One of the lines of that hymn struck me as we sang, till all the ransomed church of God be saved to sin no more. Wow, what will that be like? Wonderful. Thank you choir very much for your ministry to us. We thank the Lord for these hymns that we can sing in praise to the Lord and thinking about the shed blood of Christ that acts as a fountain to wash our sins away. Well if you're with us today and you don't have a Bible we're going to be looking at a passage of scripture that we read in our church bulletin and it's from the book of Hebrews chapter 2 and beginning we're going to just look at two verses though we read the whole chapter which is a great thing. We'll title our meditation this morning, But We See Jesus. And we'll take that from Hebrews chapter two, verses eight and nine. We're thankful for the opportunity to observe the Lord's table as we reflect upon what Christ has done for us in giving his body as represented by the bread and shedding his blood. for our sin as represented by the Jews. There is a principle, a passage in the book of Psalms that reminds us that what we put in front of us, that what we focus on, what we look at, greatly affects us and is a real key to A glad heart. I'm going to read Psalm 16 verse 8 and I think maybe verse 9. Psalm 16, 8 listen to this. This is the writer David saying, I have set the Lord always before me. So when I think of those words, I think of David saying, all right, the Lord is my focus. I'm putting him right in front of me so that as I look at everything else, I look at everything else through the presence of the Lord. I have set the Lord always before me because he is at my right hand. I shall not be moved. Therefore, my heart is glad. So I thought, well, here's a key to a glad heart. Whatever we're facing today, whatever kind of a week you have just gone through or are facing, if we set the Lord always before us, we're going to be able to have a glad heart and our whole being will rejoice. Well, there's a theme now in Hebrews chapter two. about what we do not see and what we do see. The writer has said, beginning in verse five, that God subjected the earth to the dominion of mankind. He says, for it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come. of which we are speaking. So he is saying we are talking about, I am talking about the earth that will eventually be the way God wanted it to be when he created it, before sin entered. And God subjected the earth to mankind to have dominion over it, to to order it, to govern it, to subdue it under God's authority. And the writer says it wasn't to angels that God did that, that God subjected the world to come of which we're speaking. It has been testified somewhere, and the somewhere is Psalm 8. What is man that you are mindful of him? Or the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the angels. You have crowned him with glory and honor, putting everything in subjection under his feet. Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet, and I love those two words, not yet, which implies that one day we will see this. But at present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him that is to man. Well, do you wanna get a glimpse of what the world to come will be like when everything is subjected to man? And that'll take place in a sort of two stages. One is the millennial kingdom, and then the final new earth that God will make. This is Isaiah chapter 11. Here's a little glimpse ahead of time of what the world to come will be like. This is Isaiah chapter 11. When Messiah comes, righteousness shall be the belt of his waist and faithfulness the belt of his loins. The wolf shall dwell with the lamb. and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together, and a little child shall lead them. When mankind is subduing or in dominion over the earth as God intended, Isaiah says even little children are going to have some authority, some dominion. A little child will lead the calf and the lion and the fattened calf and the leopard and the young goat. Would you let your kids do that today? I don't think so because we are not fully in dominion as God originally intended. Sin has entered and has disrupted the plan of God. And then he writes, the nursing child will play over the whole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain. Well, that's what, in part, the world to come is gonna be like. And so the writer of Hebrews says, well, we don't see that yet. We do not see it yet, but here's what we do see. So there's a negative in this passage in verses eight and nine, there's a negative, that is we don't see the ultimate final fulfillment of God's perfect plan for this earth. When human beings under the Lord, redeemed humanity will have perfect dominion over everything that God has made on this earth. The book of Revelation tells us that the one who conquers, God says, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne. as I conquered and sat down with my father on his throne. So there is a reign or a dominion that is yet to come that we haven't seen yet when we rule and reign with the Lord Jesus Christ over this earth. And Isaiah chapter 11 will become a reality in daily living. And so we don't see that yet. So the writer says in verse eight, at present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him, that is to man of Psalm eight. But what do we see? Well, in verse nine, he says, but we see him. And the hymn refers, in this verse, to the Lord Jesus Christ. Our focus is on Christ. So just like Psalm 16 verse eight says, when we set the Lord always before us, he is in our focus, he is up close, he is our present reality, we look at life through him, then that changes our whole perspective. In Hebrews chapter, Chapter 12, in fact, he talks about, again, looking at Jesus Christ, seeing him, where he says, let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. Looking to Jesus, and that idea means to look away from things and to focus on Jesus. on Christ alone, to look away from distractions, to look away from discouragements, to look away from the difficulties that come to us and to focus right on the Lord Jesus Christ. It's like when you get married. If you were married, wherever it