Hebrews 2:5-9 | The Son of God Made Lower than Angels | Hypostatic Union

Hebrews 2:5-9 and the Son Made Lower Than Angels

If you have your Bibles, please turn with me to Hebrews chapter 2. We will be considering verses 5 through 9. Hebrews chapter 2, 5 through 9. Let's pray. Our great God and Father, we come to you in the name of Jesus.

We thank you for your spirit. Lord, right now as I stand before your people, as always when I stand before your people I am reminded how much I need your spirit.

Lord, I need you.

I pray that you will grant to me this moment that you will speak through this vessel, that I have done my due diligence and that right now you will use me to teach your people your word for we trust in you.

Amen.

Hebrews 2 and the Coming Judgment on Jerusalem

All right, so back to Hebrews. We've done a, so when we started Hebrews, we went through chapter 1 and we came to chapter 2, verse 3, which said, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?

And I pointed out how I did not believe this to be salvific, meaning that this is talking about salvation as in coming to Christ by repentance and faith and when you die you'll be absent from the body, present with the Lord, that I said that this is speaking about a coming judgment that's about to fall upon Jerusalem.

Hebrews was more likely written 66 AD, anywhere from 66, I mean, excuse me, 64 AD to 66 AD. So we know that the zealot, the Roman war that started was in 66 AD and so this would have been on the back of this war taking place and which would have ended in 70 AD and so a lot of the stuff that we will cover will be dealing with this, but I wanted to lay a foundation so in doing so we went to Daniel chapter 2, Daniel 9, Matthew 21, Matthew 22 and Matthew 24, which took us six weeks.

I started out telling my wife I think I can do it in two and of which she started laughing. So, I could, listen, I could have kept going, like trust me, y 'all know that right, I could have kept going, but I brought, I'm bringing us back this week to Hebrews and our theme for this Lord's day is the Son of God made lower than angels.

Listen, Cal and I, we don't talk about the service. I didn't know what psalm was going to be read. I didn't know what songs he was picking and at this, that last worships, as we were worshiping, I, it hit me that this, if, listen, if the service was a hand, the sermon is the glove.

Like if, just seeing God's providence in hand on everything that we're doing and I found myself just in tears, I could barely even speak the words of the last song, knowing that God is with us in everything that we're doing and I want you to, as we're, as I'm going through this message, think about our worship with God.

Think about the songs that were sung, the psalms that, the psalm that was read and the psalm that was sung. Our timeless truth today is this, since Jesus, the Son of God, our infinite and holy God became finite, you and I, listen, you and I can put on immortality because of what he has done.

You and I can put on immortality. And so the question arises is, as I was trying to think of, you know, like, like why should you listen? Why should you pay attention to me? Why should you give me your time?

As I'm speaking, why should you shut everything off in your mind and focus on what God's word says? And it's this, that I believe in this paragraph, we will see that God did not send an angel to taste death by way of covenant.

Why should you listen? Because God did not send an angel, become an angel or anything like that to taste death by way of a covenant. You should listen because God himself became a man. God sent his son to become a man.

So read with me our text, Hebrews chapter 2, verses 9, I mean, verses 5 through 9, excuse.

Me.

For it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, which we are 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 a little, 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 I'm putting everything in subjection to him. He left nothing outside of his control. At present, we do not see everything in subjection to him, but 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 death so that by the grace of God, he might taste death for everyone.

So for those who are familiar with Hebrews right here, he is, he is referring back to Psalm 8, to Psalm 8. Most of what Hebrews is, it's an exposition of the Old Testament. It's showing, declaring that Jesus is who was spoken of in the Old Covenant, who would come and bring in a better covenant.

In our outline today, we will see the beginning of re-creation. Listen, in our outline today, we will point out the beginnings of re-creation. Our first point is God did not subject the world to angels.

Our second point is God subjected the world to men. And our third point is God is removing, listen, he is removing the curse. So as we transition, let's keep in mind the eternal covenant. What is the eternal covenant?

It's the covenant of redemption that God, God in his mind decides to save a people. And so God, the father sends his son into the world in time. That's the eternal covenant that God, the father sends his son in time to save a people.

And that through the preaching of the gospel, the Holy Spirit convicts, comforts, and converts. So let's keep that in mind. First point, God did not subject the world to angels. Verse five, let's look at that again.

For it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come of which we are speaking. So it was about eight weeks ago, like I said, about eight weeks ago, we saw that the message declared by angels proved to be reliable.

And that this message was the Decalogue. So when you read in the Old Testament and it shows Moses going up to the, on the mountain to receive the Decalogue, the 10 words, the 10 commandments, it shows that God wrote these commandments with his finger.

