Through the Bible with Les Feldick
LESSON 1 * PART 4 * BOOK 47
Hebrews 2:4-9 – Part 2
We’ve established this afternoon, that He, Jesus the Christ, our Lord and Savior, will be the One Who will be the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords of the world to come, in this inhabited earth that will be made again like the Garden of Eden. We also know He is higher than the angels, even though for the work of the cross, He became a little lower than the angels. But now then, as the One Who will be the ruler, and the King of this coming Kingdom, we find that the last part of verse 8 gives us a clue, that even though all these things are being made ready, and we know it’s coming, it just hasn’t happened yet, and that’s what it says. So let’s begin this study with verse 9, but look at the last part of verse 8 in Hebrews chapter 2.
Hebrews 2:8b-9
“…But now we see not yet all things put under him. (It’s still in a future time. Now verse 9) But (this much we know. Even though the Kingdom hasn’t come in yet,) we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels (for just a little while) for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.”
Not just for those who will be saved and go to glory, but He tasted death for the billions that are going to go to their doom. And of course that’s what going to make it so awful. I think the worst part of the Lake of Fire will be that people will realize that they did not have to be there. They’re there because they chose to be there, and it’s going to be a horrible time of regret, “Why didn’t I take what was offered?” But you see, by then it’s going to be too late. But the thing that we always like to emphasize is that when Christ finished the work of cross, He opened salvation to every last human being.
Let’s go back to John’s gospel chapter 1 verse 9. When I taught this before, I told my class, “I can’t explain this.” But the Word of God says it, and I believe it. But I can’t explain, I don’t know how this can possibly be. This is an awesome verse. And here it’s speaking of Jesus Christ the Light of the world.
John 1:9
“That was the true Light, which lighted every man that cometh into the world.” Now that’s what it says, and I can’t argue with that, but I don’t understand it. I know it’s hard for us to comprehend, how some poor soul out in the outback of Australia, who we think has never heard the Gospel – yet the Scripture says, he has received enough Light that he can escape condemnation. And again I always have to use Romans chapter 1, and verse 20, which before I saw this verse in John several years ago, I wondered how Paul could write, even by inspiration, something like this. When we think there are millions who have never heard, and if they’ve never heard, how can they be responsible? Well, that’s not what the Bible teaches. That’s what humans think, and even a lot of us are prone to think that if people have never heard, then how can they be responsible.
Romans 1:20
“For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world (even before Adam was created) are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, (in other words the stars and the sun, and the moon) even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they (multitudes of the human race that we think have never heard) are without excuse:”
Now those are awesome words aren’t they? And these people are going to come before the Great White Throne without a word of argument. They are suddenly going to know that they deserve the doom that is coming because they’ve rejected the Light that was given. Now then, we’re going to look at this whole idea of death that I alluded to in the last program, that we’d be looking at how Christ not only will become King of Kings, but He’s going to put everything in the secular world under His feet, but He’s also going to defeat our arch enemy, death. And the only way you can defeat death is with death! Now for that study let’s go back to Genesis chapter 2, and verse 17. Here the Lord is talking to Adam and He says:
Genesis 2:17
“But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it, for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” (death)
Now the moment that Adam ate, what entered the world? Death! Death became part and parcel of the human experience as well as all of nature. Everything is facing death. Now let’s look at the next one still in the Old Testament in Ezekiel chapter 18. We’re just going to see from Scripture that this is not just a one time statement, but rather it’s one of the very fundamental truths that we have to face. Let’s drop in at verse 4, and this is a verse I guess that throws a curve at a lot of people because of the very first statement. Well of course every soul that’s ever lived is God’s because the soul comes from God, and they are God’s, but it’s going to be up to His Sovereignty to determine whether they spend eternity with Him, or are separated from Him. But that doesn’t take away the fact of the first part of this verse.
Ezekiel 18:4
“Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: (now here comes that crowning statement) the soul that sinneth, it shall die.”
