"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.' And again, 'I will put my trust in Him.' And again, 'Behold, I and the children God has given Me.'"
~Hebrews 2:10-13
The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. God sent forth His Son and has spoken to us by His Son. Because of the only begotten Son’s redeeming and reconciling work we can gaze upon the love that the Father has lavished on us – that we should become children of God. Here is how God in His self-disclosure refers to us in Christ:
Sons – God, who determined the existence and purpose of time, space and creation, had the objective of bringing many sons to glory. Mankind, as the chief creation of God, was designed and desired for relationship with the Creator Himself. Because God is personal, that relationship must necessarily be rooted in love, which is by definition a choice. Because God is absolutely holy, that relationship must also be perfect in righteousness and absent of any quality that counters the perfect character of holy God. So God purposed to bring many sons to glory through the redemptive work of the Author of their salvation. The sons are the ones who place their faith in that Author – Jesus Christ – who became sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. Through faith, sinful man is justified (made righteous) and therefore able to be reconciled to the perfect, holy Creator. The glory of it is the perfect, perpetual presence with the infinitely holy and loving God – eternal relationship.
All of one – The sanctified are those who, through faith, are set apart for God’s purpose. God is glorified in their good works specifically through the ministry of reconciliation. As sons, we are representative heirs: we will inherit eternal life and all the riches of God because we are born of God and partakers of His divine nature. We have been born of incorruptible seed states Peter, and John asserts that God’s seed remains in us because we have been born of God. The believer and Christ are all of one because we share a righteousness that is divine in origin. It can also be said that we are of one in the sense that Christ was fully man (though not of Adam) and as such could fully represent us in His redemptive work. The sanctification and the representation are both in the arena of moral character. We are created in Christ Jesus unto good works – works that glorify God and reconcile man because we have been made the righteousness of God in Him. Compare and contrast Matthew 5:9, 44-45 vs 13:38; Eph. 2:2. Sonship is clearly linked to moral character that represents the parent as an outflow of the inherited nature.
Brothers – He (Christ) is not ashamed to call them brothers: the “them” of this statement are the sons, the representative joint-heirs who share the divine nature – those of us who are begotten of Him. We are brothers and sisters with Christ in the sense that we share a connection from the “womb” as those who have been born of God.
Part 3 next week.
BUILDING UPDATE
The Building Planning Team has submitted a building expansion and renovation plan that – we believe – can be accomplished very close to our intended goal of $1.5 million. The board has approved this plan to be forwarded to Fourth Elm to proceed with the preconstruction project. Our goal is that this proposed plan can be presented to the congregation for initial consideration at the Annual Business Meeting on January 12 at 6:00PM with details, expected costs, and drawings.
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