The Son is Superior to the Angels

Transcript

GR 1672
12/30/2012
The Son is Superior to the Angels
Hebrews 1:3-6
Gil Rugh

We’re going to the book of Hebrews in your bibles. When we undertook to begin our study of this letter at the end of the year, as we anticipate a new year, it’s certainly a fitting book. You can say every book of the bible is special, but the book of Hebrews is special in it’s own way. It, in more fullness and more detail, unfolds the person and work of Christ, than any other single book in the whole bible.

So to understand the one who is our Savior, the one who loved us and died for us, the one that we love and serve, an understanding of the book of Hebrews is essential. It’s a somewhat intimidating book because it’s filled with quotes and references to the Old Testament. Just as you thumb through it, you see the quotes from the Old Testament that are set off in capitol letters in your bibles. We sometimes get lost in these details, but it is a rich book.

It’s written to Jews who had become believers in Jesus Christ. But under the pressures and difficulties of life they were losing something of their initial passion and enthusiasm for Jesus Christ. They were thinking, maybe a return to Judaism would be a better situation a better solution. It would alleviate some of the pressures that were being brought to bear on them. From family members, when a Jew would turn to Jesus as their Messiah, that would be a costly thing as far as their family relationships were concerned.

I remember way back when I was in seminary, a Jewish man spoke and said when he became a believer in Jesus Christ, his parents put a candle in the window, which testified to all their friends and family that their son had died. No more in the family.

Now back in these days you add to that the overt persecution to be brought to bear. You can understand in one sense that these Jews looking in that there is an option. Keep in mind that it is a revelation from God. God gave the Old Testament law. Maybe we could go back there. The writer to the Hebrews is showing the absolute total superiority of Jesus Christ to everything associated with the Old Testament law. Nothing was wrong with the Old Testament law, the revelation given in the Old Testament. We noted this, verse 1, “God spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets.” That is God’s word, but it wasn’t God’s final word. It wasn’t God’s fullest and clearest word. That would come through one who is the Son.

So what is happening in Hebrews is the writer is demonstrating the superiority of Jesus Christ through everything associated with God’s prior revelation because it is that to which all prior revelation looked and anticipated. The first four verses form one long sentence. Now we are grateful in English they broke it down for us into several sentences. But we don’t want to lose the focus. This is one thought, the first four verses. The main statement in these verses is “God has spoken to us in his Son.” Everything else is built around that demonstrating the greatness of His Son. The superiority compared to the prophets. Thus the revelation to Him would become fuller and clearer and more complete.

Seven things were said about the Son in the last part of verse 2 and through verse 3 to demonstrate his superiority to the prophets and all prior revelation. They are there in the beginning of verse 2, “God appointed him heir of all things, the Son. God made the world through Him. He is the radiance of God’s glory. He is the exact representation of his nature. He is upholding all things by the word of his power. He made purification of sins and he sat down on the right hand of the majesty on High.” The one who is Son is so vastly superior in every way to the prophets as important as they were in the plan of God in past history.

We noted and it’s going to come again for us today and I’ll be reminding you of it regularly through Hebrews. We have to keep in mind Christ is the eternal Son of God. That came out in the fact that we were told He was the one who God the Father made the ages and everything in the ages. We looked at scripture where it says, “all things came into being through Him and apart from Him nothing came into being that exists.” So obviously he existed before his birth in Bethlehem. He is the eternal Son of God, that’s his pre-existence. Then his incarnation, the Son of God manifested taking humanity to himself so he could accomplish the work of redemption which would enable the final realization of what God has promised in the Old Testament scriptures.

But the second aspect of his Sonship that is associated with the incarnation and then we have the result of the incarnation, his exultation. All three aspects will be woven together in Hebrews sometimes to emphasize one as we saw in these opening verses. He made purification to sins that referred to his earthly life. He died on the cross. When he created the world, the ages that referred to before he was ever born at Bethlehem. And being seated at the right hand of God the Father referred to his exultation. So we will be talking about the different aspects of his Sonship, different phases of it. Sometimes they are woven together as he did in these opening verses. Without distinguishing it in order, that this is here and this is here. He is Son, he was Son when he created everything. He was Son when he made purification of sins. He was Son when he was exulted at the right hand of God the Father. But the distinctions are crucial. There could be no redemption without the incarnation. The Son becoming Man as well as God and so on.

