Hebrews 1:4 Commentary and Bible Study

Then the inspired author comes to the angels – the great superiority of Christ over the prophets and then over the angels. They obey, he gives the orders; they receive power from him to do things and he is the source of power. The writer of this epistle is inspired to write for his own day when there were foolish people who were beginning to concoct idea that you reach God through the angels, and that the angels are a kind of hierarchy acting on God's behalf, and you cannot contact God directly; you have to go through the angels. Therefore he is inspired to place angels in subordination to Christ. There were all sorts of fables and complexities. We are being told this for the very purpose of heading off this idea that he is merely some form of angel, or only part of that hierarchy.The verse makes two distinct comparisons between Christ and the angels. The first is about his being, his essence, and the second is about the name or status which he has gained by inheritance. In both of these respects he is so much better than the angels and therefore must be classed as a being different from and superior to the angels. The Greek word rendered ‘Being made’ could be translated ‘having become’, but this would immediately prompt the question, ‘Having become when?’ It is obvious that the being of Christ did not change during his lifetime, for from the moment of his birth he was called the Son of God (Luke 1:35). The quotations that follow in Hebrews 1 speak of the glory of Christ which he had when he was first brought into the world (verse 6). This first part of verse 4 also refers to the being of the Christ at the incarnation, possessing an eternal uncreated nature as the Son of God and a created human nature without sin, which was united in one person with the divine nature, and the translation ‘Being made’ is preferable. As such, the Lord Jesus Christ was in a completely different, far higher category than the angels. But he is also superior to the angels in name, in status, in the position of authority and majesty that he has obtained by inheritance. Again, Scripture can only speak of inheritance because he possesses a created human nature in addition to his divine nature, for as the Son of God he made all things, owns all things, upholds all things. He does not, as a human child would, inherit what he previously did not have full possession of; the Father did not give him anything that was not already his. But as the Christ who is born in the likeness of sinful flesh, yet without sin, his human nature may inherit what it never had before and be elevated to receive a name and honour which belongs to no other man, and which places him high above the angels.As the God-Man he was made heir of all things, of all created things, the heavens and the earth. He will create a new heaven and a new earth (Isaiah 65:17), and furthermore he will not appear in his glory until the new heaven and the new earth are ready to be created, for the current cursed creation is not fit for his presence. In taking our nature and exalting it so high, he has raised not only himself but all his people to a position above even the angels. His disciples, characterised by meekness, will inherit the earth in Christ, as joint-heirs with him. But we do not read anywhere in Scripture that the angels inherit anything. They are eternal spirits, they look upon the face of God and dwell in his presence, but the whole idea of inheritance is alien to them, since they do not marry, they have no descendants, and Christ did not take their nature.