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Hebrews 2 is examined. How can Jesus be better than angels if He suffered and died?
Welcome to No Compromise Radio, a ministry coming to you from Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston. No Compromise Radio is a program dedicated to the ongoing proclamation of Jesus Christ, based on the theme in Galatians 2, verse 5, where the Apostle Paul said, �But we did not yield in subjection to them for even an hour, so that the truth of the gospel would remain with you.
In short, if you like smooth, watered-down words to make you simply feel good, this show isn�t for you. By purpose, we are first biblical, but we can also be controversial. Stay tuned for the next 25 minutes as we�re called by the Divine Trumpet to summon the troops for the honor and glory of her King.
Here�s our host, Pastor Mike Abendroth.
Compromise Radio ministry, my name�s Mike Abendroth, and my studio desk, it�s such a mess. We�ve got the Tyndale New Testament, we�ve got a variety of books by an author, the last name starts with an A, Papers, Berkhoff, Bricklinks, that�s what I used to go live on Retro Radio.
Remember that, when I used to be asked to do that 18 months ago? I have to talk to Todd, Todd has not asked me back quite some time. Was it something I said? Everything here we do, I�m trying to get you to go back and think biblically, what�s the Bible say?
And I try to do it in a probably Abendrothian style, that�s all, that�s all we try to do. You can listen, you can fast forward, you can critique, whatever you�d like. Remember last time when I asked you the question, would you rather be Tarzan or Batman, that�s what we talk about, see at No Compromise Radio, that�s the depth, the profundity of our discussions.
Well, I asked the question because I led into then, would you rather be a human or an angel? And the angels, they�ve got it going on. In the book of Hebrews, the writer says, yes, Jesus is better than angels as God, but what about an incarnate man?
Is that redundant? How can Jesus be greater? Isn�t humanity a hindrance to his excellence? And the writer of Hebrews in chapter 2, verses 5 and following says, no, that�s not the case because Jesus to be our representative has to become man, suffer, die, raised from the dead, exalted.
And since that is the case, Jesus is greater than the angels. And it�s fascinating, he says in chapter 2, verse 5, now it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come of which we are speaking.
The world to come, when you think of world, sometimes you think of cosmos, the world system. Here, this word for world is different and in the New Testament, it�s talking about humanity. It�s talking about the inhabited world, the inhabited world, the inhabited earth in the future age, right?
It�s that kind of language. One commentator even talked about a new world order inaugurated by the enthronement of Christ. It�s that type of language. And regardless of what it means, irregardless, regardless of what it means, the enthronement of Christ, if you think of chapter 2 and chapter 110 of the Psalms, this enthronement language, royal motif language of the Messiah, King of the universe, David, in the line of David, God subjected the world to come.
To whom did he subject that world? It wasn�t the angels. The point is, it was to Jesus. It was Christ. Christ was the one. He is the one ruling in those days, the superiority of Jesus. The world to come, Messianic age, that�s all about Jesus.
It has nothing to do with the angels. It does say in Deuteronomy 32, as I mentioned last time, verse 8, reading the Septuagint, and that�s the Greek version of the Old Testament, not in Hebrew, but in Greek, and this is the book that the writer of Hebrews used, the Septuagint, when the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he established boundaries for the nations according to the number of the angels of God.
That is all true, but the exaltation of Jesus changed everything. When he says, �about which we are speaking he�s picking things up again after the little warning in chapter 2, verses 1 through 4, and there�s a time in the future when Christ is going to bring his final blessings in this world to come, the coming age, when Jesus returns and his rule is established as the Davidic king.
This is not given to angels, not to angels. I�m making a little note for myself. Not angels. Angels don�t rule ultimately. Jesus rules. He is the ruler. He�s the one in chapter 1 who is exalted, and he is the sovereign, supreme high priest.
