Strathalbyn Church of Christ

Hebrews 1:5-14. Theme: God Rules through his Son. Sermon by Pastor David Williams. Strathalbyn Church of Christ. 11 July 2021.

Sometimes we need to work a little harder to get the right result (look at Ash Barty!). The book of Hebrews is like that. Of all the NT books, it majors on the OT traditions, traditions that are a bit obscure to most of us. It majors on those OT traditions because it was written for the Jews – Jews who had come to accept that Jesus was their Messiah, the one they had been expecting for centuries. But they still had loads of questions – where does Jesus fit into their traditions? Are those traditions now out of date? In answering these questions, the writer helps the Jewish readers, and us, get a fuller and richer understanding of Jesus. In Hebrews, we need to work a little harder to find the meaning. But it is worth the effort.

For much of the book, the writer compares Jesus to those traditions, in each case showing how Jesus is greater than the tradition. The OT traditions were a shadow, a promise, of what was to be fulfilled in Jesus himself (Heb 8:5; 10:1). Here is a clue that may help you read the book. There are four main comparisons:

· Jesus is greater than the angels and the law (Hebrews 1&2)

· Jesus is greater than Moses and the Promised Land (Hebrews 3&4)

· Jesus is greater than the priesthood (Hebrews 5 to 7); and

· Jesus is greater than the sacrifices and old covenant (Hebrews 8 to 10).

Prayer: Father, open our eyes and ears to see your Son, to see him in his majesty as he reigns in heaven now. In Jesus name, Amen.

In Hebrews 1, we see that Jesus is greater than the angels. The writer uses seven OT quotes to show that Jesus is greater than angels. I’m guessing this is not the first thing you would have thought of to tell a new Christian! What is all this fuss about angels? It may surprise you, but angels are mentioned over 270 times in the Bible. They were God’s representatives. Their sacred Law was delivered by angels (Dt 33:2, Acts 7:38, 53). It was natural for the Jewish Christians to ask, who could possibly be greater than angels but God himself? Where does Jesus fit in the heavenly hierarchy?

There are some rich treasures here if you’ll dig down with me. Let’s see what these OT traditions have to say about Jesus.

We will do this in four parts:

1. Created by Love

2. Worship the one who is worth it!

3. Our ruler is no tyrant!

4. The conquered conquers!

1. Created by Love, verse 5.

For God never said to any angel what he said to Jesus:

“You are my Son. Today I have become your Father.”

God also said, “I will be his Father, and he will be my Son.”

Jesus is God’s Son. Let’s take a minute to think what it means that Jesus is a son. At the heart of the Trinity – Father, Son and Spirit - is love. Many have never known a father’s love, but at its best, there is nothing more precious, more profound than the love between a parent and a child. This love, in its most perfect form, is at the heart of the Trinity. Unlike human love, this is a love with no regrets, no baggage, no sense of failure or conflict.

Now the universe was created by this Trinity: by Father, Son and Spirit working together. This has huge implications for how we see the world. The universe is not governed by random chance. The universe is not some mechanism that our cells and chemicals just happened to appear into. No, the universe was created as an act of love. All that the Trinity does is propelled by love.

Let’s bring this down to the personal level. Just as the universe was created by love, not by chance, that means you too. Yes, you were created by love, not by chance – you are not a mistake! Even if your parents thought you were a mistake – God planned your creation, in love, before time began. And God doesn’t make junk! Even if your parents never wanted you, the Father, Son and Spirit in love, created you. They wanted you, and Jesus has a place for you in his Father’s house.

2. Worship the one who is worth it! Verses 6-7 & 14.

Let’s look at angels briefly. Some Jewish Christians were putting angels above Jesus. This might surprise you, depending on what images of angels come to mind. Angels have not had good PR, have they? They turn up as effeminate whimps in Christian art or as kitschy plaster cherubs. However, every encounter with an angel in the bible was a terrifying experience. Their main role is as a messenger. The Hebrew and Greek words for angels can also mean “messenger” (malak, angelos). But don’t get the idea that they are just oversized carrier pigeons. They wield great power, defeating armies, delivering captives and carrying out God’s judgements (2 Kings 19:35, Acts 5:19; 12:6-11, Mat 13:39-42, Rev 19:17 - 20:3, 10). Angels were so impressive, so awesome, that humans were tempted to worship them. Even Jesus’ friend and disciple John was tempted. He was twice rebuked for this in Revelation (Rev 19:10, 22:8, 9).

Worship of anything in creation is forbidden in the Bible. Worship God alone. The first two commandments are clear on that – as Jesus himself declared, “Worship the Lord your God and serve him only”, Luke 4:8. Yet the angels worshipped Jesus. Hebrews quotes “Let all of God’s angels worship him”, Dt 32:43 (from LXX, the Greek version). So, Jesus was worshipped at his birth: “Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest’" (Luke 2:13, 14a). And in heaven the angels also worship him: “Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels … ten thousand times ten thousand … In a loud voice they sang: “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!" (Rev 5:11-12). The acceptance of worship by Jesus is yet another proof he is God.

What does Hebrews say about angels? Regarding the angels, he says, “He sends his angels like the winds, his servants like flames of fire”, v7. They become and do the work of wind and fire. Sometimes this is amazing as when the angel shot up through the flame of Manoah’s sacrifice in Judges (Judges 13:20). Yet despite their awesome power and their dazzling appearance, they are but servants. They are sent to serve God’s people on earth. Therefore, angels are only servants—spirits sent to care for people who will inherit salvation, v14.

