Greater Than Angels

Who is Jesus? The answer to that question reveals a lot about our understanding of Him. For many, He is considered a political figure of His day, a good teacher, a prophet, or maybe even a heretic. The answers can vary widely. But understanding who He is will determine the role He plays in our lives. Is He simply a good example, a person with good quotes, a fraud, or is He the God He claimed to be?

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Alright, I want to jump right in. If you guys have a Bible, please turn to the book of Hebrews because today we are kicking off a series going through the book of Hebrews. And so there's no reason to get cute with the name, get cute with the title. Uh, it is greater, a study through Hebrews, because in the book of Hebrews it says that Jesus is better or greater or superior about 25 different times. So there's not like this really cute, catchy theme going on here. Uh, what is the book about? It's Jesus' greater. So, what do we title it? Greater, right? You can thank our creative team for that one. So the book of Hebrews, though, is unique in that as we go through it, it's not as a typical letter where it kind of has these stops and then it wants to hit this theme, and then it's going to address to this person. Hebrews is almost read as one big long sermon, right? Where it's pushing that theme that Jesus is greater. And so it's this whole stream of conscious where he's he's pulling different elements, using some illustrations. And the interesting thing about it as well is that we don't have conclusive, hard fact. This is the author of it. And so next week, when Ryan's uh teaching, he wants to go over some of the different uh theories on who's the different author of this book. But today, what I want to focus in on is really the key passage, right, where he's going to base this whole sermon, this whole sort of discourse of Jesus is greater than, and uh kind of break some of that down and have it speak to us. But they are he's writing to a group of people who are very familiar with the Old Testament. It pulls all these different Old Testament passages to form uh this conversation, this argument, this uh this challenge for Jesus being greater. And it's very clear, too, that there's a temptation for the audience to minimize Jesus. That Jesus is not as great as the angels because, well, angels are really scary and oppressive, and and Jesus was you know pretty humble and meek and kind and inhuman flesh. That Jesus maybe isn't as great as Moses or the high priest or this prophet. And so this book is trying to bring a course correction to those who want to revert back to either the ways of Judaism, the ways of following false teachings, reverting away from following Christ, because in this time, following Christ is not easy. There's persecution, there's hardship, and they're like, I don't know if following Jesus is really great. I kind of liked it better when we were just sacrificing goats and sheep, and I wasn't being persecuted. And so there's this whole debate within people's minds and hearts of is it worth following Jesus? Is he actually who he claimed to be? And so let's read Hebrews chapter one, and you're gonna see right away the comparison begin. It says, long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets. In many ways, many times God has spoken, right? Throughout the Old Testament, he used prophets, he used um, you know, priest, he used a donkey, he used the miraculous, he spoke to the people. 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. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs. We're four verses into this, right? And it's the author giving us this really clear picture of who Jesus is and how, yes, we've listened to the that which has been spoken by the prophets, which is speaking about who God is, speaking on behalf of God, pointing people to God. Yes, we've heard from the prophets, but now we no longer need a prophet because you have his son. You no longer need this mouthpiece that's a human being. You have the exact imprint of his nature. You can hold and behold and hear from the one that they're pointing people to. And so his big idea here is why are you continuing to go back and listen to the prophets who are saying of a messiah that's coming? There's a messiah coming, and this is what we do until the messiah comes. When he's like, You have the messiah now. You you no longer need to go back to this old way. You have the the perfect son. Look at the title that he gives them to like the son whom he appointed, the heir of all things. Can you imagine that's your your inheritance? Everything that's ever existed. What do you own? Everything. Who is Jesus? Jesus is the one through whom also he created the world. Jesus has created everything that you see, know, experience, touch, every place you've ever been to. I think the be most beautiful place I've ever been is probably Glacier National Park. If you've ever been there, you know what I'm talking about. If you haven't been there, I'm sorry, your life is boring, you gotta get there. It's it's like the most beautiful place on the face of the earth. And he's made that place with ease. He just speaks it into existence. And then on the other side of things, he's created this wonderful place called Death Valley. And he's created these just really vast, extremes example of what he can do and his power and his might, and he speaks it into existence. Jesus created all of that. Jesus created the the stars, the moon, the sun, this earth, animals, the plants, everything at a microscopic level. He's created it all and he owns it all. And he's like, why are you listening to the prophets? When you have the one who spoke everything into existence, like there's one