THE EPISTLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLE TO THE HEBREWS Chapter 1 "Doctrinal Introduction, Son of God, Better than Angels." This Bible
Study is written by Roger Christopherson, and it's
transcription/ location is provided by http://www.theseason.org The "Hebrews" are all the children of Abraham, of all the tribes of both the houses of Israel and the house of Judah. Before the scattering of both houses; the house of Israel by the Assyrians, and the house of Judah by the Babylonians, the people called themselves "Israelites". However, after the scattering they were know as "Hebrews". The word "Hebrew" means "from the other side of the river". Through the years the Euphrates river had become the border and dividing line between God's people, the Israelites and Babylon. Paul is using the word Hebrews here to direct this book to all the dispersed of all the tribes of both houses wherever they may be. This is why the book of Hebrews goes to a greater depth then most other books in the New Testament. Paul truly was a scholar of God's Word in understanding the full meaning of God's entire Word, and Peter wrote of this in II Peter 3:15; "And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also, according to the wisdom given unto him, hath written unto you:" A considerable part of Paul's wisdom and understand is given us in the Book of Hebrews. Hebrews 1:1 "God, Who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets," God, Who at many times throughout the entire scripture, and in many divers ways spoke to our ancestors through His prophets. When we read our Bibles and study it, He is also speaking to us through His prophets [teachers]. This letter is written to all of God's children, of Israel, and to the Gentile also of all generations. Hebrews 1:2 "Hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, Whom He hath appointed Heir of all things, by Whom also He made the worlds;" Jesus Christ the Son of God came to this earth through the womb of Mary, and He also spoke to us in person. Stop and think on the rest of this verse. Through His Son He made the worlds! The "worlds" in the Greek text are "the three world ages", that is what it is implied here. It is talking about the "cosmos", [the ages or periods of time]. What do you think that "Spirit of God" was that moved on the waters, even at the beginning of this earth age? Genesis 1:2 "And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." The Massorah text states that the earth "became [not was] a waste and without form", "tohu va bohu". Then "God moved upon the face of the waters". Jesus related over and over in the book of John that "I and My Father are one" [John 10:30] "When you have seen Me you have seen the Father", and so on. In Ephesians 1:4, 5 "According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love: [4] "Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will." To be chosen means that there are certain people that God chose in the first earth age, to do a task for Him in this second age of the flesh. This is not reincarnation, for it is appointed for each of us to go through this earth age only once. We will read..."It is appointed unto men once to die [in the flesh], but after this the judgment." Hebrews 9:27 This appointing and choosing took place before the foundation of this earth age, which is the second earth age [cosmos] that we now live in. "Before the foundation of the world", [cosmos] in the Greek, "world" meaning "earth age" The "foundation" in the Greek is the verb for "overthrow". This refers to something that happened in that first earth age, before the over throw by Satan, that time when one third of the angels followed him. During that war that took place on this earth, and in that first earth age when Satan rebelled against God, there are some that took a stand against Satan's rebellion. They were the overcomers and the ones that God calls "His Chosen". "Predestined" from Ephesians 1:5, in the Greek means "from a prior time", or "required to do a certain thing". You have a choice of loving God, or loving Satan. God will not interfere with your free will choice to chose Him or Satan. However, that person that proved himself during the overthrow of Satan in the first earth age, became "justified". Being "justified" means each of them had earned the right to be called "saints" from that first earth age. They are the ones that God calls His "elect". Romans 8:29 "For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren." God knew you and what you were in that first earth age, and for certain soul called the elect, God prearranged our destiny for this age. That destiny is to make us conform, or be like His Son, Jesus Christ. Romans 8:30 "Moreover whom He did predestinate, them He also called: and whom He called: He also justified: and whom He justified, them He also glorified.:" Justified - 1344 dikaioo (dik-ah-yo'-o); from 1342; to render (i.e. show or regard as) just or innocent: KJV-- free, justify (-ier), be righteous. Ezekiel 44:15 "But the priests the Levites,
