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I firmly believe that the Bible is the written, inerrant Word of God. I believe that when I am reading scripture and studying those precious books, that I am reading truth that despite using humanity to transcribe, really is authored only by one author, the Holy Spirit. Peter wrote about the Bible:

You can't go to the library and pick sixty-six books on any subject written by the supposed "experts" on that subject and not find discrepancies and contradictions in their opinions. But the sixty-six books of the Bible were written in different cultures, by many different authors and yet they all agree on their subject, and not one time does it contradict itself! And God used amateurs in many cases to transcribe His Word! That to me, proves to me that the Bible is the inerrant Word of God.

And it's not of any private interpretation, so if I take all of the scriptures about any particular subject and put them together and interpret all of them by each others so that all of them are obeyed and all of them harmonize, then I have God's viewpoint of that subject which, of course, is the one viewpoint that is absolutely right! I want to believe the Bible as it was intended to be understood by it's author, and that's why we spend so much time in this church in the Word.

Having made my disclaimer, I have found what at first glance seems to be a contradiction in God's Word." But such cases, are a result of not fully understanding what the texts are meaning. A good example of this is when God told Adam that the day that they ate the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden, that same day they would surely die (Gen 2:17). But when you turn the page, you will find that in chapter 3, that they did not physically die the day that they ate the fruit. In fact, a little further reading reveals that Adam didn't die physically until he was 930 years old (Genesis 5:5)! It's a seeming contradiction until you find scripture in the book of Romans chapter 5 that reveals that it was a spiritual death (Romans 5:12-14). It was the spirit of a man, that part that God placed within him to have a relationship and know God, that died when they sinned. And Paul said, not only did they die spiritually that same day, but that death was passed on to every other person born of human parents so that all of us have sinned and all of us are born with a dead and dormant spirit that needs the regeneration of the Spirit of God to renew and resurrect. And so we find that through a seeming contradiction, once we study it out, it becomes one of the greatest and most needful revelations. And that's the point that I'm trying to make: not only does the Bible not contradict itself, but the "seeming contradictions," once you understand them fully, are some of the greatest revelations in the world. Jesus said that he taught this way so that only those who truly desired it would be blessed by the best revelations. It is the way of God to only bless mightily those who are willing to dig a little for the blessing.

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In our texts, we have what at first sight would seem to be a contradiction. I would like to draw your attention to it because the lesson learned from it is great enough to change your life and the way that you live it!

In our first text, chapter 1 of Hebrews, we find that the writer is talking about Jesus and says:

He is talking about the "Son" which refers to the flesh that God became that was born of woman. And in verse 3, he says that the Son was made in the "express image of his person." In other words, Jesus Christ was the perfect representation of God in flesh. This, of course, means that He was God in flesh because according to other scriptures there is no one like unto Jehovah God (Isaiah 46:5 for one of many scriptures). But let's move on from the basic revelation of who Jesus Christ is, because in verse 4, it states that the Son came "being made so much better than the angels."

We understand that Jesus was not an angel, nor was He of angelic flesh, but when God became flesh, He became flesh in every way that is inherently human, yet at the same time remained God Almighty. That is the mystery of the incarnation, how that could be, but even though we can't understand that, we can know and believe that God did it! Jesus was made a human being, but was still "so much better" than the angels because He was God and was doing something that spirits couldn't do by themselves: providing redemption and salvation through His blood.

With all of this in mind, we turn the page and get to chapter 2 where it seems that there is a contradiction of terms. In our other text, the writer says:

The writer says "Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels." Wait a minute! I thought He was "made so much better than the angels?!" How can He be lower and yet so much better? We understand the "better" part, but to what does the "lower" refer? It refers to His humanity. It refers to the fact by becoming human, Jesus had to endure some things which the angels will never have to endure. And yet, through His human suffering, He eventually became something so much greater that it could be said that He was "so much better" than the angels. It sounds funny, but it's the lesson that God would want us to learn: the path to "so much better, goes through becoming a little lower."

