Hebrews chapter 2. I read verse 6. And as I keep telling you, the letter to the Hebrews puts the superiority, the betterness of the Lord Jesus Christ before us. And as I read verse 6 tonight, my aim is to do the whole chapter and My title will be Son of God, Son of Man. So this is really what puts the divinity and the humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ together in one go. Hebrews 2 verse 6, But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man that thou visitest him. Superior son, but also superior man, perfect man. You know the text John chapter one? The word, the word became flesh. God became flesh in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. And this should make us to ponder the immortal God became a mortal man in the person of Jesus Christ. So that's wonderful. And we have already mentioned it. We could do another study just on angels, but Christ is higher than the angels. He's not an angel. You know, there are some cults who are telling us that Jesus is an angel. No, he is a God of the very God. And here, you look at the verse, we are told that he was made a little lower than the angels. But he was put into that position to do something that the angels will never be able to do. To save men and women. Angels will never be able to do that because it's not their duty, it's not their function, it's not their position. Only Christ being God could do that. What is man? You know, this is the most important question in every generation, yesterday, today, and forever. It will always be the same question, and the most important. What is man? Who am I? It is a philosophical question. Who am I? You know, some people are telling us that man is just a collection of molecules. You die, everything is gone, and that's it. Oh, how sad that is. Man is better than that. And others are telling us that man is just an animal. Or maybe if they want to be a little bit kind, they will say man is an intelligent animal. Or man is a superior animal. But no, no, no. What do we read in the Bible? Genesis chapter 1. God created man. He created them male and female. He created them in His image. He created them in His resemblance. He created them in His likeness. It is sin that has disfigured that image. But otherwise, God has created us with a great purpose. But my dear friends, look at verse 5. I want to start there. Don't be mistaken. Don't be deceived. There will be another world. This world is not everything. Do you see it there? There is a world to come. So the material world you see now with all its corruption and degeneration, there will be another world. And in 2 Peter 3, we read that it will be a world, a kingdom in which dwelt righteousness. A wonderful kingdom. There is peace there. There is love, pure love, perfect love, relationship. God is present in the midst of his people. So all those things are to be to have in our minds that there will be another world. Verse nine, we see Jesus. Oh, do you see him? Of course, we see him with the eyes of faith. We do not see him physically. And in first Peter chapter one, I love that verse. It says him whom you love without seeing. and you rejoice with an unspeakable joy. Oh, that's love. To love somebody you have never seen, that must be faith also. Faith and love together. So we see Jesus, the man, but more than a man, is worshipped by angels. I won't go back to that again, but in chapter one, verse four, he was given a name above the angels, above All names. God of the very God. You know, this is how long time ago the Lord Jesus Christ was described. God of the very God. Christ became man of the very man. He became man in order to aid, to help, to sacrament. That's salvation. So I want to take verse 5, 6, 8, 9 together in one go before we dissect the rest of the text. Number one, Christ came in that aid, in that help, to restore God's purpose for man. to restore and to fulfill the plan of God for you and me. Why? Because sin made us to lose so much. The fall, the fall in the Garden of Eden made you and me to become deficient. We have lost everything. And that's why at the end of Genesis chapter three, man was expelled, sucked, cast out, from the garden and never to be able to come in again. But in Christ, what we have lost in Adam was gained back. So the world to come will be under the rulership of a man. Please underline that. The world that is coming will be under the rulership, the kingship of a man, Christ. Christ will rule that world, not angels again, but Christ. Heaven will not be ruled by angels, but by Christ the man. Verse 6, verse 6. And verse 6 is speaking about Psalm 8. It is a reference quoting from Psalm 8. Now, there is really a package of Old Testament quotations here in Hebrews chapter 2, and I will do my best not to mention them for time's sake, but the first one here, very classic, in verse 6, the writer is quoting Psalm 8. And Psalm 8, as you know, was written to speak about mankind, you and me. But because it is a messianic psalm, messianic psalm meaning it speaks about the Messiah to come, Psalm 8 specifically is about the Lord Jesus Christ. So that's what the writer is telling us here. How is it that God looked upon us? How is it that God visited us, my