Keep sharing good news without ads.
No description available
When I was a boy growing up in Nebraska, crew cut and all, I had a dilemma, and it was a very big dilemma in my mind. Would I rather be Tarzan or Batman? Both were very popular when I was growing up, and of course, I'm not talking about modern Batman and modern Tarzan, but old school.
We were fairly poor, and Tarzan's outfit was easier, cheaper, at least in the summer. So I mainly was Tarzan, even though I thought Batman was probably smarter. I remember I had a special knife, a Tarzan knife.
It was made of plastic, but it was a heavy, dense plastic. I remember just having that on my swimsuit side, and one time I saw a squirrel, and I thought, you know what, that squirrel's a dead squirrel.
This is a heavy knife. It wasn't metal or anything, but I threw it at the squirrel, and it got stuck up in the tree, and to this day, this is why I have all these psychological issues. That squirrel took my Tarzan knife, and I'm just biting on it like, you're not going to kill me.
Tarzan or Batman, that's hard to decide. I have another tough question for you this morning. Would you rather be an angel or a human? It's much more important to answer that question than Tarzan or Batman.
If you had the possibility to be an angel, would you, or is it better to be a human? Now before you answer that question, I want you to think flying around. I want you to think superhuman. I want you to think delivering the decrees of God.
I want you to think delivering divine judgment. I want you to think ministering spirits. All things that angels have or do. No physical body, yet so intelligent. Serving God, rejoicing in what God does.
Is it better to be an angel? Isn't it better to be an angel than a human? But today, in the book of Hebrews, that question is asked and then answered, and the answer is, it is much, much better to be a human.
Turn your Bibles, please, to Hebrews chapter 1 and 2. We'll look at that as we catch up to speed, and what's going on in this book that talks about Jesus Christ, the God-man, as our high priest, our mediator.
It is better to be a human. What's happening in the book of Hebrews? The first chapter is Jesus, the divine Son. Obviously, He's better than angels. He's the divine Son. God is better than angels. But now in chapter 2, the writer wants to make sure you understand that Jesus, the man, is still better than angels.
As God, He's better, but as man, Jesus is not inferior to angels. He's better than angels. Because I know what you're thinking, because the writer of Hebrews also knows. Isn't there some type of liability that humanity gives us?
Doesn't that kind of disqualify us from being better than angels? Is Jesus inferior because of His humanity? How can Jesus be greater than angels when angels are, well, angels? And that's where we come to our passage today, Hebrews 2, verses 5 and following.
While you might think humanity is a hurdle, it's an obstacle, it's a pothole in the road for your theological system, it's not. Jesus, as man, is still better than angels. Big picture, this book is chapters 1 through about the middle of chapter 10, doctrine, what does the Bible say about Jesus?
And then the writer shifts to practical application in the middle of chapter 10. So almost like a Pauline epistle, early on you've got doctrine, and then you've got practice, you've got conduct flowing from creed.
And the same thing happens here in this book where everything exclaims Jesus is greater. He's greater than the prophets, He's greater than the angels, He's greater than Moses, He's greater than Aaron, He's greater than the old covenant, He is greater than the old sacrifices, He is a superior high priest.
The book exudes the word better, better than angels, chapter 1, a better hope, chapter 7, a better covenant, chapter 7, better promises, chapter 8, better sacrifices, chapter 9, better resurrection, chapter 11.
Not only that, it talks about great all the time, great salvation, great high priest, great tabernacle, great cloud of witnesses, and the great shepherd of the sheep. Chapter 1, Jesus is greater than angels because He's God, and then He has the little warning.
And I'll just read the warning again to catch us up to speed in chapter 2. Therefore, we must pay much closer attention, you can see the tie-in with the therefore, theology isn't neutral, to what we have heard lest we drift away from it.
Remember that nautical kind of figure of speech? For since the message declared by angels, they helped deliver Mosaic law, proved to be reliable in every transgression, our disobedience received a just retribution.
How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? And notice the past tense language here, it was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard. Error is passive, it's something that happened in the past.
While God also bore witness, technically it says, while He's bearing witness to this past thing, but it catches the grammar right, and God also, past tense, it's the idea, bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit, distributed according to His will.
