♪ theme music ♪
(Derek) Welcome to Hope Sabbath School,
an in-depth, interactive study
of the Word of God.
We're in the middle of a series
on The Message to the Hebrews.
It's also a message for us,
and it's all about Jesus; our topic today,
Jesus, Our Faithful Brother.
Yes, He is our King, our Champion,
our great High Priest, but He's also,
according to the book of Hebrews, our faithful Brother.
And I'm praying you'll be blessed
as we study together today.
So, welcome to Hope Sabbath School,
welcome to the team,
good to see you again.
You'll notice I'm a little excited,
and that's because Travis,
one of our team members,
will be teaching today.
Travis, glad to have you
on this great topic.
We're also really happy
to have a couple of our team members
joining us remotely, and we want to say hi
to Gleny down in Florida.
Gleny, great to see you again.
And also Rodney up in Toronto
in Canada, good to see you, Rodney.
And, you know, we've got
Hope Sabbath School members
all around the world, but we're just glad
they could be with us as we study today.
I don't want to forget that we have
a special gift for you during this series
on The Message to the Hebrews.
It's all about Jesus, and so we thought
we'll offer you a resource
about who Jesus was and what He taught.
It's on the teachings of Jesus.
You can receive either an audiobook or a PDF.
Just go to hopetv.org/hopess.
All you have to do is click
on a little button in the middle
of the page that says "Free Gift."
It's that simple; you'll get a link,
and you'll be able to download
that resource about Jesus.
That's what this book
of Hebrews is all about.
I want to also just welcome those of you
or share some emails we've received
from Hope Sabbath School members around the world.
Here's one from Moses,
good Bible name, in Nigeria.
Moses writes and says, "Shalom."
Well, it didn't get much of a response.
How about a wave for Nigeria?
"I was introduced to Hope Sabbath School
by my friend's mother
for more than a year now.
We used to gather in her house and watch
Hope Sabbath School every week."
So, we can do that, right?
It's like a missionary activity.
"Your teachings are so edifying,
it's made me love God
so much more." Praise God.
"Whenever I felt bored,
then I would remember
Hope Sabbath School Bible study is coming,
and I would feel joy
for the rest of the day.
Your one hour is like ten minutes
because we love to hear more and more."
You say, "I think I'd like to meet Moses."
The Word of God is blessing his life, right?
"With Hope Sabbath School now,
I know why my late mother used to say,
'The Word of God is so sweet.'
Thanks to Hope Sabbath School.
God bless you all
as you continue to bless us."
Well, Moses, thanks for sharing
your testimony with us
from Northern Nigeria.
I know your mother,
obviously a follower of Jesus,
will rejoice on that resurrection day
when we'll all gather together
in the Kingdom of God.
Bernard writes to us from Norway.
Now, Bernard is actually a physician
from Ghana ministering in Northern Norway,
but he says, "I am truly blessed
by the interactive Bible studies
on Hope Sabbath School.
May the Lord richly bless the entire team
and all of the Hope Sabbath School members
around the world," and we say?
(Derek, Team) Amen.
(Derek) "It's my prayer
that many more people
will be led to Jesus
through Hope Sabbath School.
And those of us who are
already followers of Jesus would have
a deeper relationship with the Savior."
Well, thanks so much, Bernard.
We're always happy to hear from you.
God bless you and your family
as you continue to serve Him there.
Well, here's a real note.
It's from a donor in New Jersey.
And I just want to say thank you
to all of our donors;
we're a donor-supported ministry here.
These are volunteers that you see,
come on their own steam.
That means, whether they fly or drive,
however they get here,
they're here because they believe in the mission
of Hope Sabbath School. Amen?
(Team) Amen.
(Derek) And so, we want to thank you
that you're helping that broadcast to go,
to impact lives around the world.
I have a donor letter here from New Jersey
in the United States,
and I want to just say thank you
to all of you who partner with us.
We're a donor-supported ministry.
This donor writes and says,
"I am a Jamaican living between Jamaica
and the United States."
I don't think she's living between,
but you know what I mean, both places.
"I enjoy watching Hope Sabbath School
every morning and on Friday evening
with my grandchildren.
I'm so blessed to be part
of this great work.
Enclosed is a gift to help
the gospel go to the world." Amen?
(Team) Amen.
(Derek) And a gift of 500 dollars
to help the ministry
of Hope Sabbath School.
Thank you, Donor from New Jersey,
and thanks to each one.
You can just go to hopetv.org/donate,
be part of the miracle and say,
"I want to be a part
of making a difference in the world."
Thank you so much.
Jackson writes to us from Zambia
and says, "Thank you
for Hope Sabbath School.
I am so blessed by your interactions.
You know, it's been kind of difficult
for me to study the Bible,
to stand and make a proper contribution.
But from the time I started
watching Hope Sabbath School,
it's changed me a lot."
(Travis) Praise God.
(Derek) "Now, I'm confident to stand
and to interact with others
and to deliver the Bible study
with the mighty Spirit of Jesus in me."
