Articles

Hebrews / Chapter 2 / V5-9

It is not to angels that he has subjected the world to come, about which we are speaking. But there is a place where someone has testified:

"What is man that you are mindful of him,
the son of man that you care for him?
You made him a little lower than the angels;
you crowned him with glory and honour
and put everything under his feet."

In putting everything under him, God left nothing that is not subject to him. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to him. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honour because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. ~Heb 2:5-9

​​​​​​​

Hebrews is a book that speaks of the “more superior” and the “more excellent.” As the title of the book suggests, it is written to the Hebrew Christians. The book addresses several wrong practices of the Hebrew believers; of their return to sacrificial rites and rituals, the worship of angels and the worship of Old-Testament spiritual leaders. It was the author’s intent to portray to them the Lord Jesus as more glorious and more excellent over all these things, where in Him all abundance could be found. In considering Jesus, they could readily put away their burden of keeping the Old Testament Laws and be fully devoted to the pursuit of the Lord.

In Chapters 1 & 2, the author spoke of the superiority and excellencies of Jesus over angels. Before Jesus came to this world, angels were messengers sent by God to speak to the Israelites. Therefore among the people of Israel, angels were esteemed beings with high honourable status. The author has thus taken the precedence to correct their misconception by making a comparison between Jesus and angels – with respect to their status, authority and power. Using scripture quoted from the Old Testament, he demonstrated that Jesus was far more glorious and superior than angels in many aspects. Firstly, Jesus is the only begotten Son of the most high God while angels are God’s servants – in contrast, Jesus is the Lord and the angels His subjects, clearly distinctive in their status. Secondly, Jesus is the sovereign creator of the whole universe, whereas angels are created beings; one is the creator and the other the creature, a world of difference. Pertaining to the future world, Jesus is the eternal Ruler and King of all creation, while angels are His faithful subjects ready to heed His bidding. Concerning Salvation, Jesus did not extend it to the angels but only to the descendants of Abraham, clearly showing His authority over the destiny of angels. With the Hebrew Christians coming to understand the eminence of Jesus over angels, they should then dedicate themselves to render all glory, honour, praise and worship to the one and only supreme and eternal King.

The passage above speaks of the coming world to be subjected to the rule of the Lord Jesus but not to the angels. For even the angels are subjected to the authority of Jesus. The passage was quoted from Psalm 8, written by the psalmist, David, who exalted God for putting the world under the charge of insignificant man. This was what God had instructed the first human couple, Adam and Eve, granting them authority to rule over the world. However, due to their rebellion, sin entered the world, bringing along with it curses and death. Therefore the author of Hebrews wrote: “In putting everything under him, God left nothing that is not subject to him. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to him.” That is to say God’s promise has not been fulfilled in man, for the sin of Adam and Eve resulted in a cursed world where all animals and the forces of nature are in hostility with man. Especially in recent years, where there are rampant spreading of diseases and plagues of natural disasters, clearly shows that the nature does not subject to man but is at enmity with us. Has God’s promise fallen short of reality then?

What failed with the first man, Adam, had to be accomplished by our Lord Jesus; what was lost through Adam, would be restored by our Lord. “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honour”, for Jesus came to the world born as a man, becoming the one to truly fulfil God’s promise to mankind by attaining the authority to rule the world. The boundary of His rule does not reside with the current perishable material world, but that which is to come, a far more glorious spiritual kingdom. In that kingdom, there shall be no more sicknesses, curses or death. Jesus is the last Adam, the father of our spiritual life, where He will lead many of His sons and daughters into this new world.

In the book of Psalms, it says, “You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings (angels) and crowned him with glory and honour.” In all of God’s creations, humans are ranked lower than the angels. This explains why, when angels appear before men in the Old Testament, they always bow down to worship the angels. We have never come across any examples of angels prostrating themselves before humans, not even great spiritual leaders of that time. Without a doubt, their identity, status and abilities are higher than us. When the author of Hebrews said, “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels,” it speaks of Jesus being made lower than angels as a man. However, it does not mean that when Jesus became man, He became lower than the angels in His deity. The four gospels clearly reveal to us that the honour given to Jesus as a man by the angels, was no different from when He was God sitting on His heavenly throne. When Jesus was said to be “made a little lower than the angels,” it refers to Jesus’ incarnation into the image of a man taking up a body of flesh. He would feel hungry and tired, He could get injured and bleed, and could even die. In this aspect, Jesus was definitely made lower than the angels. However, even when Jesus was in the flesh, His status remained far higher than the angels; because Jesus was God’s manifestation in the flesh, He was still perfectly God, there has been no change in His deity in any degree.

In the Bible, the alternate translation for “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels” would be “But we do see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while.” This translation has provided more details by going a step further to demonstrate that Jesus’ lowering was merely temporary. After Jesus’ resurrection on the third day, He resumed His full title as the Almighty God. And the status He has now is even more glorious than before, because He has accomplished God’s plan and saved millions of souls. All because of His willingness to be “temporarily made a little lower than the angels,” it has also made us, those whom He has redeemed, to become only “temporarily” lower than the angels. The Salvation of the Lord not only restored to us the paradise that was lost through Adam, which we will inherit when the new world comes; on top of this, His Salvation has elevated our status above the angels. We, who believed the Lord, are no longer the descendants of Adam lower than the angels, but are being raised above the angels as the children of God. Angels are ministering spirits sent to serve us who have received the salvation, and we shall all in the last days judge the angels (1Co 6:3).