It’s now just one week until Christmas! Christmas is so exciting for so many reasons. After all, you have presents carefully wrapped under the tree with your name on them! And some of the best food you’ll eat happens to be shared by friends and family. Whole neighborhoods are lit up with beautiful Christmas lights of every color. And the music reminds us of some great times with family.
Christmas is such a special time of year; part of the reason the time is so special is the angel's message. We sing about angels this time of year when we sing “Angels We Have Heard on High” or “Hark the Herald Angels Sing.” You cannot have Christmas without the angels.
Find Hebrews 1 with me, if you will. I don’t know how many brain cells you have devoted to angels, but Christmas is better because of the angels. And as we will see, Jesus is even better than the angels.
Today’s Scripture
“ having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.
5 For to which of the angels did God ever say,
“You are my Son,
today I have begotten you”?
Or again,
“I will be to him a father,
and he shall be to me a son”?
6 And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says,
“Let all God’s angels worship him.”
7 Of the angels he says,
“He makes his angels winds,
and his ministers a flame of fire.”
8 But of the Son he says,
“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever,
the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.
9 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;
therefore God, your God, has anointed you
with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.”
10 And,
“You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning,
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 like a robe you will roll them up,
like a garment they will be changed.
But you are the same,
and your years will have no end.”
13 And to which of the angels has he ever said,
“Sit at my right hand
until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”?
14 Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation” (Hebrews 1:4-14)?
When you read Hebrews, you’re likely reading a printed sermon (Hebrews 13:22). While most of us are used to hearing a sermon, Hebrews is one for you to read for your spiritual health and growth.
Hebrews was likely a sermon written to Jewish converts. We call them Messianic Jews today and these who are considering giving up on Jesus. The writer of Hebrews has one basic message: “Don’t give up! Christ is better. Go all the way with Him!” The whole theme of Hebrews is: Jesus is better. Or as the English Standard Version says it: Jesus is superior. Jesus is better than Moses. Jesus’ sacrifice is better (Hebrews 9:23). Jesus’ temple is better (Hebrews 7:22). Jesus makes for a better hope (Hebrews 7:19). And Jesus is better than the angels (Hebrews 1:4).
1. Let’s Talk about Angels
“ having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs” (Hebrews 1:4).
Many Christians claim to believe in the supernatural but think and live like skeptics. At one level, we find the supernatural world fascinating and wish to learn more or even see more. On another level, we are suspicious at some level of people who talk about seeing angels, demons, and supernatural beings frequently.
1.1 What Would You Think?
What would you think if a friend said their car overturned, pinning them underneath? Scared and alone on a deserted road with no cell coverage, they report a person showing up out of nowhere and flipping the vehicle over. Once your friend was safely out of the car, she turned to thank the hero stranger. But there was no one there despite the fact that she could see clearly for a mile in each direction. Many of us would initially doubt someone like this, I suspect. We would nod and listen politely to our friend’s heartfelt story, but the whole time we would seek other possible explanations. That’s because we insist on evidence in our day.
1.2 Angels, the Unseen Ones
There are angels around us, but we cannot see them because our eyes do not have that capacity. In the Old Testament, Elisha was surrounded by an army of angels and chariots of fire protecting him from the Syrians. But Elisha’s servant could not see those angels until God opened his eyes so that he could see things that existed in that spiritual dimension (2 Kings 6:17).
If you doubt that or if you think it’s fiction to believe angels are all around us, but we cannot see them, think about it: I cannot see microwaves, but I know my baked potato is cooked in a matter of seconds when I insert it in a microwave. I cannot see WIFI or Bluetooth, but I know my phone can share a photo with your phone without a physical connection. We know our eyes cannot always see all kinds of important waves. So how difficult would it be to believe there are angels all around our world, but they are physically unseen to our eyes?
