#DailyDevotion The Gifts Never Stop Being Given
Hebrews 2:10–13
10It fitted Him well, for Whom and by Whom everything exists, that in bringing many sons to glory He should make the One Who gives them salvation perfect through suffering. 11He Who makes men holy and those who are made holy all have one Father. That is why He is not ashamed to call them brothers. 12He says: I will tell My brothers Your name, in the congregation I will sing Your praise. 13And again: “I will trust Him.” And again: “Here am I and the children God has given Me.”
Him here is the Father for whom and by whom everything exist. He indeed is the very and only true existence from whom and by whom every comes into being. Because the Father is good and creates all things good, it is said then that evil has no existence of its own. It is an accident of creation i.e. like a dent. However this dent has corrupted all of creation, in particularly mankind.
To correct this accident, the Father sent his Co-Creator, Jesus Christ into the world to become one of us. He reverses this accident by a. doing all that was supposed to be done in the first place by the first Adam and b. by suffering the penalty of that accident namely death. When it is translated “make the One…perfect through suffering” the Greek here doesn’t mean Jesus wasn’t perfect, but rather finished i.e. his last word on the cross, “It is finished.” Jesus finished his work of salvation by his suffering, death and resurrection. He brings the sons of God, the Father to glory through suffering. For us to be glorified, Jesus must suffer humiliation, our humiliation. There is no greater shame to be hung on a cross to die for it is written, “cursed is everyone hung on a tree.” By his suffering and death Jesus removes our guilt and our shame and gives us the glory that is his as the only begotten son of the Father.
Yes, the Father and the Son ‘gives’ us salvation and their glory. You cannot earn it. You cannot merit it. You cannot wrangle it by force. You cannot cajole it. You may only simply be given to. Jesus not only gives us salvation and his glory he also makes us holy and we are made holy. He makes us holy by his calling and that calling is made sure and certain in the waters of baptism where we are crucified, died, buried and risen to new life in Christ Jesus. As Jesus is the Son of the Father, those who are joined to him in baptism also are called sons because they are one with the Son and receive from him the Father’s glory, salvation and holiness and we can address God as Father, Our Father.
Because Jesus has borne our grief, pain, guilt and shame he is not ashamed to call us brothers. He tells us of God’s name in our midst. That name is Father. He sings the Father’s praise in our midst and we join him in that song of praise in the Gloria during the Church service. He trust the Father and so into his hand he committed his spirit on the cross believing He would raise him from the dead. He now sits at the right hand of the Father and pointing at you who have been baptized and trusting in him says, “Here am I and the children God has given Me.” Having been baptized and believing in Jesus, you are those children of Christ, so he is called Mighty Father.
Almighty God and Father, you had your son suffer that our salvation would be made complete. Grant us faith through baptism into Christ that we may enjoy all this benefits now and in eternity. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.