Jesus Better than Angels, Part 2

Hallelujah, what a savior, what a song, what a great song to introduce to us our time in the word of the Lord this morning. If you got your Bible turn it with me to Hebrews chapter 1. Hebrews chapter 1 as we continue the story or the study of the greatness of Christ, his supremacy and his sufficiency. You know we told you last week that the book of Hebrews is called the better book because Christ is better than the angels, he's better than the prophets, he's better than the new covenant, the word used 13 times in the book.

And so some call it the better book and for some way or some instance it is the better book because it is the best book to show us Jesus Christ in his beauty and glory. Like no other book except for the book of Revelation, the unveiling of Christ, the unveiling of who he is and what he's going to do in the and who he is even in the present. But the book of Hebrews shows us how supreme and how sufficient Christ is and the glory of his presence. You know it's imperative that we understand who Jesus is, that is the ultimate question, right?

Who is Jesus? Because who he is determines what he does, his identity determines his ministry, his ministry determines your and my responsibility. But who is Jesus? And if we don't understand who Jesus is, then we're in a heap of trouble. That's why when Christ asked the question in Caesarea Philippi, who do men say that I am? That's the question. What is everybody saying? How do they perceive me? And then he came back and said, but who do you say that I am? Because forget about the popular opinion, the personal opinion is what matters.

Who do you say that I am? And when Peter said thou art the Christ, the son of the living God, it became the most magnificent statement ever said about Jesus Christ, our Lord on this earth. Thou art the Christ, the Messiah, the anointed one, the son, the one who is equal in nature to the living God. In other words, you are the living God incarnate in the flesh. And that became the most magnificent statement ever uttered by men. And that's why Christ said to Peter, flesh and blood did not reveal that to you, but my father who is in heaven has revealed that to you.

You see, Satan's main objective is to blind the mind of the unbeliever, that he doesn't understand the identity and the glory of Christ. Second Corinthians four, verse number four.

That's his whole mission. He doesn't want people to see Christ for who he is. And so in our study of Hebrews, we are going to show you Christ as he really is. And that's what makes the study so magnificent for us. So significant for us is because we need to see who Jesus is, how supreme he is, how sufficient he is, because how you see Jesus determines how you live each day. And Christ is everything to us. And yet for so many people, the identity of Christ just doesn't matter, but it's everything.

Because it determines his ministry, who he is, determines what he does. And that ministry will determine our responsibility. That's what we told you last week. When you study the book of Hebrews, when you study these verses in chapter one, you will live responsibly. You will live apologetically, defending the faith, contending for the faith, because you want to live for Christ. You will live authoritatively because you will know what the Bible says about the Christ and you can speak with authority.

You will live apocalypticly because you will live anticipating the return of Christ, because the writer of Hebrews says, the firstborn is going to come back again. And so we live in anticipation of his coming again. And when you live that way, you always live adoringly, worshiping the Christ, living in adoration, which leads you to living the amazing life, the life that's so incredibly amazing. And it all rests in one fact, that you know who Jesus Christ is, because once you know, it changes your entire life.

You see, knowing Christ is not knowing facts about Christ. Having a theological mindset that says, well, I know this, and I can defend this, and I can do this. Yeah, that's not knowing Christ. Knowing Christ means that he rubs off on you in such a way that you speak as he speaks, you see as he sees, you live as he lives, you walk as he walked. That's knowing Christ. And the question comes, do you know him? And that's why the writer of Hebrews will give five warnings. And we'll pick up the first one next week, Hebrews 2 verse number 1.

Yep, we're going to get through chapter 1 today and get to chapter 2 next week. We are smoking through the book of Hebrews. Okay. And so we will see the first warning and disregarding or drifting away from who Jesus is and not acting upon what the writer has said about the Christ.

So he gives warning passages. You got to know him. If you don't know him, you live in a very dangerous life. So we're back in the book of Hebrews, looking at what the Bible says concerning the identity of Christ, that he is better than the angels.

He's better than the prophets, Hebrews 1, 1 to 3. Now he's better than the angels. And we've told you last week, he's better in terms of, of his position, his position through the incarnation and his position through his identification. That is his position is simply that he having became something, get on my having became something that he wasn't before. He became the only begotten son of God, the monogamous, the son of supremacy, the chief son. That's what happens in the incarnation. He is the only begotten son of God.

