I would invite you to turn with me this morning to the epistle to Hebrews. Hebrews chapter 2. Hebrews chapter 2. I'm going to read a section beginning in verse 14, down to the end of the chapter. And with God's word open before us, let's seek the Lord in prayer and ask the Lord now to speak to our hearts through his word. Let's pray. Oh Lord, as we bow now in thy presence with thy word open before us, we pray that thy word may go forth with power. May the Holy Spirit bear witness to its truth. and make the application to every heart need in accordance with thy knowledge of that need. I am mindful, O Lord, of my dependence upon thee. I confess before thee and before this people that I can accomplish nothing apart from thee. So I look to thee, Lord, for the needed grace. And to that end, I plead the blood of Christ over my own life. And ask, Lord, based on the merits of the blood, that thou wilt cleanse me, so that I may in turn be filled with thy Spirit, be led and guided by him. And may it please thee, blessed Spirit of God, to grant me strength of heart and mind, clarity of thought and speech, and especially unction from on high. We ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Hebrews chapter 2, we begin in verse 14, this is the word of God, let us hear it. For as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same, that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil, and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For verily he took not on him the nature of angels, but he took on him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore, in all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself has suffered being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted. Amen, we'll end our reading at the end of the chapter. We know the Lord will add his blessing to the reading of his word for his name's sake. I wanna call your attention in particular to verses 14 and 15 from the section we just read. Let me read those words again. For as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same, that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. To deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. Whenever I read that text, it always brings to my mind a dear saint of God that I knew many years ago, This was down at Faith Free Presbyterian Church. This was before they were even in the building that they now occupy. There was an older man there, a man by the name of Horace Driggers. Dr. Cairns used to refer to him as the patriarch of Traveler's Rest. An older man in his retirement years, he was devoted to taking care of his wife. Neither one of them were in particularly good health. And it seemed like Horace was in and out of the hospital quite often. And I remember one occasion, he'd had a heart attack. He'd been in the hospital for a while. The Lord mercifully spared him. He was back in church not long afterwards and he asked Dr. Kearns if he could speak to the congregation. And how are you gonna deny the Patriarch of Travelers Rest an opportunity to speak to the congregation? And so we did. And he said to us on that occasion, I could see the light of heaven shining under the door. I was so ready to go, I desired to go, I wanted to go, and it was as if the Lord said, not yet, Horace. So it was as if he heaved a sigh and said to us, so I'm still with you for a little while longer. And after he shared that testimony, it certainly brought this text to my mind that here is a man who certainly exemplified freedom from the bondage of the fear of death, not the least bit afraid, ready and anxious to go home to glory. But I call your attention to these verses this morning. Did you notice in the reading of the section the emphasis in these verses that is placed on the incarnation of Christ? And by incarnation, I mean Christ becoming a man, the second person of the Trinity, the eternal Son of God, becoming a man, taking to himself flesh and blood. Quite often during the holiday season, when we think on Christ's birth, we hear the gospel accounts of the incarnation. We're very familiar, I take it, with those accounts found in Matthew's gospel and in Luke's gospel. But how often do you turn to Hebrews at Christmastime? And yet when it comes to emphasizing the truth and explaining the purpose behind Christ, the Son of God, becoming a man, I don't know if you'll find a portion in scripture that states it so plainly and explains it, the purpose behind it, so clearly. Look at how verse 14 begins. For as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same. Since they are men, he, Christ, became a man." That's what that phrase tells us. There was a fitness or propriety that he should partake of the nature of those that he would redeem. Adam Clarke puts it this way in his commentary, Since those children of God who have fallen and are to be redeemed are human beings, in order to be qualified to redeem them by suffering and dying in their stead, he himself, that is Christ, likewise took part of the same. He became incarnate. And thus he who was God with God became man with men. In verse 16, we find another reference to his incarnation. Look at what it says there. For verily he took not on him the nature of angels, but he took on him the seed of Abraham. Here is yet another reference to his incarnation, which would have had particular bearing to the Jews that Paul was addressing. The mention of the seed of Abraham would have certainly served as a reminder to the Jews that are addressed in this epistle that Christ was one of them, one of their race. In verse 17, we find yet another reference to his incarnation. Look at what it says there, wherefore in all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. So we find within the space of these few small verses, brief verses, a very strong emphasis placed on the truth of Christ's incarnation. And it's worth pausing at this point to simply affirm the truth of it, that Christ became a man. The Son of God took to Himself flesh, became the Son of Man. Our Savior then exists as a man, one person with two natures, human and divine, and this is what makes Him a