A Daily Walk

John Randall: Ask yourself the question, is there anything too difficult for God to handle in your life tonight? The answer to that question is no! Just say no, there's nothing too difficult for him. So, this is difficult. For whom? For me? Did you stretch out the heavens? No. Okay then. God did, so he can handle it. Give it over to him, put it in his hands.

Guest (Male): We are pleased to present A Daily Walk with Pastor John Randall. We're in the early stages of a study in Hebrews and today we bring you a message called Jesus is Better than the Angels. Now that may seem like a no-brainer to you and perhaps you're even thinking, why should you even have to discuss that?

Well, the truth of the matter is people today have a great fascination with angels and have even elevated them to positions they're not worthy to receive. And there's also great confusion over who Jesus is. By the end of our time together, I think you'll see why God included the superiority of Christ in his word. The plan today is to finish chapter one.

John Randall: The Hebrew believers were feeling the pressure of persecution to deny Jesus Christ. If they would simply compromise and confess that Jesus was a powerful angel, they could skip the consequences. It was a real temptation. A simple change of emphasis on the person of Christ from being God to an angel and they’d be spared the suffering. This is what they were dealing with.

Now to prove his point that Jesus was better than the angels, the writer of Hebrews highlights seven quotations from the Old Testament, all of which prove the superiority of Jesus above the angels. So here's the first thing. How do we know that Jesus is better than the angels? Because Jesus is the Son of God. Look at verse four, having become so much better than the angels, he has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. For to which of the angels did he ever say, you're my son, today I have begotten you? And again, I will be to him a father and he shall be to me a son.

Jesus has a greater and more excellent name than the angels because the angels are created beings, Jesus is the Son of God. According to Jewish thought, a person's name revealed their nature and could express their rank or their status. Jesus had the title the Son from all eternity. This is who he is. He's not an angelic created being, he's the Son of God.

And to prove this point the writer quotes here from two Old Testament passages together, he links them together. And the first is found in verse five, he quotes here from Psalm chapter two, verse seven: For to which of the angels did he ever say you are my son, today I have begotten you? Psalm two was already a famous Messianic Psalm, understood to be fulfilled in the future day by a descendant of David who would be crowned the king. The only person that fits that bill is Jesus Christ. He's the son, son of David, son of Abraham, son of God.

Jesus alone has the exalted name as the begotten son. Therefore, he is superior to the angels. The second Old Testament passage that he quotes from is found here in verse five and he's quoting from Second Samuel chapter seven, verse 14 where it says, or again, implying to which of the angels did God ever say, I will be to him a father and he shall be to me a son. This passage, Second Samuel chapter seven, is a well-known Messianic passage that is referred to as, listen carefully, the Davidic Covenant.

It means an agreement between God and David, meaning a promise that God made to King David concerning his future posterity. Do you remember what happened there in Second Samuel seven? It was when Nathan the prophet informed David that one of his descendants would eventually come far down the family tree. He would be the Messiah, he would be the king that would rule and reign forever. And David received that promise and he said, Lord, let it be according to your word.

And Jesus fulfilled that prophetic promise and the writer of Hebrews points to that passage and says that makes Jesus superior to the angels. That's why the New Testament, when you read Luke's Gospel chapter one and the birth announcement comes through the angel Gabriel, do you remember what was said? It says, and behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a son and you shall call his name Jesus. And he will be great, he'll be called the Son of the Highest and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David. And he will reign over the house of Jacob forever and of his kingdom there will be no end.

Jesus is better than the angels because he's the Son of God, he's going to reign forever. No angel is going to reign forever, only Jesus has that position. That's the point, he's superior to the angels. And these two prophetic passages of the Old Testament describing the incarnation, the resurrection, the exaltation of Jesus, he is the son, while all that can be said of the angels is they are messengers or servants.

Jesus is superior to the angels, greater than the angels. Secondly, Jesus is worshipped by the angels. In verse six, but when he again brings forth the firstborn into the world he says, let all the angels of God worship him. Verse six is an Old Testament quotation from Psalm 89, verse 27. Make note of the word firstborn. It doesn't mean that Jesus is created, he's not a created being, he is God. The word firstborn is defined as preeminent. He is preeminent over everything. This describes his position.

Because Jesus is the preeminent one, the almighty God, the angels worship him. By the way, angels are not to be worshipped. If you ever find an angel in the scripture appearing to someone and they fall down and worship him, immediately they say, hey, get up, get up. I'm a servant like you, don't worship me. And granted, they were powerful to look at but they did not receive worship. They're not to be worshipped. And sometimes you find people getting into different things and angels this and angels that and all this. Listen, we serve Jesus, we worship Jesus, we don't worship the angels. The angels worship Jesus.

