Jesus Is Far Better than Angels - 2

The opening verses of the book of Hebrews, as you know, compare Christ to the Old Testament prophets.

The author of Hebrews does not bother with a salutation and a greeting at the beginning of this epistle, written to Hebrew Christians somewhere in the first century world, but he plunges right into his subject matter and begins by telling us that God in times past spoke to the fathers, that would be of course the Jewish forefathers, by prophets in many ways, in many portions, a little here, a little more, a little more, a little more, sometimes speaking to them through angels, sometimes by dreams and visions, sometimes by an audible voice, but speaking to those whom God had chosen to be his prophets, to be his mouthpiece, his spokesman to men and women, and they took the Word of God and they proclaimed it to others. That's how the Word of God came to pass, came into being in the past, but in these last days, he tells us, God has spoken to us by his Son. The words of Christ and the words spoken by the apostles of Christ, which are an extension of the words that were spoken to Christ, have become the ultimate and final revelation of God to mankind. And therefore, though what the prophets said is the Word of God and it's all important, it was not complete until Jesus came and completed the picture and showed what all those Old Testament prophets were pointing to and talking about and he fulfilled all that and he brought in the completion of God's revelation to mankind and now we must pay attention to the Son and to what he has given us or we will not know God and we will not know his salvation. And so the Son is greater than the prophets.

He's the greatest of God's revelation and the final part of God's revelation to mankind. And then the next several chapters of the book of Hebrews relate a comparison of Christ to others, comparing him to angels, comparing him to Moses, comparing him to Aaron, comparing him to Levi and so forth. But angels come first and that is found in the first two chapters of the book of Hebrews. Christ is better than the angels. That's what we read in verse 4. Who having become so much better than the angels, he has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. Christ is better than the angels, the first use of that word better which will be found 13 times in the book of Hebrews. He's better than the angels.

Now that might strike us as a little bit unusual to start with the angels. We can understand why the writer of Hebrews would compare Christ to Moses or to the other Old Testament prophets or to Aaron, the first great high priest and so forth. But our minds don't usually run to angels as an object of great importance. And yet in the days in which this book was composed, the Jewish people of that day had a very high regard for angels. They esteemed them much more highly than we do. They surveyed what the Bible said about them much more than we do.

They speculated about them much more than we do, in some cases I think beyond what they had biblical warrant to consider about them. But they recognized the angels as the highest of God's creation. They certainly seemed to be much higher than mankind. They are glorious. They are majestic. They are powerful.

They can move with lightning speed. And in the minds of those early Jews, the angels gave the bulk of the Old Testament revelation. We see a few examples recorded in the Old Testament when angels spoke the word of God, but we don't see many. In fact, a lot of times when the word of God is spoken, we're not told exactly how it was communicated to the prophets who gave it to us. We read things like the word of the Lord came into me saying, but we don't always know exactly in what form the word of the Lord came to that prophet. Did that prophet hear God speak to him?

Did that come in a vision? How did that prophet hear the word of God that he now says the word of the Lord came to me saying? Well, the early Jews seemed to believe that most of the time it was angels who delivered that word to the prophets. And so in their minds, the angels were exceedingly honored and preeminent in the order of God. And therefore, to tell them, to remind them something that these who were Hebrew Christians should have already known, that Jesus Christ was higher than the angels was a very significant matter. Because, of course, what they knew of Jesus Christ primarily had to do with his incarnation, his earthly existence, when he was a man in the form of a man. He took that upon him, didn't he, in order to redeem mankind.

And so he seemed like a man. Men and women, humankind seems lower than the angels. And indeed, we are until God elevates us to a higher position. And so here is Jesus Christ who takes on the nature of a human being who is lower than the angels. But if we're going to understand him aright, we need to be convinced that he is much, much, much, much higher than the angels. And so the rite of Hebrews begins there, having become so much better than the angels, as he has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. Now, it's interesting to look at the language carefully in verse four that I just read to you twice now. And you can realize that the rite of Hebrews is not simply saying that Jesus Christ in his eternal deity is higher than the angels. Nobody would have thought otherwise. But he is telling us that Jesus Christ in his glorified humanity is better than the angels.

Look at that language again. Having become, not having eternally been, but having become. There was something that brought him to this position. Having become so much better than the angels as he by inheritance. This is something that he received. His inheritance, his reward for the work of redemption. That next word obtained.

He didn't always have it, but he obtained a more excellent name than they. So what are we saying? What we're doing is looking at the Lord Jesus Christ according to his two natures.

