Above the Angels

​Above the Angels
 
Hebrews 1:4-5 So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs. 5 For to which of the angels did God ever say, “You are my Son; today I have become your Father”? (from Psalm 2:7) Or again, “I will be his Father, and he will be my Son”? (from 2 Samuel 7:14)
 
JESUS is the Son of God. This is the name the Father has given him. His name is superior to the angels. Why is this important to prove Jesus’ supremacy?
   Again, what we may consider obvious was not evident to the Jews, nor to anyone else in the beginning church. Jesus’ life as a man born in poverty, worked as a carpenter and died a criminal’s death are reasons many rejected him then and now. Hebrews wants all to know Jesus is higher even than the angels.  
   Angels are revealed in the Old Testament as God’s powerful messengers. They were in the Garden to protect the Tree of Life, so that man would not gain eternal life (Genesis 3). They are active in Sodom’s and Gomorrah’s’ destruction. The Angel of the Lord is revealed as a holy, powerful angel, causing great fear to those to whom he appears  (Joshua, Judges). Daniel tells us Michael led the angels in the war against Satan. Angels are God’s agents of judgment and salvation over the earth. And they  are below the Son of God.
   The Hebrews author then used seven Old Testament scriptures to prove his point. It’s good to use God’s Word to prove who God is. We’ll examine those in succession here and the next lesson.
   The first two in verse 5 were fulfilled in Jesus’ baptism and Transfiguration. On both occasions, the Father called Jesus, “My son.” (Mark 1:11, Mark 9:7 and 2 Peter 1:17). Mark’s and Matthew’s gospels witnessed the Old Testament prophecies fulfilled in Jesus. People began to learn what we are now reading in the New Testament. Jesus is God’s Son, named by God and prophesied to come through David’s line.
 
Hebrews 5:6 And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says, “Let all God’s angels worship him.”
 
The is from Deuteronomy 32:43. Jesus is firstborn because he is the first resurrected from the dead. As firstborn of creation, Jesus has the title and the rights of being the Son of God. No other being can be equal to or surpass him. The angels worshiped him at his incarnation (Luke 2). They attended to him after Satan’s temptation (Matthew 4). They worship him in the heavens (Revelation 1).