November 10, 2025 • 27 mins
Start with a claim that won’t let you shrug: the Father calls the Son God. We walk through Hebrews chapter 1 line by line to see how Scripture itself lifts Jesus above every created being, from angels to kings, and then crowns him with a righteous scepter. If angels refuse worship but Jesus receives it, what does that say about who he is and what he has done?
We explore the rich language of radiance and exact representation, unpacking the ancient seal-and-wax imagery that shows the Son bears the very nature of God in human flesh. From identity flows mission: he upholds all things by his powerful word, makes purification for sins, and then sits down at the right hand of Majesty. That seated posture declares the work is finished and the King is enthroned. Along the way, we trace a web of Old Testament citations—Psalms 2, 45, and more—that anchor Trinitarian theology in the Hebrew Scriptures, not in later speculation.
This conversation is for listeners who want sturdy, text-driven clarity: Jesus is not a created being, not merely a messenger, and not a rival deity. He is the worthy one whose name is more excellent than the angels, the rightful heir of David’s throne, and the ruler with a righteous scepter who loves righteousness and hates lawlessness. For anyone under pressure or tempted to drift, Hebrews 1 offers more than comfort; it offers a captivating vision of Christ that fuels endurance, worship, and hope.
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May God Bless you!! - Glenn and Steve
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_01 (00:17):
The book of Hebrews lifts Christ up as a better
sacrifice with a bettercovenant.
In this first chapter, it'sreally talking about him as a
person.
He is a better being thananything in creation.
As we saw last time, Hebrews 1:3talks about Jesus being the
radiance of his glory and theexact representation of his
(00:40):
nature.
The radiance of his glory, itwould be totally absurd to say
that an archangel would be thefulfillment of something that
was an attribute of God.
No created being could be thefulfillment of God's wisdom or
what makes God's strength reallypowerful.
And that's what the wordradiance means.
(01:02):
It means the fulfillment.
So when it says here that Jesusis what fulfills God's glory, no
created being could do that.
That would be blasphemous.
It would say that God isinsufficient.
When it says that Christ is theradiance of his glory, it's a
claim for deity.
Then it has this phrase, theexact representation of his
(01:24):
nature.
Here with that phrase, the NewRevised Standard Version has it
saying the exact imprint ofGod's very being.
The New English translation saysthe representation of his
essence.
So the language here in theGreek is very precise.
It takes the terms that the sameas a stamp or a seal, making an
(01:49):
imprint.
In those days, people would havea family or a royal seal if you
were a lord or a king.
They would put wax at the bottomof a letter and push the seal or
the stamp into the wax so thatthe imprint of the seal goes
into the wax.
The exact same image is in boththe seal and the wax.
(02:15):
It was the same form for both.
The king's name or the Lord'sname would be on the seal, and
now that same exact form orimage is in the wax.
The Greek here is saying thatthe exact same nature or being
of God is imprinted into theflesh of Jesus.
(02:36):
God's exact being or God's exactform or image is pressed into
Jesus when he incarnated intoflesh.
This is such an amazing term, anamazing way of communicating the
unique deity of Jesus Christ.
So so far, we in this book,we're not even really out of the
(02:58):
first three verses.
We've already seen three or fourvery strong claims for the
unique deity of Jesus Christ.
Also in the middle of versethree, it says, when he had made
purification of sins.
So note the action.
He made purification.
Sin pollutes people.
(03:18):
So, Steve, can we purifyourselves from sin?
SPEAKER_00 (03:21):
No, we can't.
And I think the author isconnecting that to the sentence
before it.
He says, He upholds all thingsby the word of his power.
Then the next sentence is whenhe made purification of sins,
then the next one, which we'llget to is he sat down at the
right hand of the majesty onhigh.
So we kind of see a little bitof a transition here that the
(03:44):
author is making of Jesus, ofhis power, and that through his
power and who he is, hisuniqueness, he's the only one
that was going to be able tomake purification of our sins
because Jesus came and lived asinless life as a human being.
(04:05):
He's fully man, fully God.
He's the only one that would beable to have the power to make
purification of the sins thatwould give us the promise of
eternal life.
SPEAKER_01 (04:18):
Think of it what this chapter has already told
us.
The infinite God has reacheddown into creation and many
times in many ways communicatedhis word to us.
He imprinted himself, his veryimage, his very form, his very
nature essence.
He imprinted that into the fleshof Jesus Christ and did the work
(04:41):
of cleansing us from thepollution that is in sin.
Sin pollutes us and he purifiesus.
This is one of the many waysthat sin is described for the
human state.
We are dirty in need ofcleansing from Ephesians 5.26.
We are far away, needing to bebrought near, Ephesians 2.13.
(05:05):
We are slaves needing to be setfree, Romans 6.6.
We are dead in need of beingmade alive in Ephesians 2.5.
The Bible has 17 or 18 differentdescriptions of the lost person,
not merely deadness, but all ofthem.
God has to reach down and causethe purification.
(05:26):
He has to cause theregeneration.
He has to free us from the bondsof slavery to sin.
He is wonderful, and we are theones in need of his
purification.
Then at the end of verse three,as you alluded to, Steve, it
says he sat down at the righthand of the majesty on high.