And now we pick it up in chapter 2, verse 5. I think what I'm going to do is read verses 5 through 18, so you can get this idea, that humanity doesn't hurt Jesus. His incarnation helps, it doesn't hurt.
After all, here's going to be the argument of the book of Hebrews, chapter 2. How can Jesus suffer, unless He's a human? How can He die in our place as a representative, unless He's human? How can He be raised from the dead, and then given an exalted place of preeminence, unless He's human?
Angels don't suffer. Angels don't die. Angels don't have a time of suffering and then exaltation. To have that happen, you've got to have Jesus as both God and man. It's not a hindrance to be a man, it's a necessity.
Chapter 2, verse 5,. For it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we were speaking. It has been testified somewhere, 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. Now, in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control.
At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him, but we see him who was for a little while made lower than the angels, namely Jesus. Notice the focus on the person. This is human name. Crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.
For it was fitting that he, from whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering. See, angels can't do that. For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source.
This is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers, saying, I will tell of your praise to my brothers. In the midst of the congregation, I will sing your praise. And again, I will put my trust in him.
And again, behold, I and the children God has given me. 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.
See, no angel could do that. And deliver all those through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. For surely it's not the angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. How does he help them?
By becoming one of them. Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect. He had to become a human 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, something the angels could never do, he is able to help those who are also being tempted. Jesus is greater than the angels, not just by his divinity, but also by, counterintuitively, his humanity.
Who is better, an angel or a man? Jesus has to be a man. Now what happens is, for our outline today, I'm going to play off of a word or two in verse 8 and verse 9. And that word is the word see, S-E-E.
At the end of verse 8, we do not yet see everything in subjection, but verse 9, but we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels. So today I want you to see with eyes of faith. See Jesus, the ruler, who is greater than angels, even though he is a human.
How can Jesus be greater than an angel as a man? Number one, I want you to see Jesus, even as a man, as God's ordained ruler. That's what I want you to perceive and to see. Jesus, even as a man, is God's ordained ruler.
In other words, it was never the plan for God to have angels in charge of everything in the future. Verse 5, how to see Jesus superior to angels? Number one, see him superior to angels because he is the ruler, not the angels of the world to come.
For it was not to angels, Hebrews 2 .5, God subjected the world to come of which we are speaking. Now, angels had and have certain controls. They have certain realms of things that they need to do. And back in this day, let me read to you Deuteronomy 32, angels had been placed over nations, working things out for God.
They were in charge of certain peoples and nations. Deuteronomy 32 .8, but when the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he divided mankind, he fixed the borders of the peoples according to the numbers of angels.
That's the Septuagint, that's the Greek version of the Old Testament. Angels were in control of regions. Daniel, it says that there's the prince of Persia, there's the prince of Greece. It says that Michael is the prince.
Daniel chapter 10, then he said, Do you know why I have come to you? But now I will return to fight against the prince of Persia. And when I go out, the prince of Greece will come. God has these angels looking out over and directing and controlling nations.
That's one of their jobs. But it's not their ultimate job because you look back at verse 5. It's not to angels that God subjected the world to come. In other words, God may have subjected the world at the time to angelic government, but not ultimately.
And you should be thinking that way anyway because it says in chapter 1 verse 13, does it not? To which of the angels has he ever said, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet?
Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who will inherit salvation? Now, when you look at the word world there, sometimes you might think of a cosmos. It's a different word.
It means humanity. It means the world that is inhabited. The world to come, this Jewish expression of a future age. Who's in charge of the world to come? That's the question. You go, this is confusing.
What's going on? Angels in charge of things? Yes, angels were in charge of things, but who's going to be in charge in the future? And we know the answer to that question. We just learned in chapter 1, Jesus dies.
He's raised from the dead and then enthroned. It's a great coronation where Jesus is in charge of everyone and everything. Angels aren't going to be in charge of the world to come. Jesus is. The exaltation of Jesus changed everything.
While the boundaries of the nations might have been set for angels, now it's different because Jesus has been raised from the dead. And doesn't that make sense? If the Father sends the Son to go rescue humanity and dies on a cross, He's raised from the dead.
Doesn't the Father say, everything I have is yours? Of course. That's the idea. The exaltation of Jesus changed everything. And He had to be a man to die and to be raised from the dead and to be exalted.
