Hebrews 1:4-5
9 June 2024
having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.
For to which of the angels did God ever say,
“You are my Son,
today I have begotten you”?
Or again,
“I will be to him a father,
and he shall be to me a son”?
So let's just briefly recap the argument that has been established in the first three verses, because this in some ways acts as the introduction to the first big argument of the book of Hebrews, which is what we're introducing here this evening. The first big argument is Christ's superiority to the angels. So everything that we've been dealing with so far, all the doctrine that we've been unpacking is just leading up to establishing this first argument. Consider this for a few moments in light of this contrast between Christ and the angels from verse four onwards. Because we began in verses one and two with this establishing of God speaking long ago at many times in many ways through the prophets, contrasted with in these last days at one time, one place, God has spoken by his Son, Jesus Christ. So already we have in mind the superiority of the Lord Jesus Christ, and we've seen in verses two and three already, Christ is there at the beginning. Christ is there when everything will come to an end. Everything is being held together by Jesus Christ, and we see who Jesus Christ is in verse three. He is the radiance of the glory of God, the exact imprint of His nature, the One who is upholding all things by the word of His power. This is the All-powerful, All-encompassing Jesus Christ that we worship.
What has Jesus Christ done? Well, he's come to this earth. He has made purification for sins, and having completed this work, this sacrificial work at Calvary, He rose victorious from the grave, and He is now, as we read at the end of verse three, seated at the right hand of the Majesty on high. This is who we now look to as we come to verse four, the exalted status of the Son, the one who is seated with all authority, with all power, Jesus Christ, and with this in view, the exalted, risen Lord and King, Jesus Christ, we contrast Him with the angels.
In verse four, this theme of being seated at the right hand of the Majesty on high goes on to say, having become as much superior to angels. So this is the argument, all of this, this introduction, to come to this argument that now is being established, that the risen, exalted Christ, seated at the right hand of the Majesty on high, is superior to the angels. He is greater. Now, this introduces a couple of key themes, one of which is the subject of the angels. Another of which is going to be that in everything that we're going to unpack in the subsequent sermons about angels, and much is going to be covered on the subject of angels, let's establish right from the beginning that the angels are not the central focus of verses 4 to 14. So as much as we're going to deal with much of angels, this is all being unpacked and being drawn out from the various verses we'll be dealing with to show the key point of the argument, that is, Christ is superior. And part of our thinking about angels and how great and spectacular they are is to help us to realise even more how all-encompassing and incomparable Jesus Christ is. So it's very important that we begin here to know the direction of travel in these verses.
Because with a subject like the angels, it can be very easy to quickly go in quite a speculative direction. This is a subject which many people, including professing Christians, and many who are maybe just interested in spirituality, may be interested in some sort of other realm, this is a subject that people may even dip into the scriptures to get a bit more of a flavour on, something that fascinates the mind, this sort of thing. So what we need to do, which will be of no surprise given that we're working through the word of God, we need to understand what the Bible says about angels. So anything that we deal with, any conclusions that we're going to be even reaching today are going to come from the pages of scripture, not anywhere else. We're not going to go down any speculative direction. We're going to see what does the word of God say about the subject of angels. So this is what we're going to deal with in this opening time. We're going to deal with the subject of the angels, and then as we come to verses four and five more explicitly, we're going to then deal with the superiority of Jesus Christ.
Now one thing to say about what we're going to cover in the coming weeks, we're going to be going to so many different passages of scripture. Even today I'll be referencing many, many, many different verses of scripture. So this is probably a time more than most that it might be helpful to note down some passages because it might be too quick to go through them all in the time that we're going to be working through this. Because this is in order to establish a comprehensive argument on the subjects that we are dealing with. Now it might surprise you, maybe it won't if you've studied this in any great depth. Angels appear very, very, very often in the word of God. There's around about 108 references to angels in the Old Testament, and around about 165 in the New Testament. Some of which appear here in chapter one in the book of Hebrews. And what we must understand is angels are glorious beings, but they are not Christ. They are ministers, but they are not saviours. They dwell in heaven but as worshippers.
