Hebrews 2:5-18 The fall and exaltation of humanity

Bible Study Series: Jesus in Hebrews - Better by Far!

Bible Study Lesson: Hebrews 2 - The fall and exaltation of humanity

by I Gordon

We're carrying on in our studies of the book of Hebrews looking today at chapter 2 verses 5-18. And it is a great little passage looking at the role for mankind in the plan of God. It is a passage that goes into the fall and restoration of man, as well as the plan for his future exaltation. So here is what we will explore:

• The plan of God for humanity - why is God so mindful of His fallen creation that He still wants to exalt him and place all things in subjection, under his feet?
• The cost and path to restore man - what role did God Himself have to play in restoring His creation?
• The results of the restoration - what are the 7 blessings that result from God's work for mankind?

So you would be right in thinking this is a very 'gospel' sounding message. Yep... no apologies there! Let's begin with...

God's plan for humanity

Heb 2:5-8 It is not to angels that he has subjected the world to come, about which we are speaking. (6) But there is a place where someone has testified: "What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? (7) You made him a little lower than the angels; you crowned him with glory and honor (8) and put everything under his feet." In putting everything under him, God left nothing that is not subject to him. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to him. 

In Hebrews chapter 1 we saw that Jesus is greater than the angels because He is the Son of God, He is eternal, the creator of all things and holds all things together by the word of His power. But now we see that He is greater as the Son of Man as well. The writer of Hebrews quotes from Psalm 8 to show that mankind was made lower than the angels yet he was not designed to always be at that place. So... 

• On the one hand we know that mankind was made from the lowly dust of the earth so the question is asked 'what is man that you are mindful of him?' Yet on the other hand, God's plan is to 'put everything under his feet.'
• On the one hand mankind is 'a little lower than the angels'. Yet he is destined to be 'crowned with glory and honor.'
• On the one hand 'we do not currently see everything subject to him'. Yet God will leave 'nothing that is not subject to him'.

So why would God be mindful of man? Why would He care so much for His creation that He would stoop so low to lift up those that had fallen so far? He could have wiped His hands of them after the fall, right? But Satan wasn't going to get the upper hand or last word when it came to deceived and fallen humanity. If you think about it, even a helping hand up after the fall would have been gracious of God and more than enough but in the eternal plan of God, made long before the world was even formed, God purposed that mankind would be even exalted to second only to Him. Not sure what the angels thought when they first heard that news but it is amazing that God would do such a thing. The Bible says that God is going to use His body of redeemed believers, the Church, to make His manifold wisdom known even unto the angelic realm.   

Eph 3:10-11 His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, (11) according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.

It also says that

Eph 2:6-7  And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,  (7)  in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

It is verses like these that give us a glimpse into the glory still to come. God will take the lowliest of creatures, fallen sinful humanity... those with a desperately wicked heart... and cleanse them, exalting them to the greatest position available. An illustration of this from the Old Testament, in a story that I have written about before¹ and absolutely love, is the story of Mephibosheth. 

So right about now you might say 'Wow... but how? How will humanity, which is such a mess, rise to such an exalted position? Can that which has a deceitful, sinful and desperately wicked heart, be made new and raised to a position above all others, save God Himself?' 

Well, this would only be made possible if one thing occurs  - God Himself would have to become a man, suffer and die to redeem His fallen creation! And that is what the writer of Hebrews focuses on now.

The cost and path to restore man

Heb 2:9-10 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. (10) In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering.

So the writer of Hebrews is clear on what we see and what we don't not currently see. Look around and take a gander at humanity. Is everything in submission to mankind or are things a mess? Well man certainly loves power and tries to dominate but that just comes at the expense of others. No, we don't see all things restored and peaceful under man's rule. William MacDonald writes:

Everything will be put under man's authority in that coming day —the angelic hosts, the world of animals, birds, and fishes, the planetary system—in fact, every part of the created universe will be put under his control. This was God's original intention for man. He told him, for instance, to “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” (Gen_1:28).
Why then don't we see all things in subjection under him? The answer is that man lost his dominion because of his sin. It was Adam's sin that brought the curse on creation. Docile creatures became ferocious. The ground began to bring forth thorns and thistles. Man's control over nature was challenged and limited.
Believers Bible Commentary

But we see the One who came to enable that to take place². We see Jesus the writer says and He should always be where our focus is. We don't look to any man, be they Pastor, Pope or Priest. We keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. And what did He have to do to implement this eternal plan of God? What was in the fine print of this plan?

• Jesus, who is God, would have to become a man. He would be born to a young Jewish woman in a time of oppression.
• Jesus would be limited in His humanity, being made a little lower than the angels. 
• Jesus would have to live for 33 years, experiencing every difficulty, every hunger, every thirst, the pains and temptation that mankind faced... and yet be without sin.
• Jesus especially would have to suffer. In fact He would be made 'perfect' through this suffering.
• Jesus would specifically have to suffer with a slow agonizing death, so that tasting death for everyone, He would bring many sons to glory.

