Everything Under Jesus

Last week I was listening to a sermon by a new pastor in another state. He was speaking specifically to the teenagers in the audience and he said, “if you follow Jesus, everything is going to work out.” Now, I have a lot of problems with that statement because he put zero qualifications on it. He didn’t explain what the working out might look like and he left the impression that if you just follow Jesus then life is going to work out. The issue there is that life doesn’t work out in the way you necessarily think it will or in the way you think it should. So that is a very dangerous way to state something like that, because the students look around and see all of the problems in their lives.

Of course, our message is that the death and resurrection of Jesus is the answer to everything. That’s the answer we would give to anyone for the problems in the world. But what are we to do when they ask us, that if that is true then why are all of the problems still here? If Jesus is in control and if He is the answer, why are there so many problems in the world still today. This is the issue that the author of Hebrews is addressing in Hebrews chapter 2, verses 5 through 9.

Let’s read:

Hebrews 2:5–9 ESV

For it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking. It has been testified somewhere, “What is man, that you are mindful of him, or the son of man, that you care for him? You made him for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned him with glory and honor, putting everything in subjection under his feet.” Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him. But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

As we begin in verse 5 we can see the author resuming the line of thought from chapter 1 verses 4-14 on how Jesus is superior to the angels. But right away we see that from the beginning we see that God had a purpose for humanity. The author says in verse five that it was not to angels that the world to come would be subjected. So we have to understand at the beginning here we are looking at the subjection of the world to come but he is going to start with a quote from the Old Testament about man.

I. What is man?

The citation here is from Psalm 8:4-6

Psalm 8:4–6 ESV

4 what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? 5 Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. 6 You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet,

David is marveling in this Psalm that though God made man as less than God, man was given a dominion over the world. God put man on earth to rule the physical earth, to tend crops and tame animals.

The writer speaks of humanity collectively as one person. God placed humanity a little lower than the angels.

Angels were not given dominion over this world. We just don’t read that. In fact, there is an amazing verse in I Corinthians regarding out relationship to angels.

1 Corinthians 6:3 (ESV)

3 Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life!

We must recognize the distinctive glory and dignity of humans. To be created Imago Dei, in the image of God, is to say that all human life has dignity and inherent value. This is why we are pro-life. This is why we protect life. It’s why we pray for places like Ukraine that lives would be spared. It’s why we seek to help where we can those who are in need. It’s not political, it’s Biblical.

Michael Kruger, in his commentary on this passage writes,

“There is a rich irony in God's plan for humanity. We were designed to rule over angels, and yet it was an angelic being (Satan) who persuaded Adam and Eve to follow him and rebel against God. Instead of judging and ruling over angels, the first humans subjected themselves to angels Instead of rebuking Satan, they listened to him. The ultimate result was that God's design for the world was profoundly broken. People will tell you that the problem with the world is lack of education, or bad cultural influences, or economic inequality; if those things were sorted out, the world would be a better place. But in all those scenarios, the problem is still there as long as we are still there. It is not just that Adam sinned; his corruption has passed down to all humans after him. In short, you and I are the problem with the world. And if we're the problem, we can't be the solution. Education, government programs, and cultural change are not enough, because they are human solutions. No, we can't save ourselves.”

II. But we do see Jesus...

The author of Hebrews by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, applies or maps this Psalm passage onto Jesus. Jesus represents all of humanity in His incarnation and crucifixion. His incarnation just means when He came as a human and dwelled among us. He also represented humanity in his death on the cross, the crucifixion. If you think back to when I preached through Philippians and we came to that great hymn of the humiliation of Christ in Philippians 2:5-11

Philippians 2:5–11 (ESV)

5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,

6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,

7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.

8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,

10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

You see, today we don’t have trouble getting people to understand that Jesus was human. People today struggle to believe He is God. But in the days of the writing of the book of Hebrews, there were people who had a lot of trouble believing this. The Gnostics were especially skeptical of this idea that Jesus could be a man like us. Kruger points out that they didn’t see how someone who was divine could take on the limitations of human flesh. But by becoming human, He was able to experience (taste) death for everyone.