So we look through verse 3 but we didn’t finish the sentence. Verse 4 completes the sentence. It completes the thought but it ties what follows because it makes the transition to talking about angels. So it is part of the first three verses because the first four verses are one sentence. But it will lead into the next section that he wants to develop. So he says, Hebrews 1:4, “having become (talking about the Son) as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they.” Now it may seem strange, why do you make that part of a sentence? It talked about all these about the Son and now he talks about how he is superior to the prophets but now you say he has become much better than the angels. But that is connected to the prophets because the Scripture clarifies and makes clear for us that the revelation given to the Old Testament prophets was given by God the Father through angels to be communicated to the Old Testament prophets because they could speak it to God’s people. So it ties to the revelation given in the Old Testament, the Old Covenant through the prophets.

Come back to Galatians. We will go there first and work our way towards the front. Galations 3:19, “Why the Law then? It was added because of transgressions,” (so why did God give the Mosaic Law, the Old Covenant, which would be a focal point in the letter to the Hebrews. “It was added because of transgressions,” note this:) “having been ordained through angels by the agency of a mediator, until the seed should come (referring to Christ) to whom the promise had been made.” What we want to pick up here is that you note that the Law had been ordained through angels. So Moses would be, we know him as the Lawgiver and he speaks to the people, but God used angels to speak to Moses and so angels are tied to the revelation given to prophets in the Old Testament.

Back up to Acts 7 and here Stephen is on trial for his life for preaching the truth for Christ as you see something of the antagonism he is going to be martyred here because of his testimony for Christ. Martyred by fellow Jews because he is a Jew proclaiming Christ. In his declaration before the Sanhedrin, the governing body of Israel. Come down to verse 38. He talks about Moses in Acts 7:37-38, “This is the Moses who said to the sons of Israel, ‘God shall raise up for you a prophet like me from your brethren.’ (referring to the coming of Christ). This is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness together with the angel who was speaking to him on Mount Sinai, and who was with our fathers; and he received living oracles to pass on to you. And our fathers were not willing to be obedient,” so you see God the Father communicating through angelic medium through Moses who communicated to the people who wouldn’t obey it.

Come back to Hebrews and you can turn over to chapter 2 because the writer of Hebrews is going to bring up this role of angels. Hebrews 2:2, (referring to the Old Testament revelation), “For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense,” (those who remunerated into the Mosaic law). But you see how he refers to it here, the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, in contrast that is the word spoken to His Son which brings regular responsibility. The point given note here, back in chapter 1:4, he brings this into the conclusion of this first section that Christ is superior to the prophets by tying in those spirit beings who brought God’s word to them and then he is going to move into a fuller discussion of his superiority over the angels. “Having become much better than the angels as He has inherited a more excellent name than they.” He becomes better than the angels. This word translated better, superior, greater. It is called a comparative adjective contrasted in comparing him. He is better than the angels.

It is a key word in the book of Hebrews so I just want to run you through Hebrews if you mark your Bible, which is a good idea. Highlight, underline, circle, I’ll just draw your attention to where this word is used through Hebrews 13 times he stresses Christ is better, He is superior, He is greater than everything associated with the prior revelation of all the people and all the work. So the first reference is here, “better than angels.”

Come over to chapter 6. We will not elaborate on these because we will get to them but just so you know and see how this emphasis on the superiority of Christ. Hebrews 6:9, “we are convinced of better things.” Come over to Hebrews 7:7, “without any dispute the lesser is blessed by the greater.” That is the same word – better. That means better, greater, superior depending on what you are comparing.

Hebrews 7:19, “the Law made nothing perfect,” (this is #4) and on the other hand there is a “bringing in of a better hope.” Number 5, Hebrews 7:22, “so much the more also Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant.” Better covenant. Hebrews 8:6, (twice it is used in this verse) “a better covenant.” Again we just saw that in the prior one and then one and then better promises. Better, better, better covenant, better promises, superior covenants, superior promises. Now Hebrews 9:23, (end of verse) “better sacrifices.” Hebrews 10:34, “a better possession.” Hebrews 11: 16, “a better country.” Hebrews 11:35, “a better resurrection.” Hebrews 11:4, “something better.” You see the context of what he is talking about there. And then Hebrews 12:24, “that which speaks better.” He is contrasting it with the blood of Christ, which speaks better, the blood of Christ is better which we will see in the content, superior. He accomplished what the blood of bulls and goats could never accomplish in bringing redemption and forgiveness.

