Read Hebrews 1:5-9

Who is Jesus Christ? How is he different from the angels?

Who are the angels? Messengers and servants of God, they are protectors and helpers of humans. In this passage, the writer is establishing a necessary link in his chain of argument. Although angels have great power and intelligence, they are not divine, but created beings. Christ is supreme in the universe. To establish this, the writer draws seven comparisons, based on seven Old Testament scriptures, five from the Psalms, one from 2 Samuel, one from Deuteronomy. Let’s look at the first five today. In the first two of these God acknowledges Christ as his Son. The angels do not share such a relationship. Instead, and this is his third point, angels worship Christ. Fourth, angels are servants, formidable and changeable, like the forces of nature. Fifth, he emphasizes the subservient role of angels.

What conclusion can we draw? Angels serve God and help us, but they cannot redeem us. Only God’s Son can do that. When God became human in Jesus, he threw his door wide open, welcoming all who will come. Verse 9 says that it was the Son’s great joy to take upon himself the narrow confines of a human body, to suffer terrible physical pain and die. This is joy? Thank you, Lord Jesus, for a love greater than all by which you opened the way for us to have fellowship with you.

Read Hebrews 1:1-4

Human beings have been trying to reach God since the beginning. Various religions recommend climbing long flights of stone stairs on your knees, or cutting yourself, or sacrificing your babies to some disinterested god. None of it works. Mankind’s quandary remains the same: How can sinful humans have access to God who is without sin?

The writer of the book of Hebrews answers that by presenting the incomparable glory of the person and work of Christ. Jesus Christ is God’s final, majestic, incomparable answer to the human predicament. God’s revelation of himself to man had been partial, through Moses and the prophets. Now, Jesus Christ, God’s Son, is God’s last and fullest disclosure of himself to man. As Jesus said, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). The book of Hebrews teaches that Christ meets the needs of all humans of all times. He finished that work when he died on the cross. Mankind has access to God through Christ. Christianity is the perfect and therefore final religion because it provides free and unrestricted access to God who loves us, can help us, and wants to do so.

Nobody knows who wrote Hebrews. It bursts upon us like a rolling chord from a gigantic organ. Its style and content is unlike any other book in the Bible. Let’s listen carefully today for what God has to say in this part of his word.

Read Philippians 4:21-23

“Saint” was the usual term for a Christian believer in Paul’s day. Paul is saying, “Give my Christian greetings to every member of the church.” There is such a thing as the communion of the saints. The Lord does not intend for us to go through life’s troubles alone. We are meant to establish friendships with other Christians. “Networking” we call it today.

It wasn’t just Paul who sent greetings. He conveys compliments to the Philippian Christians from those in Rome who shared the knowledge of the Lord. Evidently that included Christians within Caesar’s own household. The emperor was Nero, a tyrant if there ever was one. His household must have been filled with superstition, darkness, and wickedness. Yet the gospel of Christ had taken hold there. A Roman soldier probably guarded Paul all the time. We can only guess how many of these men became Christians under Paul’s logical, gentle, persistent teaching. If Nero found out that some of his people had become Christians it must have burnt him to a crisp. Nero may well have ordered them thrown to the lions for their faith. But where night is darkest need for missionaries is greatest. Their memory lives on because Paul included them in this greeting sent to fellow Christians. Although the Roman and Philippian Christians would never meet on earth, someday all would gather around God’s throne. Wouldn’t you like to meet them there someday?

Read Philippians 4:10-20

Paul has learned the secret of contentment. He does not have to have a substantial bank account to feel secure. He speaks as if he had taken a decision to be content. But the secret of it is Jesus.

Not that he did not appreciate what other people did for him. Paul expressed honest gratitude for the gift the Philippians sent him. Then he adds a curious dimension. The gift was to Paul, but it was also a sacrifice to God, a “fragrant offering.” Then he adds something even more strange. Paul tells the Philippians he is looking for what God is going to do for them because of their gift to him. He says he needed and used their gift. But, he says, God will bless them because of their kindness to him.

Do you give to others to get something back? No, not if you know your heart. You give freely out of love for God. Perhaps you give because you think it a duty to pay your tithe. Paul does not say you will wind up rich. He says only that God will meet all your needs. Yet here is a truth God’s people keep discovering through the centuries. You give. Then almost in bewilderment, you watch as God does something special for you, perhaps in an area unrelated to money. No wonder Paul ends this paragraph, “To our God and Father be glory….”