Four times in Hebrews, it saysthat Jesus sat down at the right
(05:51):
hand of God.
So, Steve, what is thesignificance of the fact that
Jesus sat down at the right ofthe throne?
SPEAKER_00 (05:59):
The only one that is allowed to sit at the right hand
of a king is the one that hasthe same sovereignty, mothority,
uniqueness, the same power.
That is who sits at the righthand of the king.
So that's the significance hereis that the author is telling us
that Jesus is God.
And it's the claims of hisdeity.
(06:21):
He is equal with God.
God in three persons (06:24):
the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
one God, not three gods.
And the author is clear tryingto communicate to us that Jesus
is God.
And he does that here in thecase of sitting at the right
hand of the Father.
SPEAKER_01 (06:43):
There's at least two major things to learn here with
the sitting at the right hand ofGod.
One is what you just said,Steve.
The only one that can sit isespecially at the right hand.
That is reserved for royalty.
That is reserved for the one whois on the throne, is the one who
sits at the right hand of God.
So the only one that sits in athrone room is royalty.
(07:07):
Only the king, the king and thequeen, or the prince, they're
the only ones that can sit in athrone room.
Everybody else is the subjects,they stand.
The second major thing that weget from the sitting at the
right hand of the throne is thatthe work is finished.
In the book of Hebrews, we'regoing to see it makes Jesus to
(07:30):
be our high priest.
Well, the high priest and any ofthe priests really in the Jewish
sacrificial system, there wasnot a chair in the temple
because their work was neverdone.
They were constantly relightingthe lamps, rebaking the bread,
putting fire in the altars,sacrificing the animals.
They were constantly doing thesethings and their work was never
(07:53):
finished.
Here, he sits down because thework is finished.
What did he say on the cross?
It is finished.
And once the work is finished,now he can sit.
So he's sitting because his workis done.
He purified us for our sins.
He paid for our sins.
He paid once for all.
And now he can sit because thework is finished.
(08:16):
The right hand is the right handof strength and power.
So it's putting Jesus at thehighest position that can be
made in the universe.
This is a position of royalty.
It is saying that he is equalwith the Father and that he is
the power of the Father.
He is the radiance of his glory,the fulfillment of God's glory.
(08:39):
Hebrews 1:3 has four referencesto the deity of Christ and two
more references to Jesus beingthe high priest that completed
his work of paying for sins.
This is an amazing chapter.
All of that packed into thesewonderful, poetic, beautiful
words.
Then in verse 4, it says, Hehaving become as much better
(09:04):
than the angels.
Here, better means exaltation.
Because Christ lowered himselfto take on human nature and die
as a human, he is thereforeexalted to a higher stature than
the angels.
Jesus is above all createdbeings, including angels.
(09:25):
Jesus is not another createdbeing, but is higher than all
created things.
SPEAKER_00 (09:31):
Steve, is Jesus worthy?
He is the worthy one.
And as revelation puts, John wasin distress because of the
happenings of what was going on.
And he was wondering if therewas somebody worthy.
And stepping forth from thethrone room is Jesus Christ in
order to take the scroll.
(09:51):
John put there in therevelation, worthy is the Lamb.
So Jesus is, among other things,the worthy one.
He is the one that could onlymake the purification of sins.
He's the only one that can beworthy.
In this part here where it saysmuch better, the New English
translation uses the word so farbetter.
(10:12):
The author, as I noted in theintroduction, is going to tackle
the three pillars of Judaism atthe time angels, Moses, and the
Levitical priesthood.
So here in this fourth verse, hestarts to introduce that Jesus
is better than the angels.
(10:33):
He not only just says better,but he says much better than the
angels.
So we start to get this pictureof who Jesus is, not only in his
deity, but also in hispreeminence over the angels.
SPEAKER_01 (10:49):
Verse 4, as you pointed out, having become much
better than the angels, it goeson to point out he has inherited
a more excellent name.
A person's name is theirreputation.
A person's name also indicateswhere they belong in society and
wealth.
Someone who is a descendant of avery long line of wealthy,
(11:12):
honest, and trustworthy peoplewill have a name that is
valuable.
A person who is a child of awise and brave king will have an
excellent name and a greatinheritance.
Jesus has a name more excellentthan all the heavenly host, more
than all created beings.
He alone is worthy.
(11:34):
Next, this continuation of thelofty support for the person of
Jesus Christ as God Almightyjust keeps going and going after
wave after wave in this book.
Steve, can you start at versefive and read down to verse
nine?
SPEAKER_00 (11:49):
For to which of the angels did he ever say, You are
my son, today I have begottenyou.
And again, I will be a father tohim, and he shall be a son to
me.
And when he again brings thefirstborn into the world, he
says, And let all the angels ofGod worship him.
(12:10):
And of the angels he says, Whomakes his angels winds and his
ministers a flame of fire?
But of the Son, he says, Yourthrone, O God, is forever and
ever, and the righteous scepteris the scepter of his kingdom.
You have loved righteousness andhated lawlessness.
(12:31):
Therefore, God, your God, hasanointed you with the oil of
gladness above your companions.
SPEAKER_01 (12:39):
In verse 5, and really several verses after
this, it's contrasting Christwith angels, and it's trying to
tell us that Christ is betterthan the angels.