Come back to chapter 1. You see that emphasis that pervades the book, Christ is superior. He is better, greater in every way that regards as his person contrasts all the personages of the old testimonies. We talk about angels, we talk about Moses, about Levi and his priesthood, the sacrifices, the Temple, He is better, He is superior. So He has become much better than the angels as He has inherited a more excellent name. So it gives the reason why he is superior to the angels. He has inherited a more excellent name.

Now this comes back to verse 2. He pulls this verse back together where we were told he was the “heir of all things.” He has already inherited a better name. That name is Son as we will see in Hebrews 1:5, “You are my son,” this is to go on with more support. Showing that the son is not only superior to the prophets and the revelation given to them. He is better than the angels because he is son. This verse finishes off the first four verses and it transitions us into the superiority of Christ to angels which will be given in verse 5 and run all the way through to verse 18.

I want to say something about “He has inherited a better name.” These two words here in verse 4 having become better than the angels, having inherited a more excellent name. We say he is God’s son and always has been God’s son, how can he become better than the angels. Wouldn’t he always have a better name? Yes. As the eternal son. That is why I say we keep in perspective the different aspects of Sonship that Hebrews will be focusing on. As God’s eternal son, the one through whom everything including angels has been brought into existence. Of course, he was always superior. He has always had a better name. But as the incarnate son, the one who took to himself humanity, what did he do? Philippians 2, “He humbled himself and became obedient, even to death on the cross. Therefore, God highly exalted Him” so you see the different aspects. He had glory, He had equality with the father, but He emptied himself, the kenosis set aside that independent use of his attributes and the manifestation of the glory that is His as the creating son of God. He became a man.

When you get to chapter 2, verse 9 of Hebrews, we do see him, referring to Christ, “Who has been made for a little while lower than the angels. Part of that is the humiliation of Christ in being born a man, He humbles himself. So now we are talking about in verse 4, He became better than the angels because when He humbled himself, the function of the true man without ceasing to be God, Him functioning fully as a man, He was functioning for that time lower than the angels. But in the finishing and accomplishing of His work in the redemption, He then has been exulted to the right hand of the Father. So these words sometimes confuse people when they say, “well if He became better than the angels; I thought He would always have been better than the angels.” You have to bring in the aspect of his Sonship which involves the incarnation and that period of time for the accomplishing of that special work planned by the triune God.

And so it is a result of successfully completing the work that he came to earth to do that he has inherited a better name. He has always been the Son of God but now he is the Son of God who is also the son of man with his humanity who has accomplished redemption for what he created. That is a new dimension in that context He has inherited a better name that will enable him now as the Son in fulfillment of the passages we are going to look at to rule over redeemed creation. That would not have been possible without the reincarnation phase of Sonship.

Alright, He has inherited a better name than them, then they, then the angels. That transition completed the first four verses and moves us to the next section. As I said it would take us through chapter 2, we pick up the angels in verse 5 to which of the angels did he ever say. So when you come over to Hebrews 2:16, “For assuredly He does not give help to angels,” (so you note through this whole section, we are going to be talking about angels and comparing Christ to the angels showing Christ superiority to the angels). You will note that from verse 5 through the rest of Chapter 1, it is a series of quotations. There are seven old testament passages quoted through the rest of chapter 1 which serves to show the superiority of Christ to the angels.

Now you note, we have observed this, it demonstrates the truthfulness and trustworthiness of the revelation given by God to the Old Testament prophets. The problem is these Jews failed to understand the Old Testament was preparing the coming of the One who would be the fulfillment of all that is promised in the Old testament. These seven passages show the superiority of Christ to angels. So we are just going to identify them as how they show Christ is superior to angels, what they contribute to the discussion. For example, verse 5, we show that Christ is superior to angels because he is God’s unique son.

There will be two references drawn from the Old Testament. Incidentally, six of the seven references come from the book of Psalms. The writer draws particularly from the Psalms. But here he is going to draw from two references, one from Psalms 2 and one from 1st Samuel 7 and the parallel passage in 1st Chronicles to show that the son is superior to angels. First of all because he is God’s unique son. So he picks up with what is said at the end of Hebrews 1:4-5, “He has inherited a more excellent name than they. For to which of the angels did He ever say.” He introduces us to the subject of angels. That is a rhetorical question. One which every Jew would acknowledge. God never said this to an angel, “You are my son. Today I have begotten you.” The quote is from Psalm 2:7, now angels in the Old Testament are called sons of God, plural, sons of God collectively they are identified that way. No angel is ever identified as the Son of God. The angels are sons of God by virtue of the fact he brought them into existence, created them.

