Let us turn again to God's Word
in the chapter that we read, Hebrews chapter 2, and I want
to direct your attention to the words that we find here in verse
9. Hebrews chapter 2 and verse 9,
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 should taste death for
every man." These striking words in the opening clause, these
four words, but we see Jesus and in the verse the Apostle
does declare something concerning the person and also the work
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Of course, that was very much
the theme of the ministry of the Apostle. He says to the Corinthians,
I determine not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and
Him crucified. Jesus Christ, that is the person
of the Savior, who He is, And when he speaks of him crucified,
so he is referring to his work. He was obedient unto death, even
the death of the cross. And that theme, I say, of Christ
in his person, Christ in his work, runs through all the ministry
of the apostle. I've heard some people say, oh,
I like an experimental ministry, or I like a practical ministry. And oftentimes when they speak
in those ways, they mean that they simply like the man to say
certain things about himself, to tell lots of different anecdotes
and stories. Well, that's not real experimental
and practical ministry. Surely, such a ministry must
always center in the doctrine of the Lord Jesus Christ, in
his person and in his work. And so I just want us, as we
take up the words that I've read as our text here in Hebrews 2.9,
to speak on that two-fold theme. First of all, the person of the
Lord Jesus Christ. And of course, immediately we
are confronted with that great mystery. Without controversy,
Paul says, great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. Here is the mystery of godliness,
and by godliness he's referring to religion, real religion, is
marked by godliness, and he says, that this is the mystery of it.
It's Christ. It is God's manifest in the flesh. Now look at the context in which
we see this verse tonight. He says, but we see Jesus, and
you will have observed as we read the passage out that in
the previous verses he is speaking of man, he quotes from the Old
Testament, those familiar words that we have in verse 6, what
is man? that thou art mindful of him,
or the Son of Man, that thou visitest him. Thou madest him
a little lower than the angels. Thou crownest him with glory
and honor, and so forth." He is speaking of man, and when
he refers to one in a certain place, it's difficult to know
just what Old Testament Scripture he is referring to, because we
have that question several times in the Old Testament. We find
it, for example, in Psalm 8 and verse 4, but also again in the
144th Psalm and verse 3. but also we find the question,
what is man, in passages like Job chapter 7 and verses 17 and
18, and again in chapter 15 and verse 14. It is in the most significant
question that is being asked concerning this particular creature
as we have it in the Old Testament or as we have it here in the
New Testament what is man that thou art mindful of him or the
son of man that thou visitest him but when we come to the words
of the text you see we observe the opening words the little
conjunction but But we see Jesus, and the implication here is that
Christ is the man. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
man. 1 Corinthians 15 and verse 47,
the first man is of the earth, earthy, says Paul, the second
man is the Lord from heaven. These two men that he is speaking
of there, the first man and the second man, or as he says previously
there at verse 45, The first Adam is a living soul. The last Adam is a quickening
spirit. There are these two men. The
first man, of course, was created, and created in God's image, made
in God's likeness, and made to have dominion over all the works
of his hands. But here is that one who is the
true man, the great man, even the Lord Jesus Christ himself. And remember, when the Lord is
arraigned before Pontius Pilate in that mockery of a trial, that
the Roman governor brings him and sets him before the Jews
and declares there in John 19, 5, Behold the man! Behold the man! It is the man
Christ Jesus. But we see Jesus. And what do we read concerning
this man? Verse 7, They made us to him
a little lower than the angels. And he is speaking in this chapter,
of course, principally of the Lord Jesus Christ. In verse 16,