Jesus is the ruler, not just the angels. Number two. This will develop. Number two. Now, let me say this. This passage requires a thinking cap or two. I don't know if you remember dunce caps, right? Remember dunce caps, those little conical kind of dunce cap things?
You might want to do some research on dunce caps and dunscotus, but that's a different sermon. This takes thinking. This takes engagement. This is not kind of the easiest passage in the world. Now, if you're preaching, it's almost like, do I tell them that?
Because now you're kind of, you're bracing yourself like this is going to be too hard. But it's not going to be too hard when you remember the big picture. Holy God, thrice holy God, sinful man. You need somebody in between.
And that somebody in between has to be God so He can interact with God. And that person has to be man so He can interact with man. And that person is called a high priest. So the writer of Hebrews is saying, listen, Jesus is greater as God, chapter one, but how can He be greater than man?
I mean, mankind has all kinds of limitations and mankind has weaknesses. So this passage here, it's not that hard when you get that big picture. And he quotes a passage that's wonderful. And if you understand this passage, it will also help you.
But you have to be engaged. Jesus, number two, I want you to see as the ultimate Adam who regains what the first Adam loses. How can Jesus be greater than angels? Number one, it was never God's plan for angels to rule the world.
And number two, Jesus, the ultimate man, the last Adam, regains what Adam loses. Angels didn't regain paradise. Angels are great, but they can't rescue man. The Father did not send an angel to be some kind of mediator because an angel isn't man.
The only way you can be a mediator is to be God and man. You can just hear Paul talk in 1 Timothy 2. Between God and man, it's this mediator, the man Christ Jesus. And now he gives the quote in Hebrews, chapter two, verse six.
It has been testified somewhere. Now, doesn't that kind of strike you kind of funny at the beginning? It's in the Bible somewhere, you know. But that's not what he means because he's quoting it perfectly.
If I were to say to you, you know, the Bible somewhere says, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. You know I know. I'm just asking the question. And this is what the writer does. The writer is trying to say, I don't really care who the human author is.
The focus is on the divine author. And you know where it is in your Bible. It's been testified somewhere. It's been given a stamp of authority someplace. He knows the readers recognize this. This is a very famous passage.
And he introduces it with this testify language, adjure language, bearing witness language, solemn declaration. He's not trying to be funny. He's using language, court language. The goal for us is not, well, why doesn't he say, you know, did you grow up memorizing verses like the navigators taught you?
You say John 3, 16, for God so loved the world. And you go through the whole thing. And then what do you say at the end? John 3, 16. That's the way you do it. He's using language that says, I'm getting you to focus on the content here, not necessarily the call numbers.
The meaning of the citation is what's central. And now he quotes from Psalm 8. Psalm 8. And you probably know this psalm. You've probably sung this psalm. And he quotes a few verses from the middle of the psalm.
What is man that you're mindful of him? Our son of man that you care for him. You made him up for a little while lower than the angels. You've crowned him with glory and honor, putting everything in subjection under his feet.
Now in Bible study, there are some key things that if you get, the Bible will become much clearer to you. Let me give you one illustration. Prescription versus description. Would that be a good hermeneutical principle to have wired in your mind?
The Bible sometimes describes things. The Bible sometimes, what's that piece of paper that the doctor gives you if you need some coding? A what? A prescription. See, I knew that, but I'm using Hebrews 2, 6 language.
It's been testified someplace. I knew you knew that. That's why I said it. It's a script. It's a prescription. Take two of these and don't call me in the morning. That's what it says on there. Description.
Some things happen you're not to do. When Jesus heals people and feeds 5 ,000 men with bread, it doesn't say you go do that. Other things are prescribed. Be content. Show thanksgiving. Do everything without complaining and murmuring.
Those are prescriptions. And if you get that principle down, you're going to be in good shape. Here's another principle when it comes to the book of Hebrews and really every book in the New Testament.
If you can get this down, you're on your way. Not just description, prescription, but I want you to think first Adam, last Adam. If you can get that Adam in the garden called the first Adam and Jesus called the last Adam.
He's not called the second Adam because, well, maybe there's a third Adam. But he is the last man, the ultimate man. You will understand this passage and so many other things in the Bible. First Adam, last Adam.
