Hebrews 2:9
22 September 2024
But we see Him who 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 our focus this morning is going to be Hebrews chapter 2, verse 9, but just before we get specifically into this verse, let me introduce and summarise what we've been studying in the book of Hebrews. Now, normally we've been working through this in our afternoon series. We're flipping this to be in the morning, so it will be helpful just to go through what we've already studied in Hebrews to this point, because this is a book which is written, grounded in an already deep understanding of Old Testament texts that are consistently quoted throughout the book of Hebrews, because it was written to a mainly Jewish Christian audience who had an understanding of the Old Testament, but there were still some confusions about the Messiah and the significance and the weight of the fact that Jesus Christ is greater.
And this is how the book of Hebrews begins, by launching into the way in which in the times before Christ came, God spoke at many times and in many ways through many different prophets, but now in these last days, He has spoken through His Son, Jesus Christ, the one who was there at the beginning, the one who is the Creator, the one who is there present in the times of the Old and New Testament, the one who came to this earth, as we see in verse 3, the radiance of His glory, to purge us, the people of God, from their sins, and therefore He is the one who has triumphantly defeated sin and death and has risen victorious, now seated at the right hand of the Majesty on high. This is Jesus Christ, who is better, who is greater, and we see going through chapter 1 that He is God. Verse 8, "but of the Son He says, Your throne, O God, is forever and ever." Now this is in a text where Jesus is being contrasted with the angels, celestial beings who are ministering servants, who are called to worship God and sent out to serve and protect those of us here on this earth, and they are great and mighty beings, and yet they cannot compare to the one true living God, and this is what we see Jesus Christ is.
And so in chapter 2, where we come to now, we begin with an exhortation, a warning, a practical application, where in verse 1 it says we must pay much closer attention to what we've heard. This morning, brothers and sisters, friends, have you come with a desire, a hunger, a readiness to pay much closer attention to Jesus Christ? Because this is the warning that's given, lest we drift. "How shall we escape," verse 3, "if we neglect such a great salvation?" There is no escape but for what Christ has secured.
Now we may be looking around and thinking that this world is in a state of increasing despair and concern, and this is exactly what verse 8 deals with when it says "at present we do not yet see everything in subjection to Him." What we see around us is things that seem to be in subjection to sinful man, they seem to be in subjection to the devil, all of these things seem to be the powers that run riot, and yet, brothers and sisters, what we see upon the authority of the Word of God is that there is only one who has the absolute sovereign power and authority over all, and that is Jesus Christ.
This is why one of the considerations we had when we were studying verses 5 to 8 last week is who these verses in quoting Psalm chapter 8 are about, when it talks about "What is man, that You're mindful of him, or the son of man, that You care for him." We considered one interpretation that it might be about the Lord Jesus Himself, but more likely it is actually about us, the people of God, those who are redeemed by the Lord Jesus Christ. We are the ones who are co-heirs with Christ, and we are going to rule and have dominion because of Christ and His ultimate authority in verse 5, the world to come. How can that be? How can we as professing Christians even begin to think that we are the ones who are going to rule and have dominion? Well, we just think back to the book of Genesis, before the time of the fall, and what was man created to be and to have on this earth? To be the ones who would rule and have dominion, but that was shattered by sin.
And now everything's a mess. It's chaotic. We look around and we wonder, well, who's ruling? What's going on? What can we have? What can we hold onto today? And this is what takes us to verse 9. We have the Lord Jesus, the one that we do see, the one we do see as centre in the book of Hebrews, the one who is central in the word of God in its entirety. We see the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, brothers and sisters, if the only thing that a preacher has to say is the Lord Jesus Christ, then he has something absolutely central to say to your hearts and lives. And that is exactly what we have here in the book of Hebrews. That's exactly what we have in Hebrews chapter 2, verse 9. It's exactly what we're going to have again and again and again, month after month, even year after year as we work our way through this book, because this is what the writer to the Hebrews wants us to see and understand.
And for the very first time in the book of Hebrews, the Lord Jesus Christ is mentioned explicitly, specifically in verse 9. The entire book up to now has been about the Son, about the Lord Jesus Christ. And now here we have Him mentioned. So let's read this verse, verse 9: "But we see Him who 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."
We're going to consider three quite brief but crucial points, and then we're going to ask a question. The three points are going to be the humiliation of Christ, the suffering of Christ, and the exaltation of Christ. And then we're going to be asking a question: Who was it for?
