#3: Superior to Angels

I. Introduction
A. The interpretation of Scripture
1. Before we can find out what a passage of scripture means to us, we’ve first got to figure out what it meant originally.
2. In Hebrews, there are a lot of issues the author confronts which – on the surface – don’t appear relevant to our lives. But there is a world of relevant application for us once we grasp the original meaning of the text. For even though the issues are often quite different than ours, the arguments made to address those issues contain many truths which directly relate to the issues we face.
3. Now you could trust preachers to do all the study themselves and just tell you the answers to your questions and issues, without explaining how they got those answers from the Bible. But there is a great danger in that method: you might end up with preachers preaching their own ideas. And what do you do when one preacher says the Bible teaches this and another says it teaches that?
4. This is why any faithful exposition of Scripture must include an analysis of what the passage meant originally, and only then a discussion of how it relates to us.
5. E.g. this week we are looking at a passage, the first of two actually, where the subject is the superiority of Jesus over the angels. Now I’ve been a Christian for over 44 years and I’ve never heard of a Christian having a struggle over whether Jesus is superior to the angels. But there is a lot said here in the discussion of Christ’s superiority over the angels which is very relevant and applicable. But first we’ve got to look hard at what the passage means.
B. Introduction to Hebrews 1:4-14
1. Remember that the Epistle to the Hebrews was written to converted Jews who were being tempted to leave Christ and return to Judaism.
2. The author begins his letter by reminding them who this Jesus is that they are thinking of leaving.
3. In Hebrews 1:4-14 he continues that theme by taking us on a quick plunge into the Jewish Bible to see a few OT messianic prophecies which demonstrate Christ’s superiority to angels.
4. We do not know why the author goes to such length to prove the superiority of Christ to the angels.
a. It might just be because of general interest. You see, v.4 is a continuation of v.1-3, and it may be that 5-14 is just an elaboration of v.4. Maybe the author is simply using a contrast with angels to show the surpassing glory of Christ.
b. It might be that the brand of Judaism which the Hebrew Christians were being tempted to return to was ‘into’ angels.
(1) Col.2:18 refers to a certain false teaching which insisted on the worship of angels.
(2) The Essenes, the community of the Dead Sea Scrolls, believed in two messiahs, one kingly and one priestly, both of whom would be subordinate to the archangel Michael.
c. It is possible that some Jews were suggesting that Jesus was Himself an angel.
(1) It was a struggle for the Jews to explain Jesus. There were eyewitnesses walking around, after all.
(2) There were various ways of trying to explain who Jesus was, and different camps of Jews who approached the question differently.
(3) The Judaizers believed He was the messiah; others thought Him a false messiah, a con man; others accused him of doing miracles with the power of Beelzebub.
(4) There may well have been a group of Jews who suggested that Jesus was an angel.
(5) The Hebrew Christians being tempted to return to Judaism would have felt most comfortable with those Jews who had a more positive way to explain Jesus.
d. Or, the superiority of Jesus over angels may have been explained in order to begin to show the superiority of the new covenant over the old, the superiority of the covenant of the Son of God over the covenant revealed through angels (Gal.3:19 tells us this). (See Hebrews 2:1-8.)
II. Now let’s take a look at Hebrews 1:4-14.
A. 3 After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs. 5 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”?
1. What is “the name he has inherited” which “is more excellent than theirs”?
2. Verse 5 makes it clear: the name he has inherited is “Son of God.”
a. 5a For to which of the angels did God ever say, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you”? (Ps.2:7)
b. 5b Or again, “I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son”? (2Sam.7:14)
3. “You are my Son, today I have begotten you”
a. C.S. Lewis “When you beget, you beget something of the same kind as yourself. A man begets human babies, a beaver begets little beavers, and a bird begets eggs which turn into little birds. But when you make (or create), you make something of a different kind from yourself. A bird makes a nest, a beaver builds a dam, and man makes a radio.”
b. Christ is the eternally begotten Son of God.
B. 6 And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, “Let all God’s angels worship him.” (Deut.32:43 LXX)
1. It’s not just that angels are not to be worshiped. Angels are themselves actually worshipers. The superiority of Christ is shown in that they are commanded to worship Him.
C. 7 Of the angels he says, “He makes his angels winds, and his ministers a flame of fire.” (Ps.104:4) 8 But of the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom. 9 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.” (Ps.45:6-7) 10 And, “You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands; 11 they will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment, 12 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.” (Ps.102:25-27)
1. 7-8 Angels are like the wind or fire, sent out for a short assignment. Jesus is forever and ever. He was in the beginning making everything, including the angels.
