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"For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham's descendants" ( Hebrews 2:16 )

This is an interesting verse. If you look at its context you will see that it is talking about both the fallen angels who rebelled against God and mankind after the fall of man. As I read and studied this passage I asked the Lord why He helped mankind and not the fallen angels. His answer to me was simple yet powerful, I created the angels to serve and worship me, but I created mankind for relationship.

Angels were created as servants to worship God

Angels are created beings the same as us. They were created to serve and worship God as well as minister and serve believers ( Psalm 103:20, Hebrews 1:14 ). In God's goodness He created the angels with a free will just as He did mankind. The angels knew who God was, experienced his power saw His glory, yet some rebelled. They made their choice in that moment knowing the full weight of their decision. In other words, there is no redemption for them because it was a willful decision to betray God.

Mankind was created for relationship

After God created Adam and Eve, he walked with them in the cool of the evening. This means He fellowshipped with them, talked with them and knew them. They were created for relationship. Even after they disobeyed His command and were banished from the garden, He still walked and talked with them ( Genesis 4 ). Sin didn't change this; they weren't out of fellowship with Him nor were they cut off from Him. After the fall, He still related to them just as He had in the garden.

The Bible records that "Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away" ( Genesis 5:24 ). One day Enoch was caught up into heaven to live with God because they were so close they wouldn't be separated any longer. Enoch knew the intimate relationship that God designed humans to experience with Him.

In the same manner, God and Abraham were friends. God trusted Abraham and revealed the gospel in advance because He did not want to keep it from their friendship ( Genesis 15, Genesis 17, Genesis 18:16-19 ). Abraham was the only Old Testament figure known as a friend of God ( Isaiah 41:8, James 2:23 ). They had a relationship.

David was called a man after God's own Heart ( 1 Samuel 13:14, Acts 13:22 ). Not because his life was perfect or because he lived holy. In fact his life was a series of wars, unrest, adultery, murder, not to mention all the ongoing trouble he experienced with his family. But he was called a man after God's own heart because He knew God. He knew God would rescue him. He knew God would forgive Him. He knew He could count on God. He knew that God should be the first person to run to in times of trouble. And He knew hope for the future because of their intimacy. Reading the words of David throughout the Psalms makes it clear that David had a relationship with God, and God constantly moved on David’s behalf.

As believers we are all called friends of God ( John 15:15 ). We have been brought into intimate unity with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit ( John 17:22-23 ). We are called children of God ( Romans 8:14-16 ). And co-heirs with Christ ( Romans 8:17 ). This is an incredible truth. In the past few ventured into a deep relationship with God, but through Jesus we have been united with Him in perfect unity ( John 17:23 ). We have His Spirit living inside us reminding us of everything Jesus said ( John 14:26 ). God made it possible to have relationship with Him through Christ.

In all of these examples we see that God has befriended mankind and extended His love to us. The fall of man didn't change His mind about us. He still loves us, desires relationship and provides the way of restoration. David saw this and wrote, "What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor" ( Psalm 8:4-5 ).

Over the next two days we will look at Hebrews 2:16. We will look at why God helps mankind and not the fallen angles. Paying close attention to the importance God places on mankind.

Tomorrow we look at Part 2: God Thinks Highly of Mankind

The gospel was promised by God through the Holy Scriptures regarding His son Jesus. Paul is starting to build his case and it is not by chance that the starts with the fact that Jesus was a descendant of David, by his human nature. He does this to engage the Jewish reader and to support the claim that in fact the Good News of the Messiah has come. The Jews wouldn't be able to receive any of this information without first recognizing that Jesus' blood line was one and the same as the promised Messiah.

This is also a very important piece of information to us as gentiles because when we look at the full spectrum of the scriptures both old and new it is important for us to compare all the evidence of Jesus against the prophecies of the promised Messiah. Paul knows this is a prophecy of the scriptures and on that needs to come to pass if Jesus was in fact the Messiah or Christ.

One obvious place to look for the prophecy is Isaiah 9; if you grew up in a church or merely went to services on Christmas then this scripture should be familiar to you.

This is an obvious prophecy of the Messiah and one which foretells that the Christ will reign on David's throne. Now we are well aware of the fact that to reign on the throne of a king one must be a blood descendant.

The height of Israel's royal kingdom was during the reign of King David and King Solomon and Isaiah said that the Messiah would ‘reign on David's throne and over all his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with Justice and righteousness from that time on and forever.' So to be the Messiah who could accomplish this it would be important that the Christ was of David actual blood line.

God also promised David that his kingdom would be established forever. II Samuel 7:16 says, ‘Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.' This was all part of God's promise to David and this promise is also recorded in II Chronicles 17:14, "I will set him over my house and my kingdom forever; his throne will be established forever.' And lastly it is David who wrote about this promise from God in Psalm 132, "Here I will make a horn grow for David and set up a lamp for my anointed one." ( Psalm 132: 17 ) Here the word horn symbolizes strong one, that is king... and the ‘anointed one' is common as a descriptor for the Christ throughout the Old Testament.