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By becoming human, Jesus was made a little lower than the angels. It's an interesting thought, but true. And so it gives rise to the questions "what's the differences between humans and angels, and what about humanity is lower?" The answers are easily found:

Angels do not have physical bodies with flesh and bones and such. We know this from when Jesus appeared to His disciples after His resurrection and was trying to convince them that He wasn't a "spirit" or angelic being made visible.

Human beings of course have flesh and bones and blood and a physical body, but how does that make us a little lower than the angels? Because angels cannot get physically sick. They never have a day like I did Friday where the snot is dripping out of your nose and you are sneezing repeatedly so that you are miserable. Angels have never had to go to a doctor and listen to the bad news from a medical exam. They have never had to come to face with mortality and had to stand at a funeral at a loved one's casket. In that sense, they have no idea what it feels like to experience grief, heartache, or emotional anguish. They have no idea what it feels like to experience pain, and suffering and sickness. They've never been drugged on sinus medication and pull out in front of someone going 65 miles-an-hour to make a bad day even worse, but I have! They've never been hampered by a headache in doing the work of God. They know nothing of stress, because all of these things come from having an earthly body.

I've said it before but I think it bears repeating. The devil is one, big coward because he often attacks through sickness. Not all sickness is from the devil, sometimes it's just life, or from abusing our body and not resting properly. Sometimes it's just from age. But in the book of Job we find that Satan brought on great sickness and so sometimes he will get permission to do so in our lives as well. I said he's a coward, because in attacking in sickness, he is attacking you in a way that he can't be attacked himself. The devil is a fallen angel, and so has never had a sick day in his life. That's why Jesus shed His blood for your healing because He knew that we would need an antidote against such a loser enemy!

Angels never get tired. They never grow weary and feel fatigued. They never have to sleep. And yet us humans were created "a little lower" than that. We must have our 6 hours are whatever you get a night. We need that little catnap. If not we get to the place where we cease to function. We get burnt out. We get wearied from the same repeated activity. Why? Because we have a human body. And God created us that way.

How else are angels different from humans in superior ways? Angels do not live in a society governed by other angels and infected with a sinful nature. They do not face "peer pressure" as we face it. They had a little trouble in the beginning with that one "bad apple," Lucifer and his bunch, but God swiftly kicked him from his position. It wasn't much of a fight. But us humans, we live in a society that is very ungodly and very anti-Christian. We have to endure crime and inflation. We have to work for a living to have food and clothing and shelter -- things that are not even in the thought process of an angel. We have to deal with the weather and the extreme hots and extreme colds (hey 50 degrees IS extreme cold in Texas). To travel somewhere, we have to either walk, or use some type of transportation all kinds of which eventually have problems. You have to feed a horse. A bicycle will eventually have a flat tires. And there are zillions of things that can go wrong with a car! How nice it would be to -- like an angel -- just flap our wings and get where we are going. No maintenance as long as you take care of them, you have just the right models for your body, and no gas bills! But as humans, we have all of these things, and there are some days where the job, the weather, our body, the bills, peer pressure, this sinful world, and fatigue all combine to just create a horrible existence. Compared to angels we are already "a little lower" but I've had a few days, two this past week, that I felt like I was "lower than that." Human beings have the unique ability for a bunch of little sufferings to combine into one great crash! Somebody say amen!

And then angels are different than humans because they have no need for relationships between each other. Jesus said that the angels are not "married or given in marriage." They've never had to live with a "brawling angel." Just kidding. What this means is that angels don't have a need to fit in and belong and to be loved in order to function. Human beings do. You can act tough as you want, but you and I were created to need others. We need friends. We need love. The scriptures say that "he who findeth a wife findeth a good thing." Marriage is a good thing. It is a positive thing. It is the will of God for the majority of people's lives, but yet there are times where having a marital relationship can be difficult. There are times that you have, well, times. Bro. Dean in Louisiana said that in over thirty years of marriage, he and his wife have never had an argument, but they have had many hours of "intense fellowship." I've experienced the same.

