Hebrews 1:1-14 (KJV)
1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high:
4 Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.
5 For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?
6 And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him.
7 And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire.
8 But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.
9 Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
10 And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands:
11 They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment;
12 And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail.
13 But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool?
14 Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?
Verses 1 and 2, the Father has in these last days spoken to us through his Son. Jesus is the Word of God. Even in the old testament, Jesus was the conduit in which the Father spoke to the prophets. It was the Spirit of Christ (Holy Spirit) that spoke through the prophets. The testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of Prophecy (Revelation 19:10).
Jehovah God has appointed his only begotten Son heir of all things. Jesus is a true Son and it's his Divine Sonship that allows him to he the heir of all things.
Verse 3, Jesus is the brightness of the Father's glory. He is the exact representation of God the Father. Express Image in the greek is "charakter" and means "the exact expression of any person or thing, marked likeness, precise reproduction in every respect, i.e. a facsimile"
Notice the verbiage "in every respect". This means Christ is equally divine as much as the Father is. The teaching that Jesus is a lessor God is not taught in scripture. The word Brightness in the greek is "apaugasma" and means "reflected brightness, shining forth, of a light coming from a luminous body, effulgence, brightness". The same majesty, divinity that the Father has is shared by the Son.
Jesus is the Word of God and it is by his word that he upholds all things. Jesus words are the Father's thoughts made audible. Jesus is Jehovah and he causes to become by the word of his mouth. The Father is the original Jehovah and He causes to become and his Son is the "by whom" (1 Corinthians 8:6) he causes all things to become.
Jesus purged our sins at the cross and rose from the grave and ascended up to glory to sit down at the right hand of the Almighty Jehovah God.
Verse 4, "Being Made", What does this mean concerning Jesus? Was our Jehovah created? Certainly not! Let's what the phrase "Being Made" means. The greek word for "made" is "ginomai" and means "to become i.e. to come into existence, begin to be, receive being, to come to pass, to be made".
The meaning of this word Ginomai is the same meaning of "hayah" (Hebrews Strongs 1961) and means "to become, to come to pass, come to exist, to come about, to come into being, to be instituted, to be established".
Here we see in verse 4 that Jesus came into existence and was caused to be. "Hayah" is the root word for Jehovah and remember that Jehovah is the Father's divine name. So we se that Jehovah which means "Causes to become" made Jesus and caused him to become. Remember "made" here in this passage doesn't mean created but rather "brought into existence" in the sense of being begotten "born, brought forth, came out from" as we will see in verse 5 and 6. Begotten doesn't mean created out of nothing but rather born out of something that exists.
When did Jesus coming into existence take place? We know it wasn't at his birth in Bethlehem, because in context of this passage it says he was made so much better than the angels and when we has born in Bethlehem he was made lower than the angels. Was it when he was resurrected? This would deny his preexistence which is clearly taught from the bible. Also, verse 4 says he inherited a more excellent name than the angels. This couldn't be due to his Resurrection as Jesus was already given the name Jehovah long before his earthly birth or ascension to heaven. Remember in John 8:58, Jesus claimed his preexistence and divinity by identifying himself with the "I am" (Jehovah). So this inheritance of the name that is more excellent than the angels, has to be when Christ was begotten from the Father in the ages of eternity. Just as a human son inherits his Father's name, God's Son inherits His name which is Jehovah.
Verse 5, Some say this scripture appiles to the resurrection and/or ascension of Christ to heaven. However, that means that Christ was not really a Son and the Father not really a Father prior to the resurrection of Christ. This would then mean that they were just role playing the relationship during Christ earthly life and Jehovah only became Christ Father in an adoptive sense after his death. The whole controversy surrounding Christ during his earthly ministry was claim of Sonship and the Jews understood this claim to be a Divine Sonship not an adopted one. So if Jesus and Jehovah were Father and Son during Jesus earthly ministry and Jesus is preexistent like the bible clearly teaches then the words of the Father "And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son" must be attributed to when Jesus was begotten from the Father. Since the bible teaches that Jesus is preexistent then that means Jesus was begotten in eternity and became the Son. If Jesus is preexistent and wasn't begotten from the Father as some teach, then that means we have two God's which the bible clearly doesn't teach. However, if Jesus was begotten of the Father in eternity then we still have one God who is the Father and the truth of Jesus preexistence and divinity still holds up.
