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NT Doctrine -- Hebrews 2 - Ed Hurst - 08-17-2024
Angels proper have always been spirit beings who served God as warriors and messengers. When they spoke, it was with divine authority, as if it were the voice of God Himself. Without fail, violating His Word brought His wrath, including the words brought by angels. So, we dare not let slip away from us the Word brought by His own Son, the Word in flesh. Was it not marked by signs and wonders, same as every word within the Old Covenant? The gospel shared by the apostles is that Living Word; it's His message, marked by the same miracles, plus gifts of the Holy Spirit.
When God created the fallen realm, it wasn't subjected to angels for management. Instead, we have David's anguished account in Psalm 8 talking about what a wretched situation is our fallen existence. We trashed God's Word in the Garden; why would God care about us? For the time being, we are below the power of angels. Yet He had planned to elevate us over them and grant us authority over this world. This is a case of "already-but-not-yet" -- we were nominated to keep His Garden for Him, but right now we are barely able to survive on par with the animals in the Garden.
So, the writer of Hebrews notes that the nomination was to put us over everything in this world, with no exceptions. Yet, it sure doesn't look like it right now. Well, Jesus also came down to be with us as a human with less power than angels. But after His resurrection, He now sits crowned on His Father's right hand. He has experienced what we all face as mortals. His suffering blazed a trail for us to follow. We have the same origin as He if we follow Him.
This grants us the privileges as Christ's brothers and sisters, as prophesied in Psalm 22 and Isaiah 8. By adopting us as Children of God, we escape the power of death Satan uses to keep us under his authority. Jesus didn't die for angels, but the children of Abraham. Yes, elsewhere Paul clarified that this refers to the heirs of Abraham's faith, not his mere DNA. But this letter was written for Hebrew Christians who did have his DNA and his faith.
This meant that Christ could take up the role as High Priest of the New Covenant and made atonement in His own blood. He experienced human temptation and knows how to help us bear up under the strain.