Do
you know that God speaks to his people?
When
God spoke to the people in Old Testament times, he pointed his final revelation
in Jesus. Through Jesus, God provided the perfect vehicle of expression. He
translated deity into humanity, and this revelation was absolute, infallible
and authoritative. The world in its entirety was given to Christ as the heir of
all things. As executor of the divine will, he will return one day to enforce
all of its clauses.
Angels work in hidden ways to carry out God’s will and protect God’s people. They are part of our lives even if we aren’t aware of them. They are part of an unseen army that is fighting Satan and his followers.
It’s
true. He speaks to us today just like he spoke to his people in the past. God
spoke at various times and in various ways. He spoke to people such as Adam,
Noah, Abraham and Moses. He spoke through thunder; the sound of a trumpet; in a
still, small voice or in visions and dreams; in human form and angelic
visitations; through foreshadowing and parable and more.
In
Christ we have God’s final message. He is the fullness of the Godhead. He is
the Lord of everything. He is the eternal word of God. He came to earth to take
away our sins. Before Jesus came to earth, the Jews had to have their sins taken
away.
Jesus
is better than everything and anything because of his relationship with God. He
is also better because he is royalty. He is the King of Kings and Lord of
Lords. He is also better because of his reputation. His domain is never-ending.
His delight is unequalled. He never changes. His reign is unchallenged. In
fact, the only angle who has ever challenged his authority was Satan-and Satan
was kicked out of heaven.
God’s
very nature-his glory and the express image-is revealed perfectly in Jesus,
because Jesus is God. The Son-who existed before time, was at the beginning of
time, and will be at the end of time-is the One who upholds all things by the
word of His power and thereby controls history. Jesus is God’s final, divine
revelation of himself. Jesus is the Son of God, the agent of creation, the very
glory of God and the one who saves us from our sins. He inherits all of
creation from God. He is the imprint of God. Jesus is the mind of God in human
form as illustrated by the Gospel of John. Because Jesus came to earth, God
knows us and love us. He loves us just as much as Jesus does.
In
Bible times, a person’s name was the outward expression of who they were,
encompassing not only a person’s proper name but his or her identity-including
rank, authority, fame and character. The more excellent name Jesus inherits is
“Son”. He is the eternal Son of God. While Scriptures sometimes refer to angels
as “the sons of God,” nowhere does God say of angels, “You are My Son, today I
have begotten you.” Only to Jesus does the Father speak in such personal,
familial terms.
The
title “firstborn” does not mean that Jesus was created but refers to His
exalted status and authority as Ruler of all creation. His superiority to
angels is also proven by the fact that all the angels of God worshipped Him at
His birth and worship Him now at the throne of God. The angels are Christ’s
ministers. Although angels are not superior to or equal to Jesus, they occupy
an important role in the lives of believers today as “ministering spirits.”
The
Jews believed angels were the highest beings next to God. To prove that Jesus
is much better than the angels, the writer of Hebrews quotes several of
Israel’s own Scriptures. The word “better” occurs 12 times in this book,
indicating Jesus’ superiority to all of creation and to the Old Covenant. The
job of angels is to worship God, and hence to worship Jesus by doing His will.
Since only God is worthy of worship, this is evidence of Jesus’ full deity.
Angels work in hidden ways to carry out God’s will and protect God’s people. They are part of our lives even if we aren’t aware of them. They are part of an unseen army that is fighting Satan and his followers.
Jesus
is supreme above any angels because:
1.
God speaks to us through
His Son.
2.
Jesus is the heir
of all things.
3.
God made all
things through Jesus.
4.
Jesus is the
express image of God the Father.
5.
He upholds all
things with the word of His power.
6.
He purged our
sins.
7.
Jesus is the Son
of God, not a servant as are the angels.
8.
He is worthy of
our worship.
9.
Jesus is God
Himself.
When
God the Father refers to Jesus as the eternal God, it is one of the Bible’s
most irrefutable proofs of the deity of Christ.
One
day the worlds God created will be folded up like a linen garment, but Christ
will remain. He will be the same as He always has been, and His existence will
never end.
Bibliography
1.
Jeremiah,
David: The Jeremiah Study Bible, New King
James Version (Brentwood, TN: Worthy Publishing; 2013; pp. 1744-1746)
2.
ESV Study
Bible. Part of Wordsearch 11 Bible software package.
3.
MacArthur,
J.F. Jr.: The MacArthur Study Bible, New
American Standard Version (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers; 2006)
4.
Stanley,
C.F.: The Charles F. Stanley Life
Principles Bible, New King James Version (Nashville, TN: Nelson Bibles;
2005)
5.
Lucado, M.: The Lucado Life Lessons Study Bible (Nashville,
TN: Thomas Nelson; 2010; pp. 1689-1690)
10. Jeremiah, David: Hebrews:
The Supremacy & The Sufficiency of Christ, Volume One (San Diego, CA:
Turning Point for God, 2012, pp. 9-30)
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