Hebrews Chapter 1 verses 1 through 4:
The very first verse of this great book points us to God. It is God, Himself, who is to be our focus as we look into what the writer is speaking about. We are not to be concerned with the author of the book, but the subject of the book.
The author begins to express to us that it was God, alone, who has been speaking to humanity from all time. It is He who desires to communicate to us His love for us. His grace to us. His mercy that endures forever.
The writer of Hebrews wanted the reader to see that God has been speaking to His people throughout time. He, God, began speaking to humanity in the very beginning. (Genesis 2:16-17)
“The Book of Hebrews begins with no mention of the author, only of God. The human author of Hebrews remains unknown, many believe it to be St. Paul, others believe it to have been Apollos. But the book’s inspiration by the Holy Spirit is evident.
The purpose of the Book of Hebrews is to encourage believers toward maturity.
The book has strong warnings against disavowing Christ.
The first few verses of the book show us Christ as Prophet, Priest, and King.” Enduring Word.com
Hebrews 1:1-4
God: This is how the book begins. There is no attempt to prove God’s existence; Scripture assumes we learn of God’s existence and some of His attributes from nature (Psalm 19:1-4 and Romans 1:20). The writer of Hebrews knew that God existed and that He spoke to man. He wants us to know that God exist and that He is speaking and desires to speaks to us.
The writer wants us to have our focus on God. He who created everything. He who controls everything. He who shows us such great mercy, love and grace.
It is God, Himself, who has been speaking to humanity from the very beginning of time. He desires to commune, converse, connect with us. He desires to fellowship with us. He is the one who must have the preeminence in everything. (Genesis 3:8-9)
The writer of Hebrews begins by telling us that in times past, God has in various ways, spoken to humanity through His prophets. But now, in the end of time, He is speaking to us through His Son, Jesus. These last days, this term refers to the age of Messiah, the age of the church, the end of days. It may be a long period, but it is the last period. Yet in all His speaking through the prophets, He had a continual thread pointed to the coming of His Son to redeem mankind from their sins and to reconcile them back to Himself through the blood of His own Son. (2Kings 17:13)
“ Using the properties of light as an illustration, we may say that God spoke in a spectrum in the Old Testament. Jesus is a prism that collected all those bands of light and focused them into one pure beam.
This reference to the Old Testament will be repeated often through the Book of Hebrews. Hebrews is a book deeply rooted in the Old Testament. Hebrews has 29 quotations and 53 allusions to the Old Testament, for a total of 82 references.” Enduring Word.com
He, Himself, first prophesied of the coming One who would defeat the devil in (Genesis 3:15). He continued to speak to humanity and the nation of Israel in may differing ways to and through His prophets:
He foretold a Child would be born of a virgin ( Isaiah 7:14, Isaiah 9:6-7 )
He told them that this Child would come out of Judah (Genesis 49:10, Micah 5:2)
It is also true that God spoke in a variety of ways in the Old Testament.
. God spoke to the people of Israel from Mt. Sinai (Exodus 20:1-2)
· He spoke to Moses by a burning bush (Exodus 3:2-3).
· He spoke to Elijah by a still, small voice (1 Kings 19:12-13).
· He spoke to Isaiah by a heavenly vision (Isaiah 6:1-3).
Through all these differing times and ways, yet it is still God speaking. It is God communicating to mankind so that we may know His heart and learn His ways.
Why has God chosen to speak to mankind?
In what ways has God spoken to mankind in the past?
Why is it important for us to know how He spoke to us in the past?
Is God still speaking to us through the Old Testament prophecies?
In what way is He still speaking to us through the knowledge of the Old Testament scriptures?
How is God speaking to us today?
“It isn’t so much that Jesus brought a message from the Father; He is a message from the Father. The idea is that Jesus is far more than the latest or best prophet. He has revealed something no other prophet could.
i. The revelation from Jesus Himself was unique, because not only was it purely God’s message (as was the case with every other inspired writer) but it was also God’s personality through which the message came. The personality of Paul, Peter, John, and other Biblical writers is clear in their writings. Yet in the revelation from Jesus we see the personality of God.
ii. The Book of Hebrews (for the most part) does not present Jesus speaking of Himself. There is a sense in which the Son does not speak in Hebrews; the Father speaks concerning the Son. The book of Hebrews is God the Father telling us what God the Son is all about. “If men cannot learn about God from the Son, no amount of prophetic voices or actions would convince them.” (Guthrie)”
Now the focus is on God the Father speaking through the Son, Jesus the Christ. He wants us to know who the Son is. He wants us to see the eternalness of the Son. He wants us to realize that the Son is God. He wants us to see the Son in the creation of everything.
(1John 1:1-3)
(Rev 1:12-15 )
As God wants us to know that He is speaking to us. He wants us to know that He is speaking through His Son. He wants us to see who His Son is. That He is fully God, though He lived in human flesh for a time.
