4. LOWER THAN THE ANGELS

CHAPTER 4

 

 

LOWER THAN THE ANGELS

 

“Being made so much better than the angels,

as He hath by inheritance obtained a

more excellent name than they.”

(Hebrews 1:4)

 

“But we see Jesus, who was made

a little lower than the angels for

the suffering of death.”

(Hebrews 2:9)

 

“THE Bible cannot be the infallible word of God because it contradicts itself.” This is the charge repeatedly hurled against the Bible by infidels and unbelievers. This should be no surprise to us, for the unbeliever is blind to spiritual things, being devoid of the faith by which only regenerate believers can understand the mystery of the Gospel. The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are spiritually discerned. What seems, therefore, to be a contradiction to the unsaved, is the very evidence of divine inspiration to the believer. Critics of the Bible have scoffed, for instance, at the account given by Moses of his own death (Deuteronomy 34:1-8). How could Moses have written this record of his own death and burial after he was dead? But right here we have the best kind of proof of inspiration. Moses was inspired by the Holy Spirit to write his own obituary before he died. It is no different from the inspiration of the prophets who infallibly foretold the future history of Israel and the coming of Messiah centuries before these things occurred.

 

SON OF GOD — SON OF MAN

 

As another example of an apparent contradiction we have these two verses in Hebrews. In Hebrews one we see Jesus as the Son of God, the Creator and Sustainer of the universe, the Heir of all things, seated at the right hand of the Majesty on high. He is said to be better than the angels. The highest order of created beings is that of the angels of God, attending constantly upon God in the heavens. But in chapter two we have quite another picture of Jesus, not as the sovereign Son of God, but the humiliation of the incarnation of the Son of man, suffering and dying for poor, lost sinners. This constitutes our responsibility to Him. It is the argument of Hebrews that we should hold nothing back in our service to Him, but go on to perfection. This request is based on what He is (the Son of God) and what He did to redeem us as the Son of Man. Man by creation was given a position of honor upon this earth, above the angels. He was made the lord of creation and given complete dominion over the earth. It was God who said:

 

“. . . Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:

and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea,

and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle,

and over all the earth, and over every creeping

thing that creepeth upon the earth.”

(Genesis 1:26)

 

This dominion is re-asserted in Genesis 1:28. Man’s authority and dominion was absolute and universal over earth, contingent on only one condition — obedience to God. But man ignored God’s word, partook of the forbidden fruit and fell. By the fall he lost his dominion over the earth, and instead of being its master, he became the slave of sin, to lose all dominion in death. But God’s purpose for which He created man is not to be defeated by the devil, and so He makes a second man, the Last Adam, who is to restore this dominion over the earth to man. This dominion is still future, to be realized when Jesus comes again. Through Him, when He comes, the government of the world will someday be given to God’s children, who shall reign with Christ over the earth.

 

What an honor God has bestowed upon us, an honor denied the angels of God:

 

“For unto the angels hath He not put in

subjection the world to come,

whereof we speak.”

(Hebrews 2:5)

 

And then follows a quotation from Psalm eight. David says as he beheld the great universe:

 

“When I consider thy heavens, the work of

thy fingers, the moon and the stars,

which thou hast ordained;

What is man, that thou art mindful

of him? and the son of man,

that thou visitest him?”

(Psalms 8:3-4)

 

WHAT IS MAN?

 

David is carried away with wonder, awe and adoration. It was a prophetic utterance. It applies first of all to mankind, who had lost dominion, but would have this dominion once more restored. He looked ahead and saw the redemption of all creation, and man again in authority. Considering this he says prophetically:

 

“Thou madest Him a little lower than the angels;

thou crownedst Him with glory and honour,

and didst set Him over the works of thy hands:

Thou hast 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.”

(Hebrews 2:7-8)

 

This is what David saw in the future. The authority which Adam lost was to be returned and restored. only by faith could this be said, for when David wrote and up to this very time, we see nothing of this at all. Death still reigns supreme, rebellion and ungodliness are rampant, storms and catastrophes are still unconquered, and the world is in bondage to the forces of nature and under the sentence of death. The writer of Hebrews realized this, and so adds:

 

“. . . But now we see not yet all

things put under him.”

(Hebrews 2:8b)

 

ENTER THE SECOND MAN

 

How then shall this dominion be restored? God had cursed man with death, placed the whole earth under the despoilment of Adam’s sin. Since God is holy and cannot overlook sin, some way must be found to remove the cause of man’s subjection, and the humiliation of universal death. And with the eye of the prophet, David sees the answer. He saw no signs about him in nature to suggest that man was regaining his dominion over the earth which Adam had lost. But he saw another Man, the Last Adam, who would make this redemption possible by a stupendous plan of God. After therefore confessing, “But now we see not yet all things put under him [man]” (Hebrews 2:8b), the author of Hebrews says, but we see Jesus.

 

He saw the answer in another Man, the Second Man, the Last Adam, who would accomplish the restoration of that which the first man had lost by sin. And this redemption was to be accomplished by the Incarnation, whereby God becomes man by a supernatural conception and the virgin birth. God stoops to the level of humanity. This is the force of the words, “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels.” Of man it was said that he was made a little lower than the angels (Hebrews 2:7), but he fell; and now to save him, God sends Christ to become a man, to become a little lower than the angels. What a gulf He spanned from “higher than,” to “lower than” the angels. By His birth Jesus identified Himself with Adam’s race.

 

“For verily he took not on Him the nature of angels;

but He took on Him the seed of Abraham.”

