S5 || When God Became Low to Lift Us High || Hebrews 2:3-9 || Session 5

What if the message you’ve staked your life on wasn’t just inspiring, but historically confirmed and theologically unshakeable? We continue in Hebrews chapter 2 and follow a clear line: Jesus first spoke the gospel, those who heard confirmed it, and God authenticated their witness with signs, wonders, and gifts given by the Holy Spirit according to his will. That sequence guards the gospel from drift and gives us a sober mandate—receive what was entrusted and pass it on intact to people who can teach others also.

From there we pivot into the heart of Psalm 8 and the mystery of the incarnation. Humanity was crowned with glory and honor and tasked with dominion, yet the fall fractured both creation and our own hearts. We do not yet see all things under our feet. But we do see Jesus. For a little while he was made lower than the angels, not by losing his deity but by adding true humanity. He embraced the limits of our condition, answered the skeptic’s challenge by his chosen humility, and walked the road of the suffering servant. In tasting death for everyone, he turned shame into a crown—glory and honor secured through love that pays the ultimate price.

If you’re hungry for a faith anchored in Scripture, history, and a living Christ, this conversation will steady your steps. Listen, share it with someone who needs clarity, and tell us: what helped you “see Jesus” more clearly today? Subscribe, leave a review, and pass the word to a friend who loves thoughtful Bible teaching.

Chapters

• 0:20 Jesus Is Better Than Angels
• 0:36 Reading Hebrews 2:3–4
• 1:46 Timing: First Hearers To Us
• 3:06 Our Duty: Pass The Message On
• 4:56 Why Miracles Are Called Signs
• 6:29 Spiritual Gifts And Their Purpose
• 8:56 Have Sign Gifts Ceased?
• 10:35 Transition: Jesus’ Full Humanity
• 10:54 Reading Hebrews 2:5–9
• 12:35 Psalm 8 And Human Dominion
• 15:02 The Fall And Lost Dominion
• 16:36 We Do See Jesus
• 18:09 Death, Glory, And Grace For All
• 19:26 Kinsman Redeemer And Hope
• 30:36 Next: The Benefits Of Suffering

Transcript

SPEAKER_01: 0:20

The book of Hebrews tells us that Jesus is better. He's better than the angels, and he had a better message. He is a more significant person that we need to pay attention to lest we neglect it and drift away. Next, we're going to learn about spiritual gifts and the sign gifts that were given to attest to Jesus and his message. If you have your copy of the Word of God, turn to Hebrews chapter 2, and we're going to read verses 3 and 4. Here it's going to talk to us about these signs that were given, and we'll be able to dig out some gold nuggets from that. Steve, can you read verses 3 and 4 of Hebrews chapter 2?

SPEAKER_00: 1:07

How will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard. God also testified with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to his own will.

SPEAKER_01: 1:28

In those verses, it says the message of salvation was first spoken by Jesus, then confirmed by those who heard. Confirmed to us, it says. Steve, we can get some timing out of that, can we not? What can we conclude by how that's phrased?

SPEAKER_00: 1:46

I think it's clear by just the plain text that's here that it says it was confirmed to us, the second generation believers, by those who heard. First, it was those disciples and apostles that directly heard the ministry of Jesus Christ Himself. Then those were the ones that were confirmed by the signs and miracles that were done, then passed down to the us here in verse 3, which are these Hebrew believers, the second generation believers. That's the timing that was associated, I think.

SPEAKER_01: 2:21

That's exactly right. That's what I get from this as well. It says confirmed to us by those who heard. He's not saying confirmed to we who heard. He's speaking those who first heard confirmed it through these sign gifts, and then passed it down to us. Steve, what's the responsibility now for us? The sequence here, Jesus first gave this message. The first generation of apostles heard it, passed it on to the writer of the Hebrews and the next generation, like Timothy, who then passed it on to someone who passed it on to us. What is our responsibility now?

