“Fear Is Banished!” – FBC Morning Light (12/16/2024)

Well, good Monday morning to you. I hope you had a great weekend and were able to gather with God's people yesterday and worship the Lord together. Well, today in our Bible readings we kick off this new week.

We're in the book of Hebrews, so kicking off a new book of the Bible. We're going to read Hebrews chapters 1 through 5 today in the Bible reading plan. Just so you know, we're like two weeks away from finishing up this reading through the Bible chronologically in a year.

If you've been following along, we have just a few books of the New Testament left to read. Very shortly I'll be posting on our church website a Bible reading plan for next year, be a more traditional kind of plan where read a couple chapters in the Old Testament, a chapter in the New Testament, and then one of the Psalms, and eventually one of the chapters in Proverbs, but I'll be handling it that way next year.

So I'll be looking forward to that. If you get an email from me with a link to these morning light devotionals, I'll also have a link in those emails to the new Bible reading plan. Well, today, Hebrews chapters 1 to 5.

I want to focus on the end of chapter 2. Those few verses from chapter 2, verses 14 through 18, are just packed with wonderful, encouraging truth. We have in verse 14 the purpose for the incarnation. We're getting ready to celebrate, we're already in the process or in the season of celebrating the birth of Christ, but verse 14 gives us some great understanding of why that took place.

It says, "...inasmuch as the children have partaken of flesh and blood," that is, since we are flesh and blood, Jesus himself, he himself likewise, took part of the same. Why did Jesus become flesh? So that through death, his death on the cross, he might destroy him who had the power of death.

Who is that? The devil. "...and so that he might release those who, through fear of death, were all their lifetime subject to bondage.". You get the sense of that? You get the weight of that? Jesus, God the Son, came into this world to die, and to die so that we might not die, so that we might be delivered from the fear of death, the natural, innate fear of death that we all have.

He came to deliver us from that. And then it goes on to say there's more, there's more to this. Verse 16, he indeed does not give aid to angels, but he does give aid to the seed of Abraham. And who are the seed of Abraham?

Well, the seed of Abraham are those who are truly people of faith, faith in God, in his Word, in his Son, in the Savior, and so forth. So verse 17 goes on to say, "...therefore in all things he had to be made like his brethren.".

Why? Why did Jesus come into this world? Why did he take on flesh? "...that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to, in order that, he might make propitiation for the sins of the people.".

Again, the emphasis here, Jesus came into this world so that he might be a great high priest for us, and what did he do as our great high priest? He made propitiation for our sins. What does that mean, he made propitiation?

Well, he satisfied the just wrath of God upon us because of our sins. He satisfied that through the sacrifice of himself. And then it closes, the chapter closes with this really encouraging statement.

It says, "...for in that he himself has suffered, being tempted, being put to the test and tempted, he is able also to aid those who are tempted.". Because Christ endured life on this planet and dealt with all of the suffering and agony that he endured, he is able to help us, to help us in our temptation, in our testings, and in our trials.

So let these truths inform how you celebrate Christmas. Christ came into this world, he came into this world and took on human flesh, he became man to die in our place, to die to deliver us from the fear of death, to die to make satisfaction for our sins, so that we don't have to die in our trespasses and sins.

He came to endure all of the testings and the trials that life throws at us, threw at him in his suffering, in his dealing with the devil, and all the rest, so that he might aid us in our temptations.

What a wonderful Savior. Let's rejoice in Christ who came. Our Father and our God, we do thank you today for the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you for him who is our great High Priest. Thank you for the satisfaction that he paid for our sins in his own body, in his death on the cross.

We praise you and thank you for him, in Jesus' name. Amen. All right, well listen, have a good rest of your Monday. Hope your week gets off to a good start. God bless.