Sermon #1651[1]                                                                    Miscellaneous Sermons

      Title:                     “He Was Made”

      Text:                     Hebrews 7:20

      Subject:   What Christ was Made to be as Our Substitute

      Introduction:

Three words found in Hebrews 7:20 have been on my heart, almost incessantly, in recent weeks.

(Hebrews 7:20) “And inasmuch as not without an oath he was made priest.”

“He was made.” — That is the title of my message – “He Was Made.”

Throughout the New Testament the word “made” is used to describe that which our blessed Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, became as our Mediator. “The Word was made flesh” (John 1:14). God’s dear Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, “was made of the seed of David according to the flesh” (Rom. 1:3). Just as “the first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit” (1 Cor. 15:45). “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree” (Gal. 3:13). “God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law” (Gal. 4:4-5). And the Lord Jesus was “made a surety of a better testament” (Heb. 7:22).

Caused to Be

In all those places, the word translated “made” means “caused to be,” or “caused to become.” — “He was made!”

·      “He was made.” — Three words that sound like the deep notes of a great organ in the cathedral of John’s gospel.

·      “He was made.” — Three words that appear as guiding lights upon high towers through the mountain ranges of Hebrews.

·      “He was made.” — Three words that bloom like fragrant, springtime flowers in the fertile gardens of 1^st and 2^nd Corinthians.

·      “He was made.” — Three words that form the solid foundation of all biblical theology in those masterpieces of Pauline theology: Romans, Galatians, and Ephesians.

All that the Lord Jesus Christ is as God, in his Divine Being, he is, if I may be permitted to use such language, by nature, from all eternity. Omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence, majesty and glory, infinity and immutability, sovereignty and supremacy, all are his by nature as God. But everything Christ is as the God-man, our Mediator, Substitute, and Representative, he was made to be, by virtue of his voluntary obedience to the Father’s will as our Savior, the Surety of the everlasting covenant. In this message, I want to show you from the Scriptures what Christ was made to be for the salvation of his people.

This Book that I hold in my hands, the Word of God, is a Book about the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the subject of every verse, the theme of every chapter, the chief character of every story. This is a “Him book.” It is all about “Him” — The Lord Jesus Christ who was always tender, but never weak — meek and lowly, but never timid and servile — mighty in conviction, but never cynical — zealous, but never fanatical —perfectly holy, but never Pharisaic — passionate for the truth, but never tainted with prejudice. — He never took a false step. He never spoke a false word. He was “holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners.” “Never a man spoke like this Man,” because there never was a man like this Man. He is the God-Man, the Man who is God! And this Book is all about him!

I want you to keep your Bibles open on your laps and follow me through the Scriptures. We are going to look at 10 passages of Holy Scripture to see what Christ was made to be for us. We will begin in Hebrews 7:22.

Proposition: All that Christ was made to be, he was made to be for one specific, glorious purpose. All that Christ was made, he was made for us, so that he might redeem unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

Made A Surety

(Hebrews 7:22) “By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament.”

In the beginning, before ever the earth was made, when the Triune God dwelt alone in the solitude of his own everlasting, ineffable glory, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God “was made a Surety of a better testament” (Heb. 7:22).

The word translated “testament” is the same word that is usually translated “covenant” in the Word of God. Christ was made the Surety of the Everlasting Covenant from eternity.

Illustration: Judah (Gen. 43:9) became surety for Benjamin; but Jacob refused to allow Reuben to be surety for him (Gen. 42:37-38), because Christ our Surety is he who came forth as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah.

·       The conditions of grace were proposed.

·       The Son of God volunteered to meet all the conditions required by the Father as our Substitute.

·       God the Father gave his elect into the hands of his Son, trusting him as our Surety, to redeem us.

·       The Father struck hands with the Son, and the covenant of grace was ordered in all things and sure, trusting him whom we also trust, after we heard the word of truth, the gospel of our salvation accomplished by Christ our Surety (Rom. 8:28-30; Eph. 1:3; 2 Tim. 1:9; 2 Sam. 23:5). — “He was made a Surety!” “Deliver him from going down into the pit, I have found a ransom!”

(2 Samuel 23:5) "Although my house be not so with God; yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure: for this is all my salvation, and all my desire, although he make it not to grow."

(Romans 8:28-30) "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. (29) For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. (30) Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified."

(Ephesians 1:3) "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ."

(2 Timothy 1:9) "Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began."

Made Flesh

(John 1:14) – “The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we behold his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”

Why? — “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh” (Rom. 8:3).

The first chapter of John is a marvelous compendium of sacred theology.

