Jesus our God and Saviour

God’s Promise To Man

Hebrews 2:5 NKJV

For He has not put the world to come, of which we speak, in subjection to angels.

THIS BROKEN WORLD IS BEING REPLACED

God’s Plan / Purpose, Is Right on Course

Faithlife Study Bible Chapter 2

the world to come The expectation of a future, ideal world closely parallels references to the Israelites expecting a heavenly country (Heb 11:14–16) and something better (11:40). Christ’s work inaugurates the presence of the world to come (2 Cor 5:17).

NIV Zondervan Study Bible: Built on the Truth of Scripture and Centered on the Gospel Message Chapter 2

The author mentioned this “world” in 1:6 (and in the larger topic of Jesus’ exaltation to heaven as the Davidic royal Messiah in 1:5–14). It is a “world to come,” a realm subjected to the Son already in heaven but yet to come on earth (cf. vv. 8–9; 6:5; 13:14). The early Jewish and Christian view was that the Messiah’s future reign is already established in heaven but will come to earth in the end times (see notes on 11:10, 16; 12:22–24; 13:14).

Mark 1:15 NKJV

and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”

Matthew 6:10 NKJV

Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.

Acts 1:5–7 NKJV

for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority.

MEANTIME, TROUBLE CONTINUES HERE

Jesus Said There Would Continue To Be Opposition

John 16:31–33 NKJV

Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? Indeed the hour is coming, yes, has now come, that you will be scattered, each to his own, and will leave Me alone. And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me. These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

2 Timothy 3:12–15 NKJV

Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

Concise Bible Commentary Effects of persecution

With the increasing persecution, some of the Jewish Christians became discouraged. They began to doubt whether Christianity really was God’s new and victorious way to the eternal kingdom. In their view, Judaism appeared to be as firm as ever, whereas Christianity appeared to be heading for disaster. Some had stopped attending Christian meetings and even given up their Christian faith and gone back to Judaism (Heb 10:25–31). The letter to the Hebrews was written to reassure the Jewish believers and prevent them from slipping back to their former religious practices (Heb 2:1–3).

Romans 5:3 NKJV

And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance;

The New King James Version Chapter 14

21 And when they had preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, 22 strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, “We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.”

FAITH WAITS WITH EXPECTANT HOPE

Word Pictures in the New Testament Hebrews 2:5

The author is discussing this new order introduced by Christ which makes obsolete the old dispensation of rites and symbols. God did not put this new order in charge of angels.

Concise Bible Commentary Effects of persecution

During the reign of Nero (AD 54–68), persecution of Christians increased considerably. This caused some Jewish Christians to wonder if they had done right in giving up their Jewish religion and becoming Christians. They had believed, as Jesus and his followers taught, that the Jewish religion no longer served God’s purposes, that the priesthood and the sacrifices would come to an end, and that the temple in Jerusalem would be destroyed. Yet, thirty years after Jesus’ death and resurrection, the temple was still standing and the Jewish religion was still functioning.

The Holy Bible: New International Version—Anglicised (1984) By Faith

11 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. 2 This is what the ancients were commended for.

Galatians 2:20 NKJV

I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

Romans 5:1–5 NKJV

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

THE WRITER CHALLENGES US TO LIVE BY FAITH, NOT FEELINGS

God’s Problem With Man

Hebrews 2:8 NKJV

You have put all things in subjection under his feet.” For in that He put all in subjection under him, He left nothing that is not put under him. But now we do not yet see all things put under him.

Hebrews 2:6–8 NKJV

But one testified in a certain place, saying: “What is man that You are mindful of him, Or the son of man that You take care of him? You have made him a little lower than the angels; You have crowned him with glory and honor, And set him over the works of Your hands. You have put all things in subjection under his feet.” For in that He put all in subjection under him, He left nothing that is not put under him. But now we do not yet see all things put under him.

The ESV Study Bible Chapter 2

This quotation from Ps. 8:4–6 (cf. Heb. 4:4) displays God’s exalted care for the human race generally in his creation

The MacArthur Study Bible Chapter 2

The passage asks why God would ever bother with man.

