Transcript

Many years ago, my wife and I took our young children to the ocean, where they ran and splashed and played. We set up an umbrella and unpacked our things. We wanted to do nothing but sit while they ran and swam in the pounding surf of those waves.

I noticed that even though the water was never past their knees, they would be pulled ever so slightly down the beachfront by the water’s current. I often had to holler for them to run back up the beach and stay in front of us. I told them to use our umbrella as their marker—to stay in front of us. But that did not seem to help much. Often, they had to get out of the water and run back to where we were.
The truth is, the current of our world can cause us to drift over time. Our own fallen nature pulls us away from spiritual truths. We can lose sight of where we once were, and where we need to get back to, time and time again.

As we set sail into the second chapter of Hebrews, we are given a warning from the Lord through this inspired author. He writes, “Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it” (verse 1).

What exactly were they in danger of drifting away from? It was the simple truth of salvation. He explains further in verse 3: “How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?”

Now do not misunderstand. He does not say they were in danger of rejecting their salvation, but of neglecting it. He is not writing to unbelievers to get saved, but to believers to pay attention to the great salvation they have received from the Lord.[1]

He is warning his readers not to drift away from the essential truths of the gospel, which he writes in verse 3, “was attested to us by those who heard.” In other words, the gospel was proven to be true by that apostolic community who heard Jesus personally and then passed it on. He writes further, “God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit” (verse 4).

God “bore witness to them”—that is, He authenticated His true messengers by giving them these miraculous signs and wonders. The apostles’ message was validated by their miracles. Those miracles were unique to the apostles, by the way, before the New Testament was completed, to prove their message was supernaturally from God.

True preachers today do not have to raise the dead or perform a miracle to prove their authenticity. They are tested now by how true they are to the Word of God.

So, here is the warning: do not drift away from the greatness of your salvation. The second, then, is this: do not drift away from the glory of your salvation.

The author writes in verse 6, “It has been testified somewhere, ‘What is man, that you are mindful of him, or the son of man, that you care for him?’”

By the way, I am encouraged here by something you might not have noticed. The writer is quoting from Psalm 8, but he says, “It has been testified somewhere.” It sounds like he cannot remember the reference. That is an encouraging thought to me. I don’t know about you, but I can often quote a verse, but I can’t remember the reference.

In this author’s defense, though, the Old Testament was not divided in his day with chapters and verses. Deuteronomy and Isaiah were just long scrolls.

The first English Bible to be published with both chapter and verse divisions was the Geneva Bible, back in the sixteenth century. Chapters and verses were added to help believers find their place; study their Bible; memorize it, and teach it to others.

So, when you find New Testament authors quoting Old Testament passages, they do not give chapter and verse references—there were none.

The writer is quoting from Psalm 8:4-6 in referring to all that mankind lost back in the garden of Eden. God had made man, “for a little while lower than the angels [and] crowned him with glory and honor, putting everything in subjection under his feet” (verse 7-8).

This was God’s original creation. Adam and Eve had everything under their feet; they were the king and queen in the garden of Eden. The animals were their subjects, and the garden was their palace grounds.

But sin ruined it all. They lost their crown. Mankind today is not exercising dominion over creation. I cannot control one bird that lands in my backyard. Not one squirrel that chews a hole in my screened-in porch is going to listen to me, much less obey me.

Well, that is going to change one day because of what Jesus will restore to His redeemed.

Verse 9 now begins talking about the Lord:

But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death.

And verse 10 adds that He is going to bring “many sons to glory” as “the founder of their salvation.”

Jesus is going to restore the glory and dominion that was lost by sin back to mankind. Adam’s race has not possessed that since sin entered the world.

The apostle Paul calls Jesus the second, or “last Adam” (1 Corinthians 15:45-49). He is going to create a new, redeemed race; He will regain what Adam lost.

And just look at the life of Jesus as He walked this earth, for His actions give us just a little foretaste of what He will restore to us one day:

• He exercised dominion over the fish, telling them where to swim (Luke 5:1-11).
• He exercised dominion over a rooster, making it crow right after Peter’s denial (Luke 22:34, 60-61).
• He exercised dominion over wild beasts, for we are told Jesus was among the wild animals while in the wilderness for forty days—they were under His control (Mark 1:13).
• Jesus exercised dominion over an unbroken colt, upon which He rode into Jerusalem (Mark 11:1-7).
• Jesus exercised dominion over the wind and the waves of the sea, commanding them to be silent (Mark 4:39).

We could go on and on.

Beloved, your great Savior is going to give you back that crown one day, and you will reign with Him on a new earth. I cannot even imagine all that will mean, but I can tell you that it will be glorious. This is the future glory of your salvation.

Now upon what basis can you hope for such future glory?

Well, we are told not to forget the great truths of our salvation; and we are told not to drift away and forget about the glory of our salvation. Finally, we are told not to forget about the great sacrifice of our Savior.

In verse 14, the writer speaks of the Savior’s sacrifice and what it means:

Since therefore the children [of God] 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.

What “power of death” does the devil hold? He cannot determine when someone dies, or even how—that is up to God alone. Satan’s only power is taking advantage of the fear of death that all people experience. Verse 15 tells us the fear of death enslaves people—it terrifies them. The older they get, the more bound they are in fear.

But Jesus offers deliverance from that fear. He replaces it with anticipation about our future, when our salvation will open the doorway of heaven.

So, do not allow yourself to drift away from these great truths: the truth of your great salvation, the future glory of your salvation, and by all means, the great sacrifice of your Savior—your merciful and faithful Redeemer.