Monday, September 29, 2008

All is in Subjection to him

Now when I study the bible I try to take chunks at a time that make sense. This next chunk is rather large, not sure if I'll get through it all today or not. But from Hebrews 2 we get these words:
5Now it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking. 6It has been testified somewhere,

"What is man, that you are mindful of him,
or the son of man, that you care for him?
7You made him for a little while lower than the angels;
you have crowned him with glory and honor,

8putting everything in subjection under his feet."

Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him. 9But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

10For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering. 11For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers, 12saying,

"I will tell of your name to my brothers;
in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise."

13And again,

"I will put my trust in him."

And again,

"Behold, I and the children God has given me."

14Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. 16For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. 17Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. 18For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

Remember, the author is talking about how Christ is superior to the angels, and since he is, the words he speaks are all the more worth listening to and heeding.

In this next section he quotes a section from Psalm 8 (one of my favourite psalms by the by). For a short time, Christ was made a little lower than the angels, just for a little while. And Christ has been crowned with glory and honour. AND God put everything in subjection to him. Now what does that mean?

To have something placed in subjection means that someone else has the authority, the control over you. God put everything in subjection to Christ. Even though we don't see it all the time, that's the way it is. Everything is under the control of Christ.
Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him. 9But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

I'm not going to say that I understand it all. After all, if one has been given the control, why is that same one made less than something that is in subjection to you? But I do know that the author is being clear about the superiority of Christ to the angels. Angels aren't to be worshiped, CHRIST is. Christ is better, his words are better. He's just better all round. He is the one that everything else is in subjection to.

The author goes on to say that it was through Christ that all things exist. It was through Christ that salvation is found. Salvation was perfected through the suffering of Christ.

The rest of this passage has deep stuff to think about so I'm going to leave it for now. Please leave your thoughts on this passage if you have them. I feel like I am merely skimming the surface of all God can teach me here.

5 comments:

Kim said...

You know, the more I study Scripture, the more I see the need to look at "chunks." It really makes a difference.

Annette said...

it's way more useful isn't it Kim? Than to just take bits and pieces, you don't get the context then. I'm finding more and more that context is very important.

Kay Martin said...

I'm a Bible teacher and student. I love your enthusiasm to soak in God's Word. I recall the first chapter of John helped me grasp this truth that you have hit upon.

The Word Made Flesh. In the beginning was the Word, etc. This opened up Truth to me that Christmas was not Jesus Christ's beginning. I could "see" the Divine nature of Jesus. Apostle John directed me back to the beginning, recorded in Genesis, and affirms: (1) That he who was afterwards manifest as the Christ existed before creation began; (2) that he was present with God; (3) that he was divine; (4) that he was the Word; (5) that by or through him were all things made that were made (Joh 1:3). The first chapter of Genesis helps us to understand its meaning. God said, Let there be light (Ge 1:3), Let there be a firmament (Ge 1:6), Let the earth bring forth (Ge 1:11), etc. and it was done. God exhibits his creative power through the Word, and manifests his will through the Word.

I don't understand, but I stand in awe that Jesus Christ, my Saviour, is at the center of all; and has always been. The relationship between Father God and Jesus Christ, Son, Word of God and Holy Spirit is a mystery to me; but I grasp enough to bow humbly and submit to Jesus as the Way to life eternal that is within me now and forever.

God speaks to me through His Word. He creates and speaks to man through the Word. Jesus Christ is the Word of Almighty God clothed in flesh; and He is the Teacher of all men who recognize this revelation.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

"1:1-5 The plainest reason why the Son of God is called the Word, seems to be, that as our words explain our minds to others, so was the Son of God sent in order to reveal his Father's mind to the world. The Word was with God. All things were made by him, and not as an instrument. Without him was not any thing made that was made, from the highest angel to the meanest worm."

Thanks for stirring me up.

Rileysowner said...

Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him. 9But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

You pointed to this as something you did not understand. I agree there is an aspect to it that is beyond our understanding, but there is much that we can understand about it. It can often help to break it down a bit either sentence by sentence or point by point.

"Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control."

The point of this is pretty clear. God the Father has placed everything under the Son's dominion. He is the authority over all things, nothing is outside of his control. This certainly sets his apart as far superior to angels as it would mean they are under his authority as is the whole creation now that he has ascended to the right hand of the Father in heaven.

"At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him."

Again, the point here is fairly clear, although it does bring some difficulty for while everything is, in truth, under Christ's authority, at the same time what we experience around us doesn't make it look that way. We do not see evil and wickedness being removed. We see tyrants, terrorists, and the like seemingly having free reign. We see the church persecuted and wandering away from the Word of God. So what we experience right now is not what we would expect with Christ having everything placed under him. That is clear enough as our own experience testifies to both personally and from looking at the world around us.

The difficulty this statement brings is the question of how can this be? How can Christ have dominion and yet that dominion not be evident in the world? That leads to the next sentence.

"But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone."

We don't see in the world around us that Christ has all dominion, but what we do see is Christ himself in his person and work. We see that he was, for a little while as he walked this earth, made lower than the angels. And we see that now he is after his suffering and death, in fact, because of his suffering and death, crowned with glory and honor. That is, we see and know Christ is glorified, raised from the dead, and now seated at the right hand of God. We know him in his glory now. Glory such that when John saw him on the island of Patmos, he fell to the ground as if dead.

In seeing him in this glory and honor that he received because of his suffering and death in the place of his people, death that was died in the place of all those in him, we can see that in seeming defeat and shame, came honor and glory. So while the world may not seem to be under his dominion now. While it may seem that wickedness and wandering has the upper hand. Just as in his death which seemed to be defeat, so also in the midst of what we see around us now, we can know that Christ is really and truly in full authority over all things.

That is the best I can do without taking much more time with the passage. So while there is mystery that waits to be revealed at his coming, there is much that is clear and should lead us to see even more the superiority of Christ over all things.

Annette said...

Thanks hun... that helped make everything a lot more clearer. I appreciate you taking the time to write this out clearly for me. :)