We spend hours and sometimes lifetimes affected because of failed relationships or friends that hurt us to the point of almost destroying us. Most of humanities' problems stems from trying to have relationships with people without God as the center of those relationships. My deepest hurts and lowest days as a human being have not come from job issues or sickness, but have been from people that I loved and respected who turned to maliciously attack me or betrayed my trust. And yet, the proper response is not to close up and refuse to try to love again. People who say that they "don't need anybody else" are lying. You're not an angel. You never will be. You were created by God to need relationships to function as a human being.

And so now realizing all of this, will make you appreciate the scriptures that we just read much, much more. Paul said:

To be the ultimate sacrifice for sin and pay the penalty for us, God could not come to earth in an angelic form. To get things right between God and man, the great Creator of the universe and man, would have to humble Himself and become as one of His creation, and not as the angels with their easy existence, but to become a human being and live upon this earth. Jesus was made "a little lower than the angels." He was God made flesh!

When God came in flesh, He did not come as a full-grown man in a rich palace somewhere with no worries, but He came as a little, helpless baby to be raised by two poor Hebrews. He was born in the lowly stable and the feed trough was His first bed. For His first two years, He lived the life of a nomad, traveling to Egypt and then back again to escape the evil Herod. From the first breath, this baby had enemies and had to learn to scramble for survival. He knew what it was like to be born into a dysfunctional family with a suspicious birth. The writer of Hebrews goes on to say:

He was "made a little lower than the angels" in becoming as a human being and therefore was "in all points tempted like as we are." That means that Jesus suffered every ordeal and emotion that you and I have had to face. I believe that He had a neighborhood bully. I believe that He was made fun of for "being different." I believe that He scraped His knee. I believe that He had "bad days" at school. In His humanity, He had to learn to study and apply Himself.

Joseph is not mentioned after His twelfth birthday, and most Jewish historians say that he died shortly around that time. That means that Jesus stood beside the funeral bier of a man whom He loved very much and watched as the body was lowered into the ground. He wept at the tomb of Lazarus and surely He wept as a boy at Joseph's grave too. He was made a little lower than the angels.

Being the eldest, that left care and feeding the family from the small carpenter's shop in Nazareth, Jesus' responsibility. There were eighteen long years spent in the carpenter's shop, learning an occupation that He would never use for His own family and yet fulfilling the role of humanity that you and I do every week. There were days that as Jesus went about His morning routine, that He wished for a break from the monotony and the hard work. But there were six mouths at home to feed and so back to the bench and saw He would return. I'm sure somebody purchased a chair or something and never paid Him. I'm sure that He was taken advantage of a few times. He had it a little better than us today as here was no telephone, but that just meant that if someone had a gripe, He got it full force face to face. Aside from a trip to Jerusalem every year for the Passover, Jesus never took a vacation.

The scriptures record that throughout His earthly ministry not one of His brothers believed that He was really the Messiah until Jesus appeared to them after His resurrection. That means that Jesus knew what it was like to live religious principles and morals and have His own family make fun and scoff. He was made human. He was made a little lower than the angels.

And, of course, when that great ministry ended, Jesus found out about the lowest of low days that a human being can experience. As a human being, He went lower than most of us will ever have to face. To have one of His dearest friends sell Him out and then all of the others run from Him in the face of adversity. To be arrested and thrown into a jail cell like a common criminal, and then to endure abuse by hypocrites and Roman soldiers. To hear the very ones that He had come to save and the very ones that just weeks before He had healed their loved ones, raise their fist and cry "crucify Him" and to choose a robber and murder rather than set Him free. Angels watched in horror as they stripped Him naked and beat Him with thirty-nine stripes to the point of death, but yet angels could not full comprehend the feeling of pain because it was beyond anything that they could ever experience. A little lower than the angels, He had become and so He was experiencing a low much lower than any angel could fathom.