perfect Savior. This is what enables him to represent men, and not just represent them, but represent them specifically in things pertaining to God. Would you notice also in these verses that so clearly state the fact of his incarnation, that they also teach us the purposes for his incarnation. He must be made like unto his brethren, verse 17 tells us, and we might naturally ask the question, why? Why must he be made like unto his brethren? Well, here's the reason, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. He cannot be, you see, a merciful and faithful high priest apart from being a man. And he cannot be a high priest in things pertaining to God without also being God. He cannot make reconciliation, which in the original could read propitiation. Or in other words, he could not endure the wrath of God for us without being powerful enough as God to endure that wrath and to prevail over it, thus accomplishing our redemption. That's something only God could do. No mere man could do it. Not even a sinless man could do it. Oh, it took the God-man to prevail over the wrath of God, his father, until at last he could make the announcement from Calvary's cross, it is finished. He's endured the wrath. He's borne the condemnation. It is finished. So we have the mention of His incarnation and the purpose of His incarnation in verses 17 and 18. We have the same type of thing in verses 14 and 15, our text for today. That is, we have the statement of His incarnation and the purpose of His incarnation in these verses as well. Look again at it, verses 14 and 15. For as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same." There's the plain statement. There's the statement of his incarnation. Notice the purpose statement that follows, that through death, he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil, and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. I want to focus on this purpose statement for the incarnation this morning. It's very important for us to know not only the fact of Christ coming into this world and becoming a man, but it is equally important that we understand the purpose for which he came into this world and became a man. I give a title, therefore, to this message this morning. I would entitle it, Christ the Destroyer of Death. Christ the Destroyer of Death. Christ came then. He was born into this world that he might be the destroyer of death. And in order to understand and appreciate this designation for Christ, as well as this accomplishment by Christ, it's necessary for us to understand, first of all, the meaning of death. We must know the meaning of death. Now, some people think they do know that. I mean, death is such a natural phenomenon. Who doesn't know what that is? Well, actually, there's more to it than meets the eye. Note the emphasis on death found in these verses, verses 14 and 15. For as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same, that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil, and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. The first thing we must see from these verses is the connection then between death and the devil. The devil is said in this statement to have the power of death. It's important to understand the meaning of that statement so that we avoid ascribing to the devil more than we should. One commentator notes, I understand this as meaning that the devil was the cause of death in this world. He was the means of its introduction and its long and melancholy reign. This does not affirm anything of his power of inflicting death in particular instances, whatever may be true on that point, but that death was a part of his dominion. that he introduced it, that he seduced man from God and led on the train of woes which result in death. He also made it terrible. Instead of being regarded as falling asleep or being looked on without alarm, it becomes under him, that is the devil, the means of terror and distress. Now our text tells us that Christ destroyed him that had the power of death. In other words, you could say Christ has snatched death from the devil's dominion and he has made death subservient to his own cause. Rather than function as an instrument of the devil's terror, it now functions instead under Christ's rule for Christians as the gateway to life. Think about that. Death for the Christian is the gateway to life. The force of what Christ has accomplished is brought out even more by the statement Paul writes to Timothy in 2 Timothy 1, verses 9 and 10. This is a favorite text of mine, especially for preaching at funerals. especially if it's a funeral of somebody that I don't know that I'm preaching to a room full of strangers, which has happened a time or two. Listen to what that verse says, referring to Christ, who has saved us and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, but is now made manifest by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, there's another reference to the incarnation, who hath abolished death. and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. Did you catch that part of the statement? Christ hath abolished death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. Now I recognize, okay, at first glance that text might seem absurd. Christ hath abolished death How can you say such a thing, preacher, when all men die? Christians and non-Christians alike. And in order to understand the truth of it, this is why I say you need to know something about the realm or the meaning of death. I would have you understand then that death is not the norm. Okay, death is not the norm. I'm flying in the face of the secularists and making that remark. Death is not the norm, and what I mean is that it's not the norm in terms of God's original creation. I'm very aware that the biologists, the naturalists, the evolutionists would all unite to view death as the ultimate course of nature, a part of the circle of life, as it were, The Word of God, however, reveals otherwise. Man was created in the image of God as an immortal soul. He was not originally created to die, but to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. Death