The Third Angel's Message

“LET this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus; who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery [“a thing to be seized upon and held fast”] to be equal with God: but emptied himself.”

The condescension of Christ, the position of Christ, and the nature of Christ, as He was in the flesh in the world, are given in the second chapter of Hebrews more fully than in any other one place in the Scriptures.

But the first chapter of Hebrews comes before the second chapter and is therefore, an essential precedent of the second chapter. The first chapter must be followed, and must be understood to the second chapter in order to be able to follow and understand the second chapter.

Yet in the first chapter of Hebrews, the exaltation, the position, and the nature of Christ, as He was in heaven before He came to the world, are more fully given than in any other single portion of the Scriptures.

Therefore it is perfectly plain that an understanding of the position and nature of Christ as He was in heaven, is essential to a proper understanding of His position and nature as He was on earth.

What, then, is this, as it is given in Hebrews 1? First is introduced God, —God the Father, —as the speaker to men, who “in time past spoke unto the fathers by the prophets,” but who “has in these last days spoken unto us by His Son.”

Thus the Son of God is introduced. Then of Him and the Father together it is written: “Whom He [God] has appointed heir of all things, by whom also He [God] made the worlds.”

Then of Christ we read: “Who being the brightness of His [God’s] glory, and the express image of His [God’s] person [“the very impress of His substance”], 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.” This tells us that, in heaven, the nature of Christ was the nature of God; that He in His person, in His substance, is the very impress, the very character of the substance of God. That is to say that, in heaven as He was before He came to the world the nature of Christ was in very substance the nature of God. Therefore it is further written of Him that He was “made so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.”

This more excellent name is the name “God,” which, in the eighth verse is given by the Father to the Son. “Unto the Son He [God] says Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever.”

Thus, He is so much better than the angels as God is better than the angels. And it is because of this that He has that more excellent name; the name expressing only what He is, in His very nature. And this name “He has by inheritance.” It is not a name that was bestowed, but a name that is inherited.

Now it lies in the nature of things, as an everlasting truth, that the only name any person can possibly inherit is his father’s name. This name of Christ’s, which is more excellent than that of the angels, is the name of His Father; and His Father’s name is God. The Son’s name therefore, which He has by inheritance, is God. And this name, which is more excellent than that of the angels, is His because He is “so much better than the angels.” That name being God, he is so much better than the angels as God is better than the angels.

Next, His position and nature, as better than that of the angels, is dwelt upon: “For unto which of the angels says He [the Father] 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?” This holds the thought of the more excellent name spoken of in the previous verse. For He, being the Son of God, —God being His Father, —thus has “by inheritance” the name of His Father, which is God; and which is so much more excellent than the name of the angels, as God is better than they.

But this is dwelt upon yet further: “And again, when He brings in the first begotten into the world, He says, And let all the angels of God worship Him.” Thus He is so much better than the angels that they worship him; and this according to the will of God, because He is in His nature, God.

This thought of the mighty contrast between Christ and the angels is dwelt upon yet further: “Of the angels He says, Who makes the angels spirits, and His ministers a flame of fire. But unto the Son He says, Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever [“From eternity to eternity,” German translation].” And again: “A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, has anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.”

And yet again, the Father, in speaking to the Son, says: “Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of your hands: they shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment; 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.”

Note the contrasts here, and in them read the nature of Christ. The heavens shall perish, but He remains. The heavens shall wax old, but His years shall not fail. The heavens shall be changed, but He is the same. That shows that He is God: of the nature of God.

Yet more of this contrast between Christ and the angels: “To which of the angels said He at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make your enemies thy footstool? Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?”

Thus, in the first chapter of Hebrews Christ is revealed higher than the angels as God; and as much higher than the angels as is God, because He is God. In the first chapter of Hebrews Christ is revealed as God, of the name of God, because He is of the nature of God. And so entirely is His nature of the nature of God, that it is the very impress of the substance of God.

This is Christ the Saviour, Spirit of Spirit, substance of substance, with God. And this it is essential to know in the first chapter of Hebrews, in order to know what is His nature, revealed in the second chapter of Hebrews, as man. Study the first chapter of Hebrews over and over till this time next week, when we shall go further.