JESUS AND ANGELS

(INTRO) COMPARING ANGELS TO JESUS (Me/We)

[1]WELCOME: Good morning church family! If you’re new with us this morning on campus or online, my name is Nic Cook and I’m one of the pastors here at Cornerstone Church. We’re continuing our teaching SERIES: called Anchored and we’re going through the letter to early Jewish Christians living around Rome sometime in the 60’s A.D. We’re looking at how even when the entire world seems like it’s shaking around us, we can turn our eyes to Jesus and find ourselves anchored and firm as the waves toss and rain pours. Today we’re in chapter [2] [1:4-14] if you would go ahead and turn there in your bibles or digital devices. If you don’t have a bible, we have them available in the back. If you don’t own one, keep one of these bibles as our gift to you. As you’re turning in your bibles, we’re going to start out talking about…

· [3]ANGELS: When I say the word “angel” what comes into your mind? What images, what experiences, what questions pop up? I know for me there are two things initially. [4]First, when I was in high school, I was on a trip and for some reason we stopped at the precious moments chapel in Carthage, MO. Can I just tell you, if you’re looking to get excitement out of a high school boy, this is not going to make his top list of 1 million experiences. Anyway, I remember walking into this chapel and its paintings are filled with angels that look like this. So, there’s that image. Then I also used to watch this show called supernatural. [5]In it, angels’ kind of look like us but when they show they’re power, their eyes radiate brilliant gold light and light up a whole room and sometimes you see shadows of these spiritual wings. These are just a couple images that pop into my mind. When you place these two images side by side there are some similarities. They both show them as having wings. That’s about all the similarities you get though. The differences range from cute, approachable, sweet, childlike to terrifying, powerful, and something you might run from. [6]Why do I bring all of this up? Because depending on how you view angels, will affect how you view Jesus! So, let’s see what God’s word tells us about angels and then let’s see what we can learn about Jesus when we compare him to them. Let’s pray and then we’ll read the scripture together. [7][PRAY/READ]

(TEACH/APP) ANGELS: REAL, SPIRITUAL, POWERFUL

BACKGROUND: I could have easily called this series: greater, or Jesus is better because the writer of Hebrews is constantly comparing things to Jesus. He starts out by talking about how Jesus has been given a name that is better than angels. Then he goes on to show how Jesus is more powerful and more amazing than any angel could possibly. But none of this means much to us without a proper understanding of what an angel is like. It’s like the silly people who compare LeBron to Jordan. LeBron is truly great, but Jordan is in a league of his own. So, let’s do a little teaching on Angels quick. First, we need to admit that…[8]

· ANGELS ARE REAL: Jesus talks about how angels rejoice when someone gives their life to God in [Lk. 15:10]. He talks about how angels will gather his people at the end of time in [Mt. 24:31] Jesus tells people that God the Father would send him 78,000 angels to help him if he asked for it in prayer. [Mt. 26:53] Now I realize that there are some who might struggle with the idea of spiritual beings. N.T. Wright calls this being “selectively supernatural.” We are fine with the ideas of a virgin giving birth, and the resurrection, but angels and demons, no way! As followers of Jesus, we don’t get to pick and choose. The bible is very clear that there is an unseen spiritual reality and that what is seen is influenced by what we can’t see. Jesus spoke of angels as a reality so we will take him seriously. Next, we see that…[9]

· ANGELS ARE SPIRIT BEINGS: [10-11][v. 1:14] tells us that angels are “ministering spirits”. That word spirit in the original language that this letter was written in the Greek word is “Pnuemata”. It means a supernatural being that has awareness, emotion, and ability to interact with God and humanity. That means, technically, they don’t have physical bodies. They are spiritual beings that are completely different than us. However, when God sends them to communicate with people, they often take on the appearance of people. Sometimes they conceal themselves and we can’t tell the difference between us and them. There is an account in [Gen. 18] of Abraham inviting three men to eat with him not knowing they are angels. One of the angels delivers God’s message to him that his 90-year wife will have a baby the next year. He had “entertained angels without being aware of it” as [Hebrews 13:2] says. While it’s possible for angels to look like us and for us not to realize it, the majority of the accounts that we have of angels is that…[12]

· ANGELS ARE IMMENSELY POWERFUL AND TERRIFYING: Let me give you an example from the Old Testament from before Jesus came and then one from the New Testament example after he came to earth.

o There’s an account in [2 Kings 19] where the Assyrian army is outside of Jerusalem. The King of Assyria tells his commander to tell the King of Jerusalem that God can’t protect them. Your army is puny, and your God is puny. He’s standing outside saying these things loudly to scare the entire city. Hezekiah prays to God asking for help. And God sends 1 angel in the night and kills 185,000 solders. This is the most technologically advanced brutal army of its day. Defeated by a single angel in the middle of the night.

o [13-14]Let’s look at the reaction to an angel at the resurrection of Jesus. In [Mt. 28:2-4] we see that when two angels show up to roll back the stone from the tomb where Jesus’ body was laid it says that the guards see them and “for fear of him..trembled and become like dead men.” These are Roman Guards. Trained Killing machines. Trembling in fear, blacking out and fainting. Imagine a Marine in today’s military seeing something so terrifying that they blacked out for hours. Almost every time an angel appears to a human, they have to say…Don’t be afraid. I’m coming with a message. These beings must introduce themselves with, please don’t be afraid of me! [15]The writer of Hebrews is saying, you know how powerful and awe-inspiring these beings are? Guess what? They’re nothing in comparison to Jesus! Then he rattles off…[16]

