Welcome to our program. Now,
I'm going to be preaching from the book of Hebrews chapter 1,
if you'd like to turn and follow along in your Bibles, talking
about the greater glory of Christ. And the title of the message
today is Christ Better Than Angels. Now, in the book of Hebrews,
the Apostle Paul has been showing the superiority of the Lord Jesus
Christ over and above all that which the Jews held in high esteem
under the old covenant law. And he's showing in progression
here how Christ is far superior, how that salvation, and all that
salvation is, is wrapped up and totally conditioned upon the
Lord Jesus Christ, who is greater than anyone or anything that
we could imagine. And he uses the various agencies
and people of the Old Testament that the Jews held in high esteem
to show how Christ is better than these. He begins with angels,
and then he goes to Moses. Christ is better than Moses.
Then he goes to Aaron and the earthly tabernacle and priesthood,
the Levitical priesthood. Christ is better than that. And
then he talks about the covenant, the old covenant in general,
how Christ is made the mediator of a better covenant with better
promises. So Christ is better. Now here
he talks about angels. Now angels had a special place
in the Old Covenant, in the ministration or the service, the workings
of the Old Covenant through Moses and the children of Israel. The
Jews held angels in high esteem. In fact, there were so many legends
and myths, there was superstition that rose up around angels. There
is today, people today, when we think about angels, we think
about beings up in heaven sitting on a cloud with wings playing
harps. And that's not scriptural. That's
just storybook legends and myths. A lot of people think that when
you die, that once you become so special or whatever, that
you become an angel, you earn your wings. Well, that's not
what the scripture teaches. Angels are spiritual beings.
They're created beings. Christ created them. And though
they have a power, given them by God, and though they are special
and have a special agency in ministry, even today we have
guardian angels that minister to the saints. The Bible is going
to teach that. And though they had that special place in the
old covenant, in ministering to Moses, in ministering to the
children of Israel, Christ is better than the angels. And he
begins this in verse 4, speaking of the Son of God, whom God has
spoken through in these last days, this one who is the brightness
of God's glory, this one who is the express image of God's
person, he is God, this one Christ who upholds all things by the
word of his power, this one who finished the work of redemption,
in his sovereign, redemptive glory, who sat down on the right
hand of the majesty on high." This one, verse 4, first of all,
he says, "...being made so much better than the angels, as he
hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they."
He's so much better than them. He has been made so much better
than the angels. Now, listen to me very carefully
here. This kind of language is a reference
to the humanity of Christ. Now, there are a lot of things
about the person of Christ that are just totally beyond our understanding,
but these things are true. Christ is God, and yet He is
man. He is 100% man in every attribute
of humanity without sin. Christ had a human nature, a
human body and soul created for him in the womb of the Virgin
Mary. And so he was without sin. But
he is God also. He is God and man in one person. And when it talks about him being
made so much better than the angels, that's not referring
to his deity. As God, he's always been so much
better than the angels. He created the angels. But here,
in his humanity, in his incarnation, Speaking of Him as our Savior,
our Redeemer, our Mediator, He has been made so much better
than the angels, as He hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent
name than they. As God, He already had a more
excellent name. But now, as God-man, as the Savior,
as the Redeemer, He has a more excellent name. He's been given,
the Scripture says, a name that is above every name. that at
the name of Jesus every knee shall bow and every tongue shall
confess. He's always been Lord, but here
we see him as the Lord our righteousness, the Lord our Redeemer. Jehovah
Sid Canoe, as the old writer said. And his name reflects his
character, who he is. You see, he is God, but he's
God in human flesh. He is man, but not just mere
man, he's God. And it took that person, God
and man and one person, to be able to do the work which was
required of the salvation of his people. And in that he finished
the work and earned the inheritance of eternal life and glory, he
has a name of power and authority and glory that the angels could
never imagine. He is so much better than the
angels. Angels cannot save sinners from
their sins, but this person did. Angels are not mediators between
God and men. There's one mediator between
God and men, the man, Christ Jesus. Angels didn't sit down
at the right hand of the majesty on high. They didn't do the work.
They didn't shed blood for the payment of sins. But this person
did, Christ did. He's been given a name which
is above every name. And that's why the Bible says,
Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,
shall be saved." There's salvation in His name, not in the angels,
not in my name, not in your name, not in the Pope, not in Mary. There's salvation in the name
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Savior. He finished
the work. He accomplished redemption for
His people. He brought in everlasting righteousness,
you see. And He's been given that name
above every name. This is so special, and I want
you to get a hold of this. You see, there's none other name
given among men whereby we must be saved. Jesus Christ, the Lord
of Glory. So he's so much better. Now,
he goes back and quotes from the Old Testament to prove what
he's saying, that Christ is so much better than the angels.