So we've got a lot to work our way through, and in some ways these are summarising points that at different places they get fleshed out even more in other parts of the book of Hebrews. One thing to mention just before we deal with these points is that we are now coming in a section in Hebrews chapter 2 which is focusing on the humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ. So in the weeks to come as we work through the rest of this chapter, beginning especially even today, we're going to really understand why Jesus being a man is essential to the gospel and how we can be saved. And it will be leading to the time when we get to Christmas and our focus on the incarnation.
This section in Hebrews chapter 2 is one of the most important in the Bible for us to see why Jesus being a man is absolutely fundamental to the gospel and to the means by which, why, and how we can be saved. So we deal with some rich, complex, but crucial doctrine and this is one of them.
So let's get to this verse that we're dealing with this morning, Hebrews chapter 2, and we're beginning with this first point, the humiliation of Christ. Now the verse states, again dealing with this contrast between Jesus and the angels, where it says, "but we see Him," and later in the verse it says, "namely Jesus." It's about Jesus now, definitely verse 9 is about the Lord Jesus. We see Jesus, who for a little while was made lower than the angels. Everything up until now, contrasting Jesus and the angels has been about how these celestial beings are mighty, they're powerful. They're beings that we can't even fully understand in our human comprehension, they're that powerful, and yet they cannot compare to how mighty, how incomparable is the Son of God. And yet as we come to Hebrews chapter 2, verse 9, it begins by saying He was made lower than the angels.
Isn't it the angels that worship the Son? Isn't it that because Jesus is God that the angels worship Him? So in what way, how can Jesus be made lower than the angels? Would we ever dare to consider, well does this mean for a little while that Jesus ceased to be God? Absolutely not, that would be outright heresy. So what does it mean to say, understand that for a little while He was made lower than the angels? If Jesus is truly, eternally God, how can He be lower than the angels?
Well one of the things that we're going to do, and we briefly looked at this passage last week, but we'll take a bit more time this week, is contrast and compare this with Philippians chapter 2. So if we turn back to Philippians chapter 2 and just have our finger in the book of Hebrews, Philippians chapter 2. One of the things that we find in Philippians chapter 2 from around about verse 6-7 to verse 11 is effectively a running commentary, a more deeper kind of unpacking of what we find in Hebrews chapter 2 verse 9.
So we're just going to kind of run through this and parallel between the two as we deal with these three points. If we're wondering about this subject of Jesus being made a little lower than the angels, what are we to say of this? Well Hebrews chapter 2, sorry Philippians chapter 2, beginning just very end of verse 5, it says about Christ Jesus, and then into verse 6, "who though He was in the form of God," so He is God, "did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped," but verse 7, "emptied Himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men." Now let’s stop.
In what way can we understand Jesus being made a little lower than the angels for a little while? That is in becoming a man, in clothing Himself in human flesh. Now note this so that we're fundamentally clear about this point: Jesus is God when He clothes Himself in human flesh. He is the God-man. He is eternally God, but we see here in these verses that He emptied Himself in that He became a man.
Now the reason that this is of such a significant problem is not because of any problem in Jesus or the purpose of Yahweh, but because of the problem of humanity. This is the issue, that Jesus who is truly God, the second person of the triune God, would empty Himself and suffer the humiliation of becoming a man in a world which is now tainted with sin. This is what we're being presented with here. Now when people, even as human beings on this earth, look at this earth and see the problem of sin, though many don't understand it, though many wouldn't articulate that sin is the reason for all of these issues, many will still quite quickly conclude, well, this place, this world, people around us, they're messed up. It's chaos. And what do they then often do? Well, they say, well, this is proof enough that there isn't God. The suffering, the wickedness, the nasty evil things that we see, that's proof that there isn't God.
But a denial of God doesn't solve a problem, it simply fails to answer one. And that's the issue. If to the world we look to make sense of the wickedness that we see around us, we have excuse finding, we have shame blame shifting, but we certainly do not have an understanding as to why and how this has happened. But the Bible makes it very clear, brothers and sisters, sin is the reason. We were created perfect in the image of God. We were made to rule and have dominion over all the creatures that God had created. And what did man do? Man rejected the Creator God and rebelled against Him. And so our very natures now are corrupted in sin. Every one of you sitting in this place, you are corrupted in sin. You are cut off and separated from the living God. And that is why there is such a problem on this earth. That is why there is suffering, disasters on this earth because of man's sin and rebellion against the Creator. That is the reason why.