Exodus does not show us, it does not tell us that it was handed to him by angels. So as much as we are sola scriptura, we are tota scriptura. The rest of scripture and the Psalms and Galatians declare to us that this, that these tablets of stone, these 10 words were handed to Moses by angels.

And so when you go back just for a second in Hebrews chapter two, it says, therefore, we must pay close attention to what we have heard least we drift away. For since the message declared by angels, speaking of the commandments, the 10 words, proved reliable in every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution.

And so we focused in on angels being the ones who passed off the 10 words to Moses. But we saw in the New Testament that it was angels declaring the true messenger of God. Just like in the Old Testament, how they declared the message of God through the tablets of stone, we see in the New Testament that it was angels that were declaring the true messenger of God.

We see angels appearing, declaring the birth of Jesus Christ, the true prophet unto Moses, Christ, the son of the living God, that this Christ is not only superior over the angels as he is eternal God, but also he holds this position now as the one who has been incarnated.

The hypostatic union, God-man. So that Jesus is not only superior to angels because he is God, but he's also superior to them now because he is the God-man. Look at verse 7 real quick. This is speaking of Jesus.

You made him for a little while lower than the angels. You have crowned him with glory and honor. So let's just go back to verse 5. I want to read it one more time and kind of point out some things that if you're really not in deep study, you're not going to notice.

Verse 5, for it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking. So this word here, subjected, the Greek is hypotasso, hypotasso, which equals to subdue unto, to subdue unto.

He's saying that it's not to angels that God is sending angels to subdue the world, to put the world in submission, for the world to be put under angels' feet. He's not sending an angel, for it was not to angels that God hypotassoed.

And then it says, the world to come. The word world here for the world to come is oikomene. But you remember, as I explained to you in previous sermons, that oikomene means the known world. But it says the known world to come, that this known world was going to get bigger.

This right here is speaking of the Christian aeon, the Christian aeon, the advancement of the kingdom of God, the inhabited earth to come. Even now, as I'm speaking, there's still parts of the world that are not oikomene, that are not known, still undiscovered parts of the land.

And what I believe the Bible teaches is that all of that, all that is going to be subdued, it's going to be subjected. As we transition, again, I want to state it in a different way. God did not become an angel, nor did God send an angel for the world to be in subjection to, to be hypotassoed.

God Subjected the World to Men

Our second point, God subjected the world to men. Hebrews 2, 6 through 8, read with me. 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 I'm putting everything in subjection to him. He left nothing outside of his control.

At present, we do not see everything in subjection to him. Again, right here, this has taken us to Psalm 8. So if you would turn to Psalm chapter 8, Psalm chapter 8, it says, Oh Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth.

You have set your glory above the heavens. Out of the mouth of babes and infants, you have established strength because of your foes to steal the enemy and the avenger. When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon, the stars in which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, or the son of man that you care for him?

You have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and have crowned him with glory and honor. You have become, I mean, you have given him dominion over the works of your hands. You have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the sea.

Oh Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth. This is both about mankind and Christ. David penned this psalm about the whole of humanity, yet this psalm is messianic. Just like most psalms, most psalms are messianic.

They were written for one purpose, God has them write it for another purpose. You don't have to turn there, but in Matthew 21, verse 16, in which we cover this verse, and it says,. And they said to him, and the they here is talking about the chief priest and scribes, speaking to Jesus.

They said to him, Do you hear what these are saying? Speaking of the children who are crying out, Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. That he entered the temple, which is his house, this was for the third time, and he healed the blind and he healed the lame.

And because of healing them and because of the children screaming, Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. It says that the chief priests and the scribes were indignant. And they said to him, Do you hear these things?

And he said to them, Yes, have you never read out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies, you have prepared praise. He's pointing back to Psalm 8. They have, that the father has prepared praise for the son.

Again, if you look back at our text, Hebrews chapter 6, I mean, Hebrews chapter 2, 6 and 7, it says, 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 a little while lower than the angels. And you have crowned him with glory and honor. And right here we see in our text, Psalm 8, 4 and 5. What is man that you are mindful of him or the son of man that you care for him?

Jesus coming back, quoting this, it says, That you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings. And you have crowned him with honor. This right here is speaking of the hypostatic union. The incarnation, God becoming a man.

God becoming a man. The hypostatic union, a good definition for it, is the combination of divine and humanity, the divine and humanity natures in one single person, which is Christ. So you have this Jesus coming in on the scene who is holy God.

