Hebrews 2:1-9

“Therefore, we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away. ² For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, ³ how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him, ⁴ God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will? ⁵ For He has not put the world to come, of which we speak, in subjection to angels. ⁶ But one testified in a certain place, saying:

‘What is man that You are mindful of him, or the son of man that You take care of him? ⁷ You have made him a little lower than the angels; You have crowned him with glory and honor, And set him over the works of Your hands. ⁸ You have 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 do not yet see all things put under him. ⁹ 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, might taste death for everyone.“ (NKJV)

It was necessary for us to explore what would seem to be a moot point last week, that Jesus is not an angel. But it was obviously necessary because God wrote it for us to read, know and understand. Once we have established that Jesus is not an angel, we can now move on with the rest of what He has to say in the book of Hebrews. He begins Hebrews 2 with “Therefore” (based on the fact that Jesus is not an angel; we can now move on; I can teach you some other things). Once again, Hebrews is to saved people, and it assumes that the reader has a sound doctrinal foundation. Let us look at this chapter together.

• Drifting Away, verse 1

The idea of drifting has to do with a ship that is moving away from its moorings because it is not anchored to anything. The boat does not have to do anything; it is just bobbing with the tide and the movement of the water. The writer is encouraging that we should be anchored to something, and that something is Jesus’ salvation that He offers us freely. If we are not actively tied to the doctrines of the Scripture, we can drift away; not deliberately, not by active rebellion, but by apathy. We just drift with the tide, the winds of change that blow ever so slightly, and soon we are no longer doctrinally sound. We have ‘buts’ for every statement of God’s in the scripture. We add caveats to God’s precepts, and we water down even the very Gospel that saved us.

This is the idea that the writer adds in verse 3; we “neglect so great a salvation.” Soon we begin to doubt the importance and the exclusiveness of the Gospel of Jesus. We begin to think that there are other ways to heaven, and we are no longer adamant about what Jesus said – “I am the Way.” It takes nothing to go to Hell; we are born on the way there. It takes an act of God to change our course. Are you drifting away? Have the doctrines become benign and seemingly tedious? Have we begun to water down the Gospel or add to it with works, and by doing so, stealing the thunder of God’s grace?

The Gospel was spoken by Jesus himself. He is the one who paid for it, He is the one who sends His Holy Spirit, and the one who will hold us accountable for it. But unless we are actively reading, studying and applying the Gospel, the truths of the scriptures, and living them out daily, we will drift away from the absolutes of the Bible, and so on. We will even neglect the very salvation that we have in Jesus and stop sharing the Gospel, or worse, share a false Gospel that is even more destructive.

Not only do we show contempt for Jesus, but we also show contempt for God who confirmed that Jesus was, in fact, the Messiah by miracles and other supernatural events like the Mount of Transfiguration. Then God followed up the miracles by sending His Holy Spirit to indwell us and to empower the local New Testament churches all around the known world at the time. God confirmed that this salvation was the one; this was the special gift from God that all men need to know that is available to all men free of charge. Jesus paid it all, God sanctioned the sacrifice, and the Holy Spirit secures us forever.

God does not take our salvation lightly; He did all He could to make it possible for all men everywhere to be saved. And to this very day, 2000 years or so later, the Gospel of Jesus is still all people need to be saved (see Acts 16:31). Jesus, Jesus, Jesus; there is just something about that name.

• Jesus’ Humanity, verses 6-9

One of the very important doctrines that God brings to the forefront here is Jesus’ humanity. Jesus is not half man and half God. He is, in fact, 100% God and 100% man. One of the false doctrines of some of the early churches was that Jesus was God but only seemed to be human. This is wrong. Jesus was 100% human. He experienced everything that a human would experience. He was a baby and nursed at his mother’s breast. He had to be carried. He had to be washed. He had to learn how to roll over, crawl, and walk, and He fell as other kids did as well. He had to learn the language and how to speak it. He had to deal with siblings and make friends. Jesus had the whole human experience; He even had to learn how to use the washroom.

Like God, we know that He created the whole universe (see John 1: 1-4). But as a man, He also had the creation under Him as part of the Adamic instructions. Go back and see Genesis 1:25-27:

“God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that crawls upon the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness, to rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, and over all the earth itself and every creature that crawls upon it.’ So God created man in His own image; in the image of God, He created him; male and female He created them.” (Berean Study Bible)

Jesus, the man, was under this decree from God as well as being the Creator; He now has the Adamic dominion over the earth and all that is in it as well. Jesus died as a man to taste death for everyone (see Hebrews 2:9). Only a man could do that. God cannot die. Thus, it was essential for Him to come as a man, true flesh; he could bleed, feel pain, suffer and die for you and me. In turn, we get the Holy Spirit, and in us, God lives.

1 Corinthians 3:16, “Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?”

1 Corinthians 6:19, “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?”

2 Corinthians 6:16, “Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, ‘I will dwell in them and walk among them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.'”

Ezekiel 36:27, “I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be

 

Hebrews 1:5-14

⁵ “For to which of the angels did He ever say: ‘You are My Son, today I have begotten You’? And again: ‘I will be to Him a Father, and He shall be to Me a Son’? ⁶ But when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says: ‘Let all the angels of God worship Him.’ ⁷ And of the angels He says: ‘Who makes His angels spirits and His ministers a flame of fire.’ ⁸ But to the Son He says: ‘Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. ⁹ You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of gladness more than Your companions.’

¹⁰ And: ‘You, Lord, in the beginning, laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands. ¹¹ They will perish, but You remain; and they will all grow old like a garment; ¹² Like a cloak You will fold them up, and they will be changed. But You are the same, and Your years will not fail.’ ¹³ But to which of the angels has He ever said: ‘Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool’? ¹⁴ Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?” (All scripture is NKJV unless otherwise noted).