That is the language of not only Romans 5, but also 1 Corinthians 15. One Adam in the garden ruined everything. In Adam's fall, we sinned all. One man, later Jesus Christ, undoes everything that first Adam does.
First Adam, last Adam. I think it's Thomas Goodwin who said, everyone is hanging on one of Adam's girdles. I never thought I'd say girdle from the pulpit as long as I live, but since a Puritan said it, I figured it was okay.
You're either in Christ, fall in humanity, Adam as your federal representative. What did I just say, in Christ? What did I say? Did I say in Adam? I meant in Adam, the first one. In Adam, sinful and fallen, or you're in Christ, the last Adam.
One man, Adam, sins, everything's ruined. One man, the last Adam, redeems and everything is restored. 1 Corinthians 15, in Adam all die, and in Christ all will be made alive. I want you to think representative, first Adam, representative, last Adam.
And it helps because if I think about that mediator between God and man, he's going to have to be my representative. He has to be God so he has enough righteousness to give to everybody who will believe.
But I need a mediator who's a human. If Adam, the first Adam, the sinful Adam, wrecks the paradise, an angel can't come and fix it. If a human messes it up, a human's going to have to fix it. And therefore Jesus is called the last Adam.
If you can begin to think first Adam, second Adam, that's not quite right. You begin to think first Adam, last Adam. It will help you interpret the Bible because you'll be thinking, federal representative Adam, federal representative Jesus.
And that will help you understand this passage. It says in Romans 5, Therefore just 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 sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous. Two men, Adam and the last Adam. Two acts, trespass and righteous act. Two results, condemnation or justification.
Now what do you do when you read a quote from the Old Testament and the New Testament? The best thing you can do is probably go to the Old Testament and see where it's found. So let's do that. Let's go to Psalm 8.
Knowing what we know now, the writer's establishing the humanity of Jesus. And it's not going to hurt him, it's actually going to help him be the representative. And we're thinking there's a first Adam, but there's an ultimate last Adam.
You come to chapter 8 of Psalm and it's going to make it easier for you to understand. Psalm 8, this great hymn of praise. Man, the pinnacle of God's creation. Not animals, not mountains, but man himself.
And the languages of intimate first name. You call someone by their first name, you know them. And this is the covenant keeping name of God. Oh Yahweh. This is the way God reveals himself to his special people.
Oh Yahweh, our Adonai, our sovereign, our ruler, our governor. How majestic is your name in all the earth. When it comes to wonder and contemplation of what God has done, my mind is blown when I think about who you are.
That's the idea. Verse 2, out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes to still the enemy and the avenger. When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you have set in place, what is man that you're mindful of him and the son of man that you care for him?
God, you're so great. You ever look up at the stars of heaven and then you go, and who am I? I'm just like tiny. I'm infinitesimally small compared to the great backdrop of the universe. I'm just this little tiny person.
This summer I was paddle boarding in Santa Cruz. And we went out, followed my friend Zach out. And he's some kind of racer on a paddle board. And there's these kind of waves. And of course all the shark attacks are happening.
And he's telling me, just as long as you don't have a yellow paddle board, great whites like yellow. I'm like, well, the top doesn't look like yellow, but what about the bottom? Ah, you've got a tourniquet anyway.
It's called a leash. Just keep paddling. It's getting foggy out there. Think San Francisco fog. And we're out there in the big kelp beds. And when you are standing up six foot above the water, it's a different feel than if you're surfing down in the water.
When you're surfing in the water, just your head's above the water, you're like, the good news is, if I get bit, I'm dead and I don't really know it. But when you're above the water, you can see the thing coming.
And you're like, I'm dead and I have to know it. But I'll tell you, I wasn't really afraid of the sharks as much as I was really stunned by the fact, I'm like this big in the universe. I'm like one little piece of dust on this entire ocean.
I'm so small. I'm so little. And what the psalmist does, remember he calls God Yahweh, this personal name, that I'm this big. I'm even a sinful person and I'm this big, this little. And God knows me. God cares for me.
