THE SUPERIORITY OF CHRIST Hebrews 1:1-4
Pastor Dennis Bone
4-27-14
One of my professors in seminary wrote a great book entitled “The Centrality of the Resurrection.” In it he points out that the resurrection of Jesus is the central act of God’s redemption plan of salvation. All of history – past, present and future – hinges on the truth of Christ’s resurrection; and that God has clearly communicated this great truth to us in Scripture: His Word to us. All of Scripture points us to Christ; and the resurrection is the final proof of His superiority over creation, over the angels and over sin and death, because He is God; and no one less than God Himself can redeem sinners and save a sinful world. In Christ, God has done this for us.
It’s this very message that we hear in the opening verses of the book of Hebrews; and it’s upon this great truth of Christ’s superiority that the rest of this epistle or letter powerfully declares and seeks to press home to the church. And it’s this superiority of Christ that I want us to consider this morning as we look together at Hebrews chapter 1, verses 1 – 4:
In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.
We see in this powerful and profound introduction to the book of Hebrews three key points: the preparation for Christ; the presentation of Christ; and the preeminence of Christ.
All three help us to more clearly understand the superiority of Christ. The primary purpose of this book is to plainly and authoritatively set forth the superiority of Christ over the Old Testament or old covenant system because Christ is the fulfillment of the old covenant. Jesus is the messenger of the new covenant as the perfect and final prophet, priest and king. The old covenant leads us to the new covenant, even as the Old Testament Scriptures lead us to Christ. In the book of Hebrews we see the continuity and connection between the two covenants, yet the new covenant is better or superior because of the superiority and excellence of Christ.
First, let us consider the preparation for Christ in verse 1: “In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways.” The essence of the Old Testament Scripture is that God speaks to us through His prophets. He spoke His Word to people, in many different ways over a long period of time, and this revelation was designed to prepare us for the coming of His Son Jesus Christ. God revealed many other historic and theological truths as well, but the primary purpose of Old Testament Scripture is to point us to Christ.
As we see in verse 1, God reveals His redemptive plan progressively – at many times and in various ways – culminating in Christ’s coming – verse 2 – “But in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son.” Peter speaks about this progressive revelation culminating or ending when Christ comes, when he says: “Concerning this salvation, the prophets who spoke of the grace that was to come, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.”
Peter tells us that God was not only revealing His redemptive plan progressively, but in so doing Christ is predicted and proclaimed throughout Old Testament history. After the resurrection Jesus makes this clear to His disciples, as we read in Luke 24: “Jesus said to them (the disciples after the resurrection) ‘This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms. Then He opened their minds so that they could understand the Scriptures.”
Jesus tells us that He fulfilled what was spoken about Him and now He speaks to us as the Risen Savior and Redeemer, who accomplished what God had progressively revealed and promised. Christ did this as the perfect prophet, and as such He is the final prophet. There was no greater prophet before and no greater one to come. The book of Hebrews will unpack this truth, beginning here in the introduction, and will teach us that not only is there no greater prophet than Christ, but no need for further prophecy or revelation. Peter speaks to this when he writes, “We now (in Christ) have the word of the prophets made more certain and you will do well to pay attention to it.”
The Old Testament prepared us for these “last days” referring to the new covenant age and the final revelation from God. And it’s in this last period of time that God has spoken to us in His Son. God is not speaking to us in dreams or visions, or through prophets; He has spoke in Christ, and is still speaking through Him and His Word. This leads us to the second major point to consider: the presentation of Christ. Who is the final prophet? The answer is found in verses 2 and 3: He is the divine Son. God speaks to us in His Son. He is the Word of God; He is the Word from God, because He is God Himself. God prepared us through the entire Old Testament for His coming; and then in the fullness of time, the appropriate time, God comes. Christ is God in the flesh, and in these verses we see this truth presented.
“In these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.” Christ is more than just a prophet, for in these characteristics the divinity of Christ is clearly presented. The superiority of Christ is proved through His deity. In these verses we see three key aspects of Christ’s deity.
First, the deity of Christ is communicated by His position as the heir of all things. This inheritance indicates specifically who the Son is and that all of creation belongs to Him. God appointed His Son to the position from the beginning – by eternal decree – for our sake; and He fulfilled this by coming as our Redeemer. Psalm 2 speaks to this great truth: “I will proclaim the decree of the Lord, ‘You are my Son and today I have become your Father. Ask of me and I will make the nations your inheritance and the ends of the earth your possession.” The one through whom God created the universe is the one who inherits it as the Son who becomes our Savior.
