Oh Hi. I hear you’ve been looking for me. My name is Jubilee. I am privileged to be one of the hosts of heaven. I hope you’ve been enjoying yourself since you arrived here in paradise. I’m sure you’ve been enjoying your new home. As you know, it was designed personally by Our Lord. His skills as a planner and designer are unmatched [an angel’s amazement].
How long have I been here? That’s a little hard to describe since the Father created me before He laid the earth’s foundations. I will never forget witnessing His powerful creative work in bringing about the formation of the universe. I will never forget how my brothers and I sang and shouted as we watched that marvelous work being completed (Job 38:6-7).
I also remember how He created you, humans, on the sixth day of your earthly week. He took nothing but the dirt he had recently created and shaped the first of you into a lifeless form. He then miraculously gave you His own breath to bring you to life. You were made in His very own image. I must say that I was awestruck by the whole process. We were so happy for humanity as we witnessed the first man and woman enjoying all our Great God had made for them.
We were equally distraught when we saw Adam and Eve knowingly choose to disobey the only stipulation God had given them. It reminded me of when one of my former brothers, Lucifer, chose the path of disobedience against the Lord of Glory. It cost him and those who followed him dearly.
I must say that it seems like such a waste considering how everything in creation went from being so beautiful to be so broken. I half-expected that God would just eliminate the whole of creation and begin all over again. However, that would suggest that everything He had made was of no lasting value. Oh, how wise the Heavenly Father is! However, none of us were expecting the approach to repairing this newly broken universe that He revealed would be the ultimate solution.
Redemption! The whole of creation groans because of the spiritual bondage it faces (Rm 8:22). Every human needs spiritual deliverance. You probably did not consider it very much until after you were set free by Christ, but your whole life you were in a sort of bondage (2:15). You felt it every time you pondered the unpleasantness and uncertainty of physical death. Everything that was depraved could be restored if the proper payment was made.
This moral life that God gave you was tainted by willful disobedience. Human life being in the blood requires a blood sacrifice. (Lev 17:11) “it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.” All descendants of the first human beings inherited their sinful nature. No natural human was able to die for another human and redeem them.
The Son of God took upon Himself human flesh and blood so that he could destroy the power of Lucifer also known as the Devil (Heb 2:14). You see, he is the one who holds the power of that death. The Father promised Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden that someday One would come through the seed of the woman that would crush the powerful head of Satan (Gen 3:15). Lucifer, that old snake, may have thought he was winning a battle when Jesus was nailed to that cross, but Jesus was winning the war for the souls of men.
The whole predicament seemed unsolvable. Imagine our amazement when we learned that the Son of God would become the Lamb of God. God the Son, co-equal with the Father, was responsible for our creation as well as everything else for “by him and for him are all things” (Heb 2:10). We could hardly imagine that the One “crowned with glory and honor” would submit to taking on the lower state–a status beneath even us as Heaven’s messengers (Heb 2:9).
I must admit that we messengers here in Heaven are curious about this glorious Gospel that the Son of God brought about to solve the problem of redemption. We all desire to look into these things on a regular basis but can never appreciate them in the same way a human that personally receives the gift of eternal life can (1 Pet 1:12).
Another reason the Son of God was made one of you rather than one of us was so that Jesus could be a “merciful and faithful high priest” (Heb 2:17). As the God-man, He even experiences the temptations that you face as part of a sin-cursed world. The only difference is that He never once caved into those tests. Also, having gone through those challenges as the God-man enables Him to be a sympathetic helper to those who come to Him (Heb 2:18).
It was a rare privilege for me to be part of the company of heavenly hosts that responded with a chorus of praise to God the night that the shepherds on the hillside were told that their Savior was born (Lk 2:14). “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men.” On that night, like never before, God was glorified and the man received God’s goodwill. God and man could now be reconciled. (Eph 2:13) “But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.”
God was doing the sanctifying work, mankind was being sanctified, and the result is all could be one (Heb 2:11). The family of God was restored. Humans could now be brothers with one another and with the Son of God. Jn 1:12 “as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name”
Yes, I must say that I was amazed when the Son of God came to mankind. I am more amazed when mankind does NOT come to the Son of God.
~ a monologue by Pastor Carl Wood (based on Hebrews 2:9-18)
