Heb 2:5–10 — Made for a Little While Lower Than the Angels

The title of the sermon today is “Made for a Little While Lower Than the Angels.” It is a remarkable statement, especially after what we have just seen.

We have just seen in the previous section of the letter, beginning in Hebrews chapter one, verse four, and continuing down to the end of chapter one, we have seen this striking emphasis upon the superiority of Christ to the angels. To which of the angels did God ever say, you are my son, today I have begotten you? To which of the angels did God ever say, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet? Christ is far greater than the angels.

Angels are mere creatures. They are mere servants. Yes, they are powerful, they are impressive. In the Old Testament times, whenever an angel appeared, people would quake in their boots, just afraid and terrified at the sight of this heavenly being that seems godlike and far more powerful than a mere mortal. And yet, for all of that, the angels are still merely creatures, merely servants of God, that God uses to accomplish his will.

They are simply sent out as ministering spirits to serve those who are to inherit salvation, as he says at the end of chapter 1, verse 14. So it is striking then, that we would now come to this statement here in our text today, that Jesus was made a little lower than the angels. That Jesus, this glorious Son of God, who became man, was for a time made lower than the angels.

That is, he became a man, he became incarnate, he humbled himself, he suffered a painful death on the cross, and he was exalted to the right hand of God. Our text then is showing us not only that Jesus is divine. I think chapter one has made that point clear, absolutely clear. He is the divine son of God. But now in chapter two, the author is beginning to shift a little bit to talk about not only the deity of Christ, but the humanity of Christ, his true humanity, that he humbled himself for a season. And yet, this same humbled servant was also exalted, but he was exalted as a man. Is that not interesting? Yes, he was exalted to divine honor, but he was exalted to that divine honor at the right hand of God as a man, as a glorified man who fulfills God’s purpose for mankind from the beginning.

The World to Come

Let us look at our text. Let us begin at verse 5. For it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking. It was not to angels that God placed this future reality, this new creation reality, the world to come, of which we are speaking.

This phrase, the world to come, is referring to the eschatological fulfillment of all things at the end. The new creation, when all sin and sorrow is done away, when the glory of God covers the earth as the waters cover the sea, that is the future world, the world to come.

It is the glorified new creation, Interestingly, the author of Hebrews says that this future world to come is already in some sense begun. It is already a reality in the heavenly world where Christ now sits. Christ has been exalted to the right hand of God as a glorified man. And there in heaven, he already has in subjection to him this glorious future world.

The glorious future world, the new creation. Described in Revelation 21 and 22, the new Jerusalem, all sin and sorrow done away with. Everything is perfect. All the wicked have been cast into hell and all the righteous are now with the Lord forever in the new creation, free from all sorrow, no more death, no more suffering. A time of perfect, eternal fellowship with God.

That future world is not entirely future. It is not simply something that we are looking forward to. Although we are, but it is also in some spiritual sense a present reality that God has subjected to the Son. It was not to angels that God subjected the world to come of which we are speaking.

The author of Hebrews here is saying that he has been talking about this world to come all along. You might say, I do not really recall that in the previous section here in chapter 1. I do not recall specifically any mention to the eschatological age to come, the glory of the new creation. I do not really remember him dwelling on that. It is there. It is there in all of the references to the exaltation of Christ. So for example, in Hebrews 1 verse 3, Christ is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature. And after making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. And again, we see this same thought described for us in that interesting quotation. You remember this from a couple of weeks ago? That quotation from Psalm 102. Remember Psalm 102? This is quoted in Hebrews 1, verse 10.

And you, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain. They will all wear out like a garment, Like a robe, you will roll them up. Does that not remind you of all the passages in the teaching of Jesus, in the Olivet Discourse, and in the Book of Revelation about how at the end, right, the heaven’s going to be rolled up like a scroll? They will be rolled up, and like a garment, they will be changed, but you, exalted Son, are the same, and your years will have no end.

It is as if that new creation reality, which is cosmic in scope, and it covers the whole creation, has already begun in the resurrection and exaltation of Christ. He is the seed of that new creation. And so having sat down at the right hand of God in the glory of the age to come, he is already bringing in heaven. He is already bringing in that eschatological fulfillment. It is already in principle a reality.

Or again, the quotation from Psalm 110 in Hebrews 113, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.” You get the implication of that. It is like, yes, there are still enemies out there. We are still living in this fallen world where there are enemies and there are all kinds of problems in this fallen world. Heaven has not yet come, but Christ has already sat down at the right hand and it is only a matter of time before the enemies are completely defeated. In fact, in principle, they are already defeated.

