The following is a sermon transcript from our Sunday Service at The Rock Church in Mount Laurel, New Jersey. Each week, we gather to worship, learn from God’s Word, and grow together. This transcript is provided as a free resource to encourage and equip you in your walk with Christ. While you’re welcome to read and share this content for personal use, we kindly ask that it not be redistributed or published elsewhere without prior written consent from The Rock Church.
Introduction
You don’t have to be in a family very long to realize something. Family means sharing both the joys and the struggles. If one member of the family suffers, everyone feels it. When one child is hurting, the parents lose sleep. When a sibling is struggling, it weighs on the whole house. In a real family, you don’t stand at a distance from suffering. No, you step into it together.
I think about Bruce, who has stood by his wife, Anna Marie, through all her suffering. In and out of the hospital since Thanksgiving. He can’t take that illness away from his life, her life. But he refuses to leave. He stays. He shares the burden. He enters the pain. Not because he has to, but because love compels him to identify with his bride. That’s what family does.
Now, here’s the surprising truth of the Gospel. When God brings us into His family, He doesn’t call us out of suffering. He brings us into a family where suffering is part of the story. But even more to that, we are brought into a family where the Son of God Himself entered suffering first. He didn’t stand far off. He didn’t remain at a distance. He stepped into our world, took on our flesh, walked the path of our suffering so that He could bring us with Him into glory.
That’s what Hebrews 2, 10-13 shows us. From suffering to family. Through suffering, Christ brings many sons to glory. He calls them brothers. He stands among them in worship and holds them fast in confident trust.
And here’s the comfort. If you belong to this family, your suffering is not a sign that you are outside of God’s love. It’s part of the path by which the Son brings you home.
So here’s the big idea for today. God saves us through Christ’s suffering, brings us into His family, and secures our confidence in Him.
First, let’s look at that in four movements.
Number one, God’s righteous wisdom secures our salvation through Christ’s suffering. It’s part of this. It’s not a random plan. It’s fitting, it’s wise, it’s perfectly right.
Second, Jesus gladly identifies with His people. He’s not ashamed to call us brothers. He willingly, even gladly, owns us as His own.
Third, Christ proclaims God’s name among His people. He stands in the midst of His people, leading them in worship to the Father.
And fourth, because God has given us to Christ, we confidently trust in Him. Our security doesn’t rest in us, but in the One who holds us.
So if this is true, that the Son entered our suffering to bring us into glory, then the question that we have to ask is this. Was this plan an accident? Or was it the very wisdom of God from the beginning? Well, that’s where the author takes us first.
God’s Righteous Wisdom Secures Our Salvation Through Christ’s Suffering
Number one, in verse 10, it’s God’s righteous wisdom that secures our salvation through Christ’s suffering. Let’s read again verse 10.
For it was fitting that He, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.
It was fitting.
Pastor, how could this be? It doesn’t make a lot of sense to me that God sees it fitting for the Son of Man, the Son of God, to have to suffer and die.
The author here gives us the reason for what he stated in the prior verse. Look at verse 9. It was by the grace of God that Jesus would taste death. That doesn’t sound like grace. Grace is getting what we don’t deserve. Ah, there it is. Jesus didn’t get what He deserved. He, the perfect, sinless man, endured the cross, despised the shame.
Remember who the audience is here. It’s the Hebrew Christians. They desire to turn back to their Jewish roots. And that would mean the cross as a stumbling block. The author is telling them, don’t fall back into that trap. But they were growing impatient, enduring persecution, thinking to themselves, there must be a better way. And that is how apostasy creeps into our hearts and lives.
Suffering? No thanks, pastor. Give me something that improves my life today. Tell me how to be a better Christian, a better parent, a better employee. Tell me anything but suffering. I know it’s hard. But this is the righteous wisdom of God. This is the same God for whom and by whom all things exist. There’s nothing outside of His control.
When the author says for whom and by whom, he means this. God is the source of everything, and He’s also the goal of everything. Which means when you suffer this week, this moment, this day, it is not random, it is not wasted, it is the same path the Father walked His own Son through.
Imagine walking into a theater before a play begins. The stage is set, the lights are hung, everything’s in place, but none of it exists for itself. It exists for the story. And that story exists because someone wrote it. That’s what Hebrews 2:10 is. It’s saying your life is not random. It is written by God, and it’s moving toward God.
