What is Man?
Wayne Roberson
With the question, “What is man?” in mind let us consider Hebrews 2:6-10 .
Hebrews 2:6-10 NKJV
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? [7] 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.
[8] 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. [9] 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.
[10] For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
The author, who is unknown, causes us to marvel at the fact that the one “who was made a little lower than the angels”, was visited by God, was crowned with glory and honour, was set over the works of God's hands, all things are subject to him, tasted death for every man for the purpose of bringing many sons unto glory to make himself (the captain) perfect through sufferings.
In these four verses the author has recorded the divine plan and will of God. His plan revealed speaks of his sovereignty ultimately expressed in Jesus' taste of death also known as Propitiation as seen in Romans3:25.
Romans 3:25
Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
Propitiation is a big word used to refer to Jesus' substitutionary death on the cross of Calvary for you and me.
It is particularly important for us to attempt to fully realize what was accomplished on the cross of Calvary .
The price that was paid on the cross of Calvary not only settled the debt but relieved us of the guilt associated with our offense.
This is referred to as expiation
Holeman records, “Expiation emphasizes the removal of guilt through a payment of the penalty, while propitiation emphasizes the appeasement or averting of God’s wrath and justice”
The significance of this message is to realize that Sovereign God made His Son, a little lower than the angels and sacrificed His only begotten Son so that you and I would not pay a debt for sin that we could not pay.
“Debt?” you say. Yes, Debt!
Romans records mankind's condition,
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Romans records the consequences,
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Romans 10:9-10 records God's provision and remedy,
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. [10] For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
I would like to close with the words of a Primitive Hymn: #184 The Gospel Uniform
Dressed uniform the soldiers are,
When duty calls abroad;
Nor purchased by their cost or care,
But by their Prince bestowed.
Tis wrought by Jesus' skillful hand,
And tinged in his own blood;
It makes the Christian gazing stand
To view this robe of God.
No art of man can weave this robe,
Tis of such texture fine;
Nor could the wealth of all this globe
By purchase make it mine.
This of one piece, and wove throughout;
So curious wove that none
Can dress up in this seamless coat,
Till Jesus puts it on.
This vesture never waxes old,
No spot thereon can fall;
It makes the Christian brisk and bold
And dutiful withal.
This robe put on me, Lord, each day,
And it shall hide my shame;
Shall make me fight, and sing, and pray
And bless my Captain's name.
REALIZING WHAT SOVEREIGN GOD HAS DONE FOR THOSE WHO HAVE RECEIVED HIM, BY FAITH, ARE WE NOT MOTIVATED TO LIVE IN OBEDIENT FELLOWSHIP WITH HIM AS WE RESIDE UNDER THE UMBRELLA OF HIS PROTECTION AND PROVISION AND BLESS OUR CAPTAIN'S NAME.
If you have not done so, I urge you to establish your relationship with God by receiving Jesus Christ as Savior.
I further urge you to receive Him as Lord and to walk in intimate fellowship with Him and bless our Captain's name.
Hebrews 2:6-10
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? [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: [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. [10] For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
SON OF MAN
(1.) Denotes mankind generally, with special reference to their weakness and frailty (Job 25:6; Psalm 8:4; Psalm 144:3; Psalm 146:3; Isaiah 51:12, etc.).
(2.) It is a title frequently given to the prophet Ezekiel, probably to remind him of his human weakness.
(3.) In the New Testament it is used forty-three times as a distinctive title of the Saviour. In the Old Testament it is used only in Psalm 80:17 and Daniel 7:13 with this application. It denotes the true humanity of our Lord. He had a true body (Hebrews ; Luke 24:39) and a rational soul. He was perfect man.
Verse 6 quotes the words found in Psalm 8:4
Psalm 8:4
What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?
Verse 9 makes reference to Jesus Christ tasting death for every man.
Romans 3:25
Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
1 John 2:2
And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
1 John 4:10
Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
PROPITIATION that by which God is rendered propitious, i.e., by which it becomes consistent with his character and government to pardon and bless the sinner. The propitiation does not procure his love or make him loving; it only renders it consistent for him to execise his love towards sinners.