he says, Verily, he took not on him the nature of angels,
but he took on him the seed of Abraham. He was made a little
lower than the angels. The Lord Jesus Christ in his
person, he has those two natures. He is God, but he is God manifest
in the flesh. He doesn't only have a divine
nature, he also has a human nature. He is God man. And the whole emphasis in this
chapter is on that blessed truth of the reality of his human nature. Verse 14, We are told, for as
much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood,
he also himself took part of the same. He became a man and
became a real man. These words in verse 9 are little
lower than the angels, it says, for the suffering of death. But we observe that there's an
alternative reading in the margin where it says, a little lower
than the angels, by the suffering of death. And so, the truth as
we have it in that alternative reading, is that it is by the
suffering of death that we see him as one who is lower than
the angels. And Dr. Gill remarks here, lower
than the angels who die not. Angels do not die. But the Lord Jesus Christ became
a man in order that he might experience death. Well, we'll
come presently to consider something of that work that the Lord Jesus
Christ did, but thinking of him in the first place, very much
in terms of the person the person of the Savior. We see his humiliation,
of course, in a number of ways. We see it, for example, in the
fact that Christ is the servant of God. Though in his deity he
is equal, True God the Father, because there's no inferiority
or superiority in the Godhead, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
the three divine persons, In the great doctrine of the Trinity,
they are co-equal, as they are co-eternal. And so, we are told
concerning Christ, who being in the form of God, thought it
not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation,
and took upon him the form of a servant, the eternal Son of
God, took upon him that form of a servant. He became the servant
of God in terms, of course, of the eternal covenant of redemption,
that great inter-trinitarian covenant. And so, as you know,
the Father says in prophecy in Isaiah 42, Behold my servant
whom I uphold, mine elect, in whom my soul delight us and when
we see him here manifest in the flesh he comes as one who will
serve that was the purpose of his coming he came not to be
ministered onto but to minister to serve and to serve God There's
that occasion when, as a young boy of about 12 years of age,
you remember how his parents had taken him to Jerusalem, and
then as they're returning from the feast, they discover that
the child is not with them, and they hurry back, and they discover
him talking with the doctors. And he says then to his parents,
wished you not, that I must be about my father's business. He
was conscious, even as a youngster, that he had come to serve the
will of his Father in heaven. Again he says, on another occasion,
I came down from heaven not to do mine own will, but the will
of Him that sent me, and to finish His work. He is a servant, and
He is the servant of God. My meat is to do the will of
Him that sent me. and to finish his work. Oh, we see him then as that one
who, though he be the eternal Son of God, yet is also the servant
of God. And we see that, of course, when
we behold him in his human nature. But we see Jesus, who was made
a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death. He comes as that one then, who
as he is the servant of God, he is also the saviour of sinners. He comes to identify himself
with those that he would save. Again in verse 17, Wherefore
in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren.
It behoved 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." He comes
to reconcile sinners to God. And so he made himself of no
reputation, took upon him the form of a servant, and was made,
we're told, in the likeness of men. He was made in the likeness
of men. More than that, in Romans chapter
8 and verse 3 we read of God sending his own Son in the likeness
of sinful flesh and for sin. He doesn't identify with man
on fallen. He doesn't identify with Adam
as he comes pristine from the hand of his Creator. He identifies
with fallen man. although himself preserved from
every aspect of sin, yet he comes as that one who is the friend
of the sinner. He identifies with these people.