might have been, I was married in this church. I remember my wife at the double doors in the back. And I was up here with my knees knocking in the front with Pastor Helgerson. And so the double doors open. You know how it goes with a wedding. The doors open. The organ begins to play. Well, doors open, and so there was a lot of folks here as guests, but I didn't particularly care about them. I was focused on the girl down at the end of the aisle. And I was looking away, in a sense, you might say, from everything around and focusing on one person. And that's what the writer of Hebrews says in chapter 12. looking unto Jesus, which carries the connotation of looking away, away from other things, and focusing on him, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him. This book was written to people who need to consider, focus on, and see the Lord Jesus Christ more than anything else that is around them and going on to discourage them or to lead them away from their position and faith in Christ. For consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself so that you may not grow weary, or faint hearted. There's plenty in our life to make us discouraged, to grow faint hearted. Plenty that goes on in each of our lives that will make us weary. And we just get tired of it. And we say, I quit. I don't want it anymore. I can't do it anymore. Well, the answer in the book of Hebrews is to consider the Lord Jesus Christ, to look away from those things, to look at him. Well, in chapter two, verse nine, the writer says, but we are seeing him, the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm gonna give you five keywords, if you're taking any kind of notes, give you five keywords in this verse. This verse is jam-packed with information for us to focus on the Lord Jesus Christ. So here are the five keywords, and the verse will just kind of fill those out. The keyword number one is Jesus. Jesus. We see him. Number two is the word death. Number three is the word grace. Number four is the word everyone. And number five is the word glory. Jesus, death, grace, everyone, and glory. Here is the, in this verse, we have the fact of his incarnation in chapter two, verse nine, but we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels. Just imagine the creator of those angels who brought them into existence and who sustains them by the word of his power. He is their master. and he became lower than they were. When the Lord Jesus was born of Mary in Bethlehem, he took upon himself a human body with limitations, with weaknesses, that with needs, he had to eat, he had to drink. When he got tired, he had to rest. Eventually, he had to sleep. When he got so weary and tired, Angels don't have to eat. They don't have to sleep. They don't have to drink water. They don't get worn out or tired from flying around. But the Lord Jesus did. He got tired. He got weary. He needed to eat. He needed to drink water. And he had to sleep at night. And so for a little while, the master and creator of angels became lower than they are. and he did it for us. The fact of his incarnation. The Apostle Paul writes in another place in Philippians chapter 2 that though he was existing in the form of God, that is all of the characterizing qualities that make God, God, Jesus existed in that. Though existing in the form of God, he did not consider the equality with God in his glory and prerogatives as something to hang on to, but it says he emptied himself and took upon himself all of the qualities of a servant and was made in the likeness of men. and being found in fashion, led his outward appearance as a man. He humbled himself and became obedient to death. So here the writer of Hebrews is talking about the fact of the incarnation. As we partake of the bread and the juice, we are being reminded that the Son of God became incarnate one day. He took upon flesh with its limitations. He was a little lower than the angels. Charles Wesley wrote in his hymn, Late in Time, behold him come, the offspring of the virgin's womb, veiled in flesh, the Godhead see. Hail the incarnate deity. So that's the first thing, Jesus, the first key word, Jesus, the fact of his incarnation. And then the next key word is death, the purpose of his incarnation. It says in verse nine, crowned, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death. The reason Jesus became incarnate, took upon himself a human body, was so that he could lay that body down in death. From the very first, he knew he was heading for the cross, he was heading to die, he came to die. One day he told his disciples for the first time, He said, therefore the son of man is going to be delivered into the hands of the chief priests and the scribes and they're going to beat him and he will suffer at their hands and then he will be killed and on the third day rise again. And the disciples couldn't handle that. Peter took him aside and says, no way, may it never be to you, Lord. This shouldn't happen to you. But that was the whole reason Jesus came. He came to die, and we commemorate that with the bread, his body given for us, his body dying for us, laying down that physical life for us. The purpose of his incarnation. Jesus said, even as the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and then to give his life, as a ransom for many. Jesus knew from the very beginning that was why he came and he told his disciples that, that he came to give his life as a payment, like a ransom, an amount of something of value in exchange for you, for me. The hymn writer says, bearing shame and scoffing rude, in my place condemned he stood, sealed my pardon with his blood. Hallelujah, what a savior. And then the next word is grace. The plan behind the incarnation. It says in verse nine, so that by the grace of God, He might taste death for everyone. Behind the plan of the incarnation, sending Jesus Christ, the second person of the Trinity to this earth, that he might die, behind all of that is the grace of God. You and I don't deserve to have somebody die for us, let alone the Son of God. We don't deserve to have a payment made that can cancel out all of our sin. To think of the laws of God we have violated and the things that we have