So this is where we begin as we deal with the subject of who and what are angels. There's a number of things to mention, and like I say I'll be referencing several scripture verses through this. So even I've had to make a note of some of these scripture verses because it would be too much to go through them all. So angels are celestial beings, they were created by God, and they have a heavenly status. They are higher than us, and anything we see of creation, that is around about us. And we can see from Hebrews chapter two verse nine, that when the Lord Jesus Christ became a man, it says that for a little while was made lower than the angels. That is a striking verse we'll come to in a few months’ time regarding the humanity of Jesus Christ. They do not have the appearance of man except when we see them appearing at times on this earth where they have a bodily appearance, but they are not like us. In 1 Corinthians 15:40 it says, there are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind and the glory of the earthly is of another. The angels were created at a set time. They don't come together like a husband and wife come together and have offspring. They are, and there is an original batch and that's it. And there are many, many angels. In Daniel 7:10 it says, a thousand thousands served him and 10,000 times 10,000 stood before him. So this not only tells us that there are many, many, many angels, it also tells us something important of their function in being created, which is that they are worshipers of the Lord. And that is going to be key as we work through Hebrews 1.
Often, we see in places in scripture of the angels circling the throne and there are ranks amongst these celestial beings. The highest rank, the seraphim, has six wings circling the throne of God. And there are also the cherubim and they have a special place in heaven. In Mark 13:32 we read though, not even the angels in heaven nor the sun know the hour. This teaches us very clearly that they have a place, a status in heaven. And in Jude 6 it says that they have their own position of authority. They are wise, they are powerful, and they are holy beings. They are ministers of God, Psalm 104:4. They are fast, winged creatures. We read in Daniel 9:21 of the angel Gabriel coming in swift flight. They dwell in heaven and are not subject to death, although as we shall see later in Hebrews 1, some have fallen. So there are some angels which have fallen. This is where we understand the existence of Satan, known as the fallen angel, Lucifer, and his demons. We know of two other significant angels who are named in scripture, Gabriel and Michael.
Although they are also a creation of God, and we must understand and reaffirm this point, they are not like us on another level. In Matthew 22:30, for in the resurrection, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. And we see many descriptions of them in scripture. For example, Matthew 28:2-3 says, behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. So here we see something of the bright, dazzling, spectacular sight of the angels.
And they appear at crucial times in scripture. Here we're seeing them appearing at the time of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We see also, for example, the angels appearing at the time of the incarnation. We see the angels appearing, ministering to the Lord during the time He's in the wilderness. We see angels wrestling with the saints. We see angels revealing messages. We also have the angels giving the Law. So they are also God's messengers. They are worshippers of God. They are ministers of God. They are messengers of God, and they delight in the things of God. They rejoice when a sinner is saved. They rejoiced when our Lord was born, and we see examples of the very fact that they speak, and they sing praise, and they communicate messages. And we'll find this at the very end of chapter 1, they are all around us. They are protecting, guiding, and guarding us. This is why we have the warning in Hebrews 13 too. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unaware. Now, already just in these few moments, introducing the subject of angels. That is a lot of information, a lot of scripture verses that we're dealing with. This is just to give us an idea that we don't need to be looking into some sensational direction elsewhere outside the Word of God.
We have it revealed in the Bible how to understand the function of the angelic realm. And brothers and sisters, the people that the author to the Hebrews was writing to needed to get a very clear, biblically grounded theology on this subject. At the time of writing, during the early stages of the gospel spreading amongst the Jews, the Jews certainly believed in angels. They saw angels as mediators between God and men, but there was a lot of confusion and misunderstanding about the angels. For example, many of the Jews, even the Messianic, believers who were Jews at that time, would have believed that everyone had a guardian angel. Some believed that the only way that there was an ongoing administration of anything to do with the Bible was because of the angels, and a disregard of the Son. And this is why in Acts 7:53 it says, You received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it. This is both an acknowledgement of the role of the angels and a rebuke of the practice of the religious leaders.
We also see in Galatians 3:19, why then the law? It was added because of the transgressions until the offspring should come to whom the promise has been made and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary. And so it's important to understand the context of writing. This is not in any way a denial of or a belittling of angels because some of the people reading it were overly elevating the angels. No, this is to give a right steering, a right understanding of the significance of the angels. It was because of this type of thinking about the angels that some of the greatest errors in first-century Christianity came about. For example, the doctrinal error of Gnosticism. Galatians 2:19 says, Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind. So there was very much a spiritual outlook on things, even a spiritual outlook on the Lord Jesus as if to say, well He wouldn't have had a body like ours. This angelic realm is something greater. Surely Jesus wouldn't have had a body like ours. This type of thinking, this type of error was common even amongst the thinking of some within church settings.