In verse 6, as I said, we have that quotation from the Old Testament,
one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man? that thou art mindful of him,
or the Son of man, that thou visitest him." Now, the particular
word that's used in the Old Testament, it's a quotation here, of course,
clearly from the Old Testament Scripture, and the word that
is used, say, in Psalm 8 and verse 4, the word man, what is
man, well, that particular noun is derived from the verb in the
Hebrew which means to be weak. It's the word for man and it
indicates the weakness, the frailty of man. And this is the Lord Jesus Christ
that he's being spoken of. How he identifies with man in
all his weakness. He identifies with man as a sinner. In fact, we're told in 2nd Corinthians
13 and verse 4, he was crucified through weakness. The reality
of the human nature of the Lord Jesus Christ, there is no sinful
weakness in him. As I've said, he is preserved
from every taint of sin in the miracle of the virgin birth,
in the mystery of the Incarnation, what is conceived, in the womb
of Mary is by the Holy Ghost, and it is that holy thing. It
is a sinless human nature, but it is a real human nature. And
he is able, therefore, to die a real death, and he does die
a real death. But how he comes, you see, as
one who will identify with man in all his weakness as a creature. Ezekiel, when he's exercising
his ministry, tells us there in chapter 3 and verse 15, I
sat where they sat. He is sent to minister to those
who are in the captivity, those who are in exile. He's taken
into their midst and he says, I sat where they sat. He goes to identify with the
people that he is ministering to. And how much more is that
the case with the Lord Jesus Christ? Or, behold the man. What a man is this that is spoken
of in our text. But we see Jesus, this man. He receiveth sinners and eateth
with them. This is the great mystery, is
it not, of the person of the Savior. He is the servant of
God, but he comes as that one who will save sinners. He is the Savior of sinners. And we see also here in this
chapter something of his determination, how determined he is to save. Verse 16, verily, He took not
on him the nature of angels, but he took on him the seed of
Abraham. And again, it is profitable sometimes
just to examine the very vocabulary that is being used to do word
studies, as it were. There are books that can help
us to do that. word study books that open up
some of the words that are used throughout the Old and the New
Testaments. Now we say that we believe in
verbal inspiration, so we believe that the words as they are there
in the Old Testament Hebrew or the New Testament Greek are the
very words of God. And what of this particular verb
that we have here, he took Maybe twice, of course, he took not
on him the nature of angels, but he took on him the seed of
Abraham. And it's a strong verb. There
is a certain vehemence in this word. There's even violence in
the word. and we find it used on other
occasions and it's interesting to see the usage in Matthew chapter
14 for example remember when Peter is walking on the waters
to the Lord Jesus Christ he climbs out of the boat does does Peter
because he sees Christ coming towards him on the water but
then He begins to become aware of his situation, the elements,
the raging of the wind, the foaming of the sea. And he was afraid. The wind was boisterous, it says.
When he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid. And beginning
to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. in Matthew 14 verse
30 then verse 31 and immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand
and caught him and it's the same word that rendered caught Jesus
stretched forth his hand and took hold of him and took hold
of him with some with some violence as he was sinking it's the same
word you see that we have here in verse 16, he took hold on
the seed of Abraham. Again, just a couple more examples
where we see something of the violence of the Word. We have
it there in Acts chapter 18, when the Apostle is at Corinth,
and you know from the Acts how many times the Apostle Paul is
in the gravest of danger, wherever he goes preaching there's often
uprisings against the ministry and so forth, and we're told
what happens there in Corinth. And in verse 17 we read this,
and all the Greeks took Sosthenes, the chief of the synagogue, and
beat him before the judgment seat And Galio cared for none
of those things. All the Greeks took Sosthenes
and beat him. And it's the same word, you see,
the way they took him. They took him with some violence.
What was their intention? Their intention was to injure
the man, to hurt the man. They took him that they might
beat him. Again there in Acts 21 and verse
33, we see how the chief captain of the temple there in Jerusalem
takes hold of the Apostle himself. In Acts 21 and verse 33, Then
the chief captain came near and took him, same word, and took
him, laid hold of him, and commanded him to be bound with two chains,
and demanded who he was and what he had done. It's a word then
that has this idea of violence, laying hold of someone, and that
is the idea that we have in this 16th verse, when the Lord takes
hold on the seed of Abraham. In fact, we have an alternative
reading in the margin. It literally says, of the seed
of Abraham he taketh hold. Of the seed of Abraham he taketh
hold. He is determined. He is determined
to save the seed of Abraham. And even in the incarnation,
this is what the Lord Jesus Christ is engaged in. He comes to save
all the person of the Savior, you see. Though we see something
of his weakness as he identifies with man, And yet, how He is
strong, how He is mighty to say, how He is determined to say.
