Hebrews 1

V1. Without an introductory word the letter begins directly with pointing at God’s speaking. Through what God had spoken, He revealed His thoughts. You wouldn’t have otherwise known them. God was not obliged to make His thoughts known, but it is His wonderful grace that He still did it.

The writer points his readers to the fact that God “spoke … to the fathers” in times past. That makes it clear that the readers are in the first place believers from the Israelites. To those that were converted from the Gentiles, this phrase would have been neither meaningful nor important. Also the fact that God spoke “in the prophets” indicates that it is about readers of Jewish origin. The writer includes himself also. You can derive that from the word “us”.

God spoke to the fathers by the prophets “in many portions and in many ways”. In the course of time He had spoken to His earthly people at various moments and again and again by different prophets. He also spoke in various ways. Thereby you may think about warnings, teachings, visions, dreams, wonders and signs (cf. Hos 12:10). But all this speaking has not brought about the desired result. His people deviated again and again and much further and further away from God.

After God has spoken to His people in this way through the past ages, He finally spoke in His Son to them. This speaking happened in the last days. Those are the days that God still spoke to His people, but were coming to an end and they definitely ended when His people rejected His Son. This speaking of God in His Son happened when the Lord Jesus was on earth. It was the last attempt from God’s side to bring His people back to Himself.

However, there is a tremendous distinction between the speaking of all previous prophets, and the speaking in the Son. The prophets were people through the means of whom God addressed His people. But the Lord Jesus, the Son, is not a means through Whom God speaks. It is the speaking of God Himself! The prophets spoke in the name of God. The Lord Jesus did not speak in the name of God, but spoke as being God. He indeed did that as Man on earth, but that Man is God the Son.

That’s what makes God’s speaking in the Son extraordinarily impressive. When God speaks in the Son, there is no mention anymore of partial or temporary Divine speaking, for all speaking of the Son is always and perfectly Divine. The Son is infinitely far exalted above the prophets as He is also above all other people as well as above the angels to whom the Jews were looking up.

After the writer has introduced the Son in this way, he starts to describe the great majesty of the Son in an inimitable way. He does that by introducing to you seven glories of this Person Who is exalted beyond everything and everyone.

1. V2. In the first place the Son has been “appointed heir of all things” by God. As Son He will own in glory everything that exists. It is God’s plan to subject all things to His Son Who became Man.

He could only receive the inheritance as heir after the testator has died (Heb 9:17). Now the wonderful thing is that He is the Testator as well as the Heir. And how did He receive the inheritance as Heir? By dying as the Testator. You may say that it is God’s inheritance and that therefore God is the testament Maker, while Christ is the Heir. But Christ is God Himself and therefore receives the inheritance through His own death, of course as Man, for God cannot die. This is an inconceivable mystery to our understanding, but to faith this wonder is a reason to bow down and worship God.

There is yet a wonderful thing in addition to that. He is the Heir, but through God’s wonderful grace you are fellow-heir of “all things”, the whole universe, nothing excluded (Rom 8:16-17; Gal 4:7). Shouldn’t this awareness give us the courage to persevere?

2. His second glory is His power to create. Through Him God has “also … made the worlds – the men’s world, the angels’ world and the world of the stars. The whole wide system of this universe is the work of His hands, Who has spoken to us: the Divine Christ. Without Him not one thing has come into being, that has that has come into being (Jn 1:3; Col 1:16).

3. V3. The third is that whatever glory of God radiates to the outside, it always happens through the Son. The Son is “the radiance of His glory”. The light of God’s glory has become visible in Him. He is the image of the invisible God (Col 1:15). It is like the sun with its beams. Where the sun is, its beams are seen, and where there are sun beams there is the sun. The beams and the sun are fully from the same nature. It is inconceivable that there are sun beams apart from the sun. The beams cannot be blocked or polluted. Whatever man did to the Son on earth, the beams could never be blocked nor darkened or blemished.

4. But fourth, He is the Sun Himself and not only the brightness. He is not only a reflection of God, no, the Being of God is in Him. The Son is “the exact representation of His nature”. Everything that God is on high, Christ is as Man. It is ‘expressed’ in Him (cf. Deu 4:15-16,25; Exo 33:9-11,20-23). The whole Being of God is found in Him as an exact image.