bears testimony to the fact that God's perfect creation has been marred and disrupted. We have the account of the origin of death given to us in scripture. God directs the attention of Adam and Eve to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In the day thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die, God says to them. The command came as a warning and as a test to Adam and Eve. And you know the story, they did eat, and the whole human race was plunged into sin, and through sin, death gained its awful entrance into the human race. Death was not the norm or the intention of God behind creation, but rather death was a penal infliction upon sinful man. That's why all men die. because all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. It's a penal affliction. It's a punishment from God. So with the breaking of God's command, fellowship was broken between man and God. God would no longer be close to man. I love that account in Genesis 3 where it makes reference to God walking in the garden in the cool of the day. And I know that that is in the context of man's fall into sin, and yet it brings to mind just how intimate and precious and real the fellowship was between God and man in his original creation. They took walks together in the garden. They were that close. When this fellowship was broken, man died spiritually. Fulfilling God's Word in the day that thou eatest thou shalt surely die Oh, there would be no more walking with God in the cool of the day in the garden Man would not be that close to God again Now the thing you have to note in Genesis 3 is that Adam did not die physically in that day The way the natural man sees death, but he did die spiritually that very day and This is death in its essence to be separated from God That's death. You're looking for a concise definition for death. I don't know that you could do better to be separated from God And this separation from God is something we have to understand regarding death. This is the worst aspect of death. This amounts to much more than the body of a man lying still because the soul of that man has departed from that body. Those that are outside of Christ are dead men. And I'm not using the phrase the way we sometimes hear it, as if to say you're as good as dead. No, I mean sinners are dead now in the sense that they're separated from God. That's what death is. Why do you suppose it is? that men and women can come into this world and live and breathe and see and feel and yet question the very existence of God? Is it because they're just being open-minded and scientific and logical? Is it because they insist on empirical evidence for the existence of God, and because they don't perceive that empirical evidence, they question the existence of God? That's not the case at all. The empirical evidence is everywhere. Everything around you declares His glory. Everything within you declares His glory. The empirical evidence is everywhere. The reason the unbeliever questions the existence of God is because he's spiritually dead. They're described in Ephesians as dead in trespasses and sins. So in their death, they are sinfully biased against God. That's why they don't accept the empirical evidence. They are looking on the evidence with a bias, a preexisting bias that's due to their fall. So that's spiritual death, but that's not all there is to death. The decaying of your physical frame, the mind and body wasting away, the pain, the sickness, the agony, all leading to the time when soul and body will be severed. This can be described also as a part of the penalty of death. And this is a matter that's beyond controversy. No man, whether he's religious or atheistic or a member of some false cult, no one can deny this aspect of death. The cemeteries we pass bear witness to it. The fact that our lifespans are limited bears witness to it. Whatever else men in this world may disagree on, there is no disagreement on this aspect of death. This is that aspect of death that we all know, that everyone affirms, of every stripe. It's too plainly set before us to miss or to deny. But even this is not all there is to death. Indeed, this is but a limited aspect of death. And if we're to understand the purpose for which Christ was born in Bethlehem in order to undertake the mission of abolishing death, then we have to have a clear view of all that death encompasses. And so following physical death, we must also consider death's consummation on the judgment day. when sinners will be judged according to their works and ultimately cast into a lake of fire. Here is the place where the venom of man's depraved heart is unstopped and man attains the full potential of his awful, vile, and wicked nature. That, to me, is perhaps the most frightful aspect of hell. I mean, even the unsaved sinner lives in this present world with restraining grace upon him to keep him from reaching the potential of a sinful nature. Imagine being in a place now where that restraint of grace is removed and now man reaches the full potential of his awful rebellion against God. Here is the place where separation from God becomes the sinner's eternal state. In that condition, removed from God's favor altogether. Oh, it's a frightful condition, this condition of death. It's no wonder that our text refers to the bondage that arises from the fear of death. This is not something that the natural man, the unbeliever, the Christ rejecter, likes to think about. Such is the bondage and fear in a man's heart that he prefers to suppress the truth of death just like he prefers to suppress the truth of God. Death, you see, testifies that we're hopeless and helpless unless God does something. unless God intervenes. And thank God today. He has intervened. This is why Christ came. That's why Christ became a man. And this leads to my next point, which is Christ's conquest of death. Christ's conquest of death. Let me read the verses again. Verses 14 and 15, Hebrews 2. For as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same, that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil, and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. Let's