The Son Is Superior Series

October 27, 2002

First Church of the Brethren

H. Kevin Derr

Hebrews 1:5-14

“The Son is superior”

5For to which of the angels did God ever say, “You are my Son; today I have become

your Father “ Or again, “I will be his Father, and he will be my Son ” 6And again, when God

brings his firstborn into the world, he says, “Let all God’s angels worship him.” 7In speaking of

the angels he says, “He makes his angels winds, his servants flames of fire.” 8But about the Son

he says, “Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever, and righteousness will be the scepter of

your kingdom. 9You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God,

has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy.” 10He also says, “In the

beginning, O Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your

hands. 11They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment. 12You 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.” 13To which of the angels did God ever say, “Sit at my right hand until I

make your enemies a footstool for your feet” 14Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve

those who will inherit salvation?

Introduction

I. Review of Last Week:

A. God has gone to great lengths to speak to his people

1. In the past he spoke important words through prophets, men who God had

claimed for his purpose and who were attuned to hearing from God.

2. But God has taken action to speak to us today, he has gone to even greater

lengths to make sure that we are able to hear the message of God’s redemption

of humanity

A. He now speaks to us through his son, and who is his son?

1. He is the one who created the universe

2. He is heir of all things

3. He is the radiance of God

4. H is the exact representation of God

5. He sustains all things through his word

6. He has made for purification of sins

7 He is seated at the right had of the Majesty on High

8 He has humbled himself and because like us so that we could

hear from God

A. He is now exalted to the right hand of God

B. The message we heard in the past was important, the

message we have heard through the son is even more

important,

B. But as believers what have we done with this message? Have we paid great attention

to it, or do we treat it lightly?

II. Our Text for Today:

A. We will be looking at three groups of OT quotations, all of which address the

comparison of Jesus to the angels, the Son of God to Servants of God.

1. The first group will be Vs. 5 & 6

A. OT quotes include, Ps2:7 & 2 Samuel 7:14

B. These will provide evidence for Jesus’ divine sonship

2. The second group will be Vs. 7-12

A. Psalm 104:4, 45:6-7, 102:25-27& Psalm 110:1

B. This moves from the assertion of an idea to the argument for the idea

3. And the third group Vs. 13-14

A. Deut 32:43

B. This will assert Jesus superiority to the angels

B. We will essentially be looking at issues of Christ ology based in a Hebraic Christian

context, remember our author almost exclusively quotes from the Greek translation of

the OT, the LXX. Remember again, it is written to people who are believers, and who

are familiar with the OT scriptures.

Prayer

I. Jesus is superior to the angels. The author of Hebrews continues this assertion with a bit more

force than what he had in vs. 4. We again see the dependency on the OT for building a Christ

ology. At times it is easy to forget the Jewish origins of Christianity, the author of Hebrews will

not allow us to forget this, he draws heavily upon the Greek OT here to help us understand who

Jesus is.

A. For to which of the angels did God ever say, begins the first two OT quotations

1. The first comes from Psalm 2:7, and it reads, “You are my Son; today I have

become your Father”

A. Psalm 2, is a coronation psalm, a psalm used during the coronation of a

Davidic King

1. There was an understanding that the anointed king became a

“son of God”

2. While it was originally used at the enthronement of a king, it

also takes on a messianic theme, especially in light of the

promise that God makes to David through the prophet Nathan