And so what we have here is not a theology of God who is perfect in every way, remaining distant from this, but we actually have, and it's quite staggering to consider that God who is perfect would come to a world that is imperfect. That God who is above and beyond all things would for a little while make Himself lower than the angels in emptying Himself. And we notice in Philippians 2:7, "take the form of a servant." Look at the language. This is language about God. Probably some of you would be offended if people were to say, well, you're just a servant. This is God. Language about Yahweh, the one true living God. And what do we see? He's emptying Himself, taking the form of a servant, being in the likeness of man. That's what it means.
And brothers and sisters, it had to be this way. He would set aside His divine riches and heavenly glory in emptying Himself by suffering the humiliation of being clothed in human flesh as a little baby boy that would be born in Bethlehem. And that's what we're dealing with, with the humiliation of Christ.
Now, as we just briefly go back to Hebrews 2, but please keep your finger in Philippians chapter 2, because we will go back to it. If we just notice the flow of our text, where it says, "but we see Him who for a little while was made lower than the angels." So that is the humiliation of Christ. Then it goes on to say, "namely Jesus crowned with glory and honour because of the suffering of death."
Now, as you know, in this church, we work through the Bible verse by verse, and even the verses themselves, we do in order. So if anytime anything's slightly flipped, then I need to explain the reason why, because we're going to deal with the suffering of death bit before the crowned with glory and honour.
Now that's not to say that there's an issue with the way in which Hebrews 2:9 is framed, because we've already seen the exaltation of Christ. That's why it is being written in this way. But we're going to deal with the order in which it's dealt with in Philippians chapter 2. And so the second thing we're covering, we've dealt with the humiliation of Christ, and it links very much to now the suffering of Christ. And what was the suffering of Christ? It wasn't simply the life that He lived. It was, as we see, the death that He faced. The suffering of death, Hebrews 2:9. It is going back to Philippians chapter 2, verse 7 into 8. Being born in the likeness of men, we go into verse 8, and being found in human form. He is a man. He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to death, to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Now, what did the people who saw Jesus languishing on that cross see? They saw a man. They saw a man who would die. But what they did not see was the Son of God who was bearing the sins of His people at Calvary. That's what they did not see. Many people who would do enough study and research into the history of the time of Jesus' life and death would quickly understand, yes, there was a man called Jesus, and he died on a cross. But this is the crucial point with what has already been established in the humiliation of Christ. This was not just another man who was suffering maybe something of a martyr's death for a good cause. No, this is the Son of God who is laying down His life.
The religious leaders, those who sought to plot against the Lord Jesus, who were planning and doing all of these things in a wicked, treacherous way, going against the very law that they stood upon, God's law, they were thinking, well, this is our plan, this is our idea, and we're going to get rid of this great opponent, namely Jesus. But the Word of God reveals that this was actually the plan of God. Isaiah 53:10, "Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush Him. He has put Him to grief." Who is putting Jesus Christ to grief? Whose will is it that He should be crushed? It's the will of God. God has decreed this. When Jesus was dying on the cross, this was not an accident, this was not a God wondering how can we make the best of a situation. No, this was the plan from before the foundation of the earth.
And brothers and sisters, what we must be clear on also is that it had to be this way. This is where we start to launch into the depth and the significance of Jesus being a man in this humiliation, in clothing Himself in human flesh. What did Jesus have to do in being obedient to the point of death on a cross? It was because He had put Himself under the law. This is God's law. God's law, which every single one of you have broken again and again and again in your very hearts, in your very lives, day after day, your thoughts, your attitudes, your actions, you break God's law. You are lawbreakers. You go through the Ten Commandments, you've broken them. That's who you are. That's who I am. What would it require to save you? How can you be saved if you're a lawbreaker?
Can we say to God, the righteous judge, well, look, I've done good deeds. I've been part of the church for many years. I did a baptism once upon a time. Is that going to save you? Is that enough? God is righteous and holy and His judgment will not be ignored and His wrath is against us. The law demands justice and justice means that you are condemned and you are sentenced to an eternity in hell. That is what is biblically righteous and just.
And this is the glory of the gospel, that there is one who came and lived a life on this earth, lived under this law, this law which condemns you, but to this one would not condemn. Who is that one? The one who was obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross, the one who suffered death on that cross, the one who was without sin, as we've seen in 2 Corinthians 5:21. You are sinful. Jesus Christ is not. You contribute sin to the hope of any salvation. Jesus Christ is the one who is sinless. He is perfect. He is without blemish and therefore He is our sacrificial lamb. He is the one who will make atonement for our sin, namely taking the sin of His people upon Himself on the cross, that our sin would be eternally dealt with. Because the righteous judge declares you guilty unless one has faced the guilt of your sin on your behalf. And there is only one who is able to do this and that is Jesus Christ. This is the gospel.