consider first just how Christ abolished death. He took upon himself flesh and blood. If he was to die, that is something that he must do. God, you see, cannot die. In order for God to die, so to speak, God must become a man. Christ became a man. A man can die. God cannot die. We've seen this emphasized in our analysis of this portion of Hebrews 2, that Christ took upon himself flesh and blood. I hope you begin to understand and appreciate something of the importance of that. The eternal Son of God became a man, not a mere man, but the God-man, two natures in one person, and he did this in order to represent us, and the text makes it plain that if he would represent us He must become like us. For as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same. This point is made with even greater force in verse 17. Look down a few verses. It reads, it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren. It behooved him. There's a King James word for you. It behooved him. That word expresses the idea of a binding obligation. It points us to the covenant between the Father and the Son through which Christ obligated himself to become like us. He would become one of us that he might qualify to be our representative before God, or as our text puts it, a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God. It is for this reason that we read of him earlier in this epistle that he can be touched with the feeling of our infirmities. He knows what you're going through because he has flesh and blood. There's not a person in the world that can know the deep waters you're in the way Christ can know it. He's been there. Do you find yourself dejected, despised, and lonely? So was Christ. Are you misunderstood, misrepresented, and slandered? So was Christ. Yet in all his trials and afflictions he was without sin. He was and is the pure and holy, spotless Lamb of God. Every step he took, every deed he performed, every word he spoke had the stamp of perfection and divine approval upon it. He alone fulfilled the law of God. Two, our text tells us that he became one of us with a twofold aim in view, to destroy and to deliver. Again, the words of the text, for as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same, that through death, He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil, and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. The text also points out the means through which Christ would accomplish this twofold aim of destroying and delivering. It was through death that he would destroy him who had the power of death and deliver those who were in bondage to the fear of death. In other words, through Christ's atoning death, he dealt the devil who had the power of death, the crushing blow that had been foretold in the Garden of Eden, when God himself had promised that there would be one of the seed of the woman who would take a bruise to the heel, but who in turn would bruise the head of the devil. So now death is no longer under the devil's dominion, but it's in Christ's dominion. He owns it, he rules it. We're told this in Revelation 1, verse 18, where Christ says, I have the keys of hell and of death. Christ's sovereign rule extends to include the realm of death also. Now we're told in our text in Hebrews, that it was through his own death that he accomplished this. You see, death had no power over Christ. Being sinless, there could be no penal infliction upon him for sin. The only way he could die was by voluntarily submitting himself to death's domain. Christ himself tells us this. John's gospel chapter 10 verse 17 and 18 He says therefore does my father love me? Because I laid on my life that I might take it again No man taketh it from me But I lay it down of myself. I Have power to lay it down and I have power to take it again No, man Could kill Christ He had the power to lay down his life and to take it again. And this he did, not for himself, but for sinners who would believe in him. And you should understand that he died in the fullest sense of the term. Separated from God, his father. Remember the essence of death that I described a moment ago. What is it? Separation from God. Separation from God, his father. We hear his cry, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? He bore the full force of his father's wrath against the sin, which is to say he endured the full fury of hell And he died in the way that the eye of the flesh sees death. In other words, his soul was separated from his body. So he died in the fullest sense. He died in a complete sense. Had there been any sin in him, even the tiniest manifestation of iniquity, death would have had a just claim over him. But because he was and is the sinless son of God, death could not hold him. And thank God this morning, he arose triumphant over death. I love to emphasize the truth that this is why we meet on the first day of the week, Sunday by Sunday. Every Sunday is Easter Sunday, you might say. because Christ rose on the first day of the week. This is how Christ, through death, has abolished death. He's born its condemning power so that we need not come under death's condemnation. He has opened the way for communion to be reestablished between God and man right now so that we need not be separated from him anymore. We can speak and be heard. He speaks to us through his word. His spirit abides in our hearts. And because of these things, the sting has been removed from physical death. The question I suppose we have to come to grips with now, and I suppose exists in the minds of many would be, why do Christians have to undergo physical death? How can we say death is abolished when it is still easy to behold it with the eye of the flesh? And as I said earlier, Christians die physically, just like the unbelievers do. And the answer to what is a seeming dilemma would be that God is pleased to keep this abolishing of death in the realm of faith, not sight. But let me emphasize that this in no way takes away from the truth of it. Christ hath abolished death, and he is pleased to demonstrate to a lost and dying world that the fear