Pre- Questions

1. Describe what you know about angels.

2. Are angels worthy to be worshipped?

3. What is Jesus’ relationship with the Father?

4. Read PS 45:6-7.  As followers of Jesus we are called to live our lives like Jesus.  How well are you living up to Jesus’ example in these two verses?

5. What are the “enemies” in your life that you need Jesus’ help overcoming?

6.  Pray for each other that Jesus would give us victory in these areas of our lives.

 Jesus is King of the Angels

If you’re new here you may not be aware of this but the church has a ministry phone.  Our pastors each take turns ministering on this phone.  It’s a resource for you.  It’s our way as the staff of this church to serve you.  I had the phone this week when a guy named Nelson called from New Jersey.  I spent about thirty minutes on the phone with Nelson.  I was as patient and gracious as I could be when I was on the phone with him.  I was also praying while I was on the phone that God would give me a chance to listen to this man and to hear what was going on in his life.  Nelson was rude.  He was mean spirited and openly hostile.  About three times I had to remind him that if he talked to me in the wrong tone or used foul language again I would have to hang up the phone.  I listened as patiently as I could to Nelson.  He got angry and frustrated with me.  When Nelson hung the phone up, I started to pray for him because I was worried for his soul.  Nelson’s issue with us as a church was that we teach that Jesus Christ is God in the form of the flesh.  We teach the Trinity, that God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit all at the same time.  Nelson felt that we weren’t teaching that there was one God but that we had many gods.  I tried to explain to Nelson that we believe that there is one God and His name is Jesus.  I hope Nelson calls back but he may not.

The book of Hebrews is written for one reason only.  The reason why the author wrote this book is to convince us that Jesus is God.  Today we are going to pick up in Hebrews chapter one.  We are going to see that Jesus is greater than the angels.  What I want you to see through four different ways is that the writer of Hebrews is trying to teach us that Jesus is the King of the angels.  When you see who Jesus is, when you see His power, His character, and his destiny.  When you see His title you can’t miss the fact that Jesus is the only One worthy of our worship.

1. Worship King Jesus because of His title.

We should worship King Jesus because of His title.  God uses a term that is never used of the angels.  We are going to see this clearly from Hebrews chapter one starting in verse five.

Hebrews 1:5-6  For God never said to any angel what he said to Jesus: “You are my Son. Today I have become your Father.” God also said, “I will be his Father, and he will be my Son.”  And when he brought his supreme Son into the world, God said, “Let all of God’s angels worship him.”

Jesus is greater than the angels and all of God’s angels worship Him.  If you understand a little bit about the Bible, how many of you would say that the angels are pretty cool?  They are created beings.  They are supernatural beings.  They have unusual power.  If you look at the Bible, angels are pretty awesome.

Billy Graham wrote a book in 1975.  It was the first book in history to sell more than a million copies in the first four months that it was released. His book is entitled Angels:  God’s Secret Agents.  He tried to describe to people who the angels were as we look at scripture and as we read the Bible how do we understand the angels.  Billy Graham said, “Angels are created beings.  The word literally means a messenger.  They don’t possess physical bodies but they may take on the form of a body when God sends them on a special task.  God’s given them supernatural powers.  Angels never draw attention to themselves. They always ascribe glory to God and they present His message to us.  God uses angels to work out the destiny of men and nations.”

In Hebrews chapter one verse five, the writer is daring you to look all the way back over scripture and find one place where God refers to the angels with the title that He uses to refer to King Jesus.  You won’t find it.  In these ten verses that we are going to look at today, the writer of Hebrews uses seven direct passages from the Old Testament and says nowhere in the Bible do you find God referring to the angels or using the title for Jesus with the angels.  He starts off immediately with Psalm 97.  This is a psalm that is pointing to the coming Savior of Israel, to the Messiah.  The writer of Hebrews says even those psalms, though they refer to the angels, it is nothing like the way that God refers to His Son.  The way that God refers to His Son is in a category all by Himself.

