Hebrews
Chapter 2
Memory verses for this week:
1
Pet 3:15 But sanctify
the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer
to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you
with meekness and fear:
Introduction:
In Chapter 1, we found that God is
now speaking to his chosen people through Jesus Christ in Paul’s
day. We know that
the Old Testament was penned by prophets chosen by God to pen the
words under the direction of the Holy Spirit.
But today, God has chosen to speak to us by Christ.
We saw that Christ is much greater than the angels, and that
all things created were created by Christ.
I. Giving Heed
to the Things We Have Heard
Heb 2:1 Therefore
we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have
heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.
Heb 2:2 For
if the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgression
and disobedience received a just recompense of reward;
Anyone can hear the word of God. But the hearer is not the one who is blessed of God, but it
is the doer that is blessed.
James
1:22 But be ye doers of
the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
James
1:23 For if any be a
hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding
his natural face in a glass:
James
1:24 For he beholdeth
himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner
of man he was.
James
1:25 But whoso looketh
into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being
not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be
blessed in his deed.
Thank God we live during this time period referred to as the
dispensation of Grace.
I don’t think we realize the heavy penalty sin carried back
in the Old Testament days. Back
before Christ came, the people lived under the law, and those who
rejected the law were punished.
The punishment was harsh, and it came quickly.
Deu
4:1 Now therefore
hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I
teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess
the land which the LORD God of your fathers giveth you.
Deu
4:2 Ye shall not add
unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought
from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God
which I command you.
Deu
4:3 Your eyes have seen
what the LORD did because of Baalpeor: for all the men that followed
Baalpeor, the LORD thy God hath destroyed them from among you.
Deu
4:4 But ye that did
cleave unto the LORD your God are alive every one of you this day.
Jude
1:6 And the angels
which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he
hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment
of the great day.
Acts
7:53 Who have received
the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it.
The angel’s word were steadfast. Their word carried penalties.
Gal
3:19 Wherefore then
serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the
seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained
by angels in the hand of a mediator.
Gal
3:20 Now a mediator is
not a mediator of one, but God is one.
Gal
3:21 Is the law then
against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law
given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have
been by the law.
Gal
3:22 But the scripture
hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus
Christ might be given to them that believe.
Gal
3:23 But before faith
came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which
should afterwards be revealed.
Gal
3:24 Wherefore the law
was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be
justified by faith.
Gal
3:25 But after that
faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.
Gal
3:26 For ye are all the
children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
Heb 2:3 How
shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the
first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by
them that heard him;
Heb 2:4 God
also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with
divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own
will?
The words of our Lord are of greater value than that of the
angels. To let them
slip is to have God’s displeasure on our lives.
The lost person has no hope if he neglects the salvation
which Christ gives. Sin
has a penalty, and someone has to pay for that sin.
But the sins are not what causes the lost to spend eternity
in hell. Yes, the sins condemn a man.
But it is his or her rejection of Jesus Christ that seals
their doom for eternity. In
those early days of the church, God used signs, wonders, and
miracles that the lost might know Christ was who He said He was.
Rom
15:19 Through mighty
signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God; so that from
Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the
gospel of Christ.
Rom
15:20 Yea, so have I
strived to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I
should build upon another man's foundation:
Rom
15:21 But as it is
written, To whom he was not spoken of, they shall see: and they that
have not heard shall understand.
Jonah was a man called to warn the lost to repent and turn
back to God. He refused
to do it, and he paid a great price when God chastened him for
running from his responsibilities.
Jonah
1:1 Now the word of the
LORD came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,
Jonah
1:2 Arise, go to
Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness
is come up before me.
Jonah
1:3 But Jonah rose up
to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and went down
to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare
thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from
the presence of the LORD.
Jonah
1:4 But the LORD sent
out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the
sea, so that the ship was like to be broken.
Jonah
1:5 Then the mariners
were afraid, and cried every man unto his god, and cast forth the
wares that were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it of them. But
Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship; and he lay, and was
fast asleep.
Jonah
1:6 So the shipmaster
came to him, and said unto him, What meanest thou, O sleeper? arise,
call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we
perish not.
Jonah
1:7 And they said every
one to his fellow, Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for
whose cause this evil is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot
fell upon Jonah.