So Jesus went from heaven, to Bethlehem, to Golgotha, and into the tomb.³ But thankfully that was not the end of the story for he went from the tomb, back into Jerusalem, onto the Mount of Olives and back into heaven! And all in the eternal plan of God!

The results of the restoration

Heb 2:11-18 Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers. (12) He says, "I will declare your name to my brothers; in the presence of the congregation I will sing your praises." (13) And again, "I will put my trust in him." And again he says, "Here am I, and the children God has given me." (14) Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death--that is, the devil-- (15) and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. (16) For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham's descendants. (17) For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. (18) Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

I have quoted this last chunky part of the chapter all together because I want to break down the results of what Jesus did. Specifically, note the following 7 points:

1. The Lord made believers holy

'Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family' - Believers are holy in the sight of God. That is why all believers are called 'saints'. You don't have to do some great miracle and be canonized by a Pope. The decision comes from heaven itself and is true for all believers in Jesus Christ. From the greatest believer to the least, if you are born again you are holy and set apart unto God. This is the first blessing of the Lord's work from this passage.

2. The Lord placed believers in a family comprising both heaven and earth

'Those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers. He says, "I will declare your name to my brothers; in the presence of the congregation I will sing your praises."... And again he says, "Here am I, and the children God has given me."' - The writer quotes from two Old Testament passages to show this. The first quote is from the amazing Psalm 22. Yes, the Psalm that begins with 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken Me?' and details the events of the cross, goes on to say 'I will declare your name to my brothers'. But even better, it doesn't end with Jesus' death but goes on to show its results. Believers will become part of God's family and Jesus will declare God's name of 'Father' (John 20:17) to His new brothers. In fact He will sing God's praise right in the midst of the congregation of all His brethren - think of that day with the whole family together, singing God's praise! The Psalm goes on to show the coming worldwide fame of the Lord Jesus. It ends with the following:

Psa 22:27-31 All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him, (28) for dominion belongs to the LORD and he rules over the nations. (29) All the rich of the earth will feast and worship; all who go down to the dust will kneel before him-- those who cannot keep themselves alive. (30) Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord. (31) They will proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn-- for he has done it.

Firstly you will note that it says that future generations to come will proclaim His righteousness. We won't be pointing to ourselves and saying 'look at me, look at me!' We will be in total awe of what He did for us and His completed work will be passed down from one generation to the next. And note how this wonderful Psalm ends, saying 'He has done it!' And to that we say 'Amen!'⁴

The second quote is from Isa 8:18. The Lord Jesus will also say in this great coming congregation before the Father 'Here am I, and the children God has given me.' Thus we see believers are called both His brothers and also the children of God. This is Christ associating Himself, in His humanity, with all those that believe. We are all part of one heavenly family and Jesus sees every child as one that God the Father has given Him. This of course is what He said during His earthly ministry as well:

Joh 6:37-39 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. (38) For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. (39) And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day.

Thus Jesus will present all believers, together, as His brethren and as sons of God, back to the One who had given them to Jesus. This is a mind-boggling thought. Imagine what a day that will be! It will be reality and the life we know now will be the one that seems foreign. We may not grasp all that He has done, or what He will do, but we one day we will - if we believe!

3. The Lord destroyed the power of the devil

'So that by His death He might destroy him who holds the power of death--that is, the devil' - The benefits of the Lord's work continue here where we see that the one who held the power of death was destroyed. Now you may have noticed that both Satan and death itself are still operating in this current age, but through the cross and resurrection, the power of death that Satan held was destroyed by the Lord for all that believe. It is important to know that the word for 'destroyed' here can also be translated 'rendered powerless' as it is in the NASB translation and that is a better translation in my opinion. Satan, who held the power of death, received a fatal blow at the cross, was rendered powerless, having no hold over the believer's eternal hope and home, and our Lord now holds the keys of death and hades. 

The hope believers have

You may remember that when the Apostle John saw the Lord in Revelation 1, Jesus said to John:
Rev 1:18 I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.

So Jesus holds the keys of death and hades. He holds the keys to death. He holds the key! My cousin died from cancer earlier this year and we were with her in the weeks leading up to her death and also on the day she died. Cancer had taken so much from her - right to her last breath. But it couldn't take her soul and spirit. When she died, she went instantly to be with the Lord. Death was not the end. It, and Satan's hold over her, had ultimately been rendered powerless. As hideous as cancer can be, death itself had lost it's power for she knew, and we knew, the glory of the place where she was going. And if you could ask her now if she wants to come back here the answer would be 'not a chance buddy! I'm not leaving this place!'