What is visible in the Son is completely in accordance with and is identical to the invisible God. There is no thought in God or Christ is the exact image of it. He Himself is God, as much as the Father and the Spirit Who in and through Him are revealed in Their full nature. You see the triune God in Him in everything He says and does.

5. His fifth glory is that He “upholds all things by the word of His power”. His word has Divine power (Psa 33:6,9). He is the Creator and He also sustains everything. After He has created everything He also looks after everything He has created, for He has created everything with a purpose. All things exist together in Him (Col 1:17), all things are held together by Him.

He doesn’t bear all things as a dead matter on His back that it does not fall, but He leads everything to a goal. The bearing implies movement and going on. An example of that you see in His daily care for all His own. To each of the countless prayers that are daily sent to Him for all kinds of matters, He can answer by the word of His power. He takes care of the maintenance of the whole creation and of each individual life.

6. The sixth Divine glory becomes visible in Him as Man. That glory is that He “made purification of sins”. Here it is not about ‘our’ sins, but about the fact of the purification of the sins. That He has done that, is an addition to the glory of the Son. He did that Himself, which underlines additionally that the Son has accomplished the redemption work absolutely Himself alone and in His own strength. The purification of sins means that He has done away and removed the sins.

7. Also the seventh Divine glory you see in Him as Man. He “sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high”. As Man He took His seat on high after He had made purification of sins. The fact that He is there proves the perfection of His work. As a result, everything related to the majesty of God is fully fulfilled. Therefore He is entitled to that place. He sits there, which indicates a situation of rest. He sits down at the right hand, which indicates a place of honor.

On Him there, seated on high, your eyes are always directed as you read this letter. Should you ever doubt whether your sins have been put away, then look to Him there, seated on high. Looking to Him there makes an end to every doubt.

By the way, in this letter the Lord Jesus is seen four times at the right hand of God:
1. In chapter 1 (Heb 1:1-3) where He in His own personal glory is seated there after He made purification of sins;
2. in chapter 8 (Heb 8:1-2) in relation to His High Priest service;
3. in chapter 10 (Heb 10:12) with a view to the sacrifice accomplished by Him once for all, through which He can be seated as Priest, for the sacrifice doesn’t ever have to be repeated again;
4. finally in chapter 12 (Heb 12:2) where it is not related to His Person, His service or His accomplished work, but to His inner feelings of ‘the joy that laid before Him’.

Now read Hebrews 1:1-3 again.

Reflection: Meditate on the various glories of Christ and tell Him how much you admire Him for that.

It will be a good thing to reflect for a moment on how the Lord Jesus is presented in this letter. It is not simple to distinguish His various glories. He is, after all, God and Man in one Person. I will try to explain something about it. From the previous verses you have understood that He is now seated as Man in heaven. He has taken His seat there as Man, after He had accomplished the purification of sins through His work on the cross.

Before that time He indeed was in heaven, but not as Man. He was not eternally Man. He became that through His birth on the earth. John speaks about “Jesus Christ [as] coming in the flesh” (2Jn 1:7) and about “the Word became flesh” (Jn 1:14). Thus the Lord Jesus existed, for He is the eternal Son of the eternal Father, but He became Man, or, as John says, ‘came in the flesh’ or ‘became flesh’. That can only be said of a person who has been there already, but now comes in a different way.

And how did that happen? God the Holy Spirit conceived Him in Mary (Lk 1:35). Therefore the Lord Jesus is the Son of God in two ways. First, He is God the Son from all eternity. Second, He became Son in a new way through His birth on the earth. Also as Man He could call God His Father.

His eternal Sonship is present throughout this letter. Sometimes this also comes forward, as in the previous verses in His glory as Creator and as Bearer of all things. But in this letter the emphasis is mainly on the fact that He is the Son of God as Man. In His Person countless glories are present. As limited people we cannot see the extent of all those glories as a whole. We can see them ‘in part’ (1Cor 13:9), which means that we are able to see and admire just a part of that glory at a time. This is how the writer approaches this issue here.