SPEAKER_00: 3:05

I think it's our responsibility now to pass it down to not only the next generation, but also the people that are in our sphere of influence. When we say pass down, we mean by doing things such as what we're doing, teaching verse by verse, going through the scripture and explaining it and studying it, taking our time to understand it a little bit better. That's what we mean by passing down. We're not taking something, converting it to something else, giving it a new meaning, and then passing that down to another generation. No, we're taking the very exact same teachings and passing them along to our fellow peers and also the next generation, our understanding, so that it can then be perpetuated down to the generation after that.

SPEAKER_01: 3:55

We have been given a very, very precious message of precious treasure that has been passed down to us by faithful people. We need to be that faithful person as well and pass it down to others. In the Apostle Paul's last message to his disciple Timothy, the very last messages he gave him in 2 Timothy, he said this quote, the things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. He says that in 2 Timothy 2, too. So we should do the same. We should pass on the wonderful message of Jesus Christ and the wonderful salvation to others who will then be able to teach others. That's our task because it has been passed down to us. When verse 3 then says, confirmed to us by those who heard, how was it confirmed? Well, it says that these were signs. These were miraculous signs. Mark 16, 20 says the apostles took the message of Jesus and spread it through the world, the messages being confirmed with miraculous signs. Miracle are described as signs, it says, a sign that confirmed the message. So, Steve, how is it that a miracle can be called a sign? What is it a sign of and why is it a sign?

SPEAKER_00: 5:26

Well, that's the meaning of the Greek word behind the signs there. They're attesting miracles. They're a testament to the people that the miracles were done through, that they were true and accurate in their teachings of what Jesus Christ taught them. It was a proof that what they were saying was actually true because they were given these power of these attesting miracles signs that confirmed, as the word that's used here, the word and the teachings that were given to them and passed down to this second generation of believers.

SPEAKER_01: 6:06

They had an issue of several people standing before them giving different messages, and they can't all be true. Some of them are false prophets. How do we know the false prophets from the true? Well, if the true prophet had undeniable miraculous signs, then therefore we can tell that was true. That was the purpose of the miracles. It calls them signs. That brings us to the idea of spiritual gifts. I want to take a quick minute here to talk about it because this passage before us in Hebrews 2, verses 3 and 4, talk about these signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to his own will. There's been much discussion in church circles about spiritual gifts. It gets very popular. There'll get to be times where people are very interested in spiritual gifts. People today say miraculous gifts are still in place, and some say that they've ceased to answer this question or at least discuss it here because this passage deals with it. First, it seems that at least some gifts were imparted directly by the apostles personally by the physical laying on of hands and physical touching of people. Two places in the New Testament support that. So it would seem like Paul had to be there personally and physically to impart at least some of the spiritual gifts. Next, here in Hebrews 2.4, says the spiritual gifts were indeed gifts given according to his own will. So spiritual gifts are given by God as he wills. They're not commons, they're not for everyone. They're gifts given by God. We cannot claim that all people would get the same gift, for they are only given according to God's will. We also know that not all people get the gifts. 1 Corinthians 12, 30 tells us that not all are given miraculous gifts. Further, Hebrews 2.3 here in this passage gives some indication about when the sign gifts were used in the church. Verse 3 is clearly speaking of events in the past. He says, quote, after it was at the first spoken by Jesus. And then the verse speaks of the sign gifts in the past tense, quote, was confirmed to us by those who heard, unquote. He doesn't say is being confirmed by us. He says, no, it was confirmed by those who heard, past tense verb. Now, the people that would claim that the miraculous gifts have ceased would give the passages that I just mentioned. Paul had to be there in person. This passage is speaking about them in the past tense, not currently going on. Those people in the past, they had signed wonders. Doesn't say we. The other side of that would say that spiritual gifts are still going, would say that, well, it doesn't say God couldn't give them again if he wanted to. If he wanted to give another miraculous sign, what would keep him from it? The miraculous signs again in the future are a possibility, but we have to remember that the gifts are still that. They were primarily signs that were to confirm the gospel message. They were not just there merely for the benefit of the people in the church. They were signs to confirm a new message to a new group of people. Could God do that again? He could do anything he wants. It's just whether he is. And there's places where the gifts are not as common in the New Testament. That brings us to the next section. Up to now in the book of Hebrews, it's been talking about Jesus as divine. He is God Almighty. He is to be above the creation, above the angels. In this next section, he's going to talk about Jesus as fully human. Steve, can you read verses five to nine?