I matter to Him. That's 1 Peter chapter 5. God would know me in a trial and care for me and to think and to stoop down. Speck of dust, yet He's mindful, He knows, and He cares. That's amazing. That's why David is like, wow, I just can't get over it.
How can you be so great but be so concerning? He says in verse 5, speaking of mindful, look at the charge that God has given little tiny puny man. Look at the dominion God has given to little pipsqueak of a man.
Yet you've made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. What privileges, what special attention, what extravagance to give on a little tiny insignificant sinful creature.
You've given him, verse 6, dominion over the works of your hands. You put all things under his feet, all oxen, sheep, the beasts of the field, birds of the heaven, fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the sea.
This is all like an echo of Genesis chapter 1, is it not? Let us make human beings in our image and our likeness and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock of the earth and over all the creatures that move along the ground.
To be under someone's feet is to have authority over them. And God says, you're in charge of all of this. And what does David say in response? Just the way it starts, Oh Yahweh our Lord, this just blows my mind.
How majestic is your name in all the earth. Just the thought that we would give such a tiny little speck of insignificant sinful dust. You'd given him power and glory and honor and everything at his feet.
Now here's my question, class. Who quotes Psalm 8 in the New Testament? Well, the person who's from Nebraska with a crew cut says Hebrews 2. That is correct. Elsewhere. Turn to Matthew 21. Did you know our Lord Jesus, He quoted this?
For those of you that are interested in biblical studies and hermeneutical fidelity, you already are starting to feel the rub. Is God talking in Psalm 8 in Hebrews 2 about men in general? Mankind in general are the ultimate man, the last man, Adam.
You're feeling that tension, that's good. Someone else besides the writer of Hebrews quotes from Psalm 8. And it is our Lord Jesus Christ. Matthew 21. And the blind and the lame came to Him, verse 14, in the temple and He healed them.
But when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that He did, the children crying out in the temple, Hosanna to the Son of David. They were indignant. And they said to Him, Do you hear what these are saying?
And that's kind of a bad thing to say to Jesus. And His response to them, these leaders, the chief priests, the scribes, the experts in the Bible, yes, have you never read? Nope. And He quotes from Psalm 8.
Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise. And leaving them He went out of the city to Bethany and lodged there. Praise is prepared. To whom is praise given? God is the one to be praised.
Psalm 8. You give praise to God for making this great place underneath the feet of this small little David and everyone else. To God alone be the praise. Oh Yahweh our Lord, how excellent is Your name in all the earth.
And now what does Jesus do? This praise that David gives to God and God alone, these people now are giving praise to me. I, in fact, Jesus says, am God in the flesh. The ultimate son of David is me, Jesus.
John Fesco writes, quote, Do not overlook the children's identification of Jesus as David's greater son. The children of Jerusalem recognized Jesus as the one of whom David wrote. When the Pharisees became indignant and tried to rebuke Jesus for allowing the children to say such a thing, how did Jesus respond?
Have you never read? And then He quoted Psalm 8. The children are correct. Don't you know that David wrote Psalm 8 about me? That is what He says in effect to the Pharisees. Jesus is the last Adam. Now let's go back to Hebrews chapter 2 and put this together.
There's nothing wrong with man. Man was to rule. A man will rule. God put everything underneath the feet of humanity and there's going to be the ultimate man that will rule ultimately. God gave the earth to be ruled by mankind and the ultimate man will rule.
The last Adam will rule everything. Hebrews chapter 2. Now remember, before we get lost in some of this kind of deep theological issues, how great are angels? Great! But they can't rescue mankind. God doesn't have an angel cloak itself with human flesh and then go rescue mankind.
What is man? Do you see that back in chapter 2 verse 6 of Hebrews? What is man? He's not talking about an individual male per se. Just humanity. What's humanity that you even think about him? I read someplace, I don't even know if I'm supposed to say something like this, but I'll give it a shot anyway.
Man is a rash on the epidermis of a minor planet. It almost sounds like I shouldn't be saying it. Yet God cares. God's mindful of him. Job said something very similar. What is man? That you make so much of him and that you set your heart on him.
Visit him every morning and test him every moment. God isn't so mindful. I mean, he knows about angels, but it's not with this intense mindfulness and care and affection to look on, to look after. The same word to be mindful of or to care for him.