What A.W. Pink calls his essential being and his mediatorial being. His essential being is who he is as eternal deity, without beginning, without end, always existed.

Almighty God, the second member of the triune Godhead, one God in three persons, that mysterious truth that no mind is fully able to comprehend. And in that being, in his essential being, of course he's better than the angels. Of course he's higher than the angels. But now we need to understand that in his mediatorial being, as he became incarnate, as he walked upon the earth, as he took upon himself human nature, as he died, as only men can die, angels don't die, as he suffered in this way in his humanity and then was raised and was ascended and exalted to the place of glory and power, that it is in that position, in his glorified exaltation, that he has become as a glorified man better than the angels. Before he was glorified to that position, he wasn't higher than the angels, he was lower. He humbled himself and became obedient, took upon him the form of a servant, was made in the likeness of men, was found in fashion as a man, was lower than the angels.

But now, having become, now, by inheritance, now, having obtained a more excellent name than they. I think it was also pink that I found to be fairly helpful in my study of Hebrews so far. I think it was also pink, though I may be confusing this with another commentator, so don't quote me on this, but one of the commentaries said that verse four is the text and the rest of the chapter is the exposition of the text. Verse four makes the declaration that Jesus Christ is better than the angels, he's higher than the angels, and then the evidence for that, the proof of that, the manifestation of that is given to us over the next several verses. And in fact, for the rest of chapter one, you have seven Old Testament quotations that are dealt with, and that was a little more than I thought we could chew off today. I'm going to try to bite off and chew five of them, and that may be a challenge, but that will take us approximately two-thirds of the way through the chapter.

And then, Lord willing, we can finish it up next week. But having declared Christ to be higher than the angels, then the writer of Hebrews begins to say, here's the evidence, proof number one, proof number two, proof number three, proof number four, proof number five is where we're going to conclude today. And so what are these evidences that Jesus Christ is superior in every way to the holy, majestic, powerful angels?

Well, here's the evidence. Number one, he is the begotten son, quoting Psalm 2, 7, verse 5. For to which of the angels did he, that is, God, ever say, You are my son? Today I have begotten you. Jesus is the begotten son. The angels are not begotten sons.

Which of the angels did he say, Today I have begotten you? Now, there are a couple of things about this text that we have to think about. First of all, we need to think about the use of that word son. It's used and applied to a number of different persons in the scriptures, isn't it? We're certainly familiar with the fact that Jesus Christ is the son of God.

And he said to be that over and over and over again. So we know that the word son applies to Jesus Christ, but we also know that the word son applies to Christians. We are the sons of God.

And that's stated over and over and over again. And furthermore, there are others in the Bible that are called sons of God. For example, did you remember that Adam was called the son of God? Got to find my text here in Luke chapter 3, if I can pull it out.

Here it is. Luke chapter 3 verse 7. Going through that genealogy, Luke starts with Christ's birth. And then he traces the genealogy back, back, back, back, back through all the generations of the Old Testament. And it ends up, and of course the genealogy also specifies so and so as the son of is the son of is the son of. Verse 36, the son of Canaan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech, the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahaleel, the son of Canaan, the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God. Adam is called the son of God. So Jesus is the son of God. Christians are the sons of God. Adam is the son of God. And, yes, angels are also called sons of God several times in the Old Testament.

I'll just read one in Job 1.6. Now there was a day when the, listen, sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord and Satan also came among them. And this is angels, both holy and fallen angels who are coming to report to God and to give an account of themselves to God and to be questioned by God. And they are called, even Satan, are called sons of God. Now what does that mean? Because that's important.

It comes up in this text. To which of the angels did he ever say, you are my son? Today I have begotten you and yet in the book of Job angels are called sons of God.

Well, we have to understand the distinctive use of the word son. All of these other references besides, except for the one that applies to Jesus Christ, refer to divine creation. Start with Adam. He's the only one that didn't have a father. So and so begets, so and so begets, so and so begets, so and so, but who begets Adam? God created him directly. He came into existence by the direct creative act of Almighty God. God created Adam. God created Eve. God joined them together in marriage. Then they had children.

They had sons and daughters which traced their lineage back to their parents. But Adam had no parent, no father, human father to trace his lineage back to. He came into existence by the direct creative act of God, therefore called a son of God. Christians in the new birth are called sons of God.

Why? Because what makes a son of God is the direct creative work of the Holy Spirit to create a new creature, to create something new within us. We are made by the act of creation, the sons of God. We weren't until we were brought into union with Christ.

