Christ is Superior to the Angels - Part 2

If you would take your Bible and turn back to Hebrews, Hebrews chapter 1. You should know where we are by now. Usually when I get started in our studies like this, I start to notice a pattern in my Bible. It'll be a little worn there in some pages. I trust that yours is worn from our study together in your study on your own. But Hebrews chapter 1 will be back in these verses, verses 5 to 14, but we'll cover verses 7 to 14. Now last week we got started in this section of Scripture.

And here we are seeing that from the Old Testament the writer of Hebrews is forming a step-by-step argument and his purpose is to prove that Jesus the Son of God was and is superior to the angels. Now we saw that in verse 4 the author stated the fact that Jesus was superior to the angels, which was the climax of those first four verses. And then here in verses 5 to 14 he goes on to prove this fact and he uses the Old Testament Scriptures to do so. And in last week's message we saw why the writer was taking so much time to prove to this Jewish congregation that Jesus was and is superior to the angels.

Simply for generations the Jews had these exaggerated and erroneous beliefs about angels. They saw angels as the highest of beings right next to God in a very unhealthy and unbiblical way. And they saw the angels much more than man in a very unhealthy way. And we saw that they came to these faulty conclusions by adding to and distorting what the Old Testament Scriptures said about angels. And the disastrous results of these erroneous beliefs about angels is this. When they heard that the promised Messiah of God was God the Son who became a man, they automatically saw the promised Messiah of God as inferior to the angels.

Now what was the result of coming to those conclusions? A faulty view of God the Son. A faulty view and understanding of the Godhead. That gets into heresy folks. That gets into heresy and they're folks existing today that are into these kinds of heresies. Now last week I spent quite a lot of time explaining some of what these Jews believed about angels. And that helped us understand the context. Of course there was a lot more that I could say. And some of you who do some study on your own you probably have gotten a little deeper there.

But this helps us understand why the writer was writing what he wrote and why he was spending so much time and giving so much effort here. But in doing this I have kind of opened up a can of worms. I don't know about for you, it did for me. I may have opened up your curiosities about angels. I know this made me very curious. So I spent some time this week studying what the Scriptures say about angels. So I thought it would be good to quickly give us a healthy and a biblical understanding of angels. Now I'm not going to be exhaustive here. If you want to be exhaustive I'll give you a tip. You can buy John MacArthur's systematic theology.

Any good systematic theology will help you understand what the Scriptures say about angels. I got into some material like that and some other material and just pulled some stuff together. Now I might have made a mistake here. One time I had one of the men of our church say, "Would you quit mentioning books?" Every time you mention a book my wife buys that book. Well having good books and a good library is good. But first we need to understand that angels are spirit beings. They do not have flesh and bone but they do have bodies. And whatever their bodies are they do have the ability to appear in human form.

We saw this in our small group study as we're studying through Genesis. Angels appeared to Abraham to reveal God's plan to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. And they appeared in human form to Abraham and they even talked and ate with Abraham. One interesting passage that we will get to is later on in Hebrews. That's chapter 13 verse 2 and there in verse 2 the writer warns us to be careful how we interact with strangers since we may be entertaining angels without knowing it. But angels also appear in other forms. In Matthew 28 we see that an angel appeared at the resurrection of Jesus.

And Matthew tells us that the angels appearance was like lightning and his clothes were as white as snow. The guards of the tomb were so frightened that they shook for fear and they became like dead men. Also angels are intelligent beings and they do have emotions and that might surprise some of you. Luke 15 10 tells us that they rejoice when a sinner is converted to Christ. Angels can speak and we have seen this in many places in the scriptures.

In Galatians 1 verse 8 the Apostle Paul says, "But even if we are an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preach to you, let him be accursed." So Paul clearly believed that angels can speak. I think again of the angels who appeared to Abraham. They clearly spoke to Abraham and Abraham clearly spoke back to them. But a question, if the angels are created beings and they are, when were they created? When were they created? Think about it. We do not have a record of God creating the angels in Genesis in the creation account. Although we do not know much about when the angels were created, we know that they were.

