HEBREWS: THE INFINITE SUPREMACY AND SUFFICIENCY OF JESUS CHRIST

II. Christ's Infinite Superiority To The Angels, Hebrews 1:4-2:18

B. A Warning In View Of Christ's Superiority To Angels

(Hebrews 2:1-4)

I. Introduction

A. We live in an era of great need for an encouraging word amid man's discouraging spiritual failure, so a word from God on the infinite supremacy and sufficiency of His Son Jesus Christ is both desirable and fitting.

B. The Epistle to the Hebrews provides it, and Hebrews 2:1-4 gives an encouragement in the unusual form of a warning to trust and obey Christ in view of His infinite superiority to angels (as follows):

II. A Warning In View Of Christ's Superiority To Angels, Hebrews 2:1-4.

A. A lot of the discouragement believers face today arises from their failure to appreciate the infinite divine authority and power of their Lord so that they fail to trust and obey Him, and this leads to much trouble.

B. Accordingly, Hebrews 2:1-4 provides a warning to trust and obey our Lord Jesus, what indirectly leads us to respect Him so as to trust and obey Him for God's rich blessing (as follows):

1. The author of Hebrews had just finished describing Christ's enthronement at God the Father's right hand in heaven until the Father had made Christ's enemies a footstool for His feet. (Hebrews 1:13; Psalm 110:1)

2. The author had added that the angels were merely ministering spirits, sent forth by God to minister to believers who were heirs of future "salvation," namely, the final deliverance of God's people from all of their enemies coupled with God's eternal blessings, Hebrews 1:14; Bible Know. Com., N. T., p. 782-783.

3. Accordingly, the author digressed to give a warning to his readers who were apparently tempted to turn from the Christian faith to a Judaistic cult that idealized Israel's past wilderness wanderings, warning them against making that move in Hebrews 2:1-4 (as follows):

a. Based on Christ's divine superiority over the angels who were only ministering spirits that God the Father and Son had sent forth to minister to us believers in Christ, we Christians ought to pay "far greater" (perissoteros, Arndt & Gingrich, A Grk.-Eng. Lex. of the N. T., 1967, p. 657) "attention" (prosecho, Ibid., p. 721) to the things we have heard lest we "drift away" (pararreo, Ibid., p. 627) from them, Hebrews 2:1.

b. The author explained that since ("if" is written in the first class condition, ei in the protasis with any tense in the indicative mood, cf. Dana & Mantey, A Man. Gram. of the Grk. N. T., 1955, p. 289) the message declared by angels was proved to be reliable and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution in the giving of the Mosaic Law in Israel's wilderness journeys, how shall we Christians escape even more severe divine punishment if we neglect such a great salvation as the ultimate deliverance that we are to enjoy at Christ's return? (Hebrews 2:2-3a) Later Judaism taught "that angels had delivered the law" (Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, 1978, ftn. to Hebrews 2:2), so the author was asserting that God the Son's infinite superiority in authority, Person and work to the angels made accountability to trust and obey Him far greater than even the strict accountability of Israel under the Law in the Exodus!

c. Also, the revelation of the truth about Christ had not only been spoken by the Lord Himself, but it had been attested to the author's readers by first-generation Christians who had heard Christ speak, and God had born them witness to the truth about His Person and work by way of miraculous signs, wonders, various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit that had been distributed by the Holy Spirit's will, Hebrews 2:3b-4 with 1 Corinthians 12:1-11.

Lesson: The infinite superiority of Christ as God, Who is seated at the Father's right hand above all creation, Who uses angels as mere servants to minister in behalf of us believers in Christ who are heirs of the blessings of His coming Kingdom, a superiority to angels who were involved in the giving of the Mosaic Law, and in view of the way every statute of that law was firmly upheld so that every transgression and sin received a just retribution, reveals that failure on our part as Christians to pay attention to so as to obey Christ's directives will cause us far greater divine discipline. Furthermore, God has shown us the reality of the Christian faith in giving us the words of His Son Incarnate in Scripture coupled with many supernatural spiritual gifts for Christian service that we still have today to verify the validity of the Christian faith in our era. We are thus obliged to pay close attention to the truths we have received of the Christian faith lest we let them slip to our own severe discipline from the Lord!

Application: (1) May we realize the great accountability we have to trust and obey our Lord lest we face severe discipline for letting it slip from our attention! (2) May we cling tightly to these truths in hope of God's blessings!