2. 10 Even “the heavens are the work of [his] hands.” He created angels and their heavenly habitat.
D. 13 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”? (Ps.110:1)
1. The highest angels are those who are said to stand in the presence of God — like Gabriel.
2. But no angel was ever said to SIT in the presence of God, or even less, to sit at His right hand. That’s a position reserved only for Jesus Christ the Son of God.
E. 14 Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?
1. Angels were created to be God’s servants in the lives of His chosen ones.
2. They are Christ’s servants for our sake. He is their master for our sake.
III. The superiority of Jesus
A. Think about this.
1. Man is an exalted being, made in the image of God, the pinnacle of earthly creation.
2. Even though we’re not told much in the Bible about angels, we’re told enough to know that they are higher beings than humans are.
a. The glory of angels is apparent whenever they appear, to the point that often the humans who see them are tempted to worship them and need to be instructed not to do so.
b. When angels appear to people, they usually begin by saying, “Do not be afraid!” This tells us something about the splendor and superior power of angels over human beings.
3. And now this passage shows us that Jesus is far greater than angels.
B. This is not just a theological argument. This is a call, a call to pay attention to who Jesus is and not take Him lightly.
1. Remember the application in 2:1-4: “Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. For...how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?”
2. It’s a call to recognize Who we’re dealing with when we deal with Jesus Christ.
C. Christ is not just superior to angels. If He’s superior to angels, He’s superior to everything.
1. Science, Friendships, Career, Family
2. E.g. sometimes a person loses a job or a loved one or a marriage or their health, or can’t decide on a career to pursue. In these cases often folks experience a certain lostness. But our identity does not come from these kinds of things. Our identity is solid, built on the rock of Jesus Christ. His firmness supports us even when the tides shift and the winds blow and the waves crash.
3. When you look at the night sky you see stars and planets and galaxies and the moon. But when the sun comes into the picture, all those things fade away in the context of its brilliant strength. In the same way all our trials and pains pale in comparison to Christ’s superior glory.
D. In the Bible it’s important to honor those who are above us: e.g. parents, rulers, angels. (Jude 9 even mentions the evil of disrespecting fallen angels.)
1. But here in Hebrews 1:4-14 the author is doing a very strange thing: He’s disparaging glorious, exalted, righteous beings!
2. Jesus did the same thing when he taught us to hate our parents and even our own lives. (Luke 14:26)
3. And the very apostles who taught us to obey the civil authorities at times disobeyed them. Why? Because things change radically when the Son of God becomes part of the equation.
4. Parents and rulers and angels are to be obeyed, unless Jesus speaks and then whatever He says takes precedence.
5. Everything in the world, from the highest angel to the lowest worm, has one great characteristic in common: they are all solidly second to the Son of God. And their secondness is the most important thing about them.
IV. The gospel of the Son of God
A. You know, it’s not enough to believe there is something beyond all that we can see.
1. Christianity isn’t about believing in angels and saints and spiritual things. Christianity is about believing in the God-man Jesus Christ, who alone is Lord and mediator, who is worshiped by angels and saints and spiritual beings.
B. Who do you say Jesus is?
1. Some say He was the greatest man who ever lived.
2. Some say He didn’t even exist.
3. Some say He was a fraud.
4. Some say He was a good man but that his followers exaggerated his importance.
5. Some say He was the greatest prophet.
6. Some say He was an angelic being.
7. Some say He was the first and most glorious part of God’s creation, superhuman and a participant in the rest of the creation (Arianism).
8. Some say He was the epitome of human righteousness whom God adopted as His son (adoptionism).
9. It doesn’t really matter which of these you believe.
C. Many today are saying, “You need to believe in a superior power. You need to believe in something outside yourself.”
1. Well, angels are superior powers and they are outside yourself! But the Bible does not call us to put our faith in them!
2. We’re not preaching the gospel of a supreme being. We’re preaching a gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
D. The Bible doesn’t just call us to believe in something outside ourselves. It calls us to believe in the only begotten Son of God, who became a man in the person of Jesus Christ.
1. Whom the angels worship.
2. Who sits on the throne of the universe.
3. Whom God has anointed with the oil of gladness.
4. Who laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning.
5. Who is the same, yesterday, today and forever.
6. Who sits at God’s right hand while God makes His enemies a footstool for His feet.
E. “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” – Acts 4:12