done that insult God, that elevate ourselves above God. and yet he came to pay as a ransom the price that our sin deserve. The grace of God. Paul said in Ephesians 2, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing, not my own doing. It is the gift of God. Every time we have communion, it just reminds us a gift was given to us. Grace was extended to us, something that we never earned, we didn't deserve it. It's totally beyond us. Nothing we could do to pay for it ourselves. No amount of religion or sincerity or anything like that could ever pay for what we owe God, but Jesus paid it all. He paid it for us. The plan behind the incarnation is the grace of God. The hymn writer has said, oh the love that drew salvation's plan, oh the grace that brought it down to man, oh the mighty gulf that God did span at Calvary. And then the next word in the verse, the next key word is the word everyone. So he said that Jesus crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death so that by the grace of God, He might taste death for everyone. What a wonderful word, everyone. Nobody excluded, everybody included. Well, we know that one of the politically correct things to think about today is this word inclusion. Well, here's the great concept, that God has included everyone as a possible recipient of the benefit of the death of Christ. He tasted death for everyone, for God in this way loved the world, no exclusions, that whoever, no exclusions, believe in him should not perish, but have eternal life. So here's the scope of his incarnation, that he might taste death for everyone. John said, 1 John 2, verse two, for he is the propitiation, that is the satisfying, atoning death of Jesus for us, that which satisfies the justice of God. He is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only. but also for the sins of the whole world, the whole world. So that's why the Benin Clinic has been established, to draw people's attention to the fact that there was a sacrifice for the people of Benin, Africa. And then we have missionaries in South America, we have for Argentina and Bolivia, and all over the world, this message is effective because the Son of God died so that everyone might be saved. He died, he tasted death for everyone. On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross, the emblem of suffering and shame. And I love that old cross for the dearest and best for a world, a world of lost sinners was slain. He died for everyone. Everyone is included in the potential benefit of his death for us. All we have to do is to receive the gift, to trust in the Lord. Then the last word in the verse is the word glory. the glory following his incarnation. So right in the verse it says, we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor. Why? Because of the suffering of death. After he died on Calvary's cross, God has highly exalted him. So he was, after he was raised from the dead, he ascended to heaven, seated at the right hand, the place of authority of God the Father, the place of honor and glory because of what he did for us. Philippians 2, 9 through 11 says, therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name. You can't think of a name, you can't think of a person. That's higher. Jesus is higher than they are. He's been given the name that is above every name so that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. He's the master. He's the highest. He's the one crowned with glory and honor. The hymn writer says, crown him the Lord of life, who triumphed o'er the grave, who rose victorious to the strife for those he came to save. His glories now we sing, who died and rose on high, who died eternal life to bring, and lives that death may die. One of the books that I try to read every day, part of it, is a book that's a collection of prayers that were collected from Puritan writers all the way back probably from the 17th century up to the present time. And one of the prayer selections I'd like to read to you in closing. And it's about Calvary. And the title of this prayer collection is called Love Lusters at Calvary. So this is written as a prayer. My father, enlarge my heart, warm my affections, open my lips, supply words that proclaim love lusters at Calvary. Their grace removes my burdens and heaps them on thy son. made a transgressor, a curse, and sin for me. There the sword of thy justice smote the man, thy fellow. There thy infinite attributes were magnified, and infinite atonement was made. There infinite punishment was due, and infinite punishment was endured. Christ was all anguish, that I might be all joy. Cast off that I might be brought in. Trodden down as an enemy that I might be welcomed as a friend. Surrendered to hell's worst that I might attain heaven's best. Stripped that I might be clothed. Wounded that I might be healed. A thirst that I might drink. Tormented that I might be comforted. Made a shame that I might inherit glory. and her darkness that I might have eternal light. My Savior wept that all tears might be wiped from my eyes, groaned that I might have endless song, endured all pain that I might have unfading health. bore a thorny crown that I might have a glory diadem, bowed his head that I might uplift mine, experienced reproach that I might receive welcome, closed his eyes in death that I might gaze on unclouded brightness, expired that I might forever live. O Father, who spared not Thine only Son, that Thou mightest spare me all this transfer, Thy love designed and accomplished. Help me to adore Thee by lips and life. Oh, that my every breath might be ecstatic praise, my every step buoyant with delight, as I see my enemies crushed. Satan baffled, defeated, destroyed, sin buried in the ocean of reconciling blood, hell's gates closed, heaven's portal open. Go forth, oh conquering God, and show me the cross, mighty to subdue, comfort and save. What a savior we have, who for a little while was made lower than angels, but crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that he by the grace of God might taste death for you and for me. So we look forward as we partake of the Lord's table today to reflect upon that and we're going to sing before we have our communion service.