The Book of Hebrews
The Rediscovery of Man's Lost Destiny
(part 2)
Hebrews 2:5-9
Last week we began looking at verse 5-9 of chapter 2 where we get a look at God’s original plan for man. God’s plan was for man to rule and reign on the earth. And remember, the point the author is making is Jesus’ superiority to angels.
And although Jesus was a man, and therefore made a little lower than the angels, the ultimate rule of the universe is His and He has chosen to share that rule with humans. Therefore, He is superior to angels.
And we need to keep in mind that originally man was placed on the earth in a ruling capacity. He was to subdue the earth and have dominion over it. Everything on it was for man to enjoy and be nourished and sustained by it. And eventually, man will return to that responsibility, including ruling over angels.
But man’s destiny, which was revealed by God was
2. Man’ Destiny Was Restricted By Sin.
Verse 8
When Adam sinned, a tragedy occurred. You remember the details from Genesis 3 where the curse is pronounced upon the serpent and Adam and Eve and the earth.
And it was a prophecy concerning Christ's conflict with Satan. But it also had immediate effects on mankind. And one of those effects was that man lost his crown. Originally designed by God to have dominion over the earth, man fell from that position and gave up his right to rule to angels and the earth is caught in that conflict between good and evil.
And man, designed to rule became a slave. The animal kingdom, was affected in that man had to tame what he could and fear what he couldn’t.
The ground instead of yielding good things and things easy to take and easy to eat began to produce thorns, weeds, and poison ivy. Suddenly we had the extremes of heat and cold, poisonous plants and reptiles, earthquakes, typhoons, floods, hurricanes, disease, an army of billions of bacteria were released upon men at the fall. War, everything broke loose to make man not a king, but a slave fighting all his lifetime to exist.
And you know as well as I, we are fighting a losing battle. Man is perpetually in a state of dying and the earth is dying with him.
And man's destiny is restricted by sin and the earth is ruled by Satan and his evil angels as well as the holy angels who minister in some ways for God. And the earth is cursed.
And the earth knows it and reacts to it, as Romans 8 tells us. It is groaning as it awaits its redemption.
And one of these days, the earth and God’s people receive newness. That’s what the resurrection is all about, as we are studying on Sunday mornings. And that’s what the millennial kingdom is all about. Jesus comes back to reign on the earth. But in the meantime, man is subject to the earth rather than having dominion over it.
Man plants seed not knowing if he’ll bring in a harvest. Man builds a home with the possibility of a tornado blowing it away. We fight with weather and seasons and erosion and crime and violence, and because of that man lives in constant jeopardy.
But God never designed it that way. It’s only that way for a little while. Someday, one day, in the world to come, when the kingdom comes, hospitals will be closed, doctors will be out of business, the nature of wild animals will be changed, no more pollen to make you sneeze. The game of politics will be over. War will be over.
The Bible says men will beat their swords into plows and their spears into pruning hooks and each man will sit under his own vine and invite his neighbors to share in his abundance. There is coming a day when in the wonderful plan of God the dominion that man lost, man will receive and Hhe will finally be where God designed him to be.
Now that raises an interesting question: How can that happen? Well that’s point number 3.
Man’s Destiny is Revealed by God
Man’s Destiny is Restricted by Sin
But
3. Man's Destiny is Recovered by Christ
The ultimate curse of man's lost destiny is death. God said to Adam, "In the day that you eat thereof, you shall shall surely die." That's the ultimate curse.
Notice verse 9
In other words, He became a man. Why?
Keep reading!
So here's the restored kingdom and here we are elevated to the crown again over a redeemed earth. You say how's it going to happened? If we're all sinners, how are we ever going to get lofty again?
Something will have to deal with the cause and effects of our sin. Now we know the only payment for sin death.
So if the curse God placed on men will ever be removed, men must die. The only way man can ever be a king again is to have the curse removed. The only way you can remove the curse is to pay the penalty. So if man is to be restored to reign as a king he must die and he must be resurrected a new man with sovereign possibilities.
But how? I can't say to myself, “All right, I'll go die. I can go die, but that meets only half the requirement. And it's not going to work, because I can't raise from the dead on my own.”
