And God said, "Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind." And it was so. 25God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

26Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."

27So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.

28God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."

29Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground--everything that has the breath of life in it--I give every green plant for food." And it was so.

31God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning--the sixth day.

2 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.

2By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

8 O LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory
 above the heavens.

2 From the lips of children and infants
 you have ordained praise
because of your enemies,
 to silence the foe and the avenger.

3 When I consider your heavens,
 the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
 which you have set in place,

4 what is man that you are mindful of him,
the son of man that you care for him?

5 You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings
and crowned him with glory and honor.

6 You made him ruler over the works of your hands;
you put everything under his feet:

7 all flocks and herds,
and the beasts of the field,

8 the birds of the air,
and the fish of the sea,
all that swim the paths of the seas.

9 O LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION.
Copywrite © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society.
Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.
Isaiah 8:11-22

The LORD spoke to me with his strong hand upon me, warning me not to follow the way of this people. He said:

12 "Do not call conspiracy
 everything that these people call conspiracy;
do not fear what they fear,
 and do not dread it.

13 The LORD Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy,
he is the one you are to fear,
he is the one you are to dread,

14 and he will be a sanctuary;
 but for both houses of Israel he will be
a stone that causes men to stumble
 and a rock that makes them fall.
And for the people of Jerusalem he will be
 a trap and a snare.

15 Many of them will stumble;
they will fall and be broken,
they will be snared and captured."

17 I will wait for the LORD,
 who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob.
I will put my trust in him.

18Here am I, and the children the LORD has given me. We are signs and symbols in Israel from the LORD Almighty, who dwells on Mount Zion.

19When men tell you to consult mediums and spiritists, who whisper and mutter, should not a people inquire of their God? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living? 20To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn. 21Distressed and hungry, they will roam through the land; when they are famished, they will become enraged and, looking upward, will curse their king and their God. 22Then they will look toward the earth and see only distress and darkness and fearful gloom, and they will be thrust into utter darkness.

It is not to angels that he has subjected the world to come, about which we are speaking. 6But there is a place where someone has testified:

"What is man that you are mindful of him,
the son of man that you care for him?
7You made him a little lower than the angels;
you crowned him with glory and honor
8and put everything under his feet." [Psalm 8]

10In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering. 11Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers. 12He says,

"I will declare your name to my brothers;
in the presence of the congregation I will sing your praises." [Psalm 22]

"I will put my trust in him." [Isaiah 8:17]

"Here am I, and the children God has given me." [Isaiah 8:18]

3 Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess. 2He was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God's house. 3Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself. 4For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything. 5Moses was faithful as a servant in all God's house, testifying to what would be said in the future. 6But Christ is faithful as a son over God's house. And we are his house, if we hold on to our courage and the hope of which we boast.

*1. What do you like about yourself? (... or are you a 'sucker with no self-esteem'?)

Read Hebrews 2:5-3:6

Pray for understanding of the passage.

2. What ways can you think of to resolve the apparent contradiction that he was 'made a little lower than the angels' but yet 'God left nothing that is not subject to him'? (5-8)

*3. How is Jesus relevant to the writer's argument? (9)

4. Would Jesus be 'crowned with glory and honour' had he not suffered death? Why/Why not? (9)

*5. If Jesus tasted death for everyone, does salvation depend on us, not on God? (9)

6. What do we learn from v10 about: (a) ourselves, (b) God, (c) Jesus and (d) the relationships between these three 'parties'?

7. Draw a diagram showing the relationship between God, Jesus, man and angels.

8. What are the similarities and differences between Jesus calling us 'brothers' (12) and 'children' (13b)?

*9. Why did Jesus have to become a man? (14-18)

10. How does 'fear of death' enslave us? (15)

11. What similarity and difference between Jesus and Moses does the writer give? (3:1-6)

*12. What distinguishes members of God's household? (3:6)

Thank God for our place in his household.

Old Testament Readings:

Genesis 1:24-2:3
Psalm 8
Isaiah 8:11-22

1. Who's the Greatest (2:5-13)

2. Human Sacrifice (2:14-18)

3. Big Brother is Watching You (3:1-6)

Conclusion: So What?

