The Superiority of Jesus
Hebrews 1:5-14
And again, when God brings His firstborn into the world, He says, “Let all God’s angels worship Him.”
About the Son He says, “Your throne, oh God, will last forever and ever, and righteousness will be the scepter of Your kingdom..”
He also says, “In the beginning, O Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands.”
I like to imagine an archaeological dig unearthing a manuscript by this author that has commentary to this letter, and it reads something like, “Look, what I’m saying is that this man Jesus is the supreme, ultimate being of the universe. He is of superior authority and position in comparison to anyone or anything, including angels. HE IS DIETY!”
This is really what he is saying here in Hebrews 1. It is about as clear as it gets in Scripture, this proclamation that Jesus is, in fact, equal with God. This is a very basic tenet of the Christian faith. May we never lose hold of it!
This is that very offensive claim that sets the Christian faith apart from all others. Everything is subject to Christ. All spiritual creatures and spiritual experiences are subordinate to Jesus Christ, the Son of God. And no spiritual creature or experience can be substituted for Jesus Himself. We do not make spiritual experience, or spirituality itself, our primary objective or focus. We are made to experience God through Christ in reality, but not to worship the experience.
There is much beauty and similarity in Buddhism, but here is where we differ sharply. We are not about a mere emptying of ourselves and attaining a higher consciousness, but first and foremost about loving the person Jesus Christ. What is interesting is that when we love Him with our whole selves–body, mind, soul–we will have emptied ourselves, filled with Him, and will be living at a much higher level of consciousness as a result.
Being in love with spiritual experience is not the same as loving and serving Jesus Christ, and the experience can even eclipse Christ.
“In that he is Savior, may he deign to save us from sin. In that he is high priest, may he deign to reconcile us to God the Father. In that he is king, may he deign to give us the eternal kingdom of his Father. He is Jesus Christ our Lord, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, God for all ages. Amen.” -Bede
In the Name of Jesus,
Soli Deo Gloria