Colossians 1 16 says, "For by him all things were created." Who is the him? That's Jesus. "For by him all things were created in heaven and on earth visible and invisible whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. All things were created through him and for him." And here we see that by Christ all things were created. And all things simply means all things. That would include angels. And notice that Paul leaves no room for doubt. He says that Christ created all things, things in heaven and on earth things visible and invisible so the angels were created by God through Christ.

Another interesting thing about angels, it does not appear that they die. Nowhere do we see in the scripture that they die. In fact in Revelation 12 4 that verse tells us that a third of the angels fell from heaven but they exist today. Those angels are demons. So God did not destroy those angels who rebelled against him. MacArthur says each is a direct permanent creation of God and stands in personal relationship to his Creator. That's important. Angels are responsible to God. They are responsible in a personal relationship to their Creator.

Also it appears that the angels are divided into ranks and have organized responsibilities overthrowns, dominions, principalities, powers, authorities and so on. And we see in the scriptures that there are special classes of angels that are mentioned. We see cherubim, seraphim and others who were simply angels. One thing we learn in Ephesians is that angels are more powerful than men and believers must call on God's help to deal properly with the fallen angels and those are the demons. We see this in Ephesians 6 verses 10 to 12.

These verses also speak of the different ranks and the organized responsibilities of the angels that I mentioned earlier. But listen to what Paul says here in verses 11 and 12. Finally, "Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might put on the full armor of God that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil." Well the devil is nothing more than an angel.

"For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places." Those are the demonic angels, those who fell from heaven. Angels are sometimes seen with wings in the scriptures. That seems to suggest that they can travel very fast. Some angels have names. There's the angel Michael and Gabriel and then there's Lucifer. Lucifer is the name of Satan before he fell when he rebelled in heaven against God.

The scriptures tell us that Michael is the head of the armies of heaven and that Gabriel is called the mighty one. Now there's so much more that we could get into. We could get into a lot of specific scriptures here but we really don't have a lot of time. But as I wrap up this we simply need to see that angels were created by God to serve God and to carry out God's purposes. They truly are participants in God's mighty works. They participate in redemption and in the judgments of God. We clearly see that they ministered to Jesus during his temptation in the wilderness. Also they minister to God's people and they watch over Christ's church.

We will see that this morning. They serve God in answering God's prayers, the saints of God's people, keeping believers in the church from dangers as well as providing encouragement. They also have a ministry to the lost that might surprise some of you and they also announce and carry out God's judgment. So now that we have a very basic but a healthy understanding of angels, let's pick up in our verses. As we have seen here the author gives seven specific Old Testament scriptures for the purpose of proving that Jesus was and is the superior in the preeminent one and that he was and is superior to the angels.

So that leads me to the title of the message. It's rather simple. Christ is superior to the angels. This is a part two. Christ is superior to the angels. Now last week we saw that Christ was superior because he has a greater nature than the angels. That's in verse 4. He is the son, the son of God and God never called any of the angels his son. We see that in verse 5. And he was and is worshiped in the angels worship him. But Christ is superior to the angels number 4 because of his nature. We see this in verses 7 to 9. Christ is superior to the angels because of his nature. Now at first glance we see two things in these verses.

First we see two different Old Testament passages. Verse 7 is a quotation from Psalm 104 verse 5 and verses 8 to 9 are a quotation from Psalm 45 verses 6 to 7. But the second thing we see is this. We see a comparison. At the beginning of verse 7 the author says, "Of the angels he says, but at the beginning of verse 8 he says, but of the son he says." And just like when we covered verses 5 and 6, I want us to see three things from these verses. First the immediate meaning of these Old Testament verses. Second their ultimate meaning in Jesus. And then third how these Old Testament verses apply to the angels.