So in verse 5, if God nevercalled an angel a son, then what
does that tell us about Christ?
SPEAKER_00 (12:58):
It tells us that he's not a created being, that
the angels were created, mankindwas created, but the son is not
created, and the only personthat is not created is God
himself.
So through this terminology, heis equating Jesus as being God
(13:18):
Himself.
SPEAKER_01 (13:19):
Exactly right.
He's saying that he never calledthe angel son.
And if the angels are thegreatest of the created beings,
then that means Jesus, one, isnot an angel.
And two, he's not a createdbeing at all.
Therefore, he is God.
This is just wave after wave ofthese wonderful teachings about
who is Jesus Christ.
(13:40):
I remember in the Gospels, whodo you say that I am?
Well, here we're getting a greatdose of exactly who Jesus is.
Some people who try to deny thedeity of Christ focus on the
word begotten as if Jesus had abeginning.
In relation to Christ, the wordmerely means to bring forth in
(14:02):
the sense that Jesus was broughtforth as a human by the Father.
It would be absurd to have oneverse that says Jesus had a
beginning in the midst of manyverses that say Jesus was God
and created all things.
Verse five is therefore sayingthat Jesus is not one of the
heavenly beings.
And then the last half of versefive, none of the created
(14:25):
heavenly beings does God referto using the father and son
relationship.
Once again, being the son andson of the father is a term
meaning they have the samenature.
John 5.18 says that Jesus, beingthe son of the Father, means
Jesus is equal with God.
(14:46):
Then verse 6 uses the termfirstborn for Christ, which
means preeminent one.
Ephraim was called firstborn inJeremiah 31:9, even though he
was the second one born.
Ephraim was preeminent over hisolder brother Manasseh.
Therefore, Ephraim was thefirstborn.
(15:07):
When he says he's the firstbornover creation, that just merely
means he is preeminent overeverything that is created.
And we alluded to many of theseconcepts are taught in
Colossians as well.
Colossians 1.18 says Jesus isfirstborn from the dead, even
though there were others priorto him that were raised from the
(15:28):
dead, such as 1 Kings 17, 22,God raises the widow's son from
the dead.
So these are just such lofty,lofty things telling us he is
the preeminent one.
He is the firstborn of creation,he is the radiance of his glory,
the exact representation of hisnature imprinted into human
(15:51):
flesh.
The writer just keeps liftingChrist higher and higher.
The end of verse six, let allthe angels of God worship him.
Steve, what do we know aboutangels and worship?
Can an angel rightfully acceptworship?
SPEAKER_00 (16:06):
An angel himself cannot.
And whenever we saw angels thathad come down to visit mankind,
the word angels just reallymeans a messenger.
But when they in the OldTestament and even in the New
Testament would come to visit,if the person bowed down to
them, we saw the angel said, No,no, you need to get up because
(16:27):
you're not supposed to worshipme.
You only worship God.
So that is one distinction thatwe see with angels versus the
incarnate Christ himself in theOld Testament.
Glenn, I think also in thissection here, I find it a little
bit fascinating that the authoris using the Psalms quite a bit.
He's quoting from Psalms 2,Psalm 7, Psalms 8, Psalms 110,
(16:53):
and further Psalms as we gothrough this chapter.
And I think it goes back to thevery first verse when he says
God spoke through many prophetsand in many ways.
I think the author is provingthe case here that one of the
many ways that God spoke tomankind about the Messiah was
through the Psalms, because herehe is using all of these
(17:16):
different psalms to indicate andassociate directly Jesus with
all of these messianic parts ofthe psalms that were created by
mostly David back in the OldTestament.
So the author has started outwith a premise in verse one.
Now, as we're starting to marchthrough these verses in chapter
(17:39):
one, he is proving part of hispremise out by doing all of
these quotations from the OldTestament Psalms.
SPEAKER_01 (17:46):
Only God can rightfully accept worship.
Only God can rightfully acceptworship.
So in verse six, when it says,Let all the angels of God
worship him, then it means he isGod.
In the book of Acts, Corneliusfell down and worshiped Peter in
Acts 10, 26.
(18:07):
Peter stopped him, said, Don'tdo that.
Some men from Lystra tried toworship Paul and Barnabas, but
they stopped them in Acts 14,14.
And as you pointed out, Steve,at the end of the book of
Revelation, John fell down infront of an angel, and the angel
stopped him, said, No, I am afellow servant.
So if Jesus accepts worship, heis either God Almighty or he's a
(18:33):
demon from the pit of hell,because only God can rightfully
accept worship.
And of course, this is a strong,strong support for the deity of
Jesus Christ, the full, uniquedeity of Jesus Christ.
He is not a God, he is the God,he is God Almighty.
Because Jesus accepts worship byall the angels, then he is God
(18:55):
Almighty.
Verse 7 and 8 go together.
The angels are ministeringspirits, but the son sits on the
throne and holds a scepterforever and ever.
Only a king would hold ascepter.
Jesus is the rightful heir ofthe throne of David.
God promised a descendant ofDavid forever.
(19:16):
See 2 Samuel 7.
So what these next verses inHebrews 1 is doing is
contrasting Christ with thehighest created being, which is
angels.