And because he is the son, he is equal in nature to God. We talked to you about that. And then his position demonstrate that he's superior over the angels, but his preeminence tells you that he's superior over the angels because he is the firstborn of all creation. He is going to return again. He is the prototokos. He is the, the preeminent one, the chief one of all those raised from the dead, all those ever born of the flesh. He is the supreme one. And so we've helped you understand the identity of Christ through his position and through his preeminence.

Today, we're going to help you understand the supremacy of Christ by looking at God's purpose for Christ as well as his power. That is Christ's power as well as his place at the father's right hand. So let me read to you those verses again.

Hebrews one verse number four, having become as much better than the angels as he has inherited a more excellent name than they for to which of the angels did he ever say, you are my son today, I begotten you. And again, I will be a father to him and he shall be a son to me. And when he again brings the firstborn into the world, he says, and let all the angels of God worship him. And of the angels, he says, who makes his angels winds and his ministers, the flame of fire. But of the sun, he says, you're thrown.

Oh God, it's forever and ever. And the righteous scepter is the scepter of his kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness. Therefore, God, your God has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your companions. And you Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth and the heavens and are the works of your hands. They will perish, but you remain and they all will become old like a garment. And like a mantle, you will roll them up like a garment. They will also be changed, but you are the same.

And your eye in your years, excuse me, will not come to end. But to which of the angels has he ever said, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. Are they not all ministering spirits set out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation? The right of Hebrews quotes seven old Testament verses. He's writing to Jewish people. So he's going to use the old Testament to prove his point as to the identity of the son who is equal in nature to God to prove that the son is God and that you need to respond to him based on who he is, his identity.

And so we went through the first three verses last week. Psalm two verse number seven is in verse number five. Second Samuel seven is at the end of verse number five and verse number six is Psalm 97 verse number seven.

So he takes you back to the Old Testament to show you who Christ is because you're talking to Jewish people. You can't use the New Testament verses to prove the identity of Christ. You got to take him back to the Old Testament to show that everything that was foretold of the Messiah is fulfilled in Jesus Christ, the son of the living God. That makes sense? Sure it does. And so he goes on and he quotes Psalm 104 verse number four and of the angels he says verse seven, who makes his angels winds in his ministers a flame of fire.

In other words, he's going to demonstrate to us God's purpose for angels and God's purpose for a son. His angels are ministers, but his son is majestic because he is the king. The angels he says who makes his angels and the word there is which means to create. And we know that Jesus is the creator of all things. John one verse number three Colossians one 15 to 17 says that Jesus Christ is the creator of all things, both visible and invisible.

And he created these angels as winds, which speaks of their invisibleness as well as their invincibleness because that's who they are. They are angels and he tells them and he makes his ministers a flame of fire. Speaking of their ability to execute judgment upon others, we see that in Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis chapter 19 where the angels came and warned Lot, his wife and his kids concerning the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. We see it at the end times when the angels blow the trumpets, when they pour the bowls of judgment out, they're ministers of the flame of fire.

But one thing about angels is that they not only are created, but they are overwhelmed at what the son does. Remember what Peter says in first Peter chapter one, he speaks about our salvation in verse number 10.

He says this, as to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries seeking to know what person or time the spirit of Christ within them was indicating as he predicted the suffering of Christ and the glories to follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you in these things, which now have been announced to you through those who preach the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.

The angels are perplexed at what Christ does. Remember the angels are not omniscient. They don't know everything. They only know what they see and what they've been told. So the angels look longingly. They stoop down to inquire. They want to study this whole aspect of salvation because they don't get it. You see, they, they are commanded to obey God and they obey. We're commanded to obey God and we don't, and they don't get that. They don't understand that. So think about this way at the incarnation, the angels are present, right?

Remember that Luke chapter two, the Christmas story, and they made the announcement to the glory to God in the highest peace on earth toward those with whom he is pleased for unto you, the state of the state of David has been born a savior is Christ the Lord. And you can imagine the excitement there. They're overwhelmed that, that God became man. God came down to man. They look with great interest into the things of salvation. They don't get it. They don't understand it. God becoming man. And so when they make the announcement, they would assume because they're not omniscient, they would assume that everybody who hears about the Christ is going to rush to the grotto to see the incarnation of the son of God.

But they don't. They watch the shepherds because they make the announcement and the shepherds in haste go to the grotto in Bethlehem. The angels begin to think, wow, this is the way it's going to be for everybody, but it's not. It's not. So the next 30 years, he lives in basic obscurity. And then all of a sudden there's the temptation of Christ and the angels show up again. Remember that? Christ is in the Judean wilderness being tempted by the devil for 40 days. He was driven into the wilderness by the spirit of God after his baptism where the voice came out of heaven.