But let's look at verses 7 and 9 again. "Of the angels he says, he makes his angels winds and his ministers a flame of fire. But of the son he says, 'Your throne O God is forever and ever. The scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness. Therefore God, your God has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.'" Now our first Old Testament quotation is Psalm 104 verse 4. And we will see that this verse has a clear immediate meaning, but it can be difficult to see the ultimate meaning. So first the immediate meaning.

The immediate meaning of this verse as seen in the Hebrew speaks to the natural elements which are a part of God's creation and purpose. Wind and fire are a part of the creation. Therefore they are a part of God's will. They are a part of God's purpose and purposes in the world. We already learned in verse 3 that Christ upholds the universe by the word of his power. That means that Christ is maintaining and propelling all things, the entire physical and spiritual universe. How? By the word of his power. Carrying the universe along to its predetermined goal. And of course the wind and fire are a part of these things.

So wind and fire are a part of God's creation and they fulfill God's will and God's purposes. Then second the ultimate meaning of this verse. The ultimate meaning of these verses is much different for the writer of Hebrews. The author clearly says that God makes his angel winds and his ministers a flame of fire. But what in the world does this mean? Does this mean that angels literally are wind and fire? If that were the case then the next time we had a storm or a tornado or a hurricane we would see those things as angels. But that's not the case here. But some scholars do believe this refers to the creation.

They see the angels as God's agents who serve God in the creation and it is the angels that send the wind and send the fire. But other scholars believe that this does not refer to the creation of at all. They suggest that the angels are presented as God's messengers and agents and that they fulfill God's will. They fulfill God's purposes and commands with the speed of the wind and the strength of fire. But that leads me to a question. What is the writer saying here? This leads us to third. How this applies to the angels. How this applies to the angels should be understood in a very simple way. The main message of these verses is this.

Angels are God's servants. As we saw last week, they are not worship. Angels were never called God's sons and their names are inferior to the name of God the Son. Simply the angels are servants. If they are in the wind and fire, they are doing so as God's servants. Or if they simply serve God with the speed and the effectiveness of wind and fire, they are doing so as God's servants. But this shows us that angels are certainly in a special place with special purpose. They are definitely above the place of men, but they are certainly far below the Son.

Now we have already seen this, but we need to see this again that the angels are created beings. The Son was not. All things were created through the Son, so that means that the angels were created through the Son. So this quotation here in verse 7 is all about the fact that the angels are God's servants. Let's look back now at verses 7 to 9 for our next Old Testament verse. "Of the angels," he says, "he makes his angels winds and his ministers aflame of fire, but of the Son," he says, "your throne, O God, is for forever and ever. The scepter of un-u-rightness is the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness.

Therefore, God, your God has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions." Here the author quotes Psalm 45 verses 6 to 7, and this is part of what is commonly called a royal psalm, and that is because it was written in honor of the King of Israel. And that leads us to the immediate meaning. First, the immediate meaning and application of these verses pertains to King David. Within the Old Testament, Psalm 45 is about King David and his throne, and King David came the closest to living out the high ideals that are found in the psalm. Of course, he did not live out these ideals perfectly. He was flawed. He was a man.

But in saying that David is the king here in the psalms, the psalmist is not saying that David was somehow deity. No, simply these things are messianic. The psalmist was speaking to a royal throne which could only make sense if the king was God. But in its immediate meaning and application, this psalm in verses 6 to 7 pertain to King David. But then second, the ultimate meaning. The ultimate meaning and application of these verses pertains to Jesus the Son as the writer of Hebrews tells us.

The writer of Hebrews says, "But to the Son," he says, "he goes on to tell us the one on the throne was and is the Son." And out of verses 8 and 9, we see that the writer of Hebrews tells us several things about the Son and he tells us several things about his nature. In fact, here he tells us five facts about the Son and his nature that we need to take note of. This comes right out of the verses. We see the deity of the Son. He has seen his God, the one on the throne of God. We see the eternality of the Son. His throne is for forever and forever. We see the righteousness of his rule.

