Hebrews 2:8b-9 “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. 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.” (ESV)
What we looked at last time was the quotation from Psalm 8 in verses 6-8 of Hebrews 2. We saw that these verses were being applied to Christ, who is the perfect Man. What Psalm 8 originally speaks of as applying to mankind Paul applies to Jesus Christ. We see this application to Christ even more clearly in verses 8b-9, quoted at the beginning. What mankind was supposed to do but failed to do, Christ has done. He has done it by suffering on the cross, such that God would highly exalt Him.
Paul plainly sees the Psalm as fulfilled in Jesus Christ. However, there is just one tiny problem: we don’t see everything in subjection to Jesus! We see evil in this world. We see rebellion and sin. How is it that Paul can say that Psalm 8 refers to Christ in the past? The answer to that question lies in verse 9, where we see (with the eyes of faith) that Jesus is indeed crowned with glory and honor now. All things have in principle been put in subjection to Jesus. Certainly, death itself has been defeated and put under Christ’s feet. However, there is also a sense in which this has not happened yet. Death has not yet been thrown into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:14). Death has already been defeated, then, but has not yet been finally destroyed.
Already…not yet. Welcome to the Christian life. We are already saved, if we believe and trust in Christ Jesus. We are not yet saved from sin completely and utterly. We are already justified, if we trust in Jesus Christ. We have not yet been declared to the whole world that we are justified. We are currently passing from one glory into another. We already have a glory of sorts. But we have not yet been fully glorified. This “already…not yet” tension is what Paul describes in Romans 7 and helps us to understand why Paul, as a Christian, still struggles with sin. Understanding this tension can help us to avoid despair, on the one hand. God allows us to struggle with the “not yet” so that we will depend on Him more fully. But God also gives us the “already” so that He can give us the strength to fight against sin and temptation. We are already more than conquerors: we are kings. But not everything is in subjection to us yet, either.
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Andrew Webb
theologian said,
December 7, 2006 at 3:14 pm
That goes along quite nicely with my amillennial view. Kim Riddlebarger speaks a lot of the already…not yet in his book, “A Case for Amillennialism”…
http://www.wtsbooks.com/product-exec/product_id/2335/nm/Case_for_Amillennialism
Excellent book, i highly recommend it.
Seth McBee said,
December 8, 2006 at 10:17 am
Lane.
Hope vacation is going well, and this was a very insightful post.
The Reformed Virginian said,
December 8, 2006 at 11:30 am
Thanks Lane. I love “now, not yet” theology and inaugurated kingdom stuff. It blew my mind in seminary when I was exposed to it for the first time.
Lane Keister said,
December 9, 2006 at 2:18 pm
Yes, and wait until you apply it to Romans 7! The struggle of the already/not yet in creation as a whole is instantiated in the believer.
reformedcovenanter said,
December 9, 2006 at 5:18 pm
I have moved to http://reformedcovenanter.wordpress.com/
greenbaggins said,
December 13, 2006 at 2:48 pm
Daniel, I have updated the blogroll.
reformedcovenanter said,
December 14, 2006 at 6:18 am
Thanks Lane, hope your back soon.
thywordistruth said,
December 15, 2006 at 1:25 pm
Lane,
I always enjoy your exposition of Scripture….you make it look easy, though I know you would pass on the glory to Him. May He continually compel your fingers to exposit through writing!
Blessings and Merry Christmas!
Jim Richardson