This morning, I want to consider Verses 5-18 where we learn what man’s intended destiny is – how and why it was lost – and how it can be recovered. In v 5-8:
For He did not subject to angels the world to come, concerning which we are speaking. But one has testified somewhere, saying,
“WHAT IS MAN, THAT YOU REMEMBER HIM? OR THE SON OF MAN, THAT YOU ARE CONCERNED ABOUT HIM? “YOU HAVE MADE HIM FOR A LITTLE WHILE LOWER THAN THE ANGELS;
YOU HAVE CROWNED HIM WITH GLORY AND HONOR,
AND HAVE APPOINTED HIM OVER THE WORKS OF YOUR HANDS; YOU HAVE PUT ALL THINGS IN SUBJECTION UNDER HIS FEET.”
For in subjecting all things to him, He left nothing that is not subject to him. But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him. The writer here is citing Psalm 8 to begin this section.
Man was created as the overseer of the earth. Because of Adam’s sin, he and his children lost the role that they were created for. Adam was above the angels and part of his calling was to judge the angels who fell “Do you not know that we shall judge angels? 1 Cor. 6:3
When the sons of God will be restored, they will be ruling and reigning with Messiah. Both the prophets of the O.T. and the new covenant bear witness to this reality.
Mankind’s destiny is to regain the dominion lost because of sin. Our Destiny is restricted now because of Sin. Heb 2:8 “But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him.”
We lost our crown because of sin. The prince of the world system we live in is Satan. In 1 John 5:19 “The whole world lies in the power of the evil one” When man fell, we became separated from God, our fellow man and even from ourselves.
Sin has ravaged the earth and sidetracked God’s destiny for those created in His image, but it will soon be restored in the world to come.
Our true Destiny is recovered or reclaimed by and through the Messiah. Man’s destiny, restricted because of sin has been recovered by the work of Yeshua as v 9 points to:
V 9 But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Yeshua, because of his suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.
The ultimate curse of man’s lost destiny is death. In fact, until we’re born again, we’re dead in our trespasses and sins. For our restoration to occur God must enable us to overcome death.
The way God did this was through another Adam, one who was like Adam but who accomplished what Adam failed to do.
He recovered what Adam lost because of his sin. This was made possible by the Incarnation, where God would be the second Adam, born in a supernatural way, the virgin birth. With a human mother, and God as His Father.
God stooped to the level of man. God in Yeshua became a little lower than the Angels. Yeshua went from a position of higher than the angels to one lower.
(Hebrews 2:16) For assuredly He does not give help to angels, but He gives help to the descendant of Abraham.
The reason God became a man was so that He might pay man’s debt. (Hebrews 2:14) Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,
To regain the dominion lost, Messiah had to die for us. If a man dies for his own sin, there is only judgment and separation from God. But the Messiah came to die for us because His dying would conquer death. As the prophet Isaiah foretold in Is. 53
As we identify with Yeshua in His death, and believe in his work on our behalf, the curse is removed, and we become joint heirs with him in His eternal kingdom.
If we are going to reign on earth as kings, then of necessity there will be a kingdom. As we see in Rev. 20:4
“And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of the testimony of Yeshua and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshipped the beast or his image and had not received the mark upon their forehead and upon their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Messiah for a thousand years.“
Who is on those thrones? Who are these kings? They are believers who will be ruling and reigning, but only those who have been born again and abide in the King of Kings, who persevere in sanctification.
Our redeemer King now rules over the redeemed of the earth. The Kingdom is now, but not yet. Man has a destiny; but it is marred by sin, but in Messiah it has been recovered.
Now having said this we need to remember that the Book of Hebrews was written for Jewish Believers who were undergoing great pressure from family and religious leaders for their faith with persecution from Rome, and by many of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
There are various problems we Jewish people have with the New Covenant. Such as the idea that God would become a man. But we just saw that because of sin, man lost his ability to handle his God-given assignment and as such he needed redemption.
The Messiah made that renewal a reality through His death, which he tasted death and atonement for those who have received Him: past, present and future.
But sin has taken such a toll that it leaves a complication we all experience: Suffering. It comes in different forms and affects everyone. The key to dealing with and enduring suffering is perspective.
This is a way of seeing beyond the trials and suffering we regularly face. All of us experience pain, but we don’t handle it the same way. In fact, if we’re honest about it most of us despise suffering. Rather than making us strong and confident, suffering can cause us to grow bitter.
We fight against the God who allows suffering, thinking that such a God must be cruel. Yet suffering is something that God says benefits us. In fact, the Rabbi’s comment on suffering:
“Should a man see sufferings come upon him, let him scrutinize his actions; as it is said, ‘Let us search and try our ways, and return to the Lord’ Lam 3:40 If he has scrutinized his actions without discovering the cause, let him attribute them to neglect of the Torah; as it is said, “Blessed is the man whom You chasten, O LORD And whom You teach out of Your law;” Psalm 94:12. If he attributed them to neglect of the Torah without finding any justification, it is certain that his chastening’s are chastening’s of love; as it is said, “For whom the Lord loves He corrects”. Prov. 3:12 (Berakhot 5a)
Many First Century Believers were experiencing suffering because of the persecution by the Religious Leadership as well as Rome.
