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| Order Of Worship (Liturgy) TH 265 – Come, Ye Faithful, Raise the Strain Psalter 15 – God’s Glory in His Works TH 470 – How Vast the Benefits Divine Psalter 50 – The Dominion of Jesus Christ |
Christ Came to Restore our High Status
Hebrews 2:5-18
Years ago, I ministered to a young lady who grew up in church, sang in choir, attended Bible study, and professed faith. But an unbeliever showed her interest. They dated secretly until they announced their marriage. While he was willing to come to church, she wasn’t willing for him to. Why? Because she wanted him to be true to himself. But in reality, she wanted to be true to herself. She confessed she no longer really believed. And a man was willing to love her and do life together with her. So I warned her against rejecting him and pointed her to Christ’s benefits. But she loved her life with him more than the Lord Jesus. What is so important, so exceptional, so valuable, that we’d freely deny Christ just to have it? For her, it was a man. A mortal man.
These Hebrew Christians were also tempted to deny Christ. They wanted a better life; one without persecution where they could buy and sell. So the writer warned them. He told them Christ was God’s final Word. At the Mount of Transfiguration, God told the disciples to listen to Christ. Yes, Moses and Elijah are good; but the beloved Son is better. Reject his Words, and reject God. He’s also better than the angels. He’s God’s son, the conquering king. That’s why the angels worship him. And if the penalty was death for disobeying Moses’ law, how much worse is it for denying Christ’s gospel? It’s bad enough to sin against law, it’s worse to sin against love. Therefore pay close attention to what you’ve heard, lest you slip. It’s dangerous to neglect so great a salvation. So he warned them. But he also showed them the great benefits. He does it in 3 points. Firstly, Christians will have a high status. Secondly, Christ came to purchase our high status. Thirdly, benefits of our high status can be experienced now.
Firstly, Christians will have a high status. In verse 5, the author writes - “For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak.” In writing this, he shows God’s intended high status for man. Angels have an exalted status. But they won’t rule in the world to come - in the new created order. In fact, Hebrews 1:14 says they’re only ministering spirits, sent to serve the heirs of salvation. Meaning, believers have a higher status compared to them. In fact, man was created to rule. Verse 7 says God set him over creation. Genesis 1:26, “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.” The word “over” is repeated several times to emphasize that man was given authority over everything. And because angels are part of creation, man will rule them one day. 1 Corinthians 6 says that saints will judge the world, that we’ll judge angels. That’s God’s design. Man occupies the highest place in God’s creation. But we don’t see that now.
In fact, we see his temporary lowliness. Compared to angels, man’s so insignificant. Verse 6 quotes Psalm 8 to describe man. It asks - “what’s man that God would even think about him? Or even care for him?” Yes, compared to angels, man’s just a speck of dust. Angels, on the other hand, are powerful. They stand in God’s presence without being annihilated. Man can’t. God told Moses he risked death by seeing his glory. So mankind isn’t ruling now - or at least very poorly. Consider our achievements. Sure, we’ve built great cities and civilizations - but we’ve polluted and destroyed the earth, caused the extinction of many animals. Sure, great civilizations have produced remarkable art and scientific progress. SpaceX is even planning trips to Mars. But civilizations have also destroyed each other. Their scientific knowledge has produced weapons of mass destruction. But let’s not talk about civilizations. We’re not even successful individually. Many pet owners can’t train their dogs. We can’t even control pests. Birds still poo on our heads. We don’t have dominion. Even Job asked the same thing. Job 7:17 - “What is man, that thou shouldest magnify him? and that thou shouldest set thine heart upon him?”