of death has been removed from his people because communion with God has been restored and condemnation has been eliminated. And this leads me then to my last and final point, which would be the effect of Christ's accomplishment on us. What do we gain as a result of this? Christ abolishing death. In a word, the effect of Christ's accomplishment upon us is to liberate us, to set us free, Note the description of men given in verse 15, through fear of death they were all their lifetime subject to bondage. Oh, the fear of death, you know, is a great source of bondage. And not just a source of bondage, but a lifelong source of bondage. The thing that we dread most in this life is the loss of life. Life is that which a dying man would gladly sacrifice all his riches for. And know how quickly life passes. Anyone who is even slightly advanced in years can testify to the truth of the Apostle James's words. What is your life? It is even a vapor that appeareth for a little time and then vanisheth away. James 4.14. How often do you hear it said that it seems that the upcoming generation was in the cradle yesterday? Whenever I see a newborn baby, it's easy to say to the parent of that baby, tomorrow he'll start driving. Day after that, he'll get married. A day later, he'll be a grandparent. Life goes by that fast. And so many that were here yesterday have now gone into eternity? This rapid flow of life reminds us that while life is man's most precious possession, death is man's most dreaded enemy. We would flee from its grasp. We would seek to hide from it. We would avail ourselves of any and every means to evade it for as long as possible. Men fight against it, gasping for more breath, more time. Indeed, the fields of science and medicine are dedicated to warding it off. But the best they can do, in spite of all their achievements, is to stall it. Stall it, but for a little while. They can't control it. They can't subdue it. All they can do is delay it. for a short time. Perhaps one of the most dreadful aspects to death is found in the fact that each person has to face it individually, personally. Loved ones may accompany you to the bank of the Jordan, so to speak, but they cannot go through the Jordan with you. That's something that each one must do alone. And yet we don't have to go through it alone as believers in Christ. We have the promise of Christ's presence with us even when we walk through the valley of the shadow of death. Psalm 23. On account of Christ's incarnation and suffering and death, we have been set free from the bondage that arises from the fear of death. Our communion with God through Christ has been restored. Our dread of the judgment that follows death has been eliminated because we know that the issue of our judgment has already been settled by Christ himself. What a blessed freedom we enjoy then as believers in Christ. What a sigh of relief we're able to heave. What a burden we've been relieved from by having the dread of death along with the guilt of sin removed from our backs. Shouldn't such freedom move you then this morning to praise and thanksgiving? Shouldn't it move you to reverence and awe when you consider how that freedom was brought to you by Christ coming into this world, becoming a man, for the purpose of abolishing death? And shouldn't that freedom put all other trials of life in their right perspective? You may view your circumstances right now as being severe and challenging. The Hebrews being addressed in this epistle certainly view their lives that way. And yet, what great blessings were before them. that the author of this epistle fears they've lost sight of. They had the prospects of everlasting life and the glory of heaven before them. In chapter 11, the chapter on faith, we have the accounts of how those who laid hold of the promises of the gospel were able, like Moses, to choose to suffer affliction with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt, we read in Hebrews 11, 26, for he, Moses, had respect under the recompense of the reward. Oh, I trust then this morning and in the days ahead, as we think on the incarnation of Christ, that you'll understand and appreciate the purpose for his coming, and that you'll glory in his successful accomplishment of destroying death. As a believer in Christ, you can testify that he has set you free by delivering you from the bondage of the fear of death. He has done this by conquering death through his own death and destroying him that had the power of death. Oh, it is certainly my hope and prayer today and in the days ahead that you'll be moved to esteem Him highly for bringing to us such great deliverance And may we find ourselves in our freedom from bondage, compelled to live for him in this freedom that we enjoy as we strive to follow him in the obedience of faith from hearts that are filled with praise and thanksgiving. Orthodox, biblical, Christianity, Protestant, I might add. is the only religion on the face of the earth that empowers you to live in the power of gratitude. I trust that you will live in that power today and in the days to come. Let's close then in prayer. Oh Lord, as we bow in thy presence now and bring this meeting to a close, we thank thee for the truth that is brought out in thy word. We thank thee that we have the historical account in the gospels of Christ coming into this world and becoming a man. We thank thee that we have the historical account of his perfect life and his atoning death. And we thank thee, Lord, that not only do we have the historical accounts, but we have the explanation given to us in the epistles especially. And we thank thee, Lord Jesus, that you came into this world with a definite purpose in view. We thank thee for the mission you did embark upon by coming into this world, and we thank you for the accomplishment, the successful accomplishment of that mission in destroying him, who had the power of death, even the devil, and delivering us from the bondage of our sin and the bondage of the fear of death. O Lord, be pleased to take our thanks and receive our worship, for we offer it to Thee in Jesus' name, amen.