Hebrews 2:14
17 November 2024
Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise partook of the same things,
that through death He might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil,
So, we have been in this section in Hebrews 2, addressing the subject of the humanity of Jesus Christ and why that is so significant. We saw back in verse 10 of this chapter that Jesus is described as the founder, the captain of our salvation. He is the captain of our salvation in who He is, in what He has become, in becoming a man and dwelling among us on this earth.
Now, with the significance of who Christ is and all that we have unpacked so far in this part of Hebrews 2, what we come to now in verses 14 and 15 are some of the most formidable big hitters of opposition, namely the devil and death. So when we consider some of the things that would likely unnerve us the most, some of the things that would intimidate us, make us feel scared and worried and anxious, these two subjects, these two areas, we would consider to be of great threat and danger to us here on this earth. And what we're coming to in this portion of Hebrews 2 is Christ's absolute, complete and total authority and victory over these two subjects. And this afternoon, we're going to be dealing with one of them, and that is the subject of the devil.
Now, in Matthew 26:53, our Lord says, "Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and He will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels?" Now, with a verse like this, the mindset of the people in Jesus' time on this earth was of some sort of political, physical, taking-something-by-force authority. And yet what we have before us when dealing with the subject of Satan and the threat that he is, is not Jesus summoning twelve legions of angels to come and strike down the opposition. No, what we have is the message of Jesus Himself in coming to this earth, in Jesus Himself passing through death in order to secure the absolute and the utmost triumph and victory.
Now, it is important to have this in mind, to have it in view as we would with any subject, namely the foundation of the gospel. But given we're dealing with opposition to the gospel, quite explicitly in terms of the subject of the devil and who he is and all that he seeks to do, it is crucial that we have Christ and the gospel in view, in mind, right at the beginning. And this is helpful given the context leading up to our verse this afternoon, which is verse 14, because verse 14 begins by saying, "Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood." Now, this "since therefore," it links to what we've just read, what we have just studied in the previous passage in Hebrews 2. So verse 13 was a quote from Isaiah 8, and this was about the children, us, that God has given to Christ. We are the children that God has given to Christ. And then it goes on in verse 14, it says, "Since therefore the children [us] share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise partook."
Now, one thing that needs to be clarified about the way in which this verse is structured. Initially, it seems to be about the children, namely us, but actually the focus of the verse is Christ. And it's simply that the verse is beginning by linking to the previous one, namely children, us, we have flesh and blood, and there is One who shares in that same flesh and blood, and that is Christ. And what we are to get into view here as Hebrews 2:14 begins is Christ, like us, shares in flesh and blood.
Now, there's quite a bit to unpack and to clarify about this. When we consider, first of all, about our flesh and blood, us children here on this earth, we are mankind made from the dust of the ground in the image of God, but that is now distorted in sin. We are confined in the substance of our nature, which is flesh and blood, and we know that that is corrupted in sin. Now, we contrast our being of flesh and blood to that of the Son. Hebrews 1:2, so far in this book, has been about the Son, Jesus Christ. The Son, unlike us, is not a created being. He is the radiance of the glory of God. He knows no sin, and He assumed something that was not His own nature, namely flesh and blood. He assumes this, and 1 Timothy 3:16 says that our Lord was manifested in the flesh. So this is what Christ becomes in becoming a man.
Now, when we read of this language about God having flesh and blood, this is God having flesh and blood, others of other monotheistic religions will quickly seek to jump on that and say, well, look, you see, first of all, that doesn't make sense, and even if it does make sense, then it proves that there's not just one God in Christianity. But what we are already unpacking in the book of Hebrews is that that is fundamentally not the case. There is truly one God. This is why in Hebrews 1, it speaks of the Son, "Your throne, O God," because the Son is God.
And so, when we come to the doctrine of the incarnation, namely God becoming a man, what we see, and this verse states it, is that He does assume the physical human nature. He assumes flesh and blood, but what He does not assume, what He does not have, is our same moral condition.
Now here is the contrast, here is the distinction that we have to have in view. Jesus has the same physical makeup of flesh and blood, but He does not have the same moral, corrupted, fallen, sinful condition, because He is a man in flesh and blood, but He is also truly, eternally God, and therefore, as we see consistently, He is without sin. Jesus is sinless and He is perfect. And this, brothers and sisters, is why when He came to this earth, there is hope.
