Author: Christine Wyrtzen

As it is, we do not yet see everything subjected to him. But we do see Jesus—made lower than the angels for a short time so that by God’s grace He might taste death for everyone—crowned with glory and honor because of His suffering in death.  Hebrews 2:9 

In the Gospels, we read about Jesus extensively as a person but we don’t read a detailed description of how His full authority operates.  Every single thing that is under His feet is not mentioned by name nor does it describe how subjection works.  Imagine if we could see a movie of this in all realms; mankind, nature, the animal world, even outer space.  The extent of His power would leave us floored.

But what if this story were reversed?  What if the Gospels described only His authority but then failed to tell me what He is like?  I would see a person with incredible power but wouldn’t know Him at all.  I would be in awe but not intimate.  I would be impressed but from afar.  I would be fearful with no courage to draw near.  My default response to someone with power and influence is to usually back up and peek from around a corner.

It is no mistake that the writer of Hebrews goes on to describe Jesus as someone who was made lower than the angels, someone who loved us enough to die for us before He was crowned in glory.  The miracle is that One so powerful is not into power at the expense of love.  Love was the driving force when Jesus came to us in humble fashion. He served instead of waiting to be served.  He loved and then waited for love to respond in kind.

He could have planned it all differently.  Imagine, if from the beginning, God created man and then sent an angel from on high to give mandates.  Every so often, new laws would be delivered with muscle behind it.  Man would obey but cower in fear at a God who could make life and take his life with just a word.  We would serve but not love; obey but not yearn for His presence. This forced submission would accomplish nothing for God as He created us for intimacy, companionship, and for His glory.

Jesus’ death made it safe to draw so close to Him that we would hear Him breathe. Even in the Old Testament, God uses the imagery of being tucked under His wings.  When the prophet Balaam was hired to put a curse on Israel, he refused and uttered a blessing instead.  He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide make his dwelling under the shadow of the Almighty.  Numbers 24:5  Every time a Jew wrapped his tallit (shawl) around his shoulders and covered his head, it was symbolic of being under God’s wings.  Even today, when a Jewish girl marries, she gives a tallit to her fiancé, a beautiful picture of what will happen in marriage when she is tucked under His protective care.

Every living thing and every single person is in subjection to Christ either by choice, or later by force, when every knee will bow.  For each of us who choose Christ now, subjection means security.

In every way I’m afraid of You instead of in awe of You, correct the eyesight of my heart. In every way I need to draw closer, show me.  Amen 

For in subjecting everything to him, He left nothing that is not subject to him. As it is, we do not yet see everything subjected to him.  Hebrews 2:8

When I read some of God’s claims, I explore every possible thing I fear might disqualify me from His outrageous promises.

“I will always love you.” “Really, but what if I do the most despicable thing?  There’s got to be limits!”

“I am more powerful than anything that can hurt you.” “Really, but what about the things I’m most afraid of?  Failure, sickness, death?” 

“I will forgive all your sins.”  “Really, but I can think of a few you couldn’t possibly forgive. I worry constantly that I’m the exception.”

In today’s scripture, the writer treats the subject of Jesus’ authority like that.  He had just written these words in previous verses ~

“He put everything in subjection under His feet.”  But then he adds ~“He left nothing that is not subject to Him?” 

Can’t you hear his thoughts?  “People will wonder ~ but what about this?  Is that really under His feet too?”  Down deep, all of God’s claims seem too good to be true.  The world is a dangerous place.  Most things are more powerful than we are.  People can also be dangerous as the world  becomes unhinged.  Sin is cancerous and I can’t replace what it has eaten away.  Can I really trust that everything is in subjection under Jesus’ feet?

Each one of us has some area of our lives where it appears the enemy is winning.  The current worldview seems irreparable.  It also appears Satan is winning if I live around people who sin against me and aren’t sorry for it.  I feel that way about my own heart at times.  I want to be like Jesus and yet I often take steps backward.  What happened to Jesus’ power?