In principle, Christ has already overcome all of those enemies. And so that is what I believe the author of Hebrews is referring to there in our text in 2.5 when he says that he has been speaking about this world to come all along. He has been speaking about it in all of those references to the present reality of Christ’s exaltation in heaven. The world to come was subjected to Christ at his exaltation when all things were placed under his feet.

The true significance of that, the fulfillment of that will only be unveiled for our eyes at the second coming. But in principle, it has already happened. It has already occurred. I am sure you have heard this analogy before, but it is like the distinction between D-Day and V-Day in World War II.

V-Day, Victory Day at the end. But D-Day, which was a couple years before, when the Allies stormed the beaches of Normandy and they made a beachhead into France, the war was effectively accomplished and finished at that moment. Yes, it took a few years, took a few more months for the mop-up operations to be done. But D-Day was the decisive battle. D-Day was the decisive moment. When the victory was won. V-Day is simply the outworking of it and the public manifestation of it.

That is how we should think about the resurrection and exaltation of Christ. We should think of that as the age to come has already come. That is the day of the Lord. That is the new creation. It has already accomplished in Christ. How wonderful it is to know that. That is such comfort and assurance for us as we go through our daily lives and we deal with all of our problems and difficulties in this life. Or as we scroll on social media and we hear about things going on in the world around us, not only wars, but also social unrest, fears about the end of the world. All of these things are It is simply the last dying gasp of the enemy.

But the enemy has already been defeated. And Christ’s victory is secure. And it is only a matter of time before it is revealed when Christ appears in glory. Paul says something similar to this, this thought of the already and the not yet, the fact that it has already been accomplished. He says something similar in Colossians. Remember that wonderful passage in Colossians 3? I mentioned it in the revelation of God’s will.

He says, if you have been raised with Christ, Colossians 3:1, seek those things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Oh, there is that same allusion to Psalm 110, verse 1.

Adam, David, and Humanity’s Royal Calling

Set your mind on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, for you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. Now here is the key part. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. You get the point there? He is saying that you are already there. Your life is hidden with Christ and God. It does not seem that way to your senses and to your earthly experience, but it is already there. And it is only a matter of time until Christ returns and it is revealed to our eyes, not just to our faith, but to our eyes. We will see it. It will be made manifest to us. Now the author of Hebrews here continues on in his argument, having explained this idea that the age to come, the reality of that new creation has already been inaugurated through Christ’s ascension into heaven. He then quotes from an important Psalm in the Old Testament. And this is Psalm 8. Psalm 8. Verse six, he says, it has been testified somewhere, what is man that you are mindful of him, or the son of man that you care for him?

You made him for a little while lower than the angels. You have crowned him with glory and honor, putting everything in subjection under his feet. He is particularly focusing on some key phrases there. One of the key phrases is, made for a little while lower than the angels, which he sees as being fulfilled in the incarnation and the suffering of Christ.

He mentions the suffering of Christ in verse nine, that he was crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death. But he sees in that phrase, a little while lower than the angels, an allusion to this whole reality of the humiliation of Christ from the moment of his incarnation until his resurrection. But there is another key phrase here that he is also seeing in Psalm 8, not only a reference to the suffering of Christ, but also a reference to his exaltation and the fact that the exaltation of Christ is cast in terms of Adam’s dominion over all of creation. So he is particularly interested in that second part there, not only in verse seven, a little while lower than the angels, but also the second part, now he is crowned with glory and honor, and verse eight, everything has been placed in subjection under his feet.

As I said, up until this point in the author’s argument, the focus has been on the deity of Christ. Now the text shifts to focus on his humanity and his humanity in two stages, both his humiliation and his exaltation. The humiliation of Christ is beginning with his virgin birth all the way up until the resurrection, and his exaltation begins with the resurrection of Christ, continues into his ascension into heaven, sitting at the right hand of God, and also, by implication, the ultimate unveiling of that truth when he comes in glory at the end.

What is amazing is that just as the author of Hebrews had appealed to a number of crucial Psalms, Psalm 2, Psalm 102, Psalm 45, Psalm 110. Just as he had appealed to a number of crucial Psalms to demonstrate the deity of Christ, now he is appealing to another Psalm to demonstrate the humanity of Christ in both states. Not just the humanity of Christ in his humiliation, made for a little while lower than the angels, but also the humanity of Christ in his exaltation, crowned with glory and honor when he was raised from the dead and when he sat down at the right hand of God and everything was placed in subjection under his feet. Remarkable thing to think about how important the Psalms are.

