Let us turn once again to God's
Word in that portion of scripture that we read, turning to the
second chapter in Paul's epistle to the Hebrews. The second chapter,
and I'll read again, verses 6 to 9. But 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? thou madest him
a little lower than the angel, thou crownest him with glory
and honour, 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. 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. On Thursday of course we were
considering that particular portion that is being referred to here
in verse 6 Paul says one in a certain place and the certain place as
we see from the marginal reference is found in the book of Psalms,
Psalm 8. And we were looking at those
two verses, 3 and 4, only on Thursday evening. And it's one of those portions
where we find that remarkable question, what is man? What is man that thou art mindful
of him? or the son of man that thou visitest
him? What is man? We can observe two things with
regards to that particular question. It reminds us of the weakness
of man, his weakness as a creature, his weakness as a sinner, but
it also, as we said on Thursday, does remind us of man's worth. And I remark there now that it's
not just in Psalm 8 that we have the question, we have it again
in the 144th Psalm at verse 3, so twice in the book of Psalms,
and then also we find it twice in the book of Job, in Job chapter
7 at verse 17, and again in chapter 15 at verse 14. What is man then? It's a question
that is put before us several times here in the Word of God
and not only in the Old Testament but we find the same question
before us here in the New Testament. But also the question as we see
here in the context does direct us to the Lord Jesus Christ and
the person of the Saviour and the work that he accomplished
here upon the earth. In this passage that we've read
from verse 6 we see how Paul quotes then from the 8th Psalm
but then strangely in verse 9 he makes this statement 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." Are we not directed
then in this verse to Christ as that one of whom the psalmist
is truly speaking? Both in Psalm 8 and in Psalm
144. It is the man Christ Jesus. Remember
the words of Pontius Pilate as he brings Christ again before
the Jews. He says to them, behold the man. A man there is, a real man. And that man is the Lord Jesus
Christ. And so this morning I want to
centre your attention for a while upon what the Apostle says with
regards to the Lord Jesus Christ here, in particular in this ninth
verse. 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 take
death for every man. First of all, to consider something
of what is declared with regards to the person of Christ. He is none, yes, but he is also
God. Without controversy, great is
the mystery of godliness. God, says the apostle, was manifest
in the flesh. God was manifest in the flesh. And what do we read here concerning
the man? In verse 7, Thou madest him a
little lower than the angels. Look at the whole context of
the chapter here. Again at verse 16 concerning
Christ, Paul says, Verily, and you know the force of that word,
it's Amen, truly. He took not on him the nature
of angels, but he took on him the seed of Abraham. Again at verse 14 he says, For
as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood,
also himself likewise took part of the same. Paul is constantly
asserting the great truth, that mystery of the incarnation, that
God was manifest in the flesh. He became a man, a real man,
a creature somewhat lower than the Angels is what man is, and
yet we see that Christ passes by the angels, there is no provision
made for those spirits, those angels that failed, that transgressed,
they have passed by. But the Lord Jesus Christ is
a man. a little lower than the angels
we read here in verse 9 for the suffering of death or we could
render it like this a little lower than the angels by the
suffering of death by the suffering of death lower than the angels
who do not die says Dr Gill angels don't die The men died because
of the transgression of Adam and Eve there in the Garden of
Eden, and it was that human nature that the Lord Jesus has taken
to himself. And in it do we not see something
of his humiliation, because he who became a man was true almighty
God. Being in the form of God, Paul
says, he thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made
himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant
and was made in the likeness of man. Equality with God was not something
that he needed to seek after or grasp after. It was his, he
is, very God of very God. and yet this one was pleased
to humble himself and to take on the very nature of man. As such of course we see him
as that one who is willing always to serve the will of his father. It was in terms of that eternal
covenants, the great covenant of redemption before the creation
of the world that Christ and the Father engaged in that that
would lead to the salvation of sinners. And in that covenant,
God's eternal Son, His only begotten Son, willingly became the servant
of God. Behold my servant, says God,
whom I uphold, mine elect, in whom my soul delights, that I
have put my spirit upon him. Though it is not the Father,
nor the Spirit who is incarnate, it is the Son. He whom we often,
for the sake of our own convenience, because as poor mortals how can
we explain the great mystery which is God, Father, Son and
Holy Spirit, three persons in one Godhead, And in order to
