Better Than the Angels--Part 1

BETTER THAN THE ANGELS: PART 1 Spring Valley Mennonite; August 18, 2019; Hebrews 1:4-6 The Letter to the Hebrews has a distinctly Jewish flavor. The author, although unnamed in the book, was Jewish, and the extensive use of the Old Testament supports the theory that the recipients were also Jewish believers. Internal evidence about the recipients of the letter points to a congregation in Rome, although that too is unidentified. The reason for the letter is clear, however, for the book of Hebrews bridges the gap between the practices of Judaism and Christianity. Consider the situation of these early believers, steeped in Jewish tradition: They had many questions about how the religion of Judaism, the only authentically divine religion ever given to man, relates to Christianity. The need to understand this relationship is imperative. In the book of Romans, Paul presents the facts of how God’s plan for Israel, those eternal promises of a Kingdom with the Messiah ruling over the whole earth from Jerusalem, had been set aside for a period of time. This period of time in which we live, the years between Pentecost and the return of Christ, has been rightly called the Church Age. But the Book of Revelation speaks of the Messiah Jesus once again returning to reign on the earth and the nation of Israel once again being established with Jesus as King. But for these early Jewish believers, many questions remained: what place did all the rituals, ordinances, offerings, the priesthood and the temple hold for them? Is it unthinkable that all these divine institutions are now obsolete? For over 1000 years, the Temple with its richness of divinely given has provided the focus for worship of God. J. Sidlow Baxter, in his excellent volume “Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah” describes this inner dilemma: “We can sympathize …and appreciate how, with such associations and venerations filling the mind and heart of any Hebrew Christian, “nothing but the revelation of something higher and more glorious could ever wean him from his devotion to the national religion.” To give it all up for One branded with infamy, and “go forth unto Him without the camp, bearing His reproach,” was not easy. The temple, rich with sacred appeal, was still standing. The way back was ever open and was a subtle snare.” The Epistle to the Hebrews answers these questions, presenting Jesus Christ as “something higher and more glorious.” In our text today, Chapter 1, verses 4-6, Jesus is presented as superior to the angels. We first find in verses 4-5, that Jesus has inherited a more excellent name: (Read vv. 4-5) I. JESUS IS “THE SON” A logical question is “Why did the author begin with angels?” What was in the Jewish mind which would require this information? Angels appear frequently in the Old Testament as messengers and servants of God. They are created beings, created before mankind. They were present at the creation of the world. Their primary function is in worship and praise of God, and their abode is heaven. They served as mediators or “go-betweens” between God and man, an example of which is the often appearing “Angel of the Lord” which most believe was a pre-incarnate form of the second member of the Trinity. So, angels were rightly held in high regard by the Jews. But by the time this epistle was written, the truth about angels had been embellished and expanded greatly. Consequently, the author was seeking to counter not only the biblical facts about angels but also these common misconceptions. Some of these embellishments have been described: “Most Jews believed that angels were very important to the Old Covenant. They esteemed these creatures as the highest beings next to God. They believed that God was surrounded by angels and that angels were the instruments of bringing His word to men and of working out His will in the universe. Angels were thought to be ethereal creatures made of fiery substance like blazing light, who did not eat or drink or procreate.1 Many believed that angels acted as God’s senate or council and that He did nothing without consulting them2 They believed two hundred angels controlled the movements of the stars and that one very special angel, the calendar angel, controlled the never-ending succession of days, months, and years. A mighty angel took care of the seas, while others superintended the frost, dew, rain, snow, hail, thunder, and lightning. Still others were wardens of hell and torturers of the damned. There were even recording angels who wrote down every word men spoke. There was an angel of death and, on the other hand, a guardian angel for every nation and even every child. Angels were so numerous that one rabbi claimed that every blade of grass had its angel.” “Many Jews believed that the Old Covenant was brought to them from God by angels. This, above all else, exalted the angels in the minds of the children of Israel. They believed that angels were the mediators of their covenant with God, that angels continually ministered God’s blessings to them.”3 One main point made in Hebrews is that the Old Covenant is as inferior to the New Covenant as angels are to the Son of God. Angels have their rightful place, as does the Old Covenant, but that place is vastly lower than that of the Son of God. John MacArthur summarizes this thought about angels: “So, to the Jewish mind angels were extremely exalted, immeasurably important. If the writer of Hebrews, therefore, was to persuade his fellow Jews that Christ is the Mediator of a better covenant than that given through Moses, he would have to show, among other things, that Christ is better than angels—the thrust of 1:4–14. Christ must be shown to be better than the bearers and mediators of the Old Covenant—namely, the angels.4 The author begins by pointing out that Jesus is the Son. Two verses are given as proof: Psalm 2:7 and 2 Samuel 7:14. We touched on the significance of the Sonship of Jesus last week, stating that the Sonship of Jesus is not like a human son who does not exist until he is born; Jesus is eternal, there never being a time He did not exist. He is fully God, as are the Father and the Spirit. The Sonship of Jesus Christ figuratively refers to His exaltation and to His place of inheritance. He is the “Firstborn” who receives all the Father has. Psalm 89:27: “’I also shall make him My first-born, the highest of the kings of the earth.” First-born does not refer to Jesus’ physical birth, but to His legal right of inheritance and authority. The Kingdom will be given finally and eternally to Jesus Christ in the last days. The question is asked, “To which of the angels did God ever say, ‘You are my son?” or did God ever call Himself a Father to any angel?” The answer is “No, never!” The title of Son applies only to Jesus Christ; He possesses a much superior name, the name expressing all that He is. Note that God says that at a specific time, Jesus was pronounced as the Son; at a particular time, Jesus was “begotten”. This presents us with the awesome truth of the incarnation—the taking on of flesh, the humanity of Jesus Christ. Jesus was given the title of “Son” at His incarnation, when He was born in Bethlehem. The angel said to Mary, as recorded in Luke 1:32, “He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever; and his kingdom will have no end.” Observe the future aspect: “He WILL be called the Son of the Most High”. See again the connection of the Sonship of Jesus to His legal right of inheritance and authority: He will inherit the throne of David, He will reign over all the earth, He will have an eternal kingdom. Jesus was not given the title of “Son of God” until the incarnation. Hopefully, this fact will come to mind when a Jehovah’s Witness knocks on your door claiming Jesus is not eternal because He is only the Son of God, or when Mormons claim we can all become gods in the sense that Jesus became a Son of God. The sonship of Jesus was confirmed at His resurrection: One commentator states: “His sonship came to full bloom in His resurrection. He is the Son not only because He was virgin-born into humanity, but also because He was begotten again from the dead. Just as you and I become sons of God in the fullest sense not by being born once but by being born twice, so Jesus Christ became Son in the fullest sense by being born not once but twice. This deep truth Paul makes clear in the book of Romans: “Concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord. (Rom. 1:3–4)5 He became a Son at birth; He was declared to be a Son in resurrection. The fullness of His sonship comes in His twice birth.6 II. JESUS IS GREATER THAN THE ANGELS BECAUSE THEY WORSHIP HIM Read v. 6. In this verse Jesus is called the “first-born”. As I stated before, many cults have taken this verse as a proof-text to say, “Look! Jesus was born like we were; He was created like we all are.” They also quote Colossians 1:15, ““And He is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation.7” But the meaning of “first-born”, in Greek “prototokos”, is not a term referring to time, but of position. It is a title meaning “the chief one”. It was associated with the first-born because the oldest son was heir to the father’s estate. Prototokos is defined as “a right-to-rule word, an authority word. And Jesus Christ is the supreme First-born, the supreme Prōtotokos, the supreme right-to-rule Son.8 Jesus is the most honored One, the most dignified One, the highest One, the most powerful One. Of all those who have been resurrected, He is far and above the greatest.9” Did you notice the word “again” in verse 6? The Father “again” brings the first-born into the world. “Again” presupposes a first and a second time the action occurs. The two advents of the Lord Jesus are in view, His incarnation being the first and His Second Coming being the second. It is only at the Second Coming and the opening of the scroll of Revelation 5 that the fullness of this prophesy will come evident to the angels. 1 Peter 1:12 tells us that there are mysteries about the plan of God, “things into which angels long to look.” In Revelation 5:11-12 we read, “And I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.” (Rev. 5:11–12)10 These words describe the rights belonging to God’s First-Born, the “Prototokos Clearly the lesser are always to worship the greater. God codified this principle in the Ten Commandments when He stated that we are to have no other gods other than Him. We are to worship only God. Jesus is to be worshipped because He is fully God. Psalm 97:7 speaks of angels worshipping the Messiah, the ruler in His earthly kingdom, again speaking of the Second Advent. If angels are to worship Jesus, then He must be greater than they, and the New Covenant He established through His death and resurrection is greater than the Covenant the angels brought. Therefore, Christianity is greater and superiority to Judaism. A point to be made is that angels always have worshipped the Trinitarian God, but they are now to worship Him as the Son of God. Prior to His incarnation angels worshipped Him as the second person of the Trinity, now they worship Him as Son, and will be able to even more fully worship Christ as He is revealed as Lord and King. He is no way inferior or lower than the angels, although when He became man, in his humanity he was considered lower than the angels, as Hebrews 2:9 states: “But we do see Him who has been made for a little while lover than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.” The author of Hebrews will continue to develop the principle of “lesser to greater.” Since the Son of God is greater than angels, so is the New Covenant greater than the Old. Returning to the practices of Judaism is the option of fools. What are the “take-aways” for us from these verses? Seemingly, our modern culture has largely abandoned the idea that there is absolute truth. Each person determines his own “truth.” Since many in our culture have cast aside belief in God and His ultimate authority in their lives, any sort of behavior is acceptable. Ones very gender is viewed as flexible, and violence is seen by many as an acceptable outlet for any perceived offense. These are troubling times, and we seek answers. God’s answer is found in His Word, and Jesus is the answer. There IS absolute truth, and Jesus Christ IS the way, the truth and the life. We can stand confident in our faith, worshipping the Lord Jesus, knowing that God’s plan is being worked out. Jesus is coming back, judgment will fall upon evildoers, and we will ever be in the holy presence of God.