Christ is Better by Nature

God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; 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 at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they (Hebrews 1:1-4).

The author of Hebrews clearly recognized that God spoke both through His prophets (Old Testament) and His Son (New Testament). He viewed God’s self-revelation through two eras (then and now) and two sources (the prophets and the Son). God was the source of the revelation that came to the forefathers of the nation Israel. But that revelation came bit by bit and by various methods: dreams, visions, signs, laws, institutions, and ceremonies. In contrast to the former revelation, the full and final revelation in these “final days” is in God’s Son (see John 1:18). Old Testament saints could say, “God speaks.” Believers today say, “God has spoken.”

Jesus’ supremacy is based on two facts:

• He was appointed heir of all things and
• before that He was the vehicle of creation.

Here the writer emphasized the incomparable greatness, power, and majesty of the Son. Jesus has a better nature than angels. Christ is characterized as the Creator Himself. His word sustains creation, and He has the very character and nature of God.

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
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