·       “In the beginning was the Word.” – These words teach us the eternality of Christ.

·       “And the Word was with God.” – These words teach us the equality of the Son with the Father.

·       “And the Word was God.” – These words teach us the Deity of Christ and the plurality of the Persons in the Godhead.

·       “The same was in the beginning with God.” – These words teach us our Savior’s pre-existence as the Word, the Revealer of God!

·       “All things were made by him.” – These words teach us that Christ is the Creator of all things.

·       “In him was life.” – These words teach us that all life is in Christ, comes from Christ, and finds its fullness in Christ. Christ is our Life!

·       “And the Light shineth in darkness.” – Those words speak of the revelation of Christ.

·       “And the darkness comprehended it not.” – These words reveal the moral depravity and spiritual darkness of all men since the fall of our father Adam.

·       “And the Word was made flesh.” – These words describe the incarnation of the Son of God, the union of two natures in Christ (2 Cor. 8:9).

All his other works God could do, and did do, without any cost or sacrifice. But God, in his matchless, infinite holiness, could not save his elect except by the sacrifice of his darling Son for us. Therefore, in order to save us, “The word was made flesh!” God almighty came into this world in a body of human flesh. He lived and breathed, grew and learned, hungered and thirsted, worked and ate, grew weary and slept, and suffered and died as a man. Yet, he never ceased to be God! — “The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us!”

Made Of A Woman

(Galatians 4:4) “When the fullness of time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law.”

Here the Holy Spirit tells us two more things about the incarnation of Christ. He was “made of a woman.” And he was “made under the law.”

The first statement speaks of our Savior’s virgin birth. Christ was “made of a woman” (Gen. 3:15; Isa. 7:14; 9:6; Lk. 1:30-35). Some doctrines are essential to biblical Christianity. Those who deny, or do not believe them are not Christians, but infidels. To deny them is to deny the faith.

·       The Sovereign Character Of God.

·       The Total Depravity Of Man.

·       The Deity Of Christ.

·       Effectual Redemption.

·       Irresistible Grace. — He who can alter the order of nature will have no problem altering the will of man.

·       Perseverance

These are fundamentals of the faith. And another of those vital indisputable, non-debatable articles of faith is the virgin birth of Christ. We do not adulate, praise, or worship Mary. She was a sinner just like us, saved by grace through faith in Christ. But we do worship, adore, and praise the Son of Mary, who is the Son of God, who came forth from the virgin’s womb.

I fully agree with I. M. Haldeman, who wrote, “He who denies the virgin birth denies Bible Christianity, smites the mother of our Lord with shame, snatches the crown of deity from Jesus’ brow, strips Christ of his sinless humanity, makes the cross a bloodstained failure, and bids us face eternity with no light in the darkness.”

The second statement in Galatians 4:4 speaks of our Lord’s voluntary humiliation and obedience to God as our Representative. — He was “made under the law (The Moral Law — The Ceremonial Law — Civil Law), to redeem them that were under the law.”

In order to save his people from their sins, in order to redeem us from the curse of the law by his death, the God-man had to first establish righteousness as a man for us by his obedience to every requirement of God’s holy law. He brought in everlasting righteousness. For us who deserved death, Christ was made under the law, and died under the law; but his death was the end of the law for righteousness to all who trust him.

Someone once said, “He arranged his own death sentence when he made the law and then bore his own fixed penalty in his own body on the tree.”

·       Christ made the law.

·       And he was made under the law.

·       Christ obeyed the law in his life.

·       And he satisfied the law in his death.

·       And, blessed be his name, Christ is the end of the law.

·       If I am in Christ, I can no more be made to be under the law than he can be made under the law again. In him, I am free from the law! “He was made of a woman, made under the law.”

Made David’s Seed

In the opening verses of Romans 1 Paul describes “the gospel of God” in tremendously instructive language.

(Romans 1:1-6) “Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, (2) (Which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures,) (3) Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; (4) And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead: (5) By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name: (6) Among whom are ye also the called of Jesus Christ.”

In verse 3, God the Holy Spirit tells us that God’s darling Son, our Savior, “was made of the seed of David according to the flesh.” — This refers to the royal descent of Christ from David’s family and asserts his rightful claim as a man to David’s throne. It is a declaration that he is indeed the Christ, the Messiah…

·       Typified by David.

·       Prophesied by David.

·       Promised by David.

·       Descended from David.

“He was made of the seed of David.”

Made Sin

(2 Corinthians 5:21) “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”

God the Father “hath made him sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” — What an astounding statement! I know of nothing more vastly vast! Here is the holy of holies into which unhallowed eyes cannot look, behind the veil of which unsanctified minds cannot intrude.