But that is why I said Christ is superior because he is the unique son of God. Now you read a passage like this and he says “You are my Son, today I have begotten You.” Some people would pick this up and say that would mean that Christ had a beginning. There was a time when he was begotten of God. That is why we have to be careful when we look at what the Scriptures here, we take it in a way that makes sense. If He is the One who created everything and we see the One that God the Father must be worshipped, He must himself be deity. And He is God, He can’t be created. Well what does it mean? Begotten you. It’s true, he was begotten in the womb of virgin Mary. When the angels appeared to Mary he said that which is begotten in your womb. So there is that element, but that is not what this verse is talking about. It transcends that.

Come back to Psalm 2. First place to start if we are going to be able to analyze every Old Testament quotation here in detail but important we understand them. The Jews you can see the writer recomposes their understanding and recognition of the validity of these verses as he uses them. They are not debatable. They prove his point. So Psalm 2, and this is about God’s appointed king over Israel. As the writer of this Psalm would have written it, it would have in mind the king of Israel, David, Solomon, and so on, one of the kings. The opposition from the nations to God’s people and God’s anointed King and those who oppose the nation, Israel, and the king put over the nation were opposing God. But it’s ultimate fulfillment culmination will come with the Messiah and His rule and the Jews recognize this.

Come down to Psalm 2:6-8, “But as for Me, I have installed My King upon Zion, My holy mountain. I will surely tell of the decree of the Lord: He said to Me, Thou art My Son, Today I have begotten Thee. ‘Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as thine inheritance, And the very ends of the earth as Thy possession.” So it is that statement, “You are my Son, today I have begotten You” that the writer of the Hebrews picks up. One thing you note here, when God says you are my son, today I have begotten you, the King of Israel wasn’t conceived by God. So that would have not been understood that way as the writer of this Psalm wrote it. It says today I have begotten you. What does this have to do with? It has to do with the recognition that he is God’s appointed one to rule. The focus is on when God reveals his will for the ruler of his people. That is when he is begotten. Identified as God’s choice, God’s appointment is begotten in that sense.

Come over to the New Testament and see how this passage is used in another context. Acts 13: the apostle Paul is speaking. Acts 13:26 (he is addressing Jews). “Brethren, sons of Abraham’s family, and those among you who fear God,” (some of the God fearing Gentiles who could have been there) “to us the word of this salvation is sent out.” Then he talks about the crucifixion of Christ, vs. 28 & 29). Verse 30, “But God raised Him from the dead. And then he appeared to many witnesses.” Similar to what Paul said about the Gospel in 1 Corinthians 15. He made known in Corinth and wherever he went.

Then come to Acts 13: 32, “And we preach to you the good news of the promise made to the fathers,” (we are going back to that revelation, God spoke in times past, in the prophets, to the Fathers that God has fulfilled this promise to our children in that he raised up Jesus as it is also written in the second Psalm. “You are my son, today I have begotten you.” As for the fact that he raised him up from the dead, no longer to decay, he has spoken this way. I will give you the holy and sure blessing of David. You see what Paul says, the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead fulfills. Psalm 2:7, “Today I have begotten you.” He doesn’t tie it to his birth, he ties it to his resurrection because that’s when God’s son who would become a man and is now living on this earth and had been crucified as a common criminal with common criminals was demonstrated before all to be God’s Son and the One he had appointed to rule his people.

Come over to Romans 1, Paul identifies himself as the one “set apart from the Gospel” in verse 1, it’s the Gospel he “set apart beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures.” You see this new revelation through Christ, concerning His Son, is based on the new revelation and fulfills it concerning his Son who was born a descendant of David according to the flesh. We are going to get to that in a moment. In Hebrews who was “declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead.” Now it is true that God manifested that Christ was his Son through his earthly ministry. With the ultimate unveiling and revelation, the resurrection of Christ and those things associated with that event. That is the fullest climatic revelation. He was Son from his birth, the angel told Mary, the one who will be conceived in your womb will be known as Son of the most high. He is going to be the son of God. When John baptized Him, God the Father spoke from heaven and said, “this is my beloved Son.” At the mount of transfiguration, in Matthew 17:5, (God spoke again from heaven and said) “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!” So he was son before his resurrection, but the revelation of God’s plan and who he really is and God’s appointment of him has his stamp at the resurrection. Many events were associated with it, the resurrection to be followed by the ascension in Acts 1 and his being seated at the right hand of God in glory. So those seal everything that has been revealed to that point.