And he's saying he is betterthan the angels.
The angels worship him.
The son sits on a throne andholds a scepter forever and
(19:38):
ever.
The angels would never do that.
Verse 7 is speaking about Godaddressing angels.
And then in verse 8, speaking tothe Son, God says, quote, Your
throne, O God.
We have God the Fatheraddressing the Son as God.
Verse 8 has the cleareststatement on the deity of
(20:00):
Christ.
This verse defeats onenesstheology and Unitarian theology
and is a direct proof of theTrinity.
There's no way around the factthat the grammar here has two
persons speaking one to another,but we know there is only one
God.
Your throne, O God, he says tothe Son.
(20:21):
We also have a very interestingcontrast.
Verse 8, the Father calls theSon God.
And the next verse, verse 9,says the Son refers to the
Father as God.
So verses such as 2 Corinthians1.3 say, God and Father of the
Lord Jesus Christ, which meansthe word for God is often used
(20:46):
for Father.
Thus, Hebrews 1.9 says to theSon of God, God, your God, has
anointed you, is referring tothe Father.
It's not saying Jesus is aseparate being from God.
So, Steve, these claims for theperson of Jesus to be equal with
the Father, to be the being ofGod, is just over and over and
(21:11):
over in this chapter.
And it says it much moreeloquently than I can, but it's
just such a powerful, wonderful,lofty chapter that has such deep
theology and great, beautifullanguage.
SPEAKER_00 (21:25):
And let me throw this question out to the
listeners here.
How do you think the author isdoing so far with showing that
Jesus is greater than theangels?
I think personally that he'sdoing a great job.
He's making a great case byusing all of these quotations
from the Old Testament to showthese Hebrews, this is who the
(21:48):
book is written to, that Jesusis God Himself.
And the Hebrews that he'swriting to are believers in
Jesus Christ.
So as we get into the bookitself, we're going to see that
part of the reason he's writingto them is because they're under
great persecution.
They're tempted to go back underJudaism in order to be free from
(22:11):
the persecution, possiblythinking that after the
persecution goes away, that theycan once again publicly put
their faith in Jesus Christ.
But the author is using all ofthese beginning verses to show
them the Jesus Christ that youhave followed and are following
and have put your trust andfaith in, He is God.
(22:34):
And He's much better than theangels.
He's much better than Moses andthe Levitical priesthood.
He's much better than anythingthat Judaism can provide itself.
So he's making and building avery, very strong case to these
Jewish believers who are undergreat persecution and at a point
(22:55):
in their life where they'restarting to possibly waver, stay
steady, and stay faithful withJesus Christ because he is God.
SPEAKER_01 (23:05):
Again, Hebrews 1.8 says, Of the Son, he says, Your
throne, O God, is forever andever, and the righteous scepter
is the scepter of his kingdom.
And the throne is the seat ofroyalty.
The scepter is the symbol ofpower.
The scepter is a symbol ofauthority in a kingdom.
(23:27):
Only the authority holds thescepter.
Steve, who is the seal ofultimate authority in God's
kingdom?
SPEAKER_00 (23:35):
That's Jesus Christ.
And other scriptures tell us inthe Old Testament and prophets.
We've gone through some of themalready in our studies, that in
the kingdom, we call it themessianic kingdom because the
Messiah is going to be rulingfrom Jerusalem.
Well, the Messiah is JesusHimself.
So he is the one that is theultimate authority.
(23:56):
And he's not only just going tobe ruling Jerusalem and Israel,
the restored kingdom, but he'salso going to be ruling all the
other nations of the worldduring this messianic restored
kingdom of Israel at that time.
It's just going to be a greattime.
But ultimately, it's JesusChrist who has the authority.
SPEAKER_01 (24:17):
Notice that it's not just a scepter, it is a
righteous scepter.
And it goes on the very nextphrase: you have loved
righteousness and hatedlawlessness.
Our king is a king that lovesrighteousness.
He has the power ofrighteousness.
He hates lawlessness.
We can't really say that of anyearthly king or any earthly
(24:40):
government because earthlygovernments all have some degree
of fallibility and corruption.
We never see perfectrighteousness from human rulers
or governments because all thesubjects are always longing for
a perfectly righteous ruler, theone who will rule with
righteousness.
Well, Jesus will rule with arighteous scepter.
(25:03):
That will be a great day.
Verses 8 and 9 speak of Jesushaving a throne and a scepter.
He is also anointed with the oilof gladness.
A king was recognized as a kingby anointing him with oil.
This happens several times inthe scriptures.
David was recognized as king in1 Samuel 16, 13 by anointing him
(25:28):
with oil.
David was recognized as king ofJudah by anointing him with oil
in 2 Samuel 2.4.
David was recognized as kingover the whole nation by
anointing him with oil in 2Samuel 5.3.
So when it says here that theFather anoints Jesus in Hebrews
1.9, he is recognizing Jesus asking.
(25:52):
And there's only one king inGod's kingdom, and that is God
Almighty.
Steve, this is just sowonderful.
We have here Jesus as King.
He is God.
Hebrews presents him as loftierthan all the heavenly beings.
He is the sustainer of creation.