Jonah
1:8 Then said they unto
him, Tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is upon us;
What is thine occupation? and whence comest thou? what is thy
country? and of what people art thou?
Jonah
1:9 And he said unto
them, I am an Hebrew; and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, which
hath made the sea and the dry land.
Jonah
1:10 Then were the men
exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, Why hast thou done this? For
the men knew that he fled from the presence of the LORD, because he
had told them.
Jonah
1:11 Then said they
unto him, What shall we do unto thee, that the sea may be calm unto
us? for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous.
Jonah
1:12 And he said unto
them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the sea
be calm unto you: for I know that for my sake this great tempest is
upon you.
If you are familiar with the scriptures, you know that Jonah
was in the belly of the whale for 3 days and 3 nights before being
cast up on the land where Jonah did go and preach his short message
to those in Nineveh.
Jonah
3:1 And the word of the
LORD came unto Jonah the second time, saying,
Jonah
3:2 Arise, go unto
Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I
bid thee.
Jonah
3:3 So Jonah arose, and
went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh
was an exceeding great city of three days' journey.
Jonah
3:4 And Jonah began to
enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said, Yet
forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.
We all have a responsibility to tell the lost about Christ,
and how the judgment of God is sure if they die in their sins.
Ezek
3:17 Son of man, I have
made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the
word at my mouth, and give them warning from me.
Ezek
3:18 When I say unto
the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning,
nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his
life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood
will I require at thine hand.
Ezek
3:19 Yet if thou warn
the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked
way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.
II. The Earth is
to be Put Under Jesus Christ
Heb 2:5 For
unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come,
whereof we speak.
Heb 2:6 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?
It was never God’s purpose that the angels should be rulers
over humanity. It did
please the Lord to use them as messengers to man to make His will
known. We know
that when the Lord was in the wilderness for the 40 days and was
tempted, the angels came and ministered unto him.
Also, they came that night when he was praying in the garden
before He was about to go to the cross.
Mat
4:8 Again, the devil
taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and showeth him all
the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;
Mat
4:9 And saith unto him,
All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and
worship me.
Mat
4:10 Then saith Jesus
unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt
worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
Mat
4:11 Then the devil
leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.
Luke
22:42 Saying, Father,
if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my
will, but thine, be done.
Luke
22:43 And there
appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.
Luke
22:44 And being in an
agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great
drops of blood falling down to the ground.
The one God appointed to reign over the earth is His dear
Son, Jesus Christ, not one of the angels.
In verse 6, the certain place mentioned there is the same as
mentioned in Psalms Chapter 8.
Psa
8:4 What is man, that
thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?
Psa
8:5 For thou hast made
him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory
and honour.
Psa
8:6 Thou madest him to
have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things
under his feet:
Heb 2:7 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:
Heb 2:8 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.
Man is made a little lower than the angels, but one day we
shall be like Christ and exalted above the angels in the
resurrection.
1
John 3:2 Beloved, now
are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be:
but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we
shall see him as he is.
When God placed man in the garden of Eden, he gave him power
over the works of God’s hands in the beginning. But the one whom God put all things under subjection is
Jesus Christ. It
says in verse 8 that he has put all things under his feet.
Today, we do not see everything subject to Jesus.
But in the 1,000 year Millennial Reign of Christ, all things
will be in subject unto Him. This
will carry over into the new heaven and earth.
III. Jesus,
Made a little Lower than the Angels
Heb 2:9 But
we see 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.
Heb 2:10 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.
As we said earlier, we do not see all things put under
subjection to Christ today, but we do see Christ made a littler
lower than the angels as he suffered death there on the Cross. But praise God, Jesus is not still dead, but after 3 days and
3 nights, he arose and is now seated on the right hand of the Father
crowned with glory and honor.
Albert Barnes said this about verse 9 in his commentary.
Who was
made a little lower than the angels—That
is, as a man, or when on earth. His assumed rank was inferior to
that of the angels. He took upon himself
not the nature of angels Heb. 2:16, but the nature of man. The
apostle is probably here answering some implied objections to the
rank which it was claimed that the
Lord Jesus had, or which MIGHT
be urged to the views which he was defending. These objections were
mainly two. First, that Jesus was a man; and secondly, that
he suffered and died. If that was the fact, it was natural to ask HOW
he could be superior to the angels? How could he have had the rank
which was claimed for
him? This he answers by showing first, that his condition as a man
was “voluntarily” assumed—“he was made lower than the
angels;” and secondly, by showing that as a consequence of his
sufferings and death, he was immediately crowned with glory and
honor. This state of humiliation became him in the great work which
he had undertaken, and he was immediately exalted to universal
dominion, and as Mediator was raised to a rank far above the angels.