But let us turn to say something in the second place with regards
to the work, because the work is clearly spoken of here. But
we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the
suffering of death. There's the work that He came
to do. The suffering of death. This is the great work. and how
we see in scripture the extent of his obedience to his father
if he comes into this world as God's servant he will accomplish
that work that the father has given him to do this is what
he engaged to fulfill in the eternal covenant of grace is
it not? and all the extent of the obedience
he became obedient, it says, unto death, even the death of
the cross. Now, what did that mean, the
death of the cross? Well, we see in his dying that it was
a real death that he suffered. It was corporeal death that he
suffered. When he comes to the end of his
sufferings, he says, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit,
and so he yielded up the ghost. That was death. There was a separation. His body and his soul were separated. And that's death, is it not?
We've said recently, only last Lord's Day, we were speaking
of the three aspects of death that we see in Scripture, spiritual
death and physical death and eternal death. And what is physical
death? It's a separation. When God made
man, he made his body of the dust of the earth and breathed
into his nostrils the breath of life, and he became a living
soul. And what happens at death? The spirit returns to God who
gave it, and the body returns to the dust of the earth as it
was, as a separation. And the Lord Jesus knew that
real corporeal death. when he commended his soul, his
spirit, into the hands of God and yielded up the ghosts. But the Lord Jesus Christ also
experienced something there upon the cross that was equivalent
to eternal death. What is that eternal death? It
is that separation That's forever. The gulf that is fixed between
heaven and hell and no man can pass. And those who are suffering,
of course, they were created in God's image, made in God's
likeness. They were made to enjoy God, to have fellowship with
God. Man is made for God. How Augustine says it, our souls
are restless till they find their rest in thee. No rest for man
but in the God who created him. How awful then to be eternally
separated from the only source of true happiness. And that's
eternal death, the sufferings of hell forever cut off. where
the fire is not quenched and the worm it dieth not says the
Lord Jesus Christ it's forever and ever and ever and the Lord
Jesus Christ did experience that that was equivalent to eternal
death in his work when he cried out upon the cross my God my
God why hast thou forsaken me or the mystery of the crucifixion
There's a mystery in His dying as there's a mystery in His birth.
How could it ever be that there would be a separation between
the Eternal Son and the Eternal Father? God is one, and God is
undivided, and yet there we see Him crying out. What must He
have experienced in His soul? It was something equivalent to
that eternal death when He bore the punishment that was due to
the sins of His people. And so what do we see in the
work of Christ? Well, He accomplished salvation
by His obedience, and by His obedience unto death He accomplished
salvation. Made a little lower than the
angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor,
it says, that He, by the grace of God, should taste death for
every man. Oh, he has tasted death for every
man, it says." Now, this, of course, is one of those verses
that the Arminians love to seize on. We are a particular Baptist
church. One of our distinctive beliefs,
then, is that the dying of the Lord Jesus Christ was a particular
redemption, that the atonement is limited. limited in the sense
that he died for those that were given to him by the Father in
the eternal covenant. But there are many, I would say
most, who profess the name of Christ who would say that Christ
died for every man. And this is the sort of verse
that they seize on and say, ah, look, you're wrong. It says quite
clearly, He, by the grace of God, should taste death for every
man. Christ has died for all men.
But Francis is not, in any sense, teaching universal redemption. And we see it quite clearly in
the context. We see it clearly in the context.