The Lord Jesus Christ “knew no sin.” — “In him is no sin!” He challenged the Jews, saying, “Which of you convinceth me of sin?” The very worst thing that his enemies could say of him was, “He made himself the Son of God.” “Being a man, he made himself equal with God,” and, “This man receiveth sinners and eateth with them!” Pilate said repeatedly, “I find no fault in him!” Pilate’s wife called him, a “just man!” Judas, refusing to die with the lie on his lips, said, “I have betrayed innocent blood!” And the centurion who watched him die said, “Surely, this Man was the Son of God!” — “He knew no sin!”

Yet, he was “made sin for us!” All the sins of God’s elect being made his, Christ was made sin and died under the penalty of sin as the object of God’s holy wrath, because in the eyes of God’s law, he fully deserved to die! Christ “his ownself bare our sins in his own body on the tree!” “He was made,” by a marvelous transfer of grace, “sin for us,” the people of his love!

We have been looking at wondrous things. In all those other places, the word translated “made” means “caused to be,” or “caused to become.” In 2^nd Corinthians 5:21 we read, “He hath made him sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” Here, the Holy Spirit inspired the apostle to use a different, even stronger word for “made.” Here, the word translated “made” means, “produced, created, or caused to become.”

When the Lord of Glory died in our room and stead upon the cursed tree, he was caused to be, caused to become sin for us! He was not made to be something that looked like sin, or made to be treated as though he were sin. No. He was made sin for us. He who knew no sin was made sin in all its hideous ugliness. Had he not been made sin for us, he could never have been punished for our sins by the justice of God (Pro. 17:15).

(Proverbs 17:15) “He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are abomination to the LORD.”

Because our blessed Savior was made sin for us, and punished for our sins to the full satisfaction of justice, he has completely and forever put away our sins by the sacrifice of himself; and we have been made the righteousness of God in him. By virtue of our union with Christ, God’s elect are righteous, perfectly righteous before God, because Christ is made of God unto us righteousness and we are the righteousness of God in him.

These things are too profound, too great, too mysterious for me to comprehend; but they are not too great for me to believe. — Just as Christ was made sin for me, in the same way and to the same extent, I am made the righteousness of God in him. — Just as Christ was punished (justly rewarded) for my sin that was made his as my Substitute, I shall be justly rewarded with everlasting life and glory for his righteousness that has been made mine by his grace.

I am astonished and sickened by the fact that some find these things “alarming,” “dangerous,” even “heretical.” They are not even debatable. I cannot imagine why anyone would even think about debating them.

·       Can that be dangerous or heretical, which God has stated?

·       Is it possible to state the doctrine of the cross in the very language of Holy Scripture and yet misstate it?

Of course not! It must be concluded that anyone who objects to these sweet revelations of our God, so plainly given in his Word, has no regard for the Word of God, has for his object something other than the glory of God, and desires to corrupt the people of God “from the simplicity that is in Christ.”

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Lord of glory, was…

·       Made A Surety!

·       Made Flesh

·       Made Of A Woman!

·       Made Under The Law!

·       Made Of The Seed Of David!

But here is the wonder of wonders, the greatest miracle of mercy, the greatest deed of grace, the greatest act of God — He was “made sin for us!” — “That we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” Though God loved his elect with an everlasting love and chose us as the heirs of eternal salvation, he could not and would not have us unless we were made perfectly righteous in his sight. And he could not make us righteous without the satisfaction of his justice. And his holy justice could not slay his innocent Son. The sword of justice could never slay an innocent Substitute.

(Exodus 23:7) “Keep thee far from a false matter; and the innocent and righteous slay thou not: for I will not justify the wicked.”

(Proverbs 17:15) “He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are abomination to the LORD.”

(Proverbs 24:24) “He that saith unto the wicked, Thou art righteous; him shall the people curse, nations shall abhor him.”

(Isaiah 5:23) “Which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him!”

(1 Peter 3:18) “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:”

Before God could cry, “Awake, O sword against my Son,” the Son of God must be made to be sin for us! “He was made to be sin for us.!”

Made A Curse

(Galatians 3:13) “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:”

When the Lord Jesus Christ was made sin for us, he was made a curse for us! “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree.” (See Deut. 21:23.)

(Deuteronomy 21:23) “His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.”

Imagine that! The Son of God, who delights to do his Father’s will, who always pleased his Father, who has now come to the final act of his voluntary obedience, is made a curse for us!

·       He was made the object of God’s wrath!

