A Man Dies This Week
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A Normal Man Dies This Week (Easter week 2006)
Hebrews 2:14 And because the children are flesh and blood, he took a body himself and became like them; so that by his death he might put an end to him who had the power of death, that is to say, the Evil One;
Today, I want to talk about "Jesus, Son of Man." Saying that Jesus is
"Son of Man" means that He is a true human being. Now, maybe you've never
given that much thought, but it's important. Do you ever find yourself
struggling with life? Can you admit that sometimes you are afraid? And what
about death? If that hasn't given you pause, then I'm telling you that you'd
better get with it. Each of us has to deal with death. In the tough times
of life and facing death, we do need help. That's why it's eternally
important that you know Jesus and know Him not simply as another person of
history, but that you believe in Him as the unique and singular Son of God
and Son of Man.
Jesus is--and I say is, not was--a true human being.
Back in Belgium I had to ride the bus to work.
I recall that the first time I used the bus it was quite a
confusing experience, the different bus routes, bus stops, transfers, and so
on. I was so confused that the first night I rode the bus home, I got all
goofed up and it took almost 4 hours! Now on the bus, you see all kinds of
people, all ages, all classes, all dispositions. They all get on the bus.
Once in a while, I recognized someone riding with me on the bus, but most of
the time they're nameless fellow travelers, who get on wherever they happen
to get on and they get off wherever they happen to get off. It's like life,
people come and people go.
You may think of Jesus simply as another human being. Like people
getting on and off the bus, He traveled with us in history some 2000 years
ago. In December, we remember He came as a baby in Bethlehem. When spring
comes, we remember His death and then we celebrate something called Easter.
For many of you, Easter is simply the rebirth of nature, "hope springs
eternal," etc., etc. and so forth. Many of you think of Jesus as just
another traveler on the bus of life. An important traveler, indeed, but just
another human being.
If that's the way you picture Jesus, you're dead wrong. Let me give you
a word to remember from this message. The word is "incarnation." It
means to come into the flesh. The historical Jesus who lived among us for
some 30 years long ago is God incarnate, God literally come into our human
flesh. That makes Jesus Christ a unique person, different from anyone you
have ever seen, different from all my buddies on the bus. Jesus Christ is a
one of a kind human being.
By the incarnation, the preexistent Son of God became also a Son of Man.
That began with His conception. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, the
third person in the Triune God. He was conceived in and given birth by a
virgin named Mary, just as God had prophesied and as the Bible records.
This unique person was born in Bethlehem, a little town of no account...or at
least it was of no account until His incarnation. Jesus, this singular Son
of Man, spent most of His childhood in the northern city of Nazareth. Now,
I've been to Nazareth. It's the kind of town you'd drive through and think,
"I could find better places to live than this." It's the kind of place that
bus people can identify with. There, in Nazareth, this incarnate Son of God
lived as part of a family. Mary we already mentioned. Stepfather Joseph, a
carpenter, is one of the great heroes of the Christmas story. And, the Bible
says that there were brothers and sisters. These are biographical details
that many people regard as common details of one more human life. But the
Bible says "No!" This person is different. Jesus Christ is the preexistent
Son of God and the perfect Son of Man.
He is exactly what you need in your life. You need more than just
another fellow traveler in your life. You need someone in whom you can be a
person in whom God has great delight. You need someone in whom you are part
of a perfect humanity. And, you need someone in whom you can face the
problems of living. And, you need someone in whom you can conquer death
itself. I don't think I'm being presumptuous when I say that these are the
things you need. I also don't think I'm being presumptuous to say that you
can't get these needed things by yourself. Nor can you get them from just
another human being, another person on the bus of life. What you need,
perfection, confidence, real life has to come from someone who is unique. It
can only come from the preexistent Son of God who became incarnate, who
became a true and perfect Son of Man in order to help you.
Let me tell you why the preexistent Son of God became incarnate. God
became man in order to take your place.
First, the Son of God became a Son of Man to take your place under the
Law. The Law is what God requires of you. Thou shalt this. Thou shalt not
that. All those commandments which we have broken. All those transgressions
which brought troubles into our world, the troubles we struggle with day in
and day out. Paul wrote in Romans 7, "When I want to do what is right, evil
is there with me. In my inner being I delight in God's Law, but all through
the members of my body I see another law fighting against the Law in my mind
and making me a prisoner to the law of sin which exists in the members of my
body. What a miserable person I am! Who will rescue me from this body which
brings death?" (Romans 7:21-24).
The answer to the cry for help is the Son of God who became a Son of Man
so that He could keep God's law in your place. Jesus perfectly obeyed the
commandments as your substitute. Galatians 4:4-5 says, "When the time
finally came, God sent out His Son to be born of a woman and to be born under
law, in order to pay the price to free those under law" (Galatians 4:4-5).
