Its All About Jesus. We Have No Other Message

In reminding us that God's Son is superior to the angels, the writer to the Hebrews quotes seven OT passages as proof. Two of them are about angels, the others are about Jesus and His glory (Hebrews 1:5-13 ESV)

Consider how he quotes Psalm 2 and then refers to Psalm 89:3-4, 26-27

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 ESV

In the second Psalm he sees Jesus firmly established on Zion, the holy city of Jerusalem. In his eyes the whole story of Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection was foreshadowed in this psalm. The apostles Peter and John ascribed the psalm to David in their prayer after they were released by the Jewish rulers (Acts 4:24-26). But they insisted that David wrote about Jesus. And even though the Sanhedrin forbad them to speak or teach about Jesus, they would continue to do so.

"Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard." - Acts 4:19-20 ESV

This then is the major point of the entire letter to the Hebrews—and a lesson for all of us who call ourselves Christian. The entire Scripture, Old and New Testaments, is about Jesus! He is the eternally begotten Son, sent by His Father to set us free from the power of sin and the devil. We must speak about Him. He is the center of our message. We have no other. Jesus Himself declared,

You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, - John 5:39 ESV

Yes, we have nothing else to teach, nothing else to preach, nothing else to talk about if we do not preach and teach about Jesus, God's Son. Everything flows from and back to this message about Jesus and His cross.

The angels are mighty beings, but none of them compares in glory, majesty and power to God's Son. This, as you may know, was a huge point of controversy in the history of the church. It still is among some, like Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, Muslims and others who claim to honor Jesus, but deny His deity, deny that He is God's eternal Son.

The Nicene Creed addressed this question with what they prayed was a clear statement about Jesus being God.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.

The Messiah promised in the OT is Jesus! He is no mere creature. He is the eternal Son of God. His entrance into this world of men was through the blessed Virgin Mary, but His conception was not through the normal means of the union of a man and his wife. It was rather by the wondrous working of the Holy Spirit. He who was begotten in the Father's endless Day, has humbled Himself to now become one with us.

Here then is the mystery and wonder of Jesus, the Messiah, the Christ. He is both God's Son and the Son of Man. Yes, He was and remains truly a man crucified under Pontius Pilate. He did indeed suffer and die on that Roman cross on that hill near the outskirts of Jerusalem. He was indeed buried in the grave loaned to him by Joseph of Arimathea. But He rose from the dead on the third day after His death and now rules in and over all things as Creator and Redeemer.

But of the Son he says, "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions." And, "You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands; - Hebrews 1:8-10 ESV

He concludes this first chapter with a final reference to the ministry of the angels. We'll take a one more look at that ministry next time before moving on.