Hebrews 2:5-8
15 September 2024
For it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come,
of 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 for a little while lower than the angels;
you have crowned him with glory and honour,
putting everything in subjection under his feet.”
So as we deal with this passage this afternoon, it's quite a big chunk given the pace we're going through it in the book of Hebrews. The big question that we're going to be wrestling with for quite a bit of the time is, who are these verses about? That's going to be the issue that we're going to tackle.
But before we get to that, let's spend some time just setting the scene and reminding ourselves of what we've seen in the book of Hebrews so far. Because that's going to be quite important given what we're dealing with in today's text. Because today's text also will launch us into the next big foundational and glorious section in this book.
So if we just remember, this is a book which is written to a Jewish audience primarily. So it is written to some Christians who have come from a Jewish context, and to some others, and to many even within the Christian context, who have an understanding of what we know as the Old Testament, but there has been some great confusion about the Messiah. As we've seen even in studying the Gospels, as we've considered through some of the other letters in the New Testament, there was much confusion about the doctrine, the application of the new covenant, the fulfilment that was in Christ Jesus, even in fact for some who rejected Christ, the very identity of the Messiah Himself.
And so the significance of the book of Hebrews to that audience is to give a grounding of the Gospel in what is yet again and time after time, dealing with the Old Testament as it is today, is a means by which we can see and understand that Jesus Christ is greater. Jesus Christ is better. He is better than the angels, as we've seen already in Chapter 1. He is better than Moses. He is better than the priesthood. He is better than any and everything that we can comprehend.
And this is why when we get into the book itself, we're launched into such a mighty introduction, which is all about the one who is better. Where we consider that long ago, many times, many places, God spoke through many different prophets, but in these last days, He speaks through the Son, Jesus Christ, the one who is the radiance of the glory of God, who came to this earth to purge the sins of His people and is now seated at the right hand of the majesty of heart and on high. Why? Because He is victorious. He is triumphant. He has conquered sin. He has defeated death. He has risen victorious. Lord over all. He is the Lord of lords and the King of kings.
This is Jesus Christ who is greater. Jesus Christ who is better. And it's upon that introduction that we can see why He is absolutely better, greater than the angels. And we spent much time later in chapter 1, dealing with the fact that it's not because these celestial beings are some side figures that are not of any strength or significance. No, they are of great significance and power. And they are used mightily by the Lord throughout the time of the Scriptures. And yet Jesus Christ is greater. Why? Because He is God. We see this stated explicitly in verse 8 of chapter 1. "Of the Son, He says, your throne, O God, is forever and ever." Jesus Christ is God.
And on that foundation of contrasting Jesus and the angels, we came to chapter 2 in the beginning and the first practical application, the first exhortation given in the book where we see in verse 1 of chapter 2, "Therefore, we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard." Pay much closer attention to the Gospel. Pay much closer attention to who Christ is, lest we drift away from it. And we consider not only the reality of that warning to the church today, but that we see this happening before our eyes, and we've seen examples of it in church history.
And another challenge, another practical application comes in verse 3. "How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?" Again, focusing on the salvation we have in Jesus Christ. There is no way we can escape were it not for Christ. But those who are in Christ have the assurance, the comfort and the foundation of knowing that they are saved. Because it is not dependent upon us. It is dependent upon the finished, completed work of Jesus Christ.
And then last time, we dealt with the message of the Gospel being authenticated by Jesus speaking the Word Himself, and then through the apostles, the early church leaders, and the signs, the miracles that accompanied that as a means of authenticating their message in the time of the New Testament.
And we arrive at verse 5 of our text. And verses 5 to 8 have quite a challenge before us. And that challenge is trying to work out who these verses are about. As we read these verses, we may at first glance, probably most of us reading it would assume, well, it's about Jesus. And that is one interpretation of what these verses are about. But there are actually two interpretations, and they're quite different. One interpretation is that the psalm being quoted is about and fulfilled in Christ. And the second is that they are about man.