Jesus didn’t eradicate all evil when He lived here for thirty-three years.  Yes, He came to destroy the works of the devil but He did it in the lives of individuals.  He didn’t come to overthrow the Roman Empire but He overthrew demonic possession in various people and delivered others of a spirit of infirmity.  Sprinkled throughout these miracles were displays of His control over nature, too. If the fullness of time had come, He could have destroyed the Roman Empire with a look, with a breath, and it would have been no contest.

Make no mistake.  “One day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Romans 14:11 For now, there is a timeline that is under the feet of Jesus.  We are afflicted, yes, and Paradise has not yet been restored to this earth.  Ah, but the power of sin has been broken for everyone who repents, gives his life to Christ, and lives through the indwelling power of the Spirit.  Paradise, dwelling with God, is mine now.  “The kingdom is here now,” Jesus said.

Oh Jesus, You are biding Your time until all the world sees Your power on full display and bows to Your authority.  For now, I see it.  I bow.  I believe.  The power of sin that once held me captive is under Your feet and I am seated with You in heavenly places.  To You be all glory and honor.  Amen

For in bringing many sons to glory, it was entirely appropriate that God—all things exist for Him and through Him—should make the source of their salvation perfect through sufferings. Hebrews 2:10 [ESV]

It makes good sense that the God who got everything started and keeps everything going now completes the work by making the Salvation Pioneer perfect through suffering as he leads all these people to glory.  Hebrews 2:10 [The Message]

The Message so beautifully captures this verse.

God got everything started.  He made Adam and Eve in His image.  His glory was on display in their perfection.  No sin marred His reflection.  But then it all went wrong . . .

God kept everything going.  Instead of punishing sin with instant annihilation, His mercy kept everything moving along by introducing a model for the sacrifice for sin. Man could pursue God through repenting and then shedding an innocent animal’s blood in order to receive forgiveness.  It was brutal.  It was violent.  It was grotesque.  But even this severe manner of atoning for sin was imperfect.  A Savior was needed who could finish the atonement through sacrificing Himself.  And then mankind, even Abraham, looked toward the future with a longing for the Messiah . . .

God gave His Son as the Salvation Pioneer.  A pioneer is one who begins, leads, and finishes something successfully.  Jesus did all three.  He created, He made provision for sin up until His incarnation, and then made a way for paradise lost to be restored.  It was brutal.  It was violent.  It was grotesque.  It was not inflicted on an animal this time but on a man.  The cost for sin was displayed on the broken body of Jesus.  He was no innocent victim but fully in charge in offering up Himself.  And then Jesus called out to sinners to look to Him and live . . .

God perfected our salvation through the Pioneer’s suffering.   Future salvation had been secured. Tears, gratitude, and celebration marked the lives of His disciples because He suffered what we could not.  We could not give enough, pay enough, or suffer enough to atone for our sins. Only forgiven people, made holy through the shedding of innocent blood, could become sons and daughters.  Only Jesus could bring many sons to glory . . . 

It’s told so beautifully in Stuart Townend’s modern hymn.

How deep the Father’s love for us
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure

How great the pain of searing loss
The Father turns His face away
As wounds which mar the Chosen One
Bring many sons to glory

I do not turn away from the memory of what was brutal, what was violent and grotesque.  Your sacrifice is every before me when I break bread and remember Your broken body.  Thank you for bringing me, just one of your daughters, to glory.  Amen

You crowned him with glory and honor and subjected everything under his feet.  Hebrews 2:8

The word subjected does not describe something pleasant.  Prisoners are subjected to cruel treatment.  New military recruits and new fraternity members can be subjected to bullying, even hazing.  When Hebrews says that everything is in subjection ~ under Christ’s feet, Jesus’ rank is being shown.

In ancient times, those victorious in battle would hunt down, and then present the leaders of the opposing army.  Subjecting them to a posture of submission, they were forced to lie face down in the dirt.  The highest ranking commander of the winning army would put his foot on the back of their necks as a sign of conquest.  Usually, they then lost their lives.