When He came to this earth, He came as a king. He came as the one who would be the Saviour, the one who has the power, therefore, to not only stand in the face of such opposition as the devil, but the one who would have the power to crush and to conquer. This explains the rejoicing of the angels in Luke 2, when a baby has been born in Bethlehem. What are the angels doing in Luke 2:13? "Suddenly, there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom He is pleased.'" The rejoicing, the rejoicing of the heavenly host is because Christ has come. The King has come. The One who is truly God, becoming fully man, who would come to fulfil the office of prophet, priest, and king, Jesus Christ. Now when we think about the significance of, like in Hebrews 1, of angels, truly incredible celestial beings being the ones who would attend to us, that is staggering enough a thought, but when it comes to God Himself coming to where we are, coming as we are, this is something that cannot compare to anything else.
And yet, what we have to be clear, and we're taking such painstaking time to clarify in depth in this section, Hebrews 2, is that the significance of Jesus coming as a man and He is truly God is literally the life changer, the game changer, and it is what will crush Satan because it is by Christ and only Christ, for He is the only way, the only way by which any of us can be like Him and we can be with Him in heaven because He has become like us and He has come to rescue us. If we are to become, as we see promised in the old covenant, the children of Abraham, then He must become and be the seed of Abraham and indwelling among us. He must be made in the likeness of human flesh that we might become sons of God.
This is the significance, brothers and sisters, of Jesus Christ sharing in flesh and blood. In weeks to come, as we come to the Christmas celebrations, in the midst of all of the fanfare, do not lose sight of the significance of this very subject because it truly changes everything and we see how in such a powerful and prominent way this is the case in the very verse that we are unpacking because it says, "Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise partook of the same things."
This is Christ. This is what He has partaken of and then we note that "through death He might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil." This introduces our two formidable foes, the devil and death. Now we'll be waiting until next time to deal with the subject of death. Our focus this afternoon is on the devil and the first thing we're going to address is likely one of the big question marks we may have of what is described of the devil's power because it says at the end of the verse regarding "the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil," and you might be looking at that and thinking, the devil has the power of death. What does that mean? Is God the one who has the power over life and death? Well 1 Samuel 2:6, "The Lord kills and brings to life; He brings down to Sheol and raises up." And so it is biblically true and accurate to say that yes, it is God who has the power. He has the jurisdiction. He is the one who has the power to give life and to take life away. And so in what way does the devil have the power of death?
Well, this is where we start to unpack the doctrine of who the devil is from Scripture. In John 8:44, the Lord Jesus states about the devil, "You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies."
Now if we remember back to Hebrews 1 when we dealt with verses 10 to 12, we took quite a bit of time to unpack the fall of the angels in heaven. So we've already established some context in terms of answering the question of who the devil is, but to summarize, he is the fallen angel, and he is described by the Lord Jesus as a murderer from the beginning. There's no truth in him. He is a liar, the father of lies, he is a deceiver. That is what is communicated about who the devil is.
Now let me say right at this point, going through this subject, you of yourself, of your own accord, are no match for the devil. And yet we can sit here this evening with the utmost confidence, and this is what we need to unpack. First of all, we need to clarify the power that the devil wields, and then see how it has been disarmed, how it has been defeated. Let me consider right at the beginning because Jesus says he was a murderer from the beginning. Again, as we referenced Genesis 2 and 3 this morning, we need to quickly consider the role that the devil played at the very beginning of creation in the Garden of Eden because the Lord gave a very specific instruction to Adam that Adam and Eve were not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, eat the fruit from that tree. And what did we see the devil doing in the face of that command? Well, he went to the woman and he said, "You shall not surely die," and he entices her further by saying, "Your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God" (Genesis 3:5).
Now this is where we first get a glimpse into the strategy of the devil, the evil one. And what does he do with danger? Because this fruit, eating this fruit is danger. It will mean death, it will mean corruption, it will mean destruction, it will mean damnation. So what does the devil do? Well, he takes this nice piece of juicy fruit and he makes it appealing to the eye. He disguises the danger—note this, the devil will disguise the danger from your eyes, and even that means death itself with the deception that something good can come of this. Something good can come of eating this fruit and defying the Most High God.
And what does come of this? Well, Satan isn't coming with an authoritative power here—be clear about this. He is not coming with the authoritative power as though he can determine life and death, but he knows where that authority lies, which is with God. And he still has the power to ensnare mankind with it, ensnaring mankind with lies and deceit and with the murdering intent because Satan is the roaring lion, and he is ready to devour (1 Peter 5:8). Death is his stranglehold. It's where he wields his power, using death because the aim of the devil is destruction. And this is why he sought to bring down mankind at the Garden of Eden. And in doing so, he achieved his goal because he brought death to all mankind with his deceit and with his lies.
