WWUTT 1808 Crowned With Glory and Honor (Hebrews 2:6-9)

The World to Come Is Not Subject to Angels

Jesus, for a little bit of time, was made a little lower than the angels. But in what he accomplished through his earthly ministry, we who reign with him will reign even above the angels. When we understand the text.

This is When We Understand the Text, a daily study of God's Word that we may be filled with the knowledge of His will. For questions and comments, send us an email to whenweunderstandthetext at gmail .com.

Here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe. Thank you, Becky. We come back to our study of the Hebrews, the book of Hebrews, that is, still in chapter 2. If you want to open up your Bible and join with me there, I'm in the Legacy Standard Bible and I'm going to begin by reading verses 5 through 10.

This is the word of the Lord. For he did not subject to angels the world to come, concerning which we are speaking. But one has testified somewhere, saying, What is man that you remember him? Or the son of man that you are concerned about him?

You have made him, for a little while, lower than the angels. You have crowned him with glory and honor, and have appointed him over the works of your hands. You have put all things in subjection under his feet.

For in subjecting all things to him, he left nothing that is not subject to him. But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him. But we do see him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, Jesus, because of the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

For it was fitting for him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings. A lot of deep things going on here.

We'll see how much we get to it. So let's come back to verse 5. This was the passage that I focused on or explained yesterday. For he did not subject to angels the world to come concerning which we are speaking.

That is our present time, the world in which we are spreading the gospel. We who have come to faith in the gospel, and then likewise we're delivering it to others so that they also will hear the truth of Jesus Christ.

He who died on a cross and made sacrifice for sins. He accomplished the cleansing of sins, as said back in chapter 1 verse 3, by his death on the cross. He rose again from the dead, and he is ascended into heaven where he is seated at the right hand of God.

All of that explained there in chapter 1. We get into chapter 2 here, and we understand the message of the gospel was first proclaimed by the Lord, and it was confirmed to us by those who heard. We went over this yesterday and the day before.

God also testifying with them. Now when we see that word testify, God testifying, this is not some passing exclamation or a moment of wonder, wow, did you see that? This is a solemn declaration. And it is something that because it is the word of God, endures forever.

Remember the word of Christ in Mark 13 31, heaven and earth will pass away, but my word will never pass away. So this testimony is a solemn declaration, God testifying with them both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to his own will so that we know it is God's word that we believe and that we testify about.

God testified, and now we testify to that word that we have come to believe by faith. So then in verse 5, God did not subject to angels the world to come. And remember that the argument that was made back in chapter 1 is that Christ is even higher than the angels.

To which of the angels did God ever say, you are my son, today I have begotten you. And again, I will be a father to him and he shall be a son to me. To the son he says, verse 8, this is chapter 1 verse 8, your throne, O God, is forever and ever, and the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.

So talking about the son, knowing that he is God, though he has had an earthly ministry, he put on flesh and dwelt among us, he suffered and died. Though he did these things, he is by no means lower than the angels.

He is higher than the angels are. So he did not subject to angels the world to come, but all things have been subjected to the son. We're still kind of keeping up with that argument here as we continue in chapter 2.

And there's going to be Old Testament evidence of that, as the reference here is to Psalm 8, verse 6, but one has testified somewhere. So just as we saw that word testifying in verse 4, as coming from God, a solemn declaration.

So this testimony in verse 6 is the same way. It's a solemn declaration. This is the word of God that endures to the end. It was a man who said this. We know it's David's psalm, but it is nonetheless the word of the Lord through David.

So a solemn declaration, something that we're seeing fulfilled even now. At the time that Hebrews was written, Psalm 8 would have been written 1 ,000 years before. So the writer, or the preacher rather, is bringing to the hearer's attention that this psalm is being fulfilled among us in that we've seen the glory of the Father and the Son, Jesus Christ.

What is man that you remember him? Or the son of man that you are concerned about him? You have made him for a little while lower than the angels. You have crowned him with glory and honor and have appointed him over the works of your hands.

Now, whenever we read this in Psalm 8, it's one of my favorite psalms. I love Psalm 8, have it memorized. It begins, O Yahweh our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth, who displays your splendor above the heavens.

From the mouth of infants and nursing babies, you have established strength. Or as it reads in the Septuagint, you have ordained your praise because of your adversaries to make the enemy and the revengeful cease.

That's the first two verses of Psalm 8. And then it picks up in verse 3 what we're reading here, verses 3 and 4 rather, what we read here in Hebrews 2. When I see your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you have established, what is man that you remember him?

And the son of man that you care for him? Now, when you read that in Psalm 8, who do you think man is in that psalm? Likely if you were reading through the psalms and you get to Psalm 8 and you read, what is man that you remember him and the son of man that you care for him, you're going to think that's us, right?

Mankind. Yet, you have made him a little lower than the angels, yeah, well, that's us. You crown him with glory and majesty, okay, we've been made in the image of God. And even if we understand the gospel when we're reading Psalm 8, we might have in mind we're going to reign with him forever.