Job 7:17 NKJV

“What is man, that You should exalt him, That You should set Your heart on him,

Psalm 144:3–4 NKJV

Lord, what is man, that You take knowledge of him? Or the son of man, that You are mindful of him? Man is like a breath; His days are like a passing shadow.

What is man. The Hebrew interrogation, מָה what, what kind of, implies “how small or insignificant” compared with the array of the heavenly bodies; not “how great is man.”

The words “What is man?” do not as the Hebrew text implies, mean, “how great is man?” but “what kind of” that is, “how small or insignificant is man?”

HIS IMAGE BEARERS

HIS IMAGE BEARERS

Faithlife Study Bible Chapter 2

Psalm 8 contains descriptions of humanity that probably represent interpretations of Gen 1:26–28, where God creates His image-bearers and entrusts them with stewardship of creation.

HIS IMAGE BEARERS

Genesis 1:26–28 NKJV

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping 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. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

NIV Zondervan Study Bible: Built on the Truth of Scripture and Centered on the Gospel Message Chapter 2

The psalmist looks back to Gen 1:26–28 and marvels at God’s grace in forming humans in his image (“made them a little lower than the angels,” v. 7) as the glory of his creative work (“crowned them with glory and honor,” v. 7) and giving them dominion over the rest of creation (“put everything under their feet,” v. 8a).

THE STEWARDS OF CREATION

NIV Zondervan Study Bible: Built on the Truth of Scripture and Centered on the Gospel Message Chapter 2

The wording of Ps 8:5a in v. 7a follows the Septuagint (the pre-Christian Greek translation of the OT: “angels,” Greek angeloi) rather than the other possible sense of the Hebrew (“god,” Hebrew ʾĕlōhîm). The Hebrew term ʾĕlōhîm occasionally means “heavenly beings, angels” (e.g., Ps 82:1, 6, where the NIV renders it “gods”), and the Greek translators probably chose “angels” out of reverence, i.e., to avoid speaking too familiarly of God. To refer to heavenly beings reflects an exalted position for humans without expressing something that may seem to denigrate God himself. The Septuagint (the pre-Christian Greek translation of the OT), however, shows more clearly the superiority of the Son to angels, the larger theme of 1:5–2:18.

The MacArthur Study Bible Chapter 2

In spite of the superiority of angels to mankind, God had originally placed the administration of the earth into the hands of mankind (Gen. 1:26–28).

Genesis 2:15 NKJV

Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it.

Genesis 6:19–20 NKJV

And of every living thing of all flesh you shall bring two of every sort into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female. Of the birds after their kind, of animals after their kind, and of every creeping thing of the earth after its kind, two of every kind will come to you to keep them alive.

NO LONGER MASTER OF HIMSELF

Genesis 3:24 NKJV

So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.

The MacArthur Study Bible Chapter 2

In spite of the superiority of angels to mankind, God had originally placed the administration of the earth into the hands of mankind (Gen. 1:26–28).

The words, “But now we see not yet all things put under him,” point to the fact that Adam through his fall into sin, lost the dominion he had before enjoyed. He was no longer master of himself. He had become a fallen creature, with a totally depraved nature. He was a slave to sin. The animal kingdom was subservient to him not now through affection but fear. The ground, instead of yielding only good things, now produced also thorns, weeds, and other harmful things. Extremes of heat and cold, poisonous reptiles, earthquakes, typhoons, hurricanes, all conspired to make his life a constant battle to survive. He had lost the dominion over all these things.

Ecclesiastes 7:29 NKJV

Truly, this only I have found: That God made man upright, But they have sought out many schemes.”

Genesis 6:5 NKJV

Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

Mark 7:15 NKJV

There is nothing that enters a man from outside which can defile him; but the things which come out of him, those are the things that defile a man.

Romans 1:21 NKJV

because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.

Romans 1:28 NKJV

And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting;

THIS ESTABLISHES THE REASON FOR OUR TROUBLE AND REMOVES ALL REASON FOR COMPLAINT

God’s Provision Of A Man

Hebrews 2:9 NKJV

But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone.