(26:13):
He is very God of God.
He is the radiance of his glory.
He is the exact form of God'snature and being.
He alone makes purification forsins.
Steve, is Jesus worthy?
SPEAKER_00 (26:28):
He is absolutely worthy.
And we're only two sessions into our study of Hebrews.
And really all I can say at thispoint is, wow.
SPEAKER_01 (26:37):
Wow.
I hope you'll be back with usnext time for more wow, because
this book is just full of this.
We're really only halfwaythrough the first chapter.
So be back with us next time aswe continue to reason through
the book of Hebrews.
SPEAKER_00 (26:51):
Thank you so much for watching and listening, and
may God keep you and bless you.
The book of Hebrews lifts Christ up as a better
sacrifice with a bettercovenant.
In this first chapter, it'sreally talking about him as a
person.
He is a better being thananything in creation.
As we saw last time, Hebrews 1:3talks about Jesus being the
radiance of his glory and theexact representation of his
(00:40):
nature.
The radiance of his glory, itwould be totally absurd to say
that an archangel would be thefulfillment of something that
was an attribute of God.
No created being could be thefulfillment of God's wisdom or
what makes God's strength reallypowerful.
And that's what the wordradiance means.
(01:02):
It means the fulfillment.
So when it says here that Jesusis what fulfills God's glory, no
created being could do that.
That would be blasphemous.
It would say that God isinsufficient.
When it says that Christ is theradiance of his glory, it's a
claim for deity.
Then it has this phrase, theexact representation of his
(01:24):
nature.
Here with that phrase, the NewRevised Standard Version has it
saying the exact imprint ofGod's very being.
The New English translation saysthe representation of his
essence.
So the language here in theGreek is very precise.
It takes the terms that the sameas a stamp or a seal, making an
(01:49):
imprint.
In those days, people would havea family or a royal seal if you
were a lord or a king.
They would put wax at the bottomof a letter and push the seal or
the stamp into the wax so thatthe imprint of the seal goes
into the wax.
The exact same image is in boththe seal and the wax.
(02:15):
It was the same form for both.
The king's name or the Lord'sname would be on the seal, and
now that same exact form orimage is in the wax.
The Greek here is saying thatthe exact same nature or being
of God is imprinted into theflesh of Jesus.
(02:36):
God's exact being or God's exactform or image is pressed into
Jesus when he incarnated intoflesh.
This is such an amazing term, anamazing way of communicating the
unique deity of Jesus Christ.
So so far, we in this book,we're not even really out of the
(02:58):
first three verses.
We've already seen three or fourvery strong claims for the
unique deity of Jesus Christ.
Also in the middle of versethree, it says, when he had made
purification of sins.
So note the action.
He made purification.
Sin pollutes people.
(03:18):
So, Steve, can we purifyourselves from sin?
SPEAKER_00 (03:21):
No, we can't.
And I think the author isconnecting that to the sentence
before it.
He says, He upholds all thingsby the word of his power.
Then the next sentence is whenhe made purification of sins,
then the next one, which we'llget to is he sat down at the
right hand of the majesty onhigh.
So we kind of see a little bitof a transition here that the
(03:44):
author is making of Jesus, ofhis power, and that through his
power and who he is, hisuniqueness, he's the only one
that was going to be able tomake purification of our sins
because Jesus came and lived asinless life as a human being.
(04:05):
He's fully man, fully God.
He's the only one that would beable to have the power to make
purification of the sins thatwould give us the promise of
eternal life.
SPEAKER_01 (04:18):
Think of it what this chapter has already told
us.
The infinite God has reacheddown into creation and many
times in many ways communicatedhis word to us.
He imprinted himself, his veryimage, his very form, his very
nature essence.
He imprinted that into the fleshof Jesus Christ and did the work
(04:41):
of cleansing us from thepollution that is in sin.
Sin pollutes us and he purifiesus.
This is one of the many waysthat sin is described for the
human state.
We are dirty in need ofcleansing from Ephesians 5.26.
We are far away, needing to bebrought near, Ephesians 2.13.
(05:05):
We are slaves needing to be setfree, Romans 6.6.
We are dead in need of beingmade alive in Ephesians 2.5.
The Bible has 17 or 18 differentdescriptions of the lost person,
not merely deadness, but all ofthem.
God has to reach down and causethe purification.
(05:26):
He has to cause theregeneration.
He has to free us from the bondsof slavery to sin.
He is wonderful, and we are theones in need of his
purification.
Then at the end of verse three,as you alluded to, Steve, it
says he sat down at the righthand of the majesty on high.
Four times in Hebrews, it saysthat Jesus sat down at the right
(05:51):
hand of God.
So, Steve, what is thesignificance of the fact that
Jesus sat down at the right ofthe throne?
SPEAKER_00 (05:59):
The only one that is allowed to sit at the right hand
of a king is the one that hasthe same sovereignty, mothority,
uniqueness, the same power.
That is who sits at the righthand of the king.
So that's the significance hereis that the author is telling us
that Jesus is God.
And it's the claims of hisdeity.
(06:21):
He is equal with God.
God in three persons (06:24):
the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
one God, not three gods.
And the author is clear tryingto communicate to us that Jesus
is God.