And then the cross. The agony of the most cruelest and grueling death ever invented by the wickedness of man. And not only the physical torture of extreme thirst and loss of blood, but the taunting of the people passing by. The cursing and abuse from the soldiers. the searing pain as He pushed up on the nails on His feet and pulled at the nails in His hands to get just enough effort to press His bleeding back against the rough wood enough to get just another breath. And then the shame. The shame of having to endure the wrath of God against all sin and yet with Him never having sinned. His pure nature recoiled at the shame of sin placed upon Him and the scripture says that He despised it. It would be that weight, the weight of our sins upon Him that would eventually cause Him to face death and die. The innocent killed so that the guilty might live. Wrongly accused, wrongly judged, wrongly punished and abused all along. I would definitely say that He had become a little lower than the angels.

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But the great revelation from all of this is found in our texts in Hebrews.

He did all of this to become "perfect through sufferings!" The word for "perfect" in the Greek means "to be finished, complete, and mature." The idea is that the sufferings of humanity brought Jesus to His death, but it was His death that brought Him to the resurrection and a new, glorified body that had flesh and bones but was immortal. In one fell swoop, Jesus went from being "a little lower than the angels" to being "so much better than the angels." Not only had He experienced difficulty, but had overcome it forever! But the resurrection, the glorified body, the victory over death, hell, and the grave would not have come until He had first endured the suffering. The sufferings came to the One made a "little lower than the angels" to bring Him to a place that was "so much better than the angels!"

The question then arises, why did God create humanity with all of it's emotions and such lower than the angels? Why did God create us with such emotions and the ability to hurt and have bad days? That's like asking "why did God put a tree in the Garden of Eden that was forbidden? Why did He allow Satan access?" Think about something for a moment. If you had been born and raised in a palace, never got sick, never had problems, never experienced stress and died at a ripe old age, would that really be living? That would have been a horrible experience. You will never know the joys of victory until you've felt like what it was to lose. You will never rejoice and realize that God is a healer and the Great Physician until you experienced the pain of sickness. You will never learn that God is a Provider until you've reached a place of need. You will never know the thrill of God coming through in the last minute until you've been in a desperate situation and had to call on Him. Mercy will only be experienced by those who need it. Grace will only be given to those who require it. Only those who had a need to experience it can truly testify of God's goodness!

The natural desires that lead to disaster and suffering without God become the givers of intense joy and satisfaction when used for His purposes. Hunger for the wrong things, and you will be sorry. Hunger and thirst after righteousness and you shall be filled with the blessings of God! But if you did not have the ability to hunger, you would never appreciate such things. God created man so that it was possible for Him to suffer, but He did it so that man could experience true joy, true happiness, and true love. He created man "a little lower than the angels" so that man could experience true fulfillment and have a relationship with God where we could actually experience God's power and might! When we go through something and learn more about God's mercy and goodness, we experience God and know Him in a way that far surpasses the angels' relationship. We were created a little lower, but in actuality it's the angels who are jealous of us. Paul wrote:

When you get the Holy Ghost and experience the cleansing blood of Jesus and walk with God, you know Him in a way that the angels can only dream about! They "desire to look into our salvation!" They desire to experience the love and mercy and grace and forgiveness and power of God. But they cannot, because they were not created low enough! Therefore, they will never have marital problems, but they will also never know the joy of having such a relationship with God at the center and what it's like to be the bride of Christ at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb! They will never have the hurts of friends betraying them, but they will also never know the "friend that sticketh closer than a brother" as we do! They will never have the valleys, but with that comes that they will also not have the mountaintops. Angels will never hunger and thirst, but they will also never experience the joy and euphoria of the infilling of the Holy Ghost! They will never have to face death, but they will also miss out on the experience of the resurrection and a glorified body that will far surpass their meager existence.