SPEAKER_00: 10:58

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, but we do see him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. Steve, what's the main point of that passage? I think the main point in this passage here is that we're talking about in this section that Jesus is above all. The author has been talking about Jesus being above the angels. Now he's kind of moving into a section here that's talking about uh Old Testament Psalms again, but it's a psalm reaching back talking about mankind itself, that mankind was created, and that all of creation was put in subject to him. At the latter part of it, he says, but we do see him in verse 9 who was made a little while lower than the angels, namely Jesus. So I think in this section that we just read here, he's associating Jesus with mankind. That creation was put in subjection to man. If you go back and read the psalm, I think it's Psalm 8 where this comes from, it talks about the creatures and everything else being put in subjection to mankind himself, and that the writer is now associating Jesus' human portion of him, the human form of him, the fully manned part of him to mankind itself. It's basically saying here's Jesus above everything else, even above the angels, yet he lowered himself temporarily to the level of mankind himself so that he could walk among us and be with us. I think that's the general idea that the author is making during this section.

SPEAKER_01: 13:36

This is just so fantastic and it is so wonderful to us as humans that God, who is so far above us that we are separated from him, but yet he stepped down into humanity and put on humanity. He didn't take away from his deity, but he added humanity to it in the form of Jesus. The main point of this is that Jesus is not only fully God Almighty, but he is fully human. Jesus was given authority over the entire world because Adam was given authority over the entire world, but he lost it. Jesus came and he had what the angels didn't have. God's most powerful and magnificent beings, the angels, were not given what Jesus was given, the authority over creation. That's what's the main passage here. We'll walk through this and kind of get some key points. Verse 6 here, I just find it incredible. He just quotes these Old Testament passages and it fits them perfectly in with the teachings of Christ. This writer has memorized the Old Testament. I'm convinced of it. As you said, Steve, he's quoting Psalm 8. This Psalm was speaking about how God is gracious for considering mankind and giving us dominion over the earth. Remember, Adam in the very beginning in the garden was given dominion over the garden. And it says here in verse 5, the world to come, that really means the inhabited earth that is to come. What it's saying here is that there's a transition that's talking about the future earthly rule of Jesus over the earth. The passage is talking about the coming future earthly kingdom of Christ reigning on earth because it's talking about the world here, it's the inhabited world. Jesus is fully human, so he gets all the privileges of being human. Hebrews is saying that Jesus has a human nature and has dominion over the earth. Chapter one pointed out that Jesus is God Almighty. Now, chapter two is pointing out that Jesus is fully human. He is both God and man. It's quoting these passages in the Old Testament that talked about mankind and saying Jesus fits into this. The Holy Spirit gives us this interpretation of these Old Testament passages. Now we can see Christ revealed in these Old Testament passages. Psalm 8 was just talking about how regular humans have dominion over the earth. Well, Jesus is now fully human, so he gets dominion over the earth. Steve, verse 6, it says, What is man that you would remember him? Why would the Almighty, Eternal, Infinite God have any concern at all for human beings?