We were anything but that. We were fallen, sinful sons and daughters of Adam, and we're reminded of that over and over again in the Bible. We are of Adam's fallen line until God intervenes with the work of his Holy Spirit and creates something new.

And that something new now is a son of God, daughter of God. Direct creation. And in that sense, the angels are also sons of God because they weren't brought into this world by parentage. They are all, every one of them, created by a direct act of God. God said, let there be and there was.

We're not given a record of when and how. Well, we know how, but when the angels were created, we know they were created by God. But God spoke and they came into existence by the direct creative act of God. And so in that sense, they are sons of God. And by the way, they're only called sons of God in the plural. They are sons of God, just like Christians are saints of God, but the word saints are always in the plural in the Bible. So it's not probably exactly correct to say, I am St. Gregory, but it is certainly correct for me to say, that I am one of the saints. And every born again child of God is a saint and we are saints together. But Jesus Christ is obviously a son of God in a distinctively different way than any of these others that I've mentioned. You are, said God to Jesus Christ, you are my son, my special son, my unique son, my supreme son, my eternal son, who has always been the son of the Father.

You are my son. Today I have begotten you. And that brings us therefore also to consider that term begotten, begotten son of God.

And what does that mean? And we have to understand that both of these, the term son as it's used in this sense and the term begotten son and the term firstborn son, that we find elsewhere in Scripture, all of these are to be understood primarily as a reference to an honored position. What could be more highly honored than to be the son of God? You, Jesus, are my son.

Today I have begotten you. You see that term begotten doesn't point so much to an act of conception as we generally think of it. The Bible tells us that Jesus is God's only begotten son, that he didn't become the only begotten son of God by being conceived in the womb of the Virgin Mary. He was the only begotten son of God before he was conceived in the womb of the Virgin Mary.

Think carefully, we really have to think through these things, but think carefully of the exact language of that familiar John 3 16. For God so loved the world that he gave his son by begetting him. No, he didn't become his only begotten son when he was begotten in the womb of the Virgin Mary. For God so loved the world that he gave the one who was his only begotten son and he gave him to become encapsuled in the womb of the Virgin Mary and to come into this world. But he was always God's only begotten son. It actually speaks of honor. This term son or this term begotten son, both of them are a way of bestowing honor.

Let me just show you one other example that will address this use of the word. In Exodus 4 22, God said to Moses, as he's preparing him to go challenge Pharaoh, he says, then you shall say to Pharaoh, thus says the Lord, thus says the Lord, Israel is my son. Israel is my son. The nation of Israel is my son. This is an honored position. And then he goes on to say, my firstborn. Well, again, you see, it doesn't have anything to do with birth, physical birth, as we think of it. That's the honored position.

Now, sometimes the two go together. In the birth order, as we see it in Israel, the son that was born first had the highest position as the firstborn. But there were times when that firstborn position was removed from the one who was born first and given to the second so that Jacob becomes the firstborn, but he was born second.

And that's Jacob and Esau. And I'm trying to think of the other example of that is it doesn't come to me right off the bat. But we find that kind of usage in Scripture. So we realize that as it's used here and as it's used elsewhere in Scripture at times, so we realize that this is the way it unfolds here. Other uses in Scripture point us to this use of the word son. It's a position of honor. Begotten son. It's a position of honor. The firstborn son, which also comes up in this passage, is a position of honor. All these are ways of saying that Jesus Christ is more highly honored than any of the angels. That brings us to one more phrase in this first quotation from Psalm 2 verse 7 in Hebrews 1 5. You are my son. Today I have begotten you.

What does that refer to? Probably the day of his exaltation. The day of his enthronement.

The day when he left earth and ascended to heaven and was positioned back on the throne in the place of glory and honor that he had before he came to earth. And then he was declared to be the firstborn son of God with honor. Today I have begotten you. That is, today I have placed you in the highest position of the begotten and in his case the only begotten because there's only one who holds the position of the begotten son of God in this high sense.

There's no second one that can be called begotten of God in this way. And so putting all this together in the first quotation, we're talking about Christ's superiority to the angels. For to which of the angels did he ever say, you are my son. Today I have begotten you. And the main point is that these exalted terms, son and only begotten, or the begotten son of God, belong to Christ in a sense that they never could, never have, and never will belong to angels. He's better than the angels because to which of the angels has he ever said, you are my son. Today I have begotten you.