So throughout the Old Covenant it is apparent that the Messiah would come through the bloodline of King David. And if you flip over to the beginning of the New Testament the written record of Matthew's gospel begins with the genealogy of Jesus...

"A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham..." ( Matthew 1:1 ) As you read through the genealogy you will see that this genealogy records Jesus' ancestry through Jesus' earthly father Joseph and that ancestry was traced through the royal line of David and King Solomon. "And Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ."

Matthew clearly writes to a Jewish audience, so the lineage traced through the father confirming the royal bloodline of King David would be important to them when deciding if Jesus was the Messiah.

Now, if you look at Luke's account of the genealogy of Jesus, you are going to see a completely different genealogy of Jesus, you are going to see a completely different genealogy. But his ancestry is also traced back to King David, but is trace back through one of David's other sons, Nathan. Luke who wrote this gospel was not Jewish so tracing the lineage back to King David through Joseph the earthly father wouldn't have been important to him. What would have been important to him was to record accurately the account of Jesus, which was the declaration at the beginning of His letter, "Therefore, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilius, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught." ( Luke 1:3-4 )

Luke's focus and purpose was to record accurately the account of Jesus' ancestry to us, who are not Jewish, so we could see and understand how Jesus descended from David thus fulfilling the Messianic prophecies concerning the Christ coming from the line of David.

Luck gives us one other important piece of evidence here in his writings... Luke 3:23 says, "now Jesus himself was about thirty years old when he began his ministry. He was the son, so it was thought, of Joseph." First he gives this little disclaimer that it was thought that Jesus was the son of Joseph and then launches into a completely different genealogy then that of Matthews account.

So at first glance, this seems to contradict itself, but upon further study and reflection we see that Luke's attention to detail actually adds to the fullness of the fulfilled prophecy because Luke actually gives us Jesus' ancestry through his Mother Mary, which her ancestry can also be traced back to King David and since Jesus was not of his earthly father's bloodline it was necessary to trace his bloodline to King David through his mother Mary.

So Paul knows the importance of his for both the Jews and the gentiles that is why he starts out the book of Romans assuring his readers that Jesus was the promised ‘Good News' foretold about in the scriptures through the prophets and in accordance to His human nature, he was a descendant of David, thus fulfilling scripture and prophecies about the Christ or Messiah.

Jesus accomplished so many things upon the cross. Through him, we have total victory over sin and death. Paul stresses in this verse, that there are three very important ideas and truths to take away with us and understand. First, Jesus was betrayed and deliver over to death as the payment for our sins. Secondly, as he was raised to life, he conquered death once for all. Lastly, he ascended to heaven to acquit us before God and declare us justified before him.

Although it is true that Jesus was betrayed and delivered over to death, it is equally important for us to recognize that he had authority in the matter. He life was taken, only because he had already laid it down for us. We were without hope before God because sin had corrupted us, but Romans 5 says, "... when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." ( Romans 5:6-8 ) We were without hope and enemies of God but Jesus still laid his life down for us, to take away our sin once for all. ( Hebrews 9:28 ). Through his death, sin had been completely paid for.

The resurrection of Jesus is the pinnacle of history as we know it. Jesus is the first person to rise from the dead and conquer death permanently. Romans 6:8-9 says, "For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. " He conquered sin in his sacrifice upon the cross and then he conquered death in his resurrection from the dead.

Lastly, after his ascension, he now intercedes for us at the right hand of God. Hebrews 10:14 says, "because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy." So the end result for us if we believe in Jesus by faith, is justification. Justification is the act whereby Jesus makes us completely holy before God. To do this he not only forgives our sin, but he imparts righteousness to us, so that it is as if we have never sinned.

Both Abraham and David saw glimpses of this incredible feat that Jesus would do for us and they called us blessed. Today, if you believe in Jesus as your savior then have complete victory over sin and death because he purchased it for you. Today, we are completely blessed having been redeemed from the curse of the law and made righteous and holy before God. Praise Jesus for his love and this precious gift to us.

All of the Old Testament patriarchs and prophets looked forward to the time of Christ. King David perhaps above all of them. Why? Because David had a revelation of grace that was unparallel in the Old Testament. He spoke in the Psalms of the time which we live now. He looked forward to it, saw what we have and called us supremely blessed.

Why did David speak of the blessedness of the New Testament man? Because he saw that the time was coming when believers would live without sin charged against their accounts. He prophesized that all iniquity would be forgiven, sins would be covered and completely forgotten.

