5 For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak .
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 ?
8 Thou hast 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 see not yet all things put under him .
9 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 .
In Hebrews 2:5-9 we continue with the theme that Christ who spoke in the New Covenant is so much better than the angels who spoke in the Old Covenant; therefore, the New Covenant is greater than the Old Covenant. Why? Because not to the angels, but to Christ has this world and the world to come been put in subjection to. Although, as a man, Christ was made a little lower than the angels, Yahweh did crown Him with glory and honor, placing Him over the works of His hands. Indeed, ALL THINGS have been placed in subjection to Christ both in this world and the world to come, but we do not see ALL THINGS yet placed under Him in this world. Nevertheless, we do 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.
Here, we are being told that unto the angels Yahweh did not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak. But, as you can guess, He put the world to come in subjection to Christ. Once again, this is lifting up Christ who instituted the New Covenant which we have already learned is so much greater and better than the Old Covenant because the Old Covenant was instituted by angels whereas the New Covenant was instituted by Christ Himself who is so much greater than the angels. In fact, we learned that Christ is God, and upholds all things by the power of His Word. He is the creator of the universe as well as the earth. He is, in fact, the ruler over all creation and all of the creation yet to come who sits at God's right hand so that even as Christ is so superior to angels, so is the New Covenant so superior to the Old. For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak, but, as we had learned, the angels are merely servants for the elect, but Christ is Almighty God.
7 Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands . . .
Psalm 8:4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him ?
5 For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour .
6 Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet . . .
Psalm 144: 3 LORD, what is man, that thou takest knowledge of him! or the son of man, that thou makest account of him !
4 Man is like to vanity: his days are as a shadow that passeth away .
It is important to recognize that when the scripture says, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest him that the word man refers to mankind as a whole, and the phrase Son of man, of course, refers to Christ and the elect because the elect are spiritually in Him. This means that there is at least a double meaning to Psalm 8 so that where it states, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest him, it actually means, who are Christ Jesus and the elect in Him that Yahweh is mindful of them and visits them, for, as we read in the next verse, Thou madest him [Christ and the elect in Him] a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands. That is, Yahweh originally made Christ and His elect who are in Him a little lower than the angels in the respect that they were both made flesh, but Yahweh crowned them with glory and honor, and did set them over the works of His hands through the resurrection from the dead, and, as a result, we have been seated in Christ at Yahweh's right hand with power.
6 But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful [in your own interest] of him? Or the son of man, that thou, [in your own interest] visitest him ?
We can understand why it is in the interest of Yahweh that He is mindful of and visits Christ and the elect; it is because to be mindful of and to visit Christ and the elect is to be mindful of, and to visit Himself because Yahweh is Christ in the flesh (see doctrine of the trinity ), and the elect, spiritually, are in Christ. So, of course, Yahweh is mindful of Christ because He is Christ, and Yahweh visits Christ because He is Christ. And, since the elect are spiritually in Christ, Yahweh is mindful of and visits them as well. Now, I know this can all sound deep, but it just shows how the scriptures are so wonderfully written the more we know about the language in which it was first written; in particular, the meaning to middle voice verbs.
15 And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him .
Jas 5:16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man [an elect person] availeth much .
What all this means is that as we all learn to walk and pray more according to His will - and His will is recorded in the Bible - we will be able to see more clearly that we are kings in Christ Jesus as our prayers will be fulfilled more and more to the degree that we have prayed according to His will. So, when we see our prayers being fulfilled, we can know that this is because we are kings in Christ Jesus, and we rule over all things with Christ according to His will.
22 And hath put all things under his feet . . .
So, we know that Christ was crowned king of the universe and of the world to come after His resurrection from the dead when Yahweh set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places.
But, next, we read that He was crowned with glory and honor. In that He was crowned with glory means He was exalted in all splendor, majesty, dignity, brightness, preeminence, excellence, magnificence, and all other such descriptive words that can only begin to express the meaning of glory. And, He was also crowned in honor. This word honor has to do with value. That Christ was crowned after His resurrection with honor means He was rendered the value He deserves by reason of the office He now holds, which is king over the universe and the world to come. So Yahweh crowned Christ with great value by placing Him in the highest, most valued, office ever: king, God, over all things.