·       He died under the terrifying fury of God’s justice!

·       He was made a curse for us, that the blessing of Abraham (all the blessedness of free, covenant grace and everlasting salvation) might come on us by the effectual grace of his Spirit (v. 14).

(Galatians 3:14) “That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.”

Made Lord And Christ

Turn to Acts 2:36. — Now that the curse is removed from him, now that he has ceased from sin (1 Pet. 4:1), and has been “justified in the Spirit” (1 Tim. 3:16), God the Father has given him the throne of universal dominion he promised to him as the reward of his obedience (Ps. 2:8). — “Therefore,” we read in Acts 2:36, “Let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.”

(John 17:2) “As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.”

(Romans 14:9) “For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living.”

(Philippians 2:9-11) “Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

(Hebrews 2:9) “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.”

(Isaiah 45:22-25) “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. 23 I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. 24 Surely, shall one say, in the LORD have I righteousness and strength: even to him shall men come; and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed. 25 In the LORD shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory.”

The basis of our Redeemer’s appeal to sinners in the gospel is his sovereign Lordship! “He was made both Lord and Christ!”

Made Priest

(Hebrews 7:20) “And inasmuch as not without an oath he was made priest:”

He was not made a priest. He was not made one priest among many. “He was made priest,” — The only Priest and Mediator between God and man!

·       A Sacrificing Priest!

·       A Sympathizing Priest!

·       A Saving Priest!

·       A Serving Priest!

·       A Satisfied Priest!

·       A Sovereign Priest! – “A Priest upon a throne!”

·       A Satisfying Priest (Num. 6:24-26).

(Numbers 6:24-26) “The LORD bless thee, and keep thee: (25) The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: (26) The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.”

Made A Quickening Spirit

Because he has satisfied the law, being made sin and a curse for sin, because he is a King with sovereign authority to give life to whom he will, because he is the Priest whom God appointed, anointed, and accepted, the Lord Jesus Christ has been made a quickening Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45).

(1 Corinthians 15:45) “And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.”

That simply means – “The Son quickeneth whom he will” (John 5:21). God formed the first man Adam out of the dust of the earth. Then, he breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul. God raised the last man Adam out of the dust of the earth and made him the life giving Soul, the life giving Breath! The Lord Jesus Christ gives eternal life to all to whom he wills to give eternal life. He “quickeneth whom he will.”

·       All For Whom He Is A Surety!

·       All For Whom He Was Made Sin!

·       All For Whom He Suffered The Curse Of The Law!

·       All For Whom He Prays As A Priest!

·       All Who Hear His Voice!

Made All to Us

1 Corinthians 1:30-31 – If the Lord Jesus Christ, who was made a quickening Spirit, has given you life and faith by his sovereign grace, then he is made of God unto you “Wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.”

(1 Corinthians 1:30-31) “But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: 31 That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.”

In other words, Christ is to you all that God requires from you! With regard to the everlasting salvation of our souls, “Christ is all!”

Christ is our Wisdom. — Representatively before God. — Efficiently, giving us wisdom from God. — Objectively, it being our highest wisdom to know him and be found in him. — And graciously, giving us acceptance with God.

Christ is our Righteousness. — As he was made to be sin for us, so we have been made the righteousness of God in him, by the same method, to the same degree. — Christ our Righteousness is that righteousness that exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees. — Christ our Righteousness is that “holiness without which no man shall see the Lord!”

Christ is our Sanctification. — In Christ we were set apart for holy purposes from eternity (Jude 1). — Declared to be holy in justification (Heb. 10:10, 14). — Made holy in regeneration by the righteous nature of Christ being imparted to us (1 Cor. 6:11). Through the washing of regeneration by the word (Eph. 5:26; Tit. 3:5).

Christ is our Redemption. — He has redeemed us from the curse of the law, the penalty of sin by his precious blood. — He has redeemed us from the dominion, rule, and power of sin by his omnipotent grace. — And he shall redeem us from the grave, from the being of sin and the consequences of sin in resurrection glory!

Application: Do you see something of the fullness of those words — “He was made”? “He was made…”

·       The Surety Of A Better Covenant!

·       Flesh!

·       Of A Woman! Made Under The Law!

·       Of The Seed Of David!

·       Sin For Us!

·       A Curse For Us!

·       Lord And Christ!

·       Priest!

·       A Quickening Spirit!

·       Unto Us Wisdom, Righteousness, Sanctification, And Redemption!

Why are these things revealed as they are in the Scripture? “That according as it is written, he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord!”

Amen!

Don Fortner

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