I get so excited when I receive my Grace thru faith e-mails. We were discussing Psalm 8 in our SS class and were divided on verse 4 concerning the son of man. Some thought it referred to man (because of son not being capitalized) and others to Christ when he will reign. What is your opinion? Maybe both?
I think the most correct answer is both. From reading Psalm 8 alone, it appears that David was writing about mankind. But in Hebrews 2:6-9 the writer quoted Psalm 8 in reference to the Messiah. In reading the whole chapter we can see he did so to demonstrate that Jesus became a man to save mankind. The phrase “a little lower” indicates a temporary condition and literally means “for a little while lower”. (Some study Bibles confirm this in their footnotes.)
This means two things. First, it means that Jesus, who was always superior to the angels, temporarily became lower than them in order to become human to die for us. After the resurrection regained His superior position (Ephesians 1:19-22). Second, it means that at the rapture the Church will be elevated above the angels to be seated on the Lord’s throne with Him (Ephesians 2:6-7) so we too are only lower than the angels “for a little while.”