Second, the deity of Christ is seen by His nature, or essence, as the visible representation of God. “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being.” The apostle John said that the word became flesh and dwelt among us; and we beheld or saw His glory, the glory of the one and only or unique Son of God. The main point is that the Son, who came in the flesh as a man, is God – the incarnate God – as Jesus Himself said: “If you have seen me you have seen the Father.” Paul says in Colossians 1: “Christ is the image of the invisible God” and in Colossians 2: “For in Christ all the fullness of deity dwells in bodily form.”
Third, the deity of Christ is demonstrated by His work as the Creator and the Redeemer. Christ not only performed the work of creation, but He continues to perform the work of sustaining all things by His powerful Word. By virtue of His resurrection, Jesus is at the right hand of God performing this work today, but this work did not interfere with His work of redemption: His work of providing purification for our sins. It’s this work of salvation that makes Christ superior to the angels, which is why in verse 4 we read this: “So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.”
Why would any one think that the angels were superior to Christ? The first century Jew would, if Jesus was just a prophet and not divine. The rest of chapter 1 goes on to specifically talk about this because the angels were considered mediators of revelation and greater than prophets. This is why we are presented here with the divine Son; the final Word of God’s revelation. He is not just a human prophet or created being. Christ’s superiority is not only in His eternal existence as God the Son, but it’s in His work of mediation whereby He becomes the sacrifice for our sins as the final priest; and then through His resurrection is exalted as the final king who continues to rule and reign as our great high priest.
It’s in this redemptive work of Christ and in the great truth that He sat down at the right hand of God, that we consider the third main point: the preeminence of Christ. Christ’s supremacy is what makes Him superior. The key point being made is that Christ is not only preeminent in creation but also in redemption; and this preeminence is declared by the resurrection and secured by the fact that Christ is the exalted King. He is exalted because He made purification for our sins; and became the crucified and risen King. The Word who became flesh has now become the Word that is exalted; and it’s through Christ the exalted king that God speaks to us in finality. God spoke first through the prophets; He then speaks to us in person and it’s through Christ He speaks last.
This finality of God speaking His revelation points us to Christ’s preeminence. His work, His word and His reign far exceeds all other prophets or priests or kings; and it’s in this three fold preeminence or supremacy that we again the superiority of Christ in and over all things. And so we should ask, “Why is this still important to us more than 2,000 years after the resurrection?” How does this great truth of Christ’s superiority apply to us?
First, the work of Christ completes the work of redemption. When Jesus provided purification for our sins He said “It is finished” and He sat down, indicating the work is done. The sacrifices of the Old Testament were never finished and the priests never sat down, but the work of Christ is superior because it’s the final work; and because the work of salvation is over and completed, there are no more sacrifices necessary. As we read later, in chapter 9, “Christ appeared once . . . to do away with sin by the sacrifice of Himself.”
Second, the word of Christ closes the book on God’s revelation. Christ is the final word, thus there is no more need for revelation. God has fully revealed Himself in His Son, and in the message of the God has spoken the final word about salvation. False teachers and false religions are always promoting “new revelation” as if there is something better than Christ alone; or something different that the gospel. This is not only unnecessary but it’s destructive in that it undermines the authority and sufficiency of God’s Word; and denies the superiority of Christ as God’s final Word.
And then third, the reign of Christ concludes the plan of redemption. There is no other plan of salvation. God has not provided alternative plans or options, nor will He accept man-made efforts to create their “own path” to God. God has spoken to mankind clearly in His Son; and it’s Christ who sits upon the throne as the Savior-King who has saved sinners who come to Him, and it’s Christ who will judge sinners who don’t.
Christ is the final and only hope for sinners, for God has made it abundantly clear that there is no other way to Him but through His Son. This is the consistent word that God speaks throughout history and throughout the Scriptures; and it is fully realized in the birth, life, crucifixion, resurrection and exaltation of Christ. In Philippians 2 Paul tells us that it’s because Christ was born as a man and lived a life of obedience, even unto death upon the cross, that God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him a name above every name.
The superiority of Christ rests upon His person and work; and as a result His name is greater than every name as the Mighty God and divine Redeemer. This is why we love Him and trust Him; worship Him, proclaim Him and find our hope and rest in Him, for there is no other name under heaven given by which we, or anyone else can be saved.
©You’re welcome to recycle these resources for your church free of charge. However, if you find them useful, please consider making a donation to the ministry of GCC.