(Team) Amen.
(Derek) "Again, I say thank you very much.
Regards to all the team there,
including Jason, Tricia Lee,"
who's not here today,
but, Jason, you're here, right,
"and everyone else."
Well, Jackson, thanks for writing to us.
By the way, Hope Channel Zambia
God's using to be a great blessing,
and we also want to have special prayer
because the President Elect of Zambia,
I hope you watch Hope Sabbath School,
he's a Master Guide and an active member
of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
So, God bless all
of the Hope Sabbath School members there
in the beautiful country of Zambia.
One last note, from Christopher,
living in Canada, originally from New Jersey.
"My name is Christopher.
I'm writing to you
from Slave Lake, Alberta."
That just sounds cold, just the name.
"I really enjoy your programs.
Keep up the good work.
I especially like the theme songs,
and I hope some day," Christopher says,
"we can sing together."
Well, Christopher, we need
your help right now.
We'd like you to sing
our theme song with us.
By the way, if you don't know it yet,
download it from our website,
hopetv.org/hopess.
You can download the MP3 file
and the sheet music; we've learned it.
It's a 3,000-year-old Scripture song,
"Bless the Lord, O my soul."
Let's sing it together.
♪ music ♪
(Derek) It's hard for me to stay still
when I hear that song,
"Bless the Lord, O my soul;
and all that's within me,
bless His holy name!"
And, Travis, I know as you teach today,
we're going to hear
some good news about Jesus.
So, God bless you as you lead the study.
(Travis) Shall we bow our heads and pray?
Father in Heaven, we're so grateful
to be here to open up the Word
and study, Lord, how Jesus became our Brother.
It's exciting news to think that You want
to be so close to each and every one of us
that You actually would think of us
as brothers and sisters.
Well, Father, we ask
that the Holy Spirit would be here,
that we would understand.
Give us wisdom and understanding,
that we may shed light to the world
about how good and how great You are.
In Jesus' name. Amen.
(Derek, Team) Amen!
(Travis) I'm excited to share
and to lead today's study
because, well, because I have a brother.
I have a sister as well.
I actually have two brothers,
but one of my brothers, his name is Joe,
we talk to each other almost every day,
so at least every other day,
and just about everything, about life,
about God, about family.
And I can't even imagine my life
without my brother.
Well, then I started to think about Jesus,
and I thought, "I can't imagine
my life without Jesus!"
And I thought, "Wow, this is going to be
a great study,"
because we're going to learn
how Jesus became our faithful Brother.
And so, we're going
to be comparing some verses
as we begin today's study.
And, Rodney, I'm going to have you turn
to Leviticus, chapter 25,
and read verse 25 and then 47 through 49.
And then, Livinia, if you would turn
to Hebrews 2:14-16, I will have you
read that as soon as Rodney is finished.
(Rodney) And I'm reading
from the King James Version:
Forty-seven to forty-nine:
(Travis) Thank you, Rodney.
And would you now read
from Hebrews, chapter 2:14-16, Livinia?
(Livinia) Certainly, reading
from the New Living Translation:
(Travis) I like that version, Livinia.
So, how did Jesus pay
the debt that we owed?
(Abigail) By shedding His blood and dying for us.
(Travis) By shedding His blood, okay?
(Derek) I was thinking, back to Leviticus
that Rodney...where it said,
"If he can, he can redeem himself."
And I thought, "We can't do that," right?
(Travis) Right.
(Derek) People try, but we
can't redeem ourselves, so Jesus comes
like the Old Testament kinsman redeemer,
and He does for us
what we cannot do for ourselves.
(Travis) Yes, Jonathan.
(Jonathan) I think it's on multiple levels
because, I mean, on one hand
we have sold ourselves out
in a debt of guilt and a debt
of hurt to other people.
And so, there's the redemption
in our own hearts, of our consciences.
There's the redemption
of the effect of other people.
So, I guess on multiple levels
He has to do many things, so I'm not sure.
(Travis) Okay. Sabina?
(Sabina) And what I'm thinking also,
in relating to Leviticus,
especially the second text
that talks about having a rich relative,
for me I find that Jesus
is this rich relative in the sense
that He lived a sinless life
that I in my sinful nature
am not able to live fully just as He did.
So, with His richness of sinlessness,
He was able to pay the price
that I'm not able to pay for.
So, in this sense that's how He is my Savior.
(Travis) So, it was more than just Jesus
having to just come and pay the price;
it was more personal than that, right?
He became, well, as our lesson says,
our Kinsman Redeemer, blood relative,
so to speak, right?
And it was personal,
as Jonathan was mentioning.
So, how does this work, this gracious work
that God has done for us through Jesus,
reveal the immeasurable, unfailing love? Sabina?
(Sabina) I think we just said,
that Jesus Himself, He didn't need that.
He was sinless, and He didn't need
to pay any price for His own salvation.
He was already the reigning King of the universe.
So, for me, in a sense this reveals
truly God's outpouring love upon us
because He wants us
to be with Him for eternity.
