00:00Ready for more good news? You have a representative in heaven in the person of God's Son,
00:11Jesus Christ. Though Satan has access to God as your accuser, Jesus stands in your place before
00:18the Father and forever pleads your case to him. That's why believers must pay attention to the
00:24warning regarding the peril of falling away from the faith. God wants you to make a deliberate
00:29commitment to pay attention to your faith and not to neglect the things of God in your life.
00:35That's the only safeguard against drifting away from the faith. God loves a heart that says,
00:41yes, to him but responds with certain judgment to those who reject his gracious message.
00:47That's why he sent his Son, Jesus, to make a way for us to come back to him. Still, the humanity of
00:54Jesus must not be overlooked. No angel was ever subjected and made low enough to pay the penalty
01:00for all sinful humanity. Only Jesus willingly accepted that humble position when he became
01:07human. Only Jesus, not angels, was destined to rule over the future of the world because he gave
01:14his life to save it. God made man lower than the angels at creation. Psalm 8 makes it abundantly
01:21clear that humans were made lower than angels. Yet, Jesus, the God-man, who is higher than the
01:28angels, willingly humbled himself to a position lower than angels to bring about our redemption.
01:34Ultimately, God longs to honor us and exalt us as displays of his amazing workmanship,
01:40his ultimate creative achievement. Though created beings, angels were never given that astounding
01:47distinction. In fact, the Bible teaches us that those who trust God in Jesus will one day be joint
01:53heirs with him and join him in ruling over all of God's universe for eternity. No angel was created
02:00for that purpose. Though diminished from honor and cut off from God by sin's condemning power,
02:06humanity will once again be exalted to a place of honor by virtue of our relationship to God through
02:12Jesus Christ. Let's face it, the earth and the world's systems today don't look like they're under
02:18Jesus' authority. Yet, ultimately, that is precisely what God has ordained to occur. And you, as a believer in
02:27him, will join him in that exalted position. Yet, amid all the brokenness and heartache in the world, we can
02:35see Jesus as Savior and Lord. We see him as the answer to our deepest needs. We see him as a friend
02:42to sinners. We see him as our eternal high priest. We see him as he is, seated in power and glory at the
02:51right hand of the Father in heaven. Jesus suffered and tasted death to lead us back to God. He went
02:58through all of that to satisfy the righteous demands of a holy God. No angel could have done that.
03:04Moses would have failed. Abraham was not up for that task. Only Jesus. Only he could receive the
03:11bitter cup of suffering. And he did. Pressed against his parched lips, Jesus drank every bit of it,
03:18including death. He did this for you. Will you trust him? Will you believe?