Because the apostle goes on to specify who every man is. In verse 10, he speaks of many sons. and the captain of their salvation,
the many sons so those that he died for are such as are the
sons of God, who are the sons of God they are those who are
adopted and we know quite clearly from what is written in the opening
chapter of the epistle to the Ephesians that God has predestinated
a people to be his sons and they are his sons by adoption and
adoption is bound up with election look at Ephesians 1 verse 4 according
as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world that
we should be holy and without blame before him in love having
predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to
himself according to the good pleasure of his will." Who are
these many sons? They are those that the Father
has predestinated to adoption. But then he goes on to say something
more here in verse 11, both he that sanctifies and they who
are sanctified are all of one. Observe then that they are a
sanctified people. God is the one that sanctifies
and they are the sanctified and they are one. Now what is sanctification? The basic meaning of the word
sanctify is to set apart. They are that people who are
set apart. They were set apart in the eternal
covenant, they were elect by the father, they were committed
to the son, they are his brethren. as it says at the end of verse
11, he's not ashamed to call them brethren. They're not only
his brethren, they're spoken of further in verse 12 as the
church. I will declare thy name unto
my brethren in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto
thee. These are the ones that the Lord
Jesus Christ has come and tasted death for. They are sons of God
by adoption, they are sanctified, they are the brethren of Christ,
they are the church of the redeemed, and they are furthermore the
children that were given to him. As it says in verse 13, I will
put my trust in him, and again, behold, I and the children which
God hath given me. Oh, we see quite clearly then. that Christ came not to simply
make salvation a possibility, or even a probability for all. He came to make salvation a certainty. He came to accomplish salvation
for those that the Father had given to Him, and they're spoken
of in verse 16 as the seed of Abraham. They're the seed of
Abraham. We go right back to Genesis 22, where we have the account of
Abraham's obedience to God when he is commanded to sacrifice
his son, his only son, Isaac, the wonderful type of the Lord
Jesus Christ. He doesn't sacrifice the son,
there is that provision of the ram, that he sacrificed in the
place, in the room and in the stead of Isaac. But how Abraham
is obedient. And then how God goes on to speak
of the blessing that is Abraham. And Abraham is because
of his obedience to God there in chapter 22. of Genesis and verse 17 God says that in blessing I will
bless thee and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the
stars of the heaven and as the sand which is upon the seashore
and thy seed shall possess the gates of his enemies and in thy
seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed because
thou hast obeyed my voice the seeds, the seed of Abraham. And so even here in Hebrews,
in Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 12, Therefore sprang there even
of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky
in multitude, and as the sand which is by the seashore innumerable. This is Abraham's seed, and it's
not only sinners of the Jews, it's sinners of the Gentiles
also. And the Lord Jesus Christ is
that one who has come to accomplish salvation for all the seed of
Abraham. He has taken upon him that seed,
as it says quite clearly here at the end of verse 16. Christ has accomplished salvation
for his people those who are blessed those who are the true
seed of Abraham who is the father of all them that believe and
so we see also the Lord Jesus Christ is the one who applies
he applies the salvation that he has accomplished coming back
to the words of our text We read not only of him suffering death,
but also he is the one crowned with glory and honor. He is crowned with glory and
honor, it says. Again, look at what said previously
concerning man. Thou crownest him with glory
and honor it says in verse 7 and it 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 but now we see not yet all things put
under him all the authority you see of the man the man Christ
Jesus and it's interesting that expression at the end of verse
8 but now we see not yet all things put under him." And the
remark, the comment of Dr. Gill on that particular statement
is interesting. He says, though not seen, it
does not follow that it is not. We see not yet all things put
under him, but it doesn't follow because we don't see that all
things are not put under him. What Dr. Gill says, it is a matter
of faith, it's a site of faith. We know that all power is given
unto the Lord Jesus Christ, all authority is given unto the Lord
Jesus Christ in heaven and in earth. It's declared there in
the Great Commission at the end of Matthew 28, All power is given
unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore and teach all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the
Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever
I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even unto
the end of the world. He is that one even now He reigns
in His mediatorial kingdom. He is the head over all things
to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him that filleth
all in awe. But it's a matter of faith. We
don't see it. It seems so contrary to us sometimes. But He has power, He has authority. We see Jesus. How do we see Him? We see him with the eye of faith. We are to be looking onto Jesus,
the author and finisher of our faith, it says in chapter 12
and verse 2. And again, the force of the language,
the word that he used, it's looking away onto Jesus. The eye is taken off every other
object, one object alone, looking away onto, looking only onto
Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. And how He is that
one who has authority and He has power. Again, those words
in verse 16 at the end of the seed of Abraham, He taketh hold. if we read it with the margin.
He took not upon him the nature of angels, but of the seed of
Abraham he taketh hold. And it's the present tense. It's
the present tense. It's what the Lord does in the
present. How He takes hold of His people.