V4. We go back to our study of chapter 1. We have come to verse 4, where the writer connects to the foregoing by now comparing the glory of the Son to the angels. Angels used to have an exceptional place in the Judaic system. The earthly people of God received the law through angels (Acts 7:53; Gal 3:19). And when the Lord (Yahweh) appeared in the Old Testament He did that normally also in the form of an angel, as the Angel of the Lord.

To a Jew the angels were the highest beings next to God. They deeply respected them. John for example wanted to worship an angel (Rev 19:10; 22:8-9). To a Jew a human being was much lower than an angel. Now the Lord Jesus became Man. So He is in heaven. That presents a problem for the mind of the Jew. Christ became Man and yet is He more than the angels?

As the eternal Son and also as Creator He has always been exalted above the angels. The Jews, however, still had to develop a sense for the fact that He is still above the angels as Man and this because He is the Son of God as Man. To the angels that was not an issue. They saw in Him, also when He was as Man on earth, their Lord and Master. Angels honored Him at His birth (Lk 2:10,13-14). And during His life they served Him and were ready to do that (Mt 4:11; 26:53; 1Tim 3:16).

Now as Man He has returned to heaven, ‘on high’ (verse 3), where He had always been as the eternal Son. There God granted Him a glory He did not have before that time. By taking this place as Man, a dimension has been added to the distance in glory which was there between Him and the angels. That is indicated by the words “so much better”.

Here is also mention of ‘become’ something, which indicates that it was not present before. The distance between Him and the angels has always been immeasurably great and cannot grow greater. But His excellence above the angels can indeed get more emphasis. That happens by the new name He has inherited. That name is given to Him by God after He had died – an inheritance is indeed connected to death –, was risen and had returned to heaven. It is the Name above every name (Phil 2:9).

Then the moment has come for the writer to prove His excellence above the angels. For that purpose he quotes many portions from the Old Testament that speak of the Messiah. The believers to whom he wrote were familiar with that. The verses quoted should persuade them. They give a unanimous testimony. In seven quotations from the Old Testament – specifically the Greek translation of that (the Septuagint) – the excellence, which is beyond all things, of the Son is shown.

To make yourself aware of the power of these quotations you ought to step into the shoes of the believing Jew. This also is not a simple section, but your effort to conceive something of it will be rewarded abundantly. It took me quite a while before I succeeded to comprehend a bit about how impressive this testimony from the Old Testament is. First of all I will give you the quotations in a row:

1. He is higher than the angels and is worshiped by them (verses 4-6, with quotations from (1) Psa 2:7; (2) 1Chr 17:13; (3) Psa 97:7);
2. His throne is forever and ever and therefore exalted above all thrones (verses 7-8, with quotations from (4) Psa 104:4; (5) Psa 45:7);
3. He is exalted above His companions (verse 9, with a quotation from (5) Psa 45:8);
4. He is exalted above His creation, for there comes an end to that (verses 10-12, with a quotation from (6) Psa 102:26);
5. He is exalted above the time (verse 12, with a quotation from (6) Psa 102:27-28);
6. He is exalted above His enemies (verse 13, with a quotation from (7) Psa 110:1); and once again:
7. He is exalted above the angels (verses 13-14, with a quotation from (7) Psa 110:1).

In these quotations you also see a chronological order. They are about
1. His birth (verse 5a),
2. His presence on earth in fellowship with the Father (verse 5b),
3. His return into the world (verse 6),
4. His kingdom in the millennium (verse 8) and
5. the eternal situation after the millennium (verse 11).

V5a. The first proof text (Psa 2:7) shows the superiority of the Son above the angels by pointing at His position as Son. God has never said to a certain angel personally: “You are My Son.” Angels were indeed called sons of God (Gen 6:2; Job 1:6), but then it is about sons as creatures, like Adam, who is also called son of God (Lk 3:38). Here the name ‘Son’ is given to the Messiah, born on earth. It is therefore about His relation in time. He has been through eternity the eternal Son of the eternal Father and now His relation as Son born on earth is added to that since His birth.

There are people who are teaching that He only became Son when He was born, while His eternal Sonship is denied. However, if He first and only became Son by His birth, then the order in Psalm 2 (Psa 2:7) should have been: ‘I have begotten You, You are My Son.’ However, first it is written: “You are My Son.” Then it is determined that that Son was “begotten”, which means, He became Man. In this way the eternal relation is determined first and thereafter the new relation.

