Through the Bible with Les Feldick
LESSON 1 * PART 3 * BOOK 47
Hebrews 2:4-9
Hebrews chapter 2 verse 6. Remember in our last program we spent the whole half hour dealing with the world to come up there in verse 5, which is the Kingdom on an inhabited earth, and we’re going to see that the angels would never fulfill the requirements to be that Ruler and King over that coming Kingdom, because they certainly don’t have the power that the Christ, the Son, has.
Hebrews 2:6-7
“But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? (that’s a quote from the Psalms) or the son of man, that thou visitest him? (another reference to God the Son)? 7. Thou madest him a little lower than the angels;…” Now that’s kind of a play on words, as it’s better translated, “He was made lower than the angels for a little while.” Only for a little while was He made lower than the angels, and of course we’ll have to go back to Philippians chapter 2 in a moment to see what the purpose of all that was.
Hebrews 2:7
“Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; (for a little while) thou (speaking of the Triune God) crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands:” In other words, this glorious earthly Kingdom that we’re introduced to back in verse 5.
Hebrews 2:8a
“Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet….” Are you seeing how the writer of Hebrews is constantly putting Christ where He belongs? He’s not just the lowly Jesus of Nazareth. He is the Son, He is the Creator, He’s the God of glory. And He was only made lower than the angels for that short period of time whereby He could go the way of the cross and taste death for every man, as we’ll soon see down in verse 9. But coming back to verse 8, and again speaking to God the Father, the Triune God:
Hebrews 2:8a
“Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet,…” Earlier we showed how all through Scripture the various writers quote Psalms 110:1, and what was it?
Psalms 110:1
“The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.” They would be under His feet and that’s when He will assume the power and glory of the Kingdom. Well, here you have that same thing repeated again.
Hebrews 2:8a
“Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing (is going to escape His rule and reign) that is not put under him….” The last part of the verse tells us what? It’s still future. Many people are trumpeting that everything prophetic is in the past. Well not according to this it’s not.
Hebrews 2:8b
“…But now we see not yet (but it’s coming) all things put under him.” Now let’s go to Philippians chapter 2, and we’re still on this whole concept of when He sits up this glorious earthy Kingdom. And let’s just drop into some of my favorite verses:
Philippians 2:5a
“Let this mind be in you,…” In other words, Romans chapter 12 says, “be not conformed to this world, but be conformed to the mind of Christ.” Well this is a Pauline statement that we as believers ought to literally think to a degree as Christ thinks. We’re to have His thoughts which are higher than the mundane thoughts of this world.
Philippians 2:5-7a
“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus; 6. Who, (Christ Jesus) being in the form of God, (as He never stopped being God) thought it not robbery to be equal with God; 7a. But…” The flipside. Even though He was the Sovereign Creator God of the universe, as Hebrews says, “He lowered Himself to a position lower than the angels for a little while.” And He:
Philippians 2:7b
“…made himself of no reputation, (He did not use Deity to subject the people under Him at that time, because he did not come to subject them, but rather to save them) and took upon him the form of a servant,…” (or bond slave)
I think the last time we used this, I mentioned that the first thought that comes to my mind when I think of a bond salve back in antiquity, was poor souls that were put down in the lower holes of a ship to pull the oars. I’m sure you’ve all seen pictures of those ships that were literally driven by oars who were manned by slaves. And they would man those oars until they died a physical death, and then were thrown overboard and another was put in their place. Now that’s what it was meant to be a bond slave. It was a life of misery, it was a life of enjoying none of the good things of this world, and you see that’s where Jesus went.
Someone made the statement that after all we should all be rich, because Jesus was. Well, that’s not the Jesus in my Bible! My Bible says, “He didn’t even have a place to lay His head. He didn’t even have a den like the foxes have.” So He wasn’t rich in material things. Oh, I know the Psalmist says: “Our God owns the cattle on a thousand hills,” but that’s not the Jesus of Nazareth, as He had nothing of this world’s goods. He became as low as a bond slave. Reading on in verse 7. Not only did he take on Himself the form a servant:
Philippians 2:7c
“…and was made in the likeness of men:” (He had all the human frailty.)