And he does that here in thecase of sitting at the right
hand of the Father.
SPEAKER_01 (06:43):
There's at least two major things to learn here with
the sitting at the right hand ofGod.
One is what you just said,Steve.
The only one that can sit isespecially at the right hand.
That is reserved for royalty.
That is reserved for the one whois on the throne, is the one who
sits at the right hand of God.
So the only one that sits in athrone room is royalty.
(07:07):
Only the king, the king and thequeen, or the prince, they're
the only ones that can sit in athrone room.
Everybody else is the subjects,they stand.
The second major thing that weget from the sitting at the
right hand of the throne is thatthe work is finished.
In the book of Hebrews, we'regoing to see it makes Jesus to
(07:30):
be our high priest.
Well, the high priest and any ofthe priests really in the Jewish
sacrificial system, there wasnot a chair in the temple
because their work was neverdone.
They were constantly relightingthe lamps, rebaking the bread,
putting fire in the altars,sacrificing the animals.
They were constantly doing thesethings and their work was never
(07:53):
finished.
Here, he sits down because thework is finished.
What did he say on the cross?
It is finished.
And once the work is finished,now he can sit.
So he's sitting because his workis done.
He purified us for our sins.
He paid for our sins.
He paid once for all.
And now he can sit because thework is finished.
(08:16):
The right hand is the right handof strength and power.
So it's putting Jesus at thehighest position that can be
made in the universe.
This is a position of royalty.
It is saying that he is equalwith the Father and that he is
the power of the Father.
He is the radiance of his glory,the fulfillment of God's glory.
(08:39):
Hebrews 1:3 has four referencesto the deity of Christ and two
more references to Jesus beingthe high priest that completed
his work of paying for sins.
This is an amazing chapter.
All of that packed into thesewonderful, poetic, beautiful
words.
Then in verse 4, it says, Hehaving become as much better
(09:04):
than the angels.
Here, better means exaltation.
Because Christ lowered himselfto take on human nature and die
as a human, he is thereforeexalted to a higher stature than
the angels.
Jesus is above all createdbeings, including angels.
(09:25):
Jesus is not another createdbeing, but is higher than all
created things.
SPEAKER_00 (09:31):
Steve, is Jesus worthy?
He is the worthy one.
And as revelation puts, John wasin distress because of the
happenings of what was going on.
And he was wondering if therewas somebody worthy.
And stepping forth from thethrone room is Jesus Christ in
order to take the scroll.
(09:51):
John put there in therevelation, worthy is the Lamb.
So Jesus is, among other things,the worthy one.
He is the one that could onlymake the purification of sins.
He's the only one that can beworthy.
In this part here where it saysmuch better, the New English
translation uses the word so farbetter.
(10:12):
The author, as I noted in theintroduction, is going to tackle
the three pillars of Judaism atthe time angels, Moses, and the
Levitical priesthood.
So here in this fourth verse, hestarts to introduce that Jesus
is better than the angels.
(10:33):
He not only just says better,but he says much better than the
angels.
So we start to get this pictureof who Jesus is, not only in his
deity, but also in hispreeminence over the angels.
SPEAKER_01 (10:49):
Verse 4, as you pointed out, having become much
better than the angels, it goeson to point out he has inherited
a more excellent name.
A person's name is theirreputation.
A person's name also indicateswhere they belong in society and
wealth.
Someone who is a descendant of avery long line of wealthy,
(11:12):
honest, and trustworthy peoplewill have a name that is
valuable.
A person who is a child of awise and brave king will have an
excellent name and a greatinheritance.
Jesus has a name more excellentthan all the heavenly host, more
than all created beings.
He alone is worthy.
(11:34):
Next, this continuation of thelofty support for the person of
Jesus Christ as God Almightyjust keeps going and going after
wave after wave in this book.
Steve, can you start at versefive and read down to verse
nine?
SPEAKER_00 (11:49):
For to which of the angels did he ever say, You are
my son, today I have begottenyou.
And again, I will be a father tohim, and he shall be a son to
me.
And when he again brings thefirstborn into the world, he
says, And let all the angels ofGod worship him.
(12:10):
And of the angels he says, Whomakes his angels winds and his
ministers a flame of fire?
But of the Son, he says, Yourthrone, O God, is forever and
ever, and the righteous scepteris the scepter of his kingdom.
You have loved righteousness andhated lawlessness.
(12:31):
Therefore, God, your God, hasanointed you with the oil of
gladness above your companions.
SPEAKER_01 (12:39):
In verse 5, and really several verses after
this, it's contrasting Christwith angels, and it's trying to
tell us that Christ is betterthan the angels.
So in verse 5, if God nevercalled an angel a son, then what
does that tell us about Christ?
SPEAKER_00 (12:58):
It tells us that he's not a created being, that
the angels were created, mankindwas created, but the son is not
created, and the only personthat is not created is God
himself.
So through this terminology, heis equating Jesus as being God
(13:18):
Himself.
SPEAKER_01 (13:19):
Exactly right.
He's saying that he never calledthe angel son.
And if the angels are thegreatest of the created beings,
then that means Jesus, one, isnot an angel.
And two, he's not a createdbeing at all.
Therefore, he is God.