(Hebrews 2:16)

 

The purpose of this incarnation was that as a man He might pay man’s debt. Notice that it was for the “suffering of death” that He who was crowned with glory and honor became a little lower than the angels and should taste death for every man (2:7). The goal of Jesus becoming a little lower than the angels was the Cross. There the redemption would be consummated. This was all in perfect harmony with the character of Christ. It was just like Him, and in harmony with His great love for them, to do so. Notice how it is stated:

 

“For it became Him, for whom are all things,

and by whom are all things, in bringing

many sons unto glory, to make the

captain of their salvation perfect

through sufferings.”

(Hebrews 2:10)

 

IT BECAME HIM

 

The phrase, “it became Him,” may be translated, “it was becoming on Him.” We say a hat or a dress is becoming on a person, meaning it fits the personality of the wearer, and it looks good. So the love of Christ in dying for us was becoming to Him, for it exactly fitted and expressed His personality. Nothing else could do. If Jesus is to restore Adam’s lost inheritance, it must be by the suffering of death. Again we must be reminded who it was, and who did all this. It was the one “for whom are all things, and by whom are all things.” It was the sovereign Creator, and He was made perfect through sufferings.

 

PERFECT THROUGH SUFFERINGS

 

This is indeed a strange statement, that Christ was made “perfect through sufferings.” Was not He perfect God and perfect Man? Certainly, but here we are dealing with Christ as the Redeemer. Without the suffering of death He could not “perfect” our salvation. If Jesus had been unable or unwilling to die in our place, He would be an imperfect Saviour, even though perfect God and Man. But He is perfect in all His attributes and so He proved Himself perfect in His love for us in redeeming us.

 

Now all becomes clear concerning the restoration of the dominion of man over creation. He lost it, he was unable to regain it, but through the Lord Jesus who identified Himself with us, took our debt of sin upon Himself, paid the full penalty of death for us, met every condition of God’s holy law, He once again lays claim for us to the original purpose of God for man, as stated in Genesis:

 

“. . . and have dominion over the fish of the sea,

and over the fowl of the air, and over every

living thing that moveth upon the earth.”

(Genesis 1:28)

 

But the full realization of this must wait until He comes again to set up His kingdom on this earth as the Second Man, the Last Adam, the Man from heaven. You see then, there is much more to salvation than just being saved from hell, and going to heaven when we die. When we receive Jesus Christ as Saviour these two things are settled forever, but after that, our position, our place and authority in the coming Kingdom will be determined on how we have lived and served Him after we were saved. Before the setting up of the Kingdom and the restoration of creation there will be a Judgment Seat of Christ, where the various places in the Kingdom will be assigned to believers on the basis of their works. Some will reign over five cities, some over ten, others will lose all reward and be “saved so as by fire.” Failure to heed God’s admonition to live a life of growth in grace, separation from the world, and a complete dedication to His service, will result in “suffering loss,” and some will be “ashamed . . . at His coming” (1 John 2:28). Some will fall short of a full reward (2 John 8). Others will have an abundant entrance (2 Peter 1:11).

 

The motive for service and a yielded, fruitful walk must, therefore, be on the basis of what Jesus did for us at Calvary. only as we realize fully His identification with our sins, and our identification with His death and resurrection shall we be able to serve Him acceptably. It must be first of all a service of gratitude for including us in the grace of redemption. What happened to Christ is imputed to us. We are now one with Him. The author of Hebrews says:

 

“For both He that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified

are all of one: for which cause He is not ashamed to

call them brethren, Saying, I will declare thy name

unto My brethren, in the midst of the church

[congregation] will I sing praise unto thee.

And again, I will put my trust in Him.

And again, Behold I and the

children which God

hath given Me.”

(Hebrews 2:11-13)

 

JESUS NOT ASHAMED

 

Of all the precious lessons in these verses, there is one prominent, outstanding revelation. Jesus the Son of God, Creator of the worlds, was not ashamed to identify Himself with miserable, unworthy, helpless, hopeless, filthy sinners, but was willing to die for all such. He endured the Cross and despised the shame. He now calls us “brethren.” And can it be that we, lifted from the mire and slime of sin should be ashamed of Him, the Altogether Lovely one? How inconsistent for anyone washed in the blood to be ashamed of His Name! How ungrateful to be anything less than our best for Him! How awful to withhold anything of all we are and have from Him! It seems to me that once we realize what He did for us, we would never be satisfied until everything was on the altar for Him.

 

The balance of Hebrews two enforces this argument and leaves no excuse for anyone to live on a low plane of Christian conduct.

 

“Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of

flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took

part of the same; that through death He might

destroy him that had the power of death,

that is, the devil; And deliver them who

through fear of death were all their

lifetime subject to bondage.”

(Hebrews 2:14-15)

 

How far have you progressed in this path of surrender? Or have you “neglected” this great salvation? Will you today yield your all to Him, deny all self-will, separate from all evil and receive the joy of victorious living? If you fear it will cost too much and you cannot hold out, then we point you to the closing verse of our chapter:

 

“Wherefore in all things it behooved Him to be made

like unto His brethren, that He might be a merciful

and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God,

to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.

For in that He Himself hath suffered being

tempted, he is able to succour

them that are tempted.”

(Hebrews 2:17-18)

 

Christ is already the Victor. Satan is already a defeated foe, and we need not fear his onslaughts as long as we follow our victorious Captain. The war ended at the empty tomb and all that remains of the enemy is the “mopping up,” till he shall be cast into the lake of fire.

 

Look up to Him for help, look ahead to the reward for your encouragement. In view of the infinite price of your redemption, do you dare to yield your all to Him, and trust Him to see you through? Judge and confess everything of self and the flesh, and appropriate the promise:

 

“If a man therefore purge himself from these,

he shall be a vessel unto honour,

sanctified, and meet for the

Master’s use, and prepared

unto every good work.”

(2 Timothy 2:21)