dear friend? What do we have special for God to visit us? When you visit somebody, you expect something from that person. But God came to, He looked at us, He visited us while we were not lovable, we were not loving, we were not lovely, nothing in us. So I should wonder why God will save somebody like me. Wretched sinner as I am. Do you see that in verse six, how God visited us? Oh, God so loved us. He made himself while on earth to be so limited, to be so limited, but so limited yet he remained God. 100% God, 100% man. Look at verse 8. Puny man was created to be in charge. Look at the position, the authority, and the honor God gave to man at creation when God created Adam and Eve. And you can see, this is a lot of power given to us by God. As you look at the verses, Thou crowned him with glory and honour, and did set him over the works of Thy hand. Verse 8, Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. That is what we should have been doing if sin didn't enter into the world. All these things, verse 8 there, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now, because of sin, we see not yet all things put under him. but the person who came, and in verse nine, but we see Jesus. You see, the things that man was not able to subdue, to have under his submission and subjugation, those things are under the Lord Jesus Christ. And you read in Ephesians chapter one, I believe it's verse 22, that God has put all things under his feet. all things right now my dear friends don't think don't think this king or that president or that prime minister is ruling the world and even don't think satan is ruling the world it's a big mistake who is ruling the world jesus christ the lord jesus christ the lord he is ruling the world and we will see why we see so much damage happening in our days today as we proceed in this wonderful letter. So, by one man, Christ secured the victory and achieved it, just him, by one man, that Christ Jesus. What we have lost in Adam, we gain it back in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because man failed and fell. So the plan God had for you and me, we failed it and we fell from the position God intended for us in the beginning. That's why I introduced this Bible study by saying because of sin, we have lost so much. Number two, look at verse nine, verse nine. and the end of verse 9 we read that Christ tasted death for every man. I don't like much that word tasted there, but I'm sure you understand. Let me explain it. Taste here doesn't mean he just touched death, just touched him. No, no, no. He experienced death bodily and in his own person. He died. We read it. He died. He was crucified. I still, I don't want to digress on this. You know, Muslims don't believe that Christ was crucified on the cross of Calvary. But there were witnesses there. There were witnesses there. Many. And history. Even Josephus, who was a Hebrew historian, he was not a Christian. He was actually against Christians. But he witnessed that Jesus Christ was crucified. And many passages in the Gospels you read, and they crucified him. There, they crucified him. So look at it there. He tasted death for every man. His death was not a weakness. Your death and my death is a weakness. But Christ's death was not out of weakness. That's why, in my small mind, I tell you these things many times. I don't believe that, yes, they pushed the Lord Jesus Christ, they spat at him, they scourged him, but I believe, strongly believe, that Christ was not pushed there as if he didn't want to go there. He went there willingly, voluntarily. He went there because he knew, he knew very well that this is the only way that you and me may have the forgiveness of our sins. He knew it. He knew it before he came and he knew every person for whom he will die on the cross of Calvary. And if time permits me tonight, you see, there is a word there, an expression there I would like to explain, but I leave it for the end. I will have an eye on the time. If the time allows it, I will explain that to you. Look at the verse again, verse nine, the end, that he tasted death for whom? Every man. Okay. May I draw your attention? If you believe, if you believe that Christ Jesus died for every single man in the world, may I ask you to review your theology and we will come back to it as I said. Christ didn't die for every single person in the world and as I said we will come back to it. He didn't just become a man to die but to die for men. The third thing I want to put before you, look at it in verse 7 and verse 9 again, crowned with glory and honor. Again, we go back to Psalm 8. Because what we lost in Adam, Christ gained it back for us by his death and resurrection. And here he's quoting also Isaiah chapter 2, Isaiah chapter 11. It's interesting that in those two chapters of Isaiah, we read that the people will be led by a child. And that child is the Lord Jesus Christ. He's going to lead the universe. So there will be no crown for our Savior without the cross. There will be no crown for you and me without the cross. And as our brother prayed in his prayer, that we put on him a crown of thorns, that he may put on us a crown of life. a crown of righteousness, an incorruptible