So, that's how He displays
to me so much love.
He didn't need that for Himself,
but for our own sake.
(Travis) Did He give up anything?
Did He give up anything
to do this work, Jason?
(Jason) Yeah, He gave up His power,
His ability to use His divinity
whenever He wanted to.
And He became human, so He had to have
our same weaknesses that we hate
and our same human struggles.
(Travis) I'm thinking
of Matthew, chapter 13.
There's a parable where a man
goes and sells all he can
to buy a field because of the treasure.
Of course, that treasure is all of us.
And so, here Jesus gives,
and He counted it joy, by the way,
to come and give everything up. Yes, Jonathan.
(Jonathan) I think also He
identifies Himself with us.
So, He takes on the fact
that I have done these terrible things;
He says, "Yeah, that's My son.
That's My redeemed one."
And so, He takes on that debt,
that debt of that sin and has to proclaim
to the universe why it's okay
for Jonathan to come to Heaven
and live for eternity.
(Derek) And a text flashed into my mind,
Jonathan, that having done that,
"If anyone is in Christ,
she is a new creation,"
"he is a new creation."
So, He is not only redeeming me
from the penalty of my transgression
but from the bondage of sin.
He's setting me free
to be the daughter of God, the son of God
that I was created to be; that's awesome.
(Travis) And He became to partake
of the same humanity that we live,
to experience the things
that we go through
so that He could show that love.
Gleny and then Nancy.
(Gleny) Yeah, I like how you mentioned
that He counted it as joy
to come and do this for us.
He wasn't dragging His feet
as the kinsman, like, "Ah,
I have to do this, oh, no!"
It was a pleasure; He wanted
to do it out of His love.
So, that gives even more comfort
knowing that the price He paid
wasn't a burden for Him.
(Travis) He was looking at us
and saying, "Gleny is My sister!"
and, "Jonathan is My brother."
Of course, I feel the same way
about my brothers, that I would want
to do anything to save them as well. Nancy.
(Nancy) I wanted to say that it was
an incredible risk that He took.
Imagine coming to this earth as a baby?!
I mean, anything can happen.
But God entrusted Jesus to Mary,
and, you know, He Himself
influenced His upbringing.
And He did it all for us.
It was an incredible risk.
I also wanted to say that it reminds me,
the Kinsman Redeemer idea reminds me
of when a relative who has
the same type of blood,
gives blood to the relative.
You know, you need someone
that is of your own blood type
to do that for you,
and that's what Jesus did for us.
He was our closest relative,
and He came through for us.
(Travis) Amen. Not only was He close,
as Gleny had mentioned, right,
He counted it joy.
It wasn't something that's like,
He wasn't dragging His feet
as she had just mentioned.
He was actually excited.
Well, we're going to move on
to the next part of our lesson,
not ashamed to call us
His brothers and sisters, right?
And, Sabina, if you would read
Hebrews, chapter 2, verse 11,
we're going to learn
why Jesus wasn't ashamed
to call us His brothers and sisters.
(Sabina) Okay, so I'll be reading
from the New King James Version,
and Hebrews 2, verse 11, says:
(Travis) So, what do you think, Abigail,
why isn't Jesus ashamed
to call us brothers and sisters?
(Abigail) He believes and knows
that we are the children of God,
that we are all siblings.
(Travis) There's a closeness.
How did it describe it, Sabina,
the closeness, that we are...
The Sanctifier and the ones being sanctified are...?
(Derek, Travis) One.
(Sabina) One, yes.
(Travis) There's a closeness. Jason.
(Jason) And sanctification is a process,
so He's changing us
because when I look at myself, I'm like,
"Yeah, I'm a brother of Jesus?"
I'm like, "Jesus? No way."
I see all my sinful self.
But what Jesus is doing
is He's changing us to become like Him.
(Travis) You know, that's important.
I think to mention,
there's a verb there, "being," right?
It's not instantaneous.
Some people might say,
"I don't feel like I'm there yet."
Well, Jesus has promised to continue
to take us on this walk
and to sanctify those
who put their faith in Him. Livinia.
(Livinia) Because He is the author
and the finisher of our faith,
He sees us not as we are,
He sees us as we will be
as we allow His Holy Spirit
to continue to work in our lives.
(Travis) Praise God. Yes, Sabina.
(Sabina) Amen. I love your question also
because it makes me realize
that there are many opportunities
in which I personally may have felt
ashamed to have some associations.
I think we all as humans,
we can relate to that.
You know, sometimes if you see someone
doing something that you disapprove of,
you may not want to be seen
with that person; isn't that true?
Even though God calls us
to be loving and kind and to approach,
we also have the humanness in us
that makes us, like, "Oh,
how do I approach that?"
And I think this is an invitation also
of God for us, to be loving towards other people
and to associate with them
in a healthy level.
I think you understand what I am saying,
not doing the same things, necessarily,
but in love and kindness,
not to be ashamed of other people.
And in the same manner,
it just humbles me so much
that He, knowing me deeply
and everything that I am,
He's not ashamed of who I am,
And that's just beautiful, to associate with me.
