Good morning to everyone. Beautiful weather, spring weather, felt like spring this morning with a thunderstorm and a little bit of warmth. I think we're gonna have a little winter again before it's over, but it's coming. I thank pastor for his comments to start this morning speaking of the fall of man back in the garden and then the hope that we have in Jesus. 

That's really the whole of our message this morning: to understand what God's intention is for man and for reconciliation in Christ, to understand the fall and then to understand our hope that we have in Jesus. Verse 9 is a key verse, but we see Jesus. Pastor talked about how in the beginning man was put out, how in the end there's the call, the welcome to come to Jesus, and then we kind of live in this middle, the already but not yet. Jesus has accomplished our salvation, he's won the victory, but it's not yet made manifest. 

So in this time when everything is not right, we see Jesus, and that's our message this morning. It's going to be a little bit complicated getting there, so keep your thinking cap on and pay attention. 

We come to a very interesting passage in Hebrews 2 at verse 5 this morning, and the key word for understanding is translated the world in verse 5. It's the Greek word oikumene and it means the inhabited earth, and the interesting thing to notice is that this verse says the world, the inhabited earth, is yet to come. The world to come, he says. This is a future inhabited earth, and considering the context of the Old Testament quotes that we looked at in chapter 1 last time about Jesus' rule and reign on this earth, sitting on David's throne as he sits as king of kings and Lord of lords, we understand this world to come, this inhabited earth yet to come, as the millennial reign of Jesus Christ on this earth. 

Now the question is, how does this fit into the context and the flow of what the author is trying to teach us about Jesus being so much better than the angels? Well, the Holy Spirit makes heavy weight here of the rule and reign of Jesus, especially in the end of chapter 1, of the bringing of all things into submission under him in this world to come. 

We will see that this fits perfectly into his argument as he states the truth that God has not put the world to come in subjection to angels, but to Jesus and also to the saints of God who will rule and reign with him. Angels, on the other hand, are ministering spirits to God and to man. 

So let's look at our text together. Verse 5, it says, “For he has not put the world to come of which we speak in subjection to angels, but one testified in a certain place, saying, What is man that you are mindful of him, or the Son of man that you take care of him? You have made him a little lower than the angels. You have crowned him with glory and honor and set him over the works of your hands. You have put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. 

Now here's a key phrase, “But now we do not yet see all things put under him, but we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, that he, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone.”

I've given you three points on your outline. First, we're going to look at God's intention for man. Second, man's subjection. And third, we see Jesus. 

Well, if you'll bear with me a little bit, I'd like to begin by just giving an overview in the direction and the intention of this passage, sort of a skeletal framework that we can then go back and hang some flesh on. Again, we see in the first verse that there's an inhabited earth to come, a kingdom on this earth, and this is the promised kingdom for Israel. This is what they were waiting on. 

You got to remember, the author's writing to Jews, he's writing to Hebrews, and we know even from the reaction of the Apostles in the Gospels and their understanding of the Christ and the Messiah that they had firmly in their minds a deliverer who would set up a political kingdom for Israel on this earth. It's the promise of a king. It's a promise of the Messiah reigning from David's throne, and watch this now, it's a promise of setting all things right in this world. 

He will rule with a rod of iron, exercising God's intention and creation and his subsequent plan of redemption and reconciliation in Christ post-fall. He uses the military term here for setting things in order under command. It's translated subjection in our text. He's not put the world to come in subjection. He has not put the world, the order, the ruling, the administration under angels. He's put the world to come in subjection to Christ and to his saints who will reign and rule with him. 

God will set things right in the kingdom to come, and the administration, the rule, will be carried out as he always intended, and I think this is the key to understanding this text. We must go back to the intention for man when God created him, and this is most fascinating. 

When the author quotes the psalmist in verse 6 saying, “What is man that you are mindful of him, or the son of man that you take care of him?” The old King James says that you visit him. You've made him a little lower than the angels. You've crowned him with glory and honor and set him over the works of your hands. You've put all things in subjection under his feet. 

Well, who's he talking about here? When he says man, when he says son of man, who's he talking about? You'll notice that man and son of man are not capitalized in your Bible, and that you referring to God is, and now this is just an interpretation of the translators of the Bible, but I want to give you some more solid evidence that man and son of man, these references, in these passages refer not to Jesus, but to Adam's race, to mankind. 

He uses the term anthropos here, translated man, and it refers to mankind. Listen to Weiss' comment on verse 6. He says the question as to whether the Messiah or man is spoken of in verses 6 to 8 is settled easily and finally by the Greek word translated take care of him. The psalmist is exclaiming as to the insignificance of man in the question, what is man that you are mindful of him? That's clear, but to whom do the words son of man refer? 