Why are angels not as good as Jesus, even as a man? Because the God-man who will rule and reign in the future is Jesus. Well, you say to yourself, was it ever God�s plan for angels to rule then? No. It was a plan for Jesus to rule.
Very logical argument. Very systematized. Very much, let�s think about these Hebrew people who are suffering persecution and walk them through this very thing. You have to admit, it�s pretty shocking to consider that God is a man.
How do we work through that? I mean, would you rather be human or superhuman? Who�s better? How can Jesus, the man, be better than angels? And he�s, of course, as the God-man, better because he�s divine.
But even his humanity, it�s not a hindrance, it�s not a liability in the sense of his greatness. There are human liabilities, yes, but in terms of his greatness, because he�s not, because he had to suffer as a human.
The divine being doesn�t suffer, but now that he has humanity, he can suffer. Divine being can�t die, but now Jesus, the man, can die, and then he can be raised, and then he can be exalted. There can be no death, burial, resurrection, no suffering, and then exaltation, unless Jesus is a man.
And that�s what happens in the rest of chapter 2, verses 6, 7, and 8, at least 8a. Man falls, man has to regain, not angels. So if mankind is in the garden, Adam and Eve are in the garden, they fell, let�s use biblical language, Adam falls.
How do we restore paradise? Who regains paradise lost? Angels? Well, angels might be great, but they cannot regain paradise. They can�t rescue man. The Father didn�t send an angel, or a legion of angels, for that matter, to rescue man.
Man falls in the garden, man has to be restored. That�s why when we begin to think this way, begin to think of first Adam and last Adam, Adam and Adam, you�re going to be thinking representatively, you�re going to be thinking federally, you�re going to be thinking covenantally.
There�s no real difference, it�s just maybe you don�t want to say the word covenantal in front of other people. Covenant is a biblical concept, is it not? It's been testified somewhere, and that is the way the Psalm 8 quotation begins.
It's been testified somewhere. Doesn�t that sound funny? It's almost like, you know, does he even know where it's coming from? There's a place that's been testified somewhere. Well, I think what the writer is trying to do is say this.
Of course he knows the passage, he�s going to quote it perfectly. Of course you even know the passage because you�ll begin to say, �Oh yeah, I know that Psalm. If I were to say to you, �The Lord is my shepherd.
It�s been testified someplace, �The Lord is my shepherd. Well, if I put a question mark at the end of it, you know, it�s somewhere, I don�t really know where it is, �The Lord is my shepherd. Anybody know, like, the navigators, like, bookends for that?
It's not that at all. It's been testified somewhere. You know where it is. I don�t even have to tell you where it is. And by the way, the focus is on not the human author, but the divine author. It's been testified.
It's been told someplace. The author knows that the readers know it and would recognize the quotation. He doesn�t even have to give the place where it is, the call letters, if you will. I�m trying to think of how we say that in evangelicalese, the reference quotation.
He says, �I solemnly assert, I testify language of introducing a quotation with adjuring, with seriousness, with �this is important, but I�m not going to emphasize the human author. And he�s not going to quote the Hebrew, he�s going to be quoting the Septuagint.
I�m testifying. I�m bearing witness. I�m solemnly declaring. This is vigorous testimony, as one writer said. And the focus is on the divine author. The content is what�s important. The meaning is what�s important.
Not that you know that it�s from Psalm 8, although that�s nice to know. These quotations from the writer of Hebrews, it�s not that he doesn�t know. That�s not what he�s trying to say. The overarching point is the key.
And what�s the point? The humanity of Jesus is making him be able to regain paradise, which was lost. Lost dominion by a man, overcome by a man. Angels, while superior then, while superior maybe now, in the ages to come, won�t be so superior.
And if you think back to the fall, I think that�s one of the best ways to consider this as you think of paradise lost and paradise regained. And you think of atoms, first atom and last atom. That�s a good, I don�t want to say a hermeneutical principle, but when you�re dealing with this, humanity of Jesus, incarnation, deity of Christ, hypostatic union, purpose of Christ coming to the earth, everything, I just think now two atoms.