(Travis) I think that's really a beautiful point.
I'm just thinking of the Garden of Eden.
Adam and Eve have just sinned, right,
and of course, if God was like we are
in the human flesh,
He would be, like, "I don't
want to hang out with them anymore."
But He doesn't; He actually is looking for them
and then even [asks] them,
a remarkable theme, "Who told you you were naked?"
The feelings they were feeling
weren't something that God
had brought on them
but something that Satan,
you know, what sin does.
That's the natural consequence of sin. Jonathan.
(Jonathan) I mentioned it once before,
but I find verse 10 interesting as well,
where it points out
that there's a shared experience
between Christ and us
where we go through similar things, and we struggle.
We have to look to the Father
and trust Him just like Christ did.
And so, there's that sense
in that we're kind of family as well.
(Travis) Thank you, Jonathan.
Nancy, would you read
Hebrews 11:24-26 for us?
This is talking about Moses.
Of course, the question
that we're going to be asking
is how did the decision of Moses
foreshadow the work of Jesus our Messiah?
If you don't mind reading that for us,
again, Hebrews, chapter 11,
verses 24 through 26, Nancy.
(Nancy) Sure, I'll be reading
from the New American Standard Bible, 24 through 26:
(Travis) I was thinking about that
as I was studying the lesson.
These do not mirror each other exactly
because the thing that Moses
was giving up, okay, well,
that was just temporary.
The pleasures of sin
were just for a season.
But the thing that Jesus gave up,
that was Heaven; there was no sin;
there was no sorrow; there was no pain.
So Jesus actually gave up a lot more,
that He could come down,
and He could experience,
not only experience
what we went through, but, what?
To save us, right, and to redeem us.
Jesus, our Kinsman,
our faithful, redeeming Brother.
Well, what is an appropriate response
to the condescension
of the Son of God coming down and...
What is an appropriate response?
(Jonathan) Worship.
(Travis) Jonathan says "worship."
(Sabina) And joy.
(Travis) Joy. Doesn't the Bible say,
"With lovingkindness I have drawn you"?
So when we are drawn,
there's a response, right?
(Sabina) And also, Travis, I would say,
going along with what I just shared,
but just reinforcing it even more,
I think my response
is to do the same for other people.
That's my response to this lovingkindness.
Who am I not to love other people?
(Travis) Thank you, Sabina. Rodney.
(Rodney) My response also as a result
of experiencing this love
that He has extended to me,
I can't help it but share it with others.
They, too, should know
about this immeasurable love
that Jesus has for us.
It's just amazing to experience,
and we just cannot keep it to ourselves.
Hence, why we're doing
Hope Sabbath School, to share
His love to the world.
(Travis) I agree with you, Rodney.
I want to read Matthew 10:32,
if I could have Jason read that,
Matthew, chapter 10:32-33.
We're going to build on Rodney's response.
I think he's absolutely right.
I also was thinking of the Psalmist,
"Create in me a clean heart,"
and he wanted the Holy Spirit
and the joy of salvation.
But he said, "Lord, if you do this,
I'm going to go and tell sinners
about Your grace and about Your love."
Well, that seems like
an appropriate response to me.
Jason, would you read?
(Jason) I have the New King James Version here, Matthew,
chapter 10, verses 32 and 33:
(Travis) So, what is the plea here?
What does Jesus want us to do
in response to His love?
(Jason) Confess, which means
identify with, connect with.
(Travis) Or...?
(Jason) Express, yes, express
what He has done for us,
His love, praise Him.
(Travis) To pass it on, right?
I've had somebody...I'm going
through a drive-through somewhere,
and someone paid for my food
or something like that.
And the teller at the window said,
"Well, you could always pass it on."
Well, that's what Jesus
is wanting us to do, right,
to pass it on. Yes, Nancy.
(Nancy) It makes me think
of the Samaritan woman, you know,
how Jesus stopped just on purpose.
He knew she was going
to be the only one there at noon,
when it was so hot in the day,
to draw water from the well.
And when she learned who Jesus was,
that He was the Messiah,
her reaction was to go tell everybody.
She was the first missionary.
She said, "Come, see a Man
who told me everything I ever did."
And He accepted her,
and so her response was to share.
And that's what we ought to do as well.
(Travis) And we see the fruits
of that, too, in the book of Acts,
that many Samaritan people
gave their hearts to Jesus.
Seeds were planted
through that connection,
and that's the ultimate goal, right?
Jesus is not willing
that any should perish.
Gleny, could I have you read
Hebrews 13:12-15 for us
just to build on the concept
that Jesus is drawing us,
and He's hoping that there's
going to be a response?
He's not forcing us, right, to go and share.
But He's hoping that there
will be a response
to the immeasurable, unfailing love,
Him becoming [conceding],
becoming a man, giving up everything
for joy, as Gleny had just shared.
He's happy to do this for us,
and He wants us to share
in the excitement of winning souls.
Go ahead, Gleny.