try to explain that mystery, we speak of the first person
and the second person and the third person in the trinity. Not that there is with them any
superiority or inferiority. They are all co-equal as they
are all co-eternal. But for our poor finite minds
to try in some way to explain these things, we use that sort
of terminology, and we see that it was the second person. It
was not the Father, it was not the Holy Spirit, it was the Son,
who became man. When the fullness of the time
was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under
the law. And so in the outworking of that
covenant we see our God the Son is the one who becomes a man
and comes into this world in order that he might serve the
Father's will, in order that he might execute and accomplish
all that work that the Father had committed to his charge. And even as a child in Luke chapter
2 We see him there in Jerusalem, his parents had gone up for one
of those great Jewish feasts and as they returned the child
Jesus was not with the company and they go back and there he
is with the doctors of the law and so forth, reasoning with
them. And what does he say to his parents? Wish you not that
I must be about my father's business. or it must be about his father's
business. He was very much aware that there
was a work that the father had committed to him that he was
to execute. My meat, he says, is to do the
will of him that had sent me and to finish his work. Time and again we find the Lord
saying such things in John's Gospel. I came down from heaven
not to do mine own will, he said. but the will of him who would
send me. In his humiliation do we not
see him as the servant of God? He is in the form of God. He
thinks it not robbery to be equal with God. But he makes himself
of no reputation and takes upon him the form of a servant and
is made in the likeness of men. This is the man. even the man
Christ Jesus. And we see Him as God's Servant
coming as that One who will be the Saviour of sinners. He is the Saviour of sinners
and so what does He do? He identifies with those that
He has come to save. Verse 17, Wherefore in all things
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 has to come and he has to
identify with the sinner. He takes not upon him the form
He takes upon him rather the form of a servant and he is made
in the likeness of men. But he doesn't identify with
Adam in that pristine, sinless condition in which he comes forth
from the hand of his creator God. He identifies with fallen man, with sinful
man. God sends his own son, we are
told in Romans chapter 8, in the likeness of sinful flesh,
and for sin. Though himself preserved from
every taint of original sin in that miracle of the virgin birth,
because he is conceived by the Holy Ghost in the womb of the
Virgin Mary, he is free from the taint of Adam's original
sin, he is preserved free from all sin in every part of his
life. He is impeccability. He is holy, he is harmless, he
is undefiled, he is separate from sin. He is made higher than
the heavens and yet he does come to identify with the sinner. He is made in the likeness, in
the likeness it says, of sinful flesh and for sin. One in a certain place testified,
saying, what is man? Now, as I said, the certain place
being spoken of is the psalm, Psalm 8. And the word that shows back
in that psalm, for man, is a word that has its roots in the idea
of something that is weak. It reminds us of the weakness. of the creature. We might even
say the sickliness of the creature. What is man? This feeble creature
who is but made out of the dust of the earth. And it is this
creature that the eternal son of God identifies with. And he identifies with man, no,
not as he comes from God's hands, innocent, but as one who has
sinned. He comes as it were and sits
where the sinner sits. Wasn't that how Ezekiel began
his ministry to those who had been taken into exile? He has
to go where they are. Ezekiel chapter 3 and verse 15
the prophet says, I sat where they sat. And so the Lord Jesus Christ
comes where the sinner is. He identifies himself with sinners.
He comes not to call the righteous. He comes to call the sinner to
repentance. And how the scribes and the Pharisees
would upbraid him as they rejected him and despised him. And why? Because this man, they
said, receive us sinners and eat us with them. All the humiliation
of the Lord Jesus Christ said, though he be the eternal Son
of the eternal Father, though he be equal to the Father and
equal to the Holy Spirit, yet in the outworking of the covenant
he willingly becomes God's servant. And he comes into this world
only to do the will of the one who had sent him. and as he comes he humbles himself
because he identifies with the sinners that he has come to save.
This is the person of the Saviour, is it not? And we observe here
his great determination as he undertakes this great work of
redemption. Here in verse 16, it says, Verily
he took not on him the nature of angels, but he took on him
the seed of Abraham. Now, interestingly, that verb
that we have in that second part of the verse, he took on, is
a very strong word. It has the idea of vehemence,
violence, It's used, for example, in the 18th chapter of the Acts
of the Apostles with regards to what happened to Sosphenes
there in Corinth when they laid hands upon him and seized him.
There was time and again this awful reaction to the ministry
of the Apostle Paul and those who were associated with him.