Jesus came as a man but that did not mean that in anyway the angels were better. He lowered Himself to living among us and dying for our sins but He was still God. He still was the Lord and He would still have all things subjected to Him. Nothing is outside of His control.

III. At present we do not yet see everything in subjection to Him

This is the difficult point for a lot of people, especially those asking the question I posed at the beginning of this sermon.

In verse 8 we see that the world to come will be completely subjected to Jesus, the Son. It’s not till verse 9 where he names this Son as Jesus. He identifies the one who will one day be over all as Jesus, the Son. This is where it becomes clear that the author is applying this Psalm to Jesus as the fulfillment of it. Al Mohler, in commenting on this wrote that “the author wants us to read scripture according to it’s internal storyline and see Christ as the fulfillment and climax of the story.” In other words, the author wants us to read the Bible as Biblical theologians. The Bible interprets Bible.

An incredible point of note here is that this rule will be shared by believers, which we can see if we were to skip ahead to verses 12 and 13,

Daniel 7:27 ESV

27 And the kingdom and the dominion and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High; his kingdom shall be an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.’

Revelation 2:7 ESV

7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.’

1 Corinthians 6:3 ESV

3 Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life!

The world to come is the perfect, ideal, future world. It’s a heavenly country where the Lord Jesus reigns for eternity.

Hebrews 11:14–16 ESV

14 For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15 If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.

Hebrews 11:40 ESV

40 since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.

The work of Christ actually inaugurates the world to come. We see it as the beginning of the already but not yet, kingdom of God. Jesus has already won the victory but we do not yet have His second return and eternal reign realized here on earth.

Let me see if I can help you with this.

1 Corinthians 15:45–47 ESV

45 Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46 But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. 47 The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven.

1 Corinthians 15:20 ESV

20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

Jesus is what the Bible refers to as the last Adam or the second Adam or the second man. The second Adam undoes the work of the first Adam. He fulfills the task of rule originally given to the first Adam that the first Adam failed in because of sin. Mohler words it this way:

“Jesus represents the ideal man who bears God’s image rightly and exercises dominion over the cosmos.” - Al Mohler

This Jesus, is superior to all things and that includes the angels. This Jesus is worthy.

When we read Jesus is crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, we might think for a minute something like: wasn’t He always worthy of glory and honor as the second person of the Trinity? And we would be correct in that assessment. So here when it says He was crowned with glory and honor, this is not simply because He is God but because He has fulfilled His task as Messiah. The messianic task that He fulfilled was to suffer and die for the sin of man.

IV. So that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

Perfect life we could not live. Perfect sacrifice. Sufficient and once for all. Death. Taking on the wrath of God due our sin. Died. Rose three days later. A substitute and first fruits of the resurrection of God’s followers one day.

God offers both the punishment for sin and the salvation from sin.

Sin must be judged. There must be blood. Something has to die for sin.

Jesus took the judgement for sin of those who would believe in Him.

This is grace. It’s free to you but it cost Jesus His life.

Either you get God’s wrath for your sin or in trusting in Jesus it was put upon Christ on the cross. So repent of your sin and trust the Gospel today!!!

Conclusion:

In what ways do you feel the tension of the already-not yet playing out in your life?

Do you see this tension manifest itself in the world around you?

What things cause you to doubt the truth and trustworthiness of the gospel and the work of the last Adam? Do you see how this passage helps you overcome those fears and doubts? The idea of the already but not yet. The understanding that Jesus became human so that He could experience death on your behalf.

So when we are tempted to look around us and despair because we believe Jesus is the answer and yet we see the problems and perceived chaos around us, the question is will we rest in the already and not yet kingdom of God?

Spend some time today thinking about how you might articulate the person and work of Christ to someone who has never heard of Jesus or doesn’t believe. Hey, have you ever thought about what Jesus did while on earth or who He really is? That’s a great question to ask someone.

Christ’s superiority in all things can help us avoid spiritual drift when we trust His word and His work and understand that though we don’t see it all played out right now, that all things are subjected to Him. There are many spiritual realities that we don’t yet see with our physical eyes. The questions is: do we trust Him?