JESUS - GOD OUR SAVIOUR

But now, in the midst of this dark picture of man’s lost dominion, the writer calls our attention to a bright beam of light that pierces the surrounding gloom. It is Jesus. When the reader of the English translation comes to this name here, at once there flashes into his mind the Jesus of the Gospels, the Jesus of Paul, the Saviour of lost sinners. And that is all good, so far as it goes. But to the Jewish reader of the Greek text of this letter, the reaction would be somewhat different. He would say to himself that the name Jesus in the Greek text is just the transliteration of the Hebrew name Jehoshua (̔εηοσηυα), the name of the God of Israel that points to His distinctive nature as the One who saves. The idea of Deity would come to his mind.

Isaiah 43:11 NKJV

I, even I, am the Lord, And besides Me there is no savior.

Isaiah 45:15 NKJV

Truly You are God, who hide Yourself, O God of Israel, the Savior!

Isaiah 45:21 NKJV

Tell and bring forth your case; Yes, let them take counsel together. Who has declared this from ancient time? Who has told it from that time? Have not I, the Lord? And there is no other God besides Me, A just God and a Savior; There is none besides Me.

Hosea 13:4 NKJV

“Yet I am the Lord your God Ever since the land of Egypt, And you shall know no God but Me; For there is no savior besides Me.

We do not see man triumphant, but we do see Jesus, for the author is not ashamed of his human name, realizing man’s destiny, “the very one who has been made a little lower than the angels”, quoting and applying the language of the Psalm in verse 7 to Jesus (with article τον [ton] and the perfect passive participle of ἐλατταω [elattaō]). But this is not all. Death has defeated man, but Jesus has conquered death.

Christ is introduced as Son in the first chapter; here he is called Jesus. By using the personal name Jesus, the author of the epistle draws attention to the historical setting of Jesus’ suffering and death. We assume that the name was vivid in the minds of the first readers of the epistle because of the steady preaching of the gospel. These readers were acquainted with the details of the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus.

HUMBLED AND EXALTED

Because of man’s disobedience in Paradise and the curse God placed upon him (), sinful man could never fully experience the state that is described in . But, says the author of the epistle, we see Jesus. He suffered death and gained the victory. He wears the crown of glory and honor, and rules the universe. In fact, even though the author does not explicitly state it, all things are subject to Christ (see ; ). Jesus said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” ().

Philippians 2:8 NKJV

And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

Philippians 2:9–11 NKJV

Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Hebrews 1:13 NKJV

But to which of the angels has He ever said: “Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool”?

1 Corinthians 15:27 NKJV

For “He has put all things under His feet.” But when He says “all things are put under Him,” it is evident that He who put all things under Him is excepted.

Ephesians 1:22 NKJV

And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church,

THE ONLY SAVIOUR

The death of Jesus was purposeful in that it provided benefits, as the author writes, “for everyone.” This expression does not imply universal salvation, for the writer in the broader context mentions that “many sons” (not all the sons) are brought to glory (2:10) and that they are called Jesus’ brothers (2:11–12).

Jesus accomplished the redemption of his people by tasting death, so that his people may live and rule with him. The text does not say that Jesus died, but that he tasted death for everyone.

The words to taste death are “a graphic expression of the hard and painful reality of dying which is experienced by man and which was suffered also by Jesus.”

Matthew 20:28 NKJV

just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

John 1:29 NKJV

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

The vision of Jesus which the writer wishes to bring to his readers is that of the Son incarnate, glorified, crowned with glory and honor, seated at the right hand of God, a position of glory and honor which the saved of the human race will share with Him in His future glory and earthly dominion. That is the glorious ray of light which the writer brings into the dark picture of man’s present estate.

Wuest, K. S. (1997). Wuest’s word studies from the Greek New Testament: for the English reader (Vol. 10, p. 58). Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

JESUS SAVES, IS THUS ESTABLISHED, WHATEVER MEN MAY DO