crown. What a saviour who did so much for us to have him as our saviour. So look at verse 9 again. It says he was made a little lower than the angels for a reason. Do you see the reason there? For the suffering of death. For the suffering of death. and uh and he he suffered that death that you and me may be saved he had to suffer death angels do not die do you know that angels do not die they don't have a body they don't have agenda and they do not die so angels cannot die in order for you and me but christ made little lower than the angels in his earthly ministry as a man, but he has to suffer for you and me in order to procure and to gain and secure for us an eternal salvation. So these things, I believe, are so deep. Even in his humanity, he remained God. Look at it, verse 10 again, verse 10. and you see something in verse 10 that Christ is the creator all things for him and by him and if we suffer for Christ the Bible says that we will reign with him we too look at us one day we shall be taken in glory one day I have never seen glory in this world. Maybe you have seen some, but I haven't seen it. Why? Because nothing is perfect in this world. Oh, the glory to come. There is a date of glory to come. And you and me, as soon as, you know, as soon as you give your last breath in this world, you are taken into glory. And you will see things that you have never seen in this world. You will hear sounds. You know, you and me, in a sense, we are deaf. We don't hear many sounds. But in heaven, we will hear things that I almost said even angels never heard. Oh, what a day. So all these things are here, but I don't want to detain you long. Look at the rest of this passage. Now, from verse 10 to 18, we are given an explanation of what Christ has done, again to present Him for us as the superior man. And I have seven of them, list them very quickly for your soul. I hope for your soul again. Number one, look at it in verse 10. And I call it, verse 10 tells us Christ is the captain of our salvation. And it is interesting that the word captain is mentioned four times in the New Testament. And in the book of Acts, it is translated by the word prince. And if you glance quickly in Hebrews chapter 12, verse 2, well-known passage, Christ is the author and finisher, the same word, the same word. So Christ, if you want, is the forerunner, he's the captain, he's the leader, he's the king, and he's the janitor, he's the originator of our salvation. And He is the pioneer and perfecter of our salvation. But look in verse 10 there, there is something I just want to highlight for you. For it became Him. Meaning what? It's hard to translate, but it means that only Christ was fitting or fitted. Only Christ is qualified. No one else. No other option. Only Christ. He is fitted. He is qualified. He is appropriate. Christ alone was fully qualified. What qualified him? His sufferings. His sufferings qualified him. And that's why he could be our savior. His sufferings completed his work, perfected his work. That's why he came. You and me, we come into this world, if it's up to us, we don't want to suffer. But Christ intentionally, originally, from eternity, knew that he will come into this world in order to die. Number two, So number one, he's the captain of our salvation. But number two, verse 11, he is the sanctifier. You see there, the sanctifier. And sanctify means set apart. Oh, there is more there. And the sanctifier and the sanctified are one. They are all one. You see, with Christ, we are one. Once you trust in Him, you are identified with Him, and it is as if we become from one family, one stock, one lineage, one home, union with Christ. So our sins were transferred to Him, and we share His identity. Again, in verse 11 there, I hope you see that He boasts about us while Most of the time, we are ashamed of Him. Normally, it's Him who should be ashamed of us. Do you see that in verse 11? But Christ is not ashamed. You know, I said it once, I know a man, he's ashamed of his mother. May I tell you what? His mother, he has a PhD. His mother has never been to school. He's ashamed of her. But you see, our Savior, we are illiterate. We don't have any degree, we don't have any beauty, we don't have any possessions, but he's not ashamed of us. And you know the application. We read in the, I believe it's Mark chapter three there. If you are ashamed of him, he will also be ashamed of you one day in heaven. So my dear friends, don't be ashamed of Christ. And in heaven, he will witness to his father that this lady, this man, this sister, this brother, they belong to me. They were not ashamed of me. I took upon myself. I'm their elder brother. And you know, in some nationalities, in some places, your elder brother is your protector. You can boast when your elder brother is around. He will fight for you. So that's our hero, champion, he fights for us. I wish I could stick there a bit, but look at the third one, verse 12. Verse 12 there. Christ is the praised one in the church. Do you see the word church there in verse 12? And this is, by the way, a quotation from Psalm 22, verse 22. A Masonic Psalm again. And you know Psalm 22? You know, I'm sure Psalm 22, verse 1. It opens with