You should understand that the Jews had a very, very high regard for the angels.  In fact, the angels sometimes took a much higher place among the Jews then they should have and perhaps that’s why the second half of Hebrews chapter one was written.

Don’t let the word “today” in this phrase confuse you and let you believe that there was a point that Jesus wasn’t God and then He became God.  Jesus was around before the creation of the world; Jesus came on Earth in the form of a man through the virgin Mary.  Jesus is seated right now at the right hand of God the Father in heaven.  Hebrews is saying that Jesus has a title that nobody else has.  Jesus uses a name that nobody else uses.  God uses a name to refer to Jesus that He never uses to refer to anybody else.

If you’ve been watching the Olympics, it is an incredible honor for anybody to be an Olympian or just to have the title Olympian.  Most people who compete in the Olympics will never win a medal.  Most of them would say it is the greatest accomplishment of their life because the title Olympian means I’m one of the best in my country at something and I’m going to represent my country to the world.  It is an incredible title.  Hebrews says there are a lot of great titles that you could give to the angels but there is one title that you would never use to describe the angels.  That is the title the Son of God or, as we’ve said before, God the Son.

The Jews, like many of us, had a tendency to worship the created instead of the Creator.  I think the writer of the book of Hebrews was warning us.  It is a warning that I need to mention today.  The warning is that the angels are good beings.  They are good creatures.  They are a good creation from God but if you’re not careful the good will start to become more important to you then God will.  It worries me how many of us may show up on a Sunday morning or on a Wednesday night and think because I read my Bible this week God is pleased with me.  Because I gave some money when the offering plate came around I earned God’s favor.  Or, because I’m a member of this church or another church, surely God is going to let me into heaven.  That’s exactly what some of the Jews felt like because they worshiped the angels.  The writer of Hebrews is saying if you worship the angels you are worshiping the wrong thing.  It’s the One who created the angels that’s worthy of your worship.  His name is Jesus.  I don’t want any of us to be mistaken. Nothing you do can earn your way into heaven.  It comes solely by the grace of God and what Jesus Christ has done for us on the cross.

2. Worship King Jesus because of His character.

We are to worship King Jesus because of His title but we are also supposed to worship King Jesus because of His character.  Let’s look at the character of Jesus in these next few verses.

Hebrews 1:7-9   Regarding the angels, he says, “He sends his angels like the winds, his servants like flames of fire.”  But to the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, endures forever and ever. You rule with a scepter of justice.  You love justice and hate evil. Therefore, O God, your God has anointed you, pouring out the oil of joy on you more than on anyone else.”

Psalm 107 is referring to the angels like a fire and like a wind.  Like a wind that is uncontrollable, Psalm 107 describes the angels.  Like a fire that is unquenchable it keeps burning until there is nothing left to burn, it describes the angels.  Hebrews says as amazing as the angels are, like fire and like wind, Jesus is the One who can stand up in the bow of a boat and can look at the storm and say, “Peace be still” and the wind stops blowing.  Jesus is the only One who can set the limit and the fire can’t move any farther than that.  The writer of the book of Hebrews is saying why would you worship the angels when you can worship the One who created them and controls the wind and commands the fire.

Then he uses this phrase, which may be one of the most powerful references in the Bible about Jesus.  Notice this is God speaking.  Look at how God refers to His Son in verse eight “But to the Son he says, ‘Your throne, O God, endures forever and ever. You rule with a scepter of justice.”’

John MacArthur, the great pastor in California, says of verse eight, “I believe that this verse is the clearest, the most powerful proof of the deity of Jesus in the entire Bible because it comes from the Father himself and when the Father refers to the Son, He refers to Him as God.”  The Father is saying to us His followers, “I want you to worship King Jesus like He is God because He is.”  Then He says, “by the way, everything that you see around is temporary.  It is passing away but Jesus is not.”  Jesus is eternal and His character is on display for the world to see.