So with all of this, we come to verse four and almost everything else that we deal with today in these two verses will be about the Son. So we're going to find this as we work through these verses that we're going to see a section dedicated to teaching about the Son, then about angels, then about the Son, then about angels. But the argument, the common thread of the argument is the same. The reason we've gone to such lengths to introduce this subject is to understand even more the weight of what is being said in verse four. Everything we've just said about angels, everything about them as worshippers, as ministers, as messengers, we come then to read in Hebrews 1:4, having become as much superior to angels as the name He has inherited is more excellent than theirs. So when we think about these arguments, just think about these first three verses and all the doctrine we've learned about Christ, think about what we've just said, everything about angels, and this verse is saying, having become so much more superior, what is this communicating to us about Jesus Christ, the Lord and Savior of our lives?
This is something that can fill the soul with such joy, with such an assurance that Christ is superior. The very framework of what is being declared in verse four is following the sentence of verse three, in His exalted state, seated at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to the angels. Why? Because of who He is, because of what He has done, because of what has been accomplished, and now where He is seated. This is why and how He is so much superior to the angels, the Man of Sorrows who came to suffer. He will have a portion with the great - Isaiah 53:12. This is the reward of his travail, and this is why, as we see in Psalm 68:18, You ascended on high, leading a host of captives in Your train and receiving gifts among men, even among the rebellious, that the Lord God may dwell there. This is the name of the Son, his power and his authority. Now it says this language of having become, because this is based upon who Jesus is, what he has done as the Son, and notice, after it says becoming as much superior to angels, it then says, as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.
Now maybe we've missed this, but this takes us to a very important doctrinal argument regarding the nature of Jesus as the second person of the triune God. Notice the verses saying that He has been given, He has inherited this name. What is the name? Well, we see back in verse 2, it is the name of the Son. This is something He has inherited. So this is to do with what He is to become in becoming a man, and at this point in eternity, at this point in creation, Jesus in becoming a man will become subordinate to the Father. And this verse is another strong argument against the notion that the second person of the triune God is eternally subordinate to the Father. Because it is saying here that this is a name He has inherited, and what we understand of the one true living God is that He is one God with one will, co-equal and co-eternal: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; and what we're about to draw out in verse 5 is the very nature of Jesus, the second person of the triune God, coming to this earth as a man, begotten of the Father, that that is important to draw out. Every little detail is yet another bit of treasure of the doctrine of who the Son is. This is going deep into the Word of God, into our understanding of the Lord and Saviour that we worship, and may it be, brothers and sisters, that we are soaking this up because His name is the greatest name.
There is no other name like the name of the Son. This is why it will be at His name that every knee will bow. It will be His name that every tongue will confess, and this shouldn't be a surprise having already dealt with the subject of the name of God in the book of Exodus. Think of Moses in the burning bush, and how he was to understand who this God is. Well, God revealed who He is with His name which is Yahweh. I am who I am, the One who has no beginning and no end, and this is why the significance of the name of the Son of God is so striking and superior, and it is why only His name is the name that saves. Acts 4:12, what does it say? What do the apostles proclaim? And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. As important, as significant, as striking, as glorious as the angels are, they will not save, but there is one name which will save, and that is the name Jesus Christ, and that is what is being proclaimed in this opening argument in the first four verses, and it is why His name is being elevated here in verse four. His name is superior. His name is Jesus Christ. This is the introduction to the contrast between Jesus and the angels, and we come to verse five, which is what we're going to spend the remainder of our time, to see a significant component of Jesus Christ: His name, and the work that He does, and this mainly takes us to the subject of the incarnation.