So when your life feels confusing, when the scene doesn’t make sense, you’re not outside the story. You’re in the part of the story where God is still writing. And here’s the stunning part of the gospel, the turn of the gospel. You’re not a prop. You’re not just a prop on the stage. Through Christ, you’re being written into the story as a son brought into glory. Your life is not the ultimate point, but in Christ, you are brought into the point, a story written by God and for God.
The Lord is reminding you to look up, not down and around, but up to the One who’s holding you. And here’s where this becomes deeply personal. Because the way God brings that story to its goal, it’s through suffering. It’s not just in general, but in the life of His own Son.
Here’s why this matters to you. Because we make our problems big and our God very, very small. That’s always at the root of every issue we face. That’s in fact what fear is. I was at a pastor’s retreat this past week, and the pastor leading the discussion said a very powerful, simple statement. Fear is a con artist. It tells you that suffering means that God has stepped away. That pain means abandonment. That difficulty means failure. But it’s lying. It’s lying. Because in Christ, suffering is not distance from God. It is the pathway of the Son bringing you home.
Don’t think that because you have many difficulties in your life that God doesn’t love you. No, quite the opposite. If you’re in Christ, God is for you. That’s right. God is more for you than you will ever know. And ever realize His love is a sovereign love that existed before the foundation of the world. It’s not a love that you can earn, that you can work for. It’s not a love that says, once you prove your worth, I’ll start loving you.
For all of us, myself included, we get into a performance moment. When I’m doing everything right, Lord, aren’t You more pleased with me now? Don’t You see how well I’ve done? Listen, God is most pleased with you right now in Christ. I should say it this way. God is most pleased with you in Christ right now. Your life is hidden in Christ. His righteousness covers you. His righteousness is the garment that you wear. The Father looks to you and He sees you in union with Christ.
What’s the author saying here? Who is the founder of our salvation? How is God making Him perfect through suffering? Who is He? Jesus Christ. He is the captain of our salvation. He is the prince of life, according to Acts 3:15. He is the author of faith. He is leading us triumphantly to glory.
Perfect here, listen, does not mean that Jesus was improved. It means His suffering was brought, brought in His saving work to its full completion. Do you see that? So don’t hear this as abstract theology. Hear this as a pattern. The road that led Christ to glory is the very road that He leads you on now. It was fitting for God the Father to bring Jesus through suffering. Why? So that He could bring many sons to glory.
If you’re in Christ, you are His son. This is not about gender. It’s about status and inheritance. In the ancient world, a son was an heir. So this is saying that you share in an inheritance with Christ. Romans 8:17 says, And if children, then heirs. Heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ. And notice the next part of Romans 8:17. Provided we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him.
Suffering was the essential ingredient in Christ’s life. And since you share in Christ’s life, you share in His suffering. In other words, you tell the truth when lying would benefit you. You’re misunderstood or rejected for your faith. You show kindness and love to someone who is cold and hostile to you. You put aside preferences. You serve your family. You care for someone in need. You prioritize church and the life of community. You do all these things, sharing in the suffering of Christ, and you do so as an adopted family member of the family of God. That’s the very motivation for all your patient endurance in suffering. Our gracious, loving, merciful Father is working in you as you suffer.
The theme is repeated throughout the New Testament. To share in Christ’s sufferings is not to repeat His cross, but to resemble His life, walking the same road of costly obedience that leads to glory.
Do not forget that one day we will enter into a glorious condition of blessedness. It’s appointed. It’s promised to all true believers. Lord, come quickly. When is it going to happen? Come. He’s going to bring us all into glory, into that blessed state of no sin and no more sorrow.
So in light of that, endure, dear Christian. You will face misfortune, calamity, evil, and affliction. And when you do, if you not already are, know that it’s not a sign that God doesn’t love you. Quite the opposite. The Lord is powerfully working through your suffering.
You see, the gospel of Jesus Christ, it harmonizes the love, the justice, and the wisdom of God. Moses led Israel to the border to see the land, but he couldn’t take them in. Joshua leads them into the land. They taste it. They settle in it. They fight for it. But the story didn’t end there. Because that land, that land was not the ultimate goal. It was pointing forward.
Then comes Jesus. Not to lead us into a strip of land in Canaan, but into a heavenly inheritance that cannot be lost, fought over, or corrupted. Dear believer, your salvation is secure. Your future is certain, but there is more gospel truth for you to enjoy.
So if God in His wisdom uses suffering to bring us into glory, here’s the next question. Where is Jesus when you suffer? Does He stand at a distance? Or does He come near to us in it?
Verse 11 gives us the answer.