And so it's really important to understand that as you find people throughout the years getting caught up in these things, touched by an angel, this and an angel and that and so forth. Yeah, we worship Jesus. That's the important things. He has preeminence. When Jesus came to the earth at his birth, the angels, what did they do? They broke out in heavenly chorus and they began to worship him. It says in Luke chapter two, and suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of heavenly host and they were praising God saying, glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, goodwill toward men.

Who were they talking about? Who were they worshipping? The one that was born, the Savior who is Christ the Lord. When you come to the last book of the Bible, the book of Revelation chapter five, John is translated into the heavenly scene and he gets to see what takes place around the throne room of God and this is what he sees. He sees the angels there. And what are they doing? He tells us. I looked and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders and the voices of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands and thousands saying with a loud voice, worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.

And I heard every creature in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and in the sea and all that is in them saying, to him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing, honor, glory, might forever and ever. Why is Jesus better than the angels? Because he's worshipped by the angels. He is superior to them. Jesus is also greater than the angels because the angels not only worship Jesus, listen to this friends, they serve Jesus. They serve Jesus.

The Bible here in verse seven says, and of the angels he says, who makes his angels spirits and his ministers, servants, a flame of fire. Now the writer of Hebrews quotes from Psalm 104, verse four, that the angels live to serve Jesus. By the way, just let me pause for a moment and say this. One thing you're seeing here is as the writer of Hebrews, he is consistently quoting from the Old Testament. This individual, whoever wrote the book of Hebrews, had a command of Old Testament scripture and he constantly pulls from it.

Let me just tell you that's why it's really important not just to read the New Testament but to read the Old Testament as well. And it's so important to have an understanding of Old Testament scripture and see how it points to the person and work of Jesus Christ. And that's exactly what the writer of Hebrews is doing for us. He is pulling it in, he is showing us how Jesus is the fulfillment of everything the Old Testament pointed to. That's what makes it such a powerful book.

But we see here that the angels are servants, ministers, a flame of fire concerning Jesus. Do you remember that following his baptism there at the Jordan in the wilderness by John the Baptist, that when Jesus came up out of the water, the Spirit of God descended upon him like a dove? And the Father spoke and said, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. It was right after that experience that the Bible says Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness where he was confronted by the devil. And at his weakest moment, the devil appeared and you know what happened there, he tempted him repeatedly to take matters into his own hands.

And Jesus withstood the temptation of the devil through the power of the word of God, quoting scripture, it is written, it is written, it is written. Even when the devil misquoted scripture, took it out of its context, Jesus corrected him and he overcame the devil through the power of the word of God. It was right after that, the Bible says in Matthew chapter four, verse 11, then the devil left him and behold the angels came and they ministered to him. They're his ministers, they're his servants.

Another example of this would be the night before Jesus was crucified. He and his disciples went into the Garden of Gethsemane for a time of prayer. The disciples fell asleep within the garden, Jesus was interceding. Luke records for us that the prayer and the intercession was so intense that Jesus’ sweat became like great drops of blood. He submitted to the will of the Father there in the Garden of Gethsemane. And after he had prayed, not long after that, Judas arrived with a group of soldiers and abruptly awakened from their sleep, the disciples jumped into action attempting to defend Jesus.

Even Peter pulled out a sword and began to swing it and cut the ear of the high priest's servant Malchus off there and Jesus healed him in that moment. And Jesus stopped his disciples and this is what he said to them in Matthew 26, verse 53, do you think that I could not now pray to my Father and he would provide me with more than 12 legions of angels? They're his ministers, they're his servants. Jesus said I could, a word spoken and I could have 72,000 angels here in a split second. Game over.

A legion was 6,000 soldiers in the Roman army. He said I could have 12 legions at a word. They're servants, they're his ministers. That is why Jesus is superior to the angels, they exist to serve him. In verse eight, but to the son he says, your throne, oh God, is forever and ever, a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your kingdom. You've loved righteousness, hated lawlessness, therefore God, your God has anointed you with the oil of gladness more than your companions.

Now the writer is quoting here from Psalm 45, highlighting the deity of Jesus Christ, that he is God who sits upon the throne, whereas the angels serve and worship around the throne. No angel sits upon the throne, the Lamb of God sits upon the throne, he is completely sovereign. Your throne, oh God, is forever and ever. I also love the fact that it says in verse nine that this one who sits upon the throne, he loves righteousness and he hates lawlessness.

He does. And there is a lot of lawlessness that is permeating the culture and permeating the society and prayerfully you are aware of this lawlessness and are doing your part to respond and react against it. And I'm so thankful that one day this king, this King of kings is going to rule and reign with a rod of iron and things will be much different than they are now. His throne, oh God, will last forever. But make no mistake, the Lord's not pleased with lawlessness, he hates it.

And I've learned and am learning that if the Bible says God hates something, I should probably hate it too. Not applaud it, not welcome it, or support it because it's lawless. And you find some Christians having a difficult time in the name of love maybe even gravitating toward lawlessness. Hey, hey, hey, hey, come on back the sheep. Let me just let me just use a little rod and staff to comfort you. Get back, don't do that, don't do that.