Introduction: God the Son & the Son of Man

Do you have a healthy ego? ... or are you 'a sucker with no self-esteem'? Are you self-confident, comfortable with your relationships, friends and your performance in daily life? Are you confident about your future?

Having reviewed the Biblical titles for Jesus, we are now in a good position to see how Jesus is central to the encouragement the writer of Hebrews is giving the Christians he was writing to.

1. Who's the Greatest? (2:6-13)

Hebrews is a 'word of exhortation' (13:22), it is a word of encouragement for Christians, urging present hope in things to come, talking about the future and explaining it by things already known about the past. In 2:5 the writer states he is talking about 'the world to come,' then he turns back to creation to explain what we can expect from the future. The Psalm he quotes contrasts two points- (1) the lowly nature of man before God and (2) the high calling of man over creation. Despite our lowliness before God he created us to rule his world, indeed, as impressive as heavenly beings seem to us now, we will even rule angels in the next world. God's purposes for us in creation continue to a glorious fulfilment in the world to come.

Why does the writer trouble himself to make this point? Because he is looking to encourage Christians by what their future holds. Why do they need this encouragement? Because, on the face of it, the evidence of the world around us doesn't lead us to this conclusion, look at verse eight '... at present we do not see everything subject to him [that is, man].' 'But...,' we now get one of those great Biblical 'but's, 'we [do] see Jesus... now crowned with glory and honour.' What is true of Jesus now will be true of us later- in Jesus we see our future- verse ten '... bringing many sons to glory.'

Jesus rules in our place, as one of us. This is highlighted by the parallel between Psalm 8 about God's purposes for men and verse nine about Jesus. Psalm 8 says men are 'made a little lower than the angels;/... crowned... with glory and honour.' Verse nine says 'Jesus, ... made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honour." Jesus is one of us and rules now as our representative. Jesus is our future- Jesus now is us later.

Who's the greatest? In God's creation man is the intended ruler over that creation. Man is the greatest. Greater still than man is the man who rules men- Jesus. But there is one greater still! ... The Father 'for whom and through whom everything exists' (v10). The Father is the greatest of all.

Note the same things are said of Jesus in Col 1:16- Jesus is God- but God the Father is greater than God the Son (John 14:28b). The 'subordination' of Jesus on view here highlights his Sonship and humanity. God is the subject of the verb in verse ten, Jesus is the object.

Greatness and glory passed from Father to Son and from Jesus to us are not the end of the story. The writer moves from the creation theme of rule to the creation theme of relationship. He establishes the intimacy of a Christian's relationship with God. Verse ten calls us 'sons.' Jesus and Christians are 'of the same family' (v11), we are his 'brothers' (vv11,12; Psalm 22), we are the 'children' God has given to Jesus (v13).

The God given responsibility to rule doesn't come independently of relationship. Between the lines we are being told we are not hired managers but beloved heirs. Our rule over creation has a special 'rightness' to it because we are born to it- born to run God's family business.

<Korean shop owner. Relatives from Korea run shop. Kenton's restaurant. Problems with hired staff.>

So what have we got so far? Our first point of encouragement from the passage is that we are 'Born to Rule' God's family business. Despite the lack of control we feel in life, Jesus is still controlling things for us, in our place, as one of us, right now. Jesus now is our future.

The next section 'Human Sacrifice' is an encouragement, again centring on Jesus, addressing our true feelings of lost intimacy with God. We've already heard a bit about this as the ideas of the next section really start back in verse nine.

2. Human Sacrifice (2:14-18)

Although the writer doesn't make the point explicitly, the reason we don't see the world subject to man and woman is their own fault, it's God's punishment. Not only are we discouraged by our relationship with the creation around us, we can be discouraged by the loss of intimacy with God. Just as the writer has given good reasons for a better hope for our future in the world to come, so he now goes on to give good reasons for a better hope regarding our relationship with God. Just as Jesus was central to the first, so he is central this time also.

