The Superiority of Christ to Angels
INTRODUCTORY WORDS
Jesus Christ was God in ages past; He was God, manifest in flesh; He is God in the ages to come. In His Deity, He is the same yesterday, today, and for ever. He was not less than God, in the humiliation of His incarnation: He is not more than God in the added glories of His exaltation.
There are some who would teach that Jesus Christ, in eternities past, was no more than perfect angel; that in His earth life, He was no more than perfect man; and, that, in His ascension He became God as the reward for His sufferings. This is both unscriptural, and impossible.
The chapter we are studying today opens with the statement, that God's Son was the brightness of the Father's glory, and the express image of His person. It states that He upheld all things by the Word of His power.
The question which confronts us is Why were the superiority and inferiority of Christ to angels so strongly set forth in Hebrews? The Lord Jesus was, always, and for ever, very God of very God. Why then this comparison to angels? The answer to this query is simple. It is the earth life of the Lord Jesus which is under discussion; it is His humiliation, and exaltation, which is before us.
The Lord was made lower than the angels, for the suffering of death; that He might be made higher than the angels, in His inheritance in the saints, and in the new name, which His Calvary work obtained for Him.
For a few moments we wish to remind you how the angels ever sought to serve Christ, to glorify Christ, and to magnify His Name. When Christ created the Heavens and the earth, we are sure that the angels of God shouted for joy.
Isaiah saw the vision of the seraphim as they cried one to another, "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of Hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory."
Ezekiel, in the visions of God, spake of the angels as The Living Creatures. He said they were as the appearance of lightning, as they ran and returned. As the Spirit was to go, so they went. When they went, Ezekiel heard the voice of their wings. This was like the noise of great waters; as the voice of the Almighty. These living ones were the cherubim, and the glory of the Lord followed them.
The angels of God, in Old Testament times, were quick in their obedience. Among them were Gabriel and Michael, who were given special commissions unto Daniel.
The angels are innumerable. We read, "The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels: the Lord is among them."
In other Scriptures, they are spoken of as an innumerable company; again they are "as ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands." Their power is beyond human imagination.
During Christ's earth life the angels ministered unto Him; when He comes again they will return with Him.
Round the throne of God in Heaven,
There ten thousand angels stand.
Hear ye now their acclamation,
Heaven's mighty angel band.
Glory, honor, might and power,
Strength and wisdom evermore,
Unto God, the Father given
And the Lamb whom they adore.
Seraphim for ever saying,
Holy, holy, holy, Thou
Thou the Lord and God Almighty
Let all honor wreathe Thy brow:
Angels with their harps are saying
Worthy is the Lamb once slain;
And all Heaven joins the chorus
Praising Him who lives again.
I. MADE LOWER THAN THE ANGELS (Hebrews 2:7; Hebrews 2:9)
Jesus Christ was made lower than the angels and yet we will soon discover that He is "so much better than the angels." Could He be both lower than the angels and also better than they?
The two statements seem contradictory, but they are not.
Let us read our verse carefully. We see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death. The explanatory sentence means everything. Christ was lower than the angels, because, for the time, He took upon Him a body prepared of God, a body of flesh and of blood. He took this body that He might have blood to shed. It was for this that "He took not upon Him the form of angels." Had He taken such a form He could not have died. The spear thrust into His side would not have caused the blood and the water to gush out.
Jesus Christ came from the glory of His Father. There, the angels of God sang His praises, and worshiped His being. He humbled Himself, however, and took upon Him the form of man, and became obedient unto death even the death of the Cross.
It was for this cause that Christ did not take upon Himself the nature of angels, but He took upon Him the seed of Abraham.
It was only for "a little while" that He was lower than the angels who worshiped Him; for, during the period of His self-humiliation, the angels recognized His Deity, superiority, and power.
At His birth they sang their glad magnificat. During His earth life, and particularly in the hour of His deepest anguish, they ministered unto Him.
Jesus Christ, who, for the time was made lower than the angels, was yet, all the time, greater than they. Even in His body He was very God of very God, and none knew of this, more than the angels.
"Angels, help us to adore Him,
Ye behold Him face to face!
Sun and moon, bow down before Him!
Dwellers all in time and space,
Praise Him! praise Him!
Praise with us the God of grace!"
II. MADE SO MUCH BETTER THAN THE ANGELS (Hebrews 1:4)
The verse before us is even harder to comprehend than the one we have just considered. If Jesus Christ, when He was lower than the angels, was yet, as we have stated better than the angels, in the glory of His Godhead, how can He be made better than they?
