 Hey, good morning, and thank you for connecting on this session. We continue with learning about the book of Hebrews We started out in the next in the last session by looking at Hebrews chapter 1 and we were somewhere Midway or maybe you know just In the earlier passages, so we'll continue with that. Let's pray and we'll Get into our session. Let me just begin with the word of prayer Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word Lord. We thank you that your word brings light Even today father as we take time in the book of Hebrews May your word come alive. Oh God and father may Lord the truth of your word of Father God help us Lord walk aligned to your heart Lord to honor you to serve you even better Lord. Thank you Lord. Thank you for this opportunity in Jesus name. We pray amen Okay, so let's get back to Hebrews chapter 1 here and in the last class We saw how God spoke to us in many different ways But the best way that he used was his son Jesus Christ and the Lord Jesus Christ is the pattern the best pattern of God's character and God's Manor of working and we said that he is the very express image or or you know in other words something like a Mirror image or even better of the Heavenly Father We saw how God has orchestrated everything and he has set things in motion by the word of his power We also saw how we are invited to worship our Lord Jesus Christ who has received a name which is greater than any other name by inheritance and That the Lord Jesus is exalted by the Father. We saw the interactions within the Trinity the way the Father Speaks to the son and he declares that the angels are meant but to Worship the son and so we were discussing and we were saying that angels are created and They are subject to Jesus and Jesus is deity. He is the Christ He is the son of the living God and therefore we must not mix up the two We also remember that the Lord Jesus is Eternal whereas the angels are created beings now we were also Saying that the angels are ministering spirits. They are Spirits by you know their nature, but they are ministering spirits So the term used is Little little Joe's or little God little Joe's where it simply means they are like public servants for the Lord They have been called by God or created by God to serve In other words minister That's where you know, we understand minister or ministry. So that is their role. We saw how they worship God and we looked at the word worship also the understanding that it really means to Be in adoration as if to even bow down before God So that is the role of the angels unto the Lord and we said that even we should be worshiping God For who he is now, let's continue from verse eight We read the entire passage in the last class. So we're not gonna read it once again I'll just go on explaining here. So from verse eight to verse 14. We see Some quotes which are from the book of Psalms. Now, you don't have to worry about jotting down all these References I have stated earlier that one of the primary commentaries that we are going by is David Guzik So it's mentioned in his commentary already, but yeah, it's in case you want to take it down your most welcome to so Sam 45 verses 6 through 7 Sam 102 verses 25 to 27 and some hundred and ten Was one are the passages which are quoted here So as we look at these passages from verse eight We see the way The father speaks to the son. So it is written here Your throne. Oh God is forever and ever a Scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your kingdom Many things to understand about the Lord Jesus here through the comparison between Jesus and the angels we concluded that Jesus is eternal and That he's not a created being Earlier we said that he was involved in creation He is a ruler and he is the ruler and he reigns over everything All things are subject to the power of his word. Now, let's add to that What according to verse eight what we are understanding is that the father Is addressing the son as oh God That's very interesting. The father is addressing the son as oh God So what does that mean in the Trinity? Jesus is co-equal That is why even the father is referring to Jesus the son as oh God So another thing that we can add to our understanding of Christ is that he is co-equal With the father and that describes the Trinity for us where God is three persons In one and all these three persons are Co-equal meaning one is not above the other but they they are all on level ground and He also talks about the rule and rain of the Lord Jesus Christ So that again gives us the picture that the Lord Jesus is a is a ruler or he is King and that the way he rules is with righteousness So it says a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your kingdom So we understand that he is the one who is who is coming back again He will rule and reign at the time of the millennium We know that he will judge the world so a position of rulership is what he has Now as we move on to verse 9 It again reveals to us the character of our Lord Jesus where the verse says you have loved righteousness and hated Lawlessness so it really tells us that God is a very just judge He is a happy with what is righteous before him, but the things that are lawless He hates it Okay, so because of such a Character that he possesses we understand that you know God has anointed him with the oil of gladness more than his companions so