We are taking a comprehensive look at the book of Hebrews. I hope that you are looking forward to the journey. Last week we looked at the finished work on the Cross. Jesus was and is the only complete sacrifice for our sins, and there are no other sacrifices needed. The work has been completed, and so, unlike all of the High Priests before Him, He is able to sit down. It is finished.

Today, we will dispel any teaching that classes Jesus as merely an Angel. In the Old Testament, He is often seen as the Angel of the Lord; we see that in Judges 6:11-23, where He appears to Gideon. We see Him in Genesis 22:11-15, where He appears to Abraham, and in Judges 13: 3-22, He appears to Samson’s parents. We can offer more, but it is clear in each case that the people understood they had seen God. Samson’s dad feared he would die because he had seen God. Here in these verses in Hebrews 1, we will see that God the Father clearly shows us that Jesus is God. The goal of Hebrews is similar to the goal in the Mount of Transfiguration; this was to set apart Jesus.

“And a cloud came and overshadowed them; and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, ‘This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!'” (Mark 9:7).

God was reinforcing that Jesus was His Beloved Son, the 2nd Person of the Godhead who was in His glorious state surrounded by Moses and Elijah. The apostles had not seen Jesus in His glory until that day. They saw the Light that surrounded Him and engulfed Him in His perfection. They were in awe, dumbfounded, and it left an impression on them. Hebrews expands on that wonder; it forces us to come to the right conclusions about who Jesus is: God in the flesh.

1. Jesus my Son, verse 5

We have to remember that Jesus is a Jew, and the primary focus of the communication was with the Jews. The Gospels and now this book, Hebrews, is primarily for the Jews. Now the Gospel is for all men, but Jesus came to ‘His own’ referring to the Jewish people. In John 5:17-18, Jesus has an encounter, one of many, where the people tried to kill Him, and in these verses, we find out why they wanted to kill Him.

“But Jesus answered them, ‘To this very day My Father is at His work, and I too am working.’ Because of this, the Jews tried all the harder to kill Him. Not only was He breaking the Sabbath, but He was even calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God” (Berean Study Bible).

Jesus claimed to be God’s Son, and by so doing, the Jews understood that He was making Himself equal to God. There are many people who will tell you that Jesus never claimed to be God; that is false. The Jews, in fact, understood exactly what He was saying, and it was an executable offense. Since we know that Jesus never sinned, then His claim was, in fact, truthful. God the Father calls Jesus ‘My Son’; the begotten part we know refers to the virgin birth. Jesus was there from the very creation.

“In the beginning, was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him, nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men” (John 1:1-4).

He is God, He created everything, and He is the Son of God, equal to God in all parts, in power, in knowledge, and in presence. He submitted Himself to the Cross because He loves mankind and desires to have fellowship with him. Jesus is God’s Son, making Him equal with God. He is not an angel.

2. Jesus is to be Worshipped, verse 6

True angels of God do not allow men to worship them. In Colossians 2:18, the worship of angels is forbidden in the New Testament church. “Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind.”

The very first commandment tells us not to have any other gods. God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, is the only God. But God commands that we worship and that angels worship Jesus, His beloved and begotten Son. Thus, Jesus is God as well; God cannot command you to break a commandment. In Revelation 22:6-9, we find John as he is coming to the end of the book, and he is in the presence of an angel about to worship him. The angel is adamant that this does NOT happen.

“Then he said to me, ‘These words are faithful and true.’ And the Lord God of the holy prophets sent His angel to show His servants the things which must shortly take place. ‘Behold, I am coming quickly! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.’ Now I, John, saw and heard these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things. Then he said to me, ‘See that you do not do that. For I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.'”

The angel stopped John from worshipping him; he told him to worship God only. Why? Angels are simply servants to God and servants to help us. They serve those that keep the words of this book, referring to the Revelation. Angels are not to be worshipped, and those that accept man’s worship are not God’s angels. Jesus is to be worshipped by both men and angels. He is not an angel; He is God.

3. Jesus will Rule the Universe, verses 8-9

This is not a job for angels. To be the Ruler of the Universe, one must be Omni-Present and All-Power as well as All-Knowing; angels do not fit this description. Now, we know that there will be an earthly Kingdom of Jesus founded and situated in Israel on the seat of King David. This is known as the Millennial Kingdom; we find this in many places in the Bible. In Revelation 20:1-6, we see that we will get to reign with Jesus for 1,000 years.

“Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while.

“And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.”

But then, after the final Judgment happens, we get a New Heaven and Earth, and that is the one that lasts forever. See Revelation 21:9-14 and beyond.

“Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me, saying, ‘Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife.’ And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal. Also she had a great and high wall with twelve gates, and twelve angels at the gates, and names written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west. Now the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.”

This eternal city will be forever and forever. In it and from it, Jesus will rule the Universe as the Supreme King. God the Father has decreed this. It will happen. God once again reinforces that Jesus is God, the Creator in Hebrews 1:10; He is the one who laid the foundation of Heaven and earth. He adds that they are perishing, BUT JESUS remains. He is eternal; He is outside of Creation. In verse 12, we are told that Jesus is the same and that His years will not fail. Jesus has no end; the creation is growing old and decaying, but Jesus is not. And then in verse 14, one day, God will make all of Jesus’ enemies His footstool. He is suppressing and subduing all of them. Jesus is not an angel; Jesus is God.

You cannot be saved unless you accept that Jesus is God. Nothing less will do, and no other belief is acceptable for salvation.

In the words of the Ethiopian Eunuch, Acts 8:37: “Then Philip said, ‘If you believe with all your heart, you may.’ And he answered and said, ‘I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.'”

God bless you,

Dr. Sean Gooding
Pastor of Mississauga Missionary Baptist Church

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