This is how he describes Jesus’ character.  Jesus loves justice and hates evil.  The word “Christian” means like Christ.  For those of us who are Christians, we are supposed to have the same character that Jesus has.  We are supposed to be the people in our city who love justice and hate evil.  Let me ask you, “Do you?  Do you really, really hate evil?  Do you hate the sin that is in your own heart the way that it grieves God?  Do you hate the sin that you see around you?  Do you hate it so much that you want to do something about it?  Do you love justice enough that you are ready and willing to get involved and make a difference in our city?”  Prove that you want to love justice and hate evil.  Prove that you want to make a difference by serving our city by describing for them who our Savior is, His character and His nature.  How He loves them and is ready to receive them to Himself.

3. Worship King Jesus because of His power.

We are supposed to worship King Jesus because of His title, His character and His power.  Look at when God describes Jesus’ power in verse ten.

Hebrews 1:10-12  He also says to the Son, “In the beginning, Lord, you laid the foundation of the earth and made the heavens with your hands.  They will perish, but you remain forever. They will wear out like old clothing. You will fold them up like a cloak and discard them like old clothing. But you are always the same; you will live forever.”

F.F. Bruce, the great theologian, said, “Like one man or woman will wear out many suits of clothes or many dresses in his or her lifetime, so does the temporary wear out.  But, Jesus is eternal.”  Hebrews says that before God created the foundations of the earth Jesus was there with Him.  Jesus was involved in the creation of everything you and I see around us.  Jesus will be around after everything we see on planet Earth is gone.  He will still be here but what’s even greater is that Hebrews says He is unchangeable.  His character and his nature never change.  No matter how things change around you and they change pretty fast in our world today Jesus is unchangeable.  His character and His nature never change.

Most scholars believe that the book of Hebrews was written in the late 60’s AD.  The Jewish nation had rebelled against Rome and Rome was sick of it.  So Rome sent their famous General to Jerusalem.  General Titus laid siege to Jerusalem and then he attacked and conquered it.  Then he totally and completely destroyed the temple of Jerusalem not to be rebuilt to this day because they rebelled against Rome.  Some scholars believe that those verses that refer to the foundations and the Earth and the heavens are a direct reference to the temple.  They believed when the writer of Hebrews was writing this book, he was watching the temple being destroyed right in front of their eyes.  They thought the temple would be around forever and its was being destroyed in front of them.  The Jewish rabbis used to refer to the outer courts in the temple as the earth and the inner courts as the heavens.  He was saying the foundations are passing away, the heavens are passing away, the earth is passing away.  Everything that you see around you is temporary.  It’s all passing away.  It’s being rolled up like an old garment and tossed aside but Jesus is eternal.  He never changes.  He never ends.  Even the angels have a beginning and they have an end but Jesus doesn’t.  Jesus is around forever.  He has no beginning and He has no end.  If you are going to worship something, and all of us are going to worship something, either a Savior or ourselves.  If you’re going to worship something, worship something that is never going to let you down.  Worship Someone who is unchangeable.

Ten thousand years from now no one will remember the Pharoahs of Egypt, the Ceasars of Rome, or the Presidents of the United States.  However, ten thousand years from now, people will still fall down on their knees and worship King Jesus and we should be in their midst.

4. Worship King Jesus because of His destiny.

You worship King Jesus because of His title,  His character, His power and because of His destiny.  Read these last couple of verses.

Hebrews 1:13-14   And God never said to any of the angels, “Sit in the place of honor at my right hand until I humble your enemies, making them a footstool under your feet.”  Therefore, angels are only servants—spirits sent to care for people who will inherit salvation.

Brother Don Wilhite made this statement when he preached this book several years ago.  He said, “The angels are only servants but Jesus is the Son and the Son is worthy of your worship.”  Verse thirteen ends where verse five began.  The writer is saying that he dares you to go back through the Bible and look but you won’t find any place anywhere in the Bible where the angels are referred to the same way that Jesus is referred to as the Son of God.  Jesus is in a category all by Himself and as a result He deserves your worship.  No one else deserves your worship.