1.3 What Have Angels Done in the Bible?
There are roughly 175 references to angels in the New Testament. Angels are mentioned in at least thirty-three books of the Bible. Now, the Bible tells us that angels are greater in power and might than us humans (2 Peter 2:11). It was an angel that appeared to Moses out of the burning bush and called Moses in service (Exodus 3:2). Remember, two angels sought to rescue Lot and his family out of evil Sodom (Genesis 19:1-10). The Bible says God will command His angels to guard you in all your ways (Psalm 91:11). So angels guard believers, but we are never told we are assigned a guardian angel in the pages of Scripture (Psalm 34:7). And Jesus tells us that angels of “little ones” always see the face of the Father in Heaven (Matthew 18:10). The Bible tells us that “…even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14).
1.4 Rockefeller Center
Each year, we think about the iconic locations of Christmas. We see images of Christmas in European cities or the fun of Christmas lights on a palm tree in Hawaii. Everyone knows the famous Rockefeller Christmas tree that is put up around mid-November. The lighting of the Christmas tree each year signals the beginning of the holiday season. But I hadn’t noticed until this year the twelve angels surrounding the tree. Each of the angels is eight feet tall, and each holds a six-foot-long trumpet. You have to look a little closer, so you don’t miss the angels as I did. Valerie Clarebout created the angels in 1955 as she used seventy-five pounds of wire for each of the angels. She used about seventy-six miles of material to complete all twelve angels. Every year, the angels are arranged to face one another. What I find interesting is that even though Valerie admitted Christmas isn’t religious for her, she felt the need to place the angels to celebrate the season. It is estimated that 800,000 people per day will visit the Rockefeller Christmas Tree - but as they walk past those twelve angels this year - how many understand the true purpose of angels?
1.5 Angels at Christmas
Almost everywhere you turn in the Christmas story, you see an angel! An angel tells Mary she is about to have a child (Luke 1:26-38). We meet another angel who visits Joseph on two different occasions to explain things to him (Matthew 1:20-23; 2:19-21). The angel tells Joseph how his soon-to-be wife is with child even though she’s never had sexual relations with anyone. Note: it took only one angel’s visit for the woman but two angelic visits for the man! We witness angels protecting the baby Jesus by telling Joseph to flee for Egypt until Herod is dead (Matthew 2:13-15). We are better because God created the angels. The angels serve us, believers, and they serve the Christmas story.
1. Let’s Talk about Angels
2. Why Jesus is Better than the Angels
“ having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs” (Hebrews 1:4).
Just as we hear often that “no animal was harmed in the making of this film,” I want you to know that no angel was harmed in the preparation of this sermon ?.
If you pay close attention, you’ll see there are seven Old Testament Scriptures that are used to prove that Jesus is better than the angels. Some people struggle with how Hebrews treats the Old Testament. Hebrews does a “cut and paste” with many Old Testament texts. And every believer here needs to close attention to the angels. The angels are our model, for they worship Jesus.
2.1 Because He’s God's Son
“For to which of the angels did God ever say,
“You are my Son,
today I have begotten you”?
Or again,
“I will be to him a father,
and he shall be to me a son”(Hebrews 1:5)?
The Bible tells us Jesus is better and that Jesus is superior because of His relationship with the Father. No angel can call God “Father,” and God calls no angel “Son.” Hebrews 1:5 quotes Psalm 2:7 and 2 Samuel 7:14; it mashes these two together in this one verse. And verse 5 is a rhetorical question, “To what angel did God ever say, ‘I am your Father and you are my Son?’” And the obvious answer is no one!
2.1.1 Begotten
What does the word “begotten” mean in verse 5: “You are my Son, today I have begotten you” (Hebrews 1:5b)?
A job posting by British supermarket Tesco is seeking a part-time worker with a very specific set of skills: A “Christmas Light Untangler.” The job posting in England says the supermarket is launching a new service this month allowing customers to bring in their messy Christmas lights to be untangled. Tesco says candidates should be able to untangle 10 feet of Christmas lights in less than three minutes, as well as check the bulbs for signs of breakage.
Let’s see if we can untangle this confusing word “begotten.” Of course, the word “begotten” is part of that famous Bible verse, John 3:16, in the King James Version. Many people stumble over this word because we think of a human Father and Son relationship where the Son comes into existence. But this would be wrong when you read the New Testament carefully. The word begotten now sounds old-fashioned to most people, but the word means “one of a kind.” False teachers have latched onto this phrase to prove their false teaching that Jesus Christ isn’t God. False religions and cults tell us Jesus isn’t equal to God. They see the word “begotten” and say that Jesus is a created being because only someone who had a beginning in time can be “begotten.” Here’s the truth: there never was a time when the Son did not exist. And here’s a second truth: Jesus is always Son, not Father. Jesus is ETERNALLY Son and not Father.