He is fully God and yet he is fully man. He is truly God and he is truly man. And that the two natures do not mix together. But Jesus carries upon himself. He is truly, listen, there's nothing about him that is not God.

There is nothing, absolutely nothing about Jesus that is not God. And there is nothing about Jesus that is not man. He is truly man and he is truly God. And that God made him lower than angels. That's the point that he's trying to point out here.

He did not send an angel to be lower than angels, but he sent, he became a man and he became lower than angels. Speaking as men are lower than angels. And then he quotes from 1 Corinthians chapter 15.

Listen, if you do not believe that this is God's favorite Bible verse, you don't read your Bible. I feel like I quote it in every sermon because it's always there.

It's there.

Almost every sermon, this verse is there.

And it's quoted from Psalm 110 .1. The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make all your enemies a footstool for your feet. That's his favorite Bible verse. It's quoted here and he's quoted 1 Corinthians 15 .27.

It says, for God has put all things in subjection, hypotasso, the Greek word hypotasso, under his feet. Speaking of Jesus. But when it says all things are being put into subjection, hypotasso, it's plain that it is expected who put all things in subjection under his feet.

It's Psalm 8 verse 6. You have given him dominion over all the works of your hands. You have put all things under his feet. Speaking of Jesus. Now, in one sense, it's speaking of mankind. If you look back at Genesis, you don't have to turn there, but you can.

Genesis chapter 3. No, excuse me. I'm sorry. Genesis chapter 1. Chapter 1 beginning in verse 26 to 29. We have God speaking. And God said, let us, let us, I believe this is the triune being of God. Let us make man in our image.

After the likeness, after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the heavens, and over the livestock's over the earth. And every creepy thing that creeps on the earth.

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God, he created him male and female. He created them. And God blessed them. And he said to them, be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it.

What does hapataso mean? To subdue unto, to subdue it. And having dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth. So in one sense, this dominion is given to man who is lower than angels, that he is to subdue the whole world, all of creation.

But this dominion finds its fulfillment in Christ alone. It finds its fulfillment in Christ alone. We have the sin of Adam that curses the whole world, right? He bites into whatever fruit this is. And because of this one sin, all children, everyone is born into sin.

The whole earth becomes cursed. And I've gave this analogy before. It's like throwing a rock into a pond and the way that that pond feels the ripple effect of that whole rock. That's what happened when Adam sinned.

Adam's sin causes the whole world to feel the ripple effect of his sin. And because of that one sin, Adam done has cursed the whole world. So here we're looking at Adam's sin that curses versus the obedience of Christ that is recreating the world.

Romans 5, 18 says this. Therefore, as one trespass, speaking of Adam, as one trespass led to condemnation for all man, so one act of righteousness, speaking of Christ, leads to justification for all men.

Not some men, but for all men. Not for every individual. But this is looking in future time. This is talking about how the earth was fully cursed. All of earth was cursed. And I believe it's teaching that one day all of earth will be redeemed.

All of earth will be redeemed. This is speaking of the active obedience of Jesus Christ because of what he has done. I mean, just look with me again at verses six and seven of Hebrews chapter two. It had, listen, listen, listen, as I'm reading it, listen, he has testified somewhere.

What is man that you are mindful of him? And in Psalm eight it talks about, it talks about the stars and the moon and the sky. Listen, listen, you had all these beautiful wonders in heaven and God does not care about the star, about the moon, about the sun as much as he does his redeem.

He does not, he will move them out of his way and focus on you. This is what is man that you are mindful of him or the son of man that you care for him. You made him lower than the angels and yet you have crowned him with glory and honor.

If you are in Christ, you are crowned with glory and honor because of what Christ has done. This makes it crystal clear that mankind is lower than angels. And yet the Bible testifies that one day we will judge angels.

And yet it says that God sends his son to be born as a man lower than angels. And in doing so, he crowns him with glory and honor. Let's see some of the effect of what God has done with Christ. God the father has done with Christ.

Back to Hebrews chapter one, verse one. Long ago and at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets. So there's a period of time where God spoke to the fathers only through prophets.

But in these last days, he has spoken to us by his son. So we have God removing the, fulfilling the prophet unto Moses through his son. That his son is greater than all the prophets. This one who was made lower than the angels is now greater than all the prophets.

And it also says whom he appointed the heir of all things and through whom he created the world. So this one who was made lower than the angels is the creator of all things. It's saying that the creator entered creation.

The one who is above all things entered the world below the angels. The creator became creation. He became a part of his own creation. It says that he is the, so again, pointed to him as creator. Then it says that he is the radiance and the glory of God, the exact imprint of his nature.