Jesus, our conquering King, rules over every principality, dominion, every ruler and authority in high places.  These terms encompass every rank and level of authority in Satan’s kingdom.  While we are no match for the power of the enemy, he is no match for our Commander.  Every one of our spiritual enemies is defeated and in subjection to His authority.  That is comforting when we feel the forces of evil coming against us.  Yes, it is a daily battle.  Yes, I need a daily reminder that the war was won at Calvary.  And here’s the thing.  Satan will act like he still has all the power if I let him.  The church needs to be the church and call his bluff.  We have been given the authority to enforce the victory of Calvary in Jesus’ name.  We use our mouths, with the sword of the Word on our tongues, to put him in his place.  At the name of Jesus, and at the sound of His Word, he trembles and flees.

Remember the movie, The Passion?  At the very beginning, music plays softly and we see Jesus in the garden praying.  It is a lush, blue/green world and all seems peaceful.  All of a sudden, a serpent rounds the trunk of the tree that Jesus is kneeling beside and with a deliberate force of violence, Jesus stomps on the head of the snake.  This is a powerful reminder that Jesus does not tolerate evil.  He threw Satan (and all the angels who defected with him) out of heaven.  He defeated him again at the cross and removed all power and authority from him.  The authority Adam had lost so long ago in the Garden of Eden was given to Satan.  He admitted it outright when he told Jesus to worship him in the wilderness.  “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to.  Worship before me and it will all be yours.”   Luke 4:6   Oh, the arrogance!

My father in law, a gifted evangelist, signed every letter with this closing ~ On the victory side.  We do not need to cower in fear in the presence of enemies we cannot see.  There is no suspense.  There is no tug of war.  Victory has already been declared and it’s up to each of us to declare it again and again to this arrogant foe who is hoping we’ll forget the power of the blood of the Lamb.

Martin Luther captured this subjugation in just one line of his hymn, A Mighty Fortress.  “One little word shall fell him.” 

I know my place Jesus.  I am not clever to fight the battle.  I am not eloquent against his cunning speech.  Your name and Your Word are my weapons. It was enough for You and it’s enough for me.  Make me a mighty arrow in your quiver.  Amen

This salvation was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard Him, and was affirmed by God through signs, wonders, various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to His will.   Hebrews 2:3-4

How kind God is to His children.  He knows how we are wired and how impaired we are to see and understand spiritual realities because of the fall.  We don’t easily believe things we cannot see.  Kingdom truths are abstract and outside of our human logic.  His thoughts are far from our thoughts.  Faith does not come naturally to us at all so He is gracious to reveal spiritual things creatively and through many people.  Today’s scripture is a good way for me to see how He announces, confirms, and then affirms again in order to build our confidence.

• Jesus announced that He was the Messiah, that He was God in the flesh.
• Those who heard Him and believed in Him announced it through personal witness.
• Then, Jesus confirmed it again through signs, wonders, miracles, and through the display of supernatural gifts He gave to His disciples.

Confidence in God and the assurance that we have heard His voice correctly is important to Him and so very critical to us.  Confirmations are part of this picture.  They are often misunderstood so what is it I’m allowed to ask for in prayer?

It is not wrong to need to hear confirmations about things related to direction. It is not faithless to ask for signs that confirm important decisions. God wants me to get it right.  He promised to be my shepherd and to lead me.  He promised that I would know His voice. He promised that He would plant my steps securely and that I would not stumble.   I think of how many signs God gave His people.  Here are just a few.

God gave the shepherds a sign for how to find baby Jesus.  “You will find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.”  He gave the disciples signs about how to find the Upper Room, following a man with a water jug.  He gave Gideon signs with a piece of fleece.  But how does He do it today?  Additional scriptures, His still small voice in prayer, a word from a brother or sister in Christ, a line from a book, circumstantial evidence that has been divinely rearranged, and even in dreams.

Some would warn that the Pharisees, Sadducees, and scribes asked Jesus for a sign but Jesus rebuked them and called them an evil and adulterous generation.  But they wanted signs to make Him prove Himself and His identity.  That’s altogether different.

Asking for confirmations as God’s child is the privilege afforded to those who call God ‘Abba’. The skeptic, however, is inclined to put God to the test by saying, “If You are really who You say You are, prove it!” This is arrogance from the heart of one who really doesn’t want to humble himself to believe.  God does not bend to whims of the unregenerate.