Jesus Gladly Identifies With His People
Jesus gladly identifies with His people. We read together.
For He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That’s why He’s not ashamed to call them brothers.
Now that our salvation has been secured, let’s consider some further movement that the author brings to mind. As a believer, you are sanctified and are being sanctified. In Christ, you are already set apart. You’re fully accepted. And now, day by day, you are being changed into what you already are.
So hold those two together. You are already fully accepted and you are still being changed. So when you feel like your struggle disqualifies you, it doesn’t. Think about a child who’s adopted into a family. The moment that the papers are signed, that child fully belongs. He has the family name. He has the rights and the inheritance. There’s nothing partial about it. But then this process begins. Learning the ways of the family. Understanding and growing into the culture of the home. Being shaped over time by the values. You see, he’s completely a child, but also growing as a child. That’s where you are right now. Not trying to be part of the family, but learning to live as someone who already is.
See, that’s the Christian life. You’re not becoming acceptable. You are accepted. And because you are accepted, you are being changed. And it all comes from one source, God the Father. Christ is our representative head and elder brother. We as the church are part of His body and family growing together into Christ.
Listen, dear Christian. Jesus is not ashamed of you. I know you struggle. You sin. Even knowing everything about you, even seeing the sins that you’re still fighting, He does not step back. He steps closer. He’s for you. He loves you. He accepts you and He’s working in your life. He’s your elder brother and He calls you brother.
And that means something incredible. You don’t just belong to Him. You stand with Him.
And that raises the next question. What does He do with His people once He brings them in? Jesus doesn’t just save you, He identifies with you. Because He obeyed, suffered, died, and rose again, He now stands with His people and says, these are My family. He’s with us today. He’s declaring to us all, you’re My family. I’ve welcomed you in through the blood of My cross. I’m not ashamed of you.
I don’t know what kind of family you grew up in. Maybe you had parents who didn’t love you or treat you very well. But you’re part of a new family now. Jesus doesn’t just bring you into His kingdom. He brings you into a family and then He stands at the center of it. He’s proud to call you His brother. He loves to share everything with you.
The Son of God became like us, suffered for us, and now stands before the Father unashamed to say, these are My brothers. The Son of God became like you, suffered for you, died in your place, and now stands before the Father and says, these are Mine. And if you belong to Him, you will suffer with Him. You will be brought to glory with Him.
It would be enough if Jesus simply saved you. It would be more than enough if He called you His brother. But it goes even further than that. He stands in the midst of His people and He leads them.
Christ Proclaims God’s Name Among His People
But it doesn’t stop with Jesus calling you His brother. That would be enough too. The author shows us something even more personal. What does Jesus actually do among His people? He doesn’t just include you. He stands in the middle of you.
Let’s look at verse 12. Christ proclaims God’s name, the Father, among His people. This is what He says. When He’s not ashamed, calls you brothers, says this, I will tell of Your name to My brothers. In the midst of the congregation, there it is, I will sing Your praise.
Imagine for a moment that Jesus is leading our worship service. And now you’re part of the congregation. You’re not watching from a distance. You’re not in the back row unnoticed. You’re there among His people. And at the center of it all is Christ Himself. He’s not just receiving worship. He’s leading it. Which means this. You are not trying to work your way up to God in worship. You’re being brought in by Christ Himself. He lifts His voice to the Father, declaring His mighty name. Can you imagine how powerful? And look what it says here. And then He begins a hymn. And you’re immediately brought in. You’re weak and distracted heart, captivated by the captain of your salvation.
That’s why worship doesn’t depend on how you feel when you walk in. Because Christ is here already. And He’s leading us into the presence of the Father. See, something changes when you come into the presence of the Lord. All of your cares, all of your concerns, they seem to melt away. You’re filled with songs of praise and joy. That’s not imagination. That’s reality. And it’s exactly what we’re seeing here in this verse.
I will tell of Your name to My brothers. In the midst of the congregation, I will sing Your praise, O God the Father.
Now you might be asking yourself, did Jesus ever sing? Well, let’s look at Matthew 26, verse 30. And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. You don’t have to turn there. I’m sorry to distract you. Matthew 26:30, And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. It was just after Jesus led the disciples into the Lord’s Supper. How powerful. How wonderful. The body of Christ broken for us, the blood of Christ shed for us. It doesn’t cause our hearts to grow cold and downcast. It lifts us up when we consider what He’s done for us.
