INTRODUCTION:

1. Angels are mentioned thirteen times in the book of Hebrews – six times in chapter 1.
2. And they are mentioned five times here in chapter 2 (2:2, 5, 7, 9, 16).
3. Hebrews 2:6 (quoting Psalm 8:4) says, “What is man, that thou art mindful of him?”
4. Many years ago in Chicago, a scientist named Dr. Craig gave a lecture on the human body before the Medical Association of Chicago.  He said, “Consider the average 150 pound body of a man from its chemical aspect.  It contains water, and enough lime to whitewash a good size chicken coop, enough sugar to fill a small sugar bowl, and enough iron to make a 10-penny nail.  The total value of these ingredients is about 98 cents.”
5. That was quite a few years ago.  Perhaps in today’s economy, man is worth about two or three bucks.
6. Some commentators think that Hebrews 2:5 and the following verses refer to men.  First Corinthians 6:3 says, “Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?”
7. However, the great theme of this epistle is the Lord Jesus Christ.  Therefore, these Scriptures speak of Him – His sovereignty, His sacrifice, and His sanctification.
8. This entire passage refers to the subjecting of the whole earth to the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit uses Psalm 8 to reinforce what He is saying.
9. God gave dominion to Adam, but Psalm 8 and Hebrews 1 & 2 look beyond the first Adam to the “second Adam.”
10. First Corinthians 15:47 says, “The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.”

 

1. THE SOVREIGNTY OF CHRIST
2. THE SACRIFICE OF CHRIST
3. THE SANCTIFICATION OF CHRIST

 

I. THE SOVREIGNTY OF CHRIST (2:5-8).

1. Referring to Christ, I Corinthians 15:27 says, “For He (God the Father) hath put all things under His feet.”
2. Ephesians 1:22, 23 says God “hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.”
3. This not only emphasizes the sovereignty of Christ, it also reminds us of the importance of the local church.
4. Philippians 3:21 says Christ “is able even to subdue all things unto himself.”
5. Psalm 8:5 says, “For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.”
6. This great Messianic prophecy is explained here in Hebrews 2 – “But we see Jesus…” (2:9).
7. Psalm 8:6 says, “Thou hast put all things under His feet” (cf. Hebrews 2:8a).
8. In I Corinthians 15:27, Paul quotes this in reference to the Lord Jesus Christ – “For He hath put all things under His feet.”
9. The idea here in Hebrews 2:7 and 9 (and Psalm 8:5) is “made for a little time” (see Scofield margin).
10. These Scriptures speak of the sovereignty of Christ – “Thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands” (Hebrews 2:7, cf. 2:9).
11. The word “subjection” (2:5; twice in 2:8) refers to our Lord’s sovereignty.
12. Vine’s Expository Dictionary says “subjection” is “primarily a military term,” meaning “to rank under.”
13. In other words, the angels are not only subject to Christ, but He has arranged them in order.
14. Note also the words “under His feet” and “under Him” (Hebrews 2:8).
15. Hebrews 2:5 says, “For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak.”
16. The Scofield Bible correctly points out that the “world to come” here refers to the “inhabited earth” (cf. 1:6).  This means when Christ returns to earth, this whole world will be in subjection to Him.
17. This same Greek word translated “world” in Hebrews 2:5 is found several times in the book of Revelation.
18. Our Lord said to the church in Philadelphia, “Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth” (Rev. 3:10).
19. Revelation 12:9 says, “And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world…”
20. Revelation 16:14 says, “For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.”
21. Beloved, the Bible says the coming tribulation will affect this whole world.
22. It says the devil will deceive the whole world.
23. It says the kings of the earth and of the whole world will gather to fight at the Battle of Armageddon.
24. But praise God it also says the whole world will be subject to the Lord Jesus Christ (Heb. 2:5).
25. Andrew Murray said “the world to come” is “that world to which the psalm (Psalm 8) looks forward, the Kingdom of the Messiah, the Kingdom of Heaven upon earth” (cited by William Newell, Hebrews).

