Hebrews 1:4-5

Arthur P. Wolinsky, MD

Hebrews • Sermon • Submitted 5 months ago • Presented 5 months ago

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How did Jesus become better?

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📷 NOV 20 • 24M Hebrews 1:4-5 How did Jesus, Who was always God, become even better? just now 1× 0:00 -23:31 Listen on 📷 Appears in this episode 📷 Arthur P Wolinsky Episode details Comments Hi Folks. I’m excited for us to move on to the next two verses of Hebrews together today so let’s start by reading them. We’re using the NKJV today: Hebrews 1:4-5 (NKJV) having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. [5] For to which of the angels did He ever say: "YOU ARE MY SON, TODAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN YOU"? And again: "I WILL BE TO HIM A FATHER, AND HE SHALL BE TO ME A SON"? Hebrews 1:4-5 tells us that our Messiah, having become so much better than the angels, has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. So we need to ask ourselves if Yeshua, Jesus, became something that He was not previously. How did He obtain a more excellent name? Now this verse is comparing Jesus with angels. He has become better than the angels and He has inherited a more excellent name than they. We might ask if He has become better than the angels by virtue of inheriting a more excellent name and if so what is in that name that makes Him better? Let’s read verse four again: ‌Hebrews 1:4 (NKJV) 4 having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. Because the word as separates two clauses in this verse, and because as is present in the Greek, we might wonder how the Son of God, who was and is always perfect and who was and is always God, became so much better than the angels by inheriting a better name. What could that mean? I think that in order to understand this question we need to remember the last part of verse 3 and we need to remember that the chapter and verse numbers in the Bible were not in the original Scriptures. Keeping that in mind let’s read the last part of verse 3 with all of verse 4 as if that was a single verse: ‌Hebrews 1:3-4 (NKJV) .... 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. ‌So, Yeshua’s becoming better than the angels by obtaining a more excellent name seems to be at least in part be due to His sitting down on the Father’s right hand and that could never have happened without Jesus having purged our sins. And He couldn’t have done that without being the perfect sacrifice and He couldn’t have been that perfect sacrifice without being God. But OK, we know that Jesus is God and He was God before the cross. John 1:1 (NKJV) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Jesus being God is not new. So, how did He become so much better than the angels? It seems to me that of course, as God He was better than the angels already but then He became so much better than the angels. What accounts for that? Let’s read verse four once more: Hebrews 1:4 (NKJV) having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. What is the meaning of as here? Does it mean He became so much better because He obtained a more excellent name than they? I think we have to understand what rank the angels hold and compare it to the rank that Yeshua holds. And of course, there is no comparison there! There never was. But Yeshua has been elevated even more in some way.‌ Again, His becoming better seems to be due to a change in His name and what that name represents. ‌So what was the nature of this change? It was a change in status or rank. To understand this, I think we get some help from looking at the next verse, verse 5 : Hebrews 1:5 (NKJV) 5 For to which of the angels did He ever say: “You are My Son, Today I have begotten You”? And again: “I will be to Him a Father, And He shall be to Me a Son”? ‌“You are My Son, Today I have begotten You” - Now folks, this could be a little confusing, so please stick with me. Jesus was God the Son throughout eternity but this clause from Hebrews 1:5 is describing something extra, something new. “You are My Son, Today I have begotten You”. This clause is a direct reference to Psalms 2:7 (NKJV) "I will declare the decree: The LORD has said to Me, 'You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. ‌Incidentally folks, to digress for just a moment, note the word begotten in John 3:16. Let me read that to you: ‌“John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.‌ Folks, the word begotten in John 3:16 does not have the meaning to beget or to give birth; the Greek word is better translated as unique or one and only. ‌But in Psalms 2:7 and so in Hebrews 1:5, begotten does usually mean to beget or to give birth. And there seems to be a particular point in time, today, when the Father becomes the Father of this very special Son, our Messiah. In the NKJV it says Today I have begotten You. Now we know that God the Son always existed and that He is God. He was never anything else. And He was always the Son, the eternal Son. How do we know that? We know it from: ‌Proverbs 30:4 (NKJV) Who has ascended into heaven, or descended? Who has gathered the wind in His fists? Who has bound the waters in a garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name, and what is His Son's name, If you know? But again, how could the Son of God become better - how could God ever become better? - and how could He become the Son of God the Father? Wasn’t He already the Son? Now, He, Yeshua, is God and so He was never born in the way that you and I were born. Yes, He was literally born of a virgin, Miriam or Mary. That was the incarnation when He became the God-Man and that was indeed a change. At the incarnation His nature changed from perfect God to perfect God and perfect Man. And we know that happened so that He could do something that He couldn’t do when He was God only. That something that He could do was to die on the cross. And there were other things that He couldn’t do when He was perfect God only; He couldn’t suffer the way a man can suffer. When he was perfect God only, He couldn’t do that. And we’ll see a little later in Hebrews why that is necessary. But the most important thing that he could do as a man that He couldn’t do as perfect God only was to die. ‌By the way folks, this is absolutely extraordinary, is it not? Without question it is extraordinary! ‌So Jesus became the God-Man. He was no less God than He was before but now He was Man too. But He was and is a Man in a way that no other man could ever be. In what way is that you might ask? He was without sin, as we will see when we get to Hebrews, chapter four, where we read about Jesus being a high priest: Hebrews 4:15:“For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.” So Jesus went from being God only to being the God-Man. Did this change His name and status? I don’t think that it did at His birth, at His incarnation. But, as perfect God and perfect Man he was able to die and by so doing He became sin for us, meaning He became a sin offering for us, or I should say He became the