Verse 6, the Father brought the firstbegotten into the world. Notice that Jesus was the firstbegotten before being brought into the world. So Firstbegotten here is in refrence to his preexistent birth not his earthly birth. Firstbegotten (Prototokos in the greek) means first born. This harmonizes with Colossians 1:15 where it says that Jesus is the firstborn over all creation. Jehovah's firstborn (firstbegotten) Son was brought into the world. We see that prior to being brought into the world, Jesus was already the firstbegotten of God. When Jesus was born into the world it was the second time he was born, the first time was in the ages of eternity and the second time was on earth. The angels rejoiced when Jesus was born here on earth. Here in Luke we see the angels worshipping Jehovah at the birth of Jesus.
Luke 2:13-14 (KJV)
13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
Did you know that Jesus was even worshipped as a baby?
Matthew 2:9-11 (KJV)
9 When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.
10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.
11 And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense and myrrh.
The word in the greek for worshipped is "proskuneo" and means "prostate oneself in homage, (do reverence to, adore); - worship"
This is amazing when you think about it. Often times people wrestle with the question, is it okay to worship Jesus? I think this among many other scriptures clearly gives the answer as an "yes".
If Jesus were to appear to me, I would fall down and worship him and say "my Jehovah and my God". Of course, that's if I could even muster the words to do so.
Verse 7, this is qouted from Psalms 104:4, Jehovah God makes his angels powerful comparable to the wind (spirits) and lightning (fire). This verse shows the superiority of Christ who is God's Son, over the angels.
Verse 8, Jehovah God calls His Son Jesus "God". This statement right here should tell us that we should never have a problem calling Jesus "God". We should never feel like we have to qualify it. The Son is God yet distinct from the Father, who is the covenant Jehovah of the Mediator, anointed. The verbal form of Messiah, meaning Jehovah gave him the graces of the Holy Spirit to fufill His mission (Isaiah 11:2; 61:1). The Father and the Son cooperate to save sinners via the agency of their Holy Spirit which is the indwelling Jehovah (Father and Son). This is one of the most explicit statements in the bible declaring the deity of Christ. Citing Psalm 45:6-7, The Messianic psalm exalts the Davidic throne. "for ever and ever". Christ's Kingdom is an eternal Kingdom and not transient in nature as the ministration of the angels (Acts 15:16).
Jesus Christ was enthroned as King upon his ascension to Heaven.
Verse 9, Jesus overcame the flesh and even though he had the capability to sin was sinless and perfect. Jesus was the Lamb without spot as that was the only way he could be a perfect ransom sacrifice for us. Jesus life on earth demonstrated righteousness and hate for iniquity (transgression of the law). Those today who say we don't need to keep the commandments of Jehovah are basically saying that we don't need to have the righteousness of Christ. The bible is clear that God's true Church in the last days will have the Faith of Jesus. Faith without works is dead and it was by faith that the heroes of old obeyed Jehovah (Hebrews 11).
Verse 10, Jehovah is the maker of heaven and earth, they are the works of His hands. Jehovah created everything through His only begotten Son Jesus Christ.
Verse 11, one day we will have a new heaven and new earth (restored Eden) once the millennium concludes. We see the earth and heavens (sky, space) waxing old before our eyes but one day all be restored to it's intended perfection. However, Jehovah God will remain forever as will His Son Jesus Christ.
Verse 12, this scripture alludes to the end of days (second advent) and the end of the millennium when all things will be made new and the full conclusion of this system of things takes place.
Verse 13, Here we see the marked distinction between angels and Christ. The angels were never promised this and Jehovah God says to His Son "Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool". God's Son is given preeminence in the glorious Kingdom of Jehovah. The Father promises to subdue His dear Son's enemies whether in the salvation of souls or judgment.
Verse 14, the angels are ministering spirits, and they are sent to minister to the saints of the Most High who are joint heirs with Christ unto salvation in the Kingdom of Jehovah God. Just as the angels ministered to Christ, they also minister to the Christian Congregation so that we remain faithful to the Father and His Son. The angels attend to our spiritual needs just as they did Christ during his life here on earth.
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