And here he quotes from Psalm 2, the second Psalm. And he says
in verse 5 of Hebrews 1, he says, For unto which of the angels
said he at any time, Thou art my son, this day have I begotten
thee, and again I will be to him a father, and he shall be
to me a son. Now what he's talking about here
is the unique sonship of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now let me
show you, let me see if I can tell you what I'm talking about
here. Listen very carefully. Angels were created by God. Men and women were created by
God. Therefore there is a sense in
which angels and men can say we are all sons of God by creation. You see that? Now Christ, the
second person of the Trinity, is not a son by creation, for
he himself was not created. His humanity was, but his deity
is everlasting. He has no beginning, no end. The book of Revelation calls
him the Alpha and the Omega. No beginning and no end. He's
eternal, co-eternal, co-equal in every attribute of deity with
the Father and the Spirit. Now, man fell in Adam, and we
lost our rights of sonship. We became children of Satan,
the scripture says. That's why we need salvation.
That's why we're lost. Therefore, if anyone today, if
any sinner, now hear me well, if any sinner can claim sonship,
here's the way he can do it. By election, God chose him. By
redemption, Christ redeemed him by his blood. By adoption, God
adopted him into his family by grace and mercy. And by regeneration
and conversion, the new birth, God has brought that sinner into
his family. But now Christ is the Son of
God, the unique Son of God, the only begotten Son of God by nature,
for He is God. Therefore He is much better than
the angels, you see. God never said to any of the
angels, this day have I begotten thee. This is not said to the
angels because they are not sons of God by nature. They are sons
of God by creation. Christ is the unique Son of God.
Again, he's the second person of the Trinity. He's the Son
of God by nature, the Word of God, and so he's better than
the angels. Now look at verse 6. Now he says,
and again, when he bringeth in the first begotten into the world,
he saith, and let all the angels of God worship him. Now there,
he's talking about the incarnation of Christ and the birth of Christ.
He says, this One who is the Son of God by nature, when He
bringeth the first begotten into the world. You see, He's the
Word of God, the living Word of God, and the Word was made
flesh and dwelt among us. So His humanity, now remember
this, Christ's humanity was created for Him in the womb of the Virgin
Mary by the Holy Spirit. He was not conceived of man.
Man's agency was out of the picture here because he could not be
born like you and I are born in Adam, in sin, in depravity,
born dead in trespasses and sin. He had no sin. He knew no sin. He did no sin. His human nature,
body and soul, was created by the Spirit in the womb of the
Virgin without sin. And therefore, when he was brought
into the world, in his incarnation, he was born. That son was given,
Isaiah 9, 6. The child was born. And here
he is, the God-man. Now, here's how much better he
is than the angels. When he was born into this world,
God told the angels to worship him. Now, my friend, you don't
worship anyone but God. If you worship anything or anyone
who is not by nature God, that's idolatry. That's why I hear there's
a denomination that says that they worship Christ, but they
don't believe Him to be God. Well, that's idolatry. If you
worship anyone who is not essentially God, that's idolatry. But the
Father commanded the angels, these created beings, to worship
the Word Incarnate, the Son of God Incarnate, Christ Jesus,
the Son of God in human flesh. That's how much better He is
than the angels. He didn't worship them, they worshipped Him. You
know, the Jews As the myths and the superstitions came down the
line in time, some of them began to worship angels. Paul warned
the Jews against that in Colossians chapter 2, worshipping of angels. We're not to worship angels.
We're not to worship men. We're not to worship anyone but
God. And Christ is God. That's why
we worship him. So he's so much better than the
angels, because the Father commanded the angels to worship him. Remember
what the angel said when he was born, glory to God in the highest,
and peace on earth, goodwill towards men. He's to be worshipped. Look at verse 7 of Hebrews 1. Now he quotes here, he says,
and of the angels he saith, who maketh his angels spirits, and
his ministers a flame of fire. Now what he's saying here is
that the angels were special. They were spirits. Not human
flesh, but spirits high above man. And they were ministers,
that's servants. And a flame of fire is a language
descriptive of the glory of their service. What a glorious service
they had. You think about it, the angels
under the old covenant and how they were dispatched by God to
do certain things, to perform certain duties. And it was a
glorious thing. But look at verse 8. It says,
but unto the Son he saith, now he quotes from Psalm 45 here,
he says to the Son, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever. Now that said to the Son, not
to the angels. The angels, they had a glorious
service. They were spirits, high above
human flesh, like we are. But he didn't say this to any
of the angels. What did he say to the Son? Thy throne. Who sits
on the throne? God sits on the throne. God is
sovereign. God is in control. Not the angels,
not man, not any nation. God alone rules and reigns and
disposes of all things. He works all things after the
counsel of his own will. In Daniel chapter 4, even old
Nebuchadnezzar said none can stay his hand or say unto him,
what doest thou? Paul wrote, shalt not the potter?
have power over the clay, to shape it and to form it as he
will? God does as he will. And unto the Son, he saith, Christ
Jesus, who is better than angels, infinitely, Christ who has the
preeminence, he says, thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever."