(Gleny) So, Hebrews 13:12-15,
and I'll be reading
from the New King James Version, and it says:
(Travis) Do we have a message to share?
We do have a message to share.
Jesus is our Brother.
Jesus is our Savior.
Of course, as we've been studying,
our High Priest, right?
So, I want to ask a question.
(Derek) Can I just hold a minute?
Because I think we missed an element.
It's good that we go share,
but actually we ought to praise Him.
That's really...The sacrifice of praise
is really, really important.
And I think that, you know,
when we think about our lives, sometimes
we can even get busy doing good things.
And we need to just pause and say,
"Jesus, I just want to praise You
for what You've done."
"I just want to give thanks to You,"
you know, the sacrifice of praise.
I think, I don't know, I didn't grow up
hearing a lot of that.
Like, "God, I just want
to say thank You today before I give You
my shopping list," you know?
"I just want to praise You
for what You've done."
(Travis) You know, Derek,
I agree with that, but I want to just say
that this is an experience,
especially lately in the Bible studies I'm giving.
I feel like I'm praising God
just giving the Bible studies
because that's part of sharing, is praising God.
So, it's a beautiful thing.
But thank you, Derek,
for pointing that out.
I think we do need to give thanks and praise God.
Well, I can tell you that I have
not always shared with enthusiasm
the wonderful works of Jesus.
And there are times
that I have been ashamed.
And I want you think
of a few Bible characters
or someone in the Scriptures that was
ashamed to associate themselves with Jesus. Jason.
(Jason) So, one of His disciples,
one of the ones closest to Him was the Apostle Peter.
And Peter, right around the time of Jesus' trial,
he was so ashamed that he denied
that he even had association with Jesus,
and even did things to show
that he was not associated with Jesus.
(Travis) By the way, what was the outcome?
Did Jesus just cast him aside?
(Jason) Nope, Jesus invited him
to come back and literally had some words
that showed him that he
had a ministry to still continue
of taking care of His church.
(Travis) So, you're saying
that there's hope for those,
even if we have denied Jesus, right?
There is hope for those.
As a matter of fact, Peter
became a powerful preacher. Yes, Sabina.
(Sabina) The other person
I'm thinking of is Nicodemus.
I just mentioned him in another study,
but for me he's like really the example
of a person that was ashamed of God,
even though recognizing that He was
coming from God at a certain point in his life.
He was so attached
to his religious traditions
that he could not even give in to the fact
that he was seeing Jesus the Messiah
that he had been teaching
or studying about for so many years.
And I think that for me, what's more powerful
about this particular passage
is that Jesus is not ashamed of Nicodemus.
He takes the time to engage
with Nicodemus in a way
to teach him, to love him,
and even to use him further in ministry
as we are going to eventually see in the future.
Nicodemus, apparently he comes to Jesus
and will share Jesus with other people.
So, that's a good example to me, Nicodemus.
(Travis) Thank you for sharing that.
So, it's testimony time.
Would any of you like to share a time
when you felt the pressure
to conceal your identity
as a follower of Jesus?
I see Gleny smiling. Gleny, do you?
(Gleny) No, it just sounds
like confession times.
It's like, "Okay...reevaluate."
(Travis) Does someone want
to be a little bit vulnerable
and share an experience? Jason?
(Jason) Sure, so there was a time
when I was hired in a prominent position
to be able to work in an office
on Capitol Hill for a member of Congress.
And during that time,
the people in the office, I don't know
what their personal beliefs were,
but the idea was, it was pretty secular.
You kind of kept your religion
out of the office.
If you had private beliefs, that was fine,
but you didn't really tell other people
about what you believed.
And so for me, I remember
I was feeling pressured.
Like, do I tell people
that, you know, I take Sabbath off?
Do I tell people that I
don't eat this certain food,
that I don't drink these certain things,
that I don't do these certain actions?
Do I express myself as a Believer
and what that really means?
Or, do I kind of try to, like, hide it
and not let people know too much?
And so, that was definitely pressure.
At the end of the day, I decided, look,
I have to be who I am.
God's convicted me,
and I'm just going to live my life.
And luckily they were very cool with it.
People were accepting, like, "Oh, cool, okay, so this is what you believe?"
"Yeah." "We appreciate that."
And I think I had an easier time
in that way just because I was genuine about it,
and people could see
that it was who I really was.
(Travis) Well, praise God
that God had given you
the enthusiasm to share,
even in spite of the temptation
to, well, maybe say,
"I'm not sure I know Him."
Praise God for that.
Well, we are going to move on.
Flesh and blood like us,
that's the next part of our lesson study.
We're going to read Hebrews,
chapter 2, verse 14, and, Abigail,
would you please read that for us?
Why was it necessary for Jesus
to become flesh and blood just like us?
(Abigail) And I'll be reading
from the New Living Translation:
(Travis) So, why couldn't He
have just made some declaration
from the throne to save us?
Why couldn't He have done that?
(Jonathan) I think it has something
to do with the nature of His salvation.
