Hebrews 2:5 - 3:6 | Jesus - the Better Human

Now, someone asked me once whether I thought humanity was generally getting better today.

or generally getting worse or staying the same? And it's a tricky question, isn't it? Is humanity, is the human race improving or worsening or just sort of same-same? There's some things that you can look at and it makes you think things are genuinely improving, like we're healthier, we live longer, we're more prosperous than any generation before us.

But at the same time, it seems to me at least that there are real social issues in our world.

Social cohesion seems to be disintegrating.

We're more miserable, I think, more lonely.

Now you can debate that over your next barbecue.

Regardless of whether you think humanity is getting better, or getting worse, in verse five, the author of Hebrews tells us that humanity's ultimate destination, our end goal, is glory.

Verse five, he says, it is not to angels that he, that is God, has subjected the world to come, about which we are speaking, But there is a place, Psalm 8 is the place, where someone, King David is the someone, has testified, what is mankind that you are mindful of them? A son of man that you care for him.

You made them a little lower than the angels, yet crowned them with glory and honor and put everything under their feet.

Now, in Psalm 8, King David is marveling at the God who made the sun, the moon, and the stars, and that that God would even think about puny little humans.

But here in Hebrews 2, the preacher uses Psalm 8 to show us that God's plan for the world to come is for humans like you and me to be crowned with glory and honour.

To put everything under our feet.

For humans to rule in the new creation under God.

Now that's actually always been God's plan.

Now that's what it was like in the beginning.

If you go back to the start of the Bible, Genesis 1, in the beginning, God created the sun, the moon, the stars, the land, the sea, and all the plants and animals, and he said it was good.

But when God created humans, male and female, in his own image, what did he say? They were very good.

They were the highlight of his creation, the centerpiece, the piece de resistance.

Humanity was crowned with glory and honor.

And God gave this man and this woman dominion over creation.

He put everything under their feet.

All creation was answerable to them.

So here in Hebrews 2, we learn that this pattern from creation will continue in the new creation.

In the world to come, you and I will rule.

You won't be floating around on a cloud playing a harp.