identity

Grace Church Sermon – Sunday 2026-10-04

“Founder of Salvation” — Hebrews 2:5-13 Sermon Recap

Speaker: Pastor Troy

Opening Context and Aim

  • Pastor Troy reminded the church that Hebrews is on a mission to clarify who Jesus Christ is, specifically that Jesus is not an angel but God himself, worshiped by angels, not identified with them.
  • The passage builds on that foundation to show what humanity was created for, how sin derailed it, and how Jesus restores it.

Scripture and Narrative Overview

Not Angels, But Humanity (and Ultimately Christ)

  • Passage: Hebrews 2:5
  • “It was not to angels that God subjected the world to come.” God did not put angels in charge of salvation or of the world to come.

God’s Original Design for Humanity

  • Passage: Hebrews 2:6-8, quoting Psalm 8
  • “What is man that you are mindful of him, or the son of man that you care for him?”
  • “You made him for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned him with glory and honor… putting everything in subjection under his feet.”
  • Humanity was designed as God’s image-bearing ruler over creation, under the lordship of Christ.

The Honest Gap: Not Yet as It Should Be

  • Passage: Hebrews 2:8b
  • “At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him.”
  • Sin has broken humanity’s rule over creation; life is marked by frustration, grief, and disappointment.

But We See Jesus

  • Passage: Hebrews 2:9
  • “We see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.”
  • What humanity failed to become, Jesus became perfectly in the incarnation: suffering, dying, and only then being crowned with glory.

The Founder of Salvation

  • Passage: Hebrews 2:10
  • “It was fitting that he… in bringing many sons and daughters to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.”
  • Christ’s suffering was always the plan, not a backup plan. “Perfect through suffering” means Jesus completed his God-appointed mission, not that he lacked moral perfection.
  • Jesus is the trailblazer/pioneer who enters the danger zone first to secure the way for everyone who follows.

Christ Our Sanctifier and Brother

  • Passage: Hebrews 2:11
  • “He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers.”
  • Christ makes us holy and makes us family.
  • Passage: Hebrews 2:12, quoting Psalm 22
  • “I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise.”
  • Jesus is not only Savior but Brother, leading the family of believers in worship of the Father.
  • Passage: Hebrews 2:13, quoting Isaiah 8:17-18
  • “I will put my trust in him” and “Behold, I and the children God has given me.”
  • Jesus models full trust in God through suffering and proudly presents redeemed humanity to the Father as family.

Key Theological Themes and Applications

1) Humanity Was Created for Glory

  • God’s original design: dominion, honor, and rule over creation (Hebrews 2:7-8, Psalm 8).

2) Humanity Fell Short Through Sin

  • Sin explains the gap between God’s purpose for us and our present experience (Hebrews 2:8b).

3) Jesus Reclaimed Humanity’s Destiny

  • Through the incarnation, suffering, death, and being crowned with glory, Jesus accomplished what humanity could not (Hebrews 2:9-10).

4) Jesus Brings Us Into His Family

  • He doesn’t merely save us; he sanctifies us and calls us brothers and sisters, proud to present us to the Father (Hebrews 2:11-13).

Who God Is

  • God is mindful of humanity, caring and purposeful, not distant or indifferent (Psalm 8).
  • Jesus is the Founder and Pioneer of salvation, the trailblazer who entered human suffering and death first to open the way for others.
  • Jesus is the Sanctifier, who makes believers holy and unites them into his family.

Who You Are in Christ

  • Created in the image of God for glory, honor, and purpose, not a biological accident.
  • Sanctified and made holy through Christ’s finished work.
  • Adopted into God’s family: Jesus is not ashamed to call believers brothers and sisters.
  • Identity is no longer defined by the worst thing you’ve done, but by what Christ has done for you and says about you.

Examples and Illustrations from Pastor Troy

  • Addressing Jehovah’s Witnesses directly: Jesus is not Michael the angel; Gabriel and Michael worship Jesus as God.
  • The general analogy: Jesus wasn’t a commander safely directing from the rear of the battle; he was first into the fray, taking the blows himself.
  • The personal illustration of gently holding his young grandson’s face to say “look at me”: a picture of how Hebrews calls believers back from drifting to fix their eyes on Jesus.
  • The honest observation that most of us wouldn’t be eager to introduce certain family members to others, yet Christ has no “black sheep” and is proud to call us family.