Because if it was just something
that was entirely external,
like it was just something He could
just fix something in a book somewhere -
I mean, there is this idea
of books in Heaven -
like, yes, okay, that's involved, but it
wasn't just some legal thing in Heaven.
There was something that had
to be very real that we
had to identify with.
We had to say, "Yes...He's like me.
He's walking my walk."
For Him to be our Savior,
He has to be one of us.
(Travis) So, you're saying that if He
came down with all this power...
Of course, He did because He got
His power from the Father;
do we have that same power?
Right, but He became flesh like us
to experience the same as we did.
Of course, then the accusation
could never be made,
"You had some special power
to manipulate Your way through
and live a sinless life," right?
Because He was human,
fully human and fully God. Yes, Sabina.
(Sabina) And I also would add
that the Bible says that Jesus,
He came to fulfill the law,
and the law had a provision
that [a sacrifice] was necessary
to expiate for our sins.
You know, you may remember
that the original sin has led to death.
So, there was a price to be paid for,
and just God declaring something different
than what He had already committed with the universe
was not going to be really part of His character.
So He needed to accomplish
with the regulation He has determined Himself.
So, I think that's part...
(Derek) Yeah, I really struggle
with the depths of this, you know?
But I do know, if we lived in a country
where Jonathan could take my place, and I
was guilty of getting life in prison,
and Jonathan could say, "Well, I'll
even go to the death penalty in your place,"
you know he could just do that for me,
and then he'd be gone.
But Jesus is the eternal Son of God,
so His provision is infinite.
His provision, and I don't
even understand it all fully;
I know it is a complete revelation
of the immeasurable, unfailing love of God.
But His provision is sufficient
for Livinia and Jonathan and Abigail,
and Nancy and Jason and Sabina
and Gleny and Rodney and Travis and Derek
and every person who has ever lived
or who ever will live on the planet.
That is the mystery of the fact
that God comes down and provides
a salvation that is available for everyone!
(Travis) That's powerful, Derek. Rodney.
(Rodney) This is deep waters.
We're walking on holy ground here,
and we need divine assistance.
What flashed in my mind is the Bible records
that, "The wages of sin is death."
We were destined to die, and here it is
that God is in the position
of being God - He can't die.
And so He had to make a provision
to come in our form
to actually, as Pastor Derek just said,
die the infinite death,
if that makes sense,
for us to be able to live.
This is a mystery,
and until we get home -
we'll spend some time with Jesus
to really have Him unravel
the plan of salvation
so we can understand it.
(Travis) Beautiful. Well, we're going
to keep moving on in the lesson.
Thank you for sharing that, Rodney.
I think you're right; it is deep.
But Jesus wasn't just human.
Derek just said He was the Son of God.
And we want to read a few verses,
because Jesus did identify with us
in the human family,
but how is Jesus our Savior, right?
How is He our Savior?
Nancy, if you'd read Hebrews 4:15,
and, Jason, I'm going
to have you read 7, verse 26.
And then, Jonathan, if you
don't mind reading Luke 1:34-35.
We want to know how the Incarnate Son
of God is different from us, okay?
Would you start, Nancy?
(Nancy) Hebrews 4:15,
this is from the NASB:
(Travis) That's the double negative.
We do not have a High Priest who cannot.
We do have a High Priest who can, right?
(Derek, Team) Right.
(Travis) That's what that means.
We have a High Priest who can.
Thank you, Nancy. Jason?
(Jason) New King James Version
of Hebrews, chapter 7, verse 26, says:
(Travis) A faithful High Priest,
we just learned in a study Sabina had given
that He was different,
because He didn't have to offer for Himself.
That's great news: We have
a High Priest who can.
I'm going to remember that.
We have a High Priest who can.
Go ahead and read, Jonathan, for us.
(Jonathan) Okay, Luke 1:34-35:
(Travis) So, how does Jesus our Savior,
how is He different than us? Sabina.
(Sabina) Well, we just read
He was holy, the Holy Child.
So, I think that for me summarizes it.
He was holy; He is holy,
and He remained holy till the end.
(Travis) Yes, Nancy.
(Nancy) I love it; I love
how Jesus found a loophole
to fulfill the penalty of death
that we earned by sinning.
In Hebrews it says
that only by the shedding of blood
can you have remission of sin,
and God can't change
the laws of the universe.
There are set laws.
It's, you know, the law of love; it is what it is.
And so, in order to fulfill
the penalty of death, He did it for us.
And since He has life within Himself,
He was fine, you know?
(Travis) John the Baptist said,
"Behold, the Lamb of God."
He didn't say, "Behold,
the lamb of man," right?
"Behold, the Lamb of God," Jesus.
The Bible, repeatedly, He gave Himself,
He gave Himself. Rodney?
(Rodney) And Nancy is absolutely correct.
If you go back to the sacrificial system,
they needed a spotless lamb
for them to sacrifice.
And here it is, that Jesus came.
He did not sin at all, and He,
back to what you just said, Travis,
He is actually the spotless Lamb of God
that takes away the sins of all of us.
