Hebrews 1
I. A Superior Person: Christ (1-6)
A. \\#Heb 1:1-3\\ Christ is superior to the prophets.
B. \\#Heb 1:4-14\\ Christ is superior to the angels.
I. A Superior Person: Christ (1-6)
A. \\#Heb 1:1-3\\ Christ is better than the prophets.
1. \\#He 1:1\\ "GOD" - A Powerful Beginning
a. There is something uniquely powerful about the way God started
the book of Hebrews.
(1) It is reminiscent of some other powerful beginnings.
Genesis 1:1 - "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth."
a. In that verse, God offered no proof that He is God.
b. God offered no explanation of His existence.
c. God gave no details of what was before creation.
John 1:1 - "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God."
d. At that beginning, the Living Word of God was there.
e. There is no proof, no commentary. It is take it or
leave it!
(2) Why? Those first verses are to point our heads in the
direction of their book’s themes:
a. Genesis - God is the Creator, the Beginner, of all things.
b. John - God the Creator is God of Salvation
(3) Where is the writer of Hebrews pointing us? In these opening
lines, the writer of this book will point us to the theme.
So, let’s read further.
b. "in times past" - A Past Action
(1) The writer is speaking of things the way they were.
(2) In the past, "God… spake… by the prophets"
c. \\#2\\ "in these last days" - A Change
(1) The writer is telling us that recently, things have changed.
(2) Recently, "God… hath… spoken unto us by his Son"
(3) The writer’s point is that this change is better.
(4) The Son is being introduced because He is the better way of
hearing from the Father.
2. \\#He 1:2-3\\ Now, we have the theme of this book - "Jesus, God’s Son,
the better way."
a. The writer’s goal is to demonstrate that Jesus Christ is superior
to anything their Jewish religion had; thus convincing them that
Jesus is worthy of any suffering they might have to endure.
b. This is the same truth that every believe must be convinced of if
they are to withstand the trials and temptations of following
Jesus.
c. \\#2\\ "by his Son" - Notice that the One who has spoken is God’s
Son. This is a direct reference to the deity of Christ. He is
the Son of God, that is, of the same nature and being as God. The
writer goes on to further describe the Son with seven statements.
(1) "whom he (God) hath appointed heir of all things" - The One
who spoke is to receive all things from the Father.
(a) The use of the word "heir" in our minds would imply
that the Father would have to cease to live in order
for the Son to inherit the gift.
(b) Of course, here the Father is not going to cease.
(c) Rather, the inheritance was passed when the Son died
and rose from the dead. It was the Son’s death which
gave Him the right to receive from the Father all
things.
(2) "by whom also he made the worlds"
(a) The Scripture tells us that it was not the Father who
created the cosmos but the Son.
John 1:3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that
was made.
(b) So why does Jesus need to inherit that which He made?
(c) Because God gave dominion of His created world to Adam
who lost it to Satan!
(3) \\#3\\ "Who being the brightness of his glory" - Jesus is
the LIGHT, what we can see of God’s glory. The things we
can see, we see because of light. We know very little about
the glory of God. In fact, I have never come up with a
definition of what God’s glory actually is, but everything
we know about God’s glory, we know because of Jesus. Jesus
is what we can see and comprehend of the glory of God.
(4) "the express image of his person" - This is a similar thought
as the last phrase. We look on a quarter and see the image
of George Washington. So Jesus is an exact image of the
Father. This is what Jesus told Philip, " he that hath seen
me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us
the Father?" \\#John 14:9\\
(5) "upholding all things by the word of his power" - Not only
did the Son make all things, He continues to hold all things
as they should be with nothing more than His word.
(a) One of the Law of Thermodynamics is that the universe
continues to run itself down, making the theory of
evolution impossible. Yet, we are here and do exist.
How is that possible? Because Jesus, God’s Son created
it all and holds it together as it pleases Him.
(b) And all things came to be and are held together by
nothing more than the single, once-given command of
Jesus. This is the same word that we have in written
form.
(6) "when he had by himself purged our sins"
(a) "when" - The writer is describing a work and a reaction
that are connected in time.
(b) Notice that the work was done "by himself." The Son did
not need any man’s help in accomplishing His purpose.
(c) What was the work? "he… purged our sins." The Son
alone provided redemption for mankind. He removed our
sins by His sacrificial work on the cross.