In other words, he and his throne both are eternal. The only one
who is eternal is God. and God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Spirit. They're all eternal. And then
he goes on, he says, a scepter of righteousness is the scepter
of thy kingdom. That word righteousness means
justice, it means judgment, and it's his rule. The scepter is
his rule. You remember back in the Old
Testament, in Genesis chapter, I think it's 49, where it was
prophesied of the tribe of Judah. This is Jacob, Israel, talking
about giving the blessings to his son, and of Judah he makes
this statement. He says, the scepter shall not
depart from Judah until Shiloh come. Well, what is the significance
of that? The scepter means the rule of
the kingdom. It means the power. That scepter
that the king held represented his power and his sovereign authority
in the kingdom. Well, who was Judah? Well, that
was one of the twelve tribes of Israel, one of the twelve
sons of Jacob. And it was through Judah. Judah
was the kingly tribe. The kings of Israel came through
Judah, or were supposed to. And it was through Judah through
whom the king of kings came, according to the flesh. You see,
he was made of the seed of David, who was of the tribe of Judah,
according to the flesh. Christ was born of the tribe
of Judah, the kingly tribe, you see. Now the scepter shall not
depart from Judah until Shiloh comes. What's Shiloh? Well, Shiloh
means peace. And what is Christ? Who is Christ?
He's the Prince of Peace. He's the King of Shiloh. There
was an old priest in the Old Testament that met Abraham on
his way back from the slaughter of the kings named Melchizedek,
who was King of Shiloh, King of Salem. And that's the same
thing, peace. So that is a prophecy of Christ.
And so the Father says, Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever, and
a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Thy kingdom. The
kingdom of grace, the kingdom and government of salvation,
the Church, will be established upon righteousness, whose Christ,
not ours, not the angels, not Moses, but His. He is the Lord,
our righteousness. That's our name, the ones who
are in his church. In Jeremiah 33, it says, she
shall be called the Lord our righteousness. In other words,
when we're united to him, we take his name. He established. What did he do to establish righteousness? He obeyed the law perfectly in
every precept, and then because the people whom he represented
and substituted himself for were sinners, he took their place
on the cross of Calvary and satisfied justice for their sins. He was
made to be sin, Christ who knew no sin, that we might be made
the righteousness of God in Him. And His scepter is a scepter
of righteousness because He established it. He brought in everlasting
righteousness. He shed His blood as payment
for our sins. And He enabled God the Father
to be both a just God as well as a merciful, loving Savior. Look at verse 9. It goes on in
this quotation from Psalm 45, explaining how Christ is much,
much better than the angels. It says, Thou hast loved righteousness
and hated iniquity. Therefore God, even thy God,
hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. Many times in the scriptures
you'll see language that shows Christ's equality in the Godhead
as the Son. And then many times you'll see
language that shows him to be subordinate to the Father, officially,
not in his nature. In his nature, in his character,
in his attributes, he's co-equal with the Father and the Spirit
in every attribute of deity. But for the purpose of saving
his people from their sins, he became a servant. He became subordinate,
officially, to the Father in order to save us. And he loved
righteousness. He hated iniquity. He did no
evil. He committed no evil. He never
had a thought or a motive of sin. In doing the work that he
was sent to do, he loved righteousness and holiness, and he hated iniquity
and sin. And if you want to know how much
he hates sin, and how much he loves righteousness, all you
have to do is look at him on the cross. If he didn't love
righteousness and hate sin so much, he would have never gone
to the cross to save his people from their sins. You see, the
cross of Calvary is where the Godhead displays their absolute,
utter love for righteousness and holiness and their absolute,
utter hatred for sin and wickedness. When sin was charged to the Holy
Son of God, God punished his son. It pleased the Lord to bruise
him. And because this happened, therefore
God, God the Father, hath anointed God the Son incarnate with the
oil of gladness above thy fellows, above his companions. In other
words, he has been anointed King of kings, Lord of lords, above
all his companions. He's better than anyone we could
imagine. And then look at verse 10. Hebrews
1, it says, And thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation
of the earth, and the heavens are the works of thy hands. Now
again, he brings out a truth that he brought out before, that
Christ is much better than the angels because Christ is the
Creator. It is by Christ, it is by the
agency of the Son that the Godhead created the world. And so thou,
Lord, in the beginning, laid the foundation of the earth."