For the
suffering of death—Margin,
“By.” The meaning of the preposition rendered here “for” is,
“on account of;”
that is, Jesus on account of the sufferings of death, or in virtue
of that, was crowned with glory and honor. His crowning was the
result of his condescension and
sufferings. It does not here mean, as our translation
would seem to imply, that he was made a little lower than the angels
in order to suffer death, but that as a reward for having suffered
death he was raised up to the right hand of God.
Crowned
with glory and honor—That
is, at the right hand of God. He was raised up to heaven; Acts 2:33;
Mark 16:19. The meaning is, that he was crowned with the highest
honor on account of his sufferings; compare Phil 2:8-9; Heb. 12:2;
5:7-9; Eph. 1:20-23.
We are so blessed because Jesus tasted death for all men.
Unless He had come, led the perfect life, and died according
to the scriptures, none of us would have any chance of entering
Heaven one day. Being
the perfect sacrifice, He is now glorified and
at the right hand of the Heavenly Father today.
In verse 10, Paul states that he died ‘to make the captain
of their salvation perfect through suffering.”
This is not referencing his character, but is in regards to
him being the Savior of the world. He truly is the Captain of our salvation.
Unless he had suffered and died, we would have no forgiveness
of sin.
The one thing about Christ was that he was the sinless and
perfect lamb of God.
John
19:6 When the chief
priests therefore and officers saw him, they cried out, saying,
Crucify him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Take ye him, and
crucify him: for I find no fault in him.
Col
1:27 To whom God would
make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the
Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
Col
1:28 Whom we preach,
warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may
present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:
Col
1:29 Whereunto I also
labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me
mightily.
Heb 2:11 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,
Heb 2:12 Saying,
I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church
will I sing praise unto thee.
Jesus is the one who sanctifies us.
Those who trust in Christ are sanctified and set apart for
good works to the glory of the Father. All that are sanctified are of the Father.
Because of this, Jesus is not ashamed to call those who are
saved brethren. Jesus,
and all of us who know Christ as Savior, praise God in the church.
Heb 2:13 And
again, I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold I and the
children which God hath given me.
Heb 2:14 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;
Heb 2:15 And
deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime
subject to bondage.
In the perfect plan of redemption, Jesus took upon himself
flesh and blood in order to be able to destroy Satan. By overcoming Satan, he has freed us from the bondage
of death and delivered us unto the Father.
Heb 2:16 For
verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him
the seed of Abraham.
Heb 2:17 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.
Heb 2:18 For
in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to
succour them that are tempted.
Verse 16 points out how that Christ did not come to save
angels, but to save fallen man.
The angels stand amazed at salvation and desire to understand
it better. Jesus
came in the flesh and was tempted in all points as we are.
This is important to realize that even though Jesus was God
manifested in the flesh, He overcame the same fleshly desires we
face each day. Because he lived the perfect life, Christ is able
to bring atonement for our sins.
Verse 17 says he became our merciful and high priest in all
things pertaining to God. Mercy
was given to man, and faithfulness to God was seen in the atonement.
We mentioned earlier how that Jesus was taken into the
wilderness and tempted of Satan.
But through all those temptations, Jesus never failed. Jesus withstood every test.
That example should instill a desire within us to be more
like Christ.
Mat
4:1 Then was Jesus led
up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.
Mat
4:2 And when he had
fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungered.
Mat
4:3 And when the
tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command
that these stones be made bread.
Mat
4:4 But he answered and
said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every
word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
Mat
4:5 Then the devil
taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of
the temple,
Mat
4:6 And saith unto him,
If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He
shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands
they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against
a stone.
Mat
4:7 Jesus said unto
him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
Mat
4:8 Again, the devil
taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and showeth him all
the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;
Mat
4:9 And saith unto him,
All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and
worship me.
Mat
4:10 Then saith Jesus
unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt
worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
Mat
4:11 Then the devil
leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.
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