The old testament prophets anticipated the coming of Christ, He comes, He successfully accomplishes the work God gave Him to do and so He is resurrected by the power of God. That is why Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15, “if God has not been raised from the dead, our faith is worthless.” We believed a lie, we say, wait a minute, he still had a great life and did a lot of great things, healed people and wait a minute, if he didn’t get raised from the dead, there is no salvation. You see that is the climatic manifestation, it’s the culmination of the work. With that resurrection again, Hebrews will associate the ascension of the Father and being seated at the right hand which is a further stamp of the finality of his work and his completeness.

When we come back to Hebrews, it says, “You are my Son today I have begotten You.” Be careful, people who deny the deity will take you to a verse like this and say, “well, what has he begotten me?” Means he had to be begotten of God, that means he had to have a beginning.” No, it doesn’t. It means what it means in the context of scripture in which it is used. In some context it could mean begotten as we would use it. If it is used of the appointment of God’s son and the manifestation that he has addressed. What is the final climax together? It is where we go through the book of Acts and what constantly comes up is that they present the Gospel, the resurrection. Why? Because this is God’s stamp and final seal on the work that Christ did. So that is when he was begotten of God in the sense he declared with the fullest clarity. He is the one who would be the Messiah and rule his people. Hebrews 1:5, (first reference showing his superiority to angels, that he is God’s unique Son and again here’s the second quote) “I will be a father to Him, and He shall be a Son to me?”

That’s another verse that declares that the Messiah would be God’s son. That would be a father to him, no argument on the Jews on this; they recognize that the promises that David and his descendants culminate in the coming of the Messiah. Two places where we could go to for this; II Samuel 7:14 quotes this and I Chronicles 17:13. Let’s do Chronicles, we never do Chronicles. I Chronicles and they are just parallel references recording the same event. We are going to chapter 17 and the context here is David wanted to build the temple, a permanent place for God to manifest his presence in Israel. Since the time of Moses, 500 years earlier when the Law was given, the tabernacle was built. The tabernacle, that tent structure to be moved around, was the place where God manifested his presence. David came up with the plan to build. He was living in a magnificent palace and God ‘s residence among us is that tent. God sends Nathan to David and so in Chapter 17:7, (Nathan tells you) “thus shall you say to My servant David.” Down in I Chronicles 17:11-14, “when your days are fulfilled that you must go to be with your fathers, that I will set up one of your descendants after you, who shall be of your sons; and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build for Me a house, and I will establish his throne forever. I will be his father, and he shall be My son;” (there’s our quote), “and I will not take My loving kindness away from him, as I took it from him who was before you.” (That was Saul as Nathan speaks to David), “but I will settle him in My house and in My kingdom forever, and his throne shall be established forever.” The Jews recognized that portions of this would be particularly directed to Solomon (that gets even more full in the Samuel parallel reference where after this God said that if he does wrong, I will chasten him, but of course, the Messiah never did wrong, Solomon did). But the Jews recognized to have this fulfilled has to take someone greater than Solomon as Solomon did not reign forever.

The promise is to recognize these passages as having their ultimate fulfillment in the Messiah who would come. That is the writer to Hebrews can write and quote these with the approach on this that every Jew would agree on this, even unbelieving Jews agreed. They did not agree that Christ was the fulfillment, but they had to agree that Old Testament prophecies anticipated the coming Messiah. One reference, we could go through passages like Isaiah 9:6, “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And his name shall be called Wonderful counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.” It showed the Jews anticipated a coming Son, a greater one as we go through the prophets. Come over to John 7, we’ll pick up a new testament reference. The Jews knew that the Messiah would have to be born in Bethlehem because Micah, the prophet, prophesied that. They knew he had to be a descendant of David because of prophecies like the one we just read. In John 7 as people were debating, the Jews were debating is Jesus the Messiah, is he just another great prophet, there is disagreement. John 7:40-42, “Some of the multitude therefore, when they heard these words, were saying, ‘This certainly is the Prophet.’ Others were saying, ‘This is the Christ.’ Still others were saying, ‘Surely the Christ is not going to come from Galilee, is He? Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the offspring of David?’” They understood those promises given to David. We call it a Levitic Covenant, how they would have their final realization in the Messiah, the Christ, the anointed one. The Messiah would be a descendant of David and from Bethlehem, the village where David was. That was David’s home. So they recognized that the Messiah would be the fulfillment. The writer of Hebrews has demonstrated, he is. He is God’s unique Son. Recognize that, that he is the one who fulfills all these promises.