In scripture and in missionary history, there are many accounts of angels serving and guarding God’s people. Remember Elisha’s servant whose eyes were opened to see that he was protected by chariots of fire (2 Kings 6:17).

A few years ago, a farmer and his wife some of you will know went as missionaries to work at a Christian school. It was attacked by Jihadists. The Jihadists killed the security guards and made their way through the school with guns drawn. Some gardeners saw them coming towards them and jumped over the back fence, but one, a small man, could not climb it. Suddenly, a man appeared and gave him a lift up. When he turned to thank the man, there was no one there. Again and again, the staff and students found strangers protecting them. Apart from the security guards, no staff or students were harmed. Angels had protected them.

Pat’s husband, Hugo, was part of the Rhodesian army tracking down the Mau Mau terrorists. The Mau Mau were greatly feared. I don’t know if Hugo knows this story, but in 1956, the Mau Mau had just burnt the village of Lauri to the ground, killing all. They moved on to a nearby school where missionary children were taught. The students could hear their curses and yells. They saw their fiery torches and spears. They were surrounded. At any moment the Mau Mau would burst in, with rape, murder and burning. Yet strangely, the Mau Mau retreated. They ran into the jungle. Not a shot was fired. The army rounded them up and questioned them. Why didn’t you attack the school? The reply: “There were many huge men, dressed in white with flaming swords and we became afraid and ran to hide!"

Angels are magnificent. Yet they are but servants of Jesus. Jesus can protect his people wherever and whenever he pleases. He will provide in our time of need. So don’t look to guardian angels for help, don’t pray to them. Rather, look to the one who commands them. He alone is worthy of worship.

3. Our ruler is no tyrant!

Verses 8 to 12 reveal Christ as our righteous ruler.

- He is just

o Unlike Allah, unlike our politicians who are fickle and arbitrary, he is utterly consistent and dependable. He does not change “you remain… you are always the same”.

o His abiding concern is for justice. “You rule with a scepter of justice. You love justice and hate evil.”

o He does not take what is not his. It is his right to rule all creation for he made it – You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands.

- His rule is without limit

o There is no limit to what he can do, for he rules as God, “Your throne, O God …”.

o There is no limit in time. No revolving door for divine politics. “Your throne … is forever and ever … your years will have no end.”

o There is no limit in space. He rules over all, the earth and the heavens.

- His rule ushers in an age of eternal peace, of Shalom, where all things are put right. The old world “will perish … Like a robe you will roll them up, like a garment they will be changed”. His reign will bring a new heaven and a new earth (Rev 21:1).

- He did not seize his kingdom, but the Father gave it as a gift, as a reward. “Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.” The Father did not anoint the Son with the oil of victory or the oil of majesty but with the oil of gladness, of joy. Jesus “endured the cross for the joy set before him”, Heb 12:2. The joy of sin conquered, of souls saved, of an eternal kingdom where peace reigns. Heaven will be a joyful place ruled by a joyful ruler.

- But we don’t have to wait for heaven for this ruler. Jesus, the wise, almighty, just ruler is ruling now. Praise God for him!

4. The conquered conquers! Verse 13

And God never said to any of the angels, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”?

This is a quote from Psalm 110. Psalm 110 predicts the Messiah, a king even greater than King David – one who will rule in an age of eternal peace. Jesus’ followers were confused when Jesus seemed to be the long-awaited Messiah but he did not behave as a Messiah ought to. He did not raise an army like Joshua. He did not slaughter his enemies like David. He did not erect palaces and temples like Solomon. Instead, his enemies slaughtered him, “Like a lamb led to slaughter”, Isa 53:7. He died for his enemies. Yet in doing so, he conquered his ultimate enemies: Satan, sin and death. The one who was conquered became the conqueror!

Verse 13 mentions feet. Even today, in the Middle East, feet are unmentionable parts of the body. One of the worst insults is to throw a shoe at someone – as when a shoe was thrown at President Bush in Iraq. A shoe represents all the filth that is picked up from the ground.

The enemies of Joshua were completely humiliated when Joshua called his captains, “Come near, put your feet on the necks of these kings”, Joshua 10:24-25. In the same way, the Messiah will show his total victory in Psalm 110 when he makes his enemies his footstool. And it will be total, for Philippians tells us, “At the name of Jesus every knee shall bow”, Phil 2:9-11. But this is not a gloating victory. This is the victory of the one who “made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant … humbling himself by becoming obedient to the point of death”, Phil 2:7-8. And remember that as the servant, the one “who came not to be served, but to serve”, he washed his disciples’ feet (Mark 10:45; Jn 13:1-17).

What of your enemies? Your guilt and shame that keeps reminding you that you are nothing; your habits that you struggle against and keep failing? Jesus is our conqueror. Look to him for victory.

Let’s remind ourselves of what Hebrews 1 tells us. It tells us of God’s Son,

1. Who created us out of the love between Father, Son and Spirit.

2. Who alone is worthy of our worship

3. Our wise, almighty and just ruler, and

4. Who has conquered his enemies and ours.

Pray: Lord Jesus, you alone are God’s majestic son. Help us today and every day to worship, trust and follow you. Amen.

Source:

Hughes, R. K. (1993). Hebrews: An anchor for the soul. Wheaton, Ill: Crossway Books.