ch. 2:5-18

The royalty of man - human nature, restored to its

imperial dignity, is destined to ultimate exaltation

above angelic nature - I Peter 1:3-7, 10-12

It is only “for a little while” that man is to remain

“lower” than they.

(recommend a study on the “little whiles” in the

Bible - shows up in 9 books)

Importance of a concordance!

v. 5 - “the world to come” - how much thought

have you put in that? how much stock

have you invested?

“Lay up for yourselves treasures” - Matt. 6:20

II Peter 3:13

vs. 6-8 - Psalm 8

Man was created in God’s image and invested

with a sovereignty little short of Divine!

(Perhaps to take the place of disposed Satan

and his cronies - thus the devil’s jealousy &

enmity)

Humanity had a splendid origin! Though temporarily

clothed in a mortal body, our nature did not crawl up

to its present position from “primeval slime” it

belonged from the beginning to the same order of

being as God its Maker! The first man was not

a savage - he was the crown of reason and

conscience and moral freedom.

He was made in “the image of God” and God

is “mindful of him” and “visited him”

God placed in man’s hand the sceptre of

authority over all the world’s creatures.

We have not lived up to this ideal, but Christ

the Exalter of humanity does -

This position was forfeited through sin.

The failure of man to realize this sovereignty -

v. 8

“what is man that thou are mindful of him?”

Job 7:17

The Psalmist considers God’s transcendent

glory and contrasts man’s insignificance and

unworthiness.

Man’s appointed position is beyond what he

seems to realize now!

v. 7 - “thou madest him a little short of God”-

“after God’s likeness” - given dominion

over creation..

v. 8 - We do not now see man occupying

this implied position of complete

sovereignty!

“now we see not yet all things subjected

to him”

Why? Man’s nature is debased - modern

philosophy which has infiltrated true science,

claims “man’s course is one of upward

development” but that is far from reality - it

has been a course of deterioration from the

golden age of his origin.

The crown has fallen from our head -

witness America’s decline to paganism.

Man uses his freedom to destroy his

innocence! Modern man’s spiritual nature

is in ruins! (and doesn’t know it - compare the ignornace

of Samson in Judges 16:20 - "I will go out as at other times

before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the Lord

had departed from him.") He (modern man) is the

slave of his own evil passions - he feels far

away from God and has lost fellowship with him.

As soon as Adam rebelled against God even

nature began to renounce allegiance to man.

Since the Fall, man has not been able to master

even the material world - how impotent man is

in presence of earthquake, tsunami, disease

and death - Exhibit A - Hurricane Katrina

about a year ago?

The strange apparent contradiction

between man as he is and man as he feels

he should be???

It is only in Christ alone that man attains

his appointed destiny!

v. 9 - human nature has been exalted in

the Person of Christ - “that He by

the grace of God, should taste death

for EVERY MAN”

“because of the suffering of death crowned

with glory and honor”

The whole work of redemption is “of grace”

Man’s re-coronation is in Christ - while on

earth, Jesus exhibited the Divine ideal of

a man - we know what is meant by “in God’s

image” when we behold “Him” - Christ’s

spotless purity and fellowship with God while

He continued on earth “a little lower than the

angels”

Christ’s death, burial and resurrection gives

man the power to reach up to that IDEAL!

His blood has power to renew and sanctify

each and every human soul! The benefits

of His death is available to all - “tasted

death for every man”

We can and will partake of “the glory and

honor” with which Christ has been “crowned”!

v. 10 - “to make the Captain of their salvation

perfect through sufferings” - a design

worthy of Him for whom and through

whom are all things!

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is the High

Priest of humanity!

The necessity of His sufferings - Isaiah 53:10-11

Christ’s glory is the recompense which the Father

has given Him for His sufferings - only after

making satisfaction on the cross for human sin

could Jesus ascend to the immeasurable height

of supreme authority, as God-Man, where He

now sits enthroned. (think of the world’s attitude

towards Jesus Christ today) DON’T NEGLECT

SO GREAT A SALVATION by getting led astray

by perverted congressmen, Hollywood or ACLU

It is the purpose of God “to bring many sons

unto glory” but this can only be effected through

Christ as the “Author of salvation” - it is through

Him alone that a sinner, estranged from God, can

be made a “son of God”, exchanging his career

of sin, guilt and enmity towards God for a life of

grace which shall at length be consummated in glory!

CHRIST, GOD’S SERVANT “SHALL JUSTIFY

MANY”

He shall bring to glory such multitudes of all

nations, and kindreds, and peoples, and tongues,

as to entitle Him to be called with the fullest

emphasis - The Savior of men and the Redeemer

of the world!

Matt. 8:11 Rev. 21:24

v. 11 - The Father sent the Son into the

world to be the Firstborn of many sons!

He also associates Himself with men as

His brethren.

v. 14 - “He also Himself likewise took

part of the same (humanity)”

In like manner - the full spectrum of human

feelings and experiences

“that through death He might destroy him

that had the power of death, that is, the

devil”

The object of Christ’s becoming one of us

is said to be that of dying that He might

effect REDEMPTION!

v. 15 - till redemption man was all his

lifetime in fear of death - its shadow

was cast upon him from birth.

“Christ brought life and immortality to

light” - II Tim. 1:10

Even now, natural man shrinks from death

as the last great evil but Jesus Christ, by

His death, burial and resurrection, has

wrested from the devil his power over

death and has emancipated believers

from their state of bondage.

Christ is not here said to have as yet

abolished death itself; only to have

rendered impotent him that had the

power of it, for natural death still reigns,

though to believers, it has lost its sting.

The Bible teaches that in the end, death

itself will be destroyed.

I Cor. 15:26 Rev. 20:14, 21:4

v. 17 - “a merciful and faithful High Priest

in things pertaining to God, to make

reconciliation for the sins of the people”

He who suffered is the same personage as

mentioned in ch. 1:1-3, the Creator and

Possessor of the universe.

The humanization of God is the divinization

of man.

v. 18 - Christ acquired this by becoming man

and enduring all that man faces!

Christ assumed human nature to redeem it!

THANKS BE TO GOD FOR THIS

UNSPEAKABLE GIFT!

“Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to

love one another” - I John 4:11