V5b. The second quotation (2Sam 7:14; 1Chr 17:13) is written in the future tense: “I will be to Him a Father, and He shall be to Me a Son.” That cannot possibly refer to His relation to His Father in eternity, for that has no beginning. It refers to His relation in time, from His birth. God makes clear here how the Messiah will be related to Him.

These words relate primarily to Solomon, the son of David. Solomon is an example of the Lord Jesus as the Prince of Peace. Therefore the Holy Spirit can quote and apply these verses to the Son of David, the Lord Jesus (cf. Mt 1:1). An application to angels is impossible.

Do you know to whom this quotation is also applied? To you and me! Just read what is written in 2 Corinthians 6 (2Cor 6:18). In the context of that section, it is about behaving in such a way that God really can call Himself your Father and that He can acknowledge you as His son or daughter. Then you look like the Lord Jesus, Who He also calls Son.

Now read Hebrews 1:4-5 again.

Reflection: What have you learnt about the difference between the Lord Jesus and the angels?

V6. The third quotation (Psa 97:7) is about worshiping the Son. Only a Divine Person is worthy of worship. God appeals to “all” angels to do that, not just a few. They are called “the angels of God”, which means, creatures who are nearest to Him and who are instruments of His power and government. In that position they ought to worship the Messiah.

God makes this appeal “when He again brings the firstborn into the world”. That certainly refers to His birth in Bethlehem. Then God brought Him into the world and the angels were praising God (Lk 2:13). But God will bring Him again into the world. Then He will not come as a Baby, but in power and majesty (Rev 19:11-16). He will come as ”the firstborn”, which means that He will be in the midst of others and amongst them He will take the first place. That also appears from the description of His return in Revelation 19 (Rev 19:11-16). He is also the Firstborn of the whole creation (Col 1:15), the Firstborn from the dead (Col 1:18; Rev 1:5) and the Firstborn among many brethren (Rom 8:29).

V7. The fourth quotation (Psa 104:4) shows that angels have been made to something, namely “winds” and “ministers”. The Son however is not made to something. The messengers, these invisible creatures, are swift and invisible as the wind, but their work is observable. They are ministers with a power of flame of fire, terrible, terrifying and consuming. Therefore angels are exalted far above men. But the Son is exalted immeasurably far above the angels. While He is the Son, the angels are compared to no more than the elementary forces of wind and a flame of fire.

V8-9. The fifth quotation is from Psalm 45 (Psa 45:6-7). Psalm 45 is a Messianic psalm, in which the Divinity of the Messiah is emphasized strongly. The psalmist addresses the Messiah as “God”. As it is said, the Son has not been made to something, as the angels were, but God acknowledges Him in what He is: God. God speaks about His “throne”. That is His earthly throne, which ends to exist when He takes possession of an eternal throne. It is an eternal throne because righteousness is the foundation of it.

The Messiah exercises His dominion, of which the scepter is the symbol, as a righteous King. No one can dispute His kingdom and no one can question the righteousness of His reign. Any ground for this is lacking. Regarding the angels, they do not sit on a throne, but they are standing before the throne, ready to serve.

He is entitled to that place. He proved that when He was on earth. He showed that He loved righteousness and hated lawlessness. Therefore He was a pleasure to God and therefore God anointed Him with the oil of gladness above His companions, i.e. the believing remnant of Israel.

The wonderful thing in this quotation is that on the one side you see that the Divinity of the Lord Jesus is affirmed again as well as His eternal throne. On the other side you see Him as the faithful Man on earth where He made God-fearing people His companions, above whom He at the same time is highly exalted.

V10-12. But His glory is presented yet more extensively: He is Yahweh. There can be no misunderstanding about this because of the sixth quotation (Psa 102:26-28). The quotation starts with ‘and’, which makes it clear that it connects and adds to what has already been said about the Son. In Psalm 102 He is not only seen as Man, but as Man in the deepest humiliation, in His suffering and finally in His death.

