Hebrews 1:4-14

Hebrews 1:4-14 Jesus is Greater than Angels.

Now:

Read Hebrews 1:1-2 "Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom he also created the world."

I like a good flashlight. When you are camping, a headlamp or lantern can be helpful as well. But a campfire? Who doesn't love a good campfire? Every light source I just mentioned has its pluses and minuses. All will provide illumination to varying degrees and qualities. You can read a book with a good headlamp or lantern, but you cannot make smores with them. There are qualitative and distinctive differences for each light source. But what happens when you compare a flashlight or a campfire to the Sun? We have a whole other category, right? The Sun provides light and power and controls our planet's orbits and at least seven others, depending on how you feel about Pluto. The Sun is fundamentally different; it is far more than just a light source or smores cooker.

Then

We opened up last week by identifying our anchor; he is Jesus Christ, the heir, creator, and Son of God. The author made seven definitive statements about Jesus, and now he fleshes out his argument. We do not know much about the church receiving the letter. We know they are Jewish to some degree and were struggling with the identity of Jesus, the effect of faith, and the Gospel.

The objective of our enemy and our sinful flesh is to compromise on the identity of Jesus. If we compromise on the identity of Jesus from Scripture, all bets are off. So the author structures his argument around 13 statements about the superiority of Jesus, and the primary teaching point is on the priesthood of Christ. The author argues passionately, so the church will not neglect their salvation and shipwreck their faith. He wants the church firmly anchored to Jesus Christ.

Today, the author gives us the first of the "superior" statements and illustrates the qualitative and distinctive differences between Jesus as a messenger and the messengers God sent before.

Always: (B/I)

The Son of God is greater than any other messenger, and the Gospel is the greatest message he brings.

And there is the issue, the author is not addressing angel worship today, though we will talk about them some. The author is concerned that we will supplant the message of Christ with something else or that we will prioritize another messenger above him, which is a real risk.

Section One: Jesus is the superior messenger & message - truth statement 1:4

The seven statements of verses 2-3 feed the truth statement, so they are worth a quick review. Jesus is the heir of all things, the creative agent of God, the radiance of God's glory (meaning his presence, the imprint (character and knowability of God), and he is guiding the creation and your life to its logical God-centered conclusion. He initiated the final perfect sacrifice - his life for our life (Life, Death, Resurrection) and is sitting at God's right hand as only he is allowed to do, as the Son of David. No other messenger in history has the qualifications of Jesus.

And our writer zooms in on one fundamental truth he has already discussed in verse two: Jesus has a greater name than other messengers, and that name is Son. Not Son in the general sense, but Son in the sense of heir, station, and quality. No one is like Jesus.

Why does the author feel the need to address the superiority over angels? Well, he will address other messengers as well, specifically Moses. We do not know the exact issue, but it must have something to do with the message delivered by Angels and Moses in the Old Testament being prioritized by the church in a way that was not healthy. However, it is also more - outside forces were impacting what the church believed about Jesus.

Jumping ahead, the author offers this caution in 13:9a of Hebrews (Read): "Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings." The writer offers this statement at the end as a part of the general applications and instructions, so we need to understand the general nature most likely applies in every area he addresses. The church struggles with believing doctrines and practices outside of faith and practice delivered by Christ. So, the church was choosing inferior sources of light, God is giving them the Sun to pierce the darkness, but they are choosing to use a box of matches. One source they prioritized is the Old Testament delivered by the Angels to the Prophets, as the writer states in verse 1. Hence, the evidence of the superiority of Jesus comes from the same place, the Old Testament. Let's look at his argument.

Section Two: The superior messager - the evidence 1:5-14

In verse five, the sonship of Christ is affirmed by God himself via Ps. 2:7 and 2 Samuel 7:14. It is important to note that the author uses the Old Testament in a messianic way. Through the Holy Spirit, through generations, the text he uses became commonly accepted as speaking of Messiah himself. So the author places them in the messianic context, the foretelling of Messiah and his nature and character. If you go back and read some of the citations, they will not be an exact match because the original readers used the translation we see in Hebrews, explaining the arrival of the Messiah. Last week, I described progressive revelation as promises made and promises kept, which is precisely what the writer is doing.

Psalm 2:7 refers to the dynasty of King David on one level but to the Messiah on another level. Jesus is a direct descendant of King David, and Jesus fulfills a promise God made to David back in 2 Samuel 7:12-14. Jesus is the Son, the heavenly Son, and his "begotten-ness" speaks to his preeminence. No angel has the preeminence of Jesus. Jesus is a Son in every sense of the word. Qualitatively, he is something completely different from the angels; thus, his message is superior.

In verses six and seven, the angels are identified as worshiping God and serving him. Since Jesus is the heir of all things and is preeminent, he receives the same worship as God the Father. And the Angels are doing this; it is not something we are waiting for; the Angels are worshipping Jesus today, just as they did in eternity past, and will do into eternity future. As these supernatural beings served God, they also served the Son.

A quick application, so we do not miss it. We do not take an intermediate step of worship when worshipping Jesus. We do not worship someone else, who then takes the worship to the Son, which works in reverse; the Son is the complete fulfillment of God's Word. He is the "yes" to all of God's promises. We worship Jesus directly. We will say more about that in a minute.