(JC) 7 WAYS JESUS IS GREATER THAN THE ANGELS (JC)

(using 7 scriptures: quoting writings, law, prophets) LIKE HYPERLINKS

· HIS NAME IS GREATER THAN THE ANGELS: [17][1:4] says that Jesus “inherited” a name more excellent than the angels.

o What exactly is this name that Jesus is given that is better than the angels? There are two possible answers, and it could be either, it could be both. Doesn’t matter. The first is that Jewish people didn’t want to use the name of God in vain so they would find ways to refer to God as “the name.” It might sound something like I believe in “the name.” So, it would be like saying you can now refer to Jesus with “the name.” Jesus has been given God’s personal name because they are both the same God. The other name they may be referring to is “son” which is reinforced by saying Jesus is greater than the angels because…[18]

· HE’S THE FIRSTBORN SON OF GOD: [v. 1:5] which is a quote from [Ps 2:7] considered to be part of the Old Testament referred to as the writings.

o Does this mean that Jesus didn’t exist, and that God created him? Does this mean that Jesus didn’t exist until he was born? No! Firstborn son is a title and place of honor. In the Old Testament, we see God making Solomon the firstborn even though he was the 10th child of David. That meant that Solomon became the one promised to sit on the throne.[Ps. 89:27] Angels may have been known as sons of God, but there is only one firstborn son of God!No angel can claim that title, or claim “the name”.

o The author then quotes [19][2 Sam. 7:14] which is from a prophet named Samuel. This passage is incredibly important to both Jews and Christians because it is the promise that God made to King David that one of his sons would inherit the throne and rule over an eternal kingdom forever. If you read the rest of the passage [v. 13-16], it gives us an even more beautiful picture of Jesus. This is an instance where the promise and message of God had an immediate fulfillment, and a fulfillment that was in the future as well. It promised David that God would consider his son Solomon to be his own Son. Solomon, even though he was wise and honored God by building the temple, also sinned against God a lot by marrying 700 women and then allowing people to worship fake gods. So, God disciplined him by allowing the kingdom to be torn apart. Everything he built would fail. However, this scripture promised another son who would be called God’s Son. Jesus is from the family line of David. He’s the Son who never failed, yet he was disciplined. He took the punishment we deserved for sinning and was whipped and crucified to save us from death. And when he rose from the grave, he was undeniably given the title of Firstborn, Son of God! Then the author says, you want to know how much greater than angels Jesus is? [20] [ Z:UNDERSCORE]

· JESUS IS WORSHIPPED BY ANGELS: The writer quotes [Deut. 32:43] which was part of what was called the Law in the Old Testament. He’s taking a scripture written about God and applying it to Jesus. If you think angels are amazing, look at how angels feel about Jesus! They are in awe of him! They worship him! In Revelation 5 they’re singing about his greatness and his power! I don’t have time to cover in depth the other ways that Jesus is greater than the angels, but we’re told that [21]THE ANGELS ARE HIS SERVANTS, JESUS SITS ON GOD’S THRONE OVER THE ANGELS, JESUS CREATED OF EVERYTHING, INCLUDING ANGELS. But the writer of Hebrews ends his comparison of Jesus to the angels by saying…

· [22]JESUS ENEMIES WILL BE DEFEATED: Oh boy! Buckle up, this is great stuff! They quote one of the most famous passages from Psalms [23][Psalm 110]. When Jews read this, they saw it as a promise about a King from David’s family line who would conquer all his enemies at the end of time and put the world right once and for all. But who is this king? We can miss the power of this passage because of the way it’s translated. Here’s a more helpful translation. [24]The LORD [Hebrew, Yahweh, God’s personal name for himself] says to my Lord [Hebrew, Adonai]: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.” This was written by King David himself and it’s written as if he’s listening to a conversation where God talks to someone. David calls this person his Lord, his master. So, who is this Master that God is talking to? Jesus also quoted this psalm in [Matt. 22:44] and was basically saying that it applied to himself. The psalm is saying that at some point, the enemies of Jesus will be conquered. So let me tie a bow on this. [25]As powerful and terrifying as angels are, Jesus is infinitely higher, greater, and more powerful.They worship him, they serve him as God, God’s Son, the King and ruler of all!

o One day this powerful, glorious, amazing, terrifying Jesus is coming back again. I love the picture of this powerful Jesus painted in the last book of our bibles. [26-28][Rev. 19:11-16] tells us about Jesus as he truly is now! There is no one higher, greater, or more powerful. Angel armies numbering thousands upon thousands accompany him, but he doesn’t need them to win. Fallen angels; the demons, nations, nukes, and the most enormous armies of this world, can’t stand against him. He will come back and conquer evil and bring about true peace and shalom. This is what God’s people are called to cling to! Focus on this Jesus! Turn your eyes upon this Jesus! He is our answer in the middle of a world that is shaking! [29]Jesus who is far above the angels! Is he your King? Is He Your Savior? Then take heart! Run to Him. Live for him. Share Him with the world. If he is not your king and Savior, then what are you waiting for? He loves you, he died for you, and he wants you to live without fear. He wants you to stand before him without fear when he returns. If you want to know more about giving your life to Jesus, check the box on the connection card or come talk to me after service. Let’s pray!