God's Ultimate Intention for Man

GOD’S ULTIMATE INTENTION FOR MAN Spring Valley Mennonite; September 8, 2019; Hebrews 2:5-8 There is a saying which applies to preachers: They are to comfort the troubled and to trouble the comfortable. The author of Hebrews has been following this pattern, as he first encouraged his readers in their faith in the Lord Jesus with assurances of His superiority over angels. This was important since angels were thought to have mediated the giving of the Old Covenant Law, and if Jesus is superior to angels, then the New Covenant He brought fulfills and replaces the Old Covenant. There is now no reason to revert to the way and practices of Judaism. But before the readers could get too comfortable, as they listened to this letter, as we saw last week, the preacher launched a warning against any complacency of compromise that would cause them to drift away from their core beliefs. They were warned of the danger of drifting or neglecting or watering down the truth of the gospel. The attractive and comfortable currents of Judaism or of the Greco/Roman culture constantly worked to pull them away from orthodoxy, or to dilute the pure truth with compromise. He warned, “How shall one escape judgment if so great a salvation is neglected?” This warning is so meaningful today as we believers are constantly tempted to compromise the truth of Scripture. We fear offending others by being insistent that Jesus is the only way to salvation, or that the Bible is absolute truth, or that every person will stand before God. We each face the danger of complacency and compromise every day. In the passage we cover today, chapter 2:5-9, the author returns to encouraging this small besieged group of Hebrew Christians; he calls them to examine the intentions of God for mankind, and how Jesus exalted mankind by becoming one of us. Read Hebrews 2:5-9. The discussion begins with: I. THE IMPORTANCE OF THE “WORLD TO COME” We live in the world of the “not yet.” One of the fundamental bedrock truths of Christianity is that this present world is temporary, and in God’s ultimate plan there will be a new heaven and a new earth, speaking of all creation. We need to go back to Genesis and look at the original creation, observing that God made all things out of nothing and pronounced it all good. After creating man, God looked everything over, and in His perfect evaluation judged it as very good. We don’t know how long Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden, but we know the story—how Satan tempted our first parents and how sin entered the picture. God’s perfect world with perfect people suffered devastation. Within the sovereignty of God, Satan was given the right to rule over the world of man, enslaving all under sin. The ground was cursed, the perfect system of creation became imperfect. Literally speaking, all hell broke loose on earth! This explains the present broken condition of creation. We live in a fallen world in which things go wrong. This week we observed hurricane Dorian destroying land and property and taking life. Because of the curse of sin, the universe became a dangerous and unpredictable place. Disease, famine, violence among men, aging, death, and decay all reflect the curse of sin. But this state of “fallenness” is temporary. God set in motion His plan of salvation, promising a Savior Who would restore perfection. Jesus Christ, in the fullness of time, was born in Bethlehem; the perfect Son of God took on humanity—became one of us. He enables the restoration of our broken relationship with God. He will bring about the renewal of all creation. This is what verse 5 speaks of “the World to Come.” Peter speaks of this destruction of this present world in 2 Peter 3:10-13: Turn there and follow as I read. Notice Peter’s challenge in verse 11: In light of the temporary nature of this world, “What sort of people ought we to be in holy conduct and godliness?” Folks, its all going to burn! The verse is found within the author’s argument of the superiority of Jesus Christ over angels. The world to come is not to be ruled by angels, but by redeemed and resurrected followers of Jesus. The dominion of man over all creation will be restored. II. “WHAT IS MAN?” The question “What is man?” in verse 6 has been asked by thinkers for ages. If God is left out of the equation, the answer can only be that we are nothing more than an intelligent ape. The processes of natural selection and mutation have produced what we are today. Apart from the statistical improbability of those forces ever producing anything so complex as even the simplest single cell, many have fallen into the deception of evolution. God leaves no room for any answer to “what is man?” other than he was created in God’s image. Psalm 8 is quoted to demonstrate the high status of mankind. Look at Psalm 8 with me: (Read v. 1-4.) We can picture King David remembering those nights out on the hillside while watching over the sheep of his father Jesse. He looks up into a sky filled with stars and is stunned by the immensity and grandeur of it all! He thinks of the greatness of the universe and all creation and is struck with the thought of his own insignificance. Yet alongside these thoughts is the revelation of God that man is the object of God’s special love and care. Because we are made in the image of God, we are of ultimate worth. We are so much greater in value than any other part of creation—this is proven by the price-tag placed upon us: The value of something is determined by what someone will pay for it. I can buy a new Ford F-450 Platinum Super-Cab with all the bells