the sons of Zadok, that kept the charge of my sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from me, they shall come near to me to minister unto me, and they shall stand before me to offer unto me the fat and the blood, saith the Lord GOD:" Hebrews 1:3 "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 on the right hand of the Majesty on high;" When you have seen Christ, you have seen God. When you have seen the "expressed image of His person", of Jesus Christ, then you have also seen "the glory of God". Man is made in the image of God, but Jesus Christ is the exact same image of the Father's person. They are one and the same. When you look into a mirror, do you see another person, or the image of yourself? Are their two people or one, you and the person in the mirror. A person can be a father and husband and a son all at the same time, and he is only one person. He is a father to his children, a son of his father, and the husband of his wife all at the same time. Jesus Christ is the Son of the Father, and Jesus' Spirit is the Holy Spirit that moved on the face of the deep in Genesis 1:2. God's Word is His power, for what He states is absolute, and we are told in John 1:1 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." John 1:2 "The same [the Word, who is Jesus Christ] was in the beginning with God." John 1:3 "All things were made by Him; and without Him; was not anything made that was made." Then in John 1:14 "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth." So we see that "the Word" that was at the very beginning of creation with God, was "the Word that became flesh and dwelt" on the earth as a man. He [the Word] is Jesus Christ, and when we see Christ's glory, we are at the same time seeing the Glory of the Father. They are the same, my friend. This verse tells us that two offices of the Godhead are in Heaven now, and the Holy Spirit dwells with us on earth as our comforter. Jesus Christ is now sitting on the right had of the Father as our advocate before the Father, when we repent of our sins in Jesus name. We are not to teach these three entities, or offices as three different people, but their is only one God with three offices. There is only one God, but our God is put forth in such a way for man to grasp at the understanding of the Godhead to see the love and mercy that He had for His children. It is important that you understand that Paul is giving us the three offices of the Godhead, and by the end of Hebrews 2, you will even understand why Christ was born of God, and came to earth through the womb of woman [Mary]. You will see the purpose of His coming, and what it accomplished. Then you will have a greater overall understanding of the plan of God. So let's let Paul in his wisdom teach us of this plan. Hebrews 1:4 "Being made so much better than the angels, as He hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. This is speaking of Jesus Christ. Jesus has many excellent names and all of them identify one of Christ's positions, or roles. "Emmanuel" in the Hebrew means "God (El) with us". "Messiah" from the Greek is transliteration from the Hebrew word "Mashiah", which means "the Anointed one", and the name "Christ" is from Greek translation "Christos" which also has the same meaning as "Messiah", or "the Anointed one". The name "Jesus" in the Greek is "Iesous", and is the same as the Hebrew "Johoshua", or the abbreviated from "Joshua". The word "Jesus" means, "the salvation of Yehovah", or "Yehovah [the] Savior". Jesus Christ is the Anointed one, and He is the only one that we can have our hope of salvation in. There is only one God, and that God has three offices, and the office of the "Anointed One" is the office that became flesh and dwelt amongst us in the flesh. The Anointed one was tried before the Kenite council, and went to the cross and died for the sins, as prophesied in Psalms 22 as well as many other prophecies. Jesus held His peace and went to the slaughter willingly to pay the price for the sins of those that would receive Him. Salvation is now open to all that would repent of their sins in Jesus name, and believe on Him. When you repent in Jesus name you are recognizing that God did give his Son, and that sacrifice on the cross is what paid the price. When you believe in anything, you make a personal commitment to it as being absolute fact. Hebrews 1:5 "For unto which of the angels said He 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 is what sets Jesus Christ apart from all the created angelic beings, it is the word "BEGOTTEN". This is the office of the Son. This verse is to clarify that Jesus is the Son of God. The word "begotten" is from the Greek and it means "brought Thee to birth". Jesus was born through the immaculate conception within the womb of the Virgin Mary. Luke 1:34 "Then said Mary unto the angel, "How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?" Luke 1:35 "And the angel answered and said unto her, "The Holy Ghost [Spirit] shall come upon thee, and the power of the highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy Thing Which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God." Remember there is only one God, and the Holy Spirit is one of the offices of the Godhead. The God that brought about the creation of all things, brought about that immaculate conception. It was vital for us that God would bring forth the Son that was in the perfect image and likeness of the Father himself. This was in the plan of God from the beginning of this second earth age. Genesis 3:15 "And I [God] will put enmity between thee [Satan] and the woman [Eve], and between thy seed [the Kenites] and her Seed [Jesus Christ]; It [Jesus Christ] shall bruise thy [Satan's] head, and thou [Satan] shalt bruise His [Jesus Christ's] heel." The "Kenites" are the offspring of Cain, who was the son of Satan through Eve. Many Christians like to blame the offspring of Judah for the death of Christ on the cross, when this verse tells us clearly that it will be the Kenites, the very seed of Satan from the garden of Eden that was to bruise the heel of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Hebrews 1:6 "And again, when He bringeth in the Firstbegotten into the world, He saith, "And let all the angels of God worship Him."" This is saying, the day will come again when all the angels or souls shall worship Him again, and we are speaking here of the first day of the Millennium age. At the second advent of Jesus Christ every knee shall bow to Him. Romans 14:11 "For it is written, "As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me and every tongue shall confess to God." God is swearing this fact by Himself. Hebrews 1:7 "And of the angels He saith, "Who maketh His angels spirits, and His ministers a flame of fire." What