Now stop and think a minute, after a long day of putting up with the press of the crowds, and everything else, he became physically tired. He became hungry. He became sorrowful. You say, “When did that happen, that He became sorrowful?” You all know. At Lazarus’ funeral. What did He do? Jesus wept. Why did He weep? In His humanity, He was just as sorrowful as you and I would be. So this is all part of the price He paid then, that He could go the way of the cross and suffer the death that you and I deserved to suffer. Now let’s read verse 8.
Philippians 2:8
“And found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, (as a man) and became obedient unto death, (not an ordinary death, but what kind?) even the death of the cross.” (crucifixion – a most horrible death.)
Facing death for my faith doesn’t scare me a bit. I’m ready to go. Now if they would torture me over a period of 5 or 6 years, like a lot of people have been, then that gives me second thoughts, and I wouldn’t look forward to that at all. But, you see, our Lord did. He knew the suffering that was coming. He knew exactly what was going to happen to Him. He knew how those Roman soldiers were going to abuse Him, and beat Him as He carried the cross down toward Golgotha. He knew the pain that would happen when they drove the nails. He knew what it was going to be like to hang on that cross, and He never shrank from it! And all because He was going to be willing to pay the price of redemption for all of mankind. And we’ll be looking at that more in detail in our next program, where we see in Hebrews chapter 2, “that He tasted death for every man.” But now coming out of verse 8, as He:
Philippians 2:8b-10a
“…became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. (now verse 9 – what a change) Wherefore (because of all He did to accomplish that work of the cross, Wherefore) God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, …”
Now I know we have to be careful that we do not put others down, and I never like to give that impression that we’re smug or arrogant or anything like that, but I have used a word over and over on this program, and I even gave mention of a gentlemen up in Minnesota who really complemented me for using this word. He was a retired minister of one of our large denominations, and it was probably as sweet, and as great a complement as I ever received, when he came up one time, after one of our teaching seminars, and said, “Les I admire you, because you stick so closely to an exclusivist salvation.” Well I had never heard it quite like that before, but he said, “That’s what I’ve always preached.” I probably looked kind of puzzled at him, and he said, “Well it is. It’s an exclusivist salvation.”
And this is what this verse says, “There is no other way.” There is no other name given among men whereby we must be saved. You see a Joseph Smith won’t cut it, or any of these others who claim to be a later prophet, or what ever. There is only One name, whereby we must be saved, and see, this says it so plainly.
Philippians 2:10a
“That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,…”
I’ll never forget hearing an evangelist many, many years ago who put it this way, and I imagine others have said it the same way. “Every human being has that choice of bowing the knee and recognizing Christ as Saviour in this life, or he’ll do it at the Great White Judgment Throne in preparation for his doom.” And isn’t that true? That’s exactly what it is. We can bow the knee and recognize Christ as Saviour now and go on with joy evermore, or we can reject it and pass off this life. But one day. we’ll come before Him at the Great White Throne, and every lost person of the ages is going to bow the knee and recognize finally that He was Who He said He was, but it’s going to be too late for them, because He won’t be the Saviour at the Great White Throne, but rather He’s going to be the Judge!
Philippians 2:11
“And that every tongue (whether in this life or the one to come) should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
Well these are all references that give rise to His coming exaltation. Now let’s come back to the Book of Ephesians chapter 1, and this is all still showing how that He was made lower than the angels for a little while, but the day is coming when He is going to exalted. He is going to be the King over this earthly Kingdom. Let’s begin with verse 7. Remember that Paul is constantly using the prepositional phrase in Ephesians that speaks of our position “In Christ.”
Ephesians 1:7-11
“In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace: 8. Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence: 9. Having made know unto the mystery (secret) of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: (now here it comes in verse 10.) 10. That in the dispensation of the fullness of times (this coming Kingdom. That’s just another way of putting it.) he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him. 11. In whom also we obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:”
Now these are all references then, alluding to His coming power and majesty that will be put above everything, and all of His enemies will be put under His feet. Now I think we can also go back to I Corinthians chapter 15, and let’s come in at verse 12, because you see, none of these things could have been consummated without His resurrection from the dead. Now it was one thing that He was crucified, but none of these things could have come to pass had He not been raised from the dead – that was a preeminent thing. He could not put everything under His feet until He had defeated His arch enemy, Satan and death, which we’ll look at in the next lesson.