And so what we're going to do with this text this afternoon, we're going to work through it twice. We're going to work through it and consider it as interpreted as being fulfilled in Christ. And then we're going to go and work through the text a second time and consider its fulfilment being about man. And we're going to spend longer in the second interpretation because we're going to consider why this is the stronger one.
So let's work through this text. And we're going to begin, first of all, working through verses 5 to 8 by considering that these verses are fulfilled in being about Christ. So this is how we're working through the text on the first time.
So we come to verse 5, and it begins, "For it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking." Now the first question we would need to ask then is, well, what is this world to come that the writer is mentioning here? Because there's a contrast again between angels and whoever it is that is being spoken of. Here we're considering that it's about Christ.
Well, the word world to come comes from a Greek word, "oikomenon," which means the world or the earth inhabitant. Now, this cannot be our physical earth in which we inhabit now. No, it is the promised new heaven and new earth, which we see in Revelation 21:1. So it is looking to the world to come, which is promised in its fulfilment because of what Christ has done. So when we read of the world to come, it is talking about the new heaven and the new earth.
The next thing that we need to consider then, this phrase "of which we are speaking," what does this in reference to? Well, it is in reference to who this passage is about. And it could be a very credible interpretation to say, well, surely, it's about Christ. After all, Christ is the head of the body of the church, Colossians 1:18, Ephesians 5, and He is the head of every man, 1 Corinthians 11:8. And so when we come to the quote in Psalm chapter 8, we read this first of all and think, okay, well, this is speaking about Jesus Christ. It is finding its fulfilment in Christ.
So when we come to verse 6, it then says "it has been testified somewhere." Now, that again is an interesting phrase given this is written by probably one of the people who knows the Old Testament best. Why is he not specifying where this is from? Why is he writing "it's been testified somewhere?" It doesn't take much for most of us to realize, well, that's from Psalm chapter 8. So why is he writing "it's been testified somewhere?"
Well, this is not to say that the writer to the Hebrews suddenly forgot, where is this? Is this a Psalm or what's this? It's somewhere, I can't remember exactly where. No, that's not what's going on, but rather he is consistently from the beginning to the end of Hebrews again and again and again writing from the authority of the word of God. So when he's saying it has been written somewhere, that somewhere is somewhere in the word of God. That's what he means when he's writing this. He's not being deliberately vague. He is actually referring to the specific source of authority, which is the word of God.
Wouldn't that be quite something? If every time we're quoting or referencing something regarding our worldview, oh, it's somewhere. Somewhere where? Well, we mean somewhere in the Bible because that is what is authoritative. And we can certainly see, given how many times the Old Testament is quoted throughout the book of Hebrews, that is the authority for the teaching that we have in this book. So it's been written somewhere, that somewhere is in Psalm chapter 8. Let's just turn there quickly to make sure we see it in the word of God. Psalm chapter 8, and you can keep your finger in Hebrews chapter 2 just so that you can contrast.
Psalm chapter 8 from verse 4: "What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You care for him?"
Yet you have made Him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned Him with glory and honour. You have given Him dominion over the works of Your hands. You have put all things under His feet.
Now, if you just go back to Hebrews chapter two, and you'll see that it is one of the closest in line with the original word-for-word quotes throughout the book of Hebrews. It's almost word for word as we look at verses six to eight. So let's just work through this and consider how this could be about Christ.
First of all, it starts, "What is man that You're mindful of him?" Now, whichever interpretation we consider to be biblically accurate here, this first line is clearly speaking about man generally. That first line cannot be speaking about Christ specifically. So if we consider "What is man?" Man made from the dust of the ground that God, the mighty, infinite, majestic God, should be mindful of man. That's what this first line is stating. It is contrasting the glory of God to the creation.
Then we come to this next point: "or the son of man that You care for him." Now this phrase "son of man" is used in Scripture to describe Christ, the Messiah. In Daniel 7:13, for example, and also in Mark 14 regarding the fulfilment of the son of man coming. So it is a phrase that is attributed to the Lord Jesus Christ.