and whistles for around $78,000 or I can buy a very used 1980 pickup for a few hundred. The difference between the two is the value. What was the price God paid for our redemption? It was the lifeblood of His Son. We are of ultimate value to God. By the way, this is why we should treat all people with great respect. Back in Hebrews, in verse 6, “son of man” is parallel to man. The term takes on greater meaning in the New Testament, becoming one of Jesus’ favorite names for Himself. In our passage in Hebrews, the author uses the term “Son of man” to link mankind with Jesus in verse 9. (We’ll get there in a moment.) The Spirit-inspired words continue, “Yet (although man is so small compared to the greatness of the universe) God has made man only a little bit lower than Himself (as we are made in His image), and as we see in Hebrews 2:7, man was created a little bit lower than the angels. What is the meaning that we are: III. LOWER THAN THE ANGELS? HOW? Although man is of ultimate value and importance to God, he has been made for a little while lower than the angels. As we think about it, there are several ways this is true: • We are confined to earth, in physical bodies; angels are spirit beings who are able to travel to earth and take the form of humans, as God deems necessary in His service. • Our power and strength are limited; angels wield great power as given by God. Think of the power unleashed by angels during the Tribulation Period. • We have limited communication with God; they behold the face of God continually. They receive direct face-to-face commands from God. • We are made of dust, and to dust we return; angels are spirit beings. • We are subject to disease, injury and death; angels are not. But this condition of “lower than the angels” is only a temporary state. In the world to come, we will have many of these limitations removed. Our bodies will be indestructible, no aging or disease or disability. We will serve the Lord Jesus as He rules on earth, face-to-face with our Savior. Whether we will be able to transcend the limitations of travel remains to be seen. If we will have bodies like the Lord, will we be able to appear and disappear at will, or travel from place to place in the blink of an eye? That is unknown. It would be quite a thrill to do so! In the coming Kingdom, we will rule with Christ on His Throne: • Revelation 3:21: “He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.” • Daniel 7:27” “Then the sovereignty, the dominion, and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the people of the saints of the Highest One; His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all the dominions will serve and obey Him.” • 1 Corinthians 6:2-3 tells us “Do you not know that the saints will judge the world?” 3a “Do you not know that we shall judge angels?” This judging angels will involve the fallen angels or demons who have been harassing mankind for all the ages (payback!) Perhaps the most important fact in comparing humans with angels is that humans are objects of salvation; angels are fixed in their state, either holy or evil (demons). God the Son took on human flesh to redeem mankind, not angels. IV. PARADISE RESTORED Looking at verses 7 and 8: Even in his fallen sinful state, man is still filled with potential. As followers of Jesus, washed in the blood of God’s perfect Lamb, God views us through the lens of our Lord. Even those under the Old Covenant who trusted God and faithfully followed Him were judged righteous and seen, as verse 7 puts it, “crowned with glory and honor”. The Old Testament Saints through their blood sacrifices were looking forward to the cross; we are looking back at the perfect sacrifice of Jesus. Those who are in Christ Jesus, though positionally seated with Christ in the heavenlies, are waiting for the Lord’s return when we will truly be crowned with glory and honor. We are living in the world of “Not Yet.” Mankind originally was given dominion over all creation, but forfeited that dominion because of his choice to sin. Creation also was also subject to the curse, so that in its fallen state we might still exert some sense of control. Though the earth grows “thorns and thistles” we can through hard labor and the sweat brow cultivate the earth to grow food. Although there are many animals that cannot be tamed, there are some that have been domesticated to serve man. But not all creation is under man’s dominion, but in the future this will come about. We will have paradise restored, both in our relationship with God—face-to-face, and with creation. What a thing to which to look forward! Verse 9 discusses the connection of mankind to our Lord, as we see: V. JESUS, FOR A LITTLE WHILE LOWER THAN THE ANGELS In the incarnation, when God the Son became a man, He joined man’s status in being lower than the angels. He limited Himself to a physical body. He limited His divine glory of brilliance, only briefly in the Transfiguration letting His glory be seen by Peter, James and John. Paul discusses this temporary lowered position when God the Son became man: Philippians 2:5-11: Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. By the grace of God, only by becoming human, limiting Himself and identifying with all our temptations and sorrows, yet without sin, Jesus could offer the required sacrifice and pay for all our sin. By His death, we are spared the spiritual death and eternal separation from God. And He will reign forever and ever—and we will have paradise restored. And we will forever be with our Lord! Not yet, but soon and very soon! In light of all this, how then should we live?