So we have crowns of glory and majesty. You make him to rule over the works of your hands, okay, yeah, still applies. After all, God gave dominion to Adam and he said, fill the earth and subdue it, you've put all things under his feet.

All sheep and oxen, also the animals of the field, Adam named all the animals, the birds of the heavens, the fish of the sea, whatever passes through the paths of the sea. And then we end the Psalm the same way we began, oh, Yahweh, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth.

So when we read that section about man that goes from verses four through eight, we might be tempted to think that it's talking about mortal man. But when you read in Hebrews, this reference to Psalm 8, you have to come away with the conclusion that we're talking about Jesus here.

We're still talking about the son of God in this Old Testament passage. One is testified somewhere saying, what is man that you remember him or the son of man that you are concerned about him? Why would I argue then that what's being talked about here in Hebrews two is in reference to Christ and not in reference to mortal man or any mortal man, a descendant of Adam because of what's said in verse nine.

So go to verse nine. But we do see him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, Jesus. So go back to the reference to Psalm 8 in Hebrews two, seven, you have made him for a little while lower than the angels.

Verse nine explains that's talking about Jesus. See, this is one of those occasions where the New Testament tells us explicitly this is about Christ. So we read, you have made him for a little while lower than the angels in verse seven.

And then in verse nine, we do see him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, Jesus. Now, if it says in Hebrews one that he is ranked higher than the angels and even the angels are subject to him, how can we therefore read here that he is lower than the angels?

Well, again, he's made for a little while lower than the angels. And it's considered by human perception, not really by rank. It doesn't mean that the angels in those moments during Jesus earthly ministry ruled over him.

It's just in with regards to human perception, we would have said that he's lower than the angels. He doesn't have that glory and splendor that we might think about angels having. But consider in Matthew four, remember the temptation of Christ.

Jesus is in the wilderness for 40 days, fasting and praying. And the tempter comes to him. And one of those temptations, Satan said, if you are the son of God, throw yourself down for it is written he will command his angels concerning you.

And on their hands, they will bear you up lest you strike your foot against a stone. So Satan is tempting Jesus. Use your authority, command the angels concerning you, and they will listen to you. But Jesus response to Satan was, again, it is written, you shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.

That's in Matthew four. Later on in Matthew 26, when Jesus was being arrested, what was the disciples reaction when he was being arrested? You know that Peter drew a sword, right? And he lopped off the ear of the high priest, the ear of the high priest, the servant to the high priest, cut his ear off.

And Jesus said, Matthew 26, 52, put your sword back into its place for all those who take up the sword shall perish by the sword. Or do you think that I cannot appeal to my father and he will at once put at my disposal more than 12 legions of angels?

Therefore, how will the scriptures be fulfilled, which say that it must happen this way? So there Jesus even testifies at his own arrest, he could have called down angels and would have smited these people, smote these people, whatever the word is.

But Jesus clearly still having authority over the angels, even in human form, even when he put on flesh and dwelt among us, he still had authority over the angels. But by our perceptions, when he's in that form, when he has taken on the likeness of man, then he seems to us being lower than the angels.

He doesn't have that glory and that splendor. So you've made him for a little while, for 33 to 35 years, whichever side on that argument you fall, you've made him for a little while lower than the angels.

You have crowned him with glory and honor. Christ is still king, even in his humanness, right, and have appointed him over the works of your hands. You have put all things in subjection under his feet.

Christ Crowned With Glory and Honor

Now, this is one area where we can say that the testimony of Hebrews really sounds a lot like Paul. I mentioned in the introduction to Hebrews that this was a sermon, this was likely a sermon that Paul preached, but it's been written down by Luke.

When Paul wrote to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 15 in verse 26, he says, let me go back up a little bit. So verse 24, 1 Corinthians 15, 24, then comes the end when he, Christ, hands over the kingdom to God the Father, when he has established all rule and authority and power, for he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.

For the last enemy to be abolished is death, for he has put all things in subjection under his feet. But when he says all things are put in subjection, it is evident that he is accepted who put all things in subjection to him.

So you have that testimony in 1 Corinthians 15. And that, of course, is Paul. This sounds a lot like some Pauline language here that we have in Hebrews 2. So, as I argued before, a sermon from Paul, though it follows a typical structure that we see in the writings of Luke, in the gospel of Luke and in Acts.

So Luke writing down what Paul preached. Anyway, there's just one of those similarities between Hebrews and stuff that Paul has written. For in subjecting all things to him, we go on to read here in verse 8, in subjecting all things to him, he left nothing that is not subject to him.

In other words, Christ reigns over all. Now, the argument in 1 Corinthians 15 is that Christ reigns over all except the father. So he's not reigning over the father, he has subjected himself to the father's will.

And then he himself, the son himself, this is 1 Corinthians 15, 28, the son himself also will be subjected to the one who subjected all things to him. So everything is subject to Christ. He left nothing that is not subject to him.

But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him. Now, here's an interesting conundrum regarding this particular verse. I'm still reading in verse 8. The hymns there are lowercase. That could be an error, maybe an editor's choice to refer to this as man rather than as the son of God.