voice that seems to be a little bit more powerful, a little bit louder, a little bit more worth following and listening to. He is the radiance of the glory of God. He's the picture of God's glory on full display. He's in fact the exact imprint of his nature. Again, while prophets spoke of what the Messiah would be like or what God is like, his whole idea is you have Jesus, who is the perfect picture of God. He is God. He is God. He's the exact imprint of his nature. I love this too. Not only is Jesus worth following, worth listening to, not only is he the creator of all things, not is he, not only is he the heir of all things where he owns it all, but he upholds the universe by the words of his power. He's the manager of it all. Maintains all of this. This high-speed floating rock in space that is going around this other big ball of gas that's on fire. He upholds it all. Everybody, do this exercise with me. And here's the best part you can't get out of this one. You have to do this with me. Ready? Take a breath. And some of you are like, I don't want to do what the pastor says. Well, too bad. You're gonna have to at a certain point. God upholds all of that. He's made it where each one of us have these little tiny motors inside of our body that will run for a hundred years if everything goes according to plan. And it provides life and energy, and we have these lungs and and we have our minds. And so not only has God just spoke everything to existence, but he didn't just back away. He owns it, he manages it, he he holds it all together to make sure it works and functions. And he goes, that's who Jesus is. Just so there's there's no question on who is greater, who is more powerful. Jesus is the founder, the CEO, the CFO of everything in this world. And with that being said, He's made the purification for sins. He's now seated down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs. And you're like, what does that mean? Well, the name that he has inherited that is more excellent than theirs is this. For to which of the angels did God ever say, You are my son, today I have begotten you. What is the name of Jesus, its son? It it he's the inherit, he's the the heir, the one that who owns all. And I it's kind of an interesting little sub point here, but this quote of you are my son, today I have begotten you, comes out of Psalms 2, speaking back to the Davidic line, and who would be the kings, and the kings would last forever, and there would be a king who would whose throne would see no end. And so it's pulling back this reference from Psalm 2, who they thought was going to be a king that brings an earthly kingdom. He's pulling it back that it's Jesus who is the king from the line of David that will know no end. And so he says, which one of these angels have ever gotten the title, You Are the Son of God? And of course, the answer is none. And I know many of us in here are like, why are we arguing about who's greater, Jesus or the angels, right? Like, does anybody have that question coming in today? Like, I really need to wrestle this area? Probably not. And and I get that, right? We didn't we didn't have this conversation out in our our daily lives of where do angels rank when it comes to Jesus. We just kind of believe that Jesus is greater already. We we've already landed on that. But I think back to this time where they don't have just maybe this really clean, crisp, here's scripture. We we follow Jesus, we're all about Jesus, we have it all put together. They have letters that are being forged, and and people who are preaching these false teachings and they're sending out just false doctrine and getting little groups of people to start this whole new cult and this you know random offshoot. And so they've got to do some cleanup work here. That that they're beginning to worship angels, they're beginning to place angels as higher than Jesus, maybe because Jesus came in human flesh, whatever it might be. And so they're needing to bring some clarity to this, which is a good thing, right? Because in our world today, we might not have this as a false doctrine, but in our world, everybody with a microphone can start a podcast. And there's a lot of really strange teachings. And with a little bit of magic, with some AI and a little bit of know-how, you could get a cult going pretty darn quick. And so, what a what a joy we have that we have passages like this to bring clarity to who is Jesus. What what what are the angels? What is the purpose of angels? That's gonna bring some clarity here. So he says, uh, no one has received this title except for the one, and that is you are my son, right? Or again, I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, Let all God's angels worship him, Jesus, right? The author's point is that the angels are worshiping Jesus, so how could we ever maybe say that the angels are higher? The second argument this passage is going to bring up is verse 7. Of the angels, he says, He makes his angels wins. God makes his angels wins, and he ministers a flame of fire, meaning they're servants. They they play a role, but they ultimately serve God. And he says, But of the Son, he says, Your throne. So he's comparing now, right? He's he's doing a compare and contrast here. But the sun, he says, Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of upright 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. And he also says of Jesus, You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain. They all wear out like a garment, like a robe you will roll roll them up, like a garment they will be changed, but you are the same, and your years will have no end. And to which of the angels has he ever said, Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies a footstool for your