But what exactly was the hymn that they sang at that very pivotal moment before Christ would go to suffer and to die? Well, at the Passover, there were songs that were always sung. Songs about God’s salvation and victory. You can write it down. It’s Psalm 113 to 118. And here’s what’s remarkable. Jesus is singing these songs on the way to the cross. How could it be?
In fact, right now, we’re going to do something a little different. I’m going to read a line from Psalm 118. And then I want you all to say together. That’s right. If you’re asleep right now, you’re going to wake up quick. I want us all to say together, after I read a line, you’re going to say, His steadfast love endures forever.
Let me give you a taste of this moment. I’ll read one line and you’ll respond. And you’ll respond, His steadfast love endures forever.
Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. His steadfast love endures forever.
The Lord is my strength and my song. His steadfast love endures forever.
Now, I want you to say it like you mean it. Some of you felt a little rote. So we’re going to just do it as one more time. Let’s all say it together really loud. One, two, three. His steadfast love endures forever. Good.
So we sing songs of praise. Know this. Jesus is our choir leader. He’s pleased to tell of the Father’s name to all of you because you are His brothers. And all that the Lord is bringing us through is for a very specific purpose, that the name of the Lord in His divine perfection and majesty might be proclaimed among the whole earth. Remember, God has His focus on humanity, but its end is His glory.
Verse 12 is a direct quote from Psalm 22. Who would have thought that when we did Psalm 22, we’d be returning to it again? It’s Psalm 22, verse 22. The psalm in its whole begins in the darkest place imaginable. Remember? My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? That wasn’t poetic suffering. That was prophetic. And in the Gospels, we see that these are the very words spoken by Jesus on the cross.
So the psalm is not just describing suffering in general. It’s tracing the suffering to Christ Himself. But Psalm 22 does not end on the cross. Something happens as the psalm moves forward. The mood changes. The darkness lifts. By verse 22, everything changes. What does He say? I will tell of Your name to My brothers. In the midst of the congregation, I will praise You.
Now here’s the question. How do we go from abandonment to assembly? From forsaken to family? From a cry of despair to the praise in the congregation? The answer is the resurrection. And Psalm 22 is showing that full arc of Christ’s work. He suffers alone, is then vindicated by God, and then stands in the midst of His people in praise.
It’s exactly what Hebrews 2:12 reads of Psalm 22. It tells of something incredible. Jesus is the one speaking these words. So here’s the picture. The same Son who cries out in suffering now stands in the resurrection life and leads His people in worship. The cross was not the end of worship. It was the doorway into it.
It means that your suffering does not silence your worship. It’s the place where Christ meets you in it and leads you through it. Every gathered church, it’s Psalm 22:22 in motion. Christ in the midst of His people declaring the Father’s name.
So He brings you in. He stands among you. He leads you in worship. But there’s still one question left. What is going to hold you there? What’s going to keep you from falling away when the suffering gets heavy? That’s where verse 13 takes us.
Let’s read that together.
Because God Has Given Us to Christ, We Confidently Trust in Him
Because God has given us to Christ, we confidently trust in Him.
Verse 13, we read together. And again, I will put my trust in Him. And again, behold, I and the children God has given me.
See, now the author, he gives us the final movement of the passage. So listen, he quotes not directly, but thematically. Remember the difference? Not a direct quote, but a theme that comes from Psalm 18, verse 2. Take note of that. Psalm 18:2. That’s what he’s quoting here. The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
Jesus is not only the one who saves, not only the one who calls us brothers, not only the one who stands in the midst of our worship, He’s also the one who leads us into trust.
And to show that, Hebrews, the author, places three Old Testament verses right here before us. Quickly, Isaiah 8:17 says, I will put my trust in Him. Do you see it? Isaiah 8:17. And then Isaiah 8:18 says this, Behold, I and the children God has given me. And Isaiah 12:2 says, he says, behold, God is my salvation. I will trust and not be afraid.
What’s happening here? So Jesus is not quoting from a distance. He’s not just telling you, go ahead, trust God. He’s showing you what that trust looks like because He lived it Himself. He’s standing amongst us today and He’s saying, this is the same trust that I live by. It’s the same God that I depended on. And now you can trust Him with Me.
He’s identifying with us, not only in His suffering, but in His faithful dependence upon the Father. Because the Father has given us to the Son, the Son stands with us. He stands with us in our humanity. The Son, He walks the path of trust before us, and now He anchors our confidence in God. Our trust is not self-generated. It is shared with Christ.