This is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased. And the spirit of God drives him to the wilderness to be tempted by the devil for 40 days. And there he is. And then when it's all said and done, the angels come, Matthew's account tells us, and they minister to him. Perplexed once again at God becoming man, but overwhelmed at the fact that through the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life, the Son of Man did not and could not fall into sin because he is God in the flesh. He is a sinless one.

And then he'll show up again until the Garden of Gethsemane. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Christ is tempted by the devil once again. And with great agony, he begins to pray and an angel comes to strengthen him. So the angel is there at his incarnation, the angel is there at his temptation, and the angel is there at his submission in the Garden of Gethsemane. And they come to minister to him because he's going to die for people that are not interested in him, for people who don't care about him. They're perplexed.

And so you have this incarnation, you have this temptation, you have this submission of the Son of Man, and then you have his persecution, then you have his crucifixion, and then you have his resurrection. And we know that on the cross, he could have called legions of angels to rescue him, but he did not because they could have been dispatched at any moment. But instead, they would roll away the tomb so people like you and me could look inside and know that he is not here. He has risen just like he said.

And so you think, as the angels would think, as they sit there and talk to the women about the resurrection of Christ, that everybody would make a beeline to the tomb to be excited about the resurrection of the Messiah. But they did not. They didn't believe. So the angels still look into this whole salvation thing with great wonder, great expectation, trying to figure out what on earth is going on. And then they don't show up again until 40 days later, the ascension of the Christ into glory. And the disciples watch Christ ascend, and these angels say to these men, why stand ye gazing up into the heavens?

Do you not know that this same Jesus will come again in the same manner in which he just left you? As he stood on top of the Mount of Olives, overlooking the city of Jerusalem, they would make that statement. He would ascend into glory. And they would come again upon his return. But that's in the future. Can you imagine the angels? They look into the salvation thing with great wonder. And they ask the question to themselves because they're not omniscient. They do not know that they see it or hear it.

They wonder why we don't follow. They wonder why we're not excited about this God becoming man. Why the resurrection doesn't motivate us and move us. Why the ascension and the reminder that he's going to come again has no effect on our lives because we live the same boring, dull lives every day with no excitement, no anticipation, no joy. And they wonder what this salvation experience ever does for the people of God. But they're ministers. And they minister to us at times we don't even know. But the unique thing about it is God created them.

They bow down and worship him. And yet they served him at the most crucial times of his period on this earth. And yet he is over them because he is the preeminent one. And that's why the text in Hebrew says these words, and of the angels he says, who makes his angels winds and his ministers a flame of fire. But of the son, he says, your throne, oh God, is forever and never. Did you get that? The father says to the son, your throne, oh God, the father calls the son God. Expressing to us that the supremacy of Christ, that he truly is God in the flesh.

Of the angels, they are ministering spirits, but of the son, he is the majestic monarch. He sits on the throne. He is the son of God. It says, and the righteous scepter is the scepter of his kingdom. Well, that takes you all the way back to Genesis chapter 49, verse number 10, when Jacob gives the promise to Judah that the scepter shall not depart from Judah until Shiloh comes, the one to whom it belongs. And everyone then will be in subjection to that one to whom it belongs, the scepter, the Messiah.

And now he says, and the righteous scepter is the scepter of his kingdom, expressing the kingliness of the son. That's why he's more supreme than the angels. God had a purpose for the angels, that they'd be ministering spirits, that they would be created by the son of God. But he had a purpose for the son, that he would be the monarch that would sit on the throne, and he would rule and reign, and everyone would be in subjection to him, for he is the all-glorious one. So he's quoted Psalm 27, 2 Samuel 7, Psalm 97, Psalm 104, and in verse 8, he quotes Psalm 45, 6, and 7.

So again, he takes them back to the Old Testament to show them that the son is God by the testimony of God himself. And then he says, you have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness. Speaking of the son, he hated lawlessness, he loved righteousness because he is the righteous one, but all throughout his ministry on earth, and this is speaking of his ministry on earth, as a son, he lived a life of righteousness because he is the righteous and holy God, but he hated lawlessness. We see that in John chapter 2, when he cleanses the temple, at the end of his ministry, when he cleanses the temple again, because he hated iniquity, he hates lawlessness.