Second, the Son of God also became Son of Man so that He could suffer
and die in your place. Human beings die. God cannot die. So, He became a
man so that He could die for you. Death has come to us because of sin.
Romans 5 says, "Sin came into the world through one man (Adam), and death
through sin, so death also spread to all people, since all sinned" (Romans
5:12). Romans 6 says, "the wages of sin is death." Sinful human beings die
and your death will bring you before God the holy and just Judge. Now, why
should the Judge give you eternal life and the blessedness of heaven? You're
a sinner. Eternal death is your due. The only human being who merits
eternal life is Jesus Christ, Son of God and perfect Son of Man...who died in
your place and rose again for you so that your death can be the gateway to
eternal life. "I am the resurrection and the life," says this unique Son of
Man. "The person who believes in Me will live even if he dies" (John 11:25).
So this Son of Man took your place in death so that you can have a place with
Him in eternal life.
I've just given you two reasons why the preexistent Son of God became
incarnate. Hebrews chapter two says it this way: "Now since all these
children share flesh and blood, He also took on flesh and blood to be like
them, so that by His death He might take away all the power of him who had
the power of death (that is, the devil), and thus He might free those who
were subjected to slavery all their lives by their fear of death....In every
way, He had the obligation to become like His brothers, so that He might be a
merciful and faithful High Priest in representing them before God and thus
pay for the sins of the people" (Hebrews 2:14-15,17).
Oh no, Jesus isn't just another fellow traveler in life. He's unique.
He is one of a kind! He is in every sense what God intends humanity to be.
In your own being, there is nothing. In His being, you have everything.
While this Son of Man is not just another person on the bus of life, He is,
indeed, a fellow traveler with you in your life. Your Savior can help you.
And you need that, don't you?
One day when I was riding on the bus and two people behind me were
talking. One was a young woman, the other was older. The younger woman
confided that this was only her second day on the bus and she really didn't
know what she was doing. I've got to tell you: I smiled at that. It
hadn't been too long before that I spent four hours riding around
not knowing what was happening.
So, the younger woman admitted she needed help. The older woman was a
gracious person. She freely gave information and encouragement.
We all need help. Sometimes kindly fellow travelers help us. But you
know, they can only do so much. Like us, they're burdened by their sins.
Like us, they have fears and guilt. Like us, they themselves can't rise
above the limits of their sinful humanity. Thank God for other humans who
help, but you need to believe that you have someone traveling with you who is
the unique Son of God and the perfect Son of Man.
Hebrews chapter two tells us two things about this Son of Man that are
helpful to you. There are more, of course. These just happen to be the two
mentioned in Hebrews 2:17. Jesus is merciful. That means that this Son of
Man does real things for real people. Whether you live in high rent
districts and or you're homeless, whether you ride a bus or a fancy sports car the
merciful Son of Man provides you with countless loving-kindnesses. Sometimes
it takes faith to see them.
Jesus the perfect Son of Man is also faithful. He's not going to
abandon you. 2 Timothy 2 says, "You can depend on this. 'If we have died
with Him, we shall also live with Him. If we patiently endure, we shall also
rule with Him. If we disown Him, He will also disown us. If we do not
believe, He remains faithful because He cannot disown Himself'" (2 Timothy
2:11-12). Jesus is going to stick with you. He's faithful.
Yes, God had every one of us struggling people in mind when He sent His
Son into this world to be a human being, a Son of Man. Whether it's the
people and neighborhoods I saw on my bus ride or the folks you see around
you, God considered every one of them when He sent a human Savior into our
world. And best of all, the Son of God became incarnate for you. No wonder
then we believers confess Jesus to be "Beautiful Savior! Son of God and Son
of Man."
Dear Jesus, we're acquainted with Your humanity. We've seen how artists
picture Your appearance. We speak about years called "BC," "Before Christ,"
before You were born. We hear the Bible stories about Your life when You did
so many of the things we humans do. We're acquainted with Your humanity.
But do we know You as the only person who is what God intended us all to
be? Do we know you as that one person in whom alone God is pleased with
humanity? Do we see You as more than just another one of us? Do we believe
in You as the one and only Son of God and perfect Son of Man?
If we don't know You that way, we really don't know You at all. If we
know You just as another human being, we're lost, eternally lost.
Teach us, O Lord Jesus, by your Word and Spirit, to believe in You as
the unique Son of God and Son of Man. Lead us today to know You as the
singular person in history with whom God is pleased. May this message
unite each of us to You by faith, that we then will live and move and have
our being in You alone, our Beautiful Savior, the Son of God and the perfect
Son of Man. Amen.
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