His scepter is the king scepter of uprightness and his kingdom is a kingdom of uprightness. We see the righteousness of his person. He loves righteousness and hates wickedness. We see the anointment of the Son by the Father. He is seen and presented as the anointed king, anointed by God. But this stirs up a question. If Jesus is deity, the eternal Son, then how can he be anointed by God? What does it mean that God the Father anointed God the Son? Well, in the Old Testament when a king or a priest was anointed, their anointing was for the purpose of setting them apart and for the purpose of a specific and sacred purpose.

They were actually set apart from others. They were actually set above others for that sacred purpose or purposes. And here this is a reference to the incarnation of Christ and more specifically what happened after the resurrection and the ascension. We saw this very same thing said in other language in verse 3. In verse 3 it says, "After making purification for sins, he that's Christ, sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high." So this anointing here speaks of God the Father anointing God the Son because after making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high.

And we see that the Son was anointed as the majesty on high. The majesty on high, he was anointed and his throne is for forever and forever and forever. But one more question we need to ask here. Who are these companions? At the end of verse 9 it talks about companions. Who are these companions? Look back at verse 9. "You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness. Therefore God, your God has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions." Now there is some debate as to who these companions were and are.

Some believe this refers to men but I don't think so because at the center of the argument set forth by the author it's not men. Angels are at the center here. So the point that the writer is making here is this. Jesus the Son is the anointed one. God who sits on his eternal righteous throne and he is beyond and above the angels. So what we see here is this. By their very nature angels were and are servants created by God to serve God and serve God's purposes but not the Son. He was and is the anointed one. The majesty on high. He was and is the anointed one. The eternal God who is seated on the eternal righteous throne of God.

And for us I think we need to make sure that we see Jesus as the anointed King of all. We need to remember his deity. He is on the throne of God. We need to remember his eternality. His throne is for forever and forever. We need to remember the righteousness of his rule. His kingdom is a kingdom and a rule of righteousness. We need to remember the righteousness of his person. He loves righteousness and he hates wickedness and he was anointed by his father and he is at the right hand of the majesty on high right now. Right now. And I say this often folks look. We look around. We watch the news. We see what's happening in the world.

It seems like everything is falling apart. No it's not. He is on the throne. If it's falling apart no it's falling into place. So Christ is superior to the angels because of his nature. And then number five because of his eternal existence. Christ is superior to the angels because of his eternal existence. Here we have a quotation from Psalm 102 verses 25 to 27 which is the sixth quotation from the Old Testament that we've seen in these verses. So let's read our verses verses 10 and 12. Verses 10 and 12. He says, "And you Lord lay the foundation of the earth in the beginning and the heavens are the work of your hands.

They will perish but you remain. They will wear out like a garment like a robe you will roll them up. Like a garment they will be changed but you are the same and your years have no end." As we've done all along let's look at the immediate meaning of these verses and then the ultimate meaning and then how this applies to the angels. So first the immediate meaning. The immediate meaning of these verses is simple. This applies to God. As seen in the Old Testament these verses apply to God as the Creator. And the Jews who read and heard this letter most certainly would have seen God as the Creator here in Psalm 102.

This was all about God but not the writer of the letter. Second the ultimate meaning of these verses is found in the Son. The author obviously applies Psalm 102 verses 25 to 27 to the Son just like he applied Psalm 45 in verses 6 and 7 to the Son. Leon Morris really helps us to see how the writer saw both the Father as the Creator and the Son as the Creator. He said the writer believes and I'm quoting, "What is true of the one is true of the other." I will add to that by saying what is true of the one, God the Father, is true of the other, God the Son. And think about it.

We have already seen the author of the book here present the Son as the Creator. In verse 2 he says, "But in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son whom he appointed the heir of all things through whom also he created the world." And here in verses 10 to 12 he tells us that the Son laid the foundation to the earth and he made the heavens. But we need to see the author's point here. His point is not in presenting the Son as the Creator and he had the power to create. He has done that before and he'll do that again. But his point is this, he was declaring the creation will pass away. But the Creator will never pass away.