And then it says, therefore God, your God, has anointed you. Who? The son, with the oil of gladness above your companions. The Messiah is called the anointed one, the Messiah. He is the one that was proclaimed in the Old Testament as the Messiah of Israel, the one who would be anointed according to Psalm chapter 2, verse number 2, which is a messianic Psalm. So the writer of Hebrews is proving to these Jewish writers, these Jewish listeners, that this son is the Messiah of Israel, and he is greater than anything else in this world, because he is supreme, and he is sufficient.

And then he says, and you, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of your hands. They will perish, but you remain, and they all will become old like a garment, and like a mantle you will roll them up like a garment. They will also be changed, but you are the same, and your years will not come to an end. So now he goes back to the psalmist and quotes Psalm 102, verses 22 to 27, to show that the Messiah is the one who is the creator of the earth, demonstrating the power of the Messiah.

He created it all with a word, but at the same time, not only does he create it, he will uncreate it. That's the power of the Messiah. It says, Lord, in the beginning you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of your hands. They will perish, but you will remain. In other words, the writer of Hebrews is talking about the fact, as he goes back, really not to Psalm 102, but can have the Jewish people reflect on Isaiah 34, Isaiah chapter 13, Isaiah chapter 64, chapter 65. The book of Isaiah speaks of the end of the heavens, and the ends of the earth, as they will be destroyed.

So he takes them back and says, not only did you create them, you will uncreate them. You will cause them all to perish. God is so powerful. Christ is so powerful. Not only does he call it into existence, he takes it out of existence. Wow. That's the power of the Messiah. He talks about them rolling up like a scroll. They're like a garment that grows old. The world, the earth is going to deteriorate, but you remain the same. You never change. You are unchangeable. The things that you have created are going to disintegrate, are going to be destroyed.

But you, you never change, because you're the eternal God. You're the same. You'll always be the same. You're the all-powerful one. So Christ is preeminent because of his position. He is preeminent because he is the supreme one, the preeminent one, the prototokos. He is supreme because of God's purpose for him as king, and he is supreme because of his power. To not only create the world, but to uncreate the world. And then he says, you are supreme because of the place at the father's right hand. He goes back and quotes Psalm 110 verse number one.

That Psalm was quoted 10 times in the New Testament. Psalm 110 verse number one, but to which of the angels has he ever said, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet?

To which angel has he ever said that? He has not. He will never say that to an angel, but to his son. His son will sit at his right hand, the place of authority, the place of strength, and he will rule and reign and all his enemies will be in subjection to him. That's why he is the supreme one. He is the one who rules over all. And then it says, are they not all ministering spirits sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation? Speaking once again of the angels as they are servants of us.

And one day, first Corinthians six says that we will judge the angels and Christ who is supreme over them because they all bow down to worship him are used by him to minister to people like you and me.

And how does that happen? I have no idea because I don't. Oh, I can go back and I can read verses like Psalm 34, seven, the angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him and delivers them. And I can talk about the deliverance of people like Paul and Silas in prison and Peter in prison. And now the angel showed up and unshackled them and delivered them and provided a way of escape. So I can say that yes, angels are ministering spirits by how they deliver people from, from whatever physically they are in because Bible speaks to me about that.

I can go back and I can read Psalm 91, which says for, he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. They will lift up, lift you up in their hands so that you will not strike your foot against the stone. I know that angels rejoice over the conversion of sinners in Luke chapter 15, because they do. And why do they rejoice over sinners who repent? Because they just marvel at God's saving work. They marvel at the whole method of his salvation, the whole means of his salvation.

And they marvel at the fact that a sinner would repent and follow him. And so that all heaven erupts in great joy and angels lead that ensemble. I can go back and I can read about 1 Corinthians 11, 10, how angels are present within the church and how they watch over the lives of believers with interest in 1 Timothy 5 and 1 Corinthians 4 and how even as Luke 16 says, they might even carry believers into glory as Lazarus himself was carried into glory. If you look at that as a true statement about what God does with people who die, some believe that.

Do angels actually carry you into glory based on Luke 16? They might. I don't know. Absent from the body, present with the Lord. I know that. But the angels are ministering spirits used by God. And although they might minister to us, they can never minister in us. Only the Spirit of God can do that, right? Angels can minister to us, but they can't minister in us because God's Holy Spirit resides within us. And he is the comforter when Christ said, I will send you another comforter, the paracletos, the one that's exactly like me because the Spirit of God is God.

And he will be in you and he will guide you and he will comfort you. So why angels can minister to us, they cannot minister in us. Only the Spirit of God through the Word of God can do that. And that's why Christ says that he is the supreme one.

