Why is Jesus Superior to Angels?
Hebrews 1:4-14
Hebrews 13:2, (NIV)
Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.
Acts 7:53, (NIV)
You who have received the law that was put in effect through angels.
Galatians 3:19, (NIV)
The law was put into effect through angels by a mediator.
1. Jesus has a superior name
Hebrews 1:4, (NIV)
So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.
Hebrews 1:5, (NIV)
For to which of the angels did God ever say, "You are my Son; today I have become your Father"? Or again, "I will be his Father, and he will be my Son"?
2. Jesus has a superior rank
Hebrews 1:6, (NIV)
And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says, "Let all God's angels worship him.
Hebrews 1:6,
And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world,
Revelation 22:8-9, (NIV)
I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I had heard and seen them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who had been showing them to me. But he said to me, "Do not do it! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers the prophets and of all who keep the words of this book. Worship God!"
3. Jesus has a superior nature
{note}
Hebrews 1:7, (NIV)
In speaking of the angels he says, "He makes his angels winds, his servants flames of fire."
Hebrews 1:8, (NIV)
But about the Son he says, "Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever, and righteousness will be the scepter of your kingdom.
Hebrews 1:8-9, (NIV)
But about the Son he says, "Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever, and righteousness will be the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;
Hebrews 1:9, (NIV)
You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy."
4. Jesus has a superior eternality
Hebrews 1:10, (NIV)
He also says, "In the beginning, O Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands.
Hebrews 1:10-12, (NIV)
He also says, "In the beginning, O Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will roll them up like a robe; like a garment they will be changed.
Hebrews 1:12, (NIV)
You will roll them up like a robe; like a garment they will be changed. But you remain the same, and your years will never end.
5. Jesus has a superior authority
Hebrews 1:13, (NIV)
To which of the angels did God ever say, "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet"?
Philippians 2:9-11, (NIV)
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Hebrews 1:14, (NIV)
Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?
Hebrews 2:1-3, (NIV)
We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. For if the message spoken by angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him.
-- D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Romans 7 Commentary
"Because we are Christians the angels of God are at our service; they are ‘ministering spirits’ sent forth by God to serve and to minister to you and to me. Though we are unconscious of this they are exercising this ministry. We are surrounded by them, they are unseen, but they are there, and they minister to us because we belong to Christ. We sadly neglect and forget the service of angels; but if ever you feel lonely and bereft, and feel that you do not know what to do nor where to turn, remind yourself that your heavenly Father, the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, has sent angels to minister to you as He did to Him in the hours of His greatest crises and His greatest agony."