He spoke this world into existence. And he opposed this world by
his power. The heavens are the works of
his hands. But now he goes on to make a
point here. This creation here, now this creation fell in Adam. And he says in verse 11, they
shall perish, but thou remainest. Now, this shows how Christ is
so much better, because even the works of creation shall perish,
and that's because of sin. As I said, this whole creation
fell in Adam, and it's perishing. This world is a perishing thing.
That's why the Bible teaches us not to hold on to this world
and the things of this world, because they're going to be gone
one day. This world is going to burn up. Sin demands death
and destruction. This world died with Adam, and
therefore this world has to be made anew. You see, God's children,
redeemed by the blood of Christ, clothed in his righteousness,
they are going to inhabit a new heavens and a new earth wherein
dwelleth righteousness. But this old world is going to
perish, but not Christ. Christ will not perish. Oh, somebody
said, well, didn't he die? Yes, he died, but he arose again
the third day. Yes, he suffered, he bled, and
he died, and he went into the grave, but he could not see corruption
like you and I do. Why? Because when he died, he
accomplished redemption. When he died, he satisfied law
and justice. When he died, he established
righteousness. And just as sin, charged to him,
demanded his death, righteousness that he established demanded
his life. so that this world will perish,
but thou remainest." Christ remains, and it says, they all shall wax
old as doth a garment. This world is going to wear out
like a piece of clothing that's old and worn and tattered, weathered,
an old piece of garment. It's going to wax old. That means
it's going to grow old, just like a garment. And he says,
verse 12, and as a vesture, an outer garment, a cloak, shalt
thou fold them up. and they shall be changed." All
the things of this world. See, he's using an analogy here,
just like old clothes. They get worn out, they get holes
in them, and they get tattered, you can see through them. They're
going to grow old like a garment. As a vesture shalt thou fold
them up, and they'll be changed. Changed in deterioration, in
corruption. But he says in verse 12, but
thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail. Christ is better
because He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. And He shall
not fail. That means He shall not be a
failure. He will have victory. Not one
sinner for whom He died shall perish. He will not fail. He sat down. Remember what he
said over in chapter 1, verse 3, it says, He by himself purged
our sins and sat down on the right hand of the majesty on
high. That's victory. That's why the
grave cannot utterly destroy anyone who is in Christ. Oh,
we'll die that physical death, but that physical death is not
the end. That physical death is just a
passage, you see. And the sting of death, the poison
of death, which is the power to condemn and call sinners to
perish, is gone. The strength of sin is the law.
The power of sin to condemn us is the law. But in Christ, that
power of sin to condemn us by the law is gone. The law that
condemns all who are not in Christ must pronounce righteousness
and holiness and must demand the salvation of all who are
in Christ. He shall not fail. So he says
in verse 13, he says, But to which of the angels said he at
any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy
footstool? God never said to any of the
angels that they are to take the place of victory and authority
and power to where all would be subject to them. That was said to Christ and to
him alone. He is so much better than the
angels because every knee is going to bow to him. Every tongue
is going to confess that he is Lord to the praise of the glory
of God's grace. His people do so willingly in
redemption, in salvation, but his enemies will bow as their
necks will be broken down before him. They shall come under the
authority of the Lord Jesus Christ, not to the angels. And then the
last verse, verse 14. Are they not all ministering
spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of
salvation? Now, he's talking about the angels
there as servants, ministering spirits Who are they going to
minister to? Who do they serve? He says, the
heirs of salvation. Well, who's that? That's the
people of God. That's the church. Now angels
are sent to minister to the redeemed, to sinners saved by grace. And
that shows how much better Christ is than the angels. Christ is
the Redeemer. We're the redeemed. We who know
him are redeemed. The angels serve us. They minister
to us. Therefore, the one who redeemed
us is much, much greater than angels. Christ is superior, infinitely
better than the angels. I hope this message has been
helpful to you. And I hope you've understood
it. I hope you'll get a copy of it. The title of this message
is Christ Better Than Angels. And if you'd like a copy of this
message on an audio cassette tape, or on a CD, write to us
at the address you'll hear. Send us $4. We'll send you this
message, Christ Better Than Angels, and another message as soon as
you write us and tell us. And be sure to specify whether
you want an audio cassette tape or a CD. Remember the title of
this message, Christ Better Than Angels. I hope you'll join us
next week for another message from God's Word.