one of the last seven statements of Christ, sayings of Christ at the cross of Calvary. My God, my God. Why has thou forsaken me? And it's here, quoted Psalm 22. Psalm 22 begins with humiliation of Christ, but it ends with Christ's exaltation. When you read it. And another time I can show you all the seven last sayings of Christ from Psalm 22. They are all there. And Psalm 22 is a thousand years before the Lord Jesus Christ came into this world. So, and in verse 13, we have another quotation from Isaiah 8, and Christ cares for his people as a father. It was interesting that only after the cross of Calvary, only after his resurrection, that Jesus Christ called his disciples brethren. Before disciple but not brethren but when he was risen from the dead go and tell my brethren he said to Mary wonderful so he's the praised one he's the praised one in the church and if i can make an application here because you see it he is the one who is present with us in the church it is Christ who defines our worship not the world Please keep the world out of the church. It is not the world who should dictate how we worship God. But also, do you see there in verse 12 that when we worship Christ, where is He? Please tell me, where is He? In our midst, among us? And you know the passage, John chapter 4 verse 24, what did Christ say about worship? Worship should be how? In spirit and in truth. And those worshipers, God said he loves them. He's searching for such worshipers. But look at the number four. Number four, verse 14. Do you need a preacher for this? The destroyer of the devil. And Christ bruised the head of the serpent. Of course, Satan is still active in our world, but you know what the Bible says? Resist him. Resist him. That's our duty. And the word destroy here, it means to render powerless. Satan, as Luther said, the devil is God's devil. Satan cannot do anything without the permission of God. His authority is a delegated authority. He cannot touch you, he cannot touch me, he cannot do anything without the permission of God. You know the book of Job. We won't go there. So you see, a destroyer of the devil. Christ entered into our situation. You know, you have seen it. I have never seen it with my eyes, but you saw movies. Fireworkers, what do they do? They enter into the place where there is fire in order to do what? To secure people, to quench the fire. But if they stand a mile there or a thousand miles there and say, fire quench, fire quench, nothing will happen. So like a fire worker, the Lord Jesus Christ came and put himself in the fire for us in order to secure us, to drag us out of the fire. by his death on the cross of Calvary. Well, my dear friends, Christ is really the Lord. But I must tell you the fifth one, number five. Look at it there in verse 15. The deliverer over death. Don't tell me you don't fear death. The king of terrors. You know Stalin, Stalin. He never slept in the same bed two nights in a row. Why? He fears to die. He had eight different beds. And most of the despots of this world, some of them don't sleep, you know, just by the fear to die. But you see, the believer doesn't fear death. Why? Thanks be to God, 1 Corinthians chapter 15. Thanks be to God who gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. So death has found one that is stronger. Jesus Christ the Lord. By one man, as you know, death, sin entered into the world, and death by sin. It's interesting, look at it, my brothers and sisters. In verse 14 and 15, death is mentioned three times. And death is a sword hanging over our heads. The power of death was greatly weakened by the Lord Jesus Christ's victory. And in Revelation chapter 20 verse 10 to 14, you know what we read? That death and the devil shall be taken and cast away together. Where? In the lake of fire. In the lake of fire. Death is our last enemy. But Christ defeated death, and he was risen from the dead. My dear friends, death, the fear of death, you see in verse 15 there, you find death, the devil, fear, and bondage, slavery, because of sin. Because sin brought death in the world. But the fear of death should make us to find the remedy, the cure, and the solution against death. The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through our Lord Jesus Christ. So through death, Christ conquered death. Born to die. He gives life by His death. Number six, verse 17. Oh, verse 17. Do you see the title and the work of Christ there? The Redeemer and the Reconciler. Verse 17. In the things pertaining to God, Christ turned aside the wrath, the anger of God. He is both the Sacrificer and the Sacrifice. Christ is the message and the messenger. You know, the priest will come to it again as we study Hebrews. The priest will always bring an animal. They will never bring themselves. But Christ brought himself. That's why I said he's the sacrificer and the sacrifice at the same time. But let me give you a The last one, verse 17 and 18 again. Our sympathetic high priest. You know, the word high priest is mentioned 16 times in Hebrews. And I believe without the letter to the Hebrews, we will know very, very little about the priesthood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because it is almost, I'm