In Subjection

I was joking with a Southern brother the other day about how he was pronouncing a word, in his S. Alabama drawl.  The word in question was "foothills".  My point was that if he pronounced the word "foot-heels" he was going to change the connotation for his hearers immensely!
"Foot" and "Heels" come to mind as I contemplate today's scripture passage - - Hebrews 2:5-9 (ESV)

5  For it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking.  6  It has been testified somewhere,

“What is man, that you are mindful of him, 

or the son of man that you care for him?

7  You made him for a little while lower than the angels;

You have crowned him with glory and honor.

8  Putting everything in subjection under his feet."

Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him.   9  But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

In trying to think of an analogy for today's "scripture-picture" I thought about teaching.  You see, today, this "old dog" is going to learn a "new trick"!  (Or, perhaps more than one!)  Yes, I have a friend who is teaching me how to use social media to expand my little RDM (Resplendent Daughter Ministries).  We have an appointment later today for me to learn "stuff".  So excited!  Here's the thing, though:  my friend is going to have to "make himself a little lower" than his current state of understanding, in order to teach me.  All great teachers have the ability to do this.  It is not enough to merely possess knowledge, if you are going to teach.  In addition to the knowledge of the subject matter, you must be able to communicate it in a way (usually several ways) your various human pupils will comprehend!

Our scripture passage for our meditation today is the first of a "trio", which together comprise Hebrews 2:5-18.  Overall, the larger passage drills home the importance of Jesus Christ's incarnation as the God-Man, as well as His suffering, both required by Father and also the instrument by which the Son came to the place of exaltation described in Hebrews 1:1-14.

Jesus lowered Himself to put on flesh, to become a human, in ways we will never understand.  Yet, during all of His earthly ministry, still all things were under his control (vs. 8).  All things were still "subject" to Him.  (Remember Him calming the waves, stilling the storm on the Sea of Galilee in Mark 4:35-41?)  Cockerill exclaims, "No other early writer expounds both the deity and humanity of Christ more eloquently than the author of Hebrews."

I am riveted by this statement today:  (vs. 8) - - "We do not yet see everything in subjection to Him."
All is in subjection to Him, controlled by Him, obedient to Him....but we can't see it.  Now, that can be taken in two ways.
1.  It can be that we are either blinded by Satan or willfully refuse to see this truth.
2   But, an equally fascinating interpretation to consider is that we just simply have no idea of all He rules and reigns over!  Here we are on our tiny planet, in a vast universe.  How much we do not know!  All of it, we will NEVER know!  I am confident that we have an extremely insufficient view or understanding of His vast kingdom, which is eternal, which will never end.

This truth begs the question, "What about those who refuse His lordship in their lives?"  Well, they are still subject to Him, to His eternal plan, like it or not.  You can go easy by accepting Christ as Savior, the path by which you can experience fullness of joy, the abundant life.  Or, you can go ugly and rough - - rejecting Him, scrambling through by your own measly power, ever perhaps "accomplishing something", only to find at the end of your life that it has been meaningless.

Everything and everyone is under His rule NOW, His power, part of His plan, for good or for evil (our choice).  I fully recognize that this post is going to tick some people off - - those who have no desire whatsoever to accept, follow, or serve Jesus Christ.  Not my intention, but there again, these scriptures are God's words, not mine.  Don't shoot the messenger!

The final and ultimate fulfillment of Christ's rule will culminate in His return to earth to set up His earthly kingdom.  At that time the prophecy of His enemies becoming His "footstool" will be literally and physically made so.  See Psalm 110:1, 1 Corinthians 15:24 and Hebrews 10:13.  Oh, and Genesis 3:15 - - Satan's head will be utterly crushed.

"Bow now or bow later" because, eventually, ALL WILL BOW.

Lord Jesus, I don't want to merely be subjected to You; I want to serve You, in all my ways, through all my days.  And then, through forever, may my service and worship of You go on and on an on.  In Your Name, amen.

Source:

Cockerill, Gareth Lee. The Epistle to the Hebrews. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 2012. Kindle edition.

Move over!

Good morning,

Often people remark on my use of words in my speech.  Some of my former teachers have said that their vocabularies got expanded when they worked for me.  That was not my intention.  Another time, I was praying out loud in a group where people were praying out loud about a specific situation. I did not pray a long prayer, but directly afterwards a man prayed making reference to not praying with high, lofty language.  That hurt my feelings, actually.  It was not my intention then to be pretentious or snooty.  It is just that I absolutely love the English language, and words fascinate me.  I love to learn new words and use new words.  When I do so, it is in no way meant to connote a "better than thou" attitude.

In a little over a month I am going to Peru.  In talking about the trip with another who is going, he talked about the difficulty of working through an interpreter, something I will have to do and have never done.  What he was trying to say in a kindly way, without coming out and saying it, was "Gena, you are going to have to pare down your words."  He is exactly right.

The apostle Paul begins chapter 2 as an extension of the end of chapter 1, where he ended by talking about doing everything we do for God's glory, not for our own.  In that context, we find 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 (NKJV).  

And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. 2 For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. 3 I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. 4 And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

Because Paul was a very educated man, he could have come to Corinth and beguiled the people with flowery speech and clever arguments.  (There are places in Scripture where he DID do this, because it was appropriate for the occasion.  One that comes to mind is when he persuaded the Greeks about "the unknown god" at the Areopagus in Acts 17:16-34.)  The point is that Paul, while in Corinth, submitted his own natural inclinations, which flowed from his God-given gifts, to make sure that he did not get in the way of the gospel message.  In retrospect, I should have done the same that day when I was praying in public with people who did not know me; and, I should do that when I go to teach in Peru next month.

Secondly, Paul did not depend on his own strength or knowledge to get the gospel message out with integrity and purity.  He knew that only the Holy Spirit could do that.  He was determined to "get out of the way" and let the Holy Spirit flow in, through, and out of him, so that his words would be a demonstration not of his power, but of the power of the Spirit.  His earnest desire was that the people's faith would be rooted in and strengthened by the power of God.  Yesterday, we talked about humility; this is a prime example, right here.

Paul's aim was to focus on the cross of Jesus Christ, His crucifixion, burial and resurrection.  This is the heart of the gospel.  Paul wanted to make sure that the Corinthians heard it loud and clear. After all, Paul's desire was to produce Christians, not "Paulians".  Warren Wiersbe, in his New Testament commentary, tells the story of a church that had a beautiful stained glass window, depicting Jesus on the cross, right behind the pulpit.  One Sunday, a guest minister came to preach; this man was very short in stature.  A little girl asked her mommy during the service, "Mommy, where is the man who usually stands there so we can't see Jesus?"

Boom! Move over! All of us need to make sure that we don't stand in the way of others seeing Jesus, don't we? The modern church in America is currently in love with gimmickry. We must do this or do that so that people will come to church.  Well....no.  We would be much more effective for the kingdom of God if we instead fell down on our faces in prayer, begging God to do His perfect work, and then resolved to get ourselves out of the way so that Holy Spirit can do the work He wants to do in the first place.

Lord, we call you that, but we often make ourselves "lord".  Basically, we need to "get over ourselves".  Please give us discernment.  Help us to recognize when we are in the way of Your Spirit and the work He wants to do, in any given situation.  We are so blinded, most of the time!  At least, I know I am.  Please help us, Lord.  Use us, in spite of ourselves, for Your glory.  In Jesus' name, amen.

Source:

Wiersbe, Warren W. The Wiersbe Bible Commentary. 2nd ed. Colorado Springs: David C Cook, 2007. 458. Print.