there is a reward for Walking in righteousness and disliking you know a stronger word is used here hating lawlessness So it just shows that that God is so pure and so very just in the manner In which he deals with things So Jesus Christ. Yes, he's a ruler, but he's also a righteous ruler from verses 10 and 11 It says you Lord in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth and the heavens are the work of your hands They will perish, but you remain and they will all grow old like a garment Now we've already understood the work of the Lord Jesus in creation as much as the father is involved The Holy Spirit is involved even the Lord Jesus is involved now to add to that We see that the heavens will perish So it's it's a You know, it's a thought that Not very easy for us to digest because we see the certainty of the things around us, you know every day The Sun rises and every every day the sun sets there is a night And this is the experience of our lives and for us to imagine that one fine day these things will not happen is is very challenging to really sort of come to terms with but what The writer of the Hebrews is trying to tell us is that even these things will perish. So The heavens will which are the work of God's hands the earth, right? All of these things will perish, but the Lord Jesus himself is self Existent. So that is another attribute that we can add to the Lord Jesus He is self existent and talking about the heavens It's amazing that he would say something like they will all grow old like a garment so it's as if you know some when we have old cloth what we tend to do if it is of no use and You know, it's useless to us. We just throw it and Similarly, he is saying that even the heavens will perish in that way But one thing about our God is that he is self-existent. He will never perish Now verse 12 Continuing in that same thread. He says like a cloak you will fold them up So now all this language makes it sound like the heavens are nothing for God He'll just fold it up one day and they will be changed But you are the same and your years will not fail. So we are reminded of the That God is eternal Jesus is eternal that Jesus is self-existent And if you want to use other words here, you could use words like immutable meaning Unchanging he will never change. You can even Finally attribute this word almighty to the Lord Jesus because all these other characteristics that we just listed out have To do with deity or God. We don't we don't Speak about man in this way, you know man is mortal man Is destined to die one day? No as far as this world is concerned, but when we look at the Lord Jesus Christ It's so very clear that he was more than a man. He was God himself and That you know, he has those characteristics that we talk about of being omniscient Omnipresent and omnipotent Verse 13 it says but to which of the angels has he ever said sit at my right hand Till I make your enemies your footstool and In this what we are understanding is that God the father has called Jesus to sit at his right hand now again coming back to the expression of sitting down is To see that somebody has completed the work which they were supposed to do and therefore now is the time to rest So now that the Lord Jesus has finished the work of redemption he very Victoriously sits at the right hand of the father and the father is speaking about the victory that will continue to Completion before the Lord Jesus Christ now We know that Jesus has already won the victory on the cross, but there are many things that are unfolding in the world Which are tending towards that completion and the Lord Jesus will watch that he will see that all these things will finally culminate in Proclaiming and declaring the ultimate victory of our Lord Jesus, which is already won on the cross of Calvary for us And finally he reminds us about the angels He says in verse 14 are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to Minister for those who will inherit salvation. So referring to angels once again He's saying ministering meaning serving Spirits they have a task given to them by God and whom do they serve they serve Those who will inherit salvation. So who are the ones who will inherit salvation, sorry Who will inherit salvation? I'm not able to hear anyone Yeah, so We the believers are the ones who will inherit salvation and therefore our understanding is that angels are Serving spirits who will Help us and God sends them to help those who believe and That is something we can settle in our minds and how our angels activated I think we discussed about this also in the last class or Rather in the some of the courses earlier. How are angels activated any idea? They come to help us, that's fine, but how do they how do they work? Anyone okay angels come to help us that we've settled How do you put them to work? We can expect the ministry of angels when we Command Okay, that's true. We can expect the ministry of angels that part Yes Command meaning John In the sense to To request Okay, Lord to send these angels because he has said I'll send my angels to God over you and Okay, yeah in that way, okay So, yeah, so we can pray to God To send angels and for angels to help us But here's the thing for us to remember Psalm 103 and verse 20 it tells us His angels who excel in strength who do his word Heeding the voice of his word. So that's a reminder that