The
Captain Made Perfect Hebrews 2:10
Christ was the Captain of
our salvation from eternity. He was our Savior from everlasting. But in order
to save us, in order to bring us to glory, the Lord Jesus Christ had to be
perfected as a Savior. He had to experience something himself if he would be a
perfect and complete Savior. What does that mean?
Christ was not made perfect
in his character by suffering. He was always perfect, both as God and as man.
But he was made perfect officially, as the Captain of our salvation. To perform
the office of a Savior, to save lost sinners from their just and righteous
condemnation, Christ had to possess three things: merit, power and sympathy. The only way he could obtain
all three was by those things which he suffered, which consummated in his death
as the sinners' Substitute.
Merit
The Savior of men must have
such merit with God that God can, consistently with the perfections of his
nature and the requirements of his law, reverse the sentence of condemnation
passed upon those for whom Christ suffered and died. He must have such infinite
merit that we can through his merit alone obtain all the blessings of grace and
glory, without any works of our own, without any merit of our own.
Power
The Captain of our salvation
must possess all power, in heaven and in earth, so that he may, by the sheer
power of his will make ignorant, depraved, helpless, miserable sinners, wise,
and good, and happy. He must have such absolute control of all things that he
can make all things work together for the salvation of his people.
Sympathy
Moreover, the Savior of men
must be able to sympathize with, he must be able to enter into the feelings of,
those whom he is to deliver and save. All these things are necessary if the Son
of God is to be a perfect Savior; and all these things were obtained by him
through the things which he suffered.
By his incarnation he became
a Savior of infinite merit. The Savior of men must be a man, because man had
sinned and man must suffer. But man, even a perfect man, does not have merit of
infinite worth for the saving of other men. Our Savior must also be God,
because none but God has infinite merit to satisfy the claims of divine
justice. Christ, the God-man, is both fully man and fully God.
The Lord Jesus Christ
obtained the power to save as the reward of his obedience unto death as our
substitute (John 17:2; Heb 7:25). This power is the legal, judicial power given
to him as our Mediator, the power he earned as the God-man by his obedience
unto death as our Substitute.
The Son of God became a
sympathizing Savior by the things he suffered as a man for us (Heb 2:18; 4:15).
Only one who has suffered can be touched with the suffering of others.
Made Perfect
Now, the Captain of our
salvation has been made perfect. The Lord Jesus Christ is a perfect savior. He
has made a perfect expiation of sin. He has brought in a perfect righteousness.
His holy heart is filled with a perfect sympathy for his needy people. He is a
perfect example for us to follow. He has perfect power, and is able to save all
who come unto God by him perfectly!