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CHRIST IS SUPERIOR BECAUSE HE IS GOD
FRIDAY, JULY 5
Hebrews 1:4-14
Matthew 16:13-17
“Thou art the Christ, the Son.
of the living God.”
CHRIST IS SUPERIOR BECAUSE HE IS GOD
The position of Christ as God is stressed and illustrated in today’s text. Christ is superior to angels as the Father has given Him that exalted position. And so angels worship Him. He also has all the attributes of God. He is not subject to decay or subordination. As such, He is “made so much better than the angels, … hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they” (Heb 1:4). His superiority is thus manifested.
Christ is eternally begotten of the Father while angels are created beings. Christ has always existed but angels have a beginning. Angels are messengers who are sent to fulfil the duties assigned to them. They are supernatural beings and do not have physical forms as humans have, and they are submissive to Christ. They do not have power over humans except by permission of God. Christ is the Son of God and has a more excellent name. The writer chooses to compare Him with angels because these messengers are known for conveying God’s messages to men. They are regarded as superior to men. At Jesus’ incarnation the people were confused as to who He was, many of the Jews were not persuaded that He was the Son of God. At the same time they knew that He was not an ordinary human being. The best they could attribute to Him was that He was either a prophet or an angel.
God gave a testimony of His exaltation in Psalm 2:2-7 when He said, “The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.”
THOUGHT: Jesus is the Son of God.
PRAYER: Father, may I always affirm the divinity of Christ.