2007 Book of Hebrews Series –
“Calgon Moment”
Hebrews 2:5-9
Sermon preached at Curwensville Presbyterian Church – February 4, 2007
Prayer Introduction: When you feel completely overwhelmed, where do you turn? Remember the old Calgon commercials. The stressed mother who shouts out, “Calgon. Calgon. Take me away!” The next scene shows her relaxing in a luxurious bath in a quiet room. Even today, an escape from a difficult day or situation is sometimes referred to as a Calgon moment. When we get overwhelmed, we want a Calgon moment – we want to escape. That’s why so many turn to worldly desires that will help us to escape: food, drugs, entertainment, busyness.
The author of Hebrews shows us that God has something different in mind. Rather than turning to worldly escape, we can turn to a God who is much bigger than we realized. Dave Shiflett – in his book Exodus: Why Americans are Fleeing Liberal Churches for Conservative Christianity – contrasts
…We pray now for the preacher in the pulpit. He is not worthy, but by your grace he is able. And so it is through Jesus Christ that we pray – Amen!
Sermon Introduction: One of the advantages to preaching through a book of the Bible – like we’re doing with the Book of Hebrews – is that we can really get into it. In preparing for this sermon I realized that I had never looked at this passage – chapter 2, verses 5-9 – because I was always looking ahead to the next set of verses (vv.10-18). Sure, I’ve read these verses before; but I really like the next part – and the NIV title above verse 5 looks forward to verses 10-18 – and so I have totally missed verses 5-9. As a result, I’ve missed something incredibly important and applicable. So let’s listen closely, together, to God’s Word in Hebrews 2:5-9 [READ IT]
From these verses I would have you see the Son of Man, the Sight Unseen and the Son of Man’s Suffering.
I. The Son of Man (vv.5-8a)
First, I would have you see The Son of Man in the quote from Psalm 8 (which we read, in full, earlier in this morning’s service), which refers to the creation of mankind in Genesis. We are man that God is mindful of. We are the son of man that God cares for. God made mankind a little lower than the angels and all of creation was put under man’s feet.
Mankind was created to exercise lordship over creation – under the authority of God. Genesis 1:26 – “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.’”
God created us to rule over the earth. The original “Covenant of Works” was God’s covenant with man to do exactly this – rule over the works of God’s creation, under His authority.
However, mankind’s rebellion against God resulted in the loss of this dominion. And so, today, we see wild animals that attack man. We see that the sky, sea and other elements are hostile toward us. In other words: hurricanes and tornadoes (and bitter cold mornings) are a result of man’s fall into sin.
Is there any hope? Is there any way to repair the damage done by man’s fall into sin? Yes. The author of Hebrews applies this Psalm not to the first Adam, but the last Adam – namely, Jesus Christ.
Hebrews 2 shows us that the lordship, lost by man, is now in Christ. He is the “Lord of all nature.” All things are subject to Him. Jesus is Lord. He is the perfect Son of Man. Jesus, lived the perfect life that we failed to live. And so it is He who is crowned with glory and honor; everything is put under his feet.
Now here is the really good news. When we die we can live in heaven, with Jesus, where we will be made perfect. Where there is no more death and decay. There is no more cancer, wild animals, or hurricanes.
Moreover, Jesus will return and bring with him a new heaven and new earth that will be renewed. In the new earth, nature will be as God first made it to be – and we will have our renewed place in it.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t plan to sit on a cloud and play a harp for all eternity. I am looking forward to the new heaven and the new earth that Jesus will bring at his return. Revelation 21:1-4 says, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.’”
Now follow the connection, here. We know that Christ has been appointed heir of all things – that all things are put under his feet. But Romans 8:17 says, “Now if we are [God’s] children, then we are heirs – heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.”
Do you realize what this means? We who have truly surrendered to the Lordship of Christ will become co-heirs with Christ. In eternity all things will be put under our feet, too. We will be restored in the image of God – and will, again, have dominion over God’s creation.
Arthur W. Pink writes, “Our joint-heirship with Christ will be manifested in the world to come. O for faith to lay hold of it and enjoy it, even now. Were it more real to us, the trifling baubles of this world would fail to attract us. Were it more real to us, the trials and troubles of this life would be unable to sadden or move us. May the Lord enable each of His own to look away from the things seen to the things unseen.”