The Greek word translated take care of him means to look upon in order to help or to benefit, to look after, to have care for. God looks upon the human race in order to help or to benefit it. Thus, the picture in verses 6 to 8 is that of the human race in Adam. That's according to Weiss. 

I think we see this reinforced in the end of the passage in verse 16 where he says, “For indeed he does not give aid,” that's the same idea there, “he does not give aid to angels but he does give aid to the seed of Abraham.” Literally says he lays hold of man to take care of him or to care for him. 

Now we need to get a feel for the intention and direction of the passage and why the author brings up God's intention for mankind, for Adam, originally. As I said before, the central verse of the whole passage, the message the author is working toward, is verse 9 where it says, “But we see Jesus.” This great truth of hope and assurance and promise is set in contrast with verse 8, the conclusion of his discussion of God's intention for man. 

It says, “For in that he put all in subjection under him he left nothing that is not put under him, but we do not yet see all things put under him.” God put all things in subjection to Adam. His intention and creation was for man to rule and reign over the earth. 

The line of thought here of the author to his Jewish readers, he's going along talking about the promised kingdom, God's intention for man to rule and reign, this was all beloved familiar territory for the Jews. And you'll notice he doesn't even introduce the name Jesus until verse 9. And even here it's the transliteration of the Old Testament name of God the Savior. So even in verse 9 the Jewish reader would not yet have been triggered, as we might say in the common vernacular. 

He's going somewhere. And his ultimate intent is to show Jesus of Nazareth, God incarnate, as that Savior God, that Messiah. And we're gonna see that in the last part of chapter 2. We don't have time to get to that today, but next time we're gonna talk about that. 

What we see first of all is an explanation of the administration, the subjection, the rule of the world to come, and it's not to angels, but to Jesus and to man as God has always intended since Adam. 

We do not yet see all things under the feet of man. Things are not the way they should be in this world. We are groaning. We are anticipating. We are eagerly waiting. Even the whole creation is groaning, waiting for the what? The glorious revealing of the sons of God. 

But now, today, in this time, we are not in despair at the injustice and upside-down condition of this world. We are not in despair at the ruler of this world. Why? Because we see Jesus. He's our hope. He's our salvation. He's the promise of the world to come, and in Him all the promises are yes. 

So I hope this gives you a feel for the text, for why he's talking about the inhabited earth to come, why he's talking about man and God's intention for man, and where he's going in his argument. You see, this accomplishes two very important purposes. 

First, he reinforces with authority and clarity the truth that Jesus is better than angels. And he even shows man as better than angels in his glorified state, because it is Jesus who will rule the world to come, and the believers will reign with Him. Angels are servants. 

Second, it gives a segue into the great truth that the author really wants to reveal to these Hebrew readers, that Jesus of Nazareth, the incarnate God, is the Savior Messiah, the ruler of all things, and the only access to God. That's why he's going to talk about Him taking on flesh and becoming a man, being the captain of our salvation, dying in our place, releasing us from the fear of bondage to death, and all those good truths we'll look at in the next text. 

So it's a bit complicated, at least in our minds. I think that the Hebrews would have followed it more clearly, but it's an amazing argument and overwhelming evidence that Jesus is better. 

So let's flesh this out a bit, now that we have a framework, and turn back to Genesis chapter 1, and we'll look at those passages that Pastor referred to this morning. Genesis 1:26 speaks of the creation of man and God's intention for man. 

Genesis 1:26, “Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” We see that repeated. And God said, “See I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed. To you it shall be for food. Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food.” And it was so. Then God saw everything that he had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day. 

When God created the earth, he created it for man. He gave to man all the plants and the fruits for food. He gave him dominion or rule over the beasts of the earth, over the animal kingdom, over all the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, over all creeping things on the earth. In fact, it says, over all the earth. God's intention in creation was for man to rule and reign and have dominion over this earth. And the angels were to be ministering spirits, serving man and God. 

So earth was for man, to serve man, to provide for him. And he was to have dominion over it, to care for it, to tend it, to have it produce an abundance for him. Man was made a little lower than the angels, it says in our text. This could refer to the limitations of man and his physical body or this kind of thing, but I think it more likely refers to time. 

It could be translated, man was made for a little while or a little time. We see this in verse 9 concerning Jesus. It says, Jesus was made for a little while, a little time, lower than the angels in his incarnation. But the intention of God was for the angels to serve man, for the earth to provide for man. And this is important for our understanding, because what comes next turns that whole intention upside down. 

Look at Genesis chapter 3, please. Genesis chapter 3 at verse 1, and we'll see the fall of man. Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, You shall not eat of the tree of the garden?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.” 

We see two important things in these first three verses. First, Satan encourages her to question God's Word, right? That's always what we see Satan doing. And second, we see her adding to God's Word, changing God's Word. He did not tell her not to touch it, he told her not to eat it. 

Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die,” again questioning God's Word. “For God knows that in the day you eat of it, your eyes will be opened. and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband, who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. 

And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day. And Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?” So he said, “I heard your voice in the garden. I was afraid because I was naked, and I hid myself.” 

And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?” Then the man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.” And the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” 

So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all cattle and more than every beast of the field. On your belly, you shall go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” 

To the woman he said, “I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception. In pain, you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.” Then to Adam he said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying you shall not eat of it, cursed is the ground for your sake. In toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face, you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken. For dust, you are, and to dust you shall return.” 

Well, here we see the fall of man. We see the sin of Adam and the subsequent curse on the world and the introduction of death into the world. I'd like for you to listen to Romans 8 at verse 20. It says, “For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it in hope. Because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.” 

Man was subjected to futility, to the curse, willingly. Do you see that? Adam and Eve made a willful choice to disobey God, but the creation did not make a choice. It was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it in hope. 

It was God who subjected man and the whole creation to the curse because of Adam's willful sin. But here's the tremendous exciting truth to see that really relates to our text in verse nine. He subjected it in hope. Even in that tragic day when the first man chose to reject God, to trust the devil, there was hope. 

There was a promise of a redeemer. The seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent and God killed animals in a sacrifice, a substitute to make tunics of skin, it says, for Adam and Eve. A picture, a foreshadowing of the covering of atonement for sin. God's original intention for man was that the earth would provide for him, that angels would minister to him, that he would rule over, have dominion over all creation. 

What I want you to see is in the fall, everything was turned upside down. Now Satan, an angel, right, a demon, is the God of this age, is the ruler of this world. First John 5:19 says, “We know that we are of God and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.” Revelation 2:13 speaks of Satan's throne on the earth. 

In the temptation of Jesus, Satan offers Jesus all the kingdoms of the world. He is the ruler of this age. He is the one who holds sway over this entire creation. The angel, demon, Satan no longer serves God and man but now rules this world, and man is subject to him. Likewise, the earth no longer provides abundance for man but now there are thorns and thistles. 

There's pestilence and disease and man earns a living. He scrapes by fighting against weather and disaster and disease by the sweat of his brow. God never intended that. We saw this graphically recently in Nebraska. We have friends down there where the snow storms and flooding killed literally millions of animals. They lost over a million calves alone. It destroyed multitudes of farms and homes and towns. Those farmers are living in the cursed world. They're subject now to the earth rather than having dominion over it. 

We fight against extreme weather in the winter on our farm. You could question whether a man should farm in the UP but we struggle against the winter. This January, I remember one morning it was minus 36 and you go out and you look at the cows, white with frost all over, just struggling, groaning because the world is not right. It's not how God intended it. 

We have for several years now farrowed hogs on our farm and we usually average eight to ten babies from each sow but last year and this year we've been really struggling. This year we had very small litters, a lot of stillborns. I've been consulting with our veterinarian and we found that we most likely may have a bug that's called leptospirosis or erysipelas or something similar to this. It can be fixed with a vaccine but I was out there the other day looking at these 600-pound sows, healthy, no symptoms yet there's a microscopic bacteria that we can't see, that we can't even tell is there, that there's no symptoms for until the babies die. 

Those of us who have recently been struck with influenza A can understand the power of a virus. I wonder, do you know that this was never God's intention for the creation, for the world, for man on this earth? His intention was never for the world to be this way but Adam chose to sin. God subjected man and the whole creation to futility under the curse. Everything's upside down and now angels rule the world and the creation fights against man and man struggles for his survival, earns his living by the sweat of his brow. 

My brothers and sisters in Christ, this is what's summarized in verse eight of our text when it says, “But now we do not yet see all things put under him.” This is the condition of our world. It's not as God intended. 

When we butcher chickens on our farm, many times there'll be a small child around or a young child, and the parents are always, oh, I don't know if they should see, and I always tell them, just let me talk to them and I'll show them the death of a chicken and I'll always tell them this is not what God intended, and I'll explain to them the curse, I'll explain to them the gospel and why there's hope in the midst of all this injustice and all this sickness and disease and all this death that God never intended and how only through his son can we have hope. 

That's what our text is about. Here's the take-home message. Things are not right in this world. Sin and Satan reign, disease and sickness, disaster, destruction plague the world. Wicked men prosper. Corruption and sin are the norm and there seems to be no justice in our world. It's nothing new. The psalmist in Psalm 37 and Psalm 73 said the wicked do not seem to suffer. They seem to prosper. They're fat in their death, he says. 

What's he tell us? Do not fret when wicked men succeed for they, as the grass, will wither. The psalmist said when he looked at the world, when he looked at the wicked, it was too much for him. His foot had almost slipped until he went into the house of the Lord. Then he saw their end, their end, my friends. 