My world salvificly, as I think of the world salvificly, it revolves around two atoms. You�re either in one atom or the other. These two federal representatives, these two heads, the first atom and the last atom.
Not even called the second atom because what if there�s a third, but there�s the first and the last. I�m not sure we really think first atom, last atom enough. Atom, the first atom, Christ, Jesus Christ, the last atom, all creation in atom, all redemption is found only in the last atom.
In atom all die, in Christ all will be made alive, 1 Corinthians chapter 15. That�s the key. In atom or in Christ, everything�s revolving around that. The first atom was our federal representative, the Puritans in Adam�s fall, we sinned all.
But then we have Jesus, the second atom, no the last atom, he�s the federal representative for all of the elect. We�ve got the first atom and the last atom. Now, when you go to Romans chapter 5, you will see this very distinctly, the head of all humanity, the head of all the elect, both Adam and Jesus.
If they obeyed, there�s going to be great rewards, great fruit and we know Adam sinned yet Jesus, the last atom, obeyed. We need that obedience. What Adam couldn�t do, Jesus did. Therefore just as sin came into the world through one man and death through sin and so death spread to all men because all sinned, for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given.
But sin is not counted where there is no law. Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come. But the free gift is not like the trespass, for if many died through the one man�s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man, Jesus Christ, abounded for many.
And the free gift is not like the result of that one man�s sin, for the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. For if because of one man�s trespass death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in the life through the one man, Jesus Christ.
Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man�s disobedience the many were made righteous, so by the one man�s obedience the many will be made righteous.
And that comes from, of course, I know you know, Romans chapter 5, verses 12 through 19. Now I was just thinking of 1 Corinthians 15 as well with the first Adam, last Adam talk. It says in verse 45 of 1 Corinthians 15,.
�Thus it is written, the first man Adam became a living being, and the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. That�s 1 Corinthians 15, 45. But I think there�s an earlier passage as well, and let�s see if I can find it, verse 22,.
�For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. There�s the first Adam, last Adam discussion there. In addition, the race, the human race condemned because of Adam�s sin, imputed to his account.
Men and women are saved because of the imputation of Christ�s righteousness. Federal representatives. I like that arrangement. I wouldn�t have done any better in the garden, and I like it that I have a federal representative, and his name�s Jesus.
Our identity is found in either the first Adam or the last Adam. And we think of the two men, right? There�s two acts, there�s two results. The two men, Adam and Christ, the two acts, to use the language of Romans 5, one trespass, one righteous act, two results, condemnation or justification.
That�s what we have, federal headship, two Adams. All right, now let�s think back to the book of Hebrews. To regain the world, Adam, the first one, fell. Now there has to be the last Adam who regains it.
And that�s really the backdrop to what�s going on in Hebrews chapter 2. There�s the man�s rule over the earth in Psalm 8, but there�s got to be the ultimate ruler because man didn�t do everything he should.
That�s the rub. And when you think of the God-man who suffers, who�s humiliated, who dies, and then he is raised and exalted, it�s more difficult to think through because you�re thinking, well, angels, they don�t go through any of that.
But if you don�t go through the suffering, then there�s no resurrection. You don�t go through the death, then there�s no exaltation. Psalm 8 talks about how great man is made in the likeness and image of God and what he�s been given by God, but you�ve got to be thinking ultimately.
You�ve got to do what Hebrews does with chapter 2, and that is to think about the ultimate man, Jesus, the last Adam. So what the psalmist does in Psalm 8, which is quoted in Hebrews, is this hymn of praise, what God has done.
So what we�re doing here on No Compromise Radio is we�re just working through some of the implications of first Adam, last Adam in the book of Romans, 1 Corinthians 15, and how that�s important to understand so that Hebrews 2 is a little clearer.
