The New World Order

But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

Hebrews 2:9

Modern politicians speak of a new world order, which will be established through thriving global trade and its resulting prosperity and peace. In this utopic vision, there will be no war, because war destroys prosperity. Knowledge will increase and all people will be citizens of the world who love one another. We will all make money, and money will save us all.

Hebrews 2:5-9 does not speak about this type of political world order but about the new world order of Jesus Christ, which is the kingdom of God. In the first four verses of Hebrews 2, the author told us that we must pay our fullest attention to the gospel we heard, which spoke of our great salvation, that we may not drift away from it. This salvation has to do with the new world order in which the people of God, not angels, rule all creation with Jesus Christ.

Believers have already entered this new world order, which Jesus Christ introduced in these last days. It is the messianic age, which began with the first coming of Christ. This kingdom of God will manifest itself in greater fullness when Christ comes again. Even now, however, Christ is seated at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven as King of kings and Lord of lords of the new world order, and we are seated with him.

In this new world order, we experience the powers of the age to come. The kingdom of God has invaded into this present age, and we are already experiencing the powers of the age to come (Heb. 6:4-5). Even now we are experiencing the good things of this new world order (Heb. 9:11), such as justification, forgiveness of all sins, adoption, and sanctification. The Holy Spirit is dwelling in us and we see Jesus, crowned with glory and honor. The Spirit enlightens us so that we do not remain like pigs looking down at the earth, but are looking up into this new world order and all its blessings. We are looking for the coming of an enduring city (Heb. 13:14), because there is no enduring city here. The new world order consists of an enduring city that is coming.

How can a person belong to this new world order? It is very simple: Repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. If you have done so, then you are citizens of the kingdom of God.

Not Subjected to Angels

What do we know about this new world order of Jesus Christ and his people? First, Hebrews 2:5 says that it is not subjected to angels. Apparently there are indications that the present world order is subject to angels, both good and fallen. Deuteronomy 32:8 (Septuagint version) says, “He set bounds of the people according to the number of angels.” The administrations of various nations were parceled out among the number of angelic princes.

Daniel 10 also gives us this idea: “Then [the angel] continued, ‘Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia'” (vv. 12-13). So it appears there are good angels and fallen angels, and even fallen angels can be in charge of certain kingdoms. In the same chapter the angel asks, “Do you know why I have come to you? Soon I will return to fight against the prince of Persia, and when I go, the prince of Greece will come; but first I will tell you what is written in the Book of Truth. (No one supports me against them except Michael, your prince)” (vv. 20-21). Later, Daniel is told, “At that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise” (Dan. 12:1). Somehow this present world order has been submitted to angels.

A Dead Sea sect looked forward to two messianic figures: a king and a priest. The priest would be superior to the king, but both would function under Michael the archangel. This particular sect believed that the new world order\ would be subjected to angels. The author of Hebrews may have been reacting to this particular idea.

Man’s Original Destiny

The author of Hebrews declares that the world to come is not subjected to angels (Heb. 2:5). To whom, then, is it subjected? Man! “You made him a little lower than the angels; you crowned him with glory and honor and put everything under his feet” (vv. 6-7). The author cites Psalm 8 from the Septuagint as proof of man’s original destiny. This psalm speaks of the majesty of God, the utter insignificance of man, and the amazing dignity that God conferred upon man when he created man in his image and likeness.

We find this idea first in Genesis 1: “And God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.’ So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground'” (vv. 26-28).

In the Hebrew text we read that God made man a little lower than God (elohim)-that is, God conferred upon man such dignity that man was accountable only to God. In the Septuagint elohim is translated “angels,” so we read that God made man a little lower than angels. God crowned man with glory and honor and put everything under man’s sovereignty. Man was to rule the world as God’s vicegerent. It appears God’s original intention was that man rule, not only over this planet earth but over the entire creation, including angels. What great dignity God conferred upon man, a little speck of dust!

Man’s Utter Failure

Man, however, utterly failed to fulfill his God-given destiny: “Yet at present we do not see everything subject to him” (Heb. 2:8). The writer sees that something has gone seriously wrong: man has failed to rule, as originally intended by God.