But it's when we get to verse seven that the strength of this first interpretation really comes in because the language of verses seven and eight are very comparable to what we find in Philippians chapter two. So let's just turn back to Philippians chapter two. This is a well-known text, and we're going to be going to it again next week.
Philippians chapter two, and we'll read from verse seven to 11. Now just bear in mind the language of Hebrews two. It's saying made for a little while greater than the angels, crowned with glory and honour, putting everything in subjection under His feet. That's the language we have. Now let's consider how this can be about Christ.
Verse seven: "but emptied Himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men, and being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore, God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
So when we see Hebrews chapter two verse seven, speaking of the son of man being about Christ, we see being made for a little while lower than the angels, what's this in reference to? Well, in Jesus emptying Himself, taking the form of a servant, being obedient to death on a cross by becoming a man. And that is certainly going to be the focus of the rest of Hebrews chapter two, of the significance of the humanity of Christ.
And then we see, "You have crowned Him with glory and honour." Well, yes, absolutely, Jesus Christ is crowned with glory and honour. Nobody, no believer would dispute the application that He is the risen and exalted one who is crowned and enthroned Lord over all. And where we see putting everything in subjection under His feet, well, we also find in 1 Corinthians 15:27, "For God has put all things in subjection under His feet." But when it says all things are put in subjection, it is plain that He is excepted who put all things in subjection under Him, namely Christ.
And when we come to verse eight, and after the quote is finished, there's even greater strength to the argument that this is about Christ when it says, "Now, in putting everything in subjection to Him, He left nothing outside His control." And we would be quick to say, yes, nothing is outside the control of who? Christ. He is the one who is in control. He is the authority, the Lord over all. So this is about Christ. At present, we don't see everything in subjection to Him because of the fallen nature of this world, but we know Christ is the one who reigns and rules over all. Now, as we read this passage, and as we go through this, we might think, yes, it seems pretty clear and straightforward. This is about the Lord Jesus Christ. And yet, we're about to consider a second interpretation.
A second interpretation, which we're now going to consider, is a stronger one. The first thing to bear in mind with regards to what we've just considered is what then takes place in verse 9. If verses 6 to 8 are about Christ, and at first reading, it seems pretty obvious that it has to be about Christ, why does it then go on to say, "But we see Him who for a little while was made lower than angels"? It's just said it in the previous verses. So if it's about Christ, why is the same thing being said again as though it's not being said?
So it says, "But we see Him who for a little while was made lower than the angels," and then it names, for the first time in Hebrews, Jesus Himself, namely Jesus crowned with glory and honour because of the suffering of death so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone. Now, what is clear, and everyone would agree in studying the book of Hebrews, is that when we get to verse 9 onwards, it is definitely about Christ.
But the big question that may be in some of your minds right now is, how could the previous verses be about anyone but Christ, given what we've just read? Surely these verses, the strength of the words and language involved, can only be about the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, let's have a think about a few things in terms of context before we work through the verses again.
First of all, let's go back to Hebrews 1:14. The entire chapter, chapter 1 of Hebrews, has been about the Lord Jesus Christ. But notice who the focus becomes about in Hebrews 1:14. It says, "Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?" So we've gone from a focus about Christ and angels to who the angels are going to be serving. Who are these ministering spirits that are serving at the end of chapter 1? Those who inherit salvation, namely the Christian.
And then into chapter 2, as we've already considered, who are the first four verses focusing on? It's us, the Christian, because we're being given the warning, "pay much closer attention lest we drift." "How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?" And then we hear how this message was declared. And when we come to verse 5, when it comes to say, "For it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we're speaking," the focus has not shifted onto the Son. Notice throughout chapter 1 when it says, "Of the Son it spoke. You are the Son. You are My Son." But of the Son, He says, verse 8. Here in chapter 2, verse 5, there is still a continued focus upon man.
