KASUMIGAOKA
2017/11/19
SERMON: “Greater Than the Angels” 「神の御使いよりも偉大な御子」
TEXT: Hebrews 1:4-14
I. INTRODUCTION
We noted last week that Hebrews begins by declaring the immense glory of Jesus Christ as God’s Son. The Son is, first, greater than all the prophets through whom God has spoken to the ancestors in many parts and in many different ways (vv. 1-2). Second, the Son is equal to His Father in glory and power, because He is the “exact representation of His nature” and “He upholds the universe by the word of His power” (v. 3). Third, Hebrews explains that the Son is far superior to the angels. This third comparison is the one we will look at today. Why does Hebrews compare the Son of God to the angels? It may be simply because the angels were considered by the Jews to be the most glorious and powerful of all God’s creatures. The stars of heaven were thought to represent the “heavenly army” of God’s angels. God’s angels appear as God’s powerful agents and messengers in many Old Testament stories. God’s angel appeared to Hagar and to Abraham, to Jacob, to Moses, to Balaam, to Gideon, and to the parents of Samson. The angel of the Lord appeared to David, to Elijah, to Daniel, and to Zechariah. God’s angel brought good news and hope to some, but death and destruction to others. Psalm 34:7 says, “The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him, and delivers them.” But in 2 Kings 19:35, we read, “And that night the angel of the Lord went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians.” The angels of the Lord were terrifying in appearance and overwhelming in might. It is no surprise that the usual response of anyone who came face to face with an angel of the Lord was to fall upon his face in terror!
But Hebrews tells us that the Son is far greater and more glorious than all of God’s heavenly angels. How does the Son’s glory surpass that of the angels? Let’s look at verses 4-14 more closely.
II. THE SUPERIORITY OF THE SON TO THE ANGELS
1.) Given a More Excellent Name. Verse 4 says, “The Son became as much superior to the angels as the name He has inherited is superior to theirs. The Son shares the “name” of the Father. This means that Son has the same “nature” as the Father, because in the ancient world, a “name” was thought to reflect the character of the one who bears the name. If the Son is “like” His Father, He is entitled to bear the Father’s honored name. This also implies that the Son is entitled to receive the same respect that is shown to the Father. This is the main idea of the “name” inherited” by the Son.
But there is another important idea expressed in verses 4-6. It is the fact that the Son who has accomplished His designated mission has now been commended by the Father for that accomplishment. Verse 4 does not merely say that the Son is superior to the angels, but that the Son has become superior to the angels. This refers back to the previous verse which describes the Son’s finished work and its reward. “After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the majesty in heaven.” This is quite a clear statement of the “mediatorial kingship” of Christ. In other words, Jesus Christ the Son has acquired a new “title,” as the “Mediator King” of His redeemed people. And God His Father has acknowledged the supreme merit of the Son’s finished work. For God says of His Son, “You are My Son; today I have begotten You.” Why does God say, “Today I have begotten You”? I think it is God’s final approval of the Son’s mediatorial work: Christ redeemed His people by giving His life for their sins. The Son has brought a rebellious, “lost” people back to the God they had rejected. Of this work, the Father completely approves. The Son has shown that He is completely worthy to bear the name of the Father. And the Father has declared the Son’s worth by seating Him at His own right hand. The apostle Paul says something very similar in Acts 13:32-33. “We tell you the good news: What God promised to our ancestors He has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising up Jesus. As it is written in the second Psalm, ‘You are My Son; today I have become Your Father.’” Here Paul explains that, by raising Jesus from the dead, God the Father has announced His wholehearted approval of Christ’s work as Redeemer. He has confirmed the right of Jesus to be called the Son of God. Jesus Christ the Son has become “as much superior to the angels as the name He has inherited is superior to theirs.”
2.) Worshiped By Angels. The second way the Son is superior to the angels is in the matter of worship. The Scriptures insist that only God is “worthy” to be worshiped. That is why idolatry is so strictly prohibited. Only God deserves the worship of God’s creatures. In the last chapter of the last book of the New Testament (Revelation 22: 8-9), John writes, “I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I had heard and seen them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who had been showing them to me. But he said to me, ‘Don’t do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your fellow prophets and with all who keep the words of this scroll. Worship God!’” Angels must not be worshiped by man. No creature of God deserves to be worshiped. Nevertheless, Hebrews tells us, “And again, when God brings His firstborn into the world, He says, ‘Let all God’s angels worship Him.’” The Son is worthy to be worshiped, not only by mankind, but by the greatest of God’s heavenly angels! Specifically, Hebrews says, “When God brings His firstborn into the world,” He commanded His angels to worship the Son. That is what the angels of the Lord were doing when they appeared to some shepherds near the town of Bethlehem the night that Jesus Christ was born. (Luke 2:9) “An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is the Messiah, the Lord.’ . . . Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom His favor rests.’” This firstborn is the incarnate Son of God. Even when He first enters into the world as a mere human baby, He deserves the praise and worship of all of God’s angels. And if He is worthy to be worshiped by angels, how much more does God’s incarnate Son deserve the worship of all mankind!