Man chose to sin against God’s word and so he died. When he fell, the whole world fell. “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). Now man is dead in trespasses and sins. He has become an enemy of God, ruled by sin. He is no master; he is a slave to sin, death, and the devil. Instead of being blessed, he is cursed:

To the woman he said, “I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.” To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return” (Gen. 3:16-19).

Man is not now ruling, and even the most powerful man will eventually die. Mighty man is a slave of death and decay. He has become mortal, which was not God’s original intention. “The wages of sin is death.” And man’s environment suffers because of man’s sin. Sin is the reason for thorns, pests, germs, disease, pain, war, and death. Paul speaks about this in Romans 8: “I consider that our present sufferings are not wroth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed.” This is speaking about the new world order. “For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation will itself be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God” (vv. 18-21).

When Adam sinned, mankind fell from the pinnacle of dignity, losing his glory and becoming pervasively sinful. But the Hebrews writer does not say, “At the present time we do not see anything subject to man.” Instead, he says, “At the present time, we do not yet see.” There is a sense of optimism in that statement. There is still hope for fallen man.

How can fallen man be restored to his God-intended glory and honor? He needs a mediator, a redeemer, a reconciler.

God’s Plan for Man

It was always God’s intention that man would rule all creation for him. In spite of the Fall, God’s plan still stands. In Psalm 8 David spoke of the majesty of God, the greatness of God’s heaven, and the utter insignificance of man. David is also speaking about man in his fallen condition. Because man fell, he is no longer a ruler but is captive to Satan and death. He deserves to be wiped out from the face of the earth. It would be just for God to send all fallen humans into hell.

Yet God refuses to do this. God has a plan to restore man to even greater glory than Adam ever had before his fall. What amazing grace! “What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?” (Heb. 2:6). I would say, “What is man-this sinful, miserable man-that you think about him, this wretched man, that you care for him?”

The same word for “mindful of” or “remember” appears also in Hebrews 13:3: “Remember those in prison.” It means that we must go and help these people by giving them food, clothing, and fellowship. It is not remembering in a theoretical sense; it is remembering to help. The author is saying, “What is man that you, the holy God, should remember sinful man in his lowest estate and come to his aid?”

The other word, “care for him,” appears in Matthew 25:36: “I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me.” It is the same idea-to care for means to visit, to go and help someone who is in serious trouble.

In Luke 1 Zechariah says, “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come and has redeemed his people” (v. 68). God came from heaven in Jesus Christ to our pit to help us out of our misery. He does so “because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven” (v. 78). In man’s fallen state of misery, God remembers man. He sends his eternal Son to take upon himself human nature to help and save man.

Paradise Lost and Regained

Jesus won for us the paradise that Adam lost. We do not now see man ruling over all the works of God’s hand. When we look at man, we see a sinner; a slave to Satan, sin, and death; one who needs a restorer, mediator, and reconciler. Yet note the words of the Hebrew writer: “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor” (Heb. 2:9). In Jesus Christ, God remembered, cared for, and visited fallen human beings, and now we have hope.

Hebrews 1 spoke of the superiority of Jesus, especially his deity; now the writer is speaking of Jesus’ humanity. When we see Jesus, we see one who is the Savior of the world: “There is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men” (1 Tim. 2:5). We see Jesus, the God/man, our perfect substitute and atonement. We see Jesus, who knew no sin but became sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in him. (PGM) We see Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. We see Jesus, who died for our sins and was raised for our justification. The author uses the name “Jesus” thirteen times in this epistle.

“We see Jesus.” That is in the present tense, which means we are to see Jesus continually. We find the same idea elsewhere: “Therefore holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus” (Heb. 3:1); “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith” (Heb. 12:2). How do we see Jesus? By faith in the word of God. When we see him, we will experience sunshine, hope, salvation, and joy. How can we gaze upon him who is crowned with glory and honor and remain miserable! May God help us to keep on seeing Jesus, who came not to be served, but to serve and give his life a ransom for many. Any sinner can look to him and be saved. The answer to our sin problem is seeing Jesus.

Why was Jesus was made a little lower than angels? Because angels cannot die. We needed someone who could die in our place for our salvation. The Son became incarnate “so that he may taste death” (v. 9). “Taste” here means to experience fully the complete bitterness and pain of death eternal. Jesus Christ suffered death in all its gruesome pain and misery. Not only did he suffer physically, but he also suffered spiritually, as the wrath of God was poured upon him. He went to hell in our place on the cross. No one has ever experienced this kind of death.