The Psalms are so important theologically in terms of understanding who Christ is, his person and work. If we did not have the Psalms and all we had was the New Testament, if all we had was the Gospels, and the New Testament writings to tell us about what Jesus did for us, about his virgin birth, his perfect life, his miracles, his teaching, his death, his resurrection. But if we did not have the Psalms, our understanding of who Christ is and what he came to do, the person and work of Christ would be so much impoverished, it would be so thin.

But now when we see how the Psalms are all about Christ, the Psalms are all about Christology, they are telling us about the deity of the Son. You are my Son, today I have begotten you, Psalm 2:7. They are telling us about the humanity of the Son, that He was made for a little while lower than the angels. They teach us about the glorious resurrection and exaltation of the Son, how He sat down at the right hand of God with all of the enemies made a footstool for His feet.

It is not surprising that the Psalms would provide us with this thicker and richer picture and understanding of the person and work of Christ, because the Psalms are so focused upon a key figure in the Old Testament, and that is King David. It is very significant when you read the Psalms, you always look at the superscription at the top. The superscription is in bold, or in all caps, and the Psalms that are said to be of David are specifically Psalms that were written by King David and that reflect upon David’s role, not just as an individual man of God, like us, but they focus upon his particular office and role as God’s anointed king. And Psalm 8 is one of those Psalms of David. Why do we not go ahead and look at that passage for ourselves. Let us go back and look in our Bibles to Psalm 8 and let us read through it. Let us start off with reading the superscription at the beginning.

To the choir master according to the Gitteth. We are not quite sure what that means. There are a lot of these terms that are used in the Psalms referring to, probably referring to musical terms or liturgical terms. That fits in with the fact that it says to the choir master.

But notice it also says a psalm of David. Psalm 8 is a psalm of David. That is very important because if you do not have that orientation as you delve into Psalm 8, that it is a psalm of David, you could easily miss the significance of what the psalm is talking about because the psalm seems to be just a reflection upon creation. It seems to be just a reflection upon creation. When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, I think, what is man that you are mindful of him? And you might just think that Psalm 8 is only talking about a reflection upon creation and a reflection upon the dignity of man as made in Genesis 1 before the fall.

And if you miss the fact that it is a Psalm of David, then you will misunderstand that reference to creation and that reference to Adam. One thing that helps us to see that it is a Psalm of David, and that it is a post-fall reflection upon David’s kingly authority as God’s anointed servant, is the reference to the enemies. Did you notice that? Let us read it. Psalm 1, Psalm 8, verse 1. Oh Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth. You have set your glory above the heavens.

Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes. Who is still the enemy and the avenger. If this psalm was merely a reflection upon creation and merely a reflection upon mankind pre-fall without any reference to the fall or to the plan of salvation through Christ, why would there be a reference here to the foes and the enemy and the avenger?

Clearly this is a Psalm of David. It is a Psalm of David written after the fall and written in light of the fact that there is a spiritual battle going on. We have already seen this idea that there is a spiritual battle going on. In Hebrews, we have already seen this reference to all of the enemies that are placed under Christ’s feet and the fact that he is the victor over those enemies.

So the same thing applies here in Psalm 8. It is true, it is true that Psalm 8 is a reflection upon creation and upon humanity and the royal calling of mankind. In fact, the language of Psalm 8 is taken directly from Genesis 1, when it says, you have given him dominion over the works of your hands. You put all things under his feet, all the sheep and the oxen and the birds and so on. That is a quotation from Genesis 1, verse 28.

But the key is that Psalm 8 is not only reflecting upon Adam as he was created in Genesis 1 to rule over the earth as God’s image bearer, but it is also focusing upon David’s role as God’s anointed king who has taken up David’s role. Who has taken up, sorry, taken up Adam’s role. Adam failed in that calling when he fell into sin. Instead of subduing the serpent, he listened to the serpent. Psalm 8 is written by David, the anointed king of Israel, and as king, he is reflecting upon the amazing privilege that God has given him to serve in this second Adam role, to be an Adam-like figure who has authority over all of creation. Psalm 8, when it says, what is man that you are mindful of him? And what is the son of man that you care for him? Is not simply saying, what is mankind? What are mortal humans that you are mindful of them?

