More Than a Line Sung at Christmas

This is our fourth visit with the writing of Jake Hunt at his blog Wiser Time. Though the blog is currently dormant, we thought this devotional study was absolutely perfect for what readers here expect. Jake writes from Prague in the Czech Republic.

Don’t rush this one. There is a lot of value in what’s written here, but you might need to go a little slower (as is often the case when reading Hebrews.)

Born to raise the sons of earth

At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him. But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. (Hebrews 2:8-9)

…Humanity is capable of incredible things. Of course, we’re capable of terrible things too. “Heaven have mercy on us all– Presbyterians and pagans alike– for we are all somehow dreadfully cracked about the head, and sadly need mending.”

Since the Garden, this is what it means to be human. We bear the image of God, every single one of us. And yet, we also bear the unmistakable marks of sin and disease and death. So much potential for good, so much depravity. Not in different types of people, but in each one of us.

Hebrews 2 is at points a little tricky, because it’s not always clear who the pronouns are about. The author quotes Psalm 8, which praises God’s work in creation and marvels at the privileged place mankind has at its apex, and then by verse 9 we’re clearly talking about Jesus. Between the two, it’s a little unclear. “He [God?] left nothing outside his [man’s? Jesus’?] control.” “At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to [man? Jesus?].”

The answer, I suggest (following smarter people), is to see the significance of Jesus as the second Adam, the true representative Man. As I said yesterday, he became human in order to experience everything we experience. But in becoming human, he also suffered what he did, and accomplished what he did, for us. He redeems our humanity, raises us back to our proper place. “In him the tribes of Adam boast / More blessings than their father lost.”

The consummation of our redemption is not yet complete. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to mankind. The earth still bears thistles and thorns. Vaccines are still needed because disease is still present. “Man, at war with man, hears not / the love song which they bring.”

Yet what do we see? We see Jesus, the True Man, the representative Man, the second Adam, who reinstates us in our Father’s love, who shows us what it means to be truly human, who gives his Spirit to perfect us more and more in his image. This is what Advent tells us: He came to redeem our fallen humanity, by taking it upon himself. He has redeemed us, he is redeeming us, and as we look to the second Advent, we know that he will redeem us.

He is “born to raise the sons of earth,” that we may become once more the sons of God as he intended. Because he is crowned with glory and honor, we will rule over the beautiful renewed creation as we were made to do. “We know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.”

 

Eden and Gethsemane: A Tale of Two Gardens

Back in 2009, I did a week-long series at Thinking out Loud called “Setting our Faces Toward Jersualem.”  I’m going to repeat them here, but spread them out over a wider number of days…

…

…In this 2007 post from the blog, Kingdom People, Trevin Wax contrasts two gardens, Eden and Gethsemane.

“It is finished!”
– Jesus, from the cross (John 19:30)

From one garden to another, Eden’s paradise to Gethsemane’s agony, we see God’s redemptive plan unveiled: Satan, sin and death forever defeated, only through the death and resurrection of God’s only Son. The fulfillment of prophecy, the climax of history, the culmination of God’s eternal plan came crushing down upon Jesus of Nazareth as He hung on the cross that Friday afternoon.

Jesus had lived a sinless life, teaching and preaching the good news of God’s Kingdom – the Kingdom He had come to inaugurate. This Kingdom had arrived with miraculous signs: bread for the hungry, healing for the sick, and sight for the blind. Now, in His death, Jesus was taking the weight of the world’s sin and suffering upon Himself. As He bore the punishment for the sins of the world, He was completing His earthly work.

On the sixth day of creation, God had made man in His image. Behold the man: Adam, the first human, the man whose sinful choice cast all of humanity into the powerful grip of sin and death. Now, on the sixth day, Friday, Pilate stands next to Jesus and declares, “Behold the Man!” Jesus, the “second Adam,” the true human being, the one whose sinless life will undo the curse of sin and death. Behold the Man who will pay for our sins! Behold the Man who is our Messiah and Lord! Behold the Man who is our Savior and God!

Piercing through the dark storm clouds and echoing through the valleys surrounding the hill of Golgotha, Jesus cried out from the cross, “It is finished!” announcing that His work was complete. On the sixth day, God had completed his work of creation. Now Jesus finished His work, as the spotless Lamb who died as our sacrifice. “It is finished” – the victory cry from the cross. The sacrifice had been accomplished. And God saw that it was good.

written by Trevin Wax © 2007 Kingdom People blog

I’ve reproduced this  knowing that many of you don’t get around to clicking the links.  If someone asked you to write a mediation about this season, with what themes or thoughts on Christ’s sacrifice would you begin?