We are specifying that when we say “Son,” we don’t mean anything that might be associated with all kinds of human sonship.
We don’t mean that this Son is younger. We don’t mean that this Son has a divine mother. We don’t mean that this Son is under His Father’s authority.
Don’t trip up with the word begotten” in verse 5 and know it simply means Jesus is “one of a kind.”
2.1.2 Second Samuel 7
Again, verse 5 meshes two Old Testament verses: Psalm “one of a kind.” 27 and 2 Samuel 7. 2 Samuel 7 is one of the most critical chapters in your Bible. And it is one that most of us have never heard of. It’s God's promise to King David 1,000 years before Jesus appeared at Bethlehem. This is where God promises King David that David will always have a son as royalty. You eventually have an heir inside the Davidic line who lives forever. A succession of imperfect kings could never fulfill this promise. God was true to His word in 2 Samuel 7, and He raised up a righteous, obedient son of David to take the throne. Jesus becoming human directly results from the promise made in 2 Samuel 7. David and his family are the reason we have Christmas.
2.1.3 John Newton and 2 Samuel 7
In fact, John Newton writes the words to Amazing Grace when he discovers and reflects on David’s words: “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far?” (2 Samuel 7:18b). This was the slave trader John Newton.
Amazing Grace how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.
Do you know how hard a man has to be to capture a son away from his father or mother? Imagine how callous you must be to sleep at night after doing such a thing. But the grace of God changed John Newton. Again, Hebrews 1:5 simply says, “No angel was treated like this!”
2.2 Because Angels Worship Him
And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says,
“Let all God’s angels worship him.
7 Of the angels he says,
“He makes his angels winds,
and his ministers a flame of fire” (Hebrews 1:6-7).
Angels are supernatural agents that have great power and are entrusted with important assignments. The name angel means “messenger,” and throughout the Bible, you’ll see angels carrying God’s message to people. We all have preconceptions about angels from movies, television shows, and other media. But you might be surprised to know that a lot of those notions aren’t based on anything from the Bible. When we turn to the pages of the Bible, we see that angels protect, comfort, and guide people. Angels make war, make announcements, and even teach. But the main job of the angels is to worship God Almighty (Psalm 148:2). Heaven is the headquarters of angels, where they constantly worship God (Psalm 148:2). The Bible tells us there are so many angels you could not count them if you wanted to (Revelation 5:11). And every one of the angels worships the Lord Jesus Christ!
The point of verse 6 is that since Jesus is so superior to angels, all angels worship Him. Won’t it be great to see that for all of eternity in the New Jerusalem?
2.3 Because the Son Never Changes
“But of the Son he says,
“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever,
the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.
9 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;
therefore God, your God, has anointed you
with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.” (Hebrews 1:8-9).
Again, Hebrews puts Old Testament Scriptures together like you put peas and carrots. Hebrews 1:7-9 quotes Psalm 45:6-7 and Psalm 104:4. The book of Hebrews does not begin with an argument. Instead, it starts with an announcement. And this is the announcement: God has spoken through Jesus Christ. This is the earth-shaking declaration that God has sent His last word to this world, His final word to humanity, and that last word is Jesus Christ.
2.3 Because the Son Never Changes
10 And, “You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning,
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 like a robe you will roll them up,
like a garment they will be changed.
But you are the same,
and your years will have no end” (Hebrews 1:10-12).
“For those keeping score at home,” Hebrews 1:7-9 quotes Psalm 102:25-27. Verses 10-12 is simply telling us what verse 2 above has said, God made the entire universe through His Son, Jesus Christ. That little baby in Matthew 1 is the great God of Genesis 1 The little baby born in Bethlehem is the One who spoke the world into existence. Jesus Christ never changes. You missed your chance to insert an “Amen” there. Jesus Christ never changes!
2.3 Because Jesus is King
And to which of the angels has he ever said, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet” (Hebrews 1:13)?