Verse five, for to which of the angels did God ever say, you are my son, today I have begotten you, or again, I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. Now one thing that we're going to find in what is the first two of seven Old Testament references in the remaining part of Hebrews 1. So here in verse five, we've got the first and the second of seven Old Testament references that we'll work our way through in the remainder of Hebrews. Each of these times we're going to see this rhetorical type question being given. Notice how it starts, for to which of the angels did God ever say? Well the answer is obvious, He didn't say it to any of the angels, that is the point. We do see instances where angels are called sons of God, for example in Job 38:7. We also see an example where Abraham is called a son of God, or where believers are called sons of God, but there is only one for which such language like verse five can be attributed, and that is Jesus Christ.
So this first Old Testament quote is taken from one of the Messianic Psalms: Psalm chapter two and verse seven, which says, I will tell of the decree the Lord said to me, you are my son, today I have begotten you. This is the decree, the decree from before the foundations of the earth. This is now a glimpse into the eternal counsel of the Godhead, of the triune living God, that the Son would be begotten of the Father. Now let's be crystal clear here, even with this contrast between created beings and the Creator, who is the Son, that contrast is very clearly in view here in Hebrews 1:5. We have angels who are created, and we have the Creator. The One we see at the end of verse two created the world. In plain explicit language, He is begotten. That is what is being taught here.
He is begotten of the Father. Now brothers and sisters, when we begin to understand the magnitude of such a verse, and what this points forward to, we can already understand just from this alone why when we come to the beginning of the Gospel of Matthew and the beginning of the Gospel of Luke, we have something precious to behold. Because this is the eternal Son clothing Himself in human flesh.
But it doesn't stop there, Hebrews 1:5 gives another quote, and another crucial passage in the Old Testament points forward to the coming of the Messiah. The first one is a messianic psalm, the second one is the Davidic covenant. So this second one is taken from 2 Samuel 13 and the beginning of 14, which says, He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a son. Now in the immediate context, this is a prophecy which is spoken to David and there is an application directly to David's own son. Because Solomon, David's son, is the one who will build a kingdom; namely he will build the temple of the Lord, earthly speaking. But notice the language of what is being said in 2 Samuel 7 quoted here. It says, I will be to him a father and he shall be to me a son, but before that we have the promise of a throne of his kingdom being forever. Is the throne of Solomon one that lasts forever, even for his earthly descendants? No it is not. So what we have is a promise which points forward to an eternal everlasting kingdom which will be fulfilled only by the eternally begotten Son, Jesus Christ. This is why Isaiah 9:6-7 says, For to us a Child is born, to us a Son is given, and the government shall be upon His shoulder. And His name shall be Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and of peace there will be no end. On the throne of David and over His kingdom to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness. From this time forth and forevermore the zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
And who comes bearing this message to a young virgin called Mary in the Gospel of Luke? It is an angel of the Lord and in Luke 1:31 we read, And behold you will conceive in your womb and bear a son and you shall call His name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give to Him the throne of his father David and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever and of His kingdom, there will be no end. When we get to the beginning of the Gospel there can be no mistake that this psalm is about Jesus Christ. That this prophecy, this covenant is fulfilled in Jesus Christ. This is the message that the angel had for Mary and this is what would be fulfilled by the birth of God incarnate, Jesus Christ.
And it is why the Father says of the Son in Luke 3:22, And the Holy Spirit descended on Him in bodily form like a dove and a voice came from heaven, You are My beloved Son, with You I am well pleased. And in Luke 9-35, And a voice came out of the clouds saying, This is my Son, my chosen one. We go from hundreds of years before, these prophecies, these predictions, these declarations in the Psalms, in the time of David and they are pointing forward to this one man at this one appointed time and it is the one name: Jesus Christ which is above every other name. And even as maybe this week you study the Gospels and see the appearances of the angels, at no point are they the central focal point, Christ is. They come with messages, they come to minister, they come to guard and protect and uphold the truth and the glory of our God. And the truth and glory of our God which we see so richly and so wondrously in its fullness, in its glory, in the radiance of the glory of God, the exact imprint of His nature. This is the Son, the risen and exalted Son that we worship today and it's in His name and His name alone that we worship, we praise and we exalt because it is by His name that our sins have been purged, it is by His name that our souls can be saved.
This is the glory of the Gospel, this is the glorious hope by which we come to a passage, to a chapter like this and though the subject of angels is going to be a fascinating one to unpack in greater detail, this will be all the more the springboard and foundation to understanding more the depth, the richness, the wonder, the beauty, the Majesty of the name of the Son, Jesus Christ.