Seriously, what’s so great about man that we occupy God’s mind space? But this humility is temporary. Verse 7 says, “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.” Yes, for a little while, he’s made lower than the angels. But God intends great things for man - he’s crowned with glory and honor. Verse 8 is more comprehensive - God has put all things under his feet in subjection. There’s nothing that’s not under him. But as verse 8 says - not yet. It hasn’t happened yet. When will it happen? Verse 5 speaks about the world to come. Our high status will be realized in the eternal age. Right now, we can’t dominate. In fact, those who dominate are dangerous. We see it in politics. Those who dominate like Hitler and Mao have caused great destruction and harm. Even religion - the pope’s on top of a great organization; but the gospel is corrupted. We see it in marriage - where husband and wife vie for dominance. We see it in our own lives. We’re not dominating, we’re dominated by our flesh. God gave sex for companionship and love, but we use it to fulfill our lusts. God gave money so we can live to serve him, but we end up serving it. God gave work so we can delight in our hand’s labor, but we make it our chief aim. God gave life so we’d live for him, but we live for our happiness apart from him. So instead of ruling, we’re ruled by our desires. And they fool us to think we’re ruling. I’m rich - I have high status. My job is respectable, I’m married, I’m educated - I’ve arrived. And those who lack them, seek them.
Yes, such idolatry and others exist in church. To pursue even legitimate things, we downplay Christ’s preeminence. But sometimes we pursue what’s illegitimate. And false believers will give up Christ entirely to have them. Why? Because they can’t bear temporary lowliness. What’s so important, so exceptional, so valuable, that we’d freely deny Christ just to have it? That’s why“we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.”
But what we don’t believe fully, is that in Christ, these things are ours one day. In the world to come we’ll have riches, feasting, happiness, companionship, marriage to Christ, rule, and eternally fulfilling labor. Secondly, Christ came to purchase our high status. Verses 9-10 - “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. 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.” Here the writer applies Psalm 8 to Christ. He became a man, lower than the angels for a season, in order to die. In him, believers will have their God intended high status restored to them. In the words of CS Lewis, “the Son of God became a man to enable men to become sons of God.” Here, his humanity is emphasized. For the first time, he’s called by his first name. Before this, he was Son, God, and Lord. But now, Jesus - to show that in him, all of God’s promises to us will be realized. As a man, where’s he now? He’s in heaven, crowned with glory. Why? Because he endured temporary lowliness. He suffered and died. But now he rules; he can bring many sons to glory. No other man could do this. Adam couldn’t rule because of sin. He fulfilled his lusts. The fruit was good to look at, good for the belly, able to make him wise. Cain tried to dominate by killing. So no man could restore man’s high status. So a second Adam was born to do that. How? By being lowly, by denying self, through a humble death. That’s how he made us righteous. He needed a human body to die in a way angels couldn’t. And now, he’s seated at God’s right hand of glory. That’s how he can give us that glory. And this fit God’s plan to restore man’s high status. Verse 10 -“For it became him” - it was fitting for him to die as man. Beloved, it doesn’t fit God’s plan that you get a high status by fulfilling your desires. It’s by Christ.
You see, this phrase in verse 10 would’ve been significant to these Jewish Christians - “Christ died to bring many sons to glory.” The word “bring” was used in Exodus 3 when God told Moses he saw his people’s affliction. He’d deliver them from Egypt, “to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey.” In so doing, he’d “bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments: and I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God…” God was determined to bring out many sons from Egypt. And his way was through the blood of the lamb, and the death of the first born son. But this prefigured our greater deliverance. While they were only redeemed to the Promised Land which flowed with milk and honey, we have a greater Promised Land. God would highly honor us, give us untold riches, greatest fellowship, eternal life. How? By the death of the Lamb of God, his only begotten Son. And through Christ the redeemed would far exceed the 2 million that came out of Egypt. In our Exodus to heaven, Revelation 5 says - “for thou hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.” Jesus the God-man delivers us to rule as God’s sons. Then why do people deny Christ? Because they can’t bear the temporary lowliness. And you know what? When they deny Christ, they’re happy. They’re free. They’re living their best life. They’re rulers of their own destiny. Yes, they have an earthly glory! But not an eternal one. They’d rather have Egypt’s leeks and garlic and live in bondage; than to suffer lowliness for now, to receive highest status in the real Promised Land. Why? They don’t really believe Christ came to restore satisfaction and status. And it’s the same today - many false believers embrace the world for satisfaction.