And he opposed the universe by the word of his power. So not only did this son come into the world, he's greater than all the prophets. He's the one that created all things, but that he is God. He himself shares the same essence as the father.

That not only did the creator enter the world, but the infinite became finite. That this one who became lower than the angels is God. We see that very clearly also in 1 John 1 -1 -3. Talks about, I'll quote it.

In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. He was in the beginning with God and all things were made through him and without him was not anything made. This is proston theon.

That this word was theon. This word, it actually is theon, proston theon, the Greek would be. So it's the word was face to face with God. Face to face. If you're standing face to face with someone, it says that this word that was standing face to face, proston theon was theon.

And then we have it on down a little further. It says, and after making purifications for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. Who makes purifications for sins?

The high priest.

So not only, so this God man comes into the world and he makes purification for sins, eliminating the priesthood. So he's not only the greater than the prophets, he's not only the creator that entered creation, he's the infinite that became finite, but he's also the high priest that destroys the priesthood covenant.

But above every one of those,.

Above every one of those,.

He is again our king. He is our king. Same verse, after making purifications for sin, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. He sits down on the throne of David. He sits down on the throne of David.

But even above that, even above that,.

Even above that, verse four, he became much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs. And so you ask, what is that name? And it is the son. He is the son of God. We have the son of God.

Jesus enters creation, becomes greater than the prophets. He's the creator that enters creation. He is the infinite that became finite as God. He is greater than the high priest. He's the king of kings and the Lord of lords.

But most of all, he is the son of God, John 3, 16. For God so loved the world, you and I, that he sent his only son. And listen, by rights, by rights of being the son, he has been given hypatoso. By rights of being the son, he has been given hypatoso.

Everything is to be in subjection to him. We have the first man, Adam fell. And the second Adam, who is Christ, will subdue the earth. And you ask how? And it's by the means of preaching the gospel. It's by the means of preaching the gospel.

That when you and I preach the gospel, God will subdue the world. We can't establish the law of God and for people to obey the law of God in order to come to Christ. That's silly. That's old covenant issues.

We're talking the new covenant. Believe in Christ and inherit the world. How is that done? By the preaching of the gospel. I'm asked all the time, Jeff, why do you go out there and preach on the streets?

Because that's the means. That's the means. Do I see any fruit? Do you if you don't? Do you if you, if I go out and preach and let's say I don't see any fruit. Are you seeing any fruit by not? So, so let's say we're both not seeing fruit.

Only one is obedient. We're not to look for fruit. We're to be obedient. We are to be obedient. And listen, I'm not talking about you coming and standing beside me on the street and preaching. I'm talking about you preaching the gospel though.

Whoever it is that will listen, preach the gospel. This is how Christ will subdue the world. Verse eight, listen to verse eight. Putting everything in subjection under his feet, still speaking of Christ.

Now I'm putting everything in subjection to him. He left nothing outside of his control.

Right here.

At present, we do not see everything in subjection to him. One of the biggest Christian arguments of my position of eschatology, post-millennialism is this. We do not see everything in subjection to him.

Bible says that too. You're quoting scripture to me when you say something like that. You're quoting scripture, of course. At this present time, we do not see everything in subjection to him. But you know what they point to?

Heathens, worldly people. Worldly people not doing what God has said. You know what I point to?

Because I agree.

Right here, we don't see everything in subjection to him. But you know what I point to?

Christians.

Those who profess to be Christians. Those who profess to be Christians. Listen, there is a war to be fought between the Reformed community. And I'm speaking between the Reformed Baptists and the Presbyterians.

There is a war to be fought. But you know what? We can't fight that war because of all the other nonsense going around in Christianity. We can't fight that battle because of all the other false dichotomies, doctrines and everything else that the Baptists and the Presbyterians had to unite over to fight.

It keeps us from having to face one another and battle this out. We have to come together as Reformed people and stand for the gospel, unable to go over these differences because of all the other nonsense and denominations, non-denominations and all this other madness that's going on in Christianity.

We are not one as a people. If you want to say that you don't see it, let's look to the church because you'll never see it in the world. If 99 .9 of the world was Christianized, we could still point to that 1 of the world that's not doing what Christ, it's not been subjected to Christ.

The church has to be submitted to the word of God. That's my problem. It's in the church. Look no further than the mirror. Look no further than those who we congregate with. Look no further than ourselves Christian.

As we transition, I want to state this just to kind of defend my position. Most Christians, when they leave here today, will drive in their car to a restaurant or go home and cook a meal, sit in their Lazy Boy, maybe wear it back, grab their remote control to their 50-inch screen TV or better.

