Lesson for July 6, 2014
The Book of Hebrews
Chapter 2:5-9
Verse 5
“For He did not subject to angels the world to come, concerning which we are speaking.”
This is a reference to the Millennium. Jesus Christ will rule throughout the Millennium along with believers, but not angels. “For he has not put under the authority of angels the coming civilization, concerning which we communicate.”
Verse 6
“But one has testified somewhere saying, “What is man that Thou rememberest him or the son of man that Thou art concerned about him?”
The word one means someone, referring to the human author of Psalm 8 which was David. When David wrote Psalm 8 he was totally occupied with the Person of Jesus Christ and living his spiritual life. David gave a tremendous expression of occupation with the Person of Jesus Christ in Psalm 8. David gave an intense testimony as to Who and what Jesus Christ is because he had tremendous amount of Bible doctrine in his soul. What is man refers to the fact that all members of the human race are born into this world spiritually dead.
The moment we are physically alive is the moment we are spiritually dead to God. We are born with a sin nature, we do not acquire a sin nature and we do not become sinners by a personal act of sin. The only persons who ever became sinners by a personal act of sin were Adam and Eve. Adam became negative toward the prohibition of God and partook of the forbidden fruit, and at that point he became a sinner, and he acquired a sin nature. Adam or Eve did not previously have a sin nature; he was not created with a sin nature. God is not the author of sin. God has nothing to do with sin, He doesn’t sponsor sin, but He does condemn it. Adam became a sinner by an act of his own volition. Adam acquired a sin nature by sinning; you and I acquired a sin nature by being born. Since all of us are born into this world spiritually dead, possessing a sin nature, we are all under a concept called total depravity. Personal sin of any category is merely a manifestation of the possession of the sin nature. So here we have, “who is mankind that you yourself remember him.” Adam was in perfect environment and had everything going for him when he failed.
The son of man is a reference to the progeny of Adam. God could have forgotten the whole deal when Adam sinned, but He didn’t. And He remembers each one of us. He remembered us when we were spiritually dead. It is actually, “a son of man,” there is no definite article. The absence of the definite article in Greek calls attention to the condition of the human race in spiritual death. There is great emphasis here on the fact that the whole progeny of Adam is spiritually dead. God actually came to the aid of all members of the human race at the Cross.
Verse 7-8
“Thou hast made him for a little while lower than the angels; Thou hast crowned him with glory and honor. And hast appointed him over the works of Thy hands; Thou hast 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.”
For a brief time God has made man inferior to the angels, but it will not always be this way. In the future believers will rule over angels and they will serve us. While angels are superior to mankind by creation they have one area in common with man, and that is in the area of free will or volition. It is the free will of mankind which plays a part in resolving the Angelic Conflict. The free will of the humanity of Christ took Him to the Cross and that is where Satan’s “back was broken.” The free will of man can express in a non-meritorious manner what Satan cannot stand, which is responding to the grace of God and doing the will of God. In the future believers have resurrection bodies, and at that point they will be physically superior to angels.
To crown was a term from the athletic games of Rome used for recognizing a winner and it refers to Adam. When Adam was created he was crowned the ruler of the world. The glory belonged to God and He crowned Adam with it. Adam was given both the glory and the honor of God when he was created. He was also created ruler of this earth. Adam was created as a perfect human being. Adam lost his crown of God’s glory and honor when he disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden. He lost these through his first sin and his fall, and the result was that Satan became the ruler of this world in his place. Adam lost the sovereignty of the world to Satan, but Jesus Christ, “the last Adam,” will regain it during the Millennium.
God told Adam to subdue the earth, tame many of its animals, control the environment and generally be the custodian of all that God had created. Adam failed miserably and had to be cast from the Garden. Since then, as God predicted, man has struggled to subdue the earth. Therefore, all things are not subjected to him (mankind) at this time.
Verse 9
“But we do see Him Who has been made for a little while lower than the angels, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that by the grace of God He might taste death for every one.”
