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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’?

6 And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says,

‘Let all God’s angels worship him.’

7 In speaking of the angels he says,

‘He makes his angels spirits,

    and his servants flames of fire.’

8 But about the Son he says,

‘Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever;

    a sceptre of justice will be the sceptre of your kingdom.

9 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.’

10 He also says,

‘In the beginning, Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth,

    and the heavens are the work of your hands.

11 They will perish, but you remain;

    they will all wear out like a garment.

12 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.’

13 To which of the angels did God ever say,

‘Sit at my right hand

    until I make your enemies

    a footstool for your feet’?

14 Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?

As we have seen, this part of Hebrews 1 demonstrates the Superiority of Jesus over the angels. (The opening verses showed Him to be greater than the prophets).

We may find this to be a slightly strange way of using Old Testament Scripture, but it’s a Jewish way of arguing (and remember the letter was written predominantly for Jewish believers). Nevertheless, as you read through verses 5-14, I’m sure you will be able to see the main points the writer is making. It’s all about Jesus being greater than the angels (even though the latter were revered in Judaism). I am particularly struck by the thought that Jesus is the Eternal Son (11,12), and He has an Eternal Throne (8).

Note in Hebrews 1:

• Jesus has a more excellent Name,
• Angels worship Jesus,
• Jesus is God,
• Angels are servants.

In addition to all this, I found I had written a note in my Bible next to verse 9:

‘Holiness – a key to joy not misery cf.Lam.5:15-18.’

Here’s how John Piper concluded a sermon on the subject:

“Once you see angels in their proper place their role is a magnificent one. They have a role toward Christ and they have a role toward the people of Christ. Toward Christ, verse 6 says their role is to worship. Toward the people of Christ, verse 14 says their role is to serve and help us reach salvation. Which means—if you’re willing to let me use the familiar language—that God created angels that his Son might be glorified and his people might be satisfied.

I want you to leave this morning with this truth ringing in your heart: Jesus Christ is infinitely superior to angels. They were created not to compete with Christ, but to worship Christ and honor him. And the chief way that they do that on the earth is by serving us so that we hold fast to Christ and trust him and love him and treasure him and finally reach him in the fullness of our salvation. So angels were created for Christ’s everlasting glory and for our everlasting joy—which, as you well know, are not contradictory aims. Because Christ is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.

The universe is filled with helpers. Christ wants you to be encouraged and hopeful. That’s why this chapter ends with this amazing promise. The heavenly worshipers are all—all of them—sent to serve you and bring you safely home.”

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 had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. 4 So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.

The central theme of this book is the finished work of Christ. That’s why Jesus sat down at God’s right Hand after His death on the Cross. It points to a completed work. The Old Covenant priests repeatedly offered sacrifices, because their offerings were imperfect (and so were they!) Day after day they stood to minister. But Jesus “sat down” and we can now come to God on the basis of His perfect offering.

Verse 4 pivots us into the second section of Hebrews in which we see that Jesus is greater than the angels. In Hebrew culture, a “name” is much more than a label. It points to a person’s nature. What hits me in this fourth verse is that whereas ‘angel’ means ‘messenger’ or ‘servant’ (see v.21), the Name ‘Jesus’ means ‘Saviour’ (Matt.1:21).

His superior Name expresses His superior nature. The angels serve us – I think probably often in ways of which we have little or no idea. But Jesus saves.

“If you rest on the finished work of Jesus you have already the best evidence of your salvation in the world; you have God’s word for it; what more is needed?” C.H.Spurgeon.

In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. 3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.

Most of the writers of the New Testament were Jews. Over a time period of many centuries, the Jews had learned a painfully hard way that God was dead set against idolatry. He did not want them to have any gods before Him. But they often did have, and they paid a dreadfully high price for their love affairs with idols. By the first century AD, with knuckles sore from many a Divine reprimand, it seemed they had learned their lesson: no gods before the only God Most High! That was non-negotiable. How startling it is, then, to read words written by Jewish men, such as those in verses 2,3, about a Jewish Man called Jesus. It’s a staggering claim. These are outrageous words – if they are not true. But these, and similar words, were written about Jesus within just a few decades of His historical life. They represent what the early church really believed about Him.

A key idea in Hebrews is that Jesus is better (or greater) than anyone or anything in the Old Testament religion. ‘So why would you return to it?’ That’s the challenge posed to these Jewish believers. In the opening few verses the inference clearly is that Jesus is greater than all their (rightly) revered prophets.

I love the comment of the great Victorian preacher, Spurgeon:

“Other men had the threads of truth; but Christ took the threads, and wove them into a glorious robe, put it on, and came forth clothed with every truth of God.”

