No Second Rate Sons

For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering. For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers, saying,

“I will tell of your name to my brothers;

in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise.”

–          Hebrews 2:10-12

I have an accusation to bring against many of you, my fellow Christians. Your hearts are small and shriveled, and you do not believe even the edge of what God says about your place in his heart. We understand that God has a hatred for sin; that he is just when he judges. We have been taught and can grasp (as amazing as it is) that Christ came and died to bear the legal penalty of our sins. We get that, because of Christ, we will someday get to live eternally in the presence of God, worshipping him. But what? Is that it? Do we get saved through Christ then join the throng standing several hundred feet back from the throne, looking on in amazement as the 24 elders and cherubim and seraphim worship, enjoying the rays emanating from the throne and occasionally joining our voices with the song? Ha! Do not think so lowly of your Lord’s love that you insult him.

The writer of Hebrews will allow no such half-hearted imagining of God’s work on behalf of those whom he has chosen and called. His bold declaration is that Christ is not ashamed to call us his brothers. Do you grasp the massive weight of that statement? Enter the throne room of God. Walk upon your shaking legs into the great hall where the throne of jasper and carnelian sits looming over a sea of glass. Shield your eyes, if you dare look; or fall prostrate as Isaiah did, mumbling in fear at the presence of the one who makes the earth shake and mountains melt and makes galaxies collapse simply by willing it. None compare to him. None can approach him. What sort of reception do you expect upon your entrance? In such company a man is worthy of no notice. The cherubim, perhaps, with their many wings and never-ceasing voices, would command some attention. The shaking pillars and the air filled with smoke might play a distraction to a particularly scatter-brained being. But no, the all commanding center of attention is God himself.

What will you do when you enter that throne room which all men fear to enter and Christ stands and greets you as brother and sister, the delight of your presence bright in his eyes as he embraces you with shameless love? This truth should leave us breathless! God himself, unashamed to call a man his brother? Foolishness at best. No real God would stoop so low as dirty himself by association with things of flesh, blood, and dust.

Yet that is exactly what our God has done. Christ came; dust, sweat, and manure as his greeting. Christ came, lived and breathed humid air, peeled sunburned skin, and tripped and fell into the dust that his hands had used to form the first Adam. Christ lived and died, as much man as God, and purchased those who follow him a way into paradise. Even a thief bleeding out upon a cross was not below him. But Christ did not stop with purchasing us entrance, for that would be far too small a reward for his sacrifice. Instead, his blood bought for us an entrance into the very family of God. We are no second rate sons or daughter. Paul declares in Ephesians 2 that, “God, being rich in mercy…made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”

Your king does not frown upon you, Christian. Christ will neither scold nor push you away. He is a sympathetic high priest who knows full well all our struggles. Not only that, but it was fitting and appropriate for him to bring many sons to glory; the work he did in saving you was a pleasing work to him. He delights in you – in His work in you – for he sanctifies you, and you are given to him by his father. Therefore he calls you brother, and will rejoice when you finally enter into the Kingdom with him.

My prayer for you, my friends, is the same as Paul prayed for the Ephesians; that God would enlighten your eyes and enlarge your hearts so that you can know just how great his promises and passion toward you is, and how immeasurable his power is to complete the work he has begun. Hold fast, and rejoice! Your King loves you beyond all imagination.