the angels by Iraqi or the way they have been formed they are Designed to respond to the word of God. So we cannot cut that structure and Command angels it won't work We can pray to God because ultimately God has to call the In give the instructions only then angels will work because they heed The voice of his word So that's the way angels work not by us telling them what to do. They won't listen to us because God is their ultimate chief commander But if we want them to work for us One of the things that we can do is Declare the word of God. No when we say for example John you just mentioned and said that the angel of the Lord and camps around those who fear him and delivers them That is already the spoken word of God. So when I declare even when we make declarations we can expect Angels to start to work in line with that declaration Okay, of course It's like God commanding them. We can't command them But that word in itself is like a command to them and so they will Work Right. So these are all the ways one is we can pray expect for ministry of angels Secondly, we can declare God's word over our lives and those declarations Will you know as all these days, you know, they people use some language like activate and also Basically angels will listen to it and they will obey the voice of the Lord. So that's the way in which they work so overall in Hebrew chapter 1 if we try to Look at the emphasis the emphasis would be on the Lord Jesus being a Part of the Trinity The Lord Jesus being fully God. So all the attributes of God we've listed them out, right? Things like creator eternal Immutable unchanging So all of this is attributed to our Lord Jesus Christ. So in essence Hebrew chapter 1 is Stating that the Lord Jesus is God Okay, so that's the key message that is coming through in addition to that there is a mention of angels and The clarity that the author gives to the believers saying Angels are just ministering spirits They're there to help those who believe and that one should not worship them They may be heavenly beings, but that doesn't mean that we are so much in awe of Heavenly beings and angels that we start to worship them instead we need to worship the Lord and Angels also worship the Lord Okay, so these are the key points any Any thoughts or questions before we proceed to Hebrews chapter 12 here? Okay, so I think that's quite clear Let's move on to Hebrews chapter 2 would someone like to read the entire passage, please This again is quite long therefore, we must give The more honest head to things we have had Least we drift away for if the word Spoken through angels proved steadfast and every transgression and disobedience received adjust your word How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? Which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord and was confirmed to us by those who had him God? Has bear also bearing witness both with signs and wonders with various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit according to his own will For he has not put the world to come of which we speak in Subjection to angels, but one testified Testified in a certain place saying what is a man that you? Mindful of him or the sort of man that you take care of him You made him a little lower than the angels you crowned him with glory and honor and Set him over the works of your hands You have put all things in subjection under his feet for in that He put all subjection under him. He left nothing that is not put under him But now we do not yet see all things put under him But we see Jesus who has made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of the death Ground with glory and honor that he by the grace of God might test death for everyone It was fitting for him for whom are all things and by whom all All things in bringing my sons to glory to make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering for both for both he who Satisfies and and those who are being satisfied are all of one for which Reason is not ashamed to call them brother insane. I will declare you Your name to my brother in in the midst of the congregation. I will sing praise to you and again I Will put my trust in him and again here. I am and children Here are my and the children whom God has given in as much Then as the children were partaken of flesh and blood He himself like like was shared the same That through death he might destroy him who had the power of death That is the devil and release those Who through fear of death were all their Lifetime subject to bondage for indeed he Does not give aid to angels, but he does give aid to the seed of Abraham therefore in all things he had to be made like his brother in that he might be masterful and faithful high pristine in things pertaining to God to make Propropriation for the sins of The people for in that he himself has suffered being tempted He is able to aid those who are being tempted amen Thank you. Thank you. Lebega. That was quite a long passage that you read for us And we appreciate that now coming to people's chapter 2 We have a couple of themes So I'll just state it and then we get into understanding the entire passage So initially there is a warning as I shared when we began the book of Hebrews It was written to persecuted Jewish believers they Where people who were going through a lot of difficulties, so there was always a temptation of letting go of