Come back to Hebrews 1. Let’s look at a second reason here and then we will pick up here at our next time. He is not only superior to angels because he is God’s unique son, but secondly he is superior to angels because the angels are commanded to worship him. That is what is brought out in verse 6. Hebrews 1:6, “And when He again brings the first-born in to the world, He says, ‘And let all the angels of God worship Him.’” The discussion here, some of you may be familiar with and some not, on what the word again refers to. The translation we are using, the New American Standard, and when he again brings the firstborn into the world, we connect that to the Second Coming of Christ, when Christ comes again into the world. He is talking about the Second Coming or again, being used like in the middle of verse 5 when he moved from the quote from Psalm 2 to the quote from Samuel or Chronicles. He says again (in other words, here is another Old Testament reference.) There are good men on both sides. You can read the commentary and they will work through the pros and the cons, depending on how much detail you want to get into. Before I tell you which one I favor at this time, I’ll be honest, I’ve been on both sides. It doesn’t make any difference to the point he is making. The point he is making, the angels are commanded to worship Christ. Whenever that commandment is carried out, the fact is they are commanded to worship Christ. That shows the superiority of the Son and it demonstrates the deity of the Son because he is the only one to be worshipped, God. If he is not God, he shouldn’t be worshipped. The angels reject worship as we have in Revelations 19 and 22. When John tries to worship the angel giving him revelation, the angel stops him right away and tells him you only worship God, I’m just a servant.

So the angels will be joined in worshipping and honoring Christ in connection with His Second Coming. The angels also joined in honoring and worshipping Christ by declaring who He was at His first coming in Luke 2. They met with the shepherds in the fields, the angels joined together and declaring who Christ is, the one born at Bethlehem. I think it is simple to take it in the flow here for this will be repeated in Hebrews again to follow up with another quote. If I were going to take a pick, I would say this here, we are adding another quote. And again when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says let all the angels of God worship him although the angels will join and worship him in the Second Coming. But the quote here, “when he brings the firstborn”, we have to say something about the word, firstborn. It can mean first in time or first in honor. It is another one of those words which means begotten, you feel like you’re trapped, when some people say well no, the Scripture doesn’t declare that Christ has been eternally God because he was begotten or he was the firstborn. The firstborn can refer to someone who was born first in time.

A firstborn child, in fact, that is the background for it. Deut. 21:17, you don’t have to turn there but it tells you about the rights of the firstborn in Israel. They receive a double portion of the inheritance. I like that. I’m the firstborn son in the family, I try to use that verse but it didn’t pan out that way. And we are not under the obligation of the Law but the firstborn son under the Law receives a double portion of the inheritance and some other privileges. That’s the foundational meaning. But then it comes to having a usage since the firstborn was given priority, given honor, elevated above others, it came to be used of those who weren’t necessarily born first at the time but received the prerogative of honor and so on.

So we find in the Old Testament, Jacob and Esau. Jacob ends up with the right of the firstborn even though he wasn’t the firstborn. In Genesis 48, when Joseph brings his sons to his father for blessing. When Joseph brought his sons, he brought the oldest, he would sit on the right hand of where his father was because that is where the right of firstborn would be bestowed. Then his younger son, he brought to left hand. His father crossed his hands and Joseph said, “no father, you have it wrong. He is the oldest.” The father says, “I know but the younger will be the greater” if I can summarize it.

So there are those times. Come to Exodus 4 and we will look at one reference. It is important that we understand these terms like begotten, firstborn properly. Here it is used fairly figuratively, verse 22. Exodus 4:22, Moses going to talk to Pharaoh. What does he tell Pharaoh? “Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord, Israel is my son, My first-born.’” Obviously God hadn’t conceived Israel literally. There was no physical conception there. It had the pagan concept. Israel wasn’t the first nation. Egypt preceded. We know that from Genesis and other nations. But what is God saying? Israel, is my firstborn. It is the one that I have chosen to place my blessing upon, to honor and then he ties it to literal firstborn. And since you have hardened your heart, we will let our firstborn go and I’m going to kill all your firstborn. Their literal oldest child, but he is using it as a figure of speech to show the importance of Israel to God. They are the nation that He has elevated and bestowed His blessing upon, above all nations. So we talk about Christ being first born.