In Revelation chapter 14, verse three, we get a picture of redeemed human beings standing in heaven singing a song to God about their redemption. And the scripture says that no one else in heaven could learn that song. We literally have a song to sing that the angels cannot join in! It's the joyful song of redemption! We've been set free! We've been changed! We've got God's Spirit living within us! Heaven may be reverent and worshipful now, but wait until a bunch of glorified humans get there, finally having made it. No more worries. No more cares. No more tears. No more heartaches. There's going to be joy in heaven like there has never been! Why? Because those who were made lower than the angels will now be "so much better." We'll appreciate heaven unlike it has ever been appreciated! We'll have a body that goes far beyond anything the angels have ever experienced. If you think that we have church down here, just wait until I get my glorified body! We -- like Jesus -- were made a little lower than the angels, but one day we -- like Jesus -- will be so much better than the angels! Jesus came to show us that the suffering leads to a better day and the cross leads to the resurrection!

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I close with this scripture and you might want to turn with me and read along:

Do you understand what Paul is saying here? He says that the "sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us." He's talking about the redemption of our body. He's talking about the fact that when you live as Christ lived and walk as He walked, then after death, you will be resurrected just like Christ was resurrected! We shall be like Him!

And what he is saying is "whatever I go through here, the lowest point that I have to face as a human being, is not even in equal comparison to the glory that will be revealed one day!" What Paul is saying is that if being made a little lower than the angels means having to face some lows, then understand that the highs that we get one day will not equal the height of the lows but will are surpass any depth that you ever had to experience. He said "it can't even compare!" Take the lowest valley that you've ever got to face and flip it upside down and inside out and it will not compare as a mountain to the blessings and glories and awesomeness of God that we will receive in the life to come! Whatever depth you experience on earth, God will more than match it and far supercede that depth in heights! If you thought your best day and your best moment on earth was great, imagine a day that goes beyond in height of greatness your lowest low and you've got just a little taste of the glory of God for His saints in the life to come!

"Preacher what does this have to do with me now?" Because maybe you are in a low time. Maybe you are experiencing the heartbreak in a relationship. Maybe you are sick in your body or are thinking about having to face death. Maybe things haven't gone right for you this week. What do you do? Rejoice and bless the Lord! Because you have been made a little lower than the angels because God wants you to spend eternity so much better than they! Your struggle and challenge is the very place where God is trying to create within your life the setting for His glorious and wonderful purpose! Don't curse your "lower" circumstances but embrace them because they are setting you up for blessings that will far exceed your expectations and imaginations!

Now you know why John the Revelator could be lonely on an island of manual labor and yet "be in the Spirit on the Lord's day." Now you know why the Apostle Paul found glory in his infirmities and, even in a Roman jail cell, continued to study and win people to God. Now you know why the disciples "rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name" (Acts 5:41) and the many martyrs gladly gave their lives up for the cause of Christ. Crazy? No, they just had a revelation that they were created a little lower than the angels so that one day they would spend forever so much better than the angels!

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Think back to all the hurts, pain, humiliation, and lowest of lows that Jesus Christ experienced while on the cross, and yet through it all He held onto the cross. It wasn't the nails that held Him there, for He could have called ten thousand angels to set Him free, but He was there, literally because He chose to hang on. Why? Because He realized that He had been "made lower than the angels so that He could become so much better than them!"

I've made up in my mind that I'm going to be like Jesus. Despite the low times, the sickness, the mocking, the hardships, the storms, the lowest of lows, I'm going to hang onto the Cross! Why? Because I've been made a little lower than the angels, so that one day I can become SO MUCH BETTER than them! Therefore I will stay faithful! I will cling to Calvary! I will continue in serving Him! One day, the joys that I am given will be higher than even the lowest low that I ever had to face! It truly will be worth it all!