Hebrews 2:5-9
2:5-9: Jesus Made Fully Human
v.5-7 - It is not to angels that He has subjected the world to come about which we are speaking. But there is a place where someone has testified: “What is mankind that you are mindful of them, a son of man that you care for him? You made them a little lower than the angels; you crowned them with glory and honor and put everything under their feet.”
–What is God’s purpose for humanity?
–God’s divine purpose is that man has dominion over the earth both in the world today and in the world to come. We were made in God’s image and given authority over creation. Genesis 1:26
–What does it mean for humanity to have dominion over the earth?
v.8 - In putting everything under them, God left nothing that is not subject to them. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to them.
–God’s purpose is not taking place. What are examples where you can see that?
–There is a gap between what humanity was created to be and what humanity is.
v.9 - But we do see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honor because He suffered death, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.
–But we do see Jesus! He is the answer to the gap!
–We see Jesus who was made lower than the angels for a little while–where else do we see this phrase and who is it referring to then?
–Jesus became human!
–Why is this important?
–We know from chapter 1 that Jesus is greater than the angels. This verse says that He was made lower than the angels for a little while. Were the angels greater than Jesus while He was on the earth? Being lower refers to His position, not His nature.
–If a father works for his son’s business, his son is his boss. The father’s position is lower than his son but his nature is that he is still the son’s father. Poor example but kind of the idea positionally.
–It is Biblically wrong to think of Jesus as merely God or merely man. It is wrong to think of Him as half God and half man (or any other percentage split). It is wrong to think of Him as “man on the outside” and “God on the inside.” The Bible teaches Jesus is fully God and fully man, that a human nature was added to His divine nature, and both natures existed in one Person, Jesus Christ.
–Significantly, the first false teaching about Jesus in the days of the early church did not deny that He was God, but it denied that He was really human and said He only seemed to be human. The heresy was called Docetism, coming from the ancient Greek word “to seem,” and was taught by Cerinthus, who opposed the apostle John in the city of Ephesus and whose teaching is probably the focus of 1 John 4:2 and 1 John 5:6.
–We see Jesus Who is now crowned with glory and honor because He suffered death.
–Jesus is honored because of what He did. In our world who gets crowned with glory and honor?
–We see Jesus who, by the grace of God, tasted death for everyone.
–Jesus actually experienced death. Why is this significant?
–”for everyone”. This is substitutionary language. He didn’t set an example for us on how to die courageously, He died on behalf of us. His death was significant for everyone.
These verses show us the gospel message:
–God wanted to bring humanity back to His original purpose for them.
–Jesus was made a little lower than the angels–He became human. He experienced hunger, thirst, exhaustion, temptation, suffering, rejection, and death.
–The death of Jesus happened for everyone and He was crowned with glory and honor because of it.
Now we know:
-Jesus is superior to the angels
-Our salvation comes through One who is greater than the angels and we should not ignore it or drift away.
-Jesus became fully human and sacrificed Himself for us.