seat. Feet. He's doing this, compare and contrast of the angels they serve as a role of being a servant, of doing whatever God wants of them. While Jesus sits as son, as being sovereign, as being the king of kings. And so he's bringing just a delineation between them. He wraps all this up. Verse 14 Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation? Angels are merely servants of God. Sent out for a specific purpose, sent out to do a specific task. We see them as messengers, we see them to minister to those who are to inherit salvation. But man, they are radically different than the son, than the king, than the one who is sovereign. And like I said, I know that none of us in here maybe came in today like this is the big question that I need answered. But chapter two, verse one has it where it pulls it all together, and I believe it's incredibly applicable for all of us. In chapter two, verse one, he says, In light of all this information of who Jesus is, therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. Can I ask, do we have any seasoned saints in the house? Been a believer for 20 years. Show of hands, anybody in here? Do I got 30 years? 35, 35, 35, 35. Do I got 40, 45, 45, 45, 50? Do I have 50 50? 60? 60, 65, 60, 60 five, 65, 60 five, 60, 60, 70, 70, 70, 30. We got some seasoned saints. First service was packed out, seasoned saints, right? 740 early in the morning. Best time of the day. Anyways. I was not awake for that one. But, anyways, uh, there's a temptation when you're a seasoned saint, when you've been around the block for a long time, that we might drift away. That we don't reject God. We don't reject Jesus. I think we just make Jesus we get really comfortable with the idea of it. We know that he's God. Yep, okay. I know that he's the creator. Yep, I know that I know this Bible passage. Yep, I've done this series before. And there could be this sense where we've we've lost this true awe and appreciation for who Jesus is in verses one through four. We can drift away from from really celebrating and being in awe and just wanting to bask in the fact that we get to know the creator of everything, the owner of all of it, the exact imprint of God. And he wants to be known, and we get to know him, and we get to have a relationship with him. There's somewhere in between when we first come to know him and the awe and the beauty, and we get baptized and we celebrate and we're in love, and Jesus is amazing, and you're like on cloud nine, there's just something that happens where it's not that we reject him, we just drift. We just drift. And he says, You have to pay much closer attention to the beauty of what I'm bringing you, the salvation that has come, the message that is Jesus. Do not drift from it, enjoy it. And so I I know you weren't questioning Jesus and angels, but I would ask this have we diminished the role of Jesus? Like on a scale of one to ten, how important is Jesus into your life? I don't want to get legalistic. I don't want to make this works based. But Jesus is the one who like makes sure that you breathe every single day. He's like the one that built the planet you walk on. He's the one that that gave you morning breath. He's the one that has like just and coffee breath. He's the one that's done everything you've ever experienced ever. And yet, we go, oh, I I just didn't have time to kind of pray today. I don't want to be legalistic, but how crazy is that? I I didn't have time for God's word. I was just really busy, really busy. It's like, Jesus, Jesus wants to spend time with you. Why does he even care about you? And yet, in the craziest way, we're where he should not care about us because of how powerful and mighty and great he is in this weird, crazy world. We go, I'm too busy for that. We're the ones that drift somehow. How does that make sense? Ah, I just I I don't know. I've just kind of yeah, I I go to church. I I spend time with him like once a week. I'll do the worship thing if like the songs are really good and the lyrics guy is finally on time. That's when I'll worship him. And I I I read this first chapter, and I'm just like, man, I need to spend so much more time carving out my day. First around, just getting somewhere quiet, getting on my knees and praying and talking to the creator, the owner, the operator, the manager of everything. I need to carve out some serious time where I just worship him. I just sit there, I listen to him, I open up his word, I have him speak to me because I'm pretty sure that the owner-operator of the entire planet could help me a lot more than I think I'm gonna do with my time. We have first thing we do when we wake up, we gotta touch our phone. We go to our phone and we're like, yeah, I just gotta check what time it is, and then we gotta check the weather, and then we end up checking our emails, and then next thing you know, we're working. And it's like, how about I just wake up and it's like, thank you, God, what do you want to do today? But somehow we drift. Somehow the message of Jesus and who he is, it's just not that big of a deal to us. And for them, what they want to turn away to is going back to Judaism, going back to following the teachings of the law and the prophets. And so he's just like, I I don't understand, you guys. How in the world could you go back to that? Uh not that it's wrong, the teaching was wrong, but he says in verse 2, for for since the message declared by angels, right, proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, the the law. How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? How how could we go back to that? Like, there's there's something so much greater. It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attest to us by those who heard the apostles, while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by the gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will. Like, how how are we going to turn from this incredible salvation that's been made known to us through the apostles, through the workings of the Holy Spirit? How could we go back? And for each of us, again, we we're probably not turning back to the worship of angels, we're not turning back to Judaism, we're not turning back to that. But for all of us here, how can we just go back to the old way of living? Like if you know Jesus, if you've experienced him, there's No going back to empty living. And I don't think we ever just willingly say, I want my life to be empty. I want my life to be living for the world. I think we just tend to drift. And then we maybe have that wake-up moment of like, whoa, I'm a lot farther than I would like to be with Jesus. There's that kind of like waking up. You know, when you've been driving for a long time and you're like, I don't know how I got here. You know what I mean? You're like, I could have ran over like three people, and I think I was so like just me. I'm getting a sense that not all of you do that. Okay. Sometimes I just kind of do that. Where it's like, whoa, okay, if we were driving a car right now, look alive. But I think we do that just in our walk. We just do the routine. We go to church, we go to the study. My parents are believers, so I'm a believer. I mean, I'm American, so of course I'm Christian, you know. Of course. I was baptized as a kid, so of course I'm Christian. It's just sort of a steady drift. Steady drift from true relationship with the maker of the world. He's bringing this thing home and the understanding of angels and Jesus. In verse 5, he says, For it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, for which we are speaking. It has been testified somewhere what is man that you are mindful of him, or the Son of Man that you care for him. You made him for a little while lower than the angels, you have crowned him with honor, with glory and honor, putting everything in subjection under his feet. Now, in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present we do not yet see everything in subjection to him, but we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. You know, don't disconnect chapter one from chapter two here. It's wild to think that you know who Jesus is, that he's the exact imprint, he's the radiance of his glory, he's all of these things. Yet he's humbled himself to be made lower than the angels, as he puts on human flesh, he submits himself to being a man. And so, in this crazy understanding of Scripture, he is both fully man. We'll read that he's made in every respect to be just like his brothers. Yet we've also read he is the exact imprint of the Father, the exact imprint of God. So, what this passage is getting at, and I wonder if this was maybe the debate, is that as Jesus was a man and was crucified, is he lower than the angels because he put on human flesh? And what the author is getting at is that no, not at all. That he puts on human flesh, that he humbles himself to this low place, that he might experience suffering and death and taste death for our sake, but ultimately he is seated at the right hand of the Father. And so he's wanting to bring just sort of clarity that do not think because Jesus was crucified that he is weak. Do not think because Jesus bled that he is just a mere man. Do not think that he is the same as one of the prophets or he is a high priest. Do not get confused. Do not let the picture of crucifixion confuse you on who Jesus is. Man, is there a lot of strange views that people can have when it comes to Jesus? Well, think that he was just a nice guy. He is a nice guy, but he's not merely a nice guy. He was not just a teacher. He was not just a prophet. Jesus was not here so that he could usher in socialism. Jesus did not come here that he might show some magic tricks. Do not be fooled. Jesus is very much the creator of the universe and has the power and the might that is worth having a reverent fear and awe of. He is the one that will sit in the judgment seat. Do not minimize who Christ is. Do not be fooled, that though he humbles himself, that he is lowly and weak. But for a little while he was made lower than the angels, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by grace of God he might taste death for everyone. Again, to marry these two chapters together, when you know who he is, that he's all those things in verses one through four, and yet at the same time, what he did, it just makes it even better. I can't fully wrap my mind around this, but the creator of all things, the savior of the world, says, I'm going to put on human flesh and I'm going to spend years with human beings, and I'm going to have these 12 disciples, and they're going to say the dumbest stuff. And I want you to picture that you are the God of the universe. And you have Peter and James and John. And they're so annoying at times in the scriptures. I'm annoyed with humanity as a human. I can only imagine being perfect and blameless and ultimate power and humbling myself to walk amongst them for relationship's sake. And to endure the things that he endures, to have the conversations he has. Ultimately knowing that the entire purpose of him putting on flesh that he could become man was for the purpose that he might die for man. Wild. Wild that the radiance of God's glory clothes himself in human flesh for the purpose that he might die for you and I. And the saddest part is we get saved, we hear the good news, we celebrate, we rejoice in that, and then we drift away. That he even knows you and cares for you and loves you. And he's done all of this. And I just wonder if Jesus is like a two out of ten on the scale for us, what what do we not understand? What do we not want to give up? How in the world could we have other things rated higher than the God man who put on human flesh and tasted death for us? I gotta read through this passage and hurry this thing along here a little bit. Verse 10, for it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering. For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers, saying, I will tell of your name to my brothers in the midst of the congregation, I will sing your praise, and again I will put my trust in him, and again, behold, I and the children God has given me. Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. For surely it is not angels that he helps, amen, but he helps the offspring of Abraham, that's us. Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest, again, greater than the priest of old, in the service of God to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. All of that to say, Jesus, Son of God, puts on human flesh, dies for you and I, that we might be made right. And my biggest prayer is that we would not approach that casually. We would not just let that be old news. We would not let that just be a sub-quest that we take in life to add Jesus into some things. That Jesus wouldn't just be a topping we sprinkle on top of our lives, but it is the main substance of everything. I just want us to hold him and value him the way he's worth. Put him in that proper place in our soul, make him the number one priority of all things. Because the God, man, put on flesh and died for us. And somehow that's become old news. I want to close up our time doing what Jesus asked us to do, which is when we gather to partake in communion together. And it is that remembering of him putting on human flesh for us. And it can be tempting to approach even this pretty casually and flippantly, go, okay, I've done this before. Let's open up this little, you know, Christian lunchable thing, and we're gonna take a bite of the cracker, and we're gonna go, oh, what how does this taste? You know, what does the juice taste? And we we can make it about this, and we do the prayer thing. But again, this the whole principle here seeing Jesus for who he truly is, which is that he's greater, greater than anything and everything. And so if you would just picture with me the creator and sustainer of life, puts on human flesh, walks amongst human beings, and the people he creates, the Roman soldiers he's allowing to breathe air. Strip him of his clothing, beat him, mock him, hurl insults at him. As they whip him, the rocks and shards of glass that are on the ends of their whips are pulling back the flesh upon his back. They place on him the cross for him to carry wood that he created. If I'm if I'm Jesus, I just go let's not make trees. Let's not let's not do that anymore. But he bears his cross, stripped naked, nails driven through his wrists and through his feet. He hangs naked, spit upon, mocked, and every movement, right, just sort of expands the gaping hole where those nails are driven through. As he pushes to relieve the pressure of his wrists, he pushes with his feet. His ankles hurt more. As he comes back down, the pressure sits again on his wrists. And yet, he's the radiance of God's glory. He's the sustainer of everything. That's why Jesus said in Luke 22, when he had his disciples around, he says, Take this, divide it among yourself. For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes. And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, This is my body, which is given for you. Given for you. Do this in remembrance of me. So I don't want us to take this casually. But let's partake. And as we bite, as you crunch, Jesus, we think of your body. Hanging on that cross. Lord, we remember you, we honor you. Jesus, your back just being open from the the whips and the rough texture of that cross. The splinters of it driving in. The crown of thorns placed upon your head. The mockery. Jesus, we say thank you for your body. The second part of this He says, likewise, the cup. They had our they had been eating, saying, This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant and my blood. Right? The ways of old. The ways of the prophets, the ways of the sacrificing of the goats and the sheep, and and the paying your way through, and the continual needing to sacrifice for sin and to atone for sin. This is the new covenant. This blood that will be shed, this cup that will be poured out is for you. That the old way might be done, that you don't need to come back again and again and again. It's paid once and for all. So this covenant, that's his blood. It takes our sin, our transgression, and somehow, somehow covers that and turns it white as snow. Holy, blameless, perfect in God's sight, creating relationship. So, Jesus, we acknowledge your body that was broken on our behalf, and we thank you for the blood that makes us pure, that makes us whole. We don't want to turn back to any other way. We don't want to fall back into old traps, into old ways of living. We acknowledge this new covenant, the beauty of it. We hold you as greater than all things as we partake of this. Jesus, we thank you for your blood and that new covenant that it represents. Let's partake. Lord, I pray that we would just hold you as greater in our lives. As greatest. Lord, I just apologize for every day where I've fallen into the trap that I'm the main character. That my ideas are most important, my way is getting is the most important. Jesus, would you be the center of everything? Because you already are. Align my mind, align my heart around this truth that we know. Jesus, we hold you greater than everything this world has to offer. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.