When we say, oh God, visit me. The original man, Adam, is to be the vice-regent of the earth. And he rebels. And we need the final vice-regent to come and undo what the first Adam has done. Verse 7.
You made him a little while lower than the angels. A while lower than the angels. You've crowned him with glory and honor. Now here's the interpretive rub. Him. Who's him? You made him. Is it mankind or is it Jesus?
A little while lower. Where mankind would be in charge of many things, but then ultimately be exalted. Is it mankind or is it Jesus? If you think first Adam and last Adam, I think you'll be helped. And when you notice, it says in verse 7.
You made him for a little while lower than the angels. And you have crowned him with glory and honor. If you think of the big picture of Hebrews chapter 1, your mind is going to be drawn toward, well, maybe this is humanity in general and Jesus is the ultimate man.
But Matthew chapter 21 and now Hebrews 2 should be getting you to be thinking, listen, this has to be talking about Jesus now. Why? Because Hebrews 1 talks about coronation. It talks about exaltation.
And Jesus, when he was a human, he was a little while lower than the angels. That's true. But after his suffering, after his death, after his resurrection, is Jesus now lower than the angels? No, he's crowned with glory and honor.
This is the ultimate man. This is the ultimate son of David, Jesus himself. You've crowned him with glory and honor. He's undid. He's undid. He undid what the first Adam did. The ultimate point here is through the humiliation and exaltation of Jesus, it shows that he is now greater than angels.
Verse 8, putting everything in subjection under his feet. Everything is in subjection now. There's nothing left. And here comes the interpretation. You say, Mike, I don't know if I really like what you said about Psalm 8 so much.
Here's the interpretation that's inspired, verses 8 and 9. He gives the quote, then he gives the interpretation. Now, in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him.
Verse 9, but we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels. Who is that person? 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.
So what's the point? How can Jesus be greater than angels if he's a human? Because as a human, he's our representative. And he undoes what Adam did in the garden. And now God has crowned him because of his suffering and death with great honor.
And everything is under subjection of Jesus' feet. Turn to Revelation 5. I want you to see this here. And then we'll pick it up next week where we left off. Revelation 5, only the last Adam can regain and restore what the first Adam lost.
Revelation 5 is a passage I love to go to for many reasons. But I think you'll see the tie-in here. Can an angel undo what Adam did in the garden? Can an angel have paradise restored? Paradise is lost by a man.
It has to be regained by a man. And there's only one man for the job. If that man was not on our side, our striving would be losing. Okay, Revelation 5, verse 1. Then I saw... He's kind of switching from looking at the throne and the creatures who sat on the throne.
I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne a scroll written. And on the back sealed with seven seals. You would seal things up to contain what was in the seal. And by the way, you wouldn't have a seal with one, two, three, four, five, six, seven.
A scroll with seven seals. What you would do is you would take a scroll and you would start to roll it up. And you'd get like two rolls in, you'd put a seal there. Roll it up a couple more times, put another seal there.
Roll it up a couple more times, put another seal there. So if the first one broke, it still would have these other six seals. And there's this throne where a scroll is found and it's written on the back.
Within and on the back. What's on that scroll? Well, as you study the passage, you'll go, this is like eternity. This is the decree of God. What's going to happen in the future? And it's a scroll that's all filled up.
It's packed. There's no spaces for later additions. God's redemptive plan is written on this scroll. Who's in charge of all that? Who has the earth and God's redemptive plan and the universe under His feet in subjection to Him?
Who controls the universe? They're comprehensive decrees. They're extensive decrees. And they're sealed. And you know, there's a problem. Verse 2, and I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who's worthy to open the book and to break its seals?
That strong angel can't do it. There are things angels can't do. I wonder if it's better to be an angel or a man. Who's worthy to open the book and to break its seals? It's not a matter of power, it's a matter of authority.
Who is the one? You need proper credentials. There's no one worthy. No one can do it. Who's without sin? Who's worthy to judge? And what does John end up doing? No one in heaven or on earth or under earth was able to open the scroll or to even look into it.
Do you notice how universal this inability is? In earth, on earth, under earth. Heaven is going to have to supply the answer. No angel in heaven. No human on earth. No one. Everyone's born of Adam. Everyone's lost in sin.