I say, well, it's awful down here.

It's so bad.

Go to their refrigerator, it's full of food and pull out a beer or soda, whatever it is that does it for you. You might sit back and smoke you a cigar or whatever it is and say, man, this world is about to end.

Look at this madness. Look at this craziness that's coming upon us. Listen, we're in America. We don't know what bad is. We've experienced one year of chaos and it really wasn't that bad. This world is not going to hell in a handbasket.

And if it was, I sure wouldn't be dashing it with lighter fluid and striking a match. I'd be preaching the gospel. Point number two, God is removing the curse. Hebrews chapter two, verse nine. But 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 death so that by his grace, God, so that by the grace of God, he might taste death for everyone.

Yes, we cannot see, well, you and I right now, we can look back in scripture. We can look back in the Old Testament and look in the New Testament and see Christ fulfill in scripture. And we can also look back in history and see the impact that Christianity because of what Christ has done has had upon our world, right?

Amen, right?

We can look in scripture. We can see the Old Testament. We can see how Christ has fulfilled it in the New Testament and in his plan. And we can look back and see how Christ and Christianity has impacted the world.

We can do that. Why is that? How did all that take place? Because the incarnation changed everything. It all focuses on this one event, which I believe took place in 3 BC. Remember Daniel in that rock?

There was a stone cut out by no human hand that came in the time where the iron and the clay were mixed together. And that was Jesus Christ because that moment when an incarnation, the God man, fully God, fully man, truly God, truly man came into existence.

The world has changed and the world has been different every since. Our calendars are marked by this one event in history. And listen to me, verse 9 is our guarantee of verse 8. Verse 9 is the guarantee of verse 8.

So you might read verse 8 and agree that you do not see everything in subjection to him. But verse 9 is the guarantee that verse 8 will take place. Read again in Hope. Putting everything in subjection, hypotasso, under his feet.

Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing, something or nothing? Nothing outside of his control. At this present, we do not see everything in subjection to him.

But what do we do?

What is it that we see? But we see him who was for a little while made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of his suffering death so that by the grace of God, he might taste death for everyone.

That's what we see. And because we see this, we know, we know that verse 8 has to be true. Jesus was crowned with glory and honor because of his suffering death. Why was he crowned with glory and honor?

Because of his suffering death. This one act, listen, this one act by Jesus on the cross is the means by which he is putting everything in subjection under his feet. The message of the cross is foolishness to them that are perishing.

But to us, what is it? If you know it, say it. What is the cross to us? It's the power of God. It's the power of God. It's foolishness to those who are perishing, but to those who are being saved, it is the power of God.

And here in our text today, we are not talking about an escape. We're not talking about Hebrews 2, 3. We're not talking about a coming judgment upon Jerusalem. We're talking about an eternal redemption.

We're talking about eternal redemption. If you are a Christian, you are a Christian because of the suffering death of Jesus Christ and nothing else. It's because of the suffering death of Jesus Christ.

This suffering death of Christ was the, it's what activated the grace of God by which he, being Jesus, might taste death for you. I want to go to 1 John real quick. 1 John 2, beginning in verse 1, says, my little children, this is speaking of Christians,.

My little children,.

I am writing these things so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins and not just for ours only, but for the sins of the whole world.

Two things to notice here. Well, three things. He tells them, don't sin, stop it. But when you do sin,.

Because you are,.

You have an advocate.

You have someone that stands before God and pleads your case. When you, the word advocate here is another word for like lawyer. Lawyer, am I saying that right? Lawyer, my wife was a lawyer, so I had to make sure I say that word right.

So Jesus is speaking for us. We go to court, we do not speak for ourselves. We have our attorney, right? Speaks for us. Listen, Jesus is our advocate and he's telling us don't sin, but when you do sin, know that you have an advocate.

You have someone pleading your case. There's someone pleading your case. Why? Because he is the propitiation for our sins. He is the payment for our wrongdoing. You have sinned. You have violated God's law.

You have committed treason against the king. Jesus Christ stood in your stead. Jesus Christ threw himself upon the throne of God as an offering for your sins. He is our propitiation. To explain it in layman's terms for you children, let's say Trinity kicks her soccer ball and it busts our neighbor's window.

Windows, let's say 80 bucks.

I don't know anymore.

Let's say 80 bucks. Trinity does not have $80. Me being her father reaches into the pocket and pays for her wrongdoing. By doing so, I become her propitiation. I give the payment for her wrongdoing. God the Father sent his son as the payment for our wrongdoing.