He says in verse 12 that the creation will be rolled up like a robe. The creation will be changed but the Son will be the same and his life will never ever end. Look back at verse 10, 11 and 12. "And you Lord laid the foundation of the earth at the beginning and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish but you remain. They will wear out like a garment, like a robe you will roll them up, like a garment they will be changed but you are the same and your years will never end." And that leads us to third how this applies to the angels.

Although the writer does not refer to the angels in these verses, all that he is declaring is meant for the comparison he's been making all along. He has already stated that the angels were servants created by God to serve God and serve his purposes and here he presents the Son as the Creator, the one who will never end. All of the creation will be destroyed and recreated but the Creator will never end. And the comparison to the angels is this, they are mere creations of the Creator and they were created to serve the Creator and to serve his purposes in the world and they do. So here the writer is presenting the Son and his eternal existence.

In verse 10 the writer is showing us that it is God the Father who is calling God the Son Lord. He is simply ascribing deity to God the Son and he did the same thing back in verse 8. In verse 8 he says, "But of the Son he says, 'Your throne, O God, is forever.'" Well who is saying this to the Son? It is God. God the Father is calling God the Son, God the Eternal One. I'm applying what we see here this morning. I want to do two things. First I want to go back to the creation in the language of clothing that is used here by the author. Notice there are two things we see here in the metaphor that the author uses.

First that the creation will wear out like clothing. Second the Son will deal with the creation just like one would roll up clothes and change those clothes. You see? One commentator said and I'm quoting, "The universe that seems so solid and permanent will be rolled up, changed, and replaced by a totally new heaven and earth." Some of you need to hear that again. "The universe that seems so solid and permanent will be rolled up, changed, and replaced by a totally new heaven and earth." And look we need this more than we know. See?

The environmentalists keep telling us that the earth is warming, that the ice caps are melting, that the oceans will swell, and there will be massive flooding and disaster. They keep telling us that the looming disaster from global warming will wipe out certain species and make the earth uninhabitable. Look I don't know if the ice caps are gonna melt. I don't know if there will be massive changes in earth's atmosphere. I don't know what is on the horizon environmentally, but I do know this. God created this world and Christ certainly upholds the universe by the word of his power and the polar ice caps will not melt unless he said so.

I was watching this week a series on public television, one of those Nova series. They were doing a study on the polar ice caps and they were talking about these giant sinkholes. They were talking about how they had thawed and all this methane gas was coming out and they were talking about how that's contributing to global warming. And as I looked at that and as I listened to all of their opinions and and all of their gloom and doom I thought I'm not worried one bit because I've been studying what Hebrews says. And look church we must accept these facts and rest, rest our hearts and our minds and our souls on these things.

We have no need to worry. He upholds the universe by the word of his power and when God determines Jesus will roll up the creation both heaven and earth just like we would roll up a bathtub and he will make everything new. And then second, these truths bring into our heart the peace of God that stands guard over our mind and our heart and our thinking. You hear that? We studied this last Wednesday night. These truths here bring into our hearts the peace of God that stands guard over our hearts and our mind and our thinking.

And this keeps us from worry and anxiety about these things or we are scared to death because we see the world and the creation falling apart. And look if you cannot take comfort in the fact that God has all the creation in the palm of his hand either you are a Christian who is seized by and controlled by the sin of worry or you're not a Christian at all. So look church he created it he sustains it and he'll change this old worn out world which is wearing out because of sin he will change this world for a new one that will be free from sin. So Christ has superior to the angels because of his eternal existence.

And then number six because of his eternal destiny. Christ is superior to the angels because of his eternal destiny. This is our last two verses verse 13 and 14. Now right away we can see that the author is applying this to the angels and we will see that he is quoting Psalm 110 verse 1 but let's read our verses. "And to which of the angels has he ever said, 'Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool at your feet.' Or are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?" Here we see that the author is applying these verses to the angels.