What is mankind to do during the time Satan rules the world? The answer is in this verse. And the answer is Jesus Christ in His humanity. The Greek word for see is “blepo” and it doesn’t mean just to glance, it means to see something of importance. It means to have perception as a result of seeing. You see something, you analyze it, and you understand it. Jesus Christ in His human body is inferior to angels. Once He was in His resurrection body He was superior. God the Father gave His glory and His honor to one Person, Jesus Christ when Christ sat down at the right hand of the Father. God the Father was satisfied with the work of Christ on the Cross. Then Jesus Christ went from being lower than angels to higher than angels. The Cross, where Christ “tasted death” for all mankind, is the basis for entering into the plan of God at salvation and living the Christian Way of Life. The Christian Way of Life is a life of thinking the thoughts of Jesus Christ. The mind of Christ is the doctrine found in the Word of God, the only source of absolute truth. In order to have the proper thinking, the believer must be consistently learning, believing and applying the Word of God to every circumstance in life. (Philippians 2:5)
God has given all believers a command to grow spiritually and He never gives us a command without giving us the means necessary to obey it. God, therefore, has provided His written instruction book (the Bible) and the filling (control) of the Holy Spirit as our power sources to provide the strength we need to fufill His plan. Both are grace functions for every believer in this age, regardless of education or I.Q. Any believer with a positive attitude towards Bible doctrine can learn, believe and apply it accurately.
At salvation all believers are placed into union with Jesus Christ and become complete in Him (positionally). (Colossians 2:10) However, experientially we are not complete because we still have a sin nature. For this reason all believers are commanded to grow spiritually and to advance toward spiritual maturity. Spiritual maturity and a stabilized mind should be the goal of every person who has trusted Christ as Savior. (Ephesians 4:14-15; James 1:2-8; II Peter 3:18)
Spiritual maturity does not happen overnight. It takes a lifetime of persistent and consistent study to learn Bible doctrine. God’s Word likens spiritual growth to building a house. Often expressed as edification, the concept in Greek is to build or to build up. For the Christian, this occurs in his soul as he exposes himself to accurate Bible teaching and applies the truth that he learns. As with any building, we must be careful to first lay the right foundation before we build on it. The Scripture is clear that the only foundation for the believer is Jesus Christ Himself. We know that the Word of God is the mind of Christ. Therefore, the foundation is the written Word (Christ is the living Word). The written Word of God is meant to be understood and utilized as a blueprint for building your spiritual building (the Christian Way of Life).
The Greek word for edification is “oikodome” and literally means the act of building or erecting a structure. (Ephesians 4:11-29) Like any structure, our “building” in the soul must have a firm foundation and properly constructed “floors.” Our foundation is Jesus Christ and the “floors” are categories of Bible doctrine. Once the foundation is in place, then the believer can begin to build upon it with full confidence that it will stand. The foundation is received at salvation, but the floors must be built over a period of time, as Bible doctrine is learned, believed and properly applied. (Ephesians 4:12,16,29; Colossians 2:7; I Timothy 1:4; James 1:4)
The basis for any system from God is always grace. The word grace itself makes it clear that God’s system for building the spiritual building is void of any human merit, human works, human ability or human viewpoint thinking. The reason that God planned it this way is to eliminate human viewpoint thinking and human production as the means for building anything spiritual. Instead, He provided a non-meritorious system for both perception and execution of the Christian Way of Life: FAITH. We learn how to erect this building in our souls by faith and it takes faith to put into practice. This method is the only one that can bring honor and glory to God. (Hebrews 11:6) The spiritual building is built using the stored Bible doctrine in the mind of the believer. Consistent study and accurate application over a period of time is the method for developing our complex. This building is literally Christ being formed in the soul of the believer. Positionally, Christ is “in” every believer, but He is not “formed” in every believer.