I wore these boots for a reason.  In ancient days when a king went off to war against another king, if that king were victorious in battle, the armies would bring the conquered nation’s king to the victor.  The victorious king would do a ceremony in front of his army and in front of the entire world.  The king would take the conquered king and place him on the ground.  They would put the victorious king’s boot or it was sometimes referred to as putting the conquered king under his heel or under his boot.  He would place his boot on the neck of the conquered king, then the victor would have a choice.  He could kill him right then in front of everybody or he could allow him to live him to live in his court on display.  In either case this is a demonstration to the world that he is victorious and he has defeated the king.

Hebrews is saying that sin has been placed under the boot of Jesus.  Hebrews is saying death has been placed under the boot of Jesus.  When He went to the cross and died, was dead and three days later came out of the tomb alive, death was conquered once and for all.  Death was placed under the boot of Jesus.  One of these days, hell itself will be placed under the boot of Jesus.  Jesus our victorious King has defeated sin, death and hell itself.  Why would you possibly worship anyone or anything else then the conquering King?  The victorious King who can purchase you back from your sins by His death on the cross.  When you know Jesus, it should affect absolutely every aspect of your life.

I don’t know how many of you have been watching this news phenomenon about this fisherman who was rescued at a remote pacific island just this past week.  His name is Jose Salvador Alvarenga.  He is actually Salvadorian but was fishing off the coast of Mexico.  He left in December of 2012 from a little coastal village.  Alvarenga was in a boat about five feet wide and fifteen feet long.  In process of going out into the Pacific to fish he was caught in a storm.  During the storm, his boat was totally immersed in water.  His communication and GPS systems were totally destroyed.  He was cast out to sea.  He spent the last 13 months at sea in the Pacific Ocean.  He was rescued this week at the Marshall Islands.  The experts said, “You can’t live for 13 months at sea.  It’s impossible that this guy would still be alive!”  He was so inundated by the media this week that the Mexican government had to move him into seclusion.  They started to ask him, “How is it possible?  How did you make it?  Didn’t you want to give up?”  He said, “I used the fish and sometimes I caught a sea turtle and that kept me alive.”  Then Alvarenga said, “The worst part for me was thirst.  A couple of times I felt like I was going to die of dehydration. ”   In one very candid interview, Alvarenga said that he was so miserable that on two occasions he thought about killing himself.  He said, “I took my knife and held it up to my throat.  I was going to slit my throat because I was so miserable at sea that I couldn’t take it anymore.”  The reporter asked, “Why didn’t you?”  He replied, “Because I’m a Christian and God stepped in and my faith wouldn’t allow me to do it. I am convinced the reason I’m alive today is because God spared my life.  I would have taken my life on multiple occasions if it wasn’t for my faith and if it wasn’t for God.”

I’m certain Hebrews was written for us.  When you’re struggling, no matter how bad it gets, it can’t possibly get so bad that King Jesus can’t step in and make a difference in your life.  If you trust Him and only Him, He can make a difference.  If you trust yourself you’re going to let yourself down.  If you trust in your own good works or your own efforts to get you into heaven it’s not going to work.  When you know King Jesus He will get your through death, divorce, or disaster.  Only King Jesus is worthy of your worship because of His title, His character, His power, and His destiny.  My challenge for you today is to settle once and for all what you believe about Jesus and what role He plays in your life.  My challenge is you settle this and turn Jesus into the King of your life instead of you being the king or queen of your life and calling the shots.

Post- questions

What is Jesus’ relationship with the Father?

Read PS 45:6-7.  As followers of Jesus we are called to live our lives like Jesus.  How well are you living up to Jesus’ example in these two verses?

Reread verses 10-12.  We live in a world of constant change.  What difference does it make to you personally that God cannot change?

Be honest, who has first place in your life- you…or Jesus?

Pray for each other that Jesus would have first place in our lives.

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