Hebrews 2:9

But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, that he, by the grace of God, should taste death for every man.

In addition to the first proof for the superiority of Christ and of His Gospel the inspired writer now brings another reason: For not to the angels did He subject the world to come, concerning which we speak. This is the proof positive for the sovereignty of the Son, the fact that the government and the administration of the world to come, of the Kingdom of Glory, is ascribed to Him. For God did not place this wonderful kingdom into the control of the angels; there is not a single passage in Scriptures nor any other evidence to that effect.

What we must believe with regard to the Kingdom of Grace and Glory and its government is plainly shown in the passage which the sacred writer quotes, Psalms 8:4, as the testimony of one, namely, David the prophet, concerning the facts here discussed by him: What is man that Thou art mindful of him, or the Son of Man that Thou visitest Him? For a little while Thou hast made Him lower than the angels: with glory and honor hast Thou crowned Him and didst set Him over the works of Thy hands; Thou didst put all things in subjection under His feet. The author here clearly states that Psalms 8:1 is a Messianic psalm, and that these words are spoken of Jesus Christ. See 1 Corinthians 15:27; Ephesians 1:22. God truly was mindful of this Son of Man in a most extraordinary manner, for the good of all mankind: He visited Him in a way which resulted in the salvation of all men. It is true indeed that Christ, in His state of humiliation, was for a little while inferior to the angels, just as He had no form or comeliness among men, Isaiah 53:2. But when the work of redemption was completed, God crowned the formerly despised Jesus with divine honor and glory; He exalted Him, according to His human nature, to the full possession and enjoyment of all the divine attributes and powers, giving Him unlimited authority over all the works of creation, over all created beings. The entire universe, with all that it contains, is lying in subjection under His feet.

The writer now draws a conclusion from this Scripture-passage: For in this, that He put all things in subjection under Him, He left nothing that was not subjected under Him. It follows, of course, that even the angels are subject to Christ, that they can in no way compare with Him in power and authority. Ephesians 1:21; Colossians 2:10. It is true, indeed: But now we do not see yet that all things are subjected to Him, 1 Corinthians 15:24; the revelation of the fullness of Christ's divine power, just as He told the Jews in the court of Caiaphas, is a thing of the future: it will appear before the eyes of all men on the last day. In the meantime, however, our faith has a certain basis: Him who, for a little while, was lower than the angels we see, Jesus, on account of His suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for every man. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, in His state of humiliation, took upon Himself the sufferings of mankind and finally laid down His life in death. In this way the grace of God was revealed to mankind, since it was in behalf of every single human being and for the sake of earning a complete salvation for all men that Christ tasted the bitterness of death, Romans 5:8; Galatians 2:21. This perfect obedience of the Redeemer has now been recognized and rewarded by the award of divine and everlasting glory and honor, Philippians 2:6; Ephesians 1:20; Matthew 28:18. It is equally certain that it will finally be shown that God put everything in subjection under His feet. If we wish to leave the order of the clauses in the sentence unchanged and think of the revelation of divine glory that came to Christ on the Mount of Transfiguration, the explanation is almost equally simple: "He was made a little lower than the angels that He might suffer death; but He was crowned with glory and honor that this very death might bring all men to the glory of supremacy which was theirs when the fear of death was removed."