Well, don�t forget Reformation 2000, NoCo Radio. I think we�re still going. I don�t know. I don�t have that many people signed up. I feel like I want to pull the plug. I think I shouldn�t, but I feel like I do.
So that�s where we�re going there. I have in front of me the new Christianity Today, and it�s about as awful as it gets. That was the last cup of coffee. Oh, that�s bad. Oh, that�s bad. I have in front of me the Christianity Today, October 2016, and it�s mal.
It�s muy mal. And one of the things I�ve noticed about this magazine is I just would like some good theological articles. That�s all. You know, the advertisements are interesting to me because I see what Liberty does.
I see what the Ryan Center for Biblical Studies does with REF 500. I see the Conquerors series with pornography, how to battle that. I kind of like to know what�s going on in evangelicalism. But then the theological articles.
I mean, I�m still looking. I�m still looking for them. I know if you wear cool glasses and go to a cool seminary and then talk about, you know, city life and coffee and stuff, that�s cool. I get that.
But the rest of the stuff, very, very difficult for me to work through. They�ve got a thing on why I�m voting for Trump, another article by why I�m voting for Clinton, and another one why I�m voting for neither candidate with a fist up in the air.
I just, seriously, it�s beyond me to see what happens with this. I know I can go to Bethany House Ad and get some special Margaret Feinberg adult coloring books. I mean, can you believe that? Margaret Feinberg?
Have you ever listened to her? I think maybe, I don�t know her aspirations, but, you know, in the Ann Voskamp kind of flow and theme, she has now these coloring books. I don�t know. I just, you know, I see the N .T. Wright thing.
Learn online with N .T. Wright. Learn what you want, where you want, when you want. And my guess is, you got to pay. You got to pay. Anyway, I�m just� I�m just� Gleaning�s Christianity Today. October 2016.
How to govern your church effectively. Okay, maybe that will help me. Traits leaders want in board members. Attends church faithfully, 90%. Gives consistently. Has other professional or business experience.
Has ministry experience. Has been on other boards. Has financial experience. Has legal experience. Has counseling experience. That�s what they want in board members. Now, I�m not the smartest guy in the world.
If I were in the Army, I�d be a grunt up in the front, a Marine. How about 1 Timothy chapter 3? How about Titus chapter 1? That�s what I want in a board member, because to be on the elder board, that�s what I want.
How board members are elected. 34 congregational, 20 board nominates, congregation elects. 10 board chooses, 9 pastor nominates, congregation elects. Medium number of members on a board. 8. Traits of an effective board.
Meets at least once a month for 2 hours or more. Has the ability to name the pastor�s salary. Members are selected solely by the lead pastor. Willing to change and correct the lead pastor. Has policies and the ability to ask an underperforming member to resign.
Offers church staff strategic but not tactical input. Has a strategic planning process. Assesses risks and opportunities. Was it John Lennon who said, �I�m so tired. I can�t afford to sleep. I�m so tired.
My mind is on the blink. You ask me what. Okay. If you�re a pastor though, you get a special CT pastor�s wisdom and tools for your calling state of the church ministry in America 2017. I got an extra little book.
Wow. It�s got Barna Trends, Small Groups Made Simple, a couple articles that I don�t have any idea what they�re talking about, Top 10 Productivity Tools for Pastors, and number 10 is Bible Software. Everything else is whiteboards, Evernotes, tomato timers, Slack, Captio, and planning software.
See? It�s just so nice. It�s nice to be nice. It�s good to be good. It�s nice to have a dwindling publicational magazine that doesn�t have any. It�s just like I�m just speechless. My name is Mike Avinroth.
This is No Compromise Radio. Hebrews chapter 2. You do read that and you have the same response. You�re speechless, but for other reasons. That Jesus would become a man and die on the cross. You say, �What�s that clipping sound
That�s my iPad. I�m sorry for the clipping. Info at NoCompromiseRadio .com.
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