SPEAKER_00: 16:41

I think that's what the psalmist was really getting at is the wonderment that God, the creator of everything and even ourselves, mankind, why is it that he would even consider him this lowly creation that he has made? I think it goes with the fact that whenever God created mankind, he told him, go forth, be fruitful, multiply. He put in subjection to him all the other creation. I think that the author is associating the psalmist in Psalm 8, and that God, the creator, that he is thinking of the creation itself to the point that he would give them this responsibility to be over all of the creatures and creation itself, with Jesus himself coming down, as you just pointed out a while ago, taking on the form of man himself, dwelling among mankind for a period of time, and personally giving teachings to mankind himself in the form of a man. Why would God, the creator, even take time out of whatever he might be doing to do this and consider the creation, the thing that he has made and created to go to this extent in order to communicate with him and bring about a way of salvation for him. I think that's the reason why the author is connecting this back to Psalm 8. God, why would you even consider us lowly creation and the things that you have given and provided for us even greater than that? The writer says that Jesus Christ Himself has come down, taken on the form of a man, and talked and dwelt among us. Give us the teachings and the way that we can have salvation to be able to be righteous in front of God and to be able to have a life living in the presence of God. I think that it's just a wonderful thing that the writer's trying to communicate to this second generation of believers of Hebrews here that he's talking to.

SPEAKER_01: 18:58

Genesis tells us that God created mankind in his image. It is a great privilege to be made in God's image. It's a great privilege to be given this wonderful earth that we have with all of its benefits. Humans were given dominion originally over all the earth. And it is a great privilege to have this and to have God's image in us. 1 Peter 1:12 says that angels are longing to see the way that God deals with humans. They're fascinated with this idea of creating a free creature in his image that can walk away or love. Yet here we have Jesus stepping down into humanity and taking on the humanity, putting humanity onto his deity. Therefore, Jesus has this same image and this same dominion that we have. It is a great privilege to have a God that has stepped into our shoes. Now, at the end of verse 8, it says, He left nothing that is not subject to him, meaning mankind, but now we do not yet see all things subjected to him. Steve, what happened? Why is it that all things are not on the earth, not subject to humans now?

SPEAKER_00: 20:22

Well, we have the fall of mankind that happened through Adam and Eve. Eve was deceived by the serpent, which we are later told is Satan himself. Adam disobeyed by partaking of the fruit of the tree of knowledge and evil. Because of that disobedience, now mankind has to toil the ground with the sweat of his brow and the other cursings that came about in Genesis chapter 3. There. The bottom line from that is that we lost it through the fall of mankind, and that no longer is everything subject to us. Not only that, but Satan now has a place in this world. We're told in other parts of scripture that he is the prince over the this world currently that we are in and living in and experiencing. There's going to be a time whenever he is going to be taken care of, but for now, we are not in a place where we originally were at the creation in the Garden of Eden. We're in a state considered a fallen state and we're in need of restoration, which Jesus Christ has provided a way for us to achieve that.

SPEAKER_01: 21:40

Not only have we lost dominion over the physical world, at least can't control the ocean tides and can't control the storms, but we've also, because of sin, we've lost some control over even ourselves. Mankind is so sinful that all leaders have some degree of depraved behavior. And even the best human beings, as far as leadership and how to control ourselves, we are all deep down very depraved, and we can't control ourselves. That's what he's saying here. All things are not subject at the end of verse eight. At the end of verse eight and end of verse nine, what we do see is Jesus. We do see Jesus. He came and became a man. It says in verse 9, we do see him who was made for a little while lower than the angels. Through Jesus, our sin is canceled. We will ultimately regain the position that we lost. The end of verse eight, we don't see all things subject to mankind today. When we're glorified and the curse on the earth is removed, then we will have our dominion back. We do see Jesus. The question for us, verse 9, it says, We do see him who was made for a little while. The question we should ask ourselves and all those around us is do you see Jesus? Do you see Jesus? Do you see Jesus, this wonderful God that stepped into human skin and became fully human, just like you, just like I. Verse 9 has this great, grand theological concept. Jesus pre-existed. Then when he added humanity to his deity, he was made a little lower than the angels. Jesus temporarily humbled himself to be a little lower than the angels. And the emphasis here is on temporary nature. He was for a little while made lower than the angels. Think of it. Skeptics will then turn around and ask how Jesus could not know the day or the hour of his coming in Mark 13, 32. That's one of the chestnut questions from the atheist and the skeptics. How come he couldn't that there was a fact that he didn't know? Well, quite simply, Jesus took on humanity, and while on earth, the first time he was here, he was made a little lower than the angels. Jesus voluntarily limited himself to serve in the role of the suffering servant. Jesus was fully human, yet without sin. And because of that, he took on the role of submitted suffering servant. The question for all of us is: do we see Jesus in all of his glory? Do we see Jesus for who he actually is, or are we just looking for things to criticize? In verse nine, twice mentions that Jesus died. It says, because of the sufferings of death, crowned with glory and honor. Steve, what is the connection between Jesus' death and him being crowned with glory and honor?