I have placed you in the position of highest honor. So the begotten son is the first evidence, but we must move on. Number two, we have the beloved son, first the begotten son and then the beloved son, the last part of verse five, where it says, and again, so now we're going to have another quotation. And again, God says, I will be to him a father and he shall be to me a son. Now this quotation comes from Second Samuel 7 14.

And again, you have to really dig into it to understand it. But verse 14 of Second Samuel says, I will be his father and he shall be my son. We recognize that language right here in Hebrews. If he commits iniquity, I will trace any with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men. Now, to understand this passage and what it means and how it applies to Jesus, we really have to back up to, I think, at least verse 12. And this is the Nathan prophet speaking to David, the words that God told Nathan to speak to David. So it's God speaking to David about his kingdom, but more importantly, about his. His continuing kingdom, not only the throne while he's alive and on it, but the throne as it continues on with his descendants, his son Solomon and others.

You'll catch that when I read beginning in verse 12. When your days are fulfilled, David, and you rest with your fathers. I will set up your seat after you who will come from your body and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father and he shall be my son. So God is taking, in this case, Solomon of David, and he is making him God's son, putting him in a position of high honor.

God's son, not his only begotten son, but his son, a high position of honor. I will be his father and he shall be my son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men. But my mercy shall not depart from him as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from before you. And verse 16, your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever. According to these words and according to all this vision, so Nathan spoke to David. Now it's clear there's something is rising beyond David who's going to die, and even beyond Solomon who follows David and who builds the temple, and because he's the son of David receives special honor.

But there's something else. This throne is going to go on forever and ever and ever. It will never end. And yet we come to a time in Israel's history when there are no kings upon the throne. There is no throne. There is no kingdom. The nation is scattered.

How is that possible? And then we learn from scripture that the Messiah promised my God is of the line of David, and is David's, and is often called by Bible students, by theologians, David's greater son, and he is the son of David who actually fulfills these promises. And Jesus comes to bring in a kingdom which is David's kingdom, and which is inaugurated, the inauguration begins with the coming of Christ, and will culminate in the second coming of Christ, but there's plenty of scripture to indicate that it actually begins with the first coming of Christ. When he came, he was from that point on sitting on David's throne, and he'll never quit sitting on that throne, and that throne will go on to the end of time and on into eternity.

It is indeed an eternal throne, isn't it? And this is what God said to David's son, and this turns out to be fulfilled in David's greater son, who is the Messiah, Jesus Christ. So to which of the angels did God ever say anything like this? I will be to him. Gabriel?

Michael? Angels? Did God ever say to them, I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son? No, but he said that to David and David's son, and more importantly, to David's greater son, his eternal son, who sits upon the eternal throne of David.

God said that to him. Therefore, wouldn't you agree that this one, to whom God said these things, is greater than the angels? So, proof number one, Psalm 2-7. Proof number two, 2 Samuel 7-14. Proof number three, Psalm 97-7.

That brings us to verse six. But when he brings the firstborn into the world, again, notice that, the firstborn, he brings him into the world. He is the firstborn.

That's a position of honor. When he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, let the angels of God worship him, the worshiped son. Number one, the begotten son, Psalm 2-7. Number two, the beloved son, or rather, 2 Samuel 7-14. Number three, the worshiped son, Psalm 97-7, and it's quoted in Hebrews from the Septuagint translation, which differs a little bit probably from the wording you will find in your Bible. But we'll just focus upon the quotation of it here in Hebrews chapter 1 verse 6. When he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, let all the angels of God worship him.

And of course, that raises questions. Again, what's the meaning? What's the use of this word firstborn? It's talking about when Jesus was born of Mary. But as I've already showed you, no, it speaks about title of honor that is given to him. In Jeremiah 3-19, I'm not going to turn to that now, God calls Ephraim his firstborn. He uses that language for people that have nothing to do with their physical birth.

But it's a position of honor. God says, I'm going to make him the firstborn. I'm going to call him the firstborn. I'm going to honor him as the firstborn.

I'm going to put him in the first position. He's the firstborn. He holds the position of the firstborn. And when he brings the firstborn, verse 6, into the world, he says, let all the angels of God worship him. Now, another question of this text is, what is the meaning of that word again?

And there are two lines of thought. When he brings the firstborn into the world again, verse 6 says, when he again brings the firstborn into the world, has been thought by some to be referring to the second coming, not the first coming. He brought him into the world the first time. When he brings him into the world again, then the angels of God will be commanded to worship him.