This is why when you hear the call to repent and believe, this is not about you getting your life in order and becoming religious. This is about understanding that you are a fallen, broken, needy, desperate sinner and you can do no right thing. And that it is only by Christ in being a man living under the law to fulfil the law and laying down His life on that cross that you could be saved. Because He bore the guilt and shame. He faced the wrath and judgment that we deserve on that cross.
And this is why the third point that we have, the exaltation of Christ. Not only did He die on a cross, but He rose victorious. Death has a claim on every one of you. The reason we have death, because we were made for life, the reason we have death is sin. Again, another big question we're wondering, why do people die? Why do people get sick and die? Sin, that's the reason. It isn't something that is natural, but it is something that is part of our everyday lives because this is a world of sickness, disease, and death.
But with Christ, the sinless one facing death, what claim does the grave hold over one who knew no sin? It has no claim. And this is why Jesus Christ rose. And that's the hope. That's the hope. That's what we have. That's the message of hope that we have in the Bible, that Jesus rose victorious over sin and death. If you're wondering, how can there be a hope of an everlasting life? Am I good enough? No, you're not. But Christ is, and He is risen. There's no doubt about this. There's no wondering, well, hang on a second, what might happen? How will this turn out in the end? We know how.
And Philippians 2:9 says, "Therefore God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that's 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." Every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. And this, brothers and sisters, is exactly what we've already been working through in the beginning of the book of Hebrews. Because Hebrews chapter 1 verse 3 says, "He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature, and He upholds the universe by the word of His power. After making purification for sins," that is His suffering and death on the cross, what happened? "He sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high." He sat down because He is triumphant. He is victorious. He is Lord over all.
So Hebrews chapter 2 verse 8, at present, we don't see everything in subjection to Him, namely man who is destined to rule as co-heirs with Christ. But we do see Jesus. And we know that Jesus reigns victorious over all, the one who came to this earth to live a life without sin, the one who laid down that life on that cross, and the one who is now highly exalted, having risen from the dead. These are our three points. And we come then to our question. Who was this for? Who was it for? Well, let's look at Hebrews 2 verse 9. Let's read it again: "But we see Him 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." Well, it says it in the text. He tasted death for everyone. Now, a significant majority even of professing Christians who read this verse and read the word "everyone" will have a very clear and set idea of what the word "everyone" means. And so a crucial question to follow up on that subject.
When we look at the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, when we consider people who say, well, yes, that means that He tasted death for everyone, it says it in Hebrews 2:9. The question to ask of anyone who says that would be, what did the death of Jesus accomplish? So just as this question is being asked, think in our minds, even what we've been unpacking this morning, what did it accomplish? Now, many will say, well, what it accomplished is victory over sin and death. It's the hope of salvation and eternal life. And so the next question to say, why doesn't everyone go to heaven? Now, when you ask that question, then you get into the subject of the word "everyone."
Hebrews 2:9 says He tasted death for everyone. Now, if in people's minds, they have in view, everyone being He's tasted death for everyone that we see in this world that's ever lived. Then we ask this question, why doesn't everyone go to heaven? Because we've already seen, we've considered Jesus suffered and tasted death. And He's accomplished something, or has He? He either has accomplished something or He hasn't. Well, then many will say, well, Jesus did accomplish something. He made the sacrifice for sinners. And it's then up to you to then purchase the ticket, to make the commitment to pray that prayer, asking Jesus into your heart.
Now there are many fundamental grassroots problems with that type of theology. Let me state two crucial ones. Number one, with regards to the subject of the sovereignty of God, we've already seen in Isaiah 53:10 and countless others. "It was the will of the Lord." It was the will of the Lord. God has planned this. So are we saying that God's sovereign purpose and plan goes as far as stop, then it's over to you to make your decision. Is that what we are saying? God's sovereignty is that it is a conditioned sovereignty dependent upon your sovereignty.
The second thing which connects with that, it completely misunderstands the gospel. Not slightly, it completely misunderstands the gospel. And here is why. If there is even one person, just one person in the history of humanity, for whom Christ accomplished sin and death and victory over death, and even one person does not then go to heaven to be with the Lord as a saved believer, then Jesus' work on the cross has been a failure. It's that simple. That's how serious this doctrine is. This isn't some Protestant, Calvinistic, cult-like, out there, separate to the Bible teaching. This is central to the very gospel we have in the word of God. That's what we're dealing with here.