Practical Calls to Action

  1. When frustration arises from life not matching God’s promises: look to Jesus. Anchor confidence in what is already true of Christ, not in present circumstances.
  2. When shame clouds your identity: look to Jesus. He is not ashamed of your past, your failures, or your brokenness; your identity is found in what he has done and said about you.
  3. When suffering makes you question God’s purposes: look to Jesus. The cross and the grave looked like defeat but became the means of victory; suffering does not stop God’s purposes.
  4. Discipline yourself to keep looking to Jesus amid both the good distractions and the hard trials of life.

Closing Thought

Jesus is the Founder and Pioneer of our salvation: he did not stay safely removed from the battle but entered it himself, lived the life we could not live, died the death we deserved, and opened a way where there was none. He is not ashamed to call us family. Our deepest identity is not the worst thing we’ve done, but what Christ has accomplished and declared over us. Keep looking to Jesus.

Selected Scripture References Highlighted

  • Hebrews 2:5-13
  • Psalm 8
  • Psalm 22
  • Isaiah 8:17-18

Sources & attribution

Sermon outline from Morning Selah.

Based on the sermon “Founder of Salvation”, Hebrews 2:5-13, preached at Grace Church by Pastor Troy on October 4, 2026. Watch the sermon.

Jesus and the Man in the Tombs

Mark 5:1-20 – ESV

  1. They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes.
  2. And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit.
  3. He lived among the tombs. And no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain,
  4. for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him.
  5. Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones.
  6. And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before him.
  7. And crying out with a loud voice, he said, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.”
  8. For he was saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!”
  9. And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion, for we are many.”
  10. And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country.
  11. Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside,
  12. and they begged him, saying, “Send us to the pigs; let us enter them.”
  13. So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the sea.
  14. The herdsmen fled and told it in the city and in the country. And people came to see what it was that had happened.
  15. And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man, the one who had had the legion, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid.
  16. And those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs.
  17. And they began to beg Jesus to depart from their region.
  18. As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him.
  19. And he did not permit him but said to him, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.”
  20. And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.

The demoniac of the Gerasenes is a picture of a man completely undone. He lives among the tombs, cut off from people, driven by forces he cannot control. He tries to restrain himself, but nothing works. Chains break. Shame remains. Night and day, he is restless and tormented. This is a story of bondage.

Then Jesus steps onto the shore. The man does not clean himself up first. He does not make promises. He runs to Jesus in desperation. Jesus does not recoil or negotiate. He speaks with authority, and what ruled this man is forced to leave.

When the people arrive, they see the impossible. The man is sitting, clothed, and in his right mind. The one everyone avoided is now whole. Jesus restores dignity. He brings order where there was chaos. He gives identity back to a man who had lost his name.

For men in recovery, this matters deeply. Bondage thrives in isolation, shame, and the lie that change is impossible. This passage declares the opposite. No man is too far gone. Jesus is not intimidated by what has controlled you. He has authority over it all.

Jesus sends the man home to tell what the Lord has done. Healing leads to purpose. Freedom leads to testimony.

Living From Love, Not For Love

We often act out of a deep desire to be loved, seeking approval, validation, or respect from others. This mindset can leave us anxious, disappointed, and focused on ourselves.

But when we remember that we are already loved by God, everything changes. We can act from a place of security and freedom rather than striving for acceptance. We can serve, give, and relate to others without hidden agendas or unrealistic expectations.

Living because we are loved means:

  • We can humble ourselves without needing to prove anything.
  • We can give our worries to God instead of obsessing over our performance.
  • We can resist lies and stand firm in faith rather than relying on feelings.
  • We can embrace growth and strength instead of choosing comfort and ease.

When we live from the truth that we are loved, we find true freedom and clarity. We stop striving and start living with purpose and grace.

Lord, help me remember today that I am loved. Free me from self-focus and striving, and help me live out of Your love. Amen.

Adapted from Lysa TerKeurst, Because I Am Loved.