The author again affirms what he wrote in verses 1-3 by quoting Psalm 45:6, Isaiah 61:1,3, and then Psalm 102:25-27. The writer is speaking of the permanence of the condition of Jesus. His kingship and reign will not end; it is firm and eternal. If you do not like the management of the universe, I have bad news for you; the complaint department will not care. But it is not just about the rule of Jesus; the Isaiah quote also brings in the qualitative nature of the reign of the Messiah. Remember how he is the "exact imprint" of God's character? Here is a summary of that nature: Loves righteousness, hates wickedness, the oil of gladness, so a culture of joy will permeate Christ's reign. I have more goodness; according to Matthew 4:27, the reign of Christ has started, we are in the time of fulfillment, and the oil of gladness is being poured out on you.

In verse 10, our scribe quotes the end of Psalm 102. The Psalm is one of a petition for rescue. From the beginning of the Psalm, we do not know if the source of affliction is a judgment or just the effects of persecution, but the cry is to the Lord. And in verses 25-27, we see the series of contrasts listed; reread it with me (READ 1:10-12). God is ascribed as laying the foundations by we know the writer, and the Jewish Priests and teachers identified this as speaking of Messiah. "Through whom also he created the world." The writer is latching on to that thought. Then he moves through two contrasts: permanence and impermanence, eternal and temporary.

The writer wants the reader to know whatever the church believes; Christ is it. He is the permanent messenger, king, and priest with the superior message. If we are tempted to look to something or someone else for a better message, it will not last. It is not a real anchor.

The author then quotes Psalm 110:1. And ties this back into Jesus, the Son, sitting at the right hand of the Majesty on high, as he stated in verse 1:3e. The picture we are left with is one of Majesty in the courts of heaven. What human or angelic messenger can stand before the King of Kings and Lord of Lords? Let me try to help you picture this scene from the Book of Revelation 4:2-6a, (Read):

"At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne. And he who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian, and around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald. Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, clothed in white garments, with golden crowns on their heads. From the throne came flashes of lightning and peals of thunder, and before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God, and before the throne, there was as it were a sea of glass, like crystal."

Before you prioritize any other message or messenger, please compare it to this picture. The message is simple, the person sitting on the throne is the Son of God, Jesus Christ; he left heavens glory to be born as a human, living a sinless life, obeying his father perfectly, at the right time and of his own will, he died on the cross for our sins. Three days later, he rose again in the flesh, so we can have new life if we turn from our sins and believe. Do you know him?

In verse 14, the author closes out his discussion on angels briefly. He states that these magnificent beings are serving Christ by serving us. It is incredible to see a Savior who served by his death and still serves by his constant intercession, commanding warriors of light who serve for the sake of our salvation, and a bride, us, who are created to serve. While not the main point, a critical point, service is a character trait of the Kingdom.

So Jesus is greater than any other messenger, and the Gospel is the greatest message he brings.

Application:

Let me give you two simple applications from our text today:

There are no intermediate steps to worship Christ; we worship him directly. Just as God states that the angels worship Christ directly, so do we. There are no other intermediaries between God and Man except Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul puts it this way in 1 Timothy 2:5 (read) "For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus." We do not pray to Saints, Angels, Mary, our relatives who have passed on, or any other person - we pray to Jesus alone. We do not worship Saints, Angels, Mary, our relatives who passed on, or any human currently walking the planet - we worship Christ alone. We neglect our salvation when we prioritize other messages or messengers other than Christ. Our theology, spiritualism, tradition, doctrine, denomination, tribe, and creeds can cause us to pick or modify the Message of Jesus, the Gospel. A bigger problem today might be the religion of self and the message of self. Suppose your theology, spiritualism, or personal prophecy led you somewhere other than to submit and worship Jesus Christ and serve him and his church. In that case, you are on the wrong track and aiming for a shipwreck because you are not anchored to Christ anymore. Our doctrine, theology, and personal worship may sound good, but they must be anchored to Christ and revealed in his word, not our preference. Sometimes theology and doctrine can just be the aggregation of our personal religious preferences.

Conclusion:

We, the bride of Christ, Cross Community Church, reject all messages and messengers that prioritize anyone or anything other than Christ alone, his church, and his mission. On this, we stand. If you are a member here, this is the expectation we hold each other to and the truth we disciple on another in from the word. Jesus Christ is our sure and steady anchor, and we will survive any storm anchored to him until we arrive around the throne and worship him.

Heads bowed and eyes closed.

Response:

Christian: Have you created another step to worshipping Christ or elevated another messenger? It is easy to do. We listen to that pastor or teacher on YouTube because we want what they say; we elevate their words instead of God's Word. We have fallen into the trap of secularized karma, where we believe we have to perform to get God's love and favor: that is country to Scripture and from Satan, not Christ. You show God love through what you do, but he already loved you in the maximum capacity he can; he died for you and welcomed you into his family, don't fall for performance-based religion. Take some time and clean out your life from all inferior light sources.

Unbeliever: If you are in this room today and have never put your faith in Jesus Christ for the salvation of your soul and the forgiveness of your sins based on his sinless life, death on the cross, and resurrection in the flesh, you are valuing something that will not save you. If you die apart from Christ, you will go to hell and be separated from God for eternity. God wants to give you the Sun; instead, you are choosing a pack of matches to light your way. Do walk away today without God's most perfect gift, Christ himself.

Let's pray.