For those Jewish believers then, and for us today the writer of Hebrews wants us to understand that by focusing on Israel’s Messiah will bring perspective. Only in Him can we view suffering correctly.
We need to realize that Yeshua is our model in suffering. Our salvation came through suffering and pain. So too does our maturity as believers. The fathers of Israel understood this, as I have just shared.
Pain is not an enemy but a friend. It is not an uninvited intruder, but a God sent guest. In life, suffering matures us. To gain the proper perspective on suffering we need to focus on Messiah.
Hebrews 2:9-10 But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Yeshua, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone. For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings.
The writer of Hebrews gives Yeshua a title no one else deserves or will ever receive: The author of salvation. The term author means “pioneer”.
The writer is describing that our salvation and sanctification is perfected through sufferings. You might wonder How do you perfect Jesus who’s already perfect? But the passage here is not dealing with the deity of the Messiah, but rather His humanity.
It’s impossible to perfect deity because it’s perfect already. But the pioneer of our salvation was perfected in His humanity by going through the sufferings we experience as human beings.
In V. 10 we see the words “To perfect…through sufferings.” The process of bringing “many sons to glory” includes suffering.
The term to perfect here means “bringing to completion or fulfilled”.
To be truly human, one must go through suffering and pain which is an unavoidable part of sanctification.
So, Jesus is the Pioneer or author of our salvation and sanctification. And the way is through suffering.
The writer of Hebrews then deals with 4 areas of suffering that force us to look to our Messiah for relief and strength.
The first is the pain of identification. (Hebrews 2:11-14) For both He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one Father; for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, “I WILL PROCLAIM YOUR NAME TO MY BRETHREN, IN THE MIDST OF THE CONGREGATION I WILL SING YOUR PRAISE.” And again, “I WILL PUT MY TRUST IN HIM.” And again, “BEHOLD, I AND THE CHILDREN WHOM GOD HAS GIVEN ME.” Ps. 22 & Ps 8
2: 14 Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,
It is by His sufferings that Yeshua truly identifies with us. Without His sufferings we could never be sure that God understands our situation.
On the other hand, our sufferings enable us to identify with Jesus. Paul writes of this in Phil 3:10 when he spoke of knowing the fellowship of Messiah’s suffering, being conformed to His death.
Listen to what the Talmud says regarding this thought “Is then, suffering good? Yes, because through its means human beings attain to the World to come”.
We need to remember that the moment you and I claimed Yeshua as our Messiah, we became identified with Him, which means that we too shall suffer. This is the lot of all who hold to the God of Israel.
Nowhere are we told in Scripture that when we came to Messiah, we would be exempt from pain. In fact, quite the contrary is stated in Scripture.
Suffering accomplishes 2 things’; first it helps us to know that we have identified with the Messiah; and secondly it provides us the perspective that we’re merely human and our bodies like the rest of creation long to be glorified.
So, the first area of suffering is identification. Identifying with our Messiah and his suffering.
Secondly there is the pain of bondage (Hebrews 2:14-15) Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.
Because we feared death prior to our faith in the Messiah, we ran our lives in such a manner that caused us to be slaves. The fear of death causes us to do strange things.
Lying, cheating, stealing and more are all to avoid losing anything that we think will cause us pain or discomfort. It’s ultimately the fear of death both physical and spiritual that causes us to be in bondage.
We were slaves of the master of this world, Satan. When the Messiah entered our lives, He didn’t eliminate Satan, but he did render him inoperative and impotent.
But they’re times when our past sins, along with feelings of guilt bring us pain associated with our former bondage to sin. God through the Messiah forgives our sin, but the consequences of our past sin remain with us.
A 3rd source of suffering for believers is the Pain of Failure
When we fail, we suffer. Failure is painful; it hurts us deeply. The writer of Hebrews again calls us to focus on Jesus to help us preserve our perspective. (Hebrews 2:17)
Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.
When we sin, what do we find? A stern and unforgiving High Priest? No! instead we discover One who is a refuge. A faithful, merciful, and understanding Shepherd, like Moses, who is ready to intercede for us before God.
And a 4th source of suffering is the Pain of Temptation. V. 18
None of us needs this explained. (Hebrews 2:18) For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.
The Good news is that since Yeshua Himself was tempted in His sufferings on earth, He can come to the aid of those who cry out when they’re tempted.
In the original language, the passage would be “…He is able to run to the cry.” When we’re tempted, all we need to do is call to Him and He is there. Why? Because He knows what it is to be tempted.
What then is the secret to suffering? Perspective. Our suffering and trials give us a heart of compassion. Our suffering produces in us a submissive spirit.
Our suffering produces in us the image of our Messiah.
We need to press into Him as we deal with all the trials that the Lord brings us – to know that this is part of the process of preparing us for our roles of ruling and reigning with Messiah Yeshua.