Jesus Christ had this spiritual building formed in His soul. He had all the characteristics of spiritual maturity: 1) He was full of grace and truth 2) He had a relaxed mental attitude 3) He was free from mental attitude sins 4) He had capacity for love and 5) He had divine inner happiness. Christ erected the spiritual building in His soul as a demonstration to all believers that it is possible for us to do the same through the power of the Holy Spirit. (Galatians 4:19; John 1:14)
As believer-priests, we have the opportunity to build a spiritual building in our souls. With Christ as our example, we simply follow His pattern. Christ, as a perfect human being, built this building under the filling of the Holy Spirit as He learned and applied the Word of God. As we abide in Him (fellowship with God) and His word abides in us (Bible doctrine) we are allowing God the Holy Spirit to produce the character of Christ in our lives. (John 15:10) The Bible uses a number of terms to refer to this building process. For example, walking in the light (I John 2:3-11), walking in the Spirit (Galatians 5:16-23), imitators of God (Ephesians 5:1), Christ at home in your hearts (Ephesians 3:17), and Christ formed in you. (Galatians 4:19)
The true function of the believer-priest’s spiritual life is the development of a relationship with God. This relationship is your unseen, private life with God. You and you alone know what that relationship is like. Your life before others, which we call the Christian Life, can be somewhat faked. (I Corinthians 2:9-16) There are many counterfeits to the spiritual life. It is therefore of extreme importance for each of us as believers to learn, understand and execute the true spiritual life. Without a correct understanding of the Biblical spiritual life, the believer will go through life executing some form of legalism or asceticism that will lead to only misery and unhappiness. The spiritual life is not what you do for God, the church or other people. The true spiritual life is your invisible relationship with God.
Building our spiritual complex is a process of transformation (not reformation), which takes place in the mind of the believer as he thinks Bible doctrine (the mind of Christ). We call this thinking Divine Viewpoint Thinking. As our spiritual complex is being built, happiness, stability and blessing are being produced by God the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer. (Romans 12:1-2; Galatians 5:22-23)Your way of life right nowis being influenced by what you think. Since you have free will, you can think whatever you want to think. And, according to Proverbs 23:7, you are what you think.This world system of Satan has a way of thinking that, generally speaking, is contrary to the thinking of God. We call this Human Viewpoint Thinking.
God’s thinking is found in the Word of God. The Bible is more reliable than anything we see, hear, smell, taste, or feel. The Bible is the Word of God the Father, the mind of Jesus Christ and the voice of the Holy Spirit. Once again, we call God’s thinking Divine Viewpoint Thinking. (I Corinthians 2:16; Hebrews 3:7, 4:12; II Peter 1:12-21)In order to have Divine Viewpoint Thinking, you must know the doctrines taught in the Bible. The more Bible doctrine you know and apply, the more Divine Viewpoint Thinking you will be able to utilize. The less Bible doctrine you know, the more Human Viewpoint Thinking you are going to utilize. The more Human Viewpoint Thinking you use, the more insecure and unstable you are going to be. Daily study of God’s Word keeps Divine Viewpoint Thinking fresh in the mind and helps counteract Human Viewpoint Thinking. (Psalms 119:129-135) Thinking your way through life with Divine Viewpoint Thinking will bring victory, peace, power and stability. (Isaiah 26:3-4, 33:6) It also eliminates mental attitude sinning, such as maligning, character assassination, gossiping, jealousy, self-pity, resentment, etc. Vacillating between Divine Viewpoint Thinking and Human Viewpoint Thinking makes a believer unstable and unhappy. (James 1:8)
The Christian Way of Life is a supernatural way of life, which cannot be lived apart from knowledge of Bible doctrine and the guidance of God the Holy Spirit. (Romans 7:6, 8:2; Galatians 5:25; Ephesians 5:18) This way of life requires thinking. All changes in our lives must come from the inside. The true character of the believer is determined by what he thinks, not by what he does. God never forces the believer into any course of action. We determine what our own spiritual lives are going to be based on what we allow ourselves to think. Divine Viewpoint Thinking equals a victorious Christian Way of Life.