sin offering for us, the perfect sacrifice. He paid the price that God’s Law demanded for sin, for every sin ever committed. That price was and is still today, death: ‌Romans 6:23 “23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” ‌After He died He was buried and then He was raised from the dead: Romans 6:4 (NKJV) Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. ‌So, by what He did Jesus made it possible for you and me to be not only forgiven of our sins but also raised to newness of life. And because He did this His name and His status changed. I think verse five of this first chapter makes that clear: Hebrews 1:5 (NKJV) For to which of the angels did He ever say: “You are My Son, Today I have begotten You”? And again: “I will be to Him a Father, And He shall be to Me a Son”? Again, this verse directly quotes Psalm 2:7 and it also quotes 1 Chronicles 17:13. Let’s look at the context of these two Old Testament verses. But let’s look at the context of the 1 Chronicles verse first: 1 Chronicles 17:11-14 (NKJV) And it shall be, when your days are fulfilled, when you must go to be with your fathers, that I will set up your seed after you, who will be of your sons; and I will establish his kingdom. [12] He shall build Me a house, and I will establish his throne forever. [13] I will be his Father, and he shall be My son; and I will not take My mercy away from him, as I took it from him who was before you. [14] And I will establish him in My house and in My kingdom forever; and his throne shall be established forever." ' " These verses describe the Davidic Covenant. Now most Bible scholars quote from 2 Samuel when referencing the Davidic Covenant: 2 Samuel 7:12-16 (NKJV) "When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. [13] He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. [14] I will be his Father, and he shall be My son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men. [15] But My mercy shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from before you. [16] And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever." ' " I prefer to quote the 1 Chronicles passage because verse 14 in the 2 Samuel passage speaks about David’s son Solomon rather than the Messiah. Let’s read that verse: [14] I will be his Father, and he shall be My son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men. Because Messiah is God, He is without sin and so verse 14 can’t be about Him. But nothing like that is present in the 1 Chronicles passage. But as important as this is, it’s a digression. So, getting back to Psalm 2:7: the meaning of begotten in the Hebrew in Today I have begotten You, from Psalm 2:7, normally means to beget, to bear, or to be born in the very same sense that you and I were born. Let’s look at the whole verse: ‌Psalm 2:7 (NKJV) "I will declare the decree: The LORD has said to Me, 'You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. It is the Messiah, Jesus, saying “I will declare the decree and “The LORD (Yahweh) has said to Me (His Son)” - and that is very emphatic language folks - Today I have begotten you. There is a declaration and a decree. Very emphatic language indeed. Now the context in Psalm 2:7 is that of an exaltation to divine kingship as shown in Psalm 2:8-9 (NKJV) : 8 Ask of Me, and I will give You The nations for Your inheritance, And the ends of the earth for Your possession. 9 You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.’ ” ‌Now this is still future to where we are today (November 13, 2023). But because of this context which is that of exaltation to kingship, normally formalized in a coronation ceremony, many scholars consider begotten in Psalm 2 to mean elevation to kingship. The Father is rewarding the Son by crowning Him as King. The Father is giving the Son His inheritance, meaning the Son’s inheritance and the Son’s status and rank are thereby increased or made even more excellent. I am inclined to agree with those scholars who interpret Psalm 2 in this way. I believe that the meaning here in Hebrews is the same. The author of Hebrews is using Psalm 2, a psalm of exaltation of the Son, to show just how very much better than the angels the Son, Yeshua is. He is not only better because He is God but He has become so much better than the angels because His status changed after the cross. He has been exalted to become God’s Son - that is His new name - God’s Son, the King, and this is a prophecy, a prophecy that will be entirely fulfilled after the Son’s second coming when this coronation will take place. That is the more excellent name that He has inherited, the name of the begotten Son, King of the universe. It supports the explanation that begotten in both Psalm 2:7 and Hebrews 1:5 is used in a different sense than that of physical birth. Instead it indicates an elevation in status, or in a sense being born into a new status, the status of a King, the Son of the divine Father Who will establish the throne of His kingdom over Israel forever. I should say Folks, that indicates an awesome rank indeed! So begotten as used here is a figure of speech. It does not refer to literal physical birth. ‌Psalm 2, verses 8 and 9, even though not quoted in the Hebrews verses we are looking at today, also help to amplify the inheritance aspect of Yeshua’s change in status. Let me read those verses to you again: 8 Ask of Me, and I will give You The nations for Your inheritance, And the ends of the earth for Your possession. 9 You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.’ ” ‌These verses describe a Father bestowing upon His Son the divine inheritance of kingship. This has not happened yet but it will. This change in status didn’t make Him better in the sense of becoming a better God but to become better than the angels in a new sense. Because He did something that no angel could ever do. He absorbed on the cross the punishment for every sin ever committed by every member of the human race and by so doing became better than the angels and by so doing pleased His Father to an extent that I don’t believe we can appreciate. ‌Now regarding angels and their status, we need to talk about that and we will next time. ‌In the meantime Folks, are you getting a better idea of who Jesus is? Of how God came to the earth in the form of a man? Not only to die for us, to pay the debt for our sins, and to make us new but also to meet us, and to teach us, and to let us get to know Him. Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, a great pastor and preacher of the 20th century used to say this: If the Gospel of Jesus Christ when presented to us doesn’t seem too good to be true, it is not being presented properly. Folks, I could not agree with that statement more! So, if any of you reading or listening today don’t know Him please call on Him today, ask him to forgive your sins and to save you and to give you eternal life. Rest assured, He will do it!

Thanks for listening folks! This is Art Wolinsky. Until the next time, God bless you my friends!

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