Angels are God’s messengers who are sent to minister to those who will inherit salvation. Their word was received as a direct message from God Almighty. The things they spoke was binding, had God’s authority, and produced the result that God intended. As great as angels are, they cannot compare to the Son of God.
Hebrews 2:1-3 NIV84 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?
Think about the truthfulness of what angels have spoken.
They told Lot and his wife to run for their lives from Sodom and to not look back. Their obedience would bring the salvation of their lives. Read the story in Genesis 19. Lot’s wife disregarded the warning and she became a pillar of salt.
Throughout the Bible, when angels presented the message of God, their word was confirmed with definite results.
We have received the living Word of God.
John 1:14 NIV84 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Hebrews 4:12 NIV84 — For the word of God is living and active.
NKJV — For the word of God is living and powerful.
The Book of Hebrews gives several warnings about failing to take God’s word seriously, (Hebrews 2:1-4; 4:12-13; 6:4-8; 10:26-31; 12:25-29).
Here in Hebrews 2:3, we have a question that we must consider. How shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? The message of the gospel of Jesus Christ is living and powerful. We should take heed to the word that has been presented. The word spoken from the Lord is powerful.
Hebrews 2:3-4 NIV84 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.
John 6:63 NKJV It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.
How can we tell that Jesus’ words and the message that He announced is powerful?
Watch what happened when Jesus spoke. Hebrews 2:4 tells us, “God bore witness with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit…” Jesus’ words carried the supreme authority of God the Father. Jesus did not speak like any other man. His words are filled with the power of the Creator. His words are spirit and they are life. What Jesus spoke still contains the authority and power they possessed when they came out of His mouth. We should pay close attention to the words that we have received from the Son of God.
We are given specific warnings in these four verses.
First, we should give earnest heed or pay close attention to the things we have heard, lest we drift away.
These words will keep us on course. This message will keep us and give great reward. Our eternal security comes from hearing and obeying the words of this gospel of salvation.
Second, if we neglect this message, we shall not escape.
No one can expect to escape if they neglect this message. Angels attended the giving of the Law, ( Acts 7:38; Galatians 3:19; Deuteronomy 33:2). Disobedience to the Law received severe and inescapable punishment, (Numbers 35:16-21, Leviticus 20:10; Exodus 22:19; Proverbs 1:24-31; Jeremiah 11:11).
Since Jesus is far superior to angels, His words should not be neglected.
John 14:24 NKJV He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me.
Luke 11:28 NKJV But He said, “…blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”
The Lord’s word brought great results to those who heard Him and obeyed.
In Matthew 13:15, Jesus said,”If they heard and understood and turned, I should heal them.”
In Matthew 7:24-27, Jesus said, “Whoever hears My sayings and does them will be like a house that is founded on the rock.”
In the same text He said, those who do not do them will face certain destruction. Watch the word that came out of Jesus’ mouth. When He spoke, the wind and the waves obeyed. When people obeyed His command, they received their sight, were made completely whole, and received their dead to life. The blind received sight and the deaf began to hear. The multitudes were fed and people were delivered from oppression and demon possession. His word was filled with authority and power.
There are specific blessings that come from hearing and obeying the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Hebrews 2:4 NKJV God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will?
Do signs, wonders, miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit continue today?
We can look at the evidence that has been presented throughout church history. These supernatural works initially followed the early disciples.
Mark 16:20 NKJV And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen.
- Later when the early church was being established, when the message of this Gospel of Jesus was shared, the Lord bore “witness to the word of His grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands.” (Acts 14:1-3)
- Whenever the Word of this Gospel has been declared, it is powerful to save and deliver and God still confirms the Word with signs following.
- In James 1:22-25 we are told that if we are doers of the word, and not hearers only… we will be blessed in what we do.
Take a closer look at the supremacy of the man Jesus Christ.
The writer is quoting from Psalms 8:3-6.
In the original giving of this text, it appears to be talking about humanity. When God created Adam, He gave him dominion over the works of God’s hands. All sheep, oxen and beasts of the field were under his dominion. God gave Adam dominion over all of the birds of the air and fish of the seas.
In Hebrews, the writer is specifically talking about Jesus Christ the Son of God.
Hebrews 2:5-7 NKJV For He has not put the world to come, of which we speak, in subjection to angels. But one testified in a certain place, saying: “What is man that You are mindful of him, Or the son of man that You take care of him? You have made him a little lower than the angels; You have crowned him with glory and honor, And set him over the works of Your hands.”
Here is the superiority of the Man, Jesus Christ the Son of God.
God has crowned Him with glory and honor, and set Him over the works of His hands. Watch the degree to which God has crowned Him with glory and honor.
It is important to remember that when God created Adam, man was made in the image and likeness of God. Man was given “dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth,” (Genesis 1:26). God blessed Adam and Eve and told them to “fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over everything that moves on the earth.” When Adam and Eve disobeyed God, they were cursed and fell under the power of sin and the dominion of Satan. Instead of assuming and fulfilling God’s plan and their dominion over creation, they became a slave and were held in bondage to death and Satan.
The critical issue in understanding Hebrews 2:5-9 is the dominion.
The answer for the world and humanity is not found in the human race. We have not devised a solution for the sorrow, grief, sin and woe of this world. We have not been able to change the destructive tendencies and life patterns of a fallen human race.
Jesus Christ the Son of God came as a man to defeat Satan and turn mankind from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God.
As the resurrected Son of Man, Jesus Christ sits in a place of honor, power and dominion with everything in subjection under His feet.
Hebrews 2:8-9 NKJV “You have put all things in subjection under His feet.” For in that He put all in subjection under Him, He left nothing that is not put under Him. But now we do not yet see all things put under Him. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone.
The language presents God’s firm decision to put the dominion of the world in Christ’s control. “Subjection under His feet” applies to more than the daily adversities that we face. We should not be short sighted in our understanding of this. What Jesus accomplished in His victory has given us greater hope than the temporary relief from the sin, troubles, and trials of this life. This is a proclamation of Christ the conquering King and the establishment of the kingdom of God. We cannot separate the dominion of Christ from one age to another. He is Lord of all and King of all.
“For in that He put all in subjection under Him, He left nothing that is not put under Him.”
What does that mean? “God left nothing that is not subject to Jesus Christ.” The only One who is not under Christ’s subjection and authority is the Father.
1 Corinthians 15:25-27 NKJV For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. For “He has put all things under His feet.” But when He says “all things are put under Him,” it is evident that He who put all things under Him is excepted.
The ultimate victory of Christ’s reign will be when sin and sorrow, pain and death will be destroyed.
We must deal with one phrase at the end of verse 8, before we conclude.
Hebrews 2:8 NKJV “But now we do not yet see all things put under Him.”
Since Jesus Christ has ascended to a place of honor and glory, it is evident and expected that all the victory belongs to Him. He has been crowned with glory and honor. What Jesus has accomplished in His suffering and death and glory and honor has implications on everyone who puts their trust in Him.
What Jesus has achieved is still working in us.
He has conquered and we are continually reaping the benefit of His victory. Every time a sinner is saved, it is the application of Christ’s victory. When we experience any continuation of His ministry that heals the brokenhearted, brings liberty to captives, opens prison doors to those who are bound, Jesus reigns. He reigns when we receive beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. His victory is both immediate and continuous.
1 Corinthians 15:25 NKJV “For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.”
You can count on this happening. The Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings. Death is going to be defeated. We certainly know this because Christ arose in victory and is seated in a place of glory and honor.
