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Thursday, January 7, 2016

Praying Hebrews 2:14-17



Edward F. Lundwall, Jr.


Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.  For assuredly He does not give help to angels, but He gives help to the descendant of Abraham. Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.” Hebrews 2:14-17


From Hebrews 2:14-17, I offer the following praise and thanksgiving for the greatness of Christ’s propitiation for sinners (1 John 2:1, 2).

Father, this is another of those things about Christ Jesus that are beyond words to the greatness of power to convey. But yet they exist according to Your Word. But as I meditate, as I am still, I am taught by Your Spirit that I begin to see this grandeur of Christ’s propitiation. It all begins with Your person.

For since You are infinite, sin against You is an infinite offense. Therefore, only You, as the great Three in One is capable of rectifying such sin. Oh, what a love debt I owe to Jesus when He left Heaven and took on human nature to be able to die as man’s substitute. Because He is both divine and human, His death as a sinless man was of infinite quality to pay for man’s debt of infinite demand.

And above just cleansing man’s sin debt, He gives the believer His righteousness (2 Cor 5:21). This was necessary because if man is just washed clean, he is not good enough to enter Heaven and its blessedness. But as we are joined to Christ as His Bride and His body, His righteousness also becomes ours. How great it is to exercise believing trust in Him according to His promises! As faith unites us with Him, both Jesus and the Father are glorified and their celestial union is made evident, as Jesus prayed in His Highly Priestly Prayer. On the night before He died, Jesus prayed, "All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them." (John 17:10)

For in this Satan’s brag and power are broken and in Christ the reconciled sinner finds much more than deceived Adam and Eve lost in the Garden of Eden! This is the greatness of the propitiation Christ gives to God’s glory.

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