He wants us to understand that the Son existed with the Father in eternity. Long before this cosmos was created, He was there. We are to behold the brightness of His glory. We are to see that He is eternal. He has always been and ever will be. (Heb 13:8)
Some of the descriptive words used to describe the Son by the writer of Hebrews are:
“by Whom also He made the worlds” (John 1:1-3)
“Who being the brightness of His glory” . (Matt 17:1-2 )
“The express image of His person” (2 Corin. 4:6)
“Upholding all things by the word of His Power” (Col_1:17)
“a. He made the worlds: The ancient Greek word translated worlds is aion, from which we get our English word “eons.” It means that Jesus made more than the material world, He also made the very ages – history itself is the creation of the Son of God.
b. The brightness of His glory: Jesus is the brightness of the Father’s glory. The ancient Greek word for brightness is apaugasma, which speaks of the radiance that shines from a source of light.
i. In this sense, Jesus is the “beam” of God’s glory. We have never seen the sun, only the rays of its light as they come to us. Even so, we have never seen God the Father, but we see Him through the “rays” of the Son of God.
d.The express image of His person: The idea is of an exact likeness as made by a stamp. Jesus exactly represents God to us.
e. Upholding all things by the word of His power: The idea behind the word translated upholding is better thought of as “maintaining.” The word does not have the idea of passively holding something up (as the mythical Atlas held up the earth), but of actively sustaining.
i. In His earthly ministry Jesus constantly demonstrated the power of His word. He could heal, forgive, cast out demons, calm nature’s fury all at the expression of one word. Here we see that His word is so powerful that it can uphold all things.
f. Himself purged our sins: From the previous description, we know that the Son of God is a being of great power and wisdom. Now we know He is also a being of great love, who purged the guilt and shame of our sins. He did this Himself, showing that no one else could do it for us and we could not do it for ourselves.
g. Sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high: This is a position of majesty, of honor, of glory, and of finished work. This position of Jesus sets Him far above all creation
“Heir of all things: This begins a glorious section describing Jesus, first as the heir of all things. This is the idea that Jesus is preeminent. It is connected to the Jesus’ standing as firstborn over all creation.” Enduring Word.com (Col_1:15).
All these things tell us that Jesus is fully God. He is sovereign. He is far above anything earthy, He is God!
Jesus is God with us. He was human, yet fully God. He was so much more than just a mere mortal man. In the body of flesh lived the eternal Son of God. God so desires to commune with us that He chose to put on flesh and live among us.
What are some of the descriptive words used to describe Jesus by the Hebrews author?
Why is it necessary for us to understand these descriptions apply to Jesus?
How do these descriptions of Jesus show us that He is fully God?
How does knowing this help us in our relationship with Him?
God wants us to know that the Son is far greater than the angels. He is the Son who inherits all things. The angels are ministering spirits that do God’s bidding. They are His servants who serve Him at all times. They worship Him and adore Him. They do whatever He commands.
“a. Having become so much better than the angels: This description of Jesus in previous verses shows us that He is far superior than any angelic being. Yet this tells us that Jesus became better than the angels. We could say that He is eternally better than the angels, but He also became better than the angels.
i. Jesus became better in the sense that He was made perfect (complete as our redeemer) through sufferings – something no angel ever did.
ii. Griffith Thomas linked together the descriptions of Jesus given in these first few verses, culminating in Heb_1:4 :
- Christ the Heir.
- Christ the Creator.
- Christ the Revealer.
- Christ the Sustainer.
- Christ the Redeemer.
- Christ the Ruler.
- Christ Supreme.
b. A more excellent name than they: Jesus’ superior status is demonstrated by a superior name, which is not merely a title, but a description of His nature and character. There are many reasons why it is important to understand the surpassing excellence of Jesus, setting Him far above every angelic being. - We often best understand things when they are set in contrast to other things.
First century Jews might think that the gospel came at the hands of mere men – the apostles. But in truth, the gospel came by Jesus, who is superior to the angels.
- There was a dangerous tendency to worship angels developing in the early Church , and Hebrews shows that Jesus is high above any angel.
- There was the heretical idea that Jesus Himself was an angel, a concept that degrades His glory and majesty.
- Understanding how Jesus is better than the angels helps us to understand how He is better than anyone or anything in our life.
i. In this sense, the purpose of Hebrews is like the purpose of the Transfiguration of Jesus mentioned in the Gospels. They each cry out and say, “This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!” (Mar_9:7)” David Guzik
“As, therefore, the Jews considered angels next to God, and none entitled to their adoration but God; on their own ground the apostle proves Jesus Christ to be God, because God commanded all the angels of heaven to worship him. He, therefore, who is greater than the angels, and is the object of their adoration, is God. But Jesus Christ is greater than the angels, and the object of their adoration; therefore Jesus Christ must be God.” Adam Clarke
What was the emphasis about Jesus that the author of Hebrews wants us to understand?
Is it important to us today to realize that Jesus is far greater than the angels?
Why does it matter to us that Jesus is greater than and better than the angels?