So how’s going to happen? That is where the plan comes to a sharp focus in Jesus Christ.
Turn to Romans 6:10 and I’ll show you how it's going to happen.
First, we need to answer the question of Who “He” is. Who is this talking about? Jesus Christ.
It is Christ Who died.
Then go back to verse 3 of the same chapter.
Now that verse is talking about a spiritual, not physical baptism. The word “baptize” means to immerse, to get all the way into. That’s why we disagree with sprinkling and pouring. Something is being pictured in water baptism and it is that I am fully immersed into Jesus Christ Himself.
Therefore, what this verse is telling us is we got all the way into Jesus through our salvation. And when I got immersed into Jesus, I died.
Did you know that? Oh yeah, I died years ago. You say you look pretty healthy. I am reasonably healthy for the shape I’m in, but I died a long time ago. You say when did you die? Why I died just like Paul died in Galatians 2:20. "I am crucified with Christ."
And the moment I put my faith in Jesus Christ, at that moment when I was identified with Christ, I died on the cross, I resurrected from the grave and I walk in newness of life.
And in the case of Terry Tolbert, at that moment, the curse was removed. You are now looking at a king. Now I have not inherited my dominion yet, but I'm patient. The crown has been restored.
And for every one of you that know and love Jesus Christ, the moment you received Him, the same thing happened with you. You were identified with Him. You were crucified with Him. You were buried with Him and you rise to walk in newness of life. What is newness of life? It's life with the cursed removed. You're a king. You haven't gotten your kingdom yet, but be patient.
But the whole point is that a Man had to die. And notice what we have in Hebrews 2:9
We see Jesus. He is everything we saw Him to be in the opening verses of chapter 1. He is the brightness of the glory of God, the express image of His person. He is the One Who is upholding all things by the word of His power.
But He “was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death.” And Jesus came to this earth as a man because a man had to die for sins. And if you and I died for our own sins, we would be doomed to Hell and the crown could never be restored and so Jesus came and died.
And as you and I identify ourselves with Jesus Christ in His death and receive Him as Savior, the curse is removed and we are again restored to dominion.
And now all the roles are reversed. If I’m still under the curse, then angels rule over me. But if I’m saved, the curse is removed, and the angels minister to me. (1:14).
it's kind of exciting to realize your identity as a king, isn't it? Listen to this. That’s what Revelation 5:9 is all about. "And they sang a new song saying You are worthy to take the scroll and open its seals for You were slain and have redeemed us to God by your blood out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation and have made us unto our God kings and priests or a kingdom of priests and we shall reign on the earth." Did you hear that?
Now listen: if we're going to reign on the earth as kings there's got to be kingdom. And it's described over in the 20th chapter of Revelation, beginning at verse 1 – verse 4.
So now we know how long the kingdom lasts.
Who's going to be on those thrones is us. We are the kings. And the one who made it all possible is the King of Kings. What does it mean the King of Kings? It means that we're the kings and He's the King of us because of His substitutionary death. He died for us. And we shall reign with Him on a redeemed earth in a glorious kingdom.
Let me share a couple of passages with you about that kingdom and we’ll finish here.
Isaiah 2:2-4
11:6-9
35:1
It’s going to be a different world when Jesus comes. And man is going to be restored to the place of the king.
And I would be a failure if I didn’t point out one phrase in particular back in Hebrews 2:9
“by the grace of God”.
Did you notice that? That's the key friends. God's grace, God's love for you. I hope you've got a sweep of history now that you never had before. Christ tasted death for you and for me and he did it to recover your lost destiny.
If you've been groping around trying to figure out why you exist, I hope you know it now. There's no reason for you to be a slave and there's no reason for you to be a pauper. There's only reason for you to be a king.
The world would have us to believe we are the same as any other animal on the earth. In fact, many believe us to be inferior to birds and animals and rocks and trees, a product of chance that is nothing more than a glorified gorilla.
But God says man is the king of the earth. For a little time, made lower than angels, but someday to be equal to them to sit on the throne of Jesus Christ and reign with Him in His kingdom.
I trust that you'll be there reigning with Christ.
Let’s pray