Prayer: Lord, please reveal to me more and more of the greatness and glory of Jesus

As you know, our pattern in these daily readings entails interspersing Old Testament and New Testament passages. As we are about to begin to look at Hebrews 1, here are a few introductory thoughts:

It is thought this book was written by an unnamed Jewish believer for other similar Hebrew Christians, who were being tempted to go back to Judaism. This was happening in the context of persecution, and maybe it felt safer to go back to the synagogue. The author knew that even if it was safer physically, it was dangerous spiritually. His call throughout his letter is essentially summarised in 6:1: ”Let us go on…”

‘The epistle was written to Jewish believers who were tempted to abandon the fullness of Christ and go back to the emptiness of a religious system soon to be destroyed…too many believers, like Israel in the Old Testament, are wandering in the wilderness of unbelief and yearning to go back to the old life. The message of Hebrews is especially for them: ”Let us go on to maturity!” ‘…As you meditate on this profound letter, ask yourself: Am I looking back and craving the old life, or am I pressing on by faith to claim my inheritance in Christ?” Warren W. Wiersbe: ‘With the Word’, p.811.

Years ago I heard about an obituary for a pot-holer who died in a cave accident. It just said, ‘If only he’d kept going he would still be alive.’

In a way, that’s the message of this great book: Keep going forward!

Your statutes are wonderful;

    therefore I obey them.

130 The unfolding of your words gives light;

    it gives understanding to the simple.

131 I open my mouth and pant,

    longing for your commands.

132 Turn to me and have mercy on me,

    as you always do to those who love your name.

133 Direct my footsteps according to your word;

    let no sin rule over me.

134 Redeem me from human oppression,

    that I may obey your precepts.

135 Make your face shine on your servant

    and teach me your decrees.

136 Streams of tears flow from my eyes,

    for your law is not obeyed.

We noticed that a good friend of ours was in some discomfort, and asked him about it. He answered that he had been trying to move around in a darkened room and had fallen over an object he did not realise was there! He had landed rather heavily.

How thankful we should be for the gift of light.

In God’s Word there is always sufficient light to at least show us the next step. It will also reveal to us potential stumbling blocks; areas where we might trip up (133).Why would we fail to use the light that is so readily available?

Warren Wiersbe observes: ‘His light shines within you (v.130) and His face shines upon you (v.135), so that you become a light in a dark world (Phil.2:14-16).’ ‘With the Word’, p.302.

We might well consider Jim Packer’s words also:

‘The way to benefit fully from the Spirit’s ministry of illumination is by serious Bible study, serious prayer, and serious response in obedience to whatever truths one has been shown already. This corresponds to Luther’s dictum that three things make a theologian: oratio (prayer), meditatio (thinking in God’s presence about the text), and tentatio (trial, the struggle for biblical fidelity in the face of pressure to disregard what Scripture says).’

Remember, Lord, what has happened to us;

    look, and see our disgrace.

2 Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers,

    our homes to foreigners.

3 We have become fatherless,

    our mothers are widows.

4 We must buy the water we drink;

    our wood can be had only at a price.

5 Those who pursue us are at our heels;

    we are weary and find no rest.

6 We submitted to Egypt and Assyria

    to get enough bread.

7 Our ancestors sinned and are no more,

    and we bear their punishment.

8 Slaves rule over us,

    and there is no one to free us from their hands.

9 We get our bread at the risk of our lives

    because of the sword in the desert.

10 Our skin is hot as an oven,

    feverish from hunger.

11 Women have been violated in Zion,

    and virgins in the towns of Judah.

12 Princes have been hung up by their hands;

    elders are shown no respect.

13 Young men toil at the millstones;

    boys stagger under loads of wood.

14 The elders are gone from the city gate;

    the young men have stopped their music.

15 Joy is gone from our hearts;

    our dancing has turned to mourning.

16 The crown has fallen from our head.

    Woe to us, for we have sinned!

17 Because of this our hearts are faint;

    because of these things our eyes grow dim

18 for Mount Zion, which lies desolate,

    with jackals prowling over it.

19 You, Lord, reign for ever;

    your throne endures from generation to generation.

20 Why do you always forget us?

    Why do you forsake us so long?

21 Restore us to yourself, Lord, that we may return;

    renew our days as of old

22 unless you have utterly rejected us

    and are angry with us beyond measure.

So, after a pause, we return to Lamentations for the final chapter. Here we find a note of hope, even though it is in the midst of grievous suffering. It comes in the form of this prayer:

“Restore us to yourself, Lord, that we may return; renew our days as of old” (21).

I first came across this request in the language of the ‘King James Version’ of the Bible, where it says:

“Turn thou us unto thee, O Lord, and we shall be turned…”

Just as no-one can turn to the Lord without His gracious, Sovereign initiative, so no-one can turn back to Him without His Help. It seems to me that this is a hopeful conclusion to the book, because the people of God are humbling themselves. They recognise they are incapable of authentic repentance in their own strength, and so they confess their need to God. In desperation they are thrown back on Him, and they know that if He comes to their aid, they will make moves in the right direction.

“Restore us, O Lord, and bring us back to you again!

    Give us back the joys we once had!” New Living Translation.

Do you need to personalise this prayer today?

