ETERNALLY SUPREME
Opening Prayer
Lord, You are so far superior to angels.
Read HEBREWS 1:5–14
The Son Superior to Angels
5 For to which of the angels did God ever say,
“You are my Son;
today I have become your Father”[a]?
Or again,
“I will be his Father,
and he will be my Son”[b]?
6 And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says,
“Let all God’s angels worship him.”[c]
7 In speaking of the angels he says,
“He makes his angels spirits,
and his servants flames of fire.”[d]
8 But about the Son he says,
“Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever;
a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom.
9 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;
therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions
by anointing you with the oil of joy.”[e]
10 He also says,
“In the beginning, Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of your hands.
11 They will perish, but you remain;
they will all wear out like a garment.
12 You will roll them up like a robe;
like a garment they will be changed.
But you remain the same,
and your years will never end.”[f]
13 To which of the angels did God ever say,
“Sit at my right hand
until I make your enemies
a footstool for your feet”[g]?
14 Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?
Footnotes
- Hebrews 1:5 Psalm 2:7
- Hebrews 1:5 2 Samuel 7:14; 1 Chron. 17:13
- Hebrews 1:6 Deut. 32:43 (see Dead Sea Scrolls and Septuagint)
- Hebrews 1:7 Psalm 104:4
- Hebrews 1:9 Psalm 45:6,7
- Hebrews 1:12 Psalm 102:25-27
- Hebrews 1:13 Psalm 110:1
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Meditate
‘In everything He might have the supremacy.’ (Col 1:18). Remind yourself that however important other people or things may look, Jesus is supreme.
Think Further
We are now firmly in a time and place other than our own. This collection of Old Testament quotes is designed to demonstrate that Jesus is superior to angels, obviously an issue for the early community to whom this was addressed. Some Jewish scholars taught that at Sinai, the Law was mediated through angels, an idea which appears elsewhere in the Bible (Deut 33:2; Acts 7:53; Gal 3:19). In some situations it seems to have led to a tendency to worship angels (Col 2:18). While this is not an issue that troubles us today, we live with many challenges to the supremacy of Jesus and can find encouragement here to confront them. These passages introduce us to the idea of an eternal and victorious King.
We can easily acknowledge the truth at a theoretical level. The challenges come when we, like the first readers, have to work out what it means in practice. What does the universal supremacy of Jesus mean in our world? How does it play in a multi-faith culture dominated by pleas for tolerance and suggestions of hate crime? How does it stack up against the attractions of a consumer-oriented and entertainment-saturated society? How do we help our peers for whom Jesus is totally irrelevant to reconsider? Giving some thought to a sound presentation of the Christian faith will help, but a lot will lie in the strength of our own convictions, the depth of our relationship with Christ and the way in which our lifestyles demonstrate the conviction that Jesus has the first place. Perhaps this is a challenge to refocus our lives. The Son we meet here is worthy of our wholehearted worship and our unflinching commitment. That may well be costly in terms of our own personal sacrifice and the opposition we will face from others. Likewise, we are in exactly the same position as the first readers.
Apply
Review your plans for this week. How will you show the supremacy of Jesus?
Closing prayer
Lord, we Your people believe that Your throne is established and will endure forever. We worship You in unison with the angels.
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