II. The Sight Unseen (v.8b)
And so I would have you see The Sight Unseen. Do you see that you will be a co-heir with Christ by God’s grace? Do you see what eternity holds in store for you? When you are feeling overwhelmed by this life, pause for a moment and see the sight unseen – look forward to eternity.
It is hard to do this isn’t it? It’s hard to trust in what you cannot see. The second half of verse 8 acknowledges, “Yet at present we do not see everything subject to him.” Right now we don’t see everything subject to Christ; and so it is hard to see that we will one day be co-heirs with Christ and have dominion over creation.
It is called faith. Later this year we will look closely at the words of Hebrews 11:1 – “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” Faith encourages us to be sure of what is to come by looking at what God has already done. Let me say that again…
First, God created us, “In his image.” Does it not astonish you that the God of the universe created you and me “In his image”?! God originally crowned man with glory and honor and put everything under our feet.
However, this was soon followed by man’s rebellion against God. Do you see what rebellion this was? God had given man the world. He had given us rule over all creation; but we rebelled and wanted more.
Don’t we still see this in ourselves today? We aren’t satisfied with what God has given us, we want more. We feel we deserve more. If one person gets a new truck, we deserve one too. If a friend gets a new video game system, we deserve one too. If a co-worker gets a pay raise, we deserve one too. We are never satisfied with what we have, we always want more – and we moan and complain about it.
Philippians 2:14 shows us this rebellion in our heart in saying, “Do everything without complaining or arguing.” We should not only be satisfied with what we have, but we should be supremely thankful for what we have.
Instead of complaining about not having a bigger, better, house, be thankful that you have a roof over your head. Instead of complaining about aching bones, be thankful that you have life at all. When you think you deserve more, take a step back and think about what you really deserve.
We deserve the fullness of God’s wrath for our rebellion against Him. Be supremely thankful that instead of justice, God has shown great mercy pouring out his wrath upon His own Son – thank you, Jesus.
Because of this act of mercy, we are redeemed; and can look forward to the new earth to come when Jesus returns – which we will rule, rightly, as God created us to do.
We can be sure of what is to come, because we see what God has already done in creating us “In his image;” and by redeeming us through the sacrifice of Christ.
III. The Son of Man’s Suffering (v.9)
And so I would have you see The Son of Man’s Suffering. When you are facing trials in your life, look to what is to come by looking at what God has already done.
We cannot yet see all things subject to Christ – and eventually subject to us – so verse 9 says, “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.”
When you are in despair, look to Christ’s humiliation – being made lower than the angels (the theme of Christmas) – and look to Christ’s exaltation – being crowned with glory and honor (the great theme of Easter).
This is vastly different than trying to find escape from life’s trials. Trials develop perseverance of faith. Crisis moments must not lead to escapist Calgon moments. Crisis moments must become cross moments. Go to the cross of Christ in your crisis and find the desire and power to do His will.
So when you are feeling overwhelmed, realize that this is because you are trying to trust in yourself – and trust in this fallen world – instead of trusting in the God of the universe who will put everything under your feet.
What is your escapist Calgon moment? What is your habit when you are overwhelmed? Do you try and escape into TV land? Do you try and escape by keeping a super-busy schedule? Do you try and escape by being religious?
When you face trials, do not seek to escape through Calgon coping moments. Go to the cross of Christ in your crisis and find the desire and power to do His will.
At the beginning of this year we talked about New Year’s Resolutions. The things that we know we need to quit are actually our Calgon coping mechanisms. The most popular resolutions, lose weight, stop smoking, get out of debt, show that the most common Calgon coping is – eating, smoking, and spending.
The way to keep your resolutions is to have a cross of Christ moment, instead of having your version of the Calgon moment.
You must create new habits – new ways of coming to the cross in a crisis. You need an accountability partner to help you do this. You need an accountability partner who will pray with you and for you – and remind you of God’s forgiveness and acceptance, which is found at the cross.
You need an accountability partner who will recognize when you are calling out “Calgon, Calgon, take me away;” instead of calling out, “Christ, Christ, you have saved me.”
When you are facing trials in your life, look to what is to come by looking at what God has already done. Go to the cross of Christ in your crisis and find the desire and power to do His will.
MAY THE TRUTH SET YOU FREE – AMEN!