Jesus is a sitting King, and the angels are His servants. The angels serve Jesus and “those who are to inherit salvation” by extension (verse 14). We are the people “who are to inherit salvation” in verse 14.
So angels serve believers. Angels serve Jesus and us. But how do they serve us? The connection between verses 13 and 14 gives us a clue. Verse 13 says that while Christ is seated on the throne, something is happening to bring his enemies under His feet like a footstool. What is happening here? There are enemies of our salvation. There are enemies that want to bring the work of Christ to nothing and make it fail, enemies that want to keep Christians from inheriting salvation. The Bible tells us there are demons, false ideas, sinful impulses, evil persons, etc.
So God accomplishes two things through his angels: 1) He sends the angels to help us persevere in our faith, and 2) He sends the angels to serve believers so that the enemies of God are made a footstool for Christ’s feet.
2.3.1 Angels in Jesus’ Life
Angels have a rich history in Jesus’ life. An angel shows up the night before Jesus is crucified to strengthen him in the Garden of Gethsemane (Luke 22:43). And it was an angel that met the women at the empty tomb to explain to them that Jesus had risen (Matthew 28:5). And it will be an angel’s voice to alert all the earth for Christ's Second Coming one day soon (1 Thessalonians 4:16).
2.3.2 Picturing Angels
Raphael pictured angels as chubby nude infants that were soft and girlish.
Contrast that picture with C.S. Lewis, who pictured angels for us in book, Perelandra as he does a marvelous job of expanding our imaginations here:
suddenly two human figures stood before him on the opposite side of the lake.… They were perhaps thirty feet high. They were burning white like white-hot iron…. Whenever he looked straight at them they appeared to be rushing towards him with enormous speed: whenever his eyes took in their surroundings he realized that they were stationary. This may have been due in part to the fact that their long and sparkling hair stood out straight behind them as if in a great wind. But if there were a wind it was not made of air, for no petal of the flowers was shaken.… Their bodies, he said, were white. But a flush of diverse colours began at about the shoulders and streamed up the necks and flickered over face and head and stood out around the head like plumage or a halo.
The angels is the Bible are fierce creatures. So much so that nearly every time one shows up in a story, they inevitably say, “Fear not.” You’re not going to need the words “fear not: when Raphael’s chubby nude babies float around.
2.3.3 That Is Why I am a Christian Now
Jim Marstaller tells the story, told to him by his “Uncle Clyde,” Clyde Taylor, founder of the National Association of Evangelicals:
Dr. Clyde Taylor, who married my grandfather’s sister… and my Uncle Charlie Marstaller were missionaries in the early 1920’s to a head hunting tribe in South America. They were beside a river in the forest living in a thatched hut.
One day, late in the afternoon, they noticed a dugout being paddled down the river with only one man in it. Their immediate thought was that the warriors were coming to kill them that night. The dugout could hold over 40 men and they realized that the men were probably going to try to kill them that night.
Uncle Clyde and Charlie had a .22 rifle in their hut and took it and some ammo out into the tall grass off to the side of their dwelling. There they stayed all night, in their own private prayer meeting, expecting that if attacked they would fire the gun into the air to frighten the head-hunters.
Nothing happened that night and they had no trouble with the tribe for the rest of their term in South America.
They both returned home after their term was over, and it wasn’t until 9 years later that Clyde was able to visit the field. One day he encountered one of the men from the tribe who had since become a Christian; so he asked the native about what happened that night.
The former head-hunter said, “I remember that night, there were 44 of us and we were coming to set fire to your hut. When we got there and surrounded the hut we realized we could not attack because there were hundreds of men, dressed in white, with swords and shields, standing all around your hut and even on the roof. That is why I am a Christian now.”
My friends, don’t give up following Jesus Christ this Christmas.
Conclusion
Jesus went from sitting on a throne, to laying in a manger, to hanging on a tree. He went from being a king with a crown, to a baby with diapers, to a criminal on the cross. Why did He do this? Because your soul was more important than His blood. Your eternal life was more important than His earthy life. Your place in heaven was more important to Him than His place in heaven. He gave up His place, so you could have your place.