the newfound faith. So time and again the writer is Encouraging them and even warning them just to let them know that they must not give up. So it starts with Like an urge not to neglect the great salvation of our Lord Jesus Christ because doing so will have consequences and then He goes on to talking about the Humanity of Jesus so in chapter 1 it was all about the deity of Jesus Christ in chapter 2 It's about the humanity of our Lord Jesus and how he Shared in our humanity in such a way that he has become our merciful and our faithful high priest before God for us. So These are some key things that we will look into so starting out with verse 1 He starts with that warning that I talked off. He says therefore we must give the more earnest Heed to the things we have heard lest we drift away So he's reminding the believers that whatever they have heard about the Lord Jesus and especially Through what he has stated right now He has stated about the supremacy of our Lord Jesus Christ and that he is God himself So that truth He's telling them not to let go of it. Don't let go of the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ Okay, don't neglect it and he says something like Take Give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard meaning there are things we know about God to be true Things we know about Jesus to be Real so these revelations must Be revisited these revelations must be held on to and we must never let it go never Neglect it What will happen if we do that? You know if we neglect this truth or the revelation about the Son of God If we do that he says lest we drift away So when we talk about this drifting away It is said that he was talking in the context of something like a ship that is anchored Momentarily and then the anchor if it is removed what might happen to that ship We would see that it'll slowly start drifting. It'll move in the direction of the wind The waves and it'll just move away to you know any place no certain Destination so to speak so with that in mind The writer is giving us that picture and he's saying when we are careless about the revelation of who Christ is we run the risk of Drifting away like that ship and usually when drifting away happens One of the things that we can we can affirm is it doesn't happen You know in one shot like that It's little by little before you know the ship is somewhere, you know a little some Trust of the wind some push of the waves and it's gone So even in our lives when we we may not do it You know outright Lee and say oh, I don't believe in God's Word or I don't believe in Jesus but the little things that we say yes to the the Unrighteous thoughts that we tolerate in our minds. Those are the culprits little by little little by little Very subtly the drifting away may happen And so he's warning the believers and he's saying don't give place as Paul wrote right taking every thought captive And bringing it subject in subjection to the Lordship of our Lord Jesus Christ That's the way we need to live and so he says be very Sincere to hold on Ernest heat to the things that we have heard the things that we already know which are the foundation of our faith We must be strong in those things and never drift away Verse 2 he says for if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast and every Transgression and disobedience received a just reward How shall we escape if we neglect so greater Salvation which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord and was confirmed to us by those who heard him so He's bringing back the thought of these Jewish believers to the time when the law was given to Moses I know in what we read it sounds like the word came through angels The word spoken through angels, but though in English it is angels In the Greek it is Angelos and Angelos has the meaning of a messenger so It's not that angels gave the law they did not give the law the law came by from God And it was issued through Moses who was Moses at that point. He was just a messenger so Angelos so through Moses the law was given and If you look at the old under the old covenant, it was a really strict way of You know judging people they couldn't transgress even the smallest of commandments and Whenever they make they neglected or they disobeyed they were consequences So he's reminding the believers and saying see even under the old covenant Things were so serious and people were called to Take heed to what was given to them. So how much more we the message came through Moses And people were asked to take it seriously this time around the message has come Through our Lord Jesus Christ. Okay. He's the one who has died on the cross for us So we need to take up what Jesus has done for us very very Seriously, so that's why he's saying if we neglect so greater Salvation or the work that the Lord Jesus has done for us We should not be doing that and in verse 4 he says God also being witness both with signs and wonders With various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit according to his own will so apart from the work that Jesus did on the cross and His teaching his ministry. We know that Jesus taught he healed any work miracles. So We are told that God affirmed the ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ So there were signs wonders miracles gifts of the Holy Spirit, which were all a work of God So there was a genuine