And the devil knows, he knows that God is just and that He must punish the unjust and the wicked. He knows he's got us with this. The devil is the master theologian, and he will use biblical truth and he will abuse it, he will disguise it, and he will seek to wield power from it. And this is the power of death that he holds. It's the charge that Satan knows and he uses because he is no fool. And so he comes to you, he comes to you in any different manners of ways of thinking, enticing and ensnaring. You'll be happy if you follow false religion or a works-based notion within Christianity, sin-ignoring, religion-emphasizing, or simply happy-go-lucky feeling religion. Whatever way, shape or form that the devil can lie to you and keep hold of you until you die, and then that's it, you're done, and there's no going back. And the devil has got you with the power of death.
That could be going all the way to the grave believing you're a good person, believing that your false religion will get you to paradise, believing that there is no devil and there is no heaven or hell. The devil will use all of these things, and this is the power of the enemy. But brothers and sisters, what we need to realise is that the devil is simply blowing smoke in your eyes because the charge by which he brings to any one of us is ultimately not what is going to destroy if we know the truth, if we know the truth. And that begins, as we considered this morning, by knowing the truth about who God is and who and what we are.
The devil loves the message that ignores sin, that ignores who he is, that ignores hell. Those subjects, yes, get rid of them from the pulpit, and the devil is certainly going to be running amok within the house of God because then we have unrepentant sinners remaining unrepentant in their sin and shouting things about Jesus. That is not the gospel, and that is not what is going to crush the evil one because we need to understand the extent of this threat because, as the verse is saying, he has the power of death. He has this power, and he is using it to strike, to strike at the heart of mankind.
Now at this point, we come to remember that this verse is written about His defeat, this verse is written about the one who has the power of death, about how he is destroyed. Look at it: "He Himself likewise partook of the same things that through death He might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil." Look at the language and the magnitude of this language. This is the language about the Son of God, the captain of your salvation Jesus Christ. He is the only one who has this power, and this is a glorious transformative power.
As you study the Gospels, as you look to the life of Christ on this earth, what do you see when Christ stands in the face of the demonic realm, when Christ stands in the face of Satan? Does there at any point seem like a sense of, "Well, Jesus and Satan are trading blows for a few rounds, this seems like it could go either way"? One example of many, when the Son of God arrives at Gerasenes, how does the legion that has tormented the man respond? Mark 5:7: "And crying out with a loud voice, he (the legion) said, 'What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.'" Do not torment me. Now normally we might be thinking, well, this is what we would say to Satan: "Don't torment me, Satan." But this is Satan in the face of the Son of God, and he can but shriek in fear because he knows that Christ is the one who wields the absolute power and authority. Time and time and time and time again throughout the life and ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ, this is the power and authority that Jesus Christ has absolutely over the demonic realm. Satan, the devil, is no match in any way, shape, or form for Jesus Christ, the captain of your salvation.
And he tried. He tried, because not only when we come to examples like the time of Jesus' temptation in the wilderness when Satan would come at one of the weak points physically for the Son of God, certainly it would come at the night when Jesus would be betrayed and nailed to that cross. As everybody was plotting, planning, seeking to get Jesus out of the picture, to have Him nailed to that cross, there was one who certainly did not want Christ to carry that cross all the way to Golgotha, and that was the devil. Why? Why would the devil not want Jesus to die on the cross? Because it would be on the cross where the serpent's head would be crushed.
Satan knows this. He knows where the victory will be won. It says it here in the verse, "through death," through death, the very thing, the very power that Satan wields over you, the very charge that he brings against you, "You're doomed because of your sin, you're destined to be in hell." Christ is coming to address this. Christ is coming to conquer this, and He will conquer it through death itself. This is the message of the gospel, that Christ, by His very life, be laid down in death, in being nailed to the cross, in bearing the sins of His people, in facing the judgment that we deserve from the Father, in His anger burning against the Son. In all of this happening at those dark hours on the cross, Satan is being defeated. This is the end for him. This is the death blow for him. Right here, at this greatest humiliation, and yet the greatest and most glorious moment where Christ would bear our sins on that cross.
Because this is where, for us in our sin, death is the just consequence. But Christ, remember, He does not share our moral condition. He shares, partakes of flesh and blood. He has the same physical makeup, but morally, He is perfect. That's the difference. That is what makes Him the powerful and mighty one, the one who is capable, the one who will face death head on. And as we'll see next time, He will be conquering death as He is crushing the devil. Because the devil's charge, the devil's power, which is death, will be swallowed up in victory. Jesus Christ will rise, and the devil cannot say to Jesus, "You're guilty. You're doomed. You're condemned." Jesus is none of these things. Jesus is victorious. Jesus is triumphant. He has literally put away sins, the sins of His people on the cross. He has literally become the sacrificial atonement for sin. He is the sweet-smelling aroma, which satisfies the wrath, the righteous anger of God, and therefore He rises. He ascends. He takes His seat on the throne, and His enemies are His footstool. The net of Satan has been crushed, and death has been defeated, and this is our hope. This is our power, our strength, our conviction tonight as Christians in the midst of this formidable foe, if we have been washed by the blood of Jesus Christ.