They’re ashamed of Christ’s kingdom. But Christ is not ashamed of his true believers. The Son of God identified with sinful man. And we see he’s not ashamed of us. Verse 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.” He gave up all for us. He’s not ashamed of us. And the writer quotes 2 Old Testament passages to prove it. Verse 12 quotes Psalm 22 - “I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee.” Jesus came to identify with a sinful people. He stands in the midst of the congregation, in the midst of sinful people, to minister to them. Growing up, Mary and Joseph traveled yearly to Passover to celebrate it. And when our Lord was finally of age, he went to the temple to celebrate it. He’d have offered a lamb. But why? He didn’t sin. It was to identify with us. He, who should’ve been praised by sinners; he joins with them, to sing to God. Growing up, he would’ve sung Psalm 32 and Psalm 51. But why? He didn’t sin. But it was to identify with us, knowing he’d take on the sins of the world. Verse 13 quotes Isaiah 8 - “And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold I and the children which God hath given me.” The Lord Jesus became a man, and he had to learn to live by faith. As a child, he grew in wisdom and stature. Going to the temple to inquire and learn. As a man, he had to live by faith. He had to learn to trust in God. He had to pray. Why? To identify with us. So we’d know we’re not alone - “behold I and the children which God hath given me.” We are not alone - Emmanuel - God with us. That’s why he took on flesh and blood - verse 14 - since we were flesh and blood, he become flesh and blood to be our champion. He can’t represent us if he doesn’t identify with us. You can’t be head of state anywhere without first being a citizen.
So Christ came to identify with us - to lift us to higher ground - to restore our high status in the world to come. He took on flesh, was humbled, he died. And yet, there are believers who can’t see the benefits we’ll have. And we toy with giving Christ up. But what’s so important, so exceptional, so valuable and treasured, that we’d freely deny Jesus Christ to have it? And that’s the problem with the people in the first Exodus. They couldn’t foresee what the Promised Land would be. They only remembered what they had in Egypt. You see, even though God provided manna, quail, water from the rock, and clothes and shoes that didn’t wear thin; they could only see their low status in the wilderness. The fact that they wanted to return to Egypt showed they forgot their freedom from bondage. That’s why professing Christians will struggle with returning to their sins. “I deserve happiness!” And those who return to the world to have it, have never been freed from their bondage. Because they don’t see the stupendous benefits of following Christ.
So the writer reminds them of the benefits of their high status that they could experience now. That’s the third point. Christ secures for us our high status. But we don’t experience it yet. As verse 8 says - we’re not ruling yet. But there are 3 benefits that we do experience now. There are more than 3, but the writer mentions only 3. Because of Christ, we’re freed from the fear of death. Verses 14-15 say, “…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.” Christ nullified the power of the devil. And the devil has power over death. Yes, God has ultimate power over death. Deuteronomy 32:39; God says, “See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.” So when it says that the devil has power of death, it means that he has the power to use the reality of death to make people fear. All people fear death. No one escapes death, and that fear can be gripping. What makes death fearful is judgment. Satan uses these fears. But to the Christian who’s been freed from judgment, there’s no fear of death because we’ll escape the judgment after death. A few days before his death, F. B. Meyer, the pastor, wrote his friend these words: “I have just heard, to my great surprise, that I have but a few days to live. It may be that before this letter reaches you, I shall have entered the palace. Don’t trouble to write. We shall meet in the morning.” He called death a palace. No fear. Martin Luther said, “He who fears death or is not willing to die is not sufficiently Christian.” Why? Because I’m persuaded, that neither death, life, angels, nor principalities, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus.