Now, with this point then, we come to the psalm itself. And we need to also bear in mind that Psalm chapter 8 is not a messianic psalm. And so it says in verse 6, "It has been testified somewhere, What is man that You are mindful of him?" And we've already noted, this is about man, created by God, a created being from the dust. That is the initial focus. It is about man created by God. And we see back in Genesis, we are created in the image of God.
But what we also need to remember, and this is where we start to understand the weight and significance of this psalm being about man, is what we were made for. What was man made for, brothers and sisters? Well, in Genesis 1, we see that we are made in man's image, and we were given the command to be fruitful and multiply, to fill the earth and subdue it. This was man's calling on the earth. We were made to rule and have dominion over all the creatures, over all the earth that the Lord had given to us. In the Garden of Eden, we are image bearers of Yahweh and made to exercise that dominion over the rest of creation.
And so when we then come to the phrase "or the son of man that You care for him," at the end of verse 6, this again, as well as it being used to describe Jesus at certain points, it's a phrase that also elsewhere is used to describe humanity. Ezekiel, for example, is described as a son of man, and it's a phrase that simply means being born of man.
Now, verse 6 would seem quite straightforward with regards to it being potentially about man. But then we come to verse 7, and we might have a bit more of a question about this, where it goes on to say, "You made him for a little while lower than the angels." Now, this is where, if you believe that this interpretation is about man, the next question to ask, is this about Adam before the fall, or is this about man after the fall?
Now, commentators go in different directions interpreting this, but let me explain why this has to be about man in a fallen state now. We were made perfect in God's image. We were made to rule and have dominion over this earth. But this phrase, "made for a little while lower," is a word that refers to how man was not created, but rather being brought down from higher to lower. That's what the phrase means, being brought down from higher to lower.
Now, we can consider for Christ, it is He was brought from the context of being in glory to clothing Himself in human flesh. But how can this phrase be applied to man? Well, it applies to man because it is referring to our fall from this perfect condition. We were brought down from the high position of our calling, being perfect in God's image, to being brought down because of the fall into a corrupted state. And it means that we are separated from God and that we taste death. That is the reason why we are made lower than the angels, because we taste death.
Now, we get this even from the text in Hebrews 2, verse 9. Because Hebrews 2, verse 9, when speaking explicitly about Christ says, "But we see Him, now this is about Christ, for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honour because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone." So we have the focus on what Christ will do to restore humanity. What Christ will do to redeem His people. And this is beginning to get to the heart of what this is about. This is about the restoration of Eden.
Something that is promised in the book of Daniel. In Daniel 7:18 it says, "But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever and ever." And this is also where we need to consider our eschatological understanding. This is a promise of the world to come. This is not a promise of what will happen before Christ returns. It is about when the world is to come. Namely, Christ's return. And it is that we are going to take dominion. And we might think, well, in what way can we? In what way would we be able to? When we read language of being crowned with glory and honour, isn't this something that is only surely applicable to the Lord Jesus Christ?
Well, turn with me to the book of Romans, Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8. And verse 15. "For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons. So you are sons, brothers and sisters, by whom we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. And if children, then what are we? We are heirs. Heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him."
So what are we going to partake of? What are we going to participate in? We're going to partake of, we're going to participate in something that we can barely comprehend in our fallen, wretched condition. But what we actually have here in this psalm is its fulfilment being in the world to come for Christ's elect. Christ's elect, whom our Lord will redeem. The honour and the dominion will be ours because we are going to share in the glory that Christ has for Himself. Because we are co-heirs with the Lord Jesus Christ.
This is why there are such blessings written about in the New Testament. For example, in the Beatitudes, it speaks of inheriting the earth, being called sons of God because we are adopted into His family. Our status becomes higher than the angels. When sin is no more, when death is defeated, ours is the victory in Jesus Christ. And this is what is promised. This is the glory and honour. The fact that everything will be in subjection under our feet. Because when we think back to Genesis 2, when we see what man was called to do, how man was called to rule and have dominion over this earth, the fall shattered that.