On your way back, stop at Psalm 89 and this is addressed to David and often through David then to the ultimate fulfillment of the promises to David which would be the Messiah. Look at Psalm 89:3-4, “I have made a covenant with My chosen; I have sworn to David My servant, I will establish your seed forever, and build up your throne to all generations.” Of course that ultimately has its fulfillment in the Messiah. The Jews recognize that. Come down to Psalm 89:27, “I also shall make him My first-born, The highest of the kings of the earth.” You see in the parallel idea, it doesn’t mean to be first-born, it means to have preeminence over all other kings. I will make him my first-born, by that I mean he will be the highest of kings of the earth. He will be the King of kings and that is how we will see Christ referred to. He is the King of kings and Lord of lords. He is the highest of the kings of the earth, he is the first-born. So the point is not that he is not the first one that I conceived. It is the idea that he has preeminence, he is given the honor and there are other uses of the first-born of Christ in the New Testament that would be consistent with the emphasis.

You are in Psalms, come to Psalms 97:7, “Let all those be ashamed who serve graven images, Who boast themselves of idols; Worship Him, all you gods.” The writer to the Hebrews uses a Greek translation to the Old Testament, called the Septuagint, abbreviated lxx70 because tradition says there were 70 translators. Whether that is true or not, that is the way you come to identify the Greek translation of the Old Testament completed a couple hundred years before Christ. They translate this, worship him all you angels.

There is another reference in Deuteronomy 32:43 that does not appear in the Hebrew Bible but it does in the Greek Bible, so someone connected to Deuteronomy. But here we do have a clear statement that is part of the Hebrew Bible as well as sometimes could be used of the angels in the small “g” of power and influence, but the command is that all the angels of God are to worship Him. Again, the Hebrews had no problem recognizing the truth of this. The Greek translation from Psalms 97 and also Deuteronomy 32:43 although it will not appear in your Bible which translates to Hebrew, the Greek translation does have it. All the angels of God are to worship him.

I made two references and we have time to look at these, don’t we? Come to Revelation 19 and we will stop with these two references in Revelation. Revelation 19:10, an angel has been given Revelation to John and then verse 10, John is so overwhelmed with the magnificence of the revelation that his angels have given. Revelation 19:10 says, “I fell at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, ‘Do not do that; I am a fellow servant of yours and your brethren who hold the testimony of Jesus; worship God. For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.’”

You can realize how great the impact this made on John as he repeats the same mistake over in Revelation 22:8-9, “And I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed me these things. And he said to me, ‘Do not do that; I am a fellow servant of yours and of your brethren the prophets and of those who heed the words of this book; worship God.’”

So when God commands all the angels to worship the Son, it is the declaration of the Son’s deity. No one else can be worshipped, no created being can be worshipped, not even angels, like Gabriel who said, “I serve in the presence of the living God.” No, so when God declares the Son is to be worshipped, it shows His superiority to the angels. It also declares his deity. So you can see how these things get woven together in the different aspects of his Sonship because he is the God/man. If He was just a man, He could not be worshipped. The only one who can be worshipped is God, but because He is the God/man and as the God/man He has finished the work of redemption; all the angels of God are commanded to worship Him. They didn’t have to be commanded to worship Him in His preexistent eternal Sonship.

We looked at Isaiah 6 where the angelic host declared, “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty” referring to the Son in that passage. But as a result of His incarnation and completion of the work of salvation and redemption and now the One who can fulfill all the promises of the Old Testament and ultimately sit on the throne of David which He is not on yet. All the angels of God are commanded to worship because He is not just a man, He is God, He is the God/man who has accomplished the work of redemption. So the superiority of Christ to angels. He is God, the unique Son, the angels worship him. We have to recognize Him as God’s unique son and come to worship Him and place our faith in Him as our Savior and continue to worship through all eternity.

Let’s pray together. Thank You Lord for the riches of Your word, the magnificence of Your Son. Lord in many ways it has become easier for us to become like the Hebrews with the passing of time, we dull in our appreciation of the wonder of the person of Christ and the work that He accomplished. We wander, become confused. Thank You for the riches of this portion of Your word, the truth conveyed here. May it grip our hearts and minds, strengthen us and bless us to know that the One who is Your Son is our Savior. We praise You in His name. Amen.