Pastor Dennis Bone
4-27-14
One of my professors in seminary wrote a great book entitled “The Centrality of the Resurrection.” In it he points out that the resurrection of Jesus is the central act of God’s redemption plan of salvation. All of history – past, present and future – hinges on the truth of Christ’s resurrection; and that God has clearly communicated this great truth to us in Scripture: His Word to us. All of Scripture points us to Christ; and the resurrection is the final proof of His superiority over creation, over the angels and over sin and death, because He is God; and no one less than God Himself can redeem sinners and save a sinful world. In Christ, God has done this for us.
It’s this very message that we hear in the opening verses of the book of Hebrews; and it’s upon this great truth of Christ’s superiority that the rest of this epistle or letter powerfully declares and seeks to press home to the church. And it’s this superiority of Christ that I want us to consider this morning as we look together at Hebrews chapter 1, verses 1 – 4:
In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.
We see in this powerful and profound introduction to the book of Hebrews three key points: the preparation for Christ; the presentation of Christ; and the preeminence of Christ.
All three help us to more clearly understand the superiority of Christ. The primary purpose of this book is to plainly and authoritatively set forth the superiority of Christ over the Old Testament or old covenant system because Christ is the fulfillment of the old covenant. Jesus is the messenger of the new covenant as the perfect and final prophet, priest and king. The old covenant leads us to the new covenant, even as the Old Testament Scriptures lead us to Christ. In the book of Hebrews we see the continuity and connection between the two covenants, yet the new covenant is better or superior because of the superiority and excellence of Christ.
First, let us consider the preparation for Christ in verse 1: “In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways.” The essence of the Old Testament Scripture is that God speaks to us through His prophets. He spoke His Word to people, in many different ways over a long period of time, and this revelation was designed to prepare us for the coming of His Son Jesus Christ. God revealed many other historic and theological truths as well, but the primary purpose of Old Testament Scripture is to point us to Christ.
As we see in verse 1, God reveals His redemptive plan progressively – at many times and in various ways – culminating in Christ’s coming – verse 2 – “But in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son.” Peter speaks about this progressive revelation culminating or ending when Christ comes, when he says: “Concerning this salvation, the prophets who spoke of the grace that was to come, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.”
Peter tells us that God was not only revealing His redemptive plan progressively, but in so doing Christ is predicted and proclaimed throughout Old Testament history. After the resurrection Jesus makes this clear to His disciples, as we read in Luke 24: “Jesus said to them (the disciples after the resurrection) ‘This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms. Then He opened their minds so that they could understand the Scriptures.”
Jesus tells us that He fulfilled what was spoken about Him and now He speaks to us as the Risen Savior and Redeemer, who accomplished what God had progressively revealed and promised. Christ did this as the perfect prophet, and as such He is the final prophet. There was no greater prophet before and no greater one to come. The book of Hebrews will unpack this truth, beginning here in the introduction, and will teach us that not only is there no greater prophet than Christ, but no need for further prophecy or revelation. Peter speaks to this when he writes, “We now (in Christ) have the word of the prophets made more certain and you will do well to pay attention to it.”
The Old Testament prepared us for these “last days” referring to the new covenant age and the final revelation from God. And it’s in this last period of time that God has spoken to us in His Son. God is not speaking to us in dreams or visions, or through prophets; He has spoke in Christ, and is still speaking through Him and His Word. This leads us to the second major point to consider: the presentation of Christ. Who is the final prophet? The answer is found in verses 2 and 3: He is the divine Son. God speaks to us in His Son. He is the Word of God; He is the Word from God, because He is God Himself. God prepared us through the entire Old Testament for His coming; and then in the fullness of time, the appropriate time, God comes. Christ is God in the flesh, and in these verses we see this truth presented.
“In these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.” Christ is more than just a prophet, for in these characteristics the divinity of Christ is clearly presented. The superiority of Christ is proved through His deity. In these verses we see three key aspects of Christ’s deity.
First, the deity of Christ is communicated by His position as the heir of all things. This inheritance indicates specifically who the Son is and that all of creation belongs to Him. God appointed His Son to the position from the beginning – by eternal decree – for our sake; and He fulfilled this by coming as our Redeemer. Psalm 2 speaks to this great truth: “I will proclaim the decree of the Lord, ‘You are my Son and today I have become your Father. Ask of me and I will make the nations your inheritance and the ends of the earth your possession.” The one through whom God created the universe is the one who inherits it as the Son who becomes our Savior.