Now be clear here. If you have not been washed by Christ's cleansing blood at Calvary, then you have no hope. And Satan will run with that, and he will use anything, absolutely anything, even something that looks so close to the truth to keep you away from the truth. He'll use conservative values. He'll use important moral causes. He'll use political matters. He'll even use theological issues, anything if it can exclude Jesus Christ. If it excludes Jesus Christ, then you can know who is behind this, because the devil knows where the danger is for him. He knows where he has been defeated, destroyed, and crushed, and that is by Jesus Christ.
And this is why when the devil comes with the accusation, "You, you, you right there, you are a filthy sinner, and you're deserving of hell. You're guilty in your sin," the argument has been decided. It has been nullified by Christ. You literally can stand in the face of the devil's accusations, his deception, and his lies, and you can stand with the absolute confidence and assurance of your salvation, of your life in Christ as sons of God because of the gospel, because of the completed work of Jesus Christ, because you know upon the authority of Scripture that the power that the devil has, this power of death, has been destroyed.
And nothing can separate you from the One who is victorious. Reading again the passage we dealt with last time, Romans 8:37-39: "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." And Satan knows it. He cannot get you if you are safe in the everlasting arms of the living God through the blood of Christ. He cannot snatch you because Christ is triumphant. We are not sitting here today wondering, "Well, how is this going to turn out in the time of the second coming, the big battle between Christ and Satan, who is going to win?" We know. We know. We're living here today knowing who is victorious. We know who is seated on the throne.
So live accordingly. We do not live in the face of fear. We do not live in the face of the fear of Satan because we know that Christ is triumphant. Now that is not in any way to dismiss the work and the wickedness of the devil in this world today because he is still looming large and he is out to get you. He will not be able to snatch you from the kingdom of light and bring you back into darkness, but he will look to strike you.
Think of the example of Job and where permission was given for the enemy to strike at his family, his home, his possessions, his health. Everything was taken away from Job and the devil will look to strike and strike hard at the times of bodily affliction to get you to deny your Lord, to get you to stop reading your Bible, to get you to neglect praying. These are the strategies of the evil one and it doesn't even often need to be in times of great strife or affliction. Sometimes it's during times of abundance. We're so caught up in the joys and pleasures of the frivolous activities of this world that we don't have time for the things of God and if we can be even bothered to come together to pray, to evangelise and to worship our God because there's far more attractive things.
The devil is the one who wants you to see what is attractive in the eyes of the flesh. These are the lies of Satan. You wake up in the morning and you think I'm not going to spend time with the Lord today. That is not the truth on the authority of the Word of God. The devil is working and working hard to seek to devour you. This is why in James 4:7 it says, "Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." Because we're not repeating a point from the beginning, resting upon our own strength or our own sense of strength of will or strength of character or strength of viewpoint. No. It is the strength of the Lord Jesus Christ in whom we have salvation by which the Spirit now dwells in us.
This is why we pray that the Spirit of God would fill us, empower and embolden us and we need to pray these things daily. We need to pray these things for each other. But we know that the devil is seeking to attack individuals, families, even this church in different ways with lies, half-truths, deceptions even from other professing Christians and churches. We know that the devil is seeking to work through certain means and mechanisms to try to strike you down. Not every single day can we stand and rest rejoicing knowing that in any and every situation Christ has destroyed the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil.
The devil is described as the god of this world in 2 Corinthians 4:4, blinding the minds of unbelievers but Christ has shone the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, 2 Corinthians 4:6, and this is who and what we behold here this afternoon. It is Jesus Christ. When you consider the spiritual realm and the demonic forces that are at work in this world that are at play all around us, what are the weapons in your artillery in this spiritual fight? What are the weapons of your warfare? Well, we know in whom we stand, we know in whom we hope, we know in whom we have power and strength, and it is Christ. This is why as we consider the extent and the depth of the danger of this formidable foe, the devil, we can give thanks to God that Jesus Christ has defeated the devil, that He reigns and rules, that He has conquered the evil one, He has conquered sin and death and He reigns and rules victorious today and forevermore.