It is David reflecting upon his amazing calling. In fact, it is Psalm 8 verse 4, what is man, is a fuller poetic reflection upon something that David himself said in his initial prayer in response to the covenant that God made with him in 2 Samuel 7. Also the parallel in 1 Chronicles 17.

Remember what God said when he came to David? He said, I am going to build you a house. You are never going to lack a man to sit upon your throne. I am going to give you a dynasty of royal kings who will come from you. Of course, that prophecy of the Davidic covenant is looking ahead to Christ as the ultimate Davidic king. But what did David say in response to that?

In 2 Samuel 7 verse 18, he said, Who am I, O Lord God? And what is my house that you have brought me thus far? Is that not what is going on here in Psalm 8? Psalm 8, what is man and the son of man that you care for him? That is the same prayer of David, asking, Lord, I am just a mortal man.

What is this amazing gift that you have given me to be called to this high calling, to be a king, to have dominion and authority over your people and implicitly over all of creation. It was not literally that in the time of David and his sons, they did not literally have authority over the whole world, but it was implied in those promises that God gave. To David. Of course, it was not truly fulfilled until Christ, but the idea of worldwide dominion was already present in the Davidic covenant. David embodied, though imperfectly, and he was a sinner, but yet he embodied the Adamic vocation of exercising dominion over the entire creation under God to manifest the glory of God.

That is why Psalm 8 begins and ends with that refrain, O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth. How has God’s name been exalted in all the earth? Through his anointed King. Prefigured in David and his sons and fulfilled ultimately in Christ. The Psalm, Psalm 8, speaks of all things being placed under man’s feet.

Neither David himself nor any of his descendants ever exercised such universal dominion. But it was implicit in the promise that God gave to David. And therefore, the Psalm points beyond David and the Davidic line of human kings that came from him. Whether Solomon or Hezekiah or Josiah, beyond those earthly kings to Christ. Christ is the true Davidic king who has this Adam-like authority over all creation.

Christ, the True Son of Man

Hebrews then is quoting Psalm 8 to explain this doctrine. And he is using the Psalms as a source book of theological information about Christology, about the person and work of Christ. To demonstrate that Jesus is the true Son of God, who for a time was made a little lower than the angels when he became a man and when he went to the cross for our sins, but who also was raised from the dead as the last Adam to have dominion over all creation, to bring about that new creation, that cosmic renovation of all things. That has already begun in that seed form in Christ himself at D-Day, but will be manifested at V-Day when Christ returns.

The author of Hebrews is saying that Christ has fully entered into our human weakness. He was born as an infant. He experienced the weakness of human existence. And we can see this in the Gospels. The Gospels show us how Jesus was tired and exhausted and hungry and thirsty. How he slept. How he wept when his friend Lazarus died.

Humiliation and Exaltation

He lived a fully human existence, a little lower than the angels, culminating, of course, in his shameful death on the cross. He was made, for a little while, lower than the angels. And yet, through that means, through his suffering, through his humiliation, he was crowned with glory and honor in order that Psalm 8 might be fulfilled.

The author of Hebrews is not saying that Psalm 8 is simply a messianic oracle about Christ. The author of Hebrews is not saying that. It is not like one of the prophecies that you find in the Old Testament, that out of Bethlehem of Ephrathah will come the Messiah. He is not saying that, but he is saying that there is a typological structure that is being embedded in the text that connects the dots between Adam, David, and Christ. That Christ is the one who truly fulfills the meaning of what Psalm 8 is all about. There is an interesting cross-reference in Psalm 144. Look it up at your own leisure, but in Psalm 144, we have the exact same statement.

What is man that you are mindful of him? What is the son of man that you care for him? And there, in that passage in Psalm 144, it is clearly referring to David and to his kingly office. Just read the context around it. And so it is clearly talking about this idea that Adam is a royal figure who failed in his office, but David comes along and sees his office as a picking up of that royal Adamic office. And he is reflecting upon it, reflecting upon this amazing gift that God has called him to that.

Bringing Many Sons to Glory

The author of Hebrews then says that is fulfilled in Christ. Why? Why is all of this happening? Why is God doing this? Why did the Son, this glorious, eternal Son, through whom all things were created, who sustains the whole universe by the word of his power, why did the eternal, divine Son of God become a little lower than the angels? Well the text tells us in Hebrews chapter 2 and verses 9 and 10, it was so that he might suffer death so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. For it was fitting that he for whom and by whom all things exist in bringing many sons to glory should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering. Why did the sun become a little lower than the angels?