However, I can't dogmatically say that that's not the meaning, but it doesn't fit the context. And we already had that phrase used in verse 5, didn't we? Verse 5, to which of the angels did he say, you are my son, to thee I have begotten you. And a second quotation, both in verse 5, and again, citing now a second verse, the first one in Psalms, the second one in 2 Samuel, and again, I will be to him a father and he shall be to me a son. And therefore, verse 6, and again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, let all the angels of God worship him.

I think clearly the idea is, here's a third proof text. We had one in Psalms, one in 2 Samuel, now we have a third one that's in Psalms, this time in Psalm 97. But that's a little bit of a sidetrack, because to the point of the text, it doesn't matter whether it's talking about the first coming or the second coming. What it's saying is, God commanded angels to worship this one, the Messiah, the Son. The Son is to be worshiped by angels.

Now angels themselves are not worshiped. When we get to the end of our Revelation study on Sunday nights, I'm sure Pastor Carnes will point this out. But in the 22nd chapter of Revelation, I've got too many texts today, I can't keep track of all of these pages. I'm going to have to do it the old-fashioned way and turn my pages of Scripture to Revelation 22, because I have lost my page. Revelation 22, verse 8, Now I, John, saw and heard these things, and when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things.

These angels are glorious, they are majestic, they are awesome. And John fell down to worship this being that seemed almost God-like. Verse 9, Then he said to me, See that you do not do it, for I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren the prophets, and of those who keep the words of the book. Worship God, meaning worship God alone. Don't worship angels. No one is to be worshipped but God alone. But when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, Let all the angels of God worship Him.

The point of the text is not whether this is the first or second coming of Christ, but that the Son is to be worshipped by angels. Angels who themselves refuse to be worshipped because they know they should not worship anyone but God. But Christ, the Son, is to be worshipped by angels. Obviously, He's superior to the angels. If the angels are to worship Him, He doesn't worship them.

But the implications of the text even go beyond that. Only God is to be worshipped. That's how the Ten Commandments begin. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them nor worship them. Only God, the one true and living God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, is the only one who is to be worshipped. Worshipping anyone or anything besides God Almighty is blasphemy.

Only God is to be worshipped. But God commands the angels to worship this one. Therefore, Jesus Christ must be God.

In fact, it's shown another way here. By the text that is quoted, we realize the Old Testament commanded the angels to worship God. But in that context, in the Old Testament, it was Jehovah. But Hebrews applies this command to Jesus Christ. Therefore, Jesus Christ is Jehovah. Therefore, Jesus Christ is God. Therefore, Jesus Christ is certainly superior to the angels. Number four.

Number four. Not only the worshipped Son, but number four, the created angels, verse seven. And of the angels, he says, now this quotation from Psalm 104, verse four.

Of the seven Old Testament quotations in the first chapter, I think five of them are from the Psalms. So now from Psalm 104, verse four. And of the angels, he says, and here's the quotation, who makes his angels spirits and his ministers a flame of fire. The Old Testament text, Psalm 104, verse four, tells us that angels are spirits. He makes his angels spirits. That word could also be translated wind.

Same word. But he makes his angels spirits, or wind, and he also makes them a flaming fire. This tells us something about the nature and character of angels. They are swift like the wind. They are not bound by material constraints.

That's why they can travel through space at incredible distances just like that. Furthermore, they serve Jehovah. But the point is they are made by God. They are created beings. He, God, makes his angels spirits. They're spirits because he made them that way. He makes them a flaming fire. By the way, that also points to the fact that they are messengers of judgment used by God to bring flaming judgment upon sinners.

They'll be very much involved in the great judgment of the final day. And so angels are swift. Angels are majestic. They are bright. They're shining. They're glorious.

They're flaming fire. They're instruments of God's judgment. They are powerful, but they are created.

They are made. As majestic and powerful as the angels are, they are made by God. They are created beings. And they are servants of Jehovah.

They go swiftly to carry out his commands. But God's Son is the superior to angels because he is worshipped by these great, glorious, majestic, powerful, impressive creatures. And the implication of that is that they are created and he is not. And what is implied here is stated clearly in the next citation. Number five, the last one we're going to look at today, the sovereign, uncreated son. So for those of you who are taking notes, I appreciate the fact that some mother said, make your notes more clear because my son is trying to take notes. And I say, bless his heart.

Let's help him out. Number one, the begotten son. Number two, the beloved son. Number three, the worshipped son. Number four, the created angels.

Number five, the sovereign, uncreated son. Verses eight and nine, two verses here, longer quote. It's Psalm 45 verses six and seven. And it goes with verse seven.