(7) "sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high"
(a) Now the reaction.
(b) Once this work was done, Jesus sat down beside the
Father. Sitting down symbolizes a finished task. Jesus
did not need our help in the redemption plan and He
does not need our help in the post-redemption plan. He,
and He alone, is sufficient to keep us saved.
(c) Notice also that both the Father and the Son sit on high.
They are in the eternal heavens. Those who think they
mock God when they do not see Him only mock themselves.
d. Jesus’ superiority to the prophets is just one of several reasons
why these Hebrews should not abandon Jesus for a work’s oriented
religion.
3. \\#1-2\\ A Sure Word
a. These verses emphasize the truth that God has spoken to humanity
both through His prophets and His Son.
b. In all three of these first verses, the writer proclaims the
inspiration and reliability of God’s words.
B. \\#Heb 1:4-14\\ Christ is better than the angels.
1. \\#1:4\\ "Being made so much better than the angels" - The writer
turns from comparing Christ to the prophets to comparing Him to the
angels.
a. Considering that the writer’s point is that what these Hebrews can
have is so much better than what the Old Testament saints had, it
makes sense that he would speak of the angels.
(1) In the Old Testament, God used the angels to minister to His
saints.
Genesis 16:7 And the angel of the LORD found her by a fountain of water in the
wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur.
Genesis 22:15 And the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven the
second time,
Exodus 14:19 And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel,
removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their
face, and stood behind them:
Numbers 22:23 And the ass saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way, and
his sword drawn in his hand: and the ass turned aside out of the way, and went
into the field: and Balaam smote the ass, to turn her into the way.
Judges 2:1 And an angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I
made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware
unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you.
Judges 13:3 And the angel of the LORD appeared unto the woman, and said unto
her, Behold now, thou art barren, and bearest not: but thou shalt conceive, and
bear a son.
(2) This is why the writer will sum up the angels work as
ministers.
Hebrews 1:14 Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for
them who shall be heirs of salvation?
b. "better" - While the proof will follow, the conclusion of the
comparison is listed at the very beginning. Having a relationship
with Jesus, God’s Son, is "better" than anything the angels could
offer.
2. The book of Hebrews uses a lot of comparisons. That is the purpose
of the book.
a. However, the use of some of these terms has given rise to the idea
that Jesus is somehow less than God.
b. Notice a few of the terms which some have been used in an attempt
to teach that Christ was somehow less than the Father.
(1) \\#Heb 1:4\\ "Being made…" - Some would say that Christ
was created or had a beginning.
(2) \\#He 1:4\\ "inheritance" - To some, this makes Christ seem
inferior to the Father for it implies that Jesus was given
His status by the Father.
(3) \\#He 1:5\\ "this day have I begotten thee… I will be to
him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son." - Some take this
to mean that the Jesus was not always a Son to the Father.
They would argue that Jesus acquired His position.
(4) \\#He 1:6\\ "he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the
world" - The idea of God having a firstborn makes some think
that Jesus was one of several, possibly even one of many.
(5) \\#He 1:9\\ "thy God, hath anointed thee… above thy
fellows" - To be anointed implies to some that Jesus was
appointed to a position. They believe the remainder of the
verse claims that Jesus was selected from others like
himself (his fellows).
(6) Other terms might include "appointed" \\#He 1:2\\, and "Sit on
my right hand" \\#He 1:13\\.
3. Before a Bible student can properly understand what these verses are
saying, he or she needs to know what the Bible as a whole teaches.
a. The Bible teaches that God is eternal.
Psalms 90:2 Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed
the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.
Psalms 102:27 But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end.
Isaiah 44:6 Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of
hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.
Revelation 1:8 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the
Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.
b. The Bible teaches that Jesus is God.
Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government
shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor,
The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Matthew 1:23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son,
and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.
John 1:1 - In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God….
John 1:14 - And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us,
1 Timothy 3:16 - And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God
was manifested in the flesh, Justified in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Preached
among the Gentiles, Believed on in the world, Received up in glory.
Titus 2:13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the
great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
2Peter 1:1 Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that
have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our
Saviour Jesus Christ:
1 John 5:20 And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an
understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is
true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.
c. The Bible teaches that God never changes.
Psalms 102:27 But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end.
Malachi 3:6 For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not
consumed.
Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
d. So both by deduction and plain statement, we see that JESUS HAS
ALWAYS BEEN GOD.
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God.
2 The same was in the beginning with God.
John 10:30 I and my Father are one.
e. The Bible also teaches that there is and always has been one and
only one God.
Deuteronomy 6:4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:
Isaiah 43:10 Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have
chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me
there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.
11 I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour.
Isaiah 45:5 I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I
girded thee, though thou hast not known me:
6 That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is
none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else.
Isaiah 46:9 Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none
else; I am God, and there is none like me,
4. Knowing that Jesus is God and has never been anything less, we can
attempt to answer what some falsely believe about these terms.
a. To understand these truths, we must be reminded of the TWO natures
of Christ.
(1) Jesus is Divine; that is, Jesus is the eternal God who has
always been.
(2) Jesus is a man; that is, a body was created for Him which was
limited and fleshly. As a man, Jesus had needs and was
dependent on His heavenly Father. As a man, Jesus had
peers. As a man, Jesus died. As a resurrected and glorified
man, Jesus has been exalted above all.
b. Everything that was "done" for Jesus by the Father, was done during
a small window of time beginning at Jesus’ incarnation and ending
sometime after Jesus’ ascension.
(1) Prior to the incarnation, Jesus had all power. He is the
eternal God and needed no help from any one or anything.
(2) At the incarnation, Jesus surrendered His godly attributes.
Some where in eternity past, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost
determined their roles for man’s redemption and the Son was
to lay aside His power, take on the form of a man, and die
for our sins. Once Jesus laid aside His powers, He was as
helpless as any mortal man. He depended upon the Father and
the Holy Ghost for any knowledge and power beyond the
abilities of a normal man. This dependency continued through
His death, burial, resurrection, and ascension. Most every-
thing that the Father has done for the Son, is done during
this time period. The only exception may be that the Son
still sits on the Father’s right hand, for being in a
glorified body, the Son is now limited to being in one
place at a time.
(3) Sometime after the ascension, the Father returned to Jesus
His divine attributes. \\#He 2:8\\ says that the Father
HAS put all things under the Son’s feet, an indication that
the Father had already exalted Jesus to rightful position.
Once that was done, the Son no longer requires any aid from
the Father or the Holy Spirit. He has all the powers that
are rightfully His.
(4) Hence, the phrases that describe the Father giving aid to the
Son would all fall into a specific time period beginning at
the incarnation and ending just after the ascension.
c. Explanation of difficult phrases:
(1) \\#He 1:4\\ "Being made…" - Jesus had a body which was made
for Him, which is what this verse is describing, but He is
eternal, having no beginning or end. The writer’s point is
that while on earth, Jesus abode in a body that was inferior
to the angels, but based on what God gave to Jesus (His
inheritance), it is obvious that He was and is so much more
than the angels.
(2) \\#He 1:4\\ "inheritance" - After the resurrection, Jesus
received of the Father a position higher than any angel.
Although Jesus will forever remain in His glorified body,
all the power and glory that was His, the Father has
returned.
(3) \\#He 1:5\\ "this day have I begotten thee… he shall be to
me a Son" - Jesus was made the Son of God on the day of His
physical birth. The Father/Son terminology helps us to
understand that the Father and Son are of the same nature,
but, unlike our existence, the Heavenly Father did not exist
before the Son nor did the Father somehow produce the Son.
(4) \\#He 1:6\\ "he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world"
As a man, Jesus was the first to have both the nature of God
and the nature of man; but all who trust Jesus as their
Savior are given that privilege. The difference is that
Jesus’ started with a divine nature and had added a human
element. We started with a human nature and had added the
divine nature.
(5) \\#He 1:9\\ "thy God, hath anointed thee… above thy fellows"
As God, Jesus has no peers. As a man with a created body,
Jesus does. Yet, because of Jesus holiness (a holiness
beyond any created being), God has exalted Him far above
any other.
5. \\#He 1:5-13\\ Notice some of the reasons that Jesus is superior to
the angels. The writer quotes from the Old Testament.
a. \\#He 1:5\\ He is the Son.
(1) "Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee?" A quote
from \\#Psalm 2:7\\.
(2) "I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?"