See, there’s no escaping death. The whole human race is headed for death. Now first and foremost we look at physical death. We’re all, unless the Lord comes in our lifetime, going to die physically, but there’s two areas of life and death that we have to deal with, and that is the spiritual, as well as the physical. Now we saw in John chapter 5 in the last program how that Jesus spoke of a resurrection of those who were spiritually alive, by virtue of their faith, and on the other hand, those who would be physically dead, and the two of course we always have to keep separate. So now I want to bring you all the way up to John’s gospel chapter 12, because this is one of the fundamental truths of Scripture, that the only way you can overcome death, is with death. So this is why Christ had to die.
In fact, I had a thought come up last night as I was mulling this over, but I want to be very careful how I say this, as I don’t want somebody writing me a real strong nasty letter, and say, “Les, you said thus and such.” But, I am going to throw something out just to provoke your thinking, and if I happen to have a physiologist, or an embryologist in the audience, I’d like to hear from them. This thought crossed my mind. Since everything in Scripture speaks of death being overcome with death, or you cannot have life until you have death, and I always use the plant kingdom for an example, because you’re all acquainted with gardening, or agriculture of some sort. But if you plant a seed in the moist warm soil, what happens to that original seed? It dies! Anyone that has ever been in biology knows that. That seed dies! Now out of that death process, what happens next? New life, and reproduction! Now the thought I’m going to share is, and I’m not saying this happens, but rather I’m asking if it may happen? “And that is, when the sperm invades the female ovum at conception, does that ovum die, at least temporary?” I kind of think it does. Now don’t go out and quote me, and say, “Les says that the ovum dies when the sperm invades it.” But it would almost fit with all of nature, that before something can have new life, something has to die. So think about that, and if I have a professional out there, then let me know, because I think there’s probably more to that than meets the eye.
Now here is the way the Lord Jesus Himself put it in John chapter 12, and verse 23, and of course this is the time when certain Gentiles (who had no doubt heard all about Jesus’ earthly ministry, and all the miracles, signs, and wonders that He had performed, and they’re curiosity was exercised) approach Andrew and Philip, and then they go in and tell Jesus that there are Greeks that want to see Him. Now verse 23.
John 12:23
“And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, (remember this is the great feast of Passover and people are already gathering around the temple area, so His crucifixion is only a matter of hours) that the Son of man should be glorified. 24. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.”
Now the whole concept of nature is based on that very concept. Now spiritually, let’s look at it from Paul’s point of view, so let’s go to Romans chapter 3 for a minute where you’ll find that as a result of spiritual death of man, brought about by Adam’s fall, this is the result.
Romans 3:9
“What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise; for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin;” And what’s synonymous with sin? Death! Everybody, both Jew and Gentile are under the curse of sin and death. Consequently, we find in verse 10:
Romans 3:10-11
“As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one; 11. There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.”
You know I was looking at some of our old programs while we were dubbing them, and I suppose some of these statements shock people. In one of my programs I made the statement,“Man never goes looking after God, but rather it’s God Who always seeks the sinner.” And in that lesson I went back to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. After they had sinned and had sewed their fig leaves, and they knew God was coming down the path – did they run to meet Him? No! But rather, what did they do? They hid. But God came looking for them, not that He didn’t know where they were, but the whole idea was, to show us that God seeks the sinner. Well, when you get to John’s gospel, that’s exactly what it says. In fact come back to John’s gospel chapter 3 so you can see it with your own eyes, because this is the mental makeup of sinful men, women, boy and girls, we’re all alike, and this is the true picture. I hope you still have your hand in Romans, because we’re going to go right back there.
John 3:19-20
“And this is the condemnation, (this is mankind’s problem) that light is come into the world, (see how that fits with what we read a moment ago?) and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20. For every one that doeth evil (anything contrary to the will of God) hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.”