In fact, in this passage, there are two important truth to be aware of, to which Paul draws our attention. The word for 'will not', or 'will never' in verse eight is what is called an emphatic negative in the Greek. It means that sin, will never, not ever, be counted against us. It is the strongest language that could be used to describe the state of the New Testament believer. Our sins have been forgiven to the point that they will never be held against us ever again. This is incredible news for us and David calls this man, those who live after the promised Messiah, blessed, happy and to be envied by all.

The second word is also found in verse eight which says, "Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him." or as the King James Bible says, "Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin." The word impute is actually an accounting term, meaning to account for, charge against or reckon to. An example of this is when we use our credit card. The amount charged is imputed to our account, of which, we later have to consider by paying off the debt. However David speaks of the man to which the Lord will never charge into their account, the iniquity that has been committed. Even when a sin is committed presently the Lord does not impute it to us. This speaks of past, present and future sin because Jesus has paid the price for sin once for all. ( Hebrew 10:10; Hebrews 10:14 ) Again great news for all believers that live on this side of the cross.

Paul used two examples of great men of faith from the Old Testament scriptures to support his claim to the Jews that we are completely justified by faith apart from works. Both Abraham and David knew this truth and looked forward to it's fulfillment. David, in particular was speaking of the New Testament believer, which is us. This blessedness that he envied is what is we currently possess in Christ. Today praise God that this includes you! You have been bought with a price, you have been redeemed completely and fully forgiven of every offense ever committed. This is good news both for the Jew and for the Gentile through the blood of Christ Jesus!

"I will become more undignified than this...” II Samuel 6:22

While worshipping one Sunday morning in a unified fellowship of believers as the Lords presence fell on all assembled there, people began to dance and shout for joy to the Lord, praising the Lord for the freedom we experience in Christ. The Glory of the God and the presence of God filling the assembly and as it did people started worshipping in spirit and truth.

A word from the Lord came to me during this time, the Spirit of the Lord said to me, "become more undignified than this - " It was as if the Lord was giving me permission to worship him as he created me to worship Him, in Spirit and in truth and to worship as the Lord moved and directed me.

I am reminded of the story from II Samuel 6, which David is bringing back the ark of the Lord into Jerusalem. He and the people are singing and dancing before the Lord and as they are entering Jerusalem, David's own wife look upon him as he is singing and dancing before the Lord and the scripture says, "she despised him in her heart."

When David returned home to bless his household, Michal the daughter of Saul, David's wife came out to meet him and said, "How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, disrobing in the sight of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would."

This happens to all of us, if we are following the Lord and walking in the plan that he has for us, then don't be surprised when criticism comes your way - and don't be surprised if it comes from your closet friends and family.

But I love David's response to thins criticism from his wife... he doesn't let it bother him and he doesn't stew over it, but look at his response to her, verse 21, 'David said to Michal, "It was before the Lord who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the Lord's people Israel. I will celebrate before the Lord. I will become even more undignified than this and I will be humiliated in my own eyes..."

David took the criticism and said, You haven't seen anything yet!.. Watch This! If you think I am acting crazy now, I will become more undignified than this!

Jesus said it this way in John 4:24, "God is a Spirit and his worshippers must worship in Spirit and truth"

Why does the world criticize you? Why doesn't the world understand you? Why does it come against you when you worship the Lord as His Spirit directs you to worship? Because it does not understand the way of the Spirit... But Jesus said that God is a Spirit and true worshippers Must Worship in spirit and in truth for those are the kinds of worshippers that the Father seeks ( John 4:23-24 )

Paul also adds clarity to this in I Corinthians, chapter 2, verse 12. "We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him and he cannot understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual man makes judgments about all things but he himself is not subject to any man's judgment. For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him! But we have the mind of Christ!" ( I Corinthians 2:12-16 )

The reason the world doesn't understand true worship is because it is foolishness to them - it is foolishness to them because they are spiritually discerned.

Even when other brothers and sisters criticize you, it is because they do not know how to worship as the Lord directs because they are not in tune with the Spirit of God!

I have personally taken a lot of criticism lately because I have left a church due to the lack of the Word being preached there. Being in a dominant leadership role, it upset a lot of apple carts by leaving as I did. Even the Pastor wouldn't recognize my departure as a call for change but told me I was walking away from the Lord -

I know a lot of false things had been said about me and even from the pulpit but I am choosing to response like David - if you think I am a fool before the masses, then watch this! "I will become more undignified than this!" That is why this word is so important to me because it gives me the freedom to worship the Lord and it gives me the freedom to not care what others may say about me! I would and do relish the chance to be in the presence of the Lord any day, rather than be subjected to the ranting and ravings of man...

There is a need for my mind to be aligned with the Lord Spirit within me... it groans on the inside of me... it has called me out of the darkness into light and continues to call me out of the ordinary and into the extraordinary! The Spirit within me has given me permission to be "more undignified than this!"