“The human hand – this bundle of bones, flesh, and nerves – think of all it can do. It can bless or curse. It can draw blood or bind a wound. It is gentle, agitated, vicious; supplicating, ardent, tender. It can weld an iron bridge or caress a child’s head. It possesses the power to both harm and heal.” Karl Joseph Friedrich.

Reading this a Bible verse came to mind:

“Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the realm of the dead, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.” Ecclesiastes 4:10.

I also thought about a line in a famous hymn:

“Take my hands and let them move, at the impulse of thy love.”

Growing up in a Christian home, I often heard my parents speak about the heroic missionary, Gladys Aylward. I think they had heard her speak and she made quite an impression. But I only knew a little of her story, until recently when kind friends gave us a copy of her biography for Christmas. We were fascinated to learn that, although she was well liked in the missionary training home here in the UK, they did not take her on as a missionary because she struggled with her studies – including getting to grips with learning a most difficult language. But the sense of calling would not leave her, and eventually she went out to China under her own steam. Despite her lack of academic ability, she became fluent in the local dialects, and how those hands were used to serve, to bless, to help and heal in the midst of war, terror and terrible suffering

“Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires. 13 Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God.” Romans 6:12,13 ‘New Living Translation.’

That was Gladys Aylward’s story. She gave herself “completely” to God – and this included her hands.

It can be our story too. Loving hands are needed not only across the seas, but right here in our neighbourhoods. What might your hand find to do this day?

The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.

“Can it be right to reject all aspects of a culture that has shaped our souls for tens of thousands of years? God is present even without Christianity; he doesn’t need churchgoers in order to work. Whether or not a country is Christian, God reigns. He has ruled the universe for countless ages. The missionaries think that God depends on them and their preaching – that he trails after them, staying only where they have been. But long before Christianity was preached, God watched over the whole world. People may not have known him with their minds, but their hearts could feel him.” Kwon Jeong-Saeng.

I heard a preacher say, ‘We don’t go and proclaim the gospel to people in other lands and cultures because they don’t know about God. It is because they do – and they reject what they know!

3 1-2 So if you’re serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that’s where the action is. See things from his perspective.

3-4 Your old life is dead. Your new life, which is your real life—even though invisible to spectators—is with Christ in God. He is your life. When Christ (your real life, remember) shows up again on this earth, you’ll show up, too—the real you, the glorious you. Meanwhile, be content with obscurity, like Christ.

5-8 And that means killing off everything connected with that way of death: sexual promiscuity, impurity, lust, doing whatever you feel like whenever you feel like it, and grabbing whatever attracts your fancy. That’s a life shaped by things and feelings instead of by God. It’s because of this kind of thing that God is about to explode in anger. It wasn’t long ago that you were doing all that stuff and not knowing any better. But you know better now, so make sure it’s all gone for good: bad temper, irritability, meanness, profanity, dirty talk.

9-11 Don’t lie to one another. You’re done with that old life. It’s like a filthy set of ill-fitting clothes you’ve stripped off and put in the fire. Now you’re dressed in a new wardrobe. Every item of your new way of life is custom-made by the Creator, with his label on it. All the old fashions are now obsolete. Words like Jewish and non-Jewish, religious and irreligious, insider and outsider, uncivilised and uncouth, slave and free, mean nothing. From now on everyone is defined by Christ, everyone is included in Christ.

12-14 So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offence. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.

15-17 Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. Let the Word of Christ—the Message—have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way. (The Message).

I had the privilege to read this extract from Steven McDonald, who died six years ago yesterday, but while he was alive he got to tell his story to thousands of teens.

“Survival by Choice

I was on patrol in Central Park and stopped to question three teenagers. While I was questioning them, the oldest, a fifteen-year-old, took out a gun and shot me in the head and neck. . . .

I often tell people that the only thing worse than a bullet in my spine would have been to nurture revenge in my heart. Such an attitude would have extended my tragic injury into my soul, hurting my wife, son, and others even more. It is bad enough that the physical effects are permanent, but at least I can choose to prevent spiritual injury.”

That is powerful because I (and I think I can also say ‘we’) don’t find forgiveness easy. Some hurts do not heal easily or quickly. But although we may not feel like forgiving those who hurt us, we can choose to. We have to give it a go: Jesus commands it; He did it – forgiving way more than we will ever have to; and His grace will enable it.

If I am honest, some days I don’t want to forgive. But I often think about the words: ‘Holding a grudge is like drinking poison and hoping the other person will die!’

Then when I consider the Cross, and God’s great mercy in my life, He has me in ‘checkmate.’ I know that if I am willing to try, He is more than willing to help me to do what He asks. When it comes to forgiving trespasses, He is the Expert!

Prayer: Help,Lord, help! Please help me. You know my wounds and how weak I am, but before your Cross all my excuses are burned to ashes.

Thought: forgiveness is the only way to set your heart free, otherwise you remain imprisoned in a dark, bitter cell.