Epaggelia

Now that the authority of Christ has been established over the angels, the Hebrew writer warns us not to drift away from this message delivered by Him. In fact, we must give the most careful attention to Christ’s words due to His superiority.  If that which was spoken by the angels (Old Testament Law, Dt. 33:2 & Ac. 7:53) proved steadfast by God then “how much more” should we revere that which was spoken by Christ? There is absolutely no hope for our salvation if we neglect the teachings of God’s Son.  These teachings were confirmed by those who heard and witnessed them, relaying them on to the writer of this letter we are reading. God’s affirmation of these teachings was confirmed by the use of miracles.

“Therefore we must give the more earnest heed … lest we drift away” (Heb 2:1).  The book of Hebrews stands as a clear rebuttal to the Calvinistic heresy of “once saved, always saved.”  The entire letter is an effort to drag weak brethren back from the brink of apostasy. Not once does the writer suggest that their salvation was a sham or pretense.  In fact, he will expressly affirm their fellowship with God (Heb 6:4-6). If people were not predisposed to believe in eternal security, it would never occur to them when reading passages such as Heb 2:1-4.   The readers are offhandedly reminded of the abundant confirmation which had accompanied the gospel. If they drifted away, they could not blame it on a vague or garbled message from God.God was “mindful” of man, cared for him, made him a little lower than the angels, crowned him with glory and honor, and gave him dominion over this world (Psalm 8:3-8).  In other words, God exalted man and gave him dominion over this world. But “now we do not yet see all things put under him”.  Because of man’s rebellion, he lost this exaltation and dominion.  These are now restricted by his sin. But now “we see Jesus”, who became flesh (lower than the angels), who suffered and died for man, become the complete fulfillment of Psalm 8:4-6. Therefore Jesus was crowned with glory and honor.  Jesus suffered and died so that by God’s grace He could pay the penalty of death required by all sinners (Rom 6:23). Jesus did not exempt Himself from impulses that lead to sin.  Had He done so, men would have had little confidence in approaching Him with their own weaknesses. God demonstrates both wisdom and love in providing a Savior who draws men to Him by shared nature and experience. It is God’s plan, “fitting for Him”, to make “the author of their salvation perfect through sufferings”.  In other words, the sufferings of Christ made His qualifications to bring men “to glory” complete (“perfect”).  Christ is not ashamed to call them brethren now that they have been brought “to glory,” they are now a part of God’s family (Mt. 12:49) they “are all of one”. Christ willingly took on the same nature of man, suffered as a man, and died as a man.  But Christ conquered death therefore destroying him (the devil) who had the power of death. Christ destroyed Satan’s power of death over man and we are no longer in bondage to death, (Heb. 2:15) and the souls of people in Christ do not suffer the consequences of their sin! (1st Cor. 15:55-56) So Jesus is now introduced as their new High Priest.  In order for Christ to be a merciful and faithful High Priest, he had to endure the same sufferings of man so that He could sympathize with man. As the High Priest offered atonement for the sins of humanity, Christ offered himself as our atonement for sin.