“For in bringing many sons to glory, it was entirely appropriate that God —all things exist for Him and through Him —should make the source of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For the One who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one Father. That is why Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers, saying: I will proclaim Your name to My brothers; I will sing hymns to You in the congregation. Again, I will trust in Him. And again, Here I am with the children God gave Me. Now since the children have flesh and blood in common, Jesus also shared in these, so that through His death He might destroy the one holding the power of death —that is, the Devil and free those who were held in slavery all their lives by the fear of death. For it is clear that He does not reach out to help angels, but to help Abraham’s offspring. Therefore, He had to be like His brothers in every way, so that He could become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For since He Himself was tested and has suffered, He is able to help those who are tested.” Hebrews 2:10-18 (HCSB)
What Does It Mean To Be In Egypt?
For Israel it was for a good reason; it was for their survival to stay in Egypt for food, grazing for their animals and safety. Joseph, as the Pharaoh’s governor, took care of his family, even after his brothers had betrayed him.
For Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus, it was for safety, because King Herod was out to kill the King of Kings! Jesus was born roughly around 5BC, Herod died around 4BC, and Herod’s son, Archelaus, took over the throne.
A not so good reason to be in Egypt is that Egypt can be described as captivity. Egypt can be described as slavery, as it was for Israel after Joseph died. A new Pharaoh, Raamses II, came into power, who never knew about Joseph and his relationship with the previous Pharaoh. He feared Israel and decided to deal treacherously with Israel by holding them captive and making them his slaves because they were prosperous, fruitful and had grown to a large population.
Egypt can be described as captivity or slavery to unbelief, disobedience, sin and idolatry.
How do we know we are in Egypt? We know we’re in Egypt because:
We are slaves to sin – SIN rules over us
We are enemies of God – REBELLION dominates our life
We do not believe in God through Jesus Christ – UNBELIEF casts its shadow upon us
We acknowledge created things as gods instead of the One and Only True God – IDOLATRY says there is no god but that which I create
We continue in Egypt as slaves to sin because there is no repentance of our sins and faith in God through Jesus Christ.
Sometimes we think we have left the captivity and slavery of Egypt, and have yet to get the Egypt out of us!
Listen to what God told the prophet Hosea when He saw that even though Israel was “out of Egypt,” Egypt remained in them still. “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. The more they were called, the more they went away; they kept sacrificing to the Baals and burning offerings to idols.” Hosea 11:1-2 (ESV)
“For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” Romans 8:15 (ESV)
How then am I released from this captivity and freed from slavery?
Jesus was the means to the atonement for our sin. Because of Jesus shed blood and death on the Cross at Calvary, we are freed from slavery to sin and released from the bondage of sin and its penalty, which is death. Through Jesus Christ, we have been reconciled to God. Jesus was the perfect sacrifice acceptable unto God to take upon Himself the punishment for sin on our behalf.
God calls us out of Egypt through the finished work of Jesus Christ
Romans 3:21-26 declares “But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in His divine forbearance He had passed over former sins. It was to show His righteousness at the present time, so that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”
This brings me to the next question:
Why Was Jesus Born?
The Incarnation
The Incarnation, God becoming a human being, is the assumption of human nature into the Person of the Son of God, Who is the Word of God, and depicts God humiliating Himself to procure our salvation.
The humiliation connected with the Incarnation consists in the mode, or manner, of the Incarnation. The Son of God did not become man by uniting with Himself a fully developed human nature, by an immediate creative act, as, for example, Adam was a mature and perfect man in the beginning. The Scriptures, both of the Old and New Testament, rather point out very emphatically the peculiar mode, or manner, of the Word’s Incarnation, by which the Son of God became a partaker of the flesh and blood of the children of men. He was “made of a woman” (Gal. 4:4) and so, as the “fruit of the womb of Mary” (Luke 1:42), He took upon Himself human lowliness and weakness. Jesus’ conception and birth belong to His humiliation, inasmuch as they constitute a lowly mode of becoming man. Jesus said of Himself in Matthew 11:29, “I am meek and lowly in heart.”
This lowly mode is characteristic of the official work that the Son of God was to perform as the Redeemer of humanity. Let me explain what this lowly mode means. The word “lowly” in the Greek means humiliated, base, cast down, humble, of low degree or estate. God humiliated Himself to become a human being; He became one of His own creations.
Early in His life, our Lord had to begin His redemptive work as our Savior. The goal to be attained was the substitutional presentation to God of a human life that was perfect from the very beginning. Even though Jesus took upon Himself human lowliness and weakness, He did not commit a single sin. For this reason, the Mediator between God and man had to share our common human development. This causal relation of Christ’s lowly Incarnation to the redemption of humanity is clearly attested to by Scripture, which tells us that God sent forth His Son into the world by having Him born of a woman and made under the Law to redeem sinful humanity, which was under the Law (Gal. 4:4-5).
Therefore, in His human nature He must be the pattern of all humility, of all creaturely dependence, of having nothing, and it is only as a man that Jesus thus claims to be lowly; His human life was a constant living on the fullness of the Father’s love; He evermore, as man, took the place which beseemed the creature in the presence of its Creator. (W. R. Vincent)
To become a merciful and faithful High Priest
Hebrews 2:17-18 says, “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.”
To destroy the power of sin, death, and the devil
1 John 3:8 tells us “Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.”
Hebrews 2:14-15 explains, “Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.”
The Gospel of John 1:29 says, “The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”
To Make Propitiation for the sins of humanity
For your understanding, I wish to give the biblical definition for the words “propitiation” and “atonement.” The word “propitiation” in the Greek is “hilaskomai” which means to atone for sin, to be merciful, make reconciliation for, therefore propitiation conveys the sense of an atoning sacrifice that puts away sin and satisfies God’s wrath.
The word “atonement” is not used anywhere in the New Testament of the Holy Scriptures. Atonement is used only in the Old Testament. The word in the Hebrew is “kapar” which means to cover, cancel, cleanse, forgive, pardon, and purge concerning sin.
There awaits certain judgment for those who continue in rebellion and sin
For Jude 1:4-7 says “For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, He has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day— just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.”
God calls us out of Egypt unto salvation!
Romans 10:9-13 promises, “…if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing His riches on all who call on Him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Hebrews 3:7-8 says, “Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness…”
Today, Jesus is calling you out of Egypt. Luke 19:9 says, “Today salvation has come to this house…for the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” Answer His call, now. Do not wait another moment. Do not put God off. Repent of your sin, place your faith, and trust in Jesus Christ the Lord!
In The Hands of the Refiner 