Another benefit - freedom from God’s anger. 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.” Christ came to make reconciliation - or more accurately, propitiation. God’s angry with sinners. They’re objects of his wrath; sinners are children of wrath, Ephesians 2:3. But Christ’s death turned God’s wrath from us. And while we still sin, God sees us as his children. And the third benefit is that while we’re tempted, he helps us in temptation. Verse 18 says, “For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.” Why can Jesus help us? Because he knows how bad temptations can get.. We’ve never been tempted as he has - never to his severity. When we’re tempted, we give in. He gets tempted, and he never gave in. He felt the full-force of temptation that we’d never feel. He was tempted over and over again to abort his mission, but he endured. He can also help because he’s gone through all the same temptations as we - in all points tempted as we. Why can he be our mediator? He’s never sinned but he understands temptation. So because of that, he’s more than qualified to help us escape.
Dearly beloved, why did he become one of us? So salvation could be accomplished God’s way; to be the captain of our salvation; to purchase benefits for us - not just in the world to come, but now! The problem with us is this - freedom from the fear of death, freedom from God’s wrath, and Christ’s help in temptation aren’t enough! We want satisfaction and fulfillment now. We can’t wait for what’s promised to us, so we pursue it now. Sometimes we seek satisfaction in legitimate things - but at the expense of Christ’s preeminence. And we defend ourselves. What’s wrong with this job? What’s wrong with these friends? What’s wrong with this hobby? Why shouldn’t I have bread from stone? It’s been 40 days. Why shouldn’t I enjoy my status and be lifted up by angels? Not all legitimate things will be ours. And even if they are, whatever you are and have now, can’t compare to what the angels are and have! Your accomplishments are nothing now. You’re lower than they are. Yet you think you can have dominion. Seriously! What’s so important, so exceptional, so valuable, that we’d freely downplay Christ just to have it? For most of you, you haven’t denied Christ. But you’re not paying the more earnest heed - you’re drifting away. Be bold to admit you love Egypt, you struggle with your desire for leeks and garlic.
But there are those who are already seeking satisfaction in illegitimate things - an illicit relationship, a lustful addiction, a harmful way of enriching yourself. They’re indefensible and you know it. And you’re drifting away faster than you realize. You’re living a life that effectively shows you’ve denied Christ. What’s so important, so exceptional, so valuable, that you’d freely deny Christ just to have it? Be bold to admit it. As those dying in the wilderness could only look at the bronze serpent, let us be humble and realize that we can only look to Christ.
And let’s accept our lowly estate in this world. Yes, God may exalt you as he did Joseph and Daniel - but they too had their lowliness first. But what Joseph and Daniel have now, are now, is far higher than what they ever were. This is the same as our Lord. Before his exaltation, our Lord lived in lowliness. He was born in a manger, but now sits on a throne. He never wrote a book, but countless books are written of him. He never composed a song, but is the subject of all hymns and psalms. He never founded any school, but all schools can never boast the number of students he’s had. He wasn’t a doctor, but he’s healed more souls than all the doctors have healed bodies. What’s so important, so exceptional, so valuable, that you’d freely deny Christ and lose your soul just to have it?
1. Christians Have a High Status
A. Man’s intended high status
B. Man’s temporary lowliness
2. Christ Came to Purchase Our High Status
A. “The Son of God became a man to enable men to become sons of God”
B. The Son of God identified with sinful man
3. Benefits of Our High Status Can Be Experienced Now
A. Jesus freed us from fear
B. Jesus propitiated God’s wrath
C. Jesus helps us in temptation
Conversation for Change:
- What are the earthly goals believers may be working for today? How do they compare to the heavenly reward that await them? To pursue these earthly goals, how might we be compromising, and what does this tell us about our perspective?
- Why do you think believers fear death less than other things - such as failure and poverty? Why might we fear these lesser things more than death?
- What are the two aspects of the holiness which Jesus Christ produces in believers? (v. 11; Heb. 10:10, 14; 2 Cor 3:18). How are they related to one another? (Heb. 12:14; 1 Cor 6:9-20; 1 John 3:10).
* As a matter of courtesy please advise Rev. Mark Chen, if you plan to use this sermon in a worship service. Thank-you.
(c) Copyright 2025, Rev. Mark Chen
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