“Lower Than Angels”
The apostle Paul, in Hebrews 2:7, wrote: “You have made him a little lower than the angels; you have crowned him with glory and honor, and set him over the works of Your hands.” Some find it hard to understand that though Christ was made a man through the incarnation, he still retained His divinity.
The Scriptures teach that in heaven and before the incarnation, the Son of God was infinitely higher than the angels. “For unto us a Child is born… and His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6 also Micah 5:2). For He was one with the Father from the days of eternity. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1 also Psalms 90:2; Proverbs 8:22–30). Thus, the Son is no less God than is the Father (John 14:9, 11).
Man and God
However, when the Son of God was incarnated, He voluntarily became a human and necessitated no special treatment. But even under these conditions He did not renounce His Divinity. He knew whence He came (John 13:3). He had power to forgive sins (Matthew 9:6). He could call to His aid more than twelve legions of angels (Matthew 26:53).
Evidences for the divinity of Christ are indisputable. These may be summarized briefly as follows: (1) the perfect life He lived (Hebrews 4:15; 1 Peter 2:22), (2) the heavenly message He gave (John 7:46; 14:10; Matthew 7:29), (3) the miracles He performed (John 5:20; 14:11), (4) the prophecies He fulfilled (Luke 24:26, 27, 44; John 5:39), (5) His life as the Creator could atone for all the lives of His created beings. If He was merely a man, His life could atone for only one life (Deuteronomy 19:21), (6) the Testimony of the Holy Spirit (Luke 3:22), and (7) the Testimony of God the Father (Matthew 3:17).
Paul declared, “Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:5–8).
Christ’s Salvation
It is Christ’s humanity that enables Him to be the kind of high Priest men need. In fact, one reason for the incarnation was that Deity might come so near to people as to experience the very same afflictions that they experience. “For we have not a high priest who cannot be touched with the feeling of our weaknesses; but was in all points tempted like we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). Christ experienced the feebleness that are mutual to man—though without committing sin. For this reason, He understands fully the problems and difficulties that the honest believer has to face.
Through Christ, our human nature gained access to victory over its natural tendency to sin (Romans 8:1–4). In Him, believers can be “more than conquerors” (Romans 8:37), for God gives” the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:57). This victory is over both sin and its wages of death (Galatians 2:20).
In His service,
BibleAsk Team