In Romans and Hebrews 9:5 (A.V., “mercy-seat”) the Greek word hilasterion is used. It is the word employed by the LXX. translators in Exodus 25:17 and elsewhere as the equivalent for the Hebrew kapporeth, which means “covering,” and is used of the lid of the ark of the covenant (Exodus 25:21; Exodus 30:6). This Greek word (hilasterion) came to denote not only the mercy-seat or lid of the ark, but also propitation or reconciliation by blood. On the great day of atonement the high priest carried the blood of the sacrifice he offered for all the people within the veil and sprinkled with it the “mercy-seat,” and so made propitiation.
In 1 John 2:2; John 4:10, Christ is called the “propitiation for our sins.” Here a different Greek word is used (hilasmos). Christ is “the propitiation,” because by his becoming our substitute and assuming our obligations he expiated our guilt, covered it, by the vicarious punishment which he endured. (Comp. Hebrews 2:17, where the expression “make reconciliation” of the A.V. is more correctly in the R.V. “make propitiation.”)
HOLEMAN BIBLE DICTIONARY
EXPIATION, PROPITIATION (Ex pee ay tion; Pro pih tee ay tion) Terms used by Christian theologians in attempts to define and explain the meaning of Christ’s death on the cross as it relates to God and to believers. Expiation emphasizes the removal of guilt through a payment of the penalty, while propitiation emphasizes the appeasement or averting of God’s wrath and justice. Both words are related to reconciliation, since it is through Christ’s death on the cross for our sins that we are reconciled to a God of holy love (Romans 5:9-11; 2 Cor. -21; Col. 1:19-23).
CAPTAIN
(1.) Heb. sar (1 Samuel 22:2; 2 Samuel ). Rendered “chief,” Genesis 40:2; Genesis 41:9; rendered also “prince,” Daniel 1:7; “ruler,” Judges ; “governor,” 1 Kings . This same Hebrew word denotes a military captain (Exodus ; 2 Kings 1:9; Deut. ; 1 Samuel , etc.), the “captain of the body-guard” (Genesis 37:36; Genesis 39:1; Genesis 41:10; Jeremiah 40:1), or, as the word may be rendered, “chief of the executioners” (marg.). The officers of the king’s body-guard frequently acted as executioners. Nebuzar-adan (Jeremiah 39:13) and Arioch (Daniel ) held this office in Babylon
The “captain of the guard” mentioned in Acts 28:16 was the Praetorian prefect, the commander of the Praetorian troops.
(2.) Another word (Heb. katsin) so translated denotes sometimes a military (Joshua ; Judges 11:6, 11; Isaiah 22:3 “rulers;” Daniel ) and sometimes a civil command, a judge, magistrate, Arab. kady, (Isaiah ; Isaiah 3:6; Micah 3:1, 9).
(3.) It is also the rendering of a Hebrew word (shalish) meaning “a third man,” or “one of three.” The LXX. render in plural by tristatai; i.e., “soldiers fighting from chariots,” so called because each war-chariot contained three men, one of whom acted as charioteer while the other two fought (Exodus 14:7; Exodus 15:4; 1 Kings 9:22; comp. 2 Kings 9:25). This word is used also to denote the king’s body-guard (2 Kings ; 1 Chron. ; 2 Chron. ) or aides-de-camp.
(4.) The “captain of the temple” mentioned in Acts 4:1 and Acts 5:24 was not a military officer, but superintendent of the guard of priests and Levites who kept watch in the temple by night. (Comp. “the ruler of the house of God,” 1 Chron. 9:11; 2 Chron. 31:13; Neh. 11:11.)
(5.) The Captain of our salvation is a name given to our Lord (Hebrews ), because he is the author and source of our salvation, the head of his people, whom he is conducting to glory. The “captain of the Lord’s host” (Joshua -15) is the name given to that mysterious person who manifested himself to Abraham (Genesis 12:7), and to Moses in the bush (Exodus 3:2, 6, etc.) the Angel of the covenant.
»See: ANGEL
.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Your thoughts and comments are welcome. I will discuss with an open mind but I will not argue. If you raise your voice or demonstrate an attitude, the discussion is over.