Once more it is necessary for us to get the context. Mark the words carefully, "Being made so much better than the angels, as He hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they." What was that name which He obtained, by virtue of His humiliation and His Cross? What was that name which was given Him, when He sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on High? We read, that God hath given Him a Name, that is above every name, that at the Name of Jesus, every knee should bow and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
This Name is the name of His inheritance; which is His, by right of His death. Had He remained with the Father He could never have been called either "Jesus," or, "Lord." He was made lower than the angels for the time, in order that He might be made higher. Made lower in the body of His humiliation; that He might be made higher in the names of His coronation.
What was the inheritance He obtained? We are that inheritance. This is the message of Ephesians 1:11 : "In whom also we have obtained an inheritance."
He is our Lord, our Jesus, our Christ. We are His jewels. He obtained us by way of the Cross.
No angel, nor archangel could have become Redeemer. They did not have the value necessary to pay the price of redemption. Jesus Christ, Creator and Lord, could alone become Saviour; and, in so becoming, His superiority to angels was fully made known.
"Frail children of dust,
And feeble as frail
In Thee do we trust,
Nor find Thee to fail:
Thy mercies how tender,
How firm to the end!
Our Maker, Defender,
Redeemer, and Friend!
O measureless Might!
Ineffable Love!
While angels delight
To hymn Thee above,
The humbler creation,
Though feeble their lays,
With true adoration
Shall sing to Thy praise."
III. BETTER THAN THE ANGELS IN HIS RESURRECTION (Hebrews 1:5)
Our verse follows the verse which has just been discussed. Verse four referred to Christ's inheritance, by which He received His more excellent name. Verse five refers to His resurrection. Unto no angel could God have said at any time, "Thou art My son"; and, certainly to none of them could He have said at any time, "Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten Thee." Jesus Christ was the "eternal Son," but He was named "Son of God," because He was begotten of the Holy Ghost. The angel said to Mary, "Therefore also that Holy Thing which shall be born of thee, shall be called the Son of God."
Christ, during the period of His incarnation, however, was "despised and rejected of men"; numbered with the transgressors. When they finally took Him from the Cross, and laid Him in Joseph's tomb, to all human conceptions, He was also rejected of the Father. This, however, was far from the truth. When Christ came from the dead, the Father said, "Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten Thee."
Paul preaching at Antioch, said, concerning the promise which God had made unto the fathers, that He had "fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that He had raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the Second Psalm, Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten Thee."
Unto no angel was this ever said. No angel ever suffered for the sins of men. No angel ever was buried, and none ever rose again. All of the angels of God, give unto the Son glad acclaim, as they cry, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain."
"Glory to God on high!
Let Heaven and earth reply,
'Praise ye His Name!'
His love and grace adore.
Who all our sorrows bore;
Sing aloud for evermore,
'Worthy the Lamb!'
While they around the throne,
Cheerfully join in one,
Praising His Name,
Ye who have felt His Blood
Sealing your peace with God,
Sound His dear Name abroad!
'Worthy the Lamb!'"
IV. BETTER THAN ANGELS IN HIS SEAT IN HEAVEN (Hebrews 1:13)
"But to which of the angels said He at any time, Sit on My right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool?"
God raised Jesus Christ from the dead, and placed Him at His own right hand. God never did this for an angel. Angels are ministering spirits, not enthroned equals. They are the worshipers, and not the worshiped. The Son is for ever God. Deity was not a thing to be grasped at, with Him. Before the world was, He was God. When He came to the earth, He came forth from the Father; came from the glory that He had with the Father before the world was. When He went back to the Father, He returned to His original position of glory.
What then was the significance of Christ's exaltation? Did not God exceedingly exalt Him? His exaltation stands in contrast to His humiliation. The Cross of Christ brought Him low, but did not make Him less God. The exaltation lifted Him high, "exceedingly exalted Him," but did not make Him more God. His exaltation was the added glory, obtained by His added suffering in man's redemption saints are that glory.
The reason an angel could not be acclaimed, be seated on the Father's right hand, is because he could not have taken on him the seed of Abraham, and could not have become the Son of God, and the Saviour of those who believe. An angel did not possess the value to die a substitutionary death, the just for the unjust; no more than he possessed a value sufficient to sit on the Father's throne.
An angel, therefore, could not sit on the Father's right hand until His enemies were made His footstool, Jesus Christ, the Lord, could do both. To Him all must bow, and all must confess Him Lord, to the glory of the Father.