So I think of the New American Standard, which will capitalize the pronouns that refer to God and and also the Legacy Standard Bible will do that. That's the version that I'm reading from. So in subjecting all things to him, lowercase H, he capital H left nothing that is not subject to him, lowercase H.

But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him, lowercase H. But we know by what is said in verse 9 that the hymn in Psalm 8 that's being referenced here in Chapter 2, the he the man is Christ.

So why would they make the editor's decision to lowercase as though we're talking about man there and not the God man who is Jesus Christ? I don't know. I would have to ask the editor that question. I don't know why they made that particular decision.

But we do know by what is said in verse 9 that the one who is made a little lower than the angels, what is man, that you remember him or the son of man, that you are concerned about him. That was specifically talking about Christ.

Now, here's a question I've always had with regards to that particular psalm. The writer of Hebrews here is showing us that that psalm was in reference to Christ, not just mankind. But did David know that?

Have you ever asked those questions before with regards to some of these Old Testament references, like you'll see a reference to Isaiah or to a psalm or any of the other prophets? How much did that prophet know that this was the fulfillment of this, the way that we see it referenced in the New Testament?

I don't know. That's a that's a mysterious thing. There's a lot of different arguments about that. There are some who would say, oh, David knew it fully. David knew Christ, just as we have come to recognize it according to the scriptures.

I'm not convinced of that. I'm not convinced that David absolutely knew that this was in reference to the son of God. But anyway, I don't know. That's an argument for another time. I'm just I'm just saying, how much did David know here?

You're going to find some different opinions about that. But anyway, in subjecting all things to him, he left nothing that is not subject to him. Everything is subjected to Christ. And likewise, now, here's where we can bring here's where we can bring us into the description of this, which is perhaps why the editors left the pronouns lowercase in this particular verse.

But we will reign with him. So we reign forever with Christ and everything that is subjected to Christ is also subjected to us because we are co-heirs of the eternal kingdom with Christ. Titus three, four, when the kindness and affection of God, our savior appeared, he saved us not by works, which we did in righteousness, but according to his mercy, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ, our savior, so that having been justified by his grace, we would become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

We are co-heirs with Christ of his eternal kingdom. So all things that are subject subjected to Christ are also going to be subjected to us. So if Psalm eight is in reference to the mortal man, it is only in reference to the mortal man in the sense of what we receive through Christ.

But the focus is still Christ because it can't be referring to every single man. Every single person is not crowned with glory and honor and has been appointed over the works of his hands, nor will all things be in subjection to every single person who has ever lived.

It's only going to be those in Christ Jesus. So what is man that you remember him, that you are mindful of him or the son of man that you are concerned about him? Of course, God has concern for us. Jesus died for us.

But everything that we receive that would be talked about there in Psalm eight, as it pertains to us, would be through Christ. So the focus here is still Christ Jesus, our Lord. So consider again, verse nine.

Let me read all of that. And that's where we'll finish. But we do see him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, Jesus, because of the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor so that by the grace of God, he might taste death for everyone.

So, again, all of the benefits that we receive are in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Now, in saying everyone here, it's not that he tastes death for every single person. He tasted death only for those who would come to faith in him.

Paul said in Second Timothy, chapter two, I endure suffering for the sake of the elect and Paul doing what he saw Christ doing. He who suffered for the sake of his elect. And we also have in Second Corinthians five, 15, he died for all so that they who live would no longer live for themselves, but for him who died and rose again on their behalf, on whose behalf, on those who live and those who live are the all that Jesus died for.

So, again, you have the the sacrifice that was given for the sake of his elect. It was not a death for every single person in the world. Hence, we understand in verse nine that because of the suffering of death, he was crowned with glory and honor so that by the grace of God, he might taste death for everyone.

He has only tasted death for those who will come to salvation in him. But we don't know who the elect are. Therefore, we proclaim this gospel to everyone. We have come to faith and believe. And so we must declare it to others that they likewise would turn from their sin to the Lord Jesus Christ and so live.

Now, as we read previously in chapter two, that we have heard so great a salvation that was first spoken by the Lord and confirmed to us by those who heard this salvation that has been spoken about is the gospel message.

But there are also effects of the gospel that we must demonstrate in our lives, turning from sin and living in the righteousness of Christ. If you are in Christ Jesus, then you will live as Jesus lived, as said in first John two, six.

So turn from your sin to the Lord Jesus Christ and so in him live. Heavenly Father, we thank you for what we've read here today. And may we ponder these things and dwell upon them and likewise be in awe and wonder at what you have accomplished through the person and work of your son.

May we in our lives demonstrate the righteousness of Christ that we have been clothed in. And just as he suffered, we would be willing to suffer so that others would hear the gospel and believe.

It's in Jesus name that we pray. Amen. You've been listening to When We Understand the Text with Pastor Gabe Hughes. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, Gabe will be going through a New Testament study. Then on Thursday, we look at an Old Testament book.

On Friday, we take questions from the listeners and viewers. Tomorrow, we'll pick up on an Old Testament study, When We Understand the Text.