“JESUS IS GREATER THAN ANGELS” Hebrews 1:1-14 (NLT) Based on Pastor Love Saquing’s sermon on October 4, 2020

Through this devotion series written by Pastor Jim and Pastor Love, we invite the Brookdale family to focus on the promises of God’s Word together. We reflect on the previous Sunday’s sermon and provide thought-provoking questions to help you apply the lessons to your daily life. As we each read it from wherever God has planted us in this season, we pray that He will bring you a new sense of hope, clarity, and peace.

Do you believe that angels exist? When I was a boy, my dad, younger brother and I went on a bike ride down Broad Street. My dad and brother were riding on my dad’s bike, and I was behind them on my little blue Schwinn bike. Suddenly, my dad’s 10-speed bike hit a deep pothole that caused my dad to crash his bike, tossing my brother onto the pavement and throwing my dad onto the blacktop. He hit the left side of his face on the road and got a deep gash above his left eye and forehead. I remember my brother lying on his belly in the middle of the road, crying in shock and fear.

When I saw the accident happen in front of me, I stopped my bike but, as a little kid, I didn’t know what to do. My dad told me later that another “biker” came out of nowhere, stopped and then rang the doorbell of someone’s house right next to the street, who in turn called 911 and got the police and EMT to come. Who was this mystery biker? Where did he come from? Thankfully, after a trip to the ER both my Dad and brother were stitched up and on the road to full recovery. To this day my dad believes it was an angel from the Lord that helped us.

Do you believe in angels? And if you do, what’s your favorite angel story? Maybe it’s a hopeful movie like “Angels In the Outfield” or “The Preacher’s Wife” or the popular 90’s TV show, “Touched By An Angel.”

As Christians we know that the Bible clearly documents manifestations of these heavenly beings throughout the scriptures. The Hebrew word for “angel” is malakh and in Greek it’s aggelos, both basically meaning “messenger.” These “angels” or “messengers” of the Lord are mentioned numerous times in the Old and New Testaments. We know that angels are a reality within the Bible.

But they can be a reality in our own lives, too. Hebrews 13:2 says, “Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it!” You and I might actually meet an angel of the Lord and not know it unless we’re spiritually aware of our surroundings. So, at times as Christians, we may get overly focused on the possibility of having an angel encounter. And the writer of Hebrews knew that this might have been an issue for his Jewish audience. The author begins his case to show the preeminence of Christ by contrasting the Son of God and angelic messengers.

As we begin our sermon series in the book of Hebrews, we review Hebrews 1:1-14. The first thing we see is that Jesus’ identity compared to angels is clear. (See vv. 1-4.) This is an opening statement about the case of Christ’s supremacy that he is about to start in chapter 1.

God used to speak to us through the prophets, as it says in verse 1: “Long ago God spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets.” The Jewish scriptures included the Torah (or the Law), the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Old Testament), poetry books, and minor and major prophetic books. These all informed the religious and spiritual knowledge of the Jewish audience that the author of Hebrews was writing to.

But then the author of Hebrews makes his main point stating that God now speaks to us through His Son. In verse 2 it says, “And now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his Son.” This is key for us to understand. Instead of speaking through the various writers through the ancient Jewish scriptures, God sent us in these “final days” ONE person to clearly communicate God the Father’s message to the world: His Son, Jesus Christ!

But you may ask, “Does that mean that the Old Testament is obsolete and should be disregarded completely?” The answer can be found in Matthew 5:17 when Jesus says, “Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the Law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose.”

In the next portion Jesus’ contrast to angels is obvious (vv. 5-12). The bottom line is essentially that Jesus is God’s Son (vv. 5-6). What I love about these verses referring to Old Testament scriptures is that they show that significant connection that a father has to his son.

And within the Hebrew writer’s arguments is the fact that angels are God’s servants. Verse 7 quoting Psalm 104:4 says, “He sends his angels like the winds, his servants like flames of fire.” The author quotes this Old Testament scripture that refers to angels and “servants” in Hebrews 1, which is significant. It’s easy to almost deify these angelic characters, but remember they are merely created beings like us, who by the way are not recipients of the salvation that God has given to us through His Son, Jesus!

