Let’s celebrate!

Hebrews 2:10 For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings. Wow! What a verse of encouragement. First, I direct your attention to God’s purpose for creating mankind: To bring many sons to glory. That’s our final destiny. In spite of all that we see in this world that looks like Satan, sin, and death are the victors, all who believe will be glorified with the Son. Paul declared this great truth in Rom. 8:28-29. “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren.” That’s worth celebrating! Second, let’s be encouraged by God’s sovereign and mighty power. All things that occur in the history of mankind are for Him (meaning for His purposes) and they occur through Him (meaning according to His will and power). All of things that occur in our lives are subsets of all things referred to by the Spirit in this verse. Nothing in our lives is out of control—that is out of His control. They definitely are out of our control, but we are encouraged that all things are subjected to God’s purpose to glorify us with His Son. That’s worth celebrating! Third, it was fitting for God to perfect Jesus, who is called the author of our salvation in this verse, and the author and perfecter of our faith in 12:2, through suffering. The word fitting, can be understood to mean proper or to be clearly seen. In contrast to what isn’t clearly seen, namely, that all things have been subjected to Jesus; it is clear why God orchestrated all things, or subjected all things to His Son—so that His Son might complete His work through suffering. It fit God’s purpose to bring many fallen, prodigal sons to glory. The next verses are going to explain how clear this is or how fitting it is for God to use suffering in our lives and in the life of His Son. Jesus’ victory over suffering and death shows us that being a victim doesn’t rule or control our lives. It doesn’t prevent us from expressing the love of God. That’s worth celebrating. People who don’t believe in Jesus celebrate being a victim. Their suffering, with its baggage, becomes their identity. They are slaves to unbelief, and therefore cannot love with Jesus. The only way to love with Jesus is to lay aside all that victim baggage. It’s like throwing away a worn out piece of clothing or a casting aside a backpack of bricks, we declare that we are not slaves or victims of our circumstances. By the way, B.F. Skinner’s “First Force” humanistic psychology states that we are defined by our problems created by our environment or society. If we are to live to love with Jesus, we must also lay aside the sin of unbelief by celebrating Jesus’ victory over suffering and death. Let’s celebrate Jesus today by living to love with Him!