3.) Sovereign Authority. The third way in which the Son is superior to the angels is in His sovereign authority, as shown in vv. 7-8. “In speaking of the angels, He says, ‘He makes His angels winds, and His servants flames of fire.’ But about the Son He says, ‘Your throne, O God, will last forever and ever; a scepter of justice will be the scepter of Your kingdom.’” The first thing we notice here is that the angels have no authority to act independently from God who created them. God’s angels, though powerful agents of God, are still mere servants. Perhaps the image in verse 7 is the mighty thunderstorm with its raging winds and lightning (“flames of fire”). Those winds and “flames” of lightning are under God’s absolute control. But the Son of God has been given dominion over all of God’s creatures. He sits upon an eternal throne, ruling over His kingdom of heaven and earth with sovereign authority, and dispensing justice as divine Judge. In other words, The Son has authority to command the angels, just as the Father does. The angels exist only to serve the Son, just as they serve the Father.
But another amazing thing that Hebrews tells us is that Psalm 45 which declares the glory of God eternal King is written about the Son of God, Jesus Christ! The words “Your throne, O God” are spoken “about the Son, He says.” There is a testimony to the doctrine of the Trinity in verses 8-9. The words of v. 9 are addressed to “God the Son”: “You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, Your God, has set You above Your companions by anointing You with the oil of joy.” God the Son who sits upon an eternal throne (v. 8) has been anointed (the Messiah) and exalted by God—“Your God” (v. 9). Hebrews indicates that the Son and His Father are two distinct Persons who share equally in the glory and power of God.
4.) Eternal Creator. In verses 10-12 Hebrews declares its fourth point–that the Son is far superior to the angels because He is the eternal Creator God. The angels are part of His creation. Just as the angels had a beginning when they were created, so they will have an end, if God so wills it. But the Son Himself has neither a beginning nor an end! In fact, Hebrews says of the Son, “In the beginning, Lord, You laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands.” The Psalm uses the personal name of the Lord in Hebrew (sometimes transliterated as “Jehovah,” or as “Yahweh”). But this letter applies this passage to the Son of God, Jesus Christ. Just as the Son was present at the beginning of God’s Creation, so He will be present at the end of this Creation. Heaven and earth “will perish, but You remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will roll them up like a robe; like a garment they will be changed. But You remain the same, and Your years will never end.” The Son is greater than the angels by as much as the Creator is greater than what he has made.
5.) Promised Victory. The fifth way in which the Son is far superior to the angels is the final, absolute victory which the Father has promised to secure for the sake of His Son. This promise is stated in verse 13. “To which of the angels did God ever say, ‘Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet’?” The Son has completed His work as Mediator and Redeemer. He has been re-affirmed by the Father as the divine Son who is worthy of worship by men and angels. He has been confirmed as sovereign Ruler over heaven and earth. And He has been introduced as the eternal Creator of heaven and earth and all that are in them. Now that the Son has been seated on His eternal throne, as Mediatorial King, it is the Father who fulfills His promise to bring all His enemies under the dominion of the Son. God never made such a promise to any of His angels, of course, but only to His Son. The Father is now fulfilling His promise to His beloved Son. Slowly but surely, God is bringing Christ’s enemies to bow before Him and to acknowledge His rule over them. The angels are just one of the means that God the Father employs to fulfill that promise to the Son. The angels, on the other hand, continue to serve God by, first, overcoming the enemies of Christ in the world, and second, serving those who will inherit salvation. Some of those “enemies” of Christ may be included among those who will, ultimately, inherit salvation!
III. CONCLUSION
What should we learn from this passage about the glorious majesty of Christ Jesus, God’s eternal Son? I would suggest these two things: First, remember that God is using every means to fulfill His promise to His beloved Son. That means that God will certainly defeat every enemy of His Son and bring them all into complete submission to Christ. As we look around us today, we do not yet see all things brought into submission to Christ. But God is even now actively working to accomplish that goal. What God has promised to His Son He will certainly fulfill. Even though we may not see them, God’s angels are still at work, as v. 14 reminds us, to “serve those who will inherit salvation.” God also continues to use the simple message of the gospel which is called “the sword of the Spirit,” to penetrate hard hearts and to convert Christ’s enemies into friends and obedient servants. We, too, were once enemies of the Son of God, but God brought us to bow before His Son. Romans 5:10 says, “For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through His life!” “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16). This is the message of the gospel that seems so foolish and weak to men, but God continues to use it to bring Christ’s enemies beneath His feet.
Today’s text offers one more great encouragement to us as we face the daily trials that accompany life in a fallen world. It is the reminder that He who loved us and gave Himself for us has done everything necessary to guarantee our salvation. God has promised a complete victory to His Son; and the Son has promised that we who serve Him will share in His victory. His work is finished and He has “sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.” That is because He has done everything that He came to do for us. He has provided purification for our sins. Through Christ’s completed work, we who were far off have been brought near to God once again! “For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Col. 1:13-14). So let’s serve Him with confidence, joy, and hope, knowing that our work is not in vain in the Lord.