It was to bring us to glory. It was to bring many sons to glory. That is the explanation you might be wondering. Why does it say he tasted death for everyone? Does that contradict our reformed understanding of definite atonement? No, it does not, because in the context, everyone there is referring to all of these sons, to all of the elect, to all of the sons for whom he is doing this work of salvation. If you keep reading the rest of Hebrews chapter two, it explains who the everyone is. They are called brothers, the brothers of Christ. They are called those who are the offspring of Abraham. It is not angels that he helps, but the offspring of Abraham, verse 16. In verse 17, that he might make propitiation for the sins of the people.

So when it says that he tasted death for everyone, it does not mean he tasted death for all mankind indiscriminately. It means that he takes a death for all of his people, all of his brothers, all of those whom he is bringing to glory. But that is the key thought here.

Why all this wonderful biblical theology going back to Adam and David and Psalm 8? Why all this reference to being made a little lower than the angels? All of this was for you. So that you might be saved, so that your sins might be forgiven through the death of Christ in your place, so that he might bring you, the sons, to glory. Whenever the Bible refers to sons, if you are a woman, do not think, oh, that is excluding me. That is somehow gender-exclusive language.

All of us are the sons of God, because sonship means that we are heirs. It means he is bringing us to glory. We are exalted now with Christ. Just as Christ has been placed in this position of glory and honor with Adamic royal dominion over all creation, because we are in him, because we are represented by him, because he became a man to save us, we are being brought to that same glory. We are the many sons who are being brought to glory.

What an amazing thought. What a glorious thought that is. It is a beautiful way of thinking about our salvation. I mentioned last week that sometimes we think of salvation in too simplistic of a way, in a very simple understanding of, just thinking about when we were converted. And so we think of that as our salvation. That is definitely true, but it is so much bigger than that.

It is this idea that we are being brought to glory. We are the many sons whom Christ is bringing to glory. He did this mighty work, this eternal, divine Son of God who is greater than the angels. Entered into our existence, entered into this world to become one of us, to become a man, being made a little lower than the angels for a reason, for a purpose, which is to save us, to deliver us from the tyranny of the devil and to bring us to glory. He is now exalted with dominion over all things. He has already begun that new creation. And we are therefore caught up in His work. We are His sons who are being brought with Him to glory.

Notice how our text says, we do not yet see everything in subjection to Him. It does not seem obvious. Like I said before, we read the news, we hear about things going on in the world around us, and it does not seem like the new creation has already started. It does not seem like all things are in subjection to Christ. We do not yet see it, but it is true. It is true. And so by faith, the author of Hebrews is going to bring this out later on in Hebrews 11. Faith is the conviction of things not seen.

By faith, we lay hold of that truth, even though it goes against all of our experience, even though it goes against all that we are empirically experiencing now in this world. Today. On May 10th, 2026, with wars around the world, with political unrest, with all the things happening in our own personal lives.

In spite of all of that, we, by faith, look to that heavenly reality where we see that God’s purpose for the cosmos has already been completed in the death and resurrection of Christ. He is now exalted with dominion over all things. And even though we do not see it yet, with our eyes, even though we do not feel it, even though we do not experience it, even though all that we are experiencing right now seems to scream just the opposite, that none of that is true, yet We know it is true because we know that D-Day has already happened. We know that Christ is already exalted. What we do see is this. We do not see the outward manifestation of this victory, but what we do see is this, verse 9. We do see Him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, now crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death. So that by the grace of God, he might taste death for everyone, that is, for all of his sons.

May that encourage you in your walk with the Lord. May that encourage you to trust in him, that he is bringing you to glory. May that encourage you as you struggle with all of the trials and tribulations of this life, as you get bogged down in all the circumstances and all the things that you can see, may that encourage you that there is something greater going on in this world. The Lord is working in you. He has accomplished your salvation already and he is going to see to it.

He who began a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. And so as the author of Hebrews would apply this to his congregation saying, therefore, Jewish Christians, do not go back to Judaism. Do not give up your hope. Do not give up on Christ. I also encourage you to, you may be discouraged in your personal walk with the Lord as you go through many difficulties, as you continue to struggle with sin, as you struggle with hardship in this world, but be encouraged. Christ, the mighty victor, the second Adam, the true Davidic king, he has already won the victory. He has already entered into it. It is already a fait accompli. It is already a done deal. It is just a matter of time before it is revealed.

Let us continue to walk by faith and not by sight.