When you start asking yourself, man, do I have enough faith? Do I sincerely believe? Have I looked deep enough in my soul? You’re asking the wrong question. The real question is, am I staying close to the One who’s perfectly faithful? Do I look to Christ and confidently trust in His work and not my own?
See, when fear rises up, when uncertainty surrounds you and fear your heart, Hebrews doesn’t say, try harder. Try harder to trust. No, he says, look to the One who’s already trusted perfectly for you. And trust the Father with Him.
Your confidence is not rooted in the strength of your faith. Look at me. I’m great. Look how strong my faith is. No. It’s in the perfection of Christ’s faithfulness standing with you, for you.
Now imagine crossing a deep canyon over a narrow bridge. And you look at either side and you think to yourself, that is enough to make me lose my lunch. There’s winds that are howling. The bridge is swaying. You’re told, go ahead, cross. But instead of moving, you naturally hesitate.
Now imagine someone steps on the bridge ahead of you. Not just pointing the way, but walking it first. He doesn’t stand on the other side and shout over to you, come on, let’s go. We don’t have a lot of time. No, he goes before you, step by step, showing you that it can be crossed. And then he turns back and stands beside you on the bridge, and he says this to you, do not be afraid. I’ve already walked it. Stay with me. Don’t leave my side.
See, that’s the Christian life. It’s not proving your strength, but staying close to Christ as He leads you across. That’s the picture of verse 13. Jesus doesn’t stand at a distance demanding trust. He walks it with you. So your confidence is not in your ability to hold on tightly. Man, those ropes, it’s going to break. No, no. But in Christ’s ability to hold you perfectly.
So now you can see the whole path clearly here in these verses. From suffering to family to worship to an unshakable confidence in the Lord.
As the church has long confessed, it’s chapter 8, paragraph 2 of the 1689. The Lord Jesus, in His human nature, thus united to the divine, was sanctified and anointed with the Holy Spirit above all measure. In Him are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge in whom it pleased the Father that all fullness should dwell to the end that being holy, harmless, undefiled, full of grace and truth, He might be thoroughly furnished to execute the office of a mediator and surety.
In other words, it’s a heavy statement. Christ is not only our Savior in suffering, but He’s our perfectly qualified mediator in every step of our salvation. Nothing about His work is accidental, deficient, or uncertain. He’s truly fitted by the Father to bring many sons to glory.
So what does this mean for you? It means your suffering is not God’s silence. It’s the pathway of the Son bringing you home. It means your weakness is not disqualification. It’s the very place where Christ identifies you. It means your worship is not solitary striving. It’s the participation in the worship Christ Himself is leading in the midst of His church. And it means your faith is not some fragile attempt to hold on. It’s the secure grip of Christ holding you fast as He leads you into glory.
So let me encourage you. Don’t turn back when the road is hard. Don’t interpret the suffering as, God, you’re abandoning me. No. Look to Christ. It’s the One who suffered for you. The One who calls you brother. The One who stands among His people. The One who’s already walked the path of trust. And now, He walks with you. You’re not being carried by your own personal faith that you worked up. No, you’re being carried by Christ Himself.
So endure by that power, by these promises, because the suffering is real. But so is the Son who’s leading you through it. And He will not fail. The glory ahead, it’s not uncertain. It’s already secured in Christ.
Closing Exhortation
I want us to take a moment now. We’re going to come to Christ. We’re going to take a moment in silence to just go to the Lord and say, I’ve misinterpreted my suffering, Lord. I confess it. Show me You love me. Show me how much You accept me in Christ. And let that motivate you to serve and worship Him with joy, love, and the power of His Spirit.
So let’s go to the Lord now and let’s come to Christ together as you come to Him and say, Lord, I will endure with You because You’re holding me fast. And after that, I’ll close in prayer.
Prayer
Lord, thank You that we can confidently trust in You. You have secured our confidence because You finished the work. And now the work continues in Your high priestly status as You intercede for the church. Lord, we consider how much worse our lives could be without Your grace. How Your powerful protective hand keeping back so much worse evil in our lives. You are a shield. You are our refuge. You are our strength.
And so we look to You now, confessing our weakness, and worship You and thank You that You love us, that You don’t count our sins against us. You’ve washed them away. For anyone that does not yet believe, that they, Lord, You would give them faith. As they cry out to You, Lord, help me to trust You. That You would answer that call and cry. And give to them regeneration of faith. Born again to a living hope.
And so as we consider all these things, thank You, Lord, that we can confidently trust in You. You will never let us go. And we pray all this in Jesus’ name.
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