Praise be to God.
(Travis, Team) Amen.
(Derek) And yet, you know, the mystery.
I know Nancy said He had life within Himself,
and yet the mystery was,
as fully human, He couldn't see
beyond the portals of the grave.
So, He is willing to provide salvation for us.
Back to something Abigail said
in a previous study,
He is trusting the Word of God
rather than His feelings at that moment,
because in the garden He prays,
"Father, if it's possible...,"
because the greatest trauma
is being separated from His Father by that sin.
"Father, if it's possible,
take this cup from Me."
So, this was not like, "This is fine;
everything's going to be fine."
In His humanity He suffered,
which is, I know, the next section,
but He suffered,
and yet He did it as a revelation
of the immeasurable, unfailing love of God.
(Travis) By the way,
there was no other way
because when Jesus said,
"If it's possible," there was
no reply from Heaven.
(Derek) There was no "plan B."
(Travis) There was no "plan B."
He was the way, right?
Well, we're going to keep moving on.
Livinia, if you'd read Hebrews,
chapter 2:10, 17 and 18,
we're going to see that there is a common theme
between these three verses.
Hebrews, chapter 2, verse 10,
and then verses 17 and 18.
(Livinia) Okay, reading
from the New Living Translation:
Seventeen:
(Travis) So, what common theme do you see here?
(Derek) Suffering.
(Travis) Suffering,
Jesus is suffering for mankind.
So, how was Jesus made perfect
through the sufferings? Sabina?
(Sabina) I would say, Travis,
that ultimately, it's by dying
to replace us, because we can see
that Jesus as a human being,
as we are reading here,
He also would go through suffering,
so He probably experienced pain
and even emotional suffering,
as we will see in some passages of the Bible.
But ultimately, what was the one thing
to make Him be able
to apply to be our Mediator
is offering the pure sacrifice.
He cannot be just the High Priest
without the sacrifice,
so we already identified Him
as being the High Priest,
but He only could conquer, then,
ultimately, that victory for us,
if He could have a sacrifice as well.
And that's, for me, the main suffering
that He had to go through
to grant us and to qualify
as the perfect design.
(Travis) I wish we had more time
to expand on just this topic,
but I do have to ask the question,
what were the sufferings that Jesus,
I mean the greatest sufferings, that He endured?
I would love to go to some verses,
but for sake of time we won't.
But one of them was Matthew 27:46.
He cries out on the cross, "Father,
Father, why have You forsaken Me?”
What was He experiencing there? Jason.
(Jason) He was experiencing separation
from His Father, even though He was God.
God the Son was experiencing separation
from God the Father,
something He had never experienced before.
(Travis) Wow.
(Derek) Doesn't it say somewhere,
our sins have separated us.
And, of course, as we've heard
through the whole study,
it's not the sin of Jesus;
He was the Holy One, the sinless Savior.
But it's taking upon Himself
the sin of the world
that becomes, as it were,
a terrible obstacle between Him and His Father.
And, Travis, I think
that was His greatest suffering.
You know, He was beaten,
He was spat upon, but I think
His greatest suffering was that suffering
of feeling separated from His Father.
(Travis) I think being separated from family, right...?
(Derek) Well, but from eternity past,
They had been one together.
(Travis) But I'm just trying to...
As a human, right, we could never relate.
I hope we never have to experience it.
By the way, we don't; that's the promise.
He did that so we wouldn't have to.
But just being separated
from family is excruciating. Livinia.
(Livinia) And even in those dying words,
which the New Living Translation reads as,
"My God, My God, why have You abandoned Me?"
Psalm 22, it's a quote;
He's quoting from Scripture.
And the last verse of Psalm 22, verse 31,
states, "His righteous acts will be told
to those not yet born.
They will hear about everything he has done."
So, even that cry of despair - there's hope.
(Travis) We're going to have
to keep moving on.
Actually, that's not the only thing that Jesus suffered.
The question was, what are
some of the greatest things He suffered?
But also, there was
something else that He suffered.
It wasn't just the beatings recorded in Luke.
An angel was sent to resuscitate Him.
There were drops of blood
that He was sweating.
What was He experiencing there?
Well, I think He was experiencing
separation from the Father, even then.
But what else was He experiencing
at that time? Nancy.
(Nancy) Extreme stress.
(Travis) Stress?
(Nancy) Yeah, extreme stress
from all of the sins that we've all done
and from all of eternity,
and it was too much.
It was the only time
where the Godhead was severed.
From the beginning, well,
from time eternal, the Father,
the Son and the Holy Spirit were one,
and in this moment,
Jesus feels the separation.
He did that for us.
(Travis) So, He's being separated from the Father.
The weight of the sins
were being poured out on Him. Rodney?
(Rodney) I think that there is also the element of Him
getting to the point where He's, like,
"If there is anyone
that is supposed to be ashamed of anyone,
I, Jesus, should be ashamed of you,
but you're ashamed of Me, and I am doing
everything possible to save you.