Jesus died our death on the cross. Paul tells us, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal. 2:20). When Christ died for sin, we died to sin. What is the implication of Christ’s tasting of death? “For Christ’s love compels us because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died” (2 Cor. 5:14). Christ died in my place as my representative and mediator, and therefore I will not die. That is the glory of Christianity.

Verse 9 says Christ died his atoning death by the grace of God “for everyone.” However, that does not mean there is universal salvation and no one goes to hell. “Everyone” does not mean every human being who has ever lived on the face of the earth. It means everyone without distinction-people of every race who would repent and believe in Jesus, our only atonement.

This passage, in fact, defines “everyone.” Hebrews 2:10 begins, “In bringing many sons to glory.” So “everyone” is a son who is to be brought to glory. Verse 11 says, “Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family.” Here “everyone” means those who are made holy. Verse 11 continues: “So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers.” So “everyone” means brothers of Jesus. Verse 13 says, “Here I am and the children God has given me.” So “everyone” is the children God has given to Jesus Christ to redeem (cf. John 17). In verse 15 “everyone” is that person who is delivered from the fear of death. In verse 16 “everyone” refers to Abraham’s descendants, and in verse 17 it stands for the people of God.

We see Jesus-crucified, dead, buried, raised from the dead and crowned with glory and honor. We see Jesus fulfilling what Adam and his descendants failed to do.

We see Jesus as the King of kings and Lord of lords, to whom all creation is subject right now. There are many scriptures to show this. “For he has put everything under his feet” (1 Cor. 15:27). Because he suffered death, God crowned Jesus Christ with glory and honor and put all things under his feet (Eph. 1:22). “[Christ] has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him” (1 Pet. 3:22). Jesus himself said, “All authority in heaven and earth is given to me” (Matt. 28:18). Because of his faithfulness in obeying God, especially by his death on the cross, “God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:9-11).

We see Jesus and his new world order. When Jesus entered heaven as King of kings and Lord of lords, we who are united with him by faith entered heaven also with him. When he died, we died with him; when he was raised, we were raised with him. When he was seated as Sovereign over all creation, we were also seated with him. In Jesus Christ we have gained the glory and honor which we lost in Adam. Every believer in Christ rules with Christ even now.If you are unhappy, I counsel you to see Jesus. That will solve your problems. His triumph is your triumph, his rule is your rule, his power is your power, and his position is your position.

Every believer in Christ is ruling with him even now. Yet we wait for full manifestation of this new world order, where regenerated people will live with Jesus Christ in a new heaven and a new earth, where there is no sin, no pain, no death, but only righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. So we pray, “Thy kingdom come” in anticipation.

The new world order belongs to us in Christ. We rule over all creation, including angels. Paul tells us, “‘The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.’ So then, no more boasting about men! All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future-all are yours” (1 Cor. 3:20-22). Later he says, “Do you not know that we will judge angels?” (1 Cor. 6:3). By Christ’s death, he has secured dominion for himself and all whom he represents, who are united with him by faith-all his brothers.

I have news for you: I am not looking forward to a new world order created by the political leaders of this world. I am looking forward to the kingdom of God.

Conclusion

The author tells us, “Pay most careful attention to the word you heard.” Our misery, confusion, and fear come when we do not pay full attention to the gospel we heard. Pay careful attention to this gospel, for it speaks of a new world order where Christ and his people rule over all created realities. In this new order the last word is not death, but everlasting life. Even now God’s people are liberated from their fear of death and declare with Paul, “Neither death nor life . . . will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:28-39). Because Christ tasted death for us, we shall never die. But only true believers in Jesus Christ belong to this new world order. All enemies of God shall be cast into the lake of fire, which is the second death. It is the destiny of all unbelievers.

Are you part of this new world order of Jesus Christ? There is only one way to become a member: by faith in Jesus Christ. He triumphed, and his triumph can be ours by uniting with him. Therefore, repent and believe on the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved. The Bible says, “If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” You will be liberated from death, shame, misery, defeat, and slavery to sin, and crowned with glory, honor, authority, and government.

As we put these admonitions into practice, our worship will be acceptable to God, and he will bless us. Then we will go out in joy and be led forth with peace, and the mountains and hills will burst into song before us (Isaiah 55:12).