And here is Paul in Acts chapter 18 preaching in Corinth. We read this at verse 17, Then
all the Greeks took Sosphenes, the chief ruler of the synagogue,
and beat him before the judgment seat. All the Greeks took, took
hold of Sosphenes to what end that they might beat him before
the judgment seat, and it's the same word that we find here at
verse 16. It's a taking hold with violence. Again, we see the word used with
regards to Paul's experience at Jerusalem in chapter 21 of
the Acts, and there at verse 23, how the chief captain comes
and takes hold of him. He's apprehended. They seize
him. And it's the same word, I say,
that is used. There in the accent we can see
the word being used in a sense that suggests something of the
violence the way in which these people are taken hold of. But
interestingly, the word is used also in the Gospel with regards
to Peter's experience. Remember when Peter is on the
boat with the other disciples, and Christ has been left on the
shore, and then they see the Lord coming to them on the waters,
walking on the water, and bold, impestuous Peter soon climbs
out of the boat and begins to walk on the water himself to
go to Christ. But then he is suddenly aware
of the situation, aware of the wind and the waves, and he begins
to sink. And he cries out, Lord, save
me. And the word that used in Matthew's
account, in Matthew chapter 14, and verse 31 is this word, to
take hold of immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand and
caught him or took hold of him and said unto him, O thou of
little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? The Lord took hold
of him in order to save him now it's the same word, exactly the
same word that we have here at verse 16e took on him, he took hold of the nature of Abraham's seed. And Martin gives that alternative
reading, does he not? He taketh not hold of angels,
but of the seed of Abraham he taketh hold. the determination
of the Lord Jesus Christ to come and to identify himself all together
with his people. Of the seed of Abraham, he was
pleased to take hold in his humiliation. He willingly then submits to
the will of the Father, he comes to serve the great purpose of
the Father, he comes to identify himself with sinful men and he
takes hold of them. Why does he do all of this? He
has his blessed end in view. It's that great work of reconciliation. Here in verse 17. He behold 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. This is the work that he has
to accomplish. Again look at what it says here
in the text in verse 9. We see Jesus who was made a little
lower than the angels for the suffering of death. This is why
he is made lower than the angels. This is why he identifies with
sinful men because he is going to suffer death for them. He is going to make reconciliation
for their sins. He is going to bear in his own
person that punishment that was there deserved. And so he becomes
obedient. As Paul says in Philippians chapter
2, unto death, even the death of the cross. This one who is
the thinnest one. This is truly the man. the one
of whom the first Adam was but a time. The first man is of the
earth, earthly. The second man is the Lord from
heaven. And how he is determined that
he will execute all that work that's been given to him, even
to the point of dying upon the cross, making his sinless soul
the great offering for sin. He experiences death, and it's
a real death that he experiences. As we have the detail in all
of the Gospels concerning his sufferings upon the cross, there
was nothing sham about those sufferings. As he comes to die, what does
he say? Father, into thy hand I commit my spirit and having
said thus, he gave up the ghost. Not so much that men take his
life. No man is able to take his life.
He has power, he has authority to lay his life down. As he says in John chapter 10,
this is the commandment that he had received of the father.
And so his Death is a voluntary death. He utters those words
then to the father, he commends his spirit, his soul, into the
hands of his father. This is a real man who is dying.
Isn't this what death is? The dust returning to the earth
as it was and the spirit to God who gave it. The separation of
body and soul. And this is what Christ experiences.
corporeal death there upon the cross at Calvary and that is
equivalent to an eternal death because what he is doing is bearing
that punishment that was the just desert of his people they
are the ones who should have suffered that death even an eternal
separation from God because they were transgressors And yet the
Lord Jesus Christ there upon the cross experiences in his
own soul, so strange a thing really, separated. How he cries
out, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Oh, this is the great work then
that Christ, the man, came to accomplish, to make that one
sacrifice for sins forever. And what has he done? In undertaking
the work, in fulfilling all those things that were written of him,
he has accomplished salvation. That's what it says, does it
not here in our text? The end of verse 9, that he by
the grace of God should taste death for every man. 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. Now what's to be made of this statement
at the end of verse 9, that Christ has died for every man? And there are those, of course,
who would seize upon that and say, yes, Christ died for everyone. The universality of the death
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Is he not the Lamb of God that
taketh away the sin of the world, they say? He died for the world. He died for every man. That's
what the Bible says. But of course what we have to
do when we come to any part of scripture is always to take account
of the context. We take account not just of the
bold statement as we have it in a particular verse of scripture,
like here at the end of verse 9, but we also address ourselves
to the verses surrounding such a statement. And not only that,
we have to understand every part of scripture in the light of
the totality of scripture. What the old writers would call
the analogy of five. We have to interpret each part
then, not just in its own immediate context, but also with regards
to all that is declared throughout the scriptures. Now look at the
context here in Hebrews chapter 2. It says at the end of our
text that Christ by the grace of God tasted death for every
man. Who is every man? Well look at
what follows. Verse 10. It became him for whom
are all things and by whom are all things in bringing many sons
unto glory. So, every man is explained here
by the word many sons. He brings many sons unto glory. But then look at what follows
in verse 11. We read of he that sanctifyeth
and they who are sanctified and he calls them brethren. So, Every
man is many sons, every man is those who are sanctified. And
what's the basic meaning of the word sanctify? It has that idea
of being set apart. It's those whom God set apart. And those who are set apart are
then referred to as Christ's brethren. Now, thinking of that word sanctify,
can we not go over to the epistle of Jude, and there at the beginning
of that epistle, we read of those who are sanctified by God the
Father, preserved in Jesus Christ, and called. Those who are sanctified
by God the Father, they are set apart. How are they set apart?