demonstration of the power of God through the ministry of Jesus and he says that God bearing witness Okay, so God himself has affirmed the work of our Lord Jesus Christ So when the word of God the truth of God and the truth of Salvation that has been provided for us has come so powerfully God has backed it up God has backed up the work of Jesus He's just Asking us this question. How can you neglect it? It's come so powerfully and Just because we are going through some difficulties and challenges, you know, would you just let it go? Would you just neglect it like that? Please don't do that. That's that's the manner in which he is speaking to the believers even for us today There can be very many temptations around us and just because the going gets tough Letting go of our faith in God or you know, just making some compromises here and there It may be easier, right? It's definitely going to be easier When you just live a life where there's least resistance, you know, like water no resistance you pour water It'll just flow wherever the Sort of, you know, there's there's a dip. It'll just flow easily in that direction Sometimes we want a life like that where things are so easygoing and no difficulties no challenges and Sometimes we hope life is like that when we believe in Jesus, but It's not even Jesus said in this world, you will have tribulation but take heart I've overcome the world. There are going to be challenges and difficulties and especially when we believe in Jesus The journey may not be easy But that is not a good enough excuse for us to let go of our faith And so in this way, he's encouraging the believers and saying What we have is too great to let go. So don't let it go. Verse 5 It says for he has not put the world to come of which we speak in subjection to angels But one testified in a certain place saying what is man that you are mindful of him or the son of man that you take care of him You have made him a little lower than the angels You have crowned him with glory and honor and set him over the works of your hands You have put all things in subjection under his feet for in that he put all in subjection under him He left nothing that is not put under him. But now we do not yet see all things put under him So there's a lot that is said here if we want to just shorten it and bring out the essence It's talking about the completeness of the deputization of man We've talked about this when we did the subject believers authority in Genesis chapter 1 verses 26 to 28 We read how God created man in his own image and then he made man and woman the rulers of this world and said you rule over You know the land you rule over the sea the creatures of the sea the creatures of the sky So man and woman were given authority and dominion on the earth That's what this entire passage talks about and he says that God did not give this earth to the angels But he gave to man and he made man responsible for this world And there's one point here that may sort of bring in a little bit of confusion In verse 7 he says you have made him a little lower than the angels So then the question arises yes God gave the earth to man and woman to rule and reign But did he make man as a lesser being of some sort in comparison to angels The answer would be no, so it's not about greater and lesser It's just about the heavenly glory Now because as we read on we will see that even for Jesus the same thing is stated So in verse 9 it says but we see Jesus who was made a little lower than the angels So you see it's the same manner of talking but is Jesus lower than the angels? Definitely not because we've just justified the fact that the angels are subject to the Lord Jesus Christ So then what is the meaning? What is the understanding? It only means that when we are human we lack heavenly glory That's all, nothing else to it, we lack heavenly glory And in that context first he stated that man made a little lower than the angels And then later he says Jesus who was made a little lower than the angels So now what he has told us is that man is created for dominion on the earth What about Jesus? Verse 9 he says but you see Jesus who was made a little lower than the angels Meaning God became a man, Jesus became a man, he put on humanity Otherwise there's no way the Lord Jesus can be made lower than the angels So we have clarity here that Jesus became a man, unless he became a man you can't say this about him Why did he become a man? Verse 9 continues For the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour That he by the grace of God might taste death for everyone It's so amazing that Jesus came to die, you live to die Sometimes we sing a song like that but think about it Who would choose a mandate like that to live in order to die? It really shows the great love of God for us First of all, God becoming a man, that is incredible love Secondly, living to die to taste death for everyone That's why he came and in verse 10 For it was fitting for him, for whom are all things And by whom are all things in bringing many sons to glory To make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings Made a little lower than the angels So what do we see here? We are seeing here that being the creator himself Jesus chose to become a human being and die as a human being Because there are implications of doing something like that He knew that that was the only way to