However, He is also acknowledged by God as the Maker of heaven and earth. The psalm is the prophetical expression from the heart of the Savior, in the prospect of what He endured on earth as Man. But you also hear God’s answer to Him in this quotation. The answer implies that, however deeply He was humiliated, He was at the same time the Creator. That answer is quoted here by the writer. You read that God addresses His Son with “You, Lord”. To the readers of the letter, and for you too, this means that the Jesus of the New Testament is the Yahweh of the Old Testament.

Then you read in the quotation about “the beginning” (Gen 1:1; Jn 1:1). He is at the beginning of all things. All things owe their beginning to Him Who Himself has no beginning. He also has no end, though His works do have, for they will perish. Mockers do say that all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation (2Pet 3:4), but they will be cruelly disillusioned. The material world has no life in itself and is neither eternal, as its Creator is. Here in one phrase you move from the beginning to the perishing at the end, from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 21:1. It indicates the huge contrast between the Creator and the creation.

He is eternally the Same. His years will last endlessly, even now He has become Man, for also as Man He has no end. The creation will be changed, but He Himself is the Eternal and the Unchangeable. “Will be changed” indicates a new heaven and a new earth (Rev 20:11; 21:1). Creation will be like a “garment” and He will deal with the creation as with a “cloak”. A garment finally grows old and you can fold up a cloak or change it for another one. That is not the case with the Son. Christ is Creator and also Recreator.

V13. The seventh quotation (Psa 110:1) is in accordance with the seventh glory of the Son in verse 3. Not only His Person is glorious and Divine, not only does He take the first place toward all creatures in the universe, but He has His own place at the right hand of the Majesty in the heavens. He Who had been with God in eternity, came to earth, was despised, but will rule soon, is now seated at God’s right hand.

Psalm 110:1 is the verse from the Old Testament quoted the most in the New Testament. That’s because in the Old Testament, in fact, only this verse says something about the present place of the Lord Jesus in heaven after His suffering, dying and resurrection and before His return.

He is now seated, while the angels are always standing (Lk 1:19; Rev 8:2). When Michael and his angels have fought against the dragon and his angels and have defeated them (Rev 12:7-8), they will return to God’s presence and stand there in their place of humble servants, awaiting the next order. What God says to His Son He will never say to the mightiest angel.

V14. The chapter ends with a question that consists of a conclusion. Angels minister, but Christ rules. Angels are ministers of God, but also of the believers. Angels are spirits, they have no terrestrial bodies. They see the believers, they are spectators of what the believers do and don’t do, as 1 Corinthians 11 proves (1Cor 11:10), and they provide them with assistance where it is needed, because the believers are companions of the Son.

The believers are presented here as “those who will inherit salvation”. With salvation in this letter is meant the millennial kingdom. Therefore you should see salvation here as something that is in the future. Salvation is also something you already possess. Therefore you may know for sure that you are saved on the ground of your conversion to God and your faith in the Lord Jesus (Eph 2:8).

It is important that you, to know what the expression ‘salvation’ means, look at the context in which it is written. Salvation often means to be placed on a new territory, beyond the reach of evil spirits and connected to Christ. In the quoted Ephesians 2:8 the point is that you are already in heaven now, in safety in an area where you are connected to a glorified Christ.

As it is said, in this letter it is about salvation as something in the future. That implies that we sometimes have to go a tough and difficult way before we reach that salvation. That applied to the Jewish believers anyhow. Therefore they urgently needed a ministry of empowerment, comfort and protection.

The Lord uses among other things His angels to minister His own. He deploys them, He sends them. They go on His command. Like when He sends an angel to Cornelius (Acts 10:3) and to Philip (Acts 8:26). He deploys them to bring Lazarus to Him (Lk 16:22). God uses angels to protect us (Mt 4:6; 18:10; Acts 12:15). These angels are the chosen or holy angels (Mt 25:31; 1Tim 5:21).

You see a multitude of ministries that the angels do and that on your and my behalf. Therefore not the angels are worthy of praise – they would reject it (Rev 22:8-9) – but the Lord of the angels: the Man Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Creator and Heir of all things.

Now read Hebrews 1:6-14 again.

Reflection: Which glories of the Lord Jesus have you learnt about? Worship Him for them.