The only known places where this could be quoted from are
references to David and Solomon \\#2Sam 7:14, 1Chron 17:13\\
\\#1Chron 22:10, 28:6\\. While from those texts it would
appear that God was speaking specifically to David and
Solomon, it is apparent that the Holy Spirit intended it to
be a dual reference prophecy, applying to Jesus as well.
(3) The writer is establishing Christ’s uniqueness. He is not a
created servant but the Son of God.
(4) Terms like "begotten" and "will be to him a Father" do not
relate to the divine nature of Christ as He is eternal.
They are references to His physical birth and to a analogy
in the relationship between the two members of the trinity
which began at Jesus’ birth.
b. \\#He 1:6-7\\ The Son is worshipped by the angels while the
angels serve the Son.
(1) \\#6\\ "And let all the angels of God worship him." - Most
consider this to be a quote from mixing \\#Psalm 97:7\\
and the Septuagint rendering of \\#Deut 32:43\\.
(2) \\#7\\ "Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a
flame of fire." A quote from \\#Psalm 104:4\\.
c. \\#He 1:8\\ The Father calls the Son, God.
(1) "O God"
(2) A quote from \\#Psalm 45:6\\.
d. \\#He 1:8\\ The Father applies attributes of deity to the Son.
(1) "Thy throne… is for ever and ever: the sceptre of thy
kingdom is a right sceptre."
(2) Here the Son is described as both eternal and the Ruler of
all. These are not the attributes of an angel.
e. \\#He 1:9\\ The Father has exalted the Son.
(1) The verse is a quote from \\#Psalm 45:7\\.
(2) This verse records what the Father spoke to the Son. The
conversation suggests that because of the Son’s holiness,
God exalted Him.
(3) It is difficult to know whether the ‘fellows" mentioned in
this verse is a reference to the angels (the writer is
contrasting Jesus to the angels) or other humans (the body
Jesus received was that of a human).
(4) Either way, Jesus has been exalted high abover both. And in
both cases, His love for righteousness and His hatred for
iniquity exceeds both.
f. \\#He 1:10-12\\ The Son is the eternal Creator.
(1) \\#He 1:10-12\\ are quoted from \\#Psalm 102:25-27\\.
(2) In Psalm 102, God again speaks to the Son.
(3) The communique denotes the Son was the Creator of the cosmos.
This is something that the remainder of the Bible states
\\#John 1:3, 10, Col 1:16-17\\ and is certainly something
that angels cannot do.
(4) "…in the beginning… but thou remainest… thy years shall
not fail" - All three verses make reference to the Son’s
eternal state. While the angels may live forever, they are
not eternal. They had a beginning.
g. \\#He 1:13\\ The Son is seated at the Father’s right hand.
(1) A quote from \\#Psalm 110:1\\.
(2) Once Jesus had completed His work, He sat down on the right
hand of the Father \\#He 1:3, Matt 22:44, Acts 2:34-35\\
\\#Acts 7:55\\. This is a position of authority not given
to any angel.
(3) Sometime after Jesus’ death, He received back all that He had
surrendered in order to die for man’s sins. The only residue
of Jesus’ earthly weakness, if it can be called that, will
be that Jesus will remain in His glorified body forever. As
such, He is physical and resides in one place. God has
given to the Son the position of the exalted, that is, to
sit on the Father’s right hand side.
h. \\#He 2:5-8\\ The Father has put all future things under the
Son’s authority.
(1) This reason is given later in the book. In fact, the writer
is arguing that the Hebrews should pay special attention to
Jesus instead of going back to Judaism because of the
authority Jesus will be given in future events. Even so,
the reason fits this section as well, so I have listed it
here.
(2) \\#He 2:6-8\\ is a quote from \\#Psalm 8:4-6\\.
(3) The prophecy points out that although Jesus was given an
earthly body that had less ability than the angels, God
honored the Son by returning to Him the glory and majesty
that was the Son’s before His incarnation.
(4) \\#8\\ As God, Jesus rules over all things. During the time
of Jesus’ incarnation and earthly ministry, Jesus was
subordinate to the Father. But sometime after His death,
became as He was in eternity past, completely one with the
Father and the Holy Spirit, both in fellowship and power.
(5) This is not a position given to the angels.
6. \\#He 1:14\\ The writer’s conclusion concerning the angels.
a. "Are they not all ministering spirits" - All of the angles are
servants.
b. "sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation"
God created them to minister to those who would choose salvation.
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