So when we come to the subject of, by the grace of God, He might taste death for everyone, we need to think, well, who is this everyone? It is the everyone for whom the angels, the ministering servants, Hebrews 1:14, will serve as those who will inherit salvation. The everyone who will be saved. The everyone that the Lord has sovereignly decreed. The everyone for whom we see in Matthew 1:21, "she will bear a son and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins." He will save His people from their sins. It is very significant, very pointed, very specific.
This is something that God the Father has planned. This is something that God the Son has executed. This is something that God the Holy Spirit produces the change in the hearts of His chosen people. It's why in Romans 5:8, when it says that Jesus Christ has died for His people, it's why in John chapter 10, that the shepherd lays down His life for His sheep. It's why as we saw a few months ago in 2 Corinthians 5:14, that Christ has made atonement for all, the all being His people. And in Ephesians 5, chapter 5 verses 25 to 27, we have specific language regarding the church. Jesus laying down His life for the church. "Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her." It doesn't say Christ gave Himself up for everyone who's ever existed and those who make the decision for Christ will become the church. No, it says He laid down His life for the church. The church is the everyone.
And if anyone has any sense of uncertainty with regards to, well is this just or fair? Let me give you some clear points as to why it is just and it is also a glorious picture of mercy. God's justice will be upheld. Everyone has to face the justice of God. And for those who are saved and go to heaven, we thank God that that justice has been faced by Christ at Calvary. Jesus died for a specific people. He faced the sword of judgment for a specific people. For anyone who is not in Christ, they will face that sword of judgment for eternity in hell. That is why hell is such a horror because it is eternity under the wrath of God.
And this is why we praise God for His grace and mercy. You don't deserve it. You do not deserve it. And when you hear the gospel and the call to repent and believe, we give thanks to God that Christ has tasted death for everyone. And this is truly for any who repents of their sin and believes in Christ as their Lord and Saviour. You did not make that decision in and of your own volition. How can you? We are the valley of dry bones. We're spiritually dead. Only the Spirit of God will regenerate the spiritually dead. Only the Holy Spirit will give us life when death is what abounds. And it is the work of the Holy Spirit to give us the life, the faith, the faith in Christ, which means life forevermore with our Lord. And that is the gospel, the gospel which was planned before the foundation of the earth for a specific people, for a specific purpose, which is the glory of God and the exaltation of Jesus Christ.
We still, on this earth, have an autonomy. When we do things, when we make decisions about clothes we wear, the food we eat, we have an autonomy on this earth. That is not to be put into competition with the sovereignty of God and the electing purpose of those who will be saved. We are accountable before this God, and yet we know that everything that takes place on this earth is at the same time an overarching and foundationally what He has decreed. God has decreed it all, and to this we give thanks. Can you imagine any Christian, any Christian, including those who say they hate the doctrine of election, actually applying that in their evangelism? Stop praying and start convincing if that's your theology because God's got nothing to do with it if you're trying to make a decision. Either God is going to do a work in the heart of the spiritually dead, or He is not. If your theology is it is to be a decision of the individuals in this local area, we had better start doing some quite impressive convincing. We'll use fleshly means and we'll try to attract fleshly people for a fleshly salvation. This is not about making a decision, this is about glorying in the saving purpose and the saving work of the living God.
If you are praying for the salvation of your lost family, of your lost colleagues, of the lost people of Hilton and Woodside, your prayer is that the Spirit of God will regenerate, that the Spirit of God will convict sinners, that the Spirit of God will move mightily for the sake of His name. And what we're called to do is proclaim that message, proclaim this gospel, that God has come to this earth and clothed Himself in human flesh, that this God has laid down His life as a man on the cross, tasting death for everyone, everyone for whom He came to suffer, bleed, and die for, that He may conquer sin and death and rise victorious.
He today, the Lord Jesus Christ, is risen on high, exalted over all. He is the Lord of Lords and He is the King of Kings, and He is the one that as Christians we go forth to proclaim, knowing and trusting, that Christ tasted death for everyone. And we go forth to proclaim the gospel, and everyone for whom Christ suffered and died will be saved as He has decreed. And we praise God for His glorious saving purpose. We look to Jesus, we know Jesus, we worship and praise Him, the Saviour Lord over all.