Here's the key, verse nine of Hebrews two. We see Jesus. We have to see the end. We have to see the hope. We must look to Jesus. We must look to the Savior God. That's the word there. His promises of restoration, of reconciliation, of regeneration, not only individually in salvation, but of the whole creation. A setting things right. This is the promise. All things will be reconciled in Christ. 

We've been studying Philippians three on Thursdays. I'd like for you to look at Paul's words beginning in verse 17 of that chapter. Philippians three, verse 17. This is after his tremendous testimony of forsaking his religion and his righteousness and receiving Christ's righteousness by faith and then his life now in Christ of pressing on toward the goal of being conformed to Christ's likeness. 

And he says in verse 17, “Brethren, join in following my example and note those who so walk as you have us for a pattern. For many walk of whom I have told you often and now tell you even weeping that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly and whose glory is in their shame, who set their mind on earthly things. 

For our citizenship is in heaven from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to his glorious body according to the working by which he is able even to subdue all things to himself.” 

That's what we're talking about in Hebrews two. What a contrast. Those who are the enemies of Christ are set in contrast with those who have hope in Christ. Those who reject Christ have a destiny that is destruction in the lake of fire. Paul says that their God is their belly. They only seek to satisfy their temporal fleshly desires. Their glory is their shame, their sin and debauchery. They set their minds, what, on earthly things. 

But this is not so for the one who is fixed on Jesus, who trusts and believes him, who sees Jesus. For our citizenship is in heaven from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, here's the promise, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to his glorious body according to the working by which he is able even to subdue all things to himself. 

That's what we're talking about here, my friends. Jesus will subdue all things to himself. He will come and set up his kingdom on this earth and he will set all things right in this world. He will rule from David's throne with a rod of iron and we will rule and reign with him just as God intended. 

Listen to Colossians 1:15. “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created that are in heaven, that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things consist. 

And he's the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he may have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in him all the fullness should dwell. Now listen to verse 20. “And by him, to reconcile all things to himself, by him, whether the things on the earth or the things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of his cross.” 

Ephesians 1:15, “Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of his calling, what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power toward us who believe. 

According to the working of his mighty power, which he worked in Christ, when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in heavenly places. Now listen to verse 21. “Far above all principality and power and might and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in that which is to come.” 

This is the promise. This is the hope. This is the message that the author is trying to show the Hebrews in this text. God has not put the world to come in subjection to angels, but to Jesus and to those who will inherit salvation. And angels will be ministers to Jesus. They will worship him. They will do his will. And they will also minister to those who will inherit salvation, those who rule with Jesus in the millennial reign. 

Therefore, he drives home the point that Jesus is better than angels. But he also gives us this glorious hope, the promise of the Savior God, setting all things right and bringing the promise of the kingdom for Israel. 

All things are not right in this world today. It can be hard, overwhelming to see the corruption and sin and the wiles of the devil on full display. This is true for us today. But we need not set our mind on the things of the earth. Rather, we must set our mind on things above, on heavenly things, truth, and promises. We must see Jesus. 

The hope, the assurance, the salvation of mankind, and the promise of good things to come. In our next text, the rest of chapter 2, we will see the author explain clearly to these Jews that Jesus is the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth, who took on flesh and became a man. 

He's the Savior God. This is the one they must believe, they must set their minds to, the one they must place their faith, their trust, and their hope in. But we today and every day can remember this truth as we go through the ups and downs, the trials and struggles of this life, as we become discouraged and distracted and disappointed. 

We can remember that all things are not right in this world. All things are not as God intended on this earth. All things are not as they should be, but we see Jesus. And my brothers and sisters, we can look to Him. We can trust Him one day at a time and know that He will keep His promises to us. He will come and He will take us to be with Him forever. 

I love what He says in John 14, “If it were not so, I would have told you.” He's coming to take us to be with Him. And He's coming back with us, Revelation 19:11, to judge this earth, to set up His Kingdom, and to rule and reign in righteousness. 

And my friends, I know it's hard for us to fathom, it's hard for us to understand, but we're going to reign with Him. And I think that most of that, the intention of that, is that God is going to have things be the way He intended all along. It's such a mystery to understand the temple and the Kingdom, alright? The sacrifices coming back into play. 

But the only way I can understand that is God is going to have things on this earth the way they are supposed to be. And Jesus is going to be King, and He's going to be worshipped, and we're going to be there. What a hope. What a promise. 

Let's close in prayer. Father, we're so thankful for Your Word, Your truth. We're thankful for the promises. We're thankful that from the beginning in Genesis to the end in Revelation, that the hope is Jesus. Thank You for Your plan in Him to bring us back into a right relationship with You, through faith, Lord. And thank You for the promise and the hope of eternal life. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.