4. The Lord broke the chains of slavery to fear

'[He] freed those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.' - In connection to the last point, the fear of death is also removed in Christ. People in the world live in fear of death. This life is all they have. They have no idea what comes next after death and quite frankly don't like to entertain the thought. Mankind would love to be able to defeat death. Currently that is the stuff of science fiction but at the very least humanity wants to extend life as very long as it can. A few of the rich and famous have been cryogenically frozen at the point of death with the hope that science would one day reach the point where it can bring them back to life. Um... yeah. Good luck with that! But many live in slavery to fear. And fear certainly enslaves. It holds one captive whether the fear is real or not. It makes people do things they wouldn't normally do. Did you notice how odd some acted during the time of Covid? The world became obsessed by fear... fear of catching covid... fear of dying. Some wouldn't even go outside. Some thought others shouldn't. We knew a lady who rang the police to dob in a neighbor that was out paddle boarding in the inner harbor by themselves... as if they were some kind of threat! And we learnt what was the most important item to people at such a time because it flew off the shelves... and what was that? Yep, toilet paper! We had people coming out of the supermarket with a trolley full of toilet paper! You'd see people driving a car by themselves wearing a mask. What is behind all of this? Fear. Ultimately, fear of dying.

So here is the good news: Jesus came to set the captives free. And that goes for any fear that seeks to dominate our lives. Fear is a horrible master. It preys on any weakness it sees and never lets up. But Jesus is a wonderful master. So in all things we should remember the word of God that says 

"For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’" (Romans 8:15)

5. The Lord became a merciful High Priest: 

'He had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God' - The Jewish audience that Hebrews was initially written to knew all about the High Priest. He was their representative. He wore garments that included 12 stones, inscribed with the names of the 12 tribes, on his breastplate. That is, as their representative before God, he would carry their names close to His heart. Well, Jesus does all that and more. He is our representative before the Father. And He is merciful for He knows all too well what it is like to live as flesh and blood down here! Jesus suffered in all ways so that He can experience first hand the temptations and trials that we go through. And He doesn't just come before the Father one day a year like the High Priest in the Old Testament, but is constantly at His side, as our intercessor, our faithful High Priest.

6. The Lord made atonement for sins: 

'That he might make atonement for the sins of the people.' On one day of the year, the Old Testament High Priest would go through the veil, into the Holy of Holies, and apply the blood to the mercy seat to atone for the sins of the nation. This was the most solemn day in the Jewish calendar, the day of Atonement. On that day two goats were before the High Priest. One would be sacrificed and it's blood placed on the mercy seat. On the second goat, called the scapegoat, the High Priest would place his hands on its head, confessing and transferring the sins of Israel. It would then be sent away alive into the desert. These two goats represent what Jesus did on the cross. As the first goat was sacrificed and its blood placed upon the mercy seat, so Jesus was sacrificed so that our sins would be atoned for. And as the sins of the people were placed upon the second goat and it was sent away, so our sins were placed upon Christ and were removed from us, as far as the east is from the west. So Jesus offered Himself to be our atonement. He may not have stones engraved with the names of the tribes of Israel on His chest, but His love for all mankind is engraved in His wrists and feet. 

7. The Lord is able to help those tempted: 

'Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.' - The 7th and final point is that the Lord became our helper. He understands life on this planet firsthand and He now helps in our time of trial, temptation and need. He helps from heaven as our representative, our High Priest, who prays and intercedes for us. And He helps through His presence in our life, for all believers have been given the Holy Spirit, our helper. As Jesus said in this great promise to His followers:

Joh 14:16-18  "I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever;  (17)  that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.  (18)  "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

And so...

Heb 4:16  Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Conclusion 

So, what have we seen? We have seen God's plan to restore humanity to its position originally given right back in the garden of Eden. And this He will do. Though currently lower than the angelic realm, the Lord has planned that the world to come will not be subjected to angels but to man. And like Mephibosheth of old, that which was fallen and crippled, will be raised and given a place at the king's table, as a son of the king. We have also seen the seven blessings that the Lord has given to man according to Hebrews 2. We've seen that the Lord:

1. Made believers holy
2. Placed them in a heavenly family
3. Destroyed the power of the devil
4. Broke the chains and slavery to fear
5. Because a merciful High Priest
6. Made atonement for sins
7. Helps the weak and tempted

And how was that possible? Well, only through God becoming a man and dying for His fallen creation. How could one ever tire of hearing this story? One day the entire Church, those called out ones, will be found together, praising the Lord for His mind blowing love and grace to them! On that day the 'too good to be true' will be reality and the things of this life and world will be remembered no more. So with that in mind, fight the good fight, finish the race and keep the faith.

Blessings!  

FOOTNOTES