They are set apart in that eternal covenant. There are those who, as we read
in Ephesians chapter 1, were chosen in Christ Jesus before
the foundation of the world. As Christ was set apart to be
God's servant and his first elect, so these are also set apart with
him. We begin to understand then something
of who every man is. It's the many sons. It's those
who are sanctified, who are spoken of here in verse 11 as Christ's
brethren. And then in verse 12, again they
are spoken of as my brethren, but they are also spoken of as
the church. I will declare thy name unto
my brethren in the midst of the church. My brethren is the church. That is the called out ones.
That's the basic meaning of the word that we have here as church,
ecclesia. It's those who are called out,
called out of the world. And then in verse 13 they are
spoken of as the children. which God hath given me. Again
we are reminded of the Covenant. How that in that Covenant the
Father gave to the Son a certain people, a particular people whom
he was to redeem. And so in the context we begin
to understand just what is meant by that statement at the end
of verse 9. that he by the grace of God should
taste death for every man. He's a multitude, but he's not
every individual who has ever lived upon the face of the earth.
He has not tasted death for those in the Old Testament who were
sinners, who died dead in trespasses and sins. He didn't taste death
for a kind, did he? He didn't taste death for a king's
sore. Or those ungodly kings that we
read of in the historic books of scripture. He died then not
for all and sundry, but his work of redemption is for a particular
people. And in verse 16 they have spoken
of as the seed of Abraham. He took on him the seed of Abraham,
or as the margin says, of the seed of Abraham. He takes hold. He takes hold. He is exalted, is he not, now
as that great Prince and that Saviour, who is going to apply that work
that he accomplished upon the cross. that seed of Abraham. You see, we go back even to the
Old Testament and we see the promise that was given to Abraham
several times. For example, in Genesis chapter
22 we have it. After Abraham's faith had been
so sorely tested in the matter of God's command that he should
sacrifice his son, his only son Isaac, And here is Abraham, he
is willing to obey this strange command of God, believing that
God is able to raise his son from the dead. And then, as the Lord God speaks
to Abraham, out of heaven, By myself have I sworn, saith the
Lord, for because Thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld
thy Son, thine only Son, that in blessing thy will bless thee,
and in multiplying thy 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 gate of his enemies, and in thy seed
shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because thou
hast obeyed my voice." Now here is Abraham's seed, and it's a
multitude. Thy 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 sea draw a multitude. This is the seed
of Abraham. And I say it's this seed of Abraham
that the Lord Jesus Christ has accomplished salvation for. It's
for these that Christ made that great sacrifice upon the cross
at Calvary. Again, even here in Hebrews,
we are reminded of that great multitude. In chapter 11, where
we read of Abraham and Sarah. Chapter 11, 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. Oh, they are such a vast component
and so they might well be described in the words of our text as every
man, the seed of Abraham, every man. such a great multitude who
are to be called for whom Christ has made the great sin atoning
sacrifice and as I said what he accomplished upon the cross
at Calvary he applies because he who died is now risen from
the dead and has ascended on high and sits at the right hand
of God and reigns there in his mediatorial kingdom. We see Jesus, who was made a
little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, proud
with glory and honour. Always proud with glory and honour. How he reigns, and how from heaven
now he dispenses his grace, thou hast ascended on high thou hast
led captivity captive thou hast received gifts for men yea for
thee rebellious also says the Psalmist this is the Lord Jesus
Christ he has not suffered in thine he is to see of course
of all the travail of his suffering in the familiar words that we
have in Isaiah 53 he shall see of the travail of
his soul and shall be satisfied by his knowledge shall my righteous
servant justify many for he shall bear their iniquities therefore
will I divide him a portion with the great and he shall divide
the spoiled with the strong because he has poured out his soul unto
death and he was numbered with the
transgressors. Oh, it's because of his sufferings that he will
see of all the travail of his soul. He has not shed his blood