 

II. THE SACRIFICE OF CHRIST (2:9).

1. Whereas verses 5-8 emphasize the deity and the sovereignty of Christ, verse 9 speaks of the sacrifice of Christ.
2. Some theologians and some professors and some preachers have tried to “limit” the atonement, but the Bible clearly says our Lord, “tasted death for every man” (2:9).
3. Some refer to the limited atonement theory as the doctrine of “particular redemption,” but this is not taught in the Bible.
4. “And He is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world” (I John 2:2).
5. The Lord Jesus Christ died for the sins of the whole world.  He died as our substitute.
6. The apostle Paul said in Galatians 2:20, that Jesus “loved me, and gave Himself for me.”
7. Paul was saying Jesus died as his substitute.
8. Paul also said in Ephesians 5:25, that “Christ also loved the church, and gave Himself for it.”  The Lord is not only Paul’s substitute; He is our substitute.  He died for the church.
9. Paul wrote in Romans 5:8, “But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
10. “For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures” (I Cor. 15:3).
11. Furthermore, Paul wrote in II Corinthians 5:15, “And that He died for all…”  Therefore, the atonement is not “limited.”  It is for the whole “world” (John 3:16).
12. The atonement is limited only in the sense that those who do not believe cannot be saved.   But they could be saved if only they would believe (cf. John 5:40).
13. The Lord Jesus Christ is the “captain of our salvation” (2:10).
14. But our Lord had to first die in order to be the captain of our salvation. And thus was He born to die.
15. Because of His great love, God sent His only begotten Son to come and bear the punishment we deserved and to die the death we deserved.  This is why Jesus came. He came to be our substitute, and when He was nailed to the cross He died for you and He died for me.
16. Jesus paid the penalty for our sin. God is holy and righteous and He has to judge sin.
17. On the other hand, God is loving and compassionate and He wants to forgive sin.  Either God punishes you for your sin and me for my sin (that means eternal punishment in hell) or else God provides a substitute – someone else who will die in our place and pay our penalty.
18. That is exactly what Jesus came to do; He came to be our substitute.  “For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him” (II Cor. 5:21).
19. “Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed” (I Peter 2:24).
20. “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit” (I Peter 3:18).
21. The sinless Son of God, God in the flesh, humbled Himself, and came to earth to die on the cruel cross for you and me.
22. He died, not because He deserved it, but because we deserved it and He was our substitute.
23. The Lord Jesus Christ was our perfect substitute because He is both God and man.   Christ undertook a work that no angel could ever do.
24. To do this work, Christ, for a little while, had to become lower than angels. Higher than angels is God, and lower than angels are men. And Christ was at the same time higher than angels in His power, lower in than angels in His humiliation.
25. Therefore, He was our perfect substitute.

 

III. THE SANCTIFICATION OF CHRIST (2:11).

1. Sanctification means “holiness.”
2. First Peter 1:16 says, “Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.”
3. When we receive Christ and are born again, we become members of God’s family. We are positionally sanctified, or set apart from sin, from the world, and from those who do not believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.
4. Many Christians understand this much but they do not go much further. They do not seem to comprehend or appreciate Christ’s ongoing work as sanctifier in their lives.
5. The Bible teaches three tenses of salvation:

• I have been saved: Justification – saved from the penalty of sin.
• I am being saved: Sanctification – saved from the power of sin.
• I will be saved: Glorification – saved from the very presence of sin.

6. Many Christians live on a low spiritual plane because they have not allowed the Holy Spirit to control their lives.
7. Study Romans 6 and note the word “yield” (cf. 6:13, 16, 19).

 

CONCLUSION:

1. We have barely scratched the surface of our text, but we will try again next week.
2. These Scriptures remind us of our union with Christ – “For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one” (Heb. 2:11).