And what Christ has come to do is to redeem what we, as His image bearers, now the redeemed, the elect of God, will be blessed to have in glory. Because we are partakers of it, we are co-heirs with the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, when we come to the end of verse 8, when it says, "Now in putting everything in subjection to Him, He left nothing outside His control." If we're thinking, well, this is difficult to see if it's a fulfilment about Christ. It's an impossibility to imagine that this would be about us. Well, the writer to the Hebrews addresses this at the end of verse 8. "At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to Him." We do not yet see everything that is in subjection. We do not see that we've inherited the earth. This earth right now, for example, is in a right mess. The chaos is all around us. And that's the point. That is the issue. That is why this psalm is about man and the redemption we have in Jesus Christ. Because we know we do not, we cannot see these things right now. Because we're in a fallen state and we see the fallen nature all around us.
And we look out into this world and we think, are things getting worse? In so many levels, things are getting worse. What were we called to do? What were we called to be? Well, we saw in that text in Romans chapter 8 that we are going to suffer first. As Christians in this earth, we are called to suffer. And that is as a result of the fall. And we look at this world and we think, well, who has taken dominion over this world? Well, it seems as though the devil has got some great control over it. And we find this in Scripture, in 2 Corinthians 4:4 when it describes Satan as the god of this world, the prince of the power of the air in Ephesians chapter 2 verse 2. This is why the earth groans, Romans 8:18. Why? Because we are eagerly awaiting the glorious day when the Lord's kingdom will be manifested. When Christ will return and He will call His people home and we will be co-heirs with Christ in glory.
This is what we await eagerly. This is giving us a greater glimpse, a greater insight into what heaven is going to be about. And it is going to be centred upon Christ. Because here is the fundamental difference. In the time of Adam before the fall, there was a covenant of works between God and His creation. Where if man obeyed God, man would live forever in this garden. But man fell. And what we see of man is that we are in a condition, a wretched condition separated by our sin and there is nothing that we can do to make ourselves right. It is not for us as human beings on this earth to say, right, I'm going to take charge. I'm going to go forward and I'm going to make things happen. The only things that we make happen is sin.
And so as we consider this morning, what do we need to do? We need to come before the living God in repentance. We come in repentance before the living God with faith in Jesus Christ. Because only in Jesus Christ is there this redemption. Is there this restoring of death to life. We were made to have life with our God. We were made to rule and have dominion over the rest of creation. That has been severed. Who has restored it? It's not us. It is Christ. And that's why when we get to verse 9 it goes on to say, but we see Him.
We see everything around us which is chaotic. We may feel panicked. We may feel anxious. We may feel a greater sense of despair more and more as things are getting worse and worse. But we see Him. We see Jesus Christ. That is who we see. The one who is made a little lower than the angels. The one who is crowned with glory and honour because of the suffering of death that He experienced. That's the verse we're going to work through in detail next week. He is the one who rules, reigns over all. King of kings and Lord of lords. He is the one that we look to. He is the one that we trust in. Because in Him we have salvation. And because of that salvation the impact and the blessing that this is to us is that we know that this very day we need not continue to live whimpering along worried about the next crisis that we may face. Because we see Jesus.
And we know that Jesus has secured our salvation. We know that Jesus has secured our eternal destination. And we know what that eternal destination with our Lord and Saviour is going to mean. That we are partakers of this wondrous glory that we will behold as we look and magnify Jesus Christ. What are we but His bride? What will we be but those who are welcomed to the marriage supper of the Lamb? What is the blessing and assurance to know but we are His sons and daughters. That we are part of His family. That we belong to Him. That we are higher than the angels. This is what we have been redeemed for, brothers and sisters. And this is what we can look forward to. And it is all because of Jesus Christ in whom we trust and to whom we look to. Jesus Christ who is crowned with all honour and glory. And because of this, we will be sharing in this glory as His co-heirs in heaven forevermore.