Hebrews--Part 2

And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, "Let all God's angels worship him."

Of the angels he says, "He makes his angels winds, and his ministers a flame of fire." But of the Son he says, "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions."

And, "You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands; they will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment, like a robe you will roll them up, like a garment they will be changed. But you are the same, and your years will have no end."

And to which of the angels has he ever said, "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet"? Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation? 

Hebrews 1:6-14

     According to my study guide, this section speaks to the Jewish tradition of the time that the Law was handed down by angels and points to the supremacy of Jesus over the angels. Considering the effect the appearance of angels had on people as documented in the Scriptures, this is not a bad distinction to be made. There is a nice juxtaposition of the unchanging nature of Jesus Christ and the angels, who can appear in many forms and be used for many purposes. However, if struggling with the hierarchy between the Son of the Living God and angels is not your weak point, there is still plenty here to ruminate on. 

    

     Two things in particular really stood out to me as I read through this section. The first is relatively minor, but it made an impression on me, and that is the fact that the author of Hebrews quotes extensively from the Old Testament in this first chapter, but he does not give credit to the original author as so many New Testament epistle writers do. In the context of this chapter, I firmly believe that is because he is pointing away from the human authorship and toward the Divine authority of the Scripture. It does not really matter what tool the Master inspired to pen His words. They are His words, and that is what we all need to focus on. I applaud you for that, author of Hebrews! I have to wonder if perhaps that is why he, himself, did not make his name known in this writing. . .

     What I really love about this passage, this collection of quotes, is how each quote points to the unchanging nature of God and of His Son. This is a rather critical and relevant point, I find, in today's world. It seems that most people, indeed even several who claim to be a follower of Jesus, do not want Him to be the eternal and unchanging Rock that He is. Many enjoy talk of His love and His forgiveness but want to forget that He has "loved righteousness and hated wickedness," or how that love and forgiveness is intended to inspire gratitude and devotion. Many more would like to believe that His decisions on what is and is not right are as flimsy and fickle as human culture. The Church of today is rife with worldly philosophies embraced by its members--philosophies and beliefs that frankly run counter to God's nature and make a mockery of what Jesus died to accomplish. But the fact is that He is unchanging, and all these philosophies and the pop-culture ebb and flow will dissipate or morph into some new, twisted up doctrine perhaps, but someday they will vanish all together. He will not. Even the works He has made--the heavens and the earth--will wear out, but He will remain just as He always has been, just as He always will be. I don't know about you, but this gives me enormous comfort.

     You see, there are times that I take my eyes off Him, times that I allow the crazy, cracked-up culture to worry me, times that I allow fear for the Church to overreach its bounds and encroach on my faith.  Then I remember: My Rock is unchanging. He is constant, solid, and He is in control. Things may come up that surprise me, but none of it surprises Him. He is today just as He was the day He walked with Adam in the Garden, just as He was the day He called Abram out of Ur, just as He was when He spoke to Moses in the burning bush, and just as He was the day that He wept in the Garden of Gethsemane (a beautiful, full-circle picture if you stop to think of it). He has not changed His mind about what is and is not sin, nor has He changed His mind about His one great and final offer of rescue from that pervasive disease. He gave His only Son so that we could share not only in His death but also in His new life, as we see in Romans 6.  He has given us a way out of the mess. It is through Christ. However, it is not something that we can have by default, this new life. It is something we must surrender to. We must be willing to bow the knee to the Lord and be willing to let go of everything else to obtain, even our very lives.
 
     The incredible thing here is this: the plan to send the Son of God into the world is not new either. In this, too, God has not changed. It was His plan all along; this horrible, tragic, spectacular redemption. Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life; none will come to the Father except through Him. This is the final word, the unchangeable and unchanging plan of reconciliation, the glorious portrait of the immutable compassion of an eternal and unalterably fatherly God. I can hardly read it without breaking into worship!