Jesus Turned the Tide

Hebrews 2:5-12

Man, lost in sin, is just that; lost. We were created in God’s image and given dominion over all of creation. If you look historically at where we were at the time of Jesus birth, a sickly, conniving Octavian had become Caesar Augustus and was considered by some to be a god. The believers in the true God, the Jews, had become so works, regulations centered as to turn the worship of God into idolatry. We were in a mess and there seemed to be no getting better. Hebrews 2:9 just leaps out at you with, “But we see Jesus…”! What a change! The rescue had begun. God had become a man to redeem man from sin’s penalty and power. One of the most amazing verses in the passage is verse 11, which reads, “…for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren.” I am a sinner, I was at enmity with God. I was not only condemned to die and be cast into Hell, but that fate was a completely deserved fate. But because of Jesus, who tasted death for every man, I could and have been saved from that awful fate by trusting in Him as my Savior. Yet wonder of wonders, I am more than just rescued, I am born again as a child of the King, and my Lord and King, is not ashamed of me, to the point He calls me His brother. What Jesus offers to us is not a life of duty bound servitude, but the fellowship of family, where the greatest, Christ Himself, considers us as His brothers and sisters. This is a true turning of the tide. From sickly play acting and pompous works, to grace lifting us up to a place and position that neither of those could produce. What joy it is to say, “We see Jesus”!