer of Hebrews though sees this passage as the fulfillment of this hope. Jesus left divinity and took on human flesh. He experienced life as we do, in all of its brokenness. He lived a perfect life, meaning that he lived a life of perfection in the eyes of the Lord, so that He could be our example and our perfect replacement. He then goes and fulfills our substitution and He lays down His life in our stead. He suffered death that what separated us from that perfect relationship with God would be removed. is fulfilled in Jesus, the perfect man who leads us from being a little lower than the angels to being children of God.

Our hope is in this truth, that the battle has already been fought and that Christ has been victorious. While we struggle each day pursuing imperfectly our God, we have hope for our atonement has removed what stood between us and our prize. We are not pursuing God in aimless persistence but rather we have a perfect example who has made clear the path.

So the question has to then be asked, how then shall we live? Will we live as people of founded hope? Will we embrace and chase after the prize that has been offered? Will we be diligent to live in light of our eternity or will we continue to settle for less? Will Christ’s atonement be our path?

Jesus: The Greater Atonement

The Greater Salvation