we are doing here is comparing the office of Jesus Christ to the angels. Paul is quoting here from Psalm 104:4; "Who maketh His angels spirits; His ministers a flaming fire." Paul is using Scripture from the prophets of the Old Testament what he is teaching us, to let us know that all of God's Word is neatly fit together. What God is leading up to here is that the angels were all servants of the Father, and God's Son was the heir, and not a servant to our Heavenly Father. The angels souls, or mankind here on earth were the ministers of the Word of God that would bring that flame of fire [that Word] to the ears of mankind. Hebrews 1:8 "But unto the Son He saith, "Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of Thy kingdom." God is now speaking only concerning the throne of His Begotten Son, Jesus Christ, and He is saying that Christ's throne and His kingdom shall always be right, just and fair. That is why Jesus was able to pay the price for our sins. He is perfect, and that is why Jesus was able "to purge our sins, and sit down on the right hand of the Majesty on High" as we read in verse three of this chapter. God is always right and what ever you get from Him, you deserved it. God can read your mind as you think, and He knows the motives behind each word that you say or do. Hebrews 1:9 "Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even Thy God, hath anointed Thee with the oil of Gladness above Thy fellows." God loves each and every one of His children, but He hated sin. God anointed Jesus with the oil of wisdom and intelligence, so that the price could be paid for sin. It takes a lot of love to die for someone else's sins. However, when you have the wisdom to know that at the physical death of this old flesh body, this is just the start of real life of the soul. Jesus was the only One, the only Soul that ever was told to share the Throne with the Father for ever. Hebrews 1:10 "And "Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands:" Jesus was there when the foundations of the earth were laid, prior to the first earth age. Christ was at that foundation therefore He could say in that letter to the Ephesians, as well as many other writings, I chose you before the foundations of the world, before even the overthrow of Satan in that first earth age. Why would God chose the elect? Because the elect earned the right. The elect were those that made a stand against Satan and his rebellious angels in that first earth age, and those elect will be called out again to make a stand in this earth age. Each of the elect [men and women alike] will be sealed in their minds, and know the truth of God's Word, when the entire world will be deceived at the end of this earth age and go chasing after Satan. Hebrews 1:11 "They shall perish: but Thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment;" Every person that is born in the flesh will age, and that is a fact. However the aging did not happen to Christ when Jesus came out of that tomb on resurrection morning. On that morning Christ was in His resurrected body, and it did not go to dust and perish as the rest of mankind at death. Hebrews 1:12 "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." Paul is telling us that the body of Jesus would not grow old and decay in the soil, but would be transformed. Jesus showed Peter, James, and John exactly what would happen to his body after his death, in Matthew 17:2 "And was transfigured before them: and His face did shine as the sun, and His raiment was white as the light." Jesus was transfigured on that mount of transfiguration, and He showed His disciples that the grave could not hold our Lord. After the meeting of Jesus, Moses and Elias, on the way down from the mountain Jesus told Peter, James, and John not to speak of this until after His resurrection. Matthew 17:9 "And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, "Tell the vision [what you saw] to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead." Then after Jesus came out of the tomb, forty days later Jesus Christ in His transfigured body returned to the His Father. We know from Acts 2 that ten days later, after Christ's ascension into heaven, God sent His Holy Spirit to dwell with mankind. Christians received the filling of the Holy Spirit that came on Pentecost Day. This is when the true tongue of the Spirit of God entered the those souls that were waiting in the upper room, as they had been instructed By Jesus during his ascension into heaven. Acts 1:7 :And He said unto them, "It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in His own power." Acts 1:8 "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." Hebrews 1:13 "But to which of the angels said He at any time, "Wit on My right hand, until I make thine enemies Thy footstool"? There has never been any angel that our Heavenly Father has given such authority, for that position is reserved only for Jesus Christ. The angels are the servants, and Jesus is the King. He is the one that is to inherit, and it is His kingdom. Remember that when we are in Christ then we also have an inheritance in that Kingdom that Christ will rule over. Hebrews 1:14 "Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation." Each one of us has a ministering spirit. A help chosen before the foundation of this earth age. Many people know that there is much more to God's Word than what is being taught today, those are the "ministers of fire". Not strange fire, for strange fire is what caused the death of the two eldest sons of Aaron; but ministers of the fire of the Living God. That fire is what alerts you to the fact that you have a destiny and a purpose for God in this flesh age. Hebrews chapter two will now tell us why God came in the flesh, why it was necessary for Christ to die, and what it accomplished other then salvation.
Home .~ Plough .~ Seeds .~ Vine .~ Potter .~ Seasons .~ Sonshine .~ Rain .~ Field |