I Corinthians 15:12-14
“Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13. But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: 14. And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.” In other words, when people reject the resurrection they are destitute of faith! They have nothing to go on, because everything rests on this spiritual fact, that Christ arose from the dead. Verse 15.
I Corinthians 15:15a
“Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God;…” Paul says, we would be a liar, because we witnessed Christ in resurrection form. Remember first the apostles saw Him, Mary saw Him, and after that, he was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, and last of all he was seen of me also, all proof of His resurrection. So Paul’s writing here with first hand knowledge that, yes, Christ was alive. Now verse 16.
I Corinthians 15:16
“For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised:”
How many people, even in our enlightened America, think that when you die, it’s like when a dog dies. Oh they’ve got the wishful thinking for something better, that somehow they’ll get there, but you see they’re not going to get there if their faith isn’t in this crucified, buried, and risen Christ. And if we can’t believe the resurrection, we’re as good as nothing. Now read on in verse 17.
I Corinthians 15:17
“And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; (it counts for nothing) ye are yet in your sins.” In other words, there’s been no forgiveness until we appropriate the whole Gospel by faith.
I Corinthians 15:18
“Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.” In other words, if someone dies believing in Jesus, as we see and hear so much, and yet they had no abiding faith in His resurrection, then where are they? Lost. Now we can’t look at an individual and look on the heart. But I can certainly tell them from Scripture what they’d better be putting they’re faith in. And if they don’t have their faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Christ, I don’t care how much they talk about Jesus, they’re doomed. So we have to be careful that we never mislead people that they’re somehow going to make it, short of Paul’s Gospel of I Corinthians 15:1-4. Now verse 19.
I Corinthians 15:19
“If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.” And that’s a lot of professing Christians today. Oh, they talk about Jesus, and they claim they love Jesus, but on the other hand, have never placed their faith in that suffering, crucified, risen Lord. Now come on down to verse 24, so let’s keeping going with verse 20.
I Corinthians 15:20
“But now (there’s no doubt about it) is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. 21. For since by man came death, (like I said, we’ll be looking at that in the next half hour) by man (the second man, the second Adam, Jesus of Nazareth) came also the resurrection of the dead.”
So on the one hand we have the Federal head of the human race, Adam, who plunged us into the fall and into our lost estate, but we also have the second Adam who has accomplished everything to bring salvation to everyone that will believe it. Now verse 22.
I Corinthians 15:22a
“For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive…”
Now all is going to be made alive someday, but not all will be with Christ. Let’s look at that in John’s gospel chapter 5. And this is exactly what Paul is alluding to, that even the lost are going to be resurrected. Jesus is speaking in His earthly ministry and says:
John 5:28
“Marvel not at this; for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice.” In other words, everyone that has lived and died is going to be resurrected. Now verse 29.
John 5:29
“And shall come forth, they that have done good, (people of faith) unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, (they’ve stayed in unbelief) unto the resurrection of damnation.” Now those are the two resurrections, and the Book of Revelation separates them by 1000 years. Now come back to I Corinthians chapter 15, and we’ll wind this one up.
I Corinthians 15:22-23
“For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive, 23. But every man in his own order (or company) Christ the firstfruits; (those who rose after His resurrection in Matthew chapter 27) afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.” Which I feel will be the Rapture of the Church. Now verse 24. This is the verse I want to look at.
I Corinthians 15:24-26
“Then cometh the end, (human history as we now know it) when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, (this Kingdom in which He’s going rule and reign) even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule, and all authority and power. 25. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. (not just the empires of politics) 26. The last enemy that shall be destroyed (or put under His feet) is death.” And we know death is our greatest enemy, and then verse 27.
I Corinthians 15:27
“For he hath put all things under his feet, …” Even death which will be the final enemy!