SUMMARY: PERFECTLY HUMAN - HUMANLY PERFECT. Hebrews 2:14-18 There was only one way for deliverance from sin's consequences to happen. Jesus had to become human so He could die, rise again, and destroy the devil's power. Only Christ could do this. Human sin had given Satan the power of death—eternal separation from God—a free hand to control, deceive, and destroy us and our reason for existence. The fear of death and the consequences that follow has kept people in bondage and constant fear of the future by nature. When we come to God by faith in Jesus Christ, we belong to Him, and the fear of death is taken away because "Christ died for our sins, according to the scriptures, and He was buried, and rose again the third day according to the scriptures." For those who believe in Him, they can say, "My sin is gone, my fear is o'er, I shun God's presence now no more."
Because He was able to defeat death and did so, we are freed from the fear of dying. Death is not the end but a doorway to new life. When a believer is called home to heaven through death, their body is separate from their soul and spirit, which have gone to be with Christ, and that is far better [Phil.1:23]. Being absent from the body doesn't mean we cease to exist [2 Cor. 5:6-8]. A new body will be given to us that is suited for our eternal future at the resurrection [Phil.3:20-21]. Death will be eliminated [1Cor.15:26] when we are instantly changed to be like our Lord. "When we shall see Him, we shall be like Him, for we shall see him as He is." He didn’t come to help the angels, even though they are superior to us in many ways. They do not have this place that God's grace has given us.
We needed a high priest who could reconcile us to God to make us right and keep us right. We required the atonement only He could provide. He couldn’t lower God’s standards, but He could show mercy to us. We had fallen into sin, inherited through our sinful nature. Yet, by God's grace, this was taken away through His death. Christ restored the human dominion intended by God at creation by becoming a man. However, He didn't merely become a man as an example. Through the suffering of death, He took our place at Calvary. He became the perfect leader and pioneer of our salvation through His sufferings—His life’s sufferings in which He experienced what we face. His perfect obedience to His Father caused Him to suffer reproach, humiliation, rejection, and all the other hardships of a sinless life among sinners. This set Him apart from everyone else and clearly demonstrated the "Superiority of the Son of Man," our Lord Jesus Christ. That dominion was denied to angels. At Adam’s creation, dominion was given to humans, but it was lost because of sin. Now, Jesus, the perfect Man, has regained that dominion for humanity, which He achieved through His humility and death, fully satisfying God's righteous demands in those who share His glory.
He came and took hold of us to help us, becoming like us. He fully understood what it was like to be one of us. In His manhood, Christ shared in the same incarnation. Regarding His people—both the Hebrew believers of the past and for our learning today—He, who was God and far above angels, descended to "Be found in fashion as a man." Four reasons for His humanity: first, for the glory of God. In every way, He was “Qualified through sufferings” to take our place. He did this willingly to destroy the works of the devil and to make propitiation for the sins of the people. God's justice has been satisfied, and every legal claim against us has been met. As a perfect man among men, He has the right and capacity for the priesthood because He was humanly perfect.
Perfect in His manhood, yet His deity remained fully intact. He came as the Son of Man to bring God's wandering people back to where they can once again see with enlightened eyes what God intended for them and us today to be. Not struggling saints with feeble hands and knees too weak to walk. Not with saddened hearts and songless lips, or those afraid to speak, but with gracious words, bright faces, and voices raised to praise the One who is higher than all angels and men, who lifted us from the pit.
His redeeming work on earth He finished, as His loud cry did testify. Now, His work is ongoing through those for whom our Lord died. Even when we fail or forget, our High Priest in heaven intercedes before the righteous throne of God, where He pleads on our behalf. He was one of us as a Perfect Man, it's true, and now we are one with Him. Through the priestly position He holds, we can enter into the presence of Almighty God, and with Him, take our place. And we know we are accepted in the Beloved by our God of matchless grace.