He Called Him God

Hebrews 1:4 TPT

4 He is infinitely greater than angels, for he inherited a rank and a Name far greater than theirs.

We’ll get into the angels in a second, but Paul wanted to establish the supremacy of Jesus. And I love verse 4! The phrase, “for he inherited a rank and a Name far greater than theirs” is translated in the NKJV, “as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.” And I never understood what exactly that meant until now. Of course, I knew that Jesus is above in rank, etc. than angels but what is this inheritance stuff tied to a Name?

First, inheritance. It was originally an heir, to inherit, obtain for an inheritance by casting lots like the children of Israel did for the promised land. But later it meant “to obtain, acquire, possess.” It’s “spoken only of the friends of God as receiving admission to the kingdom of heaven and its attendant privileges.” The friends of God are those who do the will of God.

Inheritance is not the idea of passively receiving an inheritance simply by birth line. It’s actively going after what has been promised and here it shows us that just as we must actively pursue by faith the promises of God, so did the Lord. He had promises from Father that he ACTIVELY went after. One of those promises was “a more excellent name.”

Get this from the Passion notes:

The Passion Translation: New Testament

This is Ha-Shem, in the Aramaic, the common title for God. This elevates the meaning of the passage much clearer than Greek, for Jesus is now given the “Name,” that is, he has the title of God (Ha-Shem, the Name).

Now we know that Jesus was God in the flesh but never before had a man been God. But Jesus through His faith and His obedience to the will and promises made to Him did. Contained within the promise is potential and the power to possess the promise. A promise is no guarantee. YOU MUST BE ACTIVE in PURSUING the promises!

So Jesus possessed THE NAME, the title of God. Love. Love.

Hebrews 1:5 TPT

5 For God has never said to any angel what he said to Jesus: “You are my favored Son, today I have fathered you.” And this: “I will be the Father to him, and he will be the Son to me.”

Here’s something that hidden in this quoted verse from Psalm 2:7 and 2 Sam. 7:14. In the Aramaic, it reads, “Every day I beget you.” The word “today” can be translated “today and tomorrow meaning now and in the future.” With the Aramaic and the definition of today, we see that the begetting is an ongoing event. But how? Is Jesus repeatedly “begotten?” Well not as a man but He is every time someone is born again.

Galatians 4:19 NKJV

19 My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you,

This scripture is speaking of the formation of Christ in us as we work out our salvation with fear and trembling. We carry Christ in our spirit-man just like a woman carries her baby pre-birth. But the formation of Christ where He’s seen outwardly is what Paul is referring to here. It’s the transformation of the soul until it looks like Christ. God forever changed Himself into a man in Jesus so we could have His nature. This is spectacular! And contained within that nature is everything we need to become the fulness of the stature of Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 1:6 TPT

6 And again, when he brought his firstborn Son into the world: “Let all my angels bow down before him and kiss him in worship.”

Only God is to be worshiped. Any worship directed toward anything or anyone but Him is idolatry. Worship in Greek thought was three things: to bow, to kiss, and to page homage. Proof that Jesus is above the angels is in the fact that they were commanded to worship Him just like God (because He is God).

The conclusion: Jesus Christ is God. He’s not an angel nor just a man, prophet or teacher.

Angels

Hebrews 1:7 TPT

7 And about his angels he says, “I make my angels swift winds, and my ministers fiery flames.”

Angel in the Greek is “a supernatural being that attends upon or serves as a messenger of a superior supernatural entity.” It can refer to messengers whether spiritual messengers or human messengers sent by God. It’s really a function more than a type of angel.

Spirits is “pneuma” in the Greek, but listen to this definition--”air in relatively rapid movement—wind, blowing, blow.”

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