in vain. And so what do we read? Verse
7, Thou crownest him with glory and honour and it set him over
the works of thy hand that was 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 it's interesting what we have
here we see not Yet all things under
him, it says at the end of verse 8. What are we to make of such
a statement as that? How are we to understand those
words? Well, Dr Gill makes the observation here that because
we do not see it, it doesn't mean that it is not so. We might not see it, but we see
Jesus. It's the necessity, you see,
of that life of faith. It's the necessity of looking
to the Lord Jesus by faith, seeing Him with the eye of faith. We don't see the glories of His
Kingdom. And yet, still that kingdom is,
in spite of all that seems to stand against it, and all
who would seek to oppose him, yet the Lord Jesus Christ is
that one who is the head. He is the head over all things
to his body, the church. It is a matter then of faith. Here we see him as that one who
comes to apply the salvation. The salvation that he accomplished
there upon the cross at Calvary is to be made real in the lives
of those that the Father had given to him in that eternal
covenant. He takes hold of them. Isn't
that what we have in the marginal reading there in verse 16? He, of the seed of Abraham, he
taketh hold. When he redeems his people out
of Egypt, how does he do it? I took them by the hand, it says.
to lead them out of the land of Egypt. He takes hold of their
hand. He leads them. Now when the Psalmist
is speaking of that deliverance, he speaks of it in terms of a
strong hand and a stretched out arm in the 136th Psalm. He has that determination, you
see, to save his people. What he has accomplished upon
the cross is certain. And so it must be made real in
the lives of those for whom he died. This is the determination
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Newton says in one of his hymns,
determined to save He watched all my path. When Satan's playing
slave, I want him with death. There is a determination in the
Lord Jesus Christ to save his people. Paul, certainly knew
it, he says when he's writing of his own experience, here in
Philippians chapter 3, I am apprehended of Christ Jesus, how the Lord,
as it were, takes hold of his people. Is he not exalted at
that end that he might save them? The salvation is not only an
accomplished salvation, it is truly an applied salvation. All power, says Christ, all authority
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
since, even unto the end of the world. This is the one then that
we are to look to. We see Jesus crowned with glory
and honor, able not only to save his people, by what he accomplished
for them upon the cross but to make that salvation a blessed
reality. And as we conclude let us observe
this fact friends that as Christ is so are his people. They are truly Abraham's seed. Now to Abraham and his seed,
it says, were the promises made. Abraham and his seed. Of the seed of Abraham, remember,
he taketh hold. All he takes hold of Abraham's
seed is going to save them. And what is the mark of those
who are the seed of Abraham? Well, Christ himself, of course,
is ultimately Abraham's seed. as we see there in Galatians
chapter 3, thy seed which is Christ it says. And so those
who are Abraham's seed are like Christ and they therefore bear
the same marks as we see in Christ. There is that mark of humiliation.
There is that readiness to humble themselves before God, to come
in all lowliness of mind, to wait upon Him, to call upon him. But there's also that determination
that is evident in Christ, his determination to save his people,
to lay hold of his people. And we see, do we not, in one
who is clearly Abraham's seed, his grandson Jacob, there at
Peniel in Genesis chapter 32, I will not let thee go, he said. Here is the mark of Abraham's
seed. They are determined to lay hold upon him. The kingdom
of heaven says Christ suffereth violence, and the violent take
it by force. Yes, in all humbleness of mind
we are to wait upon him, but with all the determination of that grace of faith we are
to be those who would seek to be laying hold upon him. I follow after, says Paul, if
that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of
Christ Jesus. The Lord lays hold of his people
and when the Lord does that, when he comes and takes hold
of us all, all that person then will seek to lay hold of Christ. or that we might be those who
prove ourselves to be those who are Abraham's true seed. Those who seek Jesus. Those who
desire to be like Jesus. But we seek Jesus who was made
a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death crowned
with glory and honour that he by the grace of God should taste
death. for every man. May the Lord be
pleased to bless His word to us.