"Let us sing of the love of the Lord,
As now unto Him we draw nigh;
Let us sing to the praise of the God of all grace,
For the love that gave Jesus to die!
Oh, how great was the love that was shown
To us! we can never tell why
Not to angels, but men; let us praise Him again
For the love that gave Jesus to die."
V. BETTER THAN ANGELS IN THE AGE TO COME (Hebrews 2:5)
The next age, the age to come, is the age of Christ's reign. He is to come to earth riding upon the white horse. His Name will be King of kings, and Lord of lords. He shall rule in righteousness, and He shall rule with a rod of iron.
No angel could take to himself such an honor, nor achieve such an authority. Angels are holy and mighty, but they are ministering spirits to men, and not lords over men.
Men are a little lower than the angels now, because they have bodies subject to death; bodies that circumscribe their activities. However, men are, in grace, lifted higher than angels. They shall judge angels. Therefore, angels cannot rule over the men, they are commissioned to serve; the men who will ultimately become judges of angels.
Jesus Christ is not only "a greater than Solomon," but He is a greater than Solomon, and David, and Moses, and John the Baptist, and all men combined. He is Creator; men are the created. In Him we all live and move, and have our being. Therefore, by right of creation, and by right of purchase as well, Christ has the right to rule.
Let us not sing,
"I want to be an angel
And with the angels stand;
A crown upon my forehead,
A harp within my hand."
The position of glorified saints will be that of reigning with Christ. If we go outside the camp and bear with Him His reproach; then, we shall go inside the camp, with Him, and share His glory.
"The head that once was crown'd with thorns
Is crown'd with glory now:
A royal diadem adorns
The mighty Victor's brow.
The highest place that Heaven affords
Is His by sovereign right:
The King of kings, and Lord of lords,
He reigns in perfect light."
VI. BETTER THAN ANGELS IN HIS EARTH THRONE (Hebrews 1:6)
This verse is marvelously prophetic. It is a quotation from the forty-fifth Psalm; that matchless Psalm, surpassing in beauty. Psalms 45:1-17, is the one which begins, "My heart is inditing a good matter: for I speak of the things which I have made as touching the King." The Psalmist with tongue aflame describes the Second Coming of Christ. He says, "Upon thy right hand did stand the queen, in the gold of Ophir."
It is in the heart of this wonderful description of Christ the King, that the Psalmist wrote, "Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: the sceptre of Thy Kingdom is a right sceptre."
In our lesson Scripture for today, the Holy Spirit, quoting Psalms 45:1-17, tells us that it is when God bringeth in the first-begotten (that is the Risen Christ) into the inhabited world, He saith, "Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever." It is then, also, that He says, "Let all the angels of God worship Him."
These angels, who are spirits, these ministering ones, are a flame of fire, are worshipers of the Son of God. Before Him they prostrate themselves to give Him glory.
We have now carried our readers through the whole story as outlined in the opening words of Hebrews. In everything, Jesus Christ, is superior to angels. Even when He was, for the time, made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, even then, the angels did Him obesiance. In the hour of His deepest humility in Gethsemane an angel came and strengthened Him. In resurrection they told the women, "He is not here, but is risen." In ascension, they accompanied Him. In His Second Coming they will return with Him; no marvel, then, that in His reign they will worship Him.
"Praise Him! praise Him! Jesus, our blessed Redeemer!
Sing, O earth His wonderful love proclaim!
Hail Him! hail Him! highest archangels in glory;
Strength and honor give to His holy name!
Like a shepherd, Jesus will guard His children,
In His arms He carries them all day long;
Praise Him! praise Him! Jesus, our blessed Redeemer!
For our sins He suffered, and bled, and died;
He our Rock, our hope of eternal salvation,
Hail Him! hail Him! Jesus, the crucified!
Sound His praises Jesus who bore our sorrows,
Love unbounded, wonderful, deep, and strong."
AN ILLUSTRATION
THEN IT'S ALL RIGHT
Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him? A Christian worker once told of taking his small son to the seashore for the first time. The boy was greatly impressed with the vast amount of water, and it seemed to worry him. "Is it over my head?" he asked his father. "Yes, son, it is over your head." "Well, is it over your head?" "Yes, it is over my head." The child pondered a minute, then asked excitedly, "Well, Father is it over God's head?" "No, my son," answered the father, "it isn't over God's head." "Then it's all right, if it isn't over God's head," was the little fellow's reply, and he went off to his play satisfied.