This is just wave after wave ofthese wonderful teachings about
who is Jesus Christ.
(13:40):
I remember in the Gospels, whodo you say that I am?
Well, here we're getting a greatdose of exactly who Jesus is.
Some people who try to deny thedeity of Christ focus on the
word begotten as if Jesus had abeginning.
In relation to Christ, the wordmerely means to bring forth in
(14:02):
the sense that Jesus was broughtforth as a human by the Father.
It would be absurd to have oneverse that says Jesus had a
beginning in the midst of manyverses that say Jesus was God
and created all things.
Verse five is therefore sayingthat Jesus is not one of the
heavenly beings.
And then the last half of versefive, none of the created
(14:25):
heavenly beings does God referto using the father and son
relationship.
Once again, being the son andson of the father is a term
meaning they have the samenature.
John 5.18 says that Jesus, beingthe son of the Father, means
Jesus is equal with God.
(14:46):
Then verse 6 uses the termfirstborn for Christ, which
means preeminent one.
Ephraim was called firstborn inJeremiah 31:9, even though he
was the second one born.
Ephraim was preeminent over hisolder brother Manasseh.
Therefore, Ephraim was thefirstborn.
(15:07):
When he says he's the firstbornover creation, that just merely
means he is preeminent overeverything that is created.
And we alluded to many of theseconcepts are taught in
Colossians as well.
Colossians 1.18 says Jesus isfirstborn from the dead, even
though there were others priorto him that were raised from the
(15:28):
dead, such as 1 Kings 17, 22,God raises the widow's son from
the dead.
So these are just such lofty,lofty things telling us he is
the preeminent one.
He is the firstborn of creation,he is the radiance of his glory,
the exact representation of hisnature imprinted into human
(15:51):
flesh.
The writer just keeps liftingChrist higher and higher.
The end of verse six, let allthe angels of God worship him.
Steve, what do we know aboutangels and worship?
Can an angel rightfully acceptworship?
SPEAKER_00 (16:06):
An angel himself cannot.
And whenever we saw angels thathad come down to visit mankind,
the word angels just reallymeans a messenger.
But when they in the OldTestament and even in the New
Testament would come to visit,if the person bowed down to
them, we saw the angel said, No,no, you need to get up because
(16:27):
you're not supposed to worshipme.
You only worship God.
So that is one distinction thatwe see with angels versus the
incarnate Christ himself in theOld Testament.
Glenn, I think also in thissection here, I find it a little
bit fascinating that the authoris using the Psalms quite a bit.
He's quoting from Psalms 2,Psalm 7, Psalms 8, Psalms 110,
(16:53):
and further Psalms as we gothrough this chapter.
And I think it goes back to thevery first verse when he says
God spoke through many prophetsand in many ways.
I think the author is provingthe case here that one of the
many ways that God spoke tomankind about the Messiah was
through the Psalms, because herehe is using all of these
(17:16):
different psalms to indicate andassociate directly Jesus with
all of these messianic parts ofthe psalms that were created by
mostly David back in the OldTestament.
So the author has started outwith a premise in verse one.
Now, as we're starting to marchthrough these verses in chapter
(17:39):
one, he is proving part of hispremise out by doing all of
these quotations from the OldTestament Psalms.
SPEAKER_01 (17:46):
Only God can rightfully accept worship.
Only God can rightfully acceptworship.
So in verse six, when it says,Let all the angels of God
worship him, then it means he isGod.
In the book of Acts, Corneliusfell down and worshiped Peter in
Acts 10, 26.
(18:07):
Peter stopped him, said, Don'tdo that.
Some men from Lystra tried toworship Paul and Barnabas, but
they stopped them in Acts 14,14.
And as you pointed out, Steve,at the end of the book of
Revelation, John fell down infront of an angel, and the angel
stopped him, said, No, I am afellow servant.
So if Jesus accepts worship, heis either God Almighty or he's a
(18:33):
demon from the pit of hell,because only God can rightfully
accept worship.
And of course, this is a strong,strong support for the deity of
Jesus Christ, the full, uniquedeity of Jesus Christ.
He is not a God, he is the God,he is God Almighty.
Because Jesus accepts worship byall the angels, then he is God
(18:55):
Almighty.
Verse 7 and 8 go together.
The angels are ministeringspirits, but the son sits on the
throne and holds a scepterforever and ever.
Only a king would hold ascepter.
Jesus is the rightful heir ofthe throne of David.
God promised a descendant ofDavid forever.
(19:16):
See 2 Samuel 7.
So what these next verses inHebrews 1 is doing is
contrasting Christ with thehighest created being, which is
angels.
And he's saying he is betterthan the angels.
The angels worship him.
The son sits on a throne andholds a scepter forever and
(19:38):
ever.
The angels would never do that.
Verse 7 is speaking about Godaddressing angels.
And then in verse 8, speaking tothe Son, God says, quote, Your
throne, O God.
We have God the Fatheraddressing the Son as God.
Verse 8 has the cleareststatement on the deity of
(20:00):
Christ.
This verse defeats onenesstheology and Unitarian theology
and is a direct proof of theTrinity.
There's no way around the factthat the grammar here has two
persons speaking one to another,but we know there is only one
God.