1 Peter 1:12 shows this saying, “They (angels) were told that their messages were not for themselves, but for you. And now this Good News has been announced to you by those who preached in the power of the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. It is all so wonderful that even the angels are eagerly watching these things happen.”

The author continues his case, saying that Jesus is the King and Creator (vv. 8-12). Verse 10 quotes Psalm 102: “He also says to the Son, ‘In the beginning, the Lord, you laid the foundation of the earth and made the heavens with your hands.” Ultimately, the author wants readers to understand one thing: Jesus is the eternal King anointed by God the Father AND Jesus is the eternal Creator who is the privileged Son of God sitting at God’s right hand.

The final argument in this first chapter of Hebrews asserts that Jesus’ position to angels is unparalleled (vv. 13-14). Verse 13 says quoting Psalm 110, “And God never said to any of the angels, ‘Sit in the place of honor at my right hand…” basically stating that Jesus is God the Father’s privileged Son. There’s a strong familial feel that you can’t deny about the relationship between the Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus.

Then the writer comes to a vital conclusion that angels are servants to God’s people and His salvation. Verse 14 reads, “Therefore, angels are only servants—spirits sent to care for people who will inherit salvation.” We must take the mystery out of our perspective of angels and understand that they exist for this particular purpose: TO SERVE GOD AND HIS PEOPLE.

If I were to sum up what Hebrews 1 is teaching us, it is this: As Christians, we must recognize that Jesus, the Son of God is greater than any angels, who are essentially messengers of the Gospel message and caretakers of those who follow Jesus.

So, what can we learn and apply to our live from Hebrews 1? Here a couple of lessons that the Lord brought to my mind.

• Lesson #1: Believe that Jesus is the exact reflection of God the Father. Sometimes people have a hard time following or believing in Jesus as the Son of God. He’s definitely a great religious teacher, a wonderful moral example, and a meaningful spiritual guru. But Jesus Himself experienced the same thing with his audience that He spoke to. He had to remind His disciples in John 14:11: “Just believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. Or at least believe because of the work you have seen me do.” Ultimately, if we believe that Jesus is greater than the angels, then we need to also believe that He is the exact reflection of the Father. As Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 1:12, “Some of you are saying, ‘I am a follower of Paul.’ Others are saying, ‘I follow Peter,’ or ‘I follow only Christ.’”

• Lesson #2: Understand that angels exist to serve Jesus and His followers. (See Hebrews 1:7, 14.) As we know in the Bible, angels were essentially messengers of the Lord, sent to earth at specific times for specific purposes, usually to give a divine message to individuals directly from God. Twice in Hebrews 1 the author refers to the angels as “servants.” Hebrews 1:7 quoting Psalm 104:4 says, “He sends his angels like the winds, his servants like flames of fire.” Hebrews 1:14 refers to Joshua 10:24: “Therefore, angels are only servants—spirits sent to care for people who will inherit salvation.”

So we need to be reminded not to worship angels who are created beings like humans, but instead we must worship Jesus as the Son of God, who is both our Creator (John 1) and our Savior (John 3). In fact, the author of Hebrews refers to Psalm 97:7 in Hebrews 1:6 saying “Let all of God’s angels worship him.” We should do the same . . . worship the Son!

As I reflect on that day that my dad and brother got in that bike accident, I remember that miraculously there was no ongoing traffic that morning on Broad Street. And mysteriously after help arrived for my injured dad and brother, the other “biker” disappeared. What the three of us believe is that the Lord was really the One looking over us and if it was truly an angel that came to help us that day, then he was sent by Jesus to save my dad and brother from harm. In fact, that “angel biker” (assuming he was an angel) was merely doing God’s work in serving and protecting God’s people to bring glory to Jesus.

Have you been looking for some guardian angelic to enter into your life to help and save you? Or have you been trusting in the ONE who created the angels who serve God and us, His people? Trust in Jesus!

Blessings,

Pastor Love

Read previous devotions by visiting www.brookdalechristian.com/devotions.