In verse nine, we see that, just as Jesus rules in our place, as one of us, so he died in our place, as one of us. In verse ten we see Jesus saved us. (We also see that he was made perfect through suffering. This is a strange phrase, and is closely tied with 5:8,9; 7:28 and 12:2. We can safely defer exploring this idea until we get to the later passages.)

It is clear that Jesus was a human sacrifice saving us from frustration and isolation for glory in the world to come. Verses 14 to 18 explain what this human sacrifice achieved, how the sacrifice freed us from the consequences of our sin. They also tell us that the sacrifice had to be a human sacrifice. The human sacrifice of Jesus, frees us from three consequences of our sin- the penalty (14), guilt (17) and power of sin (18 and 15).

• Verse 14 tells us that Jesus' death freed us from the penalty of sin, which is death. It also frees us from the Devil who, under God, holds the power of death.
• Verse 17 tells us that Jesus' death freed us from the guilt of sin. It says Jesus made 'atonement' for our sin. Atonement is the action required to restore a broken relationship when one party is guilty. It can be viewed positively as 'At-One-Ment' = bringing back 'togetherness' or 'unity.' It is better thought of as 'turning away' or 'absorbing' anger. For example: repaying someone for the loss you've caused them; suffering/inflicting an equal loss when repayment is not possible; or, simply 'writing-off' the loss.
• Verse 18 tells us that Jesus' death freed us from the power of sin. We are freed from always giving in to temptation because we are freed from slavery to the fear of death (v15). Clearly when we are convinced of the effectiveness of Jesus' death, we no longer need fear our own death. We are freed to live in the light of eternity, we are no longer slaves to living for the present with no thought of eternal consequences. This is a sensible, logical, practical change in how we live based on what we know.

3. Big Brother is Watching You (3:1-6)

We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. For if the message spoken by angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation?

This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him.  God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.

Verse four gives other evidence that God provided to confirm the Gospel. However, the 'also' in verse four may suggest it is a bit of a throw-away comment. It might be like the 'also' in Gen 1:22

God made two great lights- the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars.

...

People are persuaded by different things. Jewish people, in particular, were used to God confirming things by signs.

Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom

We are generally more like Greeks, not surprisingly, as we are Gentiles like them. We want to know that the Gospel makes sense. In his kindness it was God's will to choose to provide the apostles to explain how the Gospel makes sense. Paul, in particular, does this, as apostle to the Gentiles, non-Jews, Greeks and people like most of us. In his kindness, it was also God's will to choose to provide miraculous signs, so that Jews also would have no excuse for rejecting the Gospel message brought by Jesus.

But the question still remains: are you paying attention or are you drifting away? Let me give you a last word.

[How do we pay attention? By remembering the Gospel. By applying it to all our decisions.]

Conclusion: So What?

Do you ever get frustrated being taught lots of theory that has no clear practical application? Are you irritated by educators who seem lost in a world of abstracts with nothing concrete to bring them in touch with reality? The writer of Hebrews comes pretty close to sounding like this at times. Today's passage has had little if any practical advice, it suggests little if any concrete response, but isn't it wonderful!

Of course there is a practical application from the passage, it's just a little harder to see than in some other passages. In case you've missed it, here are the questions you should ask yourself. Are you confident of your future, your relationship with God, your self-esteem? On what basis? Do you need to avoid the Moses trap? ... godly observance of the Law. Do you need to avoid other traps? ... self-absorbing worries about your feelings. Do you feel close to God? Do you need to stop basing your feelings of spiritual health on whether you are accepted as part of the spiritually 'in' crowd at church?

Having said this though, I think there's something even better about studying this passage than finding a 'practical' application. Haven't we learned a lot about God? Sure, it's fantastic to see he includes us in his great purposes, and in such a noble way- we are 'Born to Rule.' But don't you get a hint, hopefully much more than a hint, that behind the ups and downs of man's history is a God who is very, very big? Our concerns are less than a drop in the ocean compared with the unimaginable glory of God. What amazing wonders will we find in the world to come? Even though it has been his steadfast purpose to bring us to rule his creation, even in the world to come, even though we are Born to Rule, far beyond us is God himself, the Ruler, never born to rule, always ruling, for ever and ever- Amen!