A little lower than the angels
Humiliation the way to exaltation
All the forementioned branches of Christ’s advancement, which are here and Isaiah 53:12; Eph Philippians 2:10, audio sundry other places inferred upon His humiliation, afford unto us sundry considerable observations, as
1.
That working and suffering are the way to glory and honour.
2. That works of service and suffering were requisite for man’s redemption and salvation (verse 10).
3. That God was mindful of His Son in His meanest and lowest estate, according to that which is written of the Son in relation to His Father,” Thou wilt not leave My soul in hell: neither wilt Thou suffer Thy Holy One to see corruption. Thou wilt show Me the path of life,” &c. (Psalms 16:10-11).
4. That all the members of Christ’s body have good ground to be confident, that after they have done and endured what God shall call them unto, they shall be recompensed with a crown of glory (1 Peter 5:4). Christ therefore is to be looked on, as well advanced as debased; in His exaltation and in His humiliation; in heaven at His Father’s right hand, as well as on the cross, or in the grave; crowned with glory, as well as with thorns (Hebrews 12:1). Thus will our faith be better settled and more strengthened, as Stephen’s was, when he “saw the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God” (Acts 7:56). Thus shall we with much patience, contentedness and cheerfulness, do and endure what God by His providence calleth us unto, knowing that if we suffer with Christ, we shall also reign with Him (2 Timothy 2:12). (W. Gouge.)
Christ for a little lime made lower than the angels
It is not material, whether we understand by little, a little measure of inferiority, or little time; for both are true. But the principal thing in these words is, wherein He was made lower than the angels; and that was in this, that He was man and mortal. Man is inferior to an angel as man; and much more as mortal, because the angels never die. Now Christ had the body of a man, and a soul separable from His body till the resurrection; and that was the little time here meant, the time of His mortality. Both might be joined in one divine axiom thus. We see, for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour, that Jesus who for a little time was made lower than the angels. (G. Lawson.)
Dignity of man
Science may prove the insignificance of this globe in the scale of creation, but it cannot prove the insignificance of man. (B. D’Israeli.)
Descent of man
The subject of a conversation at which Carlyle was present, but took no part, was the theory of evolution. At length a pause occurring, Carlyle emphatically and with solemnity observed, “Gentlemen, you are well pleased to trace your descent froth a tadpole and an ape but I would say with David, ‘Lord, Thou hast made me but a little lower than the angels.” (Leisure Hour.)
Greatness of man
But how is man “little”? He has competent knowledge of the character of God; he is only” a little lower than the angels,” and has dominion over all the works of God. He can comprehend the starry heavens; he is Godlike in his original nature; for “in the image of God made He him.” The sublime truths which God has revealed to man show what estimate God has of man’s capacity and responsibility. A finite creature can insult the majesty of heaven as deliberately and intelligently as the archangel; he can annihilate the authority of God in his own soul, and wherever he has influence; if all finite creatures should do this--and there are no creatures who are not finite--there would be no moral universe, no Divine government. (N. Adams.)
Man’s greatness
I cannot reach the stars with my hands but I pierce beyond them with my thoughts, and if things go on in the illimitable depths of the skies which would shrivel up the imagination like a dead leaf, I am greater than they, for I ask “Why,” and look before and after, and draw all things into the tumult of my personal life--the stars in their courses, and the whole past and future of the universe, all thing, as they move in their eternal paths, even as the tiniest pool reflects the sun and the everlasting hills. (Arnold Toynbee.)
Dignity of man
Man would not be the most distinguished being upon the earth if he were not too distinguished for it. (Goethe.)
Man’s superiority
Too much stress has been laid upon the proud upright position of man, and a great deal has been said and written concerning the sublime aspect of his countenance, and the Godlike dignity of his carriage. A moment’s consideration will be sufficient to show that though he looks upwards with ease and facility, he cannot, in this respect, claim any superiority. The eagle, which gazes on the sun with undazzled eye, and makes his pathway among the clouds, yields not in dignity of appearance or power of locomotion to man, who merely walks upon the ground. Can man measure his beauty with the antelope, his speed with the horse, or his strength with the-elephant? It is in virtue of his intellect, of his reason, and not of his bodily form that he ranks above his fellows. It was in mind, not in body, that “God made man in His own image.” (Scientific Illustrations and Symbols.)
