Thu, 27 April, 2006: Today’s Bible readings.

Hebrews 2:5-9

⁵ Now it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking. ⁶ It has been testified somewhere,

“What is man, that you are mindful of him,
or the son of man, that you care for him?
⁷ You made him for a little while lower than the angels;
you have crowned him with glory and honor,
⁸ putting 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. ⁹ 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.

The book of Hebrews is all about revealing the glory and authority of Jesus Christ. Working from the Old Testament scriptures, we see again and again how they are fulfilled in Jesus Christ.

What do we learn from this?

What an amazing and all encompassing statement. Everything is in subjection to Jesus Christ. There is nothing that is outside His control. Without any exception, Jesus Christ is King and Lord of all.

Where is Christ in this passage?

We don’t see everything in subjection to Jesus Christ right now. We don’t see everyone express their explicit submission. In fact, we see most people are in open rebellion against Jesus Christ. Does this mean that He isn’t king? Not at all. In His grace, He has chosen to allow those in rebellion to Him to continue. Were it not for His sustaining these rebels, they, and their rebellion, would end immediately.

And we have this glorious hope. As this passage tells us: Jesus Christ will continue reigning, progressively bringing more and more of His rebellious creation into submission, until everything is in subjection under His feet. We have not reached the end of His work in the world, and we can anticipate that He will, through the fruitful preaching of the gospel, bring the rebels to submission.