Second, the deity of Christ is seen by His nature, or essence, as the visible representation of God. “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being.” The apostle John said that the word became flesh and dwelt among us; and we beheld or saw His glory, the glory of the one and only or unique Son of God. The main point is that the Son, who came in the flesh as a man, is God – the incarnate God – as Jesus Himself said: “If you have seen me you have seen the Father.” Paul says in Colossians 1: “Christ is the image of the invisible God” and in Colossians 2: “For in Christ all the fullness of deity dwells in bodily form.”
Third, the deity of Christ is demonstrated by His work as the Creator and the Redeemer. Christ not only performed the work of creation, but He continues to perform the work of sustaining all things by His powerful Word. By virtue of His resurrection, Jesus is at the right hand of God performing this work today, but this work did not interfere with His work of redemption: His work of providing purification for our sins. It’s this work of salvation that makes Christ superior to the angels, which is why in verse 4 we read this: “So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.”
Why would any one think that the angels were superior to Christ? The first century Jew would, if Jesus was just a prophet and not divine. The rest of chapter 1 goes on to specifically talk about this because the angels were considered mediators of revelation and greater than prophets. This is why we are presented here with the divine Son; the final Word of God’s revelation. He is not just a human prophet or created being. Christ’s superiority is not only in His eternal existence as God the Son, but it’s in His work of mediation whereby He becomes the sacrifice for our sins as the final priest; and then through His resurrection is exalted as the final king who continues to rule and reign as our great high priest.
It’s in this redemptive work of Christ and in the great truth that He sat down at the right hand of God, that we consider the third main point: the preeminence of Christ. Christ’s supremacy is what makes Him superior. The key point being made is that Christ is not only preeminent in creation but also in redemption; and this preeminence is declared by the resurrection and secured by the fact that Christ is the exalted King. He is exalted because He made purification for our sins; and became the crucified and risen King. The Word who became flesh has now become the Word that is exalted; and it’s through Christ the exalted king that God speaks to us in finality. God spoke first through the prophets; He then speaks to us in person and it’s through Christ He speaks last.
This finality of God speaking His revelation points us to Christ’s preeminence. His work, His word and His reign far exceeds all other prophets or priests or kings; and it’s in this three fold preeminence or supremacy that we again the superiority of Christ in and over all things. And so we should ask, “Why is this still important to us more than 2,000 years after the resurrection?” How does this great truth of Christ’s superiority apply to us?
First, the work of Christ completes the work of redemption. When Jesus provided purification for our sins He said “It is finished” and He sat down, indicating the work is done. The sacrifices of the Old Testament were never finished and the priests never sat down, but the work of Christ is superior because it’s the final work; and because the work of salvation is over and completed, there are no more sacrifices necessary. As we read later, in chapter 9, “Christ appeared once . . . to do away with sin by the sacrifice of Himself.”
Second, the word of Christ closes the book on God’s revelation. Christ is the final word, thus there is no more need for revelation. God has fully revealed Himself in His Son, and in the message of the God has spoken the final word about salvation. False teachers and false religions are always promoting “new revelation” as if there is something better than Christ alone; or something different that the gospel. This is not only unnecessary but it’s destructive in that it undermines the authority and sufficiency of God’s Word; and denies the superiority of Christ as God’s final Word.
And then third, the reign of Christ concludes the plan of redemption. There is no other plan of salvation. God has not provided alternative plans or options, nor will He accept man-made efforts to create their “own path” to God. God has spoken to mankind clearly in His Son; and it’s Christ who sits upon the throne as the Savior-King who has saved sinners who come to Him, and it’s Christ who will judge sinners who don’t.
Christ is the final and only hope for sinners, for God has made it abundantly clear that there is no other way to Him but through His Son. This is the consistent word that God speaks throughout history and throughout the Scriptures; and it is fully realized in the birth, life, crucifixion, resurrection and exaltation of Christ. In Philippians 2 Paul tells us that it’s because Christ was born as a man and lived a life of obedience, even unto death upon the cross, that God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him a name above every name.
The superiority of Christ rests upon His person and work; and as a result His name is greater than every name as the Mighty God and divine Redeemer. This is why we love Him and trust Him; worship Him, proclaim Him and find our hope and rest in Him, for there is no other name under heaven given by which we, or anyone else can be saved.
©You’re welcome to recycle these resources for your church free of charge. However, if you find them useful, please consider making a donation to the ministry of GCC.