Preparation for man
How in the household are garments quilted and wrought, and curiously embroidered, and the softest things laid aside, and the cradle prepared to greet the little pilgrim of love when it comes from distant regions we know not whence! Now, no cradle for an emperor’s child was ever prepared with such magnificence as this world has been for man. It is God’s cradle for the race, curiously carved and decorated, flower-strewn and star-curtained. (H. W. Beecher.)
All things in subjection
The rulership of man
I. GOD WAS MINDFUL, OF THE LIMITS IN WHICH MAN WOULD EXERCISE DOMINION. All God’s inanimate creatures serve Him and us by keeping within the limits prescribed for them. The planets have their orbits, the sea its boundary. The limits in which man was to exercise dominion over nature were love and obedience to God. So long as he could say: “ O Lord, how excellent is Thy name in all the earth” and render the service flowing from such a homage, so long could it be said of him: “Thou hast put all things under his feet.”
II. WHEN MAN STEPPED OUT OF THESE LIMITS, THE WORLD REFUSED TO BE LIMITED BY HIM. Truly, we see not yet, or “not now,” all things under him. The physician dies of the disease which he studies to cure; the seaman finds his grave in the ocean he has spent his life in learning to rule. Even the body of the Christian is subject to the laws of death and decay.
III. ONE MAN HAS KEPT WITHIN THE LIMITS OF LOVE AND OBEDIENCE TO THE FATHER AND GOD, AND NATURE THEREFORE OWNS HIM AS HER LORD, He could say: “ My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me,” and therefore He could move amongst disease without danger of contamination, navigate the sea as its Master, and suspend old laws, or create new ones, at His will. The grave could not hold Him; but, from dominion over this world, He ascended to the throne of the universe, even the “right hand of the Majesty on high.” How true of Him: “ Thou hast set Thy glory above the heavens.” Lessons:
1. If we would rule, we must be ruled.
2. All may find their way back to their lost limits by the generous love of Christ. “He tasted death for every man.”
3. Every Christian, in his glorified condition, will have dominion according to his ability to exercise it for his own good, and that of others Matthew 26:21). (W. Harris.)
Christ the chief Lord of the world
This agreeth to all men in general, to the faithful in special, whom God hath made kings and lords over all His creatures by Christ But principally it Is to be understood of our Saviour Christ, who is the chief Lord of the world, the King and the Mediator of the Church; He hath all power in heaven and earth. All things, yea, even the devils themselves, are put in subjection under His feet. God hath given Him a name above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should Philippians 2:9). We also by Him; because, we are members of His body and His brethren, we have an interest to all creatures: all things throughout the wide world are ours. The heaven, the earth, the birds, the beasts, the fishes, the trees, the flowers are ours; death is ours; the very devil himself is our slave and subject; God hath put him under our feet.
1. Here we may behold the dignity of Christians; all things by Jesus Christ are under our dominion. Oh, what a bountiful God is this, that hath given us so large a possession! Let us sound forth His praises lot it, and use His liberality to His glory. As God said to Peter, “Arise, kill, and eat”; when the sheet full of all kind of creatures was let down to him from heaven; so doth He say to us all, we may freely eat of all creatures whatsoever; but let us not abuse God’s creatures to His dishonour and our destruction. Let us use them soberly, religiously, to make us more cheerful in the service of our God.
2. Let us not stand in a slavish scare of any creature; of the stars, the winds, no, not of the devils themselves; for all are put in subjection under our feet by Jesus Christ that loved us, and hath given us a superiority over all; we shall be conquerors over them all; a singular comfort to the faithful! Satan may tempt and assault us, but God will tread him under our feet.
3. For this dominion let us thank the Lord Jesus Christ. Of ourselves we are worth nothing, stark beggars; in Christ and by Christ we have all that we have. Let us magnify Him for it. (W. Jones, D. D.)