Well, as I was saying, Jesus is better than the angels because he sits on the throne and they worship around his throne. But also Jesus is better, oh man, it just keeps getting better. Jesus is better than the angels, listen to this friends, because Jesus is the creator of all things. Look at verse 10, and you, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish but you will remain and they will all grow old like a garment, like a cloak, you'll fold them up and they will be changed but you are the same and your years will not fail.

Now quoting from the Old Testament once again, Psalm 102, looking back at the Old Testament, emphasizing the superiority of Jesus over the angels in his creative power. Notice what it says here, he laid the foundation of the earth. If you go back to the book of Genesis, you get a little bit of a snapshot of what went down during the days of creation. It's powerful. We don't have a lot that it says, you think there'd be more about the creation of the earth and maybe a little bit less about the story of Joseph, but it's the exact opposite creation's like, yeah, it's a couple chapters, he did it, he spoke, it's done, here it is.

There's so much to it we probably couldn't handle it but here it says he laid the foundation of the universe, of the world and by the way, if that wasn't enough, also the work of his hands, the heavens. Stars, moon, I mean just throwing it out there and earth, there we go, sun, right there. I mean just that's the work of his hands. Psalm 90, verse two says this, Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations before the mountains were brought forth or ever it says you had formed the earth and the world from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

You formed it, you fashioned it, the earth is the Lord's, he made it. It's powerful, it's amazing to think about. And he holds it all together. Jesus is the creator of heaven and earth. No angel is the creator of heaven and earth, Jesus is the creator. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made with him and without him nothing was made that was made, John tells us in John chapter one. He's the creator. Isaiah describes this in a similar way when he said this, you created the heavens and stretched them out and spread out the earth and its offspring and give breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it, Isaiah 42.

Isaiah said again, Isaiah chapter 48, verse 13, surely my hand founded the earth, my right hand spread out the heavens and when I call to them they stand together. Okay, he's the creator, he's all-powerful. Jeremiah acknowledges the role of God in creation when he says, behold you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm, nothing is too difficult for you. Pause there for a moment and just understand this. If he stretches out the heavens with his hand, if it's just the work of his hands and he made the foundation of the earth, ask yourself the question, is there anything too difficult for God to handle in your life tonight?

The answer to that question is no! Just say no, there's nothing too difficult for him. This is difficult for who? For me. Did you stretch out the heavens? No. Okay then. God did, so he can handle it. Give it over to him, put it in his hands. Zechariah says much the same thing, stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, forms the spirit of man within him. Jesus laid the foundation of the earth, guys.

He is superior to the angels, better than. And again, as I said, the heavens and this fascinates me, the heavens are the work of his hands. You know, David was so overwhelmed by the creative power of God that he wrote in Psalm eight, when I consider thy heavens and the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars which thou hast ordained, what is man that thou dost take thought of him and the son of man that thou dost care for him? I quoted it in the old King James there, I like to say the thous once in a while just to keep you in tune.

He did it! David just looks up and he says, boom man, I don't even I see it and all I can think about is you think about me? You did all this, you just spread it out, you just know all the stars by name. You flung the universe into existence, you made all of these things. And he just said, Lord, I am amazed, I am overwhelmed that you would think about me. As beautiful and as wonderful and as glorious as the creation is that he laid the foundation and stretched out the heavens, friend, listen, you're the height of his creation.

You were created the Bible says in the image of God. How loved are you tonight? Yeah, these things are wonderful and this is awesome but he died for you, he died for me. You know when you think about it, the sun, four minutes away if you travel at the speed of light. But if you were to take the sun and you were to hollow out the sun, you could fit 1,300,000 of our earths within it. That's pretty big.

But there's a star called Antares and it's eight minutes away if you travel at the speed of light and we don't, so it's much further. But if you were to take that star and you were to hollow it out, you could fit 64 million of our suns within it that holds 1,300,000 of our earths within it. That's big, right? But then there's this other star called Hercules. It's a great name. It can hold one million Antares which holds 64 million of our suns which holds 1,300,000 of our earths within it.

And then there's this other star called Epsilum, it's fun to say. It's a diameter 3,000 times that of our sun and its volume is 27 billion times I mean it's just your mind just goes pshhh, you know, you can't. What I'm telling you is that's the work of his hands. How big is your God? How big is your problem compared to your God tonight? Did you come in here? Man, listen, I got a big problem. Really? Bigger than Epsilum? When you put it like that, no. That's the God that you serve, that's the God that loves us. Amen?

Guest (Male): You're listening to Pastor John Randall and his message Jesus is Better than the Angels Part 2. Our home base is Calvary South OC in San Clemente, California and you're welcome to join us for a service if you're ever in the area. Until our next broadcast, God bless you as you walk with the Lord.