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THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
Hebrews: The Superiority Of Christ To Errant Religions
Part II: The Superiority Of Christ To The Angels And Created Heavenly Beings, Hebrews 1:4-2:18
A. Christ's Superiority In His Person To The Angels And Created Heavenly Beings
(Hebrews 1:4-14)
- Introduction
- Some groups like the Jehovah's Witnesses or the Mormons deny that Jesus is the Eternal Creator God, but that He was later exalted, and Roman Catholicism asserts that Mary, the mother of Jesus, now sits enthroned as Queen of Heaven so "at the command of Mary all obey -- even God . . .'" (Salem Kirban, Jehovah's Witnesses (1972), p. 53; Kirban, Mormonism (1971), p. 40; L. Boettner, Roman Catholicism (1962), p. 139 in citing Bishop Alphonse de Liguori, The Glories of Mary (1931), p. 180-181)
- Hebrews 1:4-14 reveals Christ's infinite superiority as Creator God over the angels and all created heavenly beings, and we view that passage for insight and application to these beliefs (as follows):
- Christ's Superiority In His Person To The Angels And Created Heavenly Beings, Hebrews 1:4-14.
- Since the author of Hebrews at Hebrews 1:4-2:8 so early and extensively focused on Christ's superiority to the angels, some scholars claim the brand of Judaism that the epistle's readers were being lured to join (cf. Hebrews 13:8-14) was a desert brand such as the Dead Sea Essenes who had a "highly developed angelology," Bible Knowledge Commentary, New Testament, p. 781.
- If this was so, then Hebrews 1:4-14 powerfully addressed this temptation by showing Christ's superiority to the angels is so vast, "preoccupation with angelic dignities" was "entirely unnecessary," Ibid.
- In application to our needs today, then, Christ is superior in His Person through the claims of Hebrews 1:4-14 not only to the angels, but to all other created beings who are now in heaven (as follows):
- Christ became as superior to the angels as the name He inherited is superior to theirs, Heb. 1:4 NIV.
- Hebrews 1:5-13 then documents from Scripture the infinite superiority of that One so named:
- First, Jesus Christ and not the angels was told by God the Father in Psalm 2:7 that He was God's Son, that He had become His Father in Christ's being seated at the Father's right hand, Ibid.; 1:5a. This claim is repeated by the author of Hebrews who cited 2 Samuel 7:14 and 1 Chronicles 17:13 in the context of the Davidic Kingdom where Christ, not the angels, will rule the whole earth, Ibid.
- Second, at Christ's Second Coming to earth, God will direct all of His angels to worship Him, Hebrews 1:6 in citing Psalm 97:7; Ibid., p. 781-782.
- Third, the author of Hebrews cites Psalm 104:4 to show God's angels are as winds and fire in doing God's assigned tasks in contrast to Psalm 45:6-7 that describes the final triumph of God the Son, Jesus Christ as the established, exalted Messianic King of Israel, Hebrews 1:7-9.
- Fourth, Hebrews 1:10-12 cites Psalm 102:25-27, linking it to his Scriptures cited in Hebrews 1:8-9 to reveal Christ as Son of God is Creator of the universe Who will outlast it as He rolls it up like a robe and it is changed in contrast to His eternal immutability, His lack of being susceptible to change. This eternal immutability (see also Hebrews 13:8) elevates Jesus above not only the angels, but also above Mary, the created earthly mother of Jesus in contrast to Roman Catholicism, and it counters the claims of Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons that Jesus is not the Eternal Creator God!
- Fifth, Hebrews 1:13 notes that only to Christ, none of the angels, did God ever speak the citation of Psalm 110:1 NIV: "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet."
- Thus, all of the angels of God are merely spirits who serve Him and who meet the various needs of believers who will inherit all the blessings of salvation's fulness in the eternal state to come, Hebrews 1:14; Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, 1978 ed., ftn. to Hebrews 1:14.
Lesson: Jesus Christ as the Eternal Creator God, the Son of God Whom the Father calls all the angels to worship at His Second Coming, Who above all the angels will rule the world on David's throne, Who alone is told of the Father to sit at His right hand until the Father subdues all of His foes unto Him, is then infinitely superior not only to the angels, but to all other created beings who are now in heaven!
Application: May we exalt Christ as Eternal God above all created beings in heaven -- angels or men!