Now in your mind’s eye, can you picture Adam and Eve? This is the perfect picture. They had sinned, they sewed fig leaves, but were they ready to meet their righteous Lord? No! So instead of running to meet Him and get right with Him, what did they do? They ran and hid, because their deeds were evil, they had been disobedient, and this is the perfect picture of it. So, since they had done evil, they hated the Light, they didn’t want to come to the Light, they ran and hid. Now come back to Romans and this is just an extension of all of this. Evil men are what they are because they’ve rejected the Light. Now reading on in Romans chapter 3, and verse 10.
Romans 3:10-11a
“As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one: 11. There is none that understandeth,…” Why? Because we are a fallen race, we are bent to sin, because of Adam. Remember I put it on the board, over and over, throughout the years, “We’re not sinners because we have sinned, we’ve sinned because we’re sinners.” Well, this is what these verses are telling us, that the human race is just bent to sin. Verse 12.
Romans 3:12
“They are all (the human race, not just Jew, not just Gentile) gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doth good, no, not one.” And then the Word goes on to describe the human nature, and the culmination of it is in verse 18.
Romans 3:18
“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
Now that seems like a harsh statement, but it’s true, as they really don’t fear Him. And even if they do want to recognize that there’s an eternity out there, you know what they rationalize? “Well, I don’t think I’ve been that bad, I think God will be good to me, I think He’ll let me in.” And they cannot comprehend that God cannot tolerate their sin when He had done everything that He has done to bring about their salvation. Now I think I can now come all the way down to verse 23 here in Romans chapter 3. And here is the Apostle Paul, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit’s conclusion.
Romans 3:23
“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;” Nobody in their human element can hit the mark. It’s impossible, we’re sons of Adam. But in verse 24, we have the great promise. Yes, we’re under the condemnation, we are a fallen race, but:
Romans 3:24
“Being justified freely (not because of our works, not because of what we can do, but) by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:”
Well that’s enough for that portion – let’s look at another in Romans chapter 5, and let’s start with verse 1.
Romans 5:1
“Therefore (because of what we’ve just been reading in chapter 3, that we’re a fallen race, we are in total depravity, but) being justified by faith, (not by works) we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:”
Now stop and think a moment. You know we’re surrounded by people that are just bound by works religion. The bondage that so many people are in with a works-oriented religion.They are just in constant fear that maybe they’re not going to be able to work enough. And on top of that there is never any joy, there is never peace with God, because it’s depending on their works. Now that’s an awful place to be. My, that’s horrible. The Bible makes it so plain that when we come to salvation, not resting on our works, but we’re resting on what Christ has tasted for every man, and we can have peace with God. There’s no wondering, “I wonder if I’ll make it, I wonder if I’ll get to heaven.” No, we don’t have to wonder, because we have this wonderful Grace. Now back to the text in Romans 5:1
Romans 5:1
“Therefore being justified by faith, (not works) we have peace with God…”
You know I’ve given the example on the program of people who have come into our home, or here at the taping, or some of our classes who have come out of these works religions. The clearest one is, “It’s like someone has knocked the shackles off my wrist.” Well, that’s the freedom that we have when we enter in by faith rather than trying to get in by works.
Alright I want to stay with this whole concept that “Christ died for us.” So now staying in Romans chapter 5, come on down to verse 6. And remember this is all going back to that verse in Hebrews where “Christ tasted death for everyone.” No one can ever say, “Well, He didn’t do enough for me.” Oh, yes, He did.
Romans 5:6
“For when we were yet without strength, (we were hopeless) in due time Christ died for the ungodly.” Not for good people, but He died for the ungodly, those without God. Now verse 7.
Romans 5:7
“For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.”
Yeah that could be possible. Here is a fellow who is so admirable and so looked up to, and he suddenly gets framed or whatever, and someone might come along and take his punishment, that’s a possibility. But for a no good, a reprobate, who would want to die for that kind of a person? Well, you’d probably say, “Nobody would, it’s probably good riddance.” But you see that’s what you and I were, and Christ the Creator God, died for us. Now verse 8, and with this verse, I guess we’ll have to close.
Romans 5:8
“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”