Hebrews 1:2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds . . .
Hebrews 1:10 And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands . . .
So, what we have found in verses 6-7, which quotes Psalm 8, is that although Christ and the elect in Him were initially created as lowly human beings who were made a little lower than the angels, Yahweh has now lifted them up to be kings over all His creation by the resurrection of Christ from the dead. Once again, this puts the emphasis on how much greater Christ is than the angels, and, therefore, how much greater the New Covenant brought in by Christ is over the Old Covenant brought in by angels.
1Pe 3:22 Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him .
22 And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church . . .
1Cor. 15:25 For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet .
26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death .
1Co 15:28 And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all .
1Co 15:24 Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power .
Php 3:21 Who [Yahweh] shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself .
52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed .
53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality .
54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory .
55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory ?
56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law .
57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ .
9 But the one, having been made some little lower than the angels, we see Jesus for the suffering of death . . .
The verb translated as having been made ... lower is in the perfect tense, so in that Jesus was made a little lower than the angels was fully completed in the past when He was made flesh, and the results of His having became flesh are now in existence, namely that He suffered death to pay for the sins of all the elect (see Perfect Tense ). Hence, we read, we see Jesus for the suffering of death.
Now, we read, we see Jesus for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor. The verb crowned is once again in the perfect tense, which means that He was fully crowned in the past when He rose from the dead and went into heaven, and the results of His then having been crowned as king continue on, in full effect, namely that He continues to rule over all things both in this world and the world to come (see Perfect Tense ); He reigns in this world until all His enemies have been subdued under His feet, and He reigns in the next world when all things will already have been subdued under His feet. Whatever the case, He continues to reign, as we know, from the point at which He was crowned after His resurrection from the dead unto all eternity. Hail the eternal King!
Ro 5:18 Therefore as by the offence of one [Adam], judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life .
Notice that the first all in this verse must refer to every single last human being because it is speaking about the fall of mankind through Adam. In this case, every single last human being fell into condemnation by the one offense of Adam. Therefore, when we read that judgment came upon all men to condemnation, we know it refers to every single last human being. But, when we read, even so by the righteousness of one [Jesus Christ], the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life, we know that the all men cannot be referring to every single last human being, but it must be only referring to the elect since only they have received justification of life. Therefore, the word translated as all or every can mean one thing in one verse, and another thing in a different verse. It all depends upon the context, which is why it is so important to look closely at the context in which the word all or every is found before concluding that it means every single last human being.
So, now, we are back to the question, when we read, that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man, does this mean that Christ tasted death for every single last human being? Absolutely not! For we are told in the context of the very next verse, that it became Him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory. It does not say, in bringing every single last human being unto glory, but it says, in bringing many sons unto glory. So, in that Christ by the grace of God tasted death for every man means that He brought many sons unto glory, and every man does not mean every single last human being, but it means only the elect, for they are the many sons that Christ brought unto glory that are being referred to here in the context of our verse.
Well, let's stop here and go to our conclusion.
In conclusion, we do not see the angels having been placed over this world and the world to come, but we see Christ having been so placed. Therefore, the New Covenant brought in by Christ is greater than the Old Covenant brought in by angels because Christ is greater than the angels. Although Christ was made a little lower than the angels in that He was made flesh as a lowly man, and, as such, one might wonder why Yahweh would even have any thing to do with Him. Nevertheless, Yahweh did visit Him and crowned Him with glory and honor through the resurrection from the dead, and has placed ALL THINGS both in this world and the next in subjection to Him even though we do not yet see ALL THINGS in subjection to Him. He must reign until all enemies, the last enemy being death, are made subject to Him on the Last Day. Then, ALL THINGS will have been subjected to Him as He reigns for all eternity. But, until then, we see Jesus made a little lower than the angels, crowned as king with glory and honor; that He by the unconditional love of God should taste death for all of the elect.