More Things ...29
Notes
Transcript
Lower Than the Elohim
Lower Than the Elohim
Last week we ended with a life-changing thought: we are the children of God, destined to displace the defeated, disloyal sons of God who now rule the nations. Believing followers of Jesus Christ are the fulfillment of God’s plan to have humanity join the divine family-council and restore Eden.
But that is still not the full story. We will be like him:
See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.
Jesus, Angels, and Us
Jesus, Angels, and Us
No other passage in the NT goes to divine council theology as strong as Hebrews chapters 1 and 2. Once you have these concepts in mind you will see them.
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 also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.
Jesus is heir to all things because he is God, made flesh to provide a secure way of restoring humanity’s place and role in a global Eden. He is superior to angels (v 4) and the next verse explain
For to which of the angels did God ever say,
“You are my Son,
today I have begotten you”?
Or again,
“I will be to him a father,
and he shall be to me a son”?
And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says,
“Let all God’s angels worship him.”
Jesus is superior to the angels since he was “begotten” as the son of God. The term is an antiquated one that is seldom used in modern English. It has a wide range of meanings, form procreation to a more ambiguous “bringing forth.” Used of Jesus, the term cannot refer to being created at some point in time. Jesus is God in human form, an idea that derives from the Old Testament.
It is best to understand the term “brought forth” in the sense of revealed in a unique way in this instance, the full incarnation of God. Jesus is the lone divine son who deserves worship, because he is the uncreated God in a human body now resurrected from death.
Because of the failure of Israel in the course of God’s attempts to revive his Edenic rule and plan, we saw God have a new strategy that would not fail. The OT knows this as the new covenant, wherein the Spirit of God would rule in the hearts of believers. God would depend only on himself.
Because God’s original plan included human participation, humanity could not be simply set aside. The solution was to become human and do what needed to be done in order to bring in a new Eden. And so he did. His death and resurrection were the catalysts. This is why at the Lord’s supper Jesus called it the New Covenant in terms of his body and blood. The result is clear and the distinction of the Christ and the angels is also:
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 also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.
For to which of the angels did God ever say,
“You are my Son,
today I have begotten you”?
Or again,
“I will be to him a father,
and he shall be to me a son”?
And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says,
“Let all God’s angels worship him.”
Of the angels he says,
“He makes his angels winds,
and his ministers a flame of fire.”
But of the Son he says,
“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever,
the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.
You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;
therefore God, your God, has anointed you
with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.”
And,
“You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning,
and the heavens are the work of your hands;
they will perish, but you remain;
they will all wear out like a garment,
like a robe you will roll them up,
like a garment they will be changed.
But you are the same,
and your years will have no end.”
And to which of the angels has he ever said,
“Sit at my right hand
until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”?
Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?
Did you catch the distinctions? Jesus inherits rule and dominion, angels do not. Angels are ministering spirits who serve believers as they are adopted into God’s family.
Remember: we are united with Christ, not angels, We are the ones given the morning star, the credential for rule, by Jesus himself. We are the ones who will be put over the nations. Remember Paul?
Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life!
Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.
Notice some things: The word spoke by angels was binding and there was a penalty for disobedience. The council was there when the law was given at Sinai. Signs, wonders and distributions of the Holy Spirit? remember Pentecost and the conquest of Bashan? Paul saw the coming of the spirit as the fulfillment of the defeat of Bashan
Therefore it says,
“When he ascended on high he led a host of captives,
and he gave gifts to men.”
(In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.)
The coming of the Spirit was the launch of the reclaiming of the nations. to the rule of those nations by believers. to whom Christ has given authority in the new Eden.
For it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking. It has been testified somewhere,
“What is man, that you are mindful of him,
or the son of man, that you care for him?
You made him for a little while lower than the angels;
you have crowned him with glory and honor,
putting everything in subjection under his feet.”
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.
this is from Psalm 8: 4-6
what is man that you are mindful of him,
and the son of man that you care for him?
Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings
and crowned him with glory and honor.
You have given him dominion over the works of your hands;
you have put all things under his feet,
We will be elevated:
putting everything in subjection under his feet.”
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.
Jesus became man, died and rose and we are his siblings. Someday, he will introduce us to his faithful council - unashamed at our humanity.
For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering. For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers, saying,
“I will tell of your name to my brothers;
in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise.”
And again,
“I will put my trust in him.”
And again,
“Behold, I and the children God has given me.”
Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.
The co-creator became the creation for it’s redemption. This same Jesus brought many sons into the divine family. Far from being embarrassed before the Council Jesus revels in it.
For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
We Shall Be Like Him
We Shall Be Like Him
Joining God’s divine family is linked to the NT concept of becoming like Jesus- becoming divine. The academic term describing this point biblical theology is theosis. This concept is not stressed nearly enough in Churches in the west.
See what Scripture says about it:
For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.
May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.
His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.
It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.
I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:
“Death is swallowed up in victory.”
And so it is that when the original creation was ruined by rebellion, God did not destroy humanity but promised that one day, a human would reverse the fall. When he had to disinherit the nations at Babel, he did not abandoned the human race. Instead, he was so concerned with the descendents of Abraham that he became a man to recreate the Eden that was lost.