You have to just to position these two together. Of the angels, he says, who makes his angel spirits and his ministers a flame of fire, but by contrast to the son, he says, and here's the words that God Almighty, God the Father says to the son, your throne, O God. Who's saying that? God the Father is saying that to the son. Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness.

Therefore, God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness more than your companions. So number five, the sovereign, uncreated son. Angels are not sovereign sons and angels are not uncreated beings.

But this one is. The son's throne is eternal. A scepter of righteousness, the scepter is the symbol of royal authority.

And it is forever and ever, it is eternal. The son's throne is eternal, the son's throne is righteous, like no earthly throne ever has been. No matter how good, how moral, how godly is the person sitting upon the throne. And most of the time, we don't have people like that in positions of power in government.

We wish we did. But even when we do, they're not sinless beings. They're not perfect.

Oh, if we could only have so and so, that would change everything. Well, you just have a better sinner in the place of a worse sinner. I'd rather have a better sinner in the place of a worse sinner, wouldn't you? But, still sinners.

No human governor, ruler, king, president, vice president, senator, supreme court judge has ever fit this description. The son's throne is eternal, the son's reign is righteous. He exercises his rule in perfect righteousness. He, we are told, loves righteousness. He hates, we are told, lawlessness.

Now think about that just for a moment. He loves righteousness. That's even better than does righteously. Sometimes we can do what we know is right, but it's not because we really love it and want to. It's because we know we ought to.

Let's be honest about it. We wish our hearts always wanted and desired only to do what was right. But sometimes we say, I'll do it, but I'm not really enthusiastic about it. Like the little boy, his mother said, Johnny, you have misbehaved again. You go sit in the corner for 15 minutes and don't say a word. And he sits over there mumbling, I may be sitting on the outside, but I'm standing on the inside. We can obey like that, but Jesus never did. He always loved every righteous way.

He always loved every command of his father. Everything he didn't said, he did it because he loved righteousness and hated lawlessness. Sometimes we will decide against what is wrong, but again sometimes we have a little something within us that sort of is tugging in that direction, but we know better. So we obediently say no, that's good to obey because we know what's right and wrong and we have committed ourselves to doing what's right and not what's doing what's wrong. But how much better to have a perfectly sinless, perfectly sanctified heart that never desires anything but what is perfectly righteous, that never loves anything, that has anything that has the slightest bit of lawlessness or sinfulness attached to it.

That's the way we'll be in heaven. Here by the new birth we have been given the ability to say no to sin, but we don't always do it because we also have that Adamic man that is still being dragged along with us, but he doesn't rule us like he used to. But when we get in heaven he's going to be gone and there will be nothing but perfect righteousness, perfect desires, but you see Jesus had that while he was on the earth.

Everything he said, everything he did fit this description. He was perfectly righteous. He was the second Adam where the first Adam failed by sinning, the second Adam did not fail by being perfectly righteous.

He loved righteousness and hated lawlessness. And so the son's throne is eternal, the son's throne is righteous, the son's throne is the most highly exalted throne. God says I have anointed you to be the one above everything else.

Therefore your God has anointed you with the oil of gladness more than your companions. Again this has to do with his enthronement, his exaltation, his glorification. And so proof number five is that the son is sovereign and uncreated, the angels are not. Angels are not sovereign rulers. The son is the ultimate ruler. Therefore we have five strong proofs from scripture that Jesus Christ is better, way better, way, way, way better, way, way, way, way, way better than the angels.

I couldn't say it enough, could I? Angels have a high position in God's created order, we need to recognize that and perhaps acknowledge that more. They are majestic, powerful, imposing, impressive, created by God to a high order. But Jesus Christ, the man, is greater.

Jesus Christ is greater even in his capacity as the second Adam, the man. If angels worship him, and they do, aren't men who refuse to worship him foolish? Are you worshiping him? Holy, majestic angels, bow gladly to worship him. Puny, little, weak, frail, sinful, rebellious men and women refuse to do so.

It's not only foolish that is fatal. Those who refuse to worship the son are proud and rebellious and sinful and condemned. But you're alive, you're here, you can bow now, you can surrender now. You can embrace him now, you can worship him now. May God enable you to do so, shall we pray. Father, how we thank you for showing us this beautiful portrait of Jesus Christ, our Lord, our Redeemer, the one who died on the cross for us as to who he truly is. Lord, may every heart honor him, worship him, surrender to him, bow before him. By the work of your Spirit, we pray. Amen.