In Every Respect

Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. (Hebrews 2:17-18 ESV)

Beloved,

In the movie “October Baby, the officer says to the distraught female lead, “To be human is to be beautifully flawed.” He wanted to comfort the young woman who was trying to process the pain in her life. Although his intention was honorable, was he right? Does being human make us beautifully flawed?

Jesus was truly human and was not flawed. He was a true human that was not affected by the curse of Adam, but was the New Adam who came to perfectly obey God’s righteous law. Jesus is righteous, but

how does He make us righteous? The Scripture says that he had to be made like us in every respect. He had to give to God what we could not give; righteousness. Jesus was truly human, yet without sin and free from the effects of the fall. Jesus was made like us in our humanity yet without the curse of our first parents.

Therefore, Jesus lived as a man, and died as a man. Jesus died as a perfect human substitute for sinners. Jesus, the Righteous One, died for the unrighteous so that we could be brought to God. So in his death and resurrection, God’s wrath is turned from us to the man, Christ Jesus and the righteousness of the man, Christ Jesus, is given to us by faith. The only way for Jesus to become our merciful and faithful high priest was for him to become like us in every respect yet be without sin and to die in our place.

It is astounding that Jesus lived without sin. He was a man like us in every respect. He was tempted and He suffered when he was tempted. Therefore, He is able to sympathize with our suffering and with our temptation because he faced it himself. And yet he does more than just sympathize with us, but is able to help us who are being tempted. Jesus is our Savior, but he is also our example. We must throw aside our flaws and pursue his perfection. We should not rejoice in our flaws, but recognize that our flaws lead us to the Savior and should push us to heaven. We say with Paul,

Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus

Beloved, we have not already been made perfect, so let us press on toward the goal of full maturity in Christ. We are not perfect, but let us pursue the One who is.

In Christ,

Pastor Dave