10/22/06 - Pentecost 20 - Heb. 2:9-11

CHRIST IS THE FOUNDER OF OUR SALVATION
- Through suffering and death
- In honor and glory

Alexandria. The city of Alexandria is so named because Alexander the Great founded it. Philippi, the city to which Paul wrote the letter to the Philippians, is so named because King Philip II of Macedonia founded it. The state of Pennsylvania is so named because William Penn owned the land - literally Pennsylvania means: Penn’s Woods. Many times when cities or states or countries were begun, the founder had the distinction of giving his name to that plot of land. And in most cases, from that time on, the founder’s name would be forever linked to what he established.
One of the most important and honorable titles we give to Jesus is “Savior.” Why? Because he is the founder of our salvation. And that’s just what our text says. The writer to the Hebrews calls Jesus “the author of our salvation.” That word for “author” means the initiator or the founder. It is the Greek word used for someone who founded a city and gave his name to it. So Jesus is the founder of our salvation. And his name will be forever linked with what he established.
But Jesus is not like any other founder in the history of the world. In fact, he’s just the opposite. The founders of history may have founded a place because they received the land as a gift, or they may have conquered a territory, or they may have just wanted to immortalize their names for centuries to come. But none of these is the reason Jesus is the founder of our salvation. Jesus is the founder of our salvation because he suffered death.
That may seem strange, but that was the only way. Jesus had to suffer death. In fact, our text says that God made Jesus “perfect through suffering.” Now Jesus was certainly perfect up unto that point. But when he suffered death he was confirmed in that perfection. It was the last and most important thing he had to accomplish perfectly for our salvation. And so there was no way around it. He had to suffer death or we would not be saved.
And that means all the pains that are associated with death. He hung on a cross draining blood with stakes through his hands and feet and thorns in his skull for six to seven hours. And let’s not forget about the scourging he received just before that. I’m sure those wounds were still bleeding as he was stretched out on the cross. Of course he was also slapped and punched and hit with a rod that day - beatings that would be painful enough by themselves. He was suffering all that physical pain in the act of death - and he had to - because Isaiah prophesied that he would be “pierced,” “crushed,” “oppressed,” “afflicted.” And so that is what Jesus had to experience. In fact, Isaiah says that “it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer.”
Pain and suffering that causes death has to be the most excruciating thing a person could ever go through in this life. But that’s not all Jesus had to go through. On top of all those physical pains of death he went through, he also had to suffer all the pains of eternal death. When he was on that cross he experienced the pains of hell itself. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Jesus cried out these words in agony because his Father had left him. That is hell. God leaving you. Abandoning you. Forsaking you. And there was no other way. Jesus had to be left by his Father so that he could experience hell alone - for us. We deserved it. He took it. We earned hell. Jesus paid for it. He suffered the punishment of damnation - not only for all your sins, but for all the sins of all the people of all time - all at once. “Surely he took up our infirmities,” Isaiah said, “and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.” And Jesus suffered all this pain and agony, our text says, “so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.” Jesus suffered death like no one has ever suffered death before, so that he could be the founder of our salvation.
Do you realize how close you were to suffering the very same thing? Before you were brought to faith in Jesus as your Savior you were close. You were headed south. And there was nothing you could do about it. I just don’t think we always remember how close we actually were. Before you were brought to faith, whether at your baptism as a child or later on in life, hell is where you were headed. Hell is where I was headed before the Lord adopted me through baptism. Don’t forget that. Don’t forget how close you were to hell and don’t forget what Jesus had to go through hell to pull you away. Because we do. We do forget that. It was so long ago and seems so far away that it’s not as fresh to us as it should be. For a lot of us, and I’m included, salvation has lost its novelty. Salvation has lost its novelty. Isn’t that terrible? We’re just like a child who receives a wonderful, very expensive, and very thoughtful birthday gift from his grandparents. The child thanks his grandparents, gives them a huge hug, plays with this brand-new, expensive gift for 2 days straight… and then it’s over. It gets kicked under the bed because he gets tired of it. It’s no longer new. It’s no longer exciting. It’s lost its novelty.
Salvation is nothing new to us. We’ve had it for years. But don’t ever let it lose its novelty, its freshness, its excitement. Don’t forget to thank Christ for what he did on the cross each and every day because his death is the greatest gift he has ever given you. Because in his death we have life.
Christ is the founder of our salvation. He has established it by his death. His name is forever linked to it. And because of that, because he suffered death, Scripture says he is “now crowned with honor and glory.” Crowned by his Father himself. The book of Philippians gives us a beautiful summary of how God the Father crowned Jesus his Son with honor. Jesus “humbled himself and became obedient to death - even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him a name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” That is the honor the Father placed on his Son. That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth. As Peter said, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” The name of Jesus is the only name of our salvation, because he is its only founder.
And since he is crowned with honor for what he accomplished, he is also crowned with glory. Now honor and glory are similar, but there is a difference. Honor is giving respect to someone for what he has done. Glory is thanks and praise for what that someone has done for you. Jesus receives both. He is respected for what he has done, but he is also thanked and praised by every Christian for the salvation he has founded. We can all proclaim Psalm 98: “Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things; his right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation.” And as we on this earth join together singing this Psalm, the saints in heaven, clothed in white robes, and waving palm branches sing, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb,” for “now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ!” And so our praises here are just the beginning. Every hymn we sing in this congregation, every psalm we repeat on this earth, every note of praise we breath in this life, will be held out, will crescendo into heaven, and will be echoed into eternity.
Because that is where we are going. That is where we will be - guaranteed. We believe that Jesus is our Savior from sins, that his death wiped our guilt away, and that we don’t have to do anything for heaven because Christ has done it all. So we will be the ones in white robes. We will be the ones waving palm branches. We will be the ones that John saw in the book of Revelation amidst a multitude of saints that no one can count from every tribe, language, people, and nation giving glory to our Savior - we will be those people because we too will be glorified. That’s right, we will be glorified along with Christ. Our text says that God will bring “many sons [and daughters] to glory.” And how mind-boggling is that act of grace! We who have sinned against the Lord countless times by letting salvation lose its novelty, by forgetting to thank him, by neglecting to honor him… we sinners will be glorified. We will be forgiven and placed at the throne next to the Lord our Savior, the author, the founder of our salvation!
I don’t know what else to say. Our sermon text today has said it all. It has led us to a knowledge of our sins and how we have taken our salvation for granted, it has shown us the death Christ had to suffer, and it has finally led us into God’s glorious kingdom of heaven, where we will not only glorify the Lord, but we, too, will be glorified along with him. What a text! What grace! There is nothing more to say, except praise be to our Lord Jesus Christ, the author, the originator, the founder of our salvation!
Amen.

“Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God!” - Rev. 19:1