Thank you for every creative way You have spoken to me.  I’m sure I’m missing many cues but continue to teach me all the times You try to speak in unsuspecting ways.  Amen

Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.  Hebrews 2:1

 Because of everything that was just said in Chapter 1, the author urges, “we must pay closer attention to what we’ve heard.’   The message is this ~ Because Jesus was not an angel..  Because Jesus was God…  Because Jesus created the earth…. Because His story, His words, His death and resurrection are paramount to our faith….let these truths move us from just interesting facts to precious and lifesaving realities.  Whether or not his audience (persecuted Jews) listened and heeded his pleas would make such a difference in how they faced the pressures of being outcasts in society.  With their lives at stake, they really needed to be convinced of everything Jesus said.

Whose words do you value?  What makes them important to you?  Did they come from someone who held a prestigious position, or from someone who had a breadth of experience that made them wise?  Perhaps they came from someone you love ~ someone who was precious to you.  Think of it.  That is why we quote famous people.  That is why we quote the elderly who lived well over a lifetime and why we remember the words of those we love the most.

Then there are someone’s last words. I think we all hope that the people we love will say things they need to say before slipping away, something they know we need to hear or they need to confess.  Someone’s last words are important and always internalized, then tucked away, never to be forgotten.

Reviewing all this, I wonder why I’m not quicker to quote Jesus in conversations. “That reminds me, do you know that Jesus said….” doesn’t come out of my mouth often enough.  Out of all people I reference, shouldn’t His words be among the most quoted?  When I choose to be quiet about someone I profess to hold dear, shouldn’t that make me question my affection or how deeply I am persuaded?

The writer of Hebrews says that we must not let important things about Christ drift away.  The picture is one of a piece of pottery that is not carefully made. Consequently, water slips through the cracks, falls to the ground, and is no longer useful or recoverable.  I’ve had seasons where the Word was spoken and went over my shoulder.  I didn’t grab it and value it enough to make it mine.  I didn’t consider it life-saving to me.  How things have changed.  I’ve gotten very picky about my inner world and what I put inside.  I guess that goes with getting older.  Today, I’m more resolved to remember that I am called, in scripture, ‘an earthen vessel.’  Sounds like pottery.  I must let the Potter fashion it as He wishes so that it is well made and nothing of the kingdom leaks out and is prove useless.

Speak.  I’m listening for gold.  Amen

 

You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands; they will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment, like a robe you will roll them up, like a garment they will be changed. But you are the same, and your years will have no end.”  Hebrews 1:10-12

Yes, these verses are beautiful in just their poetry.  Songs have been written from them and Fernando Ortega’s is my favorite.  But the deep beauty and power of this passage lies behind the words. It’s all in the implications of how the writer reached back to quote a Psalm.

Here’s how the history of it unfolds.  Hang with it till the end to join me in finding gold.

1. The writer of Hebrews spent this chapter talking about Jesus and how much more excellent He is than angels. The topic is Jesus.
2. To put spiritual dynamite behind his point, He reaches back to quote this section of Psalm 102, a Psalm about God in the power of creation.
3. Perhaps he has stopped talking about Jesus and started talking about God.
4. No! He’s continued to talk about Jesus by saying that it is ‘He’ who laid the foundation of the earth.
5. The point ~ He takes a Jewish text from the Old Testament, a passage about God and one the Jews are familiar with, and by inference – inserts Jesus’ name into it. He wants there to be no mistake about the point he attempts to make. Jesus is God.  God is Jesus.  No angel’s name belongs in these verses!
6. Since all scripture is God-breathed, God used the writer of Hebrews to give us the true identity of Jesus. While it was announced throughout the Gospels, it has new significance when a book written to the Jews, by a Jew, quotes a Jewish text to describe Jesus Christ.

He is God.  No mere angel.

No angel ever laid the foundation of the earth.  They are creatures, not creators.

No angel can claim the heavens as the work of their hands.  They have not fashioned anything.

No angel can declare himself eternal.  He exists by permission of his Creator.

No angel can roll up the heavens like a garment.  Their power is conferred, not self-generated.

Jesus, You are worthy of my worship. You are to be exalted.  You are God and Your name is above all other names. Hallelujah.  

