The Word Says:
“But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.”
Verse Thoughts:
The deity of Christ, the uniqueness of Christ, the humanity of Christ and the supremacy of Christ are all important issues in this epistle to the Hebrews. Christ is the eternal God Who chose to come to earth and be clothed in human flesh, living His life just like we live, and yet He was not born with a sin nature as we are, for He was conceived of the Holy Ghost and Christ lived a perfect life during His 33 years sojourn on earth.
It was the eternal Father who formulated the plan of redemption. It was the eternal Son Who carried out the plan of redemption by means of His birth into the human race. His perfect life, His sacrificial death and His glorious resurrection from the dead, and it was the eternal Spirit Who empowered the Lord Jesus throughout His earthly life for the eternal Son of God set aside His glory in order to become the perfect Son of Man, by submitting to the Father, our precious kinsman, Redeemer, Who lived and died in our stead.
In order to become the Messiah of Israel and Saviour of the world as laid out in God’s plan of redemption, the eternal Son of God had to humble Himself and for a time was made a little lower than the angelic hosts that He Himself created. He had to be born into the fallen race of humanity who had rebelled against their Creator and were under the curse of sin and death.
Although He was eternal Deity, and the second member of the Trinity, we see Jesus living His life as God intended man to live, in humble submission and complete obedience to His Father in heaven. We see Him made as a little lower than the angels for a while, we see Him despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. We see Him humble himself, and become obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
And it is for that reason that God has highly exalted Him and has given Him a name that is above every name. It is because He was willing to suffer the death of the cross on behalf of the fallen human race, that God has crowed Him with glory and honour, so that by the grace of God He tasted death for every man, woman and child who ever has lived. God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son to pay the full and final price for the sin of the world, and those who choose to believe in the Him are not condemned, but become one with Christ. For there is no condemnation for those that are in Christ Jesus.
When Adam sinned a curse was placed on all creation. The icy fingers of death and destruction not only touched every member of the human race but also animals and birds, the natural world and the heaven itself. But Christ’s sacrificial death and glorious resurrection was the one and only price that a holy and just God could accept in full payment for sin. And so we read that Christ tasted death for EVERYONE, so that by God’s grace, all who believe on Him are saved and are removed from the curse of sin, death and hell forever. Praise His holy name.