Obviously he is making a comparison. He is quoting another one of the Messianic Psalms in doing so. So let's look at the immediate meaning of these verses and then we'll look at the ultimate meaning and how it applies to the angels. First the immediate meaning. The immediate meaning of this Old Testament verse is simple. Psalm 110 was always accepted as being Messianic. But even though the Jews in Jesus' day did not see Psalm 10 as applying to Jesus, they did understand that it was Messianic. Second, the ultimate meaning of the verse is this. Obviously the ultimate meaning is seen in Jesus. And here we see Jesus seated at God's right hand.

And no doubt this is connected to and really a repeat of verse 3. After making purification for sins, that would mean that after the work of redemption was complete, He, that's Jesus, ascended back to heaven and He sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. But notice two details here. The Son is seated. The Son is seated. This speaks to the fact that Jesus' high priestly work is complete. The work of redemption is finished. So He is seated at the right hand of the Father and being seated, He reigns as King at the right hand of God. And then also His enemies will be a footstool for the Son's feet.

Here we see that God will defeat all the enemies that He has, all the enemies of God, and He will make them a footstool for His Son. This is a picture of total victory for the Messiah. Simply, after making purification for sins or after the work of redemption was complete, He ascended back to heaven and He sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. And because He completed the Father's work of redemption for man, the Father will defeat all the enemies of God and He will make them a footstool for His Son. And then third, how this applies to the angels. This is simple.

Of the angels, God never said, "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool." God never said that of the angels. But notice what the writer of Hebrews does say about angels. He says they are ministering spirits to serve the sake of the saved. That's in verse 14. And notice an important contrast between the Son and angels. The Son is seated and reigning, but the angels are standing and serving. Luke 1.19 tells us that the angel Gabriel stands in the presence of God. Revelation 8.2 says that John saw seven angels that stand before God. Daniel 7.10 says that thousands of angels stand before God and serve God, but not the Son.

He is seated and reigning while the angels are standing before Him and serving and worshiping Him. And also we see that they are serving, but who they are serving. Notice it says those who will inherit salvation. Now who is this? William McDonald says this may be understood in two ways. First, angels minister to those who are not yet converted. And then second, they serve those who are saved from the penalty and the power of sin, but not yet saved from the presence of sin. That is those believers who are still on earth. And I believe McDonald is right.

Here we see the angels are ministering spirits and one of their purposes is to serve, to minister to, to attend those who will be saved and those who are saved. They simply serve God in serving God's people. Now there is a lesson here I want us to see and I don't want to get too mystical here, but do we not see that the angels are ministering spirits who are sent by God to serve and to attend us? Us? Again, this is comforting for me. So here the writer is presenting the Son and His eternal destiny. The Son is seated at the right hand of the majesty on high and in God's good time he will make his enemies the Son's footstool.

But the angels, they are servants. They serve God. They serve the Son. They are not superior to the Son. They serve God the Son by serving God the Son's people. And for me I have one word here, the word comfort and the word peace. Well I can't count because that's two words, comfort and peace. Now as we finish up the first chapter of Hebrews, notice that the author was and is declaring the very deity of Jesus, the Son of God. He is presented as God's Son, Lord and God. He creates the entire universe, sustains the entire universe and he governs the entire universe. He purges or cleanses the sin of God's people.

He is worshipped by the angels that he created. The author declares that the Son has the very attributes of God. He's omniscient, he's omnipotent, unchanging and eternal. Simply Jesus is God. So he is certainly superior to that of the angels. And I imagine that this was a big, big correction for those Jewish believers who received and heard this letter. Now a question and then we're gonna wrap up. Why are all of these things so important? For many reasons, but one is this.

We will see why these things are important when we get into the next verse because the author of the book here gets into the first warning of the many warnings that he gives. So let's pray. As always, let's commit these things to the Lord and let's look for the Lord to take the truth of His Word and not just plan it down deep in our hearts, but let's look for Him to form us and mold us into the people that He wants us to be. Let's pray.