And He takes hold of them in order to save His people. How
did He save the children of Israel when he brought them out of the
bondage which was Egypt. In chapter 8 and verse 9, I took
them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt. This is how God did it to us.
This is how God works. Salvation is not only accomplished,
more than that, salvation is also applied by God. It is redemption accomplished,
and applied these two parts of it. Now, again we see it in the
book of Psalms, in the 136th Psalm for example, and there
in the verses 11 and 12, speaking of them being brought
out of Egypt, It says, verse 11, "...and brought out Israel
from among them, for his mercy endureth forever, with a strung
hand and with a stretched out arm, for his mercy endureth forever."
This is the way in which God applies. That great salvation,
that work that was accomplished by the Lord Jesus Christ, it
must be brought home, it must be applied in the souls of those
that were given to him in that eternal covenant, and Paul knew
it. All Paul knew it, I am apprehended
of Christ Jesus, he says to the Philippians. And again the word
means the Lord laid his hand upon him. That's what it means
to apprehend. He took hold of him. Now, as
we close, let us observe this, how that Christ's people are
like unto Christ. Is there not a blessed likeness
between Christ, who is the head, and the church, which is his
body? We are to be followers of him, are we not? Paul says
again to the Corinthians, be ye followers of me, even as I
am of Christ. We are to follow the Lord Jesus
Christ, to follow His example. He is a pattern to us. And Christ
is that One, as I said, who takes hold of His people. And so if
they are like Him, they are those who will surely take hold of
Him. It's interesting we think of
the seed of Abraham. The true seed of Abraham is the
Lord Jesus Christ. That's quite clear from what
we read in Galatians 3.16, "...to Abraham and his seed were the
promises made. It saith not to seed of many,
but as of one, unto thy seed, which is Christ." The seed of
Abraham is Christ and all The seed that is spoken of here in
verse 16 that he takes hold of, they are those that were given
to him in the eternal covenant, and he has taken hold of them,
and they are like him. They will therefore take hold
of Christ. And we see it, do we not? Or
we see it so clearly in the experience of Jacob at Peniel, when the
angel comes and the angel wrestles with him. And what does he say
to the angel? I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. When the Lord comes, you see,
and takes hold of his people, they then take hold of him. and
they must take hold of him because he has laid hold of them. They
can never be beforehand with him, none can be beforehand with
God. He comes, he lays hold of them and so they must take hold
of him. The kingdom of heaven in that
sense suffereth violence and the violent take it by force. This is how we are to lay hold
of God, is it not? We are to implore him, and plead
with him, and determine that we will not let him go if we
are those who are the true Israel of God. We must have that spirit
of Jacob at Peneo, and we see it in Paul. He says again in
Philippians 3 verse 12, I follow after if that I may apprehend
that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Christ has apprehended
me. I'm going to apprehend Christ. I'm going to lay hold of Christ.
That's Paul. All we're to be like him. Here
is the man you see. Behold the man. We see Jesus. We see him as that one who has
accomplished salvation. We see it as that one who applies
salvation. That one that we are to desire
that we might be like. This is that true man that is
spoken of so often there throughout the Old Testament Scriptures.
What is man? That thou art mindful of him,
or the son of man, that thou visitest him. Thou madest him
a little lower than the angels. Thou crownest him with glory
and honor, and did 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. But now we see not yet all things put under him,
but we see Jesus." May the Lord be pleased to bless His Word
to us tonight. Now we're going to turn to the Lord in prayer presently,
but previous to that we're going to sing in the metrical psalm
number 8, the first version of the psalm. Psalm 8 in the first
version and verses 3 to 9, through to the end of the psalm from
verse 3. When I look up unto thy heavens which thine own fingers
framed, unto the moon and to the stars which were by thee
ordained. Then say I, what is man that
he remembered is by thee? Or what the Son of man that thou
so kind to him shouldst be? The first version of Psalm 8
from verse 3 to the end.