Your throne, O God, he says tothe Son.
(20:21):
We also have a very interestingcontrast.
Verse 8, the Father calls theSon God.
And the next verse, verse 9,says the Son refers to the
Father as God.
So verses such as 2 Corinthians1.3 say, God and Father of the
Lord Jesus Christ, which meansthe word for God is often used
(20:46):
for Father.
Thus, Hebrews 1.9 says to theSon of God, God, your God, has
anointed you, is referring tothe Father.
It's not saying Jesus is aseparate being from God.
So, Steve, these claims for theperson of Jesus to be equal with
the Father, to be the being ofGod, is just over and over and
(21:11):
over in this chapter.
And it says it much moreeloquently than I can, but it's
just such a powerful, wonderful,lofty chapter that has such deep
theology and great, beautifullanguage.
SPEAKER_00 (21:25):
And let me throw this question out to the
listeners here.
How do you think the author isdoing so far with showing that
Jesus is greater than theangels?
I think personally that he'sdoing a great job.
He's making a great case byusing all of these quotations
from the Old Testament to showthese Hebrews, this is who the
(21:48):
book is written to, that Jesusis God Himself.
And the Hebrews that he'swriting to are believers in
Jesus Christ.
So as we get into the bookitself, we're going to see that
part of the reason he's writingto them is because they're under
great persecution.
They're tempted to go back underJudaism in order to be free from
(22:11):
the persecution, possiblythinking that after the
persecution goes away, that theycan once again publicly put
their faith in Jesus Christ.
But the author is using all ofthese beginning verses to show
them the Jesus Christ that youhave followed and are following
and have put your trust andfaith in, He is God.
(22:34):
And He's much better than theangels.
He's much better than Moses andthe Levitical priesthood.
He's much better than anythingthat Judaism can provide itself.
So he's making and building avery, very strong case to these
Jewish believers who are undergreat persecution and at a point
(22:55):
in their life where they'restarting to possibly waver, stay
steady, and stay faithful withJesus Christ because he is God.
SPEAKER_01 (23:05):
Again, Hebrews 1.8 says, Of the Son, he says, Your
throne, O God, is forever andever, and the righteous scepter
is the scepter of his kingdom.
And the throne is the seat ofroyalty.
The scepter is the symbol ofpower.
The scepter is a symbol ofauthority in a kingdom.
(23:27):
Only the authority holds thescepter.
Steve, who is the seal ofultimate authority in God's
kingdom?
SPEAKER_00 (23:35):
That's Jesus Christ.
And other scriptures tell us inthe Old Testament and prophets.
We've gone through some of themalready in our studies, that in
the kingdom, we call it themessianic kingdom because the
Messiah is going to be rulingfrom Jerusalem.
Well, the Messiah is JesusHimself.
So he is the one that is theultimate authority.
(23:56):
And he's not only just going tobe ruling Jerusalem and Israel,
the restored kingdom, but he'salso going to be ruling all the
other nations of the worldduring this messianic restored
kingdom of Israel at that time.
It's just going to be a greattime.
But ultimately, it's JesusChrist who has the authority.
SPEAKER_01 (24:17):
Notice that it's not just a scepter, it is a
righteous scepter.
And it goes on the very nextphrase: you have loved
righteousness and hatedlawlessness.
Our king is a king that lovesrighteousness.
He has the power ofrighteousness.
He hates lawlessness.
We can't really say that of anyearthly king or any earthly
(24:40):
government because earthlygovernments all have some degree
of fallibility and corruption.
We never see perfectrighteousness from human rulers
or governments because all thesubjects are always longing for
a perfectly righteous ruler, theone who will rule with
righteousness.
Well, Jesus will rule with arighteous scepter.
(25:03):
That will be a great day.
Verses 8 and 9 speak of Jesushaving a throne and a scepter.
He is also anointed with the oilof gladness.
A king was recognized as a kingby anointing him with oil.
This happens several times inthe scriptures.
David was recognized as king in1 Samuel 16, 13 by anointing him
(25:28):
with oil.
David was recognized as king ofJudah by anointing him with oil
in 2 Samuel 2.4.
David was recognized as kingover the whole nation by
anointing him with oil in 2Samuel 5.3.
So when it says here that theFather anoints Jesus in Hebrews
1.9, he is recognizing Jesus asking.
(25:52):
And there's only one king inGod's kingdom, and that is God
Almighty.
Steve, this is just sowonderful.
We have here Jesus as King.
He is God.
Hebrews presents him as loftierthan all the heavenly beings.
He is the sustainer of creation.
(26:13):
He is very God of God.
He is the radiance of his glory.
He is the exact form of God'snature and being.
He alone makes purification forsins.
Steve, is Jesus worthy?
SPEAKER_00 (26:28):
He is absolutely worthy.
And we're only two sessions into our study of Hebrews.
And really all I can say at thispoint is, wow.
SPEAKER_01 (26:37):
Wow.
I hope you'll be back with usnext time for more wow, because
this book is just full of this.
We're really only halfwaythrough the first chapter.
So be back with us next time aswe continue to reason through
the book of Hebrews.
SPEAKER_00 (26:51):
Thank you so much for watching and listening, and
may God keep you and bless you.
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