And yet, still, some will actually walk away from Me."
I think that, I think His heart was broken
knowing that there will be people,
after understanding all
that He did for us,
who will literally, unfortunately, make
the conscious decision to walk away.
And we pray God today
that there would be no one
hearing us on this [program]
who will make a decision like that,
but rather turn to Jesus
and give our hearts to Him.
(Derek, Team) Amen.
(Travis) Jesus endured the suffering,
was victorious, right?
And because of that, right, we now
can experience salvation.
We have to keep moving on.
I wish we had a whole other hour
to spend on this topic.
I would like Nancy
to read Hebrews 12:1-3,
because the one thing that we do,
I remember John the Baptist,
"Behold, the Lamb of God,"
we just talked about that,
he was inviting those around
to cast their eyes on Him.
Well, why is it important
to fix our eyes on Jesus?
Would you read that for us, Nancy?
(Nancy) Yes, I'm reading
from the New American Standard Bible:
(Travis) Well, why should we
keep our eyes fixed on Jesus? Abigail.
(Abigail) So we do not grow weary and give up.
We have to die of self,
and fix our eyes on Him
so that we may be able
to not only be saved
but to share the good news
for others to be saved.
(Travis) And what does it say
about sin, what does it do, it easily...?
(Team) Encumbers. Ensnares us.
(Travis) So, we need
to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. Gleny.
(Gleny) We need to fix our eyes on Jesus
because if we don't,
we're going to start drowning,
just like Peter, when the moment
he took his eyes off of Jesus.
It's so easy to drift away.
That's our normal human nature, so we have
to intentionally keep our eyes fixed.
And not just do it for ourselves,
but even support our fellow brethren
in their journey of learning
how to keep their eyes fixed on Jesus.
(Travis) Yes, Sabina.
(Sabina) And one thing I'm thinking also
is that the Bible gives us lots of examples,
and even Jesus alerted us,
that as the end-time approaches,
we also would face persecutions
like these people here
that Paul is addressing,
and that we also would be exposed
to all sorts of pressures and suffering,
not only on our body
but likely even against our beliefs
and our conscience, right?
So, I think that here,
what Paul is trying to tell them
is you have the perfect example in Jesus.
When you feel like you are hopeless
or things appear to be too difficult
for you, or too hard,
remember what He endured,
keep your eyes on Him,
and He will grant you victory.
(Travis) Jesus made
an appeal to His disciples.
He said, "Follow Me."
How does that appeal apply to us today?
How does that appeal apply?
What does it mean for our lives today
to follow Jesus? Anyone?
Rodney? I see you smiling.
(Rodney) The Word there says
"author and finisher."
He's the pioneer; He's the One
that goes before us.
He has set the example.
I praise God today
that I can follow Jesus.
There's a song again
that rings in my mind,
"I will follow Thee, my Savior,
wheresoever my lot may be.
Where Thou goest, I will follow.
Yes, my Lord, I'll follow Thee."
If I follow Jesus, I will be fine.
All of us will be fine in Jesus.
(Travis) Amen. Jonathan, I would like you
to read two last verses for us,
Matthew, chapter 5:14-16,
three verses, I'm sorry.
Matthew, chapter 5, verse 14,
because as followers of Jesus,
our lives can actually be
a blessing to others, right?
And, well, I know that's our appeal
every time we close Hope Sabbath School,
that we can share in the blessing to others.
Go ahead, Jonathan.
(Jonathan) Alright, I'm reading
from the New American Standard Version:
(Travis) So, how do...our examples
as followers of Jesus, how are they
a blessing to others? Someone? Abigail.
(Abigail) By us following Him,
fixing our eyes on Him,
and we can only do that
by asking Him for the strength to do it,
but us asking Him for the strength
to continually fix our eyes on Him,
to continually follow Him,
it will draw others to Christ.
And everything is just
for the glorification of God.
It's not for our own glory whatsoever,
but all is to give glory to God
so that all of us...
He wants all His children to be saved.
(Travis) The Apostle Paul said,
"Imitate me as I have imitated Christ."
As followers of Jesus,
we want to imitate Jesus
so that others may be blessed
and see, not us, right, but see Jesus.
(Derek) Amen. And the greatest thing that Jesus did
even in His greatest crisis,
He kept His eyes on the Father.
"My God, My God,"
even in that cry He was praying.
And His final prayer, "Father, into Your hands."
And that's a prayer we can pray every day,
"Jesus, into Your hands."
"Father, into Your hands."
We are safe when we are
in the hands of God.
Let's pray together.
Father in heaven, we're deeply moved
by the self-sacrificing love
that You have revealed,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
We thank You, Jesus,
that You are our faithful Brother.
You have identified with the human family
to save us and bring many sons
and daughters to glory.
May we accept Your saving love even this day.
In Jesus' name. Amen.
Well, thanks for joining us for Hope Sabbath School.
I just want to use
my favorite Hebrew word - Hallelujah.
God loves you with an immeasurable and unfailing love.
Accept His love and share His love
with those around you.
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