SPEAKER_00: 25:03

I think part of it goes back to verse six that says, What is man that you remember him? You know, Glenn, there's a teaching out there that God created everything, including mankind, and then just kind of walked away, and that we're down here just trying to make the best of everything that we can. This teaching here through the Psalms says, No, that God, you remembered us, that He remembered mankind to the point that Jesus, second person of the Trinity, came and temporarily took on the form of a man, a little lower than the angels, so that he might die for us, taste death as a payment for the penalty that we have against us, and of course, then resurrected. That's the final part of it that gives us our hope is the resurrection. I think it all fits together here of what the author is trying to convey. God didn't just create mankind and walk away. No, he knows that man fell, lost the dominion that was given to him, yet he himself came in the form of a man in order to provide a way of redemption so that mankind might be able to be redeemed back to that state that he was originally created in in the Garden of Eden. I think it's just a great story about the God that we have and how much that he loves us that he did all of this.

SPEAKER_01: 26:33

Again, says at the end of verse 9, crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. There's a connection between his death and being crowned with glory. His death was the ultimate act of love. He died out of love for us. Jesus was sinless and did not have to die, but he voluntarily died for you and for me. Jesus' self-sacrifice saved countless numbers of people because of an act of love. That's where it's talking about there. That's why he has glory and honor, is because he did the ultimate sacrifice. At the end of verse 9, he might taste death for everyone. Well, one of the theological arm wrestling matches that the theologians do is whether Jesus died only for the ones he intended to save, or whether Jesus died for all people. Hebrews 2.9 says Jesus died for everyone. However, Hebrews 7.25 tells us who actually are saved, for it tells us Jesus saves, quote, those who draw near to God through him, since he lives to make intercession for them. Jesus' death makes salvation available to everyone, but it only is effective for those who receive the gift of salvation by faith. So, Steve, here I see in this passage, he spent chapter one at these lofty heights talking about how wonderful Jesus is as a person by whom and for whom everything was made. He could sit in the throne room. He's called God by the Father. Yet here in chapter two, he was born in a lowly manger and he knows death just like all of us. We're going to see in the coming passages that he was tempted in all ways just like we are. We have a wonderful Savior that's not only God Almighty, but he stepped into humanity and lived like we did so that he could identify with us. That is the ultimate act of love.

SPEAKER_00: 28:42

I think the writer of Hebrews is introducing the concept of the kinsman redeemer. And you can see that play out in the book of Ruth. But there were three things that the kinsman redeemer needed to have in order to redeem his kinsman back from whatever situation that they were in. One, he needed to be a kinsman. Second, he needed to have the means or the monetary way in order to provide the redemption. And the third thing is he had to be willing to do it. We see that in Jesus Christ, he is our kinsman because he came and became mankind. He was temporarily a little lower than the angels. And of course, he paid our price and that he was willing to do that. We'll talk about that a little bit later in some of our other sessions in Hebrews, but I believe that the author is introducing that concept to these Hebrew believers who would be very well versed in knowing about the kinsman redeemer and what that brings about and how it would come about to the believers. I think the writer is just really masterful in the way that he is constructing this letter to these Hebrew believers.

SPEAKER_01: 29:55

We'll probably stop here now for time because we've got. Some great things ahead of us. Tune in next time because we're going to answer the question: are there any benefits to suffering? Most people don't want to suffer. We avoid suffering, but the Bible tells us there are some benefits to suffering. We trust that you'll be back here again with us next time as we reason through the book of Hebrews.

SPEAKER_00: 30:20

Thank you so much for watching and listening. And as always, may the Lord bless you.