'For, "He put all things in subjection under his feet". But when he says, All things are put in subjection, it is evident that he is excepted who did subject all things to him.'
The words are a quotation from Psalms 8:6 where man's destined final triumph is declared. And in Christ as the great representative man this has been accomplished and will be accomplished, and it will be accomplished for Him by the Creator. It will be God Who will finally subject all things under Him.
The Psalmist portrayed a truth beyond his understanding. Somehow he knew that God had destined man, made a little lower than the angels, to be crowned with glory and honour, for had He not made him in the image of God, destined to rule? And he therefore knew that it must be. But he little realised how it would be brought about. We are to have the privilege of seeing the fulfilment of his hope in Christ, (and no doubt he will be standing there with us). Christ, the second man, raised from the dead and accompanied by His people whom He has also raised, is crowned with glory and honour with all things under His feet. He has fulfilled man's destiny.
But that being so, there is One not put under Him. God alone, in the fullness of His Being, is that One. He is the great Exception. Man is to have total triumph over all things in Jesus Christ, but that triumph is under God.