redeem man And that is why he actually did it And so a term that is given here for him is captain of their salvation He was the one who made a way for salvation for mankind And it also says perfect through sufferings Jesus was made perfect through sufferings Now my question is, did Jesus need to suffer in order to become perfect? Any thoughts on that? Made perfect through sufferings Yes, he died to bring salvation, that we understand But made perfect through sufferings Did sufferings make him perfect? I just have a thought, I don't know if it's right Maybe to become a perfect man Maybe he had to go through the suffering Maybe that's what I look at it like Might be right, might be wrong Okay, thanks Jafina for sharing that thought So when we talk about Jesus Even later on in the passage, we'll see that Though he was tempted in different ways He went through everything But he was victorious over temptation, over sin So Jesus was already perfect in that sense Then what is this being made perfect through sufferings? So it's not talking about Like Jesus maturing any further By the sufferings, like sufferings having a quality To make Jesus better than who he was It's not like that But what it means is that Jesus Experienced, Jesus had a human experience So that made him an understanding High priest, that made him an understanding Saviour Because he had a complete human experience He underwent pain, sorrow Which is a part of human life So that's what it means We could also say that when it says Sufferings Though sufferings, we know Jesus went through The trial and Physically he was assaulted He went through pain of every kind All of that he did through his obedience But it is not to say that those things made Jesus perfect No, that couldn't be the meaning He was already perfect But he had a human experience And he underwent the sufferings As he went up to the cross Which made him more, if you may want to use the word Well acquainted with being human Well acquainted with humanity So that is the understanding that we get So is that okay everyone? Or any further questions to that? Okay, not really So let's move on Now it gets even better We just saw that Jesus was fully human He shared in our humanity Experienced the way we experienced Now from verses 11 to 13 We are told that Jesus Can be referred to as our brother Okay, so how much better can it get? Verse 11, for both he who sanctifies And those who are being sanctified are all one So Jesus is sharing With us in that humanity And he's relating to us He who sanctifies is him It's the Lord Jesus who has sanctified us Those who are being sanctified is us And the scripture says we are all one Because he became a man God became a man And then he says for which reason He's not ashamed to call them brethren Having shared in our humanity He's even okay with calling us brothers and sisters Jesus our brother Verse 12 saying I will declare your name to my brethren In the midst of the assembly I will sing praise to you And again I will put my trust in him And again here am I And the children whom God has given me So he is ready to relate with us as brothers And he is also proclaiming the greatness Of God to us In the assembly of the people In the midst of the assembly I will sing praise to you Jesus is glorifying the Father In our midst So I hope everyone is in sync with me Or has the ship drifted already Meaning in your mind You're elsewhere Okay so you're there Great great yeah that's good to know So the essence as I shared earlier is That Jesus has shared in our humanity Now We will look at verses 14 to 18 in the next class Because I'll have to elaborate on it Whereas we have only about 2 minutes left right now So we can wrap up Any thoughts or questions? Hebrews chapter 2 When it says in verse 10 In bringing many sons to glory Can you just let me know what the praise actually means Okay so it is referring to The lost glory of man Or the lost dominion of man After Adam and Eve sin So we lost it But Jesus paid the price And it was restored back to us Bringing many sons to glory Bringing us back to that original glory That was meant for us Okay yeah there's another part Regarding Jesus facing death And restoring back the glory to us And what exactly is done for us But I think we'll come to that in the next class So let's stop here We could pray and close And I just want to request Any one of us to lead and pray Let's pray Do you have any further we come to Under the name of Jesus We thank you for this daily Thank you for the beautiful class that we had But we stand to know of you How you are equal to God And how you chose to come down As a human for us And God your plans Your way of thinking It's all beyond imagination God I just As we are learning this truth As it was written in the starting That help us to never let go of it Help us to Be with the truth in our life And to have our anchor Really strong in your word So that we will never be drift away To the left or the right But we'll always keep our eyes on you And keep moving forward towards the purpose And the calling that you have given us Jesus And God I give all my classmates Bless them all in the name of Jesus Thank you for past analysis God has all these things We thank you for this beautiful time And we give the rest of today In Jesus name I pray Amen Thank you Jafina Thank you everyone God bless you Have a blessed day ahead