almost inclined to say this is the only letter in the whole New Testament, I said New Testament, that describes for us the high priesthood of the Lord Jesus Christ like no other. And you see it here in verse 17 and 18. He's able to succor. And the word succor there, the Greek is really to run. He's able to run to assist. He's able to run to shout in order to assist and to aid and to help. That's the meaning of the word succor. We don't use it much nowadays, but it is a good word. And you see that in verse 18, we are all tempted all the time. Please, only dead people are not tempted. Never say, I'm never tempted. The day we put you in the grave, oh yes, you can speak if you can speak on that day. I'm not tempted anymore. But while you are in this world, you will be tempted. Do not succumb to the temptation. Oh, we must run to him. Sin must die as Christ died. So as our high priest, he's our comforter. He's also our, the one who closed the gap, the abyssal gap between God and us. He's our representative, our mediator. Another word we can use about his ministry as our high priest. My dear friends, our terrible fall has been restored by the work of Jesus Christ, the superior man. So I don't know how I can encourage you more than this. He is the saviour. He is the substitute. He is the succorer. He succors us, rescues us. He is a sympathetic Redeemer, all for us, and He is the one interceding for us before the Father. Just to come back to what I said about the everyman, and I close with that, for whom Jesus died. And you have to be very clear of this. And again, I won't invent anything, I will just show you the verses. Let's limit ourselves to the context here. Don't go anywhere. I know there are people who say that Jesus died for every single person in the world, but personally, from what I understand from the Bible, that is not true. But just in the context, eight or nine verses here, just to show you for whom Jesus died and recluse. Look at it in chapter 1 verse 14. Chapter 1 verse 14. For whom Jesus died? For them that shall be heirs of salvation. That's what I did. I underlined that expression in my Bible. Heirs of salvation. So for whom Jesus died? For every single person in the world? No. Heirs of salvation. Number two. Number two, look at it in chapter 2 verse 10. In bringing many sons unto glory. So for whom Jesus died? Tell me. Many sons. You see? Does many mean all? No. Many. Meaning a great number. Revelation 7 verse 9. A great number. A number that no man could count. So for whom Jesus died, look at verse 10 again. Verse 10. The captain of their salvation. Their. Matthew 1 verse 21. You shall give him the name Jesus for he shall save whom? His people. Their salvation. So, number four. Look at it in verse 11 and 12. They who are sanctified. Do you see? They who are sanctified, set apart. And he's not ashamed in verse 11 and 12 to call them what? Brethren. So for whom Jesus died? The brethren, the sanctified ones, the holy ones. Look at verse 12. In the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee. In the midst of what? The church. For whom Jesus died? The church. Ephesians 5 verse 25. You know the passage. Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself for every single person in the world? No, for the church. Is everyone in the church? No, not at all. So I'm just following the context here. And the next one, number six, look at it in verse 13. Behold, I and whom and the children and the children which God hath given me. And I'm sure you know your Bible. This is from John chapter 17. Four times in John chapter 17 Christ said, and those whom thou hast given unto me. So for whom Jesus died? For the brethren whom God gave him. So every person, if you come to Christ tonight in believing in Christ, you are a gift of the Father to Jesus Christ, the Son. And number seven, verse 14 and 15, and deliver them. The them is put for whom? The sanctified ones. Verse 14 and 15. And number eight, Interesting. He took on him the seed of whom? Verse 16. The seed of whom? Abraham. Why not the seed of Adam? If that verse says that he took on him the seed of Adam, everyone is... Jesus died for everyone, but it says the seed of Abraham. Why? Because Abraham is the father of believers. So Christ died for whom? The seed of Adam? No, no, no. He died for the seed of Abraham. Galatians chapter 3. It's all there. And let me give you one before the last. All those things, as I said, I just highlighted them. Verse 17. A merciful and faithful high priest to whom? Verse 17. to his brethren, to his brethren. And Christ said, who is my brother? Who is my sister? You remember? And who is he? Who is his brother and his sister? Those who keep his word, those who obey his word, who listen to his word and keep it. And the last one in verse 17, to make reconciliation for the sin of whom? the people, his people. So this is just, by the way, a drop, believe me, a drop among the thousands and thousands of verses in the New Testament, in the Old Testament also, telling us that Christ died for his church. Christ died for his elect, not for every single person in the world. So may the Lord bless these things in our souls and grant us to live and honour our Saviour.