Because in all reality, Christ lives in me. That's the whole miracle of the incarnation, right? And through the incarnation comes salvation, which is the mystery not revealed in the Old Testament, but revealed in the new Christ in you, the hope of glory. That's what salvation is all about. And so while he has designed angels to minister to us, they cannot do in us what he can do in us because he resides in our lives. Now that needs to revolutionize the way we think about the Messiah. And this writer of Hebrews is trying to explain to these Jewish people, this is who Christ is.

He is supreme based on his position of the incarnation and his identification as the Son of God. He is supreme because he is the preeminent one, the prototokos, the one who is the firstborn of all creation. He is supreme because of his Father's purpose for him, that he'd be the Son of God sitting at the right hand of God, the all majestic one. He is supreme because of his power to create and to uncreate. And he is supreme because of his place at the Father's right hand. And while angels minister to you, they cannot minister in you.

Then he says this, chapter two, verse number one, he says, for this reason, what reason? Therefore, what's a therefore? Because of what preceded it. Therefore, based on who Jesus is, based on his preeminence, based on his position, based on his place at the Father's right hand, based on the fact that the purpose of God was to make him king overall, based on all that, we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard so that we do not drift away from it. So the writer of Hebrews gives to us his very first warning.

And the warning would be given to anybody in the church who is sitting on the fence about whether they should believe in the Messiah or not, or for those who are here and have no interest in the Messiah, or those who might have an intellectual assent to who the Messiah is, or some kind of curiosity as to who the Messiah is, but yet they need to make a decision. They need to understand who he is and follow him now, lest you don't pay very close attention to what you heard and you drift away. That's a lot of people.

That's a lot of people in the church. Oh, they've heard about the Messiah. They've heard about how great he is, but they made no commitment to him. They don't pay very close attention. Remember we told you before, you can be here, but not here, right? Just because you're H-E-R-E doesn't mean you're H-E-A-R. You can sit, but not listen.

You can sit and listen, but not pay very close attention to what you've heard, so much so that it changes the way you respond to the Messiah. See, this is important because the rite of Hebrews introduces to us a warning, which we will cover next week, that says, based on who he is, you need to follow him. Based on the identity of Jesus Christ, our Lord, you must serve him. He said in verse three, he is the one who made purification for your sins. He is the one who has opened the door for you to glory.

He is the one who is the heir of all things. He is the king. Can you drift away? Have you paid some semblance of attention? Have you paid close enough attention to say, hey, I want to commit to following the Christ? That's why it's so important. You see, we need to be enamored with Christ. We just aren't, are we? That woman in Russia, who would travel an hour and a half, we talked about her prayer time, just to get a glimpse of the glory of the Christ. She wanted to hear. She wanted to hear about the Christ.

She knew if she went to church, she could hear. And if she heard, she would know who the Christ is. You see, her husband is an unbeliever. She lives in a town filled with unbelievers. She's lonely, but yet she's not alone because she has the Christ who is in her, who ministers to her, but yet she wants to hear about the Christ. She is to some degree enamored with his beauty, his glory. Would it be that we would be that way? That we would stop at nothing to see the beauty of the Christ. And the Lord has given us his word, his inspired word that we open and we read and we see the beauty of Christ.

That's who he is. So the writer of Hebrews says, therefore, since you've seen him, since you've heard him, since I've spoken to you about him, you would do well to pay very, very close attention unless you begin to drift away. And the writer of Hebrews will go on to warn throughout the book that the danger of drifting away is the danger of finding yourself in a situation where it will be impossible for you to ever repent of your sins. And that's the warning that he gives throughout the book of Hebrews, because there are people who listen that don't pay attention and they fall away very slowly.

They just begin to drift away from Christ, show no interest in him, show no desire for him. And the writer of Hebrews is concerned that those people are the ones who might have made an intellectual profession, but never had a spiritual possession of Christ himself. And that's something we would do all, we all would do well to pay close attention to. Let me pray with you.

Father, we thank you for today. We are so grateful for your word. So much to cover, so little time to discover it. But yet, Lord, we pray that we would have covered those things today that would enable us to understand you all the more. And we pray for those among us who might be in that situation where they have not paid very close attention and they are in danger of drifting away. The writer of Hebrews would go on to say, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? For it is, it is a great salvation.

But some, some will not respond. And for that, we are grieved. So we pray that your spirit would work in all of us and that we would live for the glory of your kingdom. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.