In perfect tense, the creatures can't do it. No one. Yes, but if you're thinking big picture, you're thinking, God has made a promise back in Genesis chapter 3 to undo everything and to provide a Messiah.
He's going to be worthy to do it. But right now, verse 4, I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. Yeah, maybe God is checkmated. Maybe if we get somebody elected in November that's not to our liking, the world will be over.
God's purpose will be thwarted. And what's the response? Loud wailing by the evangelical right. Did I just say that? I can't believe I just said that. Only three votes count in November 8. The Father, Son, and the Spirit, they all vote for the same person.
Amen? Is there a Redeemer? Is there another person who can do this? No angel can do it. It has to be a person. Aren't all people affected by sin? I'm just going to cry. I mean, sometimes, you know, when you've got kids and they're little and they fall, and they're like, don't cry about that.
And then I'd always say to my kids, I'll use Luke as an illustration, because he's not here and I don't have to give him the dollar. Luke, when you fall down on your bicycle, no crying. When Grandma dies, you just cry.
That's a reason to cry. And don't wipe your tears either. Don't be ashamed. If there's ever a reason to cry, the world is over. All the promises of Genesis 3 and Exodus 12 and Leviticus 16 and Isaiah 53.
I mean, who is going to open these scrolls? Something's got to be done. Someone, is there anyone who's worthy? I mean, can you imagine if somebody watched your life the last 30 years, 33 years, and videotaped everything you said, and recorded everything you thought about?
We don't need to go back 11 years. Let's just go back 5 years, 1 month, and recorded everything, and then everyone was able to see it all. That would be a bad day. Can you imagine? I think it's all leading up to someone.
For 33 years, you look at the life of Jesus, and everything is recorded in the mind of God. Maybe there's just one little time he was sinful. Maybe there's just one time he didn't thank the Father. Maybe there's just one time he was like, you know, I can't believe my dad did such and such.
What an awful person this is. Maybe there's just one little time that he did that, and if he did one sin, that book's never going to be opened. Nobody's ever going to be ultimately forgiven. But of course, Jesus lived a sinless life as a human, as the last Adam, and it says in verse 5, aren't you glad?
Weep no more. Behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, he could have just as easily said, the last Adam has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals. Finally, there's going to be someone who can say, everything is in subjection to me, even as a human, upon the throne of David and over his kingdom, Isaiah chapter 9.
He's prevailed, and he is a lamb. He's a lion lamb, the lion of Judah, and he conquers like a lamb, the sacrificial substitute. A man in Massachusetts wrote 300 years ago, the devil had, as it were, swallowed up Christ as the whale did Jonah, but it was deadly poison to him.
He gave him a mortal wound in his own bowels. He was soon sick of his morsel and was forced to do by him as what the whale did to Jonah. To this day, he is heart sick of what he then swallowed as his prey, because Jesus is not only the lion, but he's also the lamb, and therefore superior to angels because of his suffering and death.
Who is the one that can take the scroll? It's the same one that the Bible teaches, that is crowned with glory and honor, Hebrews putting everything in subjection under his feet. After Jesus' humiliation and suffering and death, he is no longer lower than the angels because God exalted him.
Even Jesus, the man Jesus, yes, Jesus was more than a man, but he was fully man. And this whole passage in Hebrews, and then, yes, Revelation, echoes this one thought, Jesus the God-man as the high priest.
When he suffers and dies and does the Father's will, there is an exaltation. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of the Father.
Jesus is under no one's subjection any longer. And if Jesus wasn't a man, he was only an angel, there's no hope for us. Let's pray. I thank you, Father, for this day. I thank you that we see Jesus, the ultimate ruler, who was the incarnate sufferer, yet now you've crowned with glory and honor, undoing what the first Adam did.
Thank you for that. Thank you that he's our representative, and when you see us, you see us in Christ. I thank you for that. I thank you that you loved us enough to have your Son add humanity, so that he could be tempted, as we'll see next week, and show empathy and sympathy, and he could be tempted and yet still strengthen us.
I thank you. It's weird to think, but, Father, I'm glad we're not angels, because it's going to be better to be a man, because we have Jesus, the God-man, as our Savior and High Priest. In his name we pray.
Amen.