But to the Son, [he said], Your throne, God, is forever and ever, and the scepter of Your kingdom is a scepter of justice. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness.  Hebrews 1:8 

Angels are around the throne but only a King will take up His seat upon it.  God calls Jesus ‘God’ and refers to the throne as His throne. And there-in lies the difference between cults and Christianity.  Cults cannot accept that Jesus is God and they will twist passages quite artfully.  They’ll even change a word in a text to alter the obvious claims of Jesus’ deity.

God, in this stunning affirmation of His Son’s identity, also characterizes His leadership.  ‘Your scepter is a scepter of justice.’  Is this yet to be proven since Christ has not yet come back on earth to rule as King?   Hardly.  God needs only review Jesus’ thirty-three years here on earth.  He reminisces that His Son loved righteousness and hated lawlessness. His passion for one and disdain for the other was obvious every single moment that He lived. In public and in private.  Not only did He never sin in His actions, He never sinned in His thoughts.  He was tempted by Satan, true, but the idea of sin was repelling.

Is it possible for me to be so close to Jesus that the very idea of sin repels me?   I wonder if such a day will come when, every single time, I will hate the thought of it.  Temptations usually appeal because of what sin offers.  Instant gratification.  That’s the allure. Waiting on God can be so unappealing and deferred hope is the harder choice.  I can grit my teeth and choose the righteous way but the only way I genuinely want what Jesus wants is through a heart change I can’t generate on my own.  I am like the child who was told to sit down.  He replied, “I’ll sit but I’m standing on the inside.”  I am often that child who does the right thing but secretly relishes disobedience.

The bracelet, ‘What would Jesus do?’ causes me to consider His choice in my situation.  But righteousness and lawlessness go beyond behavior.  While doing the right thing impresses some people, God sees everything behind it.  He knows what I really think and what I really want.  He knows how I weigh my love for him against the enjoyment I’ll get by sinning.  For Jesus, it was no contest.  He loved His Father, He loved righteousness, and He was holy – without sin.

Lord, I will be tempted to love myself today more than I love You.  By Your Word and by Your Spirit, make my heart like Yours.  I will be tempted where I’m weak so go ahead of my choices with Your grace.  Amen

And about the angels He says: He makes His angels winds, and His servants a fiery flame. Hebrews 1:7

Angels are God’s ministers.  They are like the wind; forceful and unseen.  They are like fire; formidable and powerful.  They are under God’s sovereign control and it is ‘He’ who makes the angels like wind and fire.  They do not shape their own likeness.  It is not in their power to do so.  They do not decide their mission.  It is not their place to do so.

God’s children can learn from angels.  They do not usurp authority from the One they worship.  They know their place.  Jesus is superior to them and they defer to Him.  It is their privilege to be His servants and messengers.

Yet, we assess our gifts and often decide how we are going to use them for God.  We use logic to discern all this but God’s way cannot be driven by logic…. not in the ways created beings can invent.  Faith and logic usually collide.  We serve God with our gifts by faith.

• If I have a hospitality gift, God’s plan might be for me to entertain one neighbor for coffee instead of hosting a Sunday School class for twenty. Numbers are not a compass for flawless decision making.  How will I know which one is His will unless I come to God in humility and ask Him to show me?
• If I have the gift of music, God’s plan might be for me to spend time at the piano quietly worshiping instead of ambitiously trying to gain an audience at church. I can quickly forget that my life is about God and me first.  If I don’t worship when I’m alone, how valuable will my public ministry be?
• If I have the gift of helps, God’s plan might be for me to help an enemy instead of a friend. Decisions can’t be made on the basis of who will appreciate it more.
• If I have the gift of mercy, God’s plan might be for me to see the need but then withhold comfort so that His hurting child will go to Him instead of to me. How often have I tried to lessen someone’s pain, all the while believing I am doing God’s work, when I am really obstructing it?  Idolatry is rampant when God’s children turn to each other by default.  Second hand faith never sustains.

Upon opening my eyes in the morning, my prayer will resemble that of the angels ~

“Good morning, Lord. I love you and this day is yours.  What do you have for me?  Guide every decision as I defer to You.  Amen”