Superiority

 

When I read through today’s thoughts by John MacArthur and thought about the past week and all that God has done and is doing, I said to myself, “I just can’t believe it” then realized I meant “I cannot comprehend why You would do this.” Of course, I believe it — yet the reality of who Jesus Christ is and the fact that He loves me so much that He came to die for me is overwhelming.

While humans are amazing, more so than all other created things, angels are ‘higher’ than we are. Hebrews was written to show how Jesus is greater. He is God who “having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs” (Hebrews 1:4) . . . but then this happened!

But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. (Hebrews 2:9)

Those OT saints knew that the covenant they had with God came to them through the mediation of angels:

Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary. (Galatians 3:19)

This verse makes it sound as if the angels were greater than any intermediary, producing confusion in the minds of some believers, even in the NT era after Jesus came. The writer of Hebrews wanted to show that the new covenant was superior and Christ is better than angels, even though He came to us fully human. The Holy Spirit filled that writer to use the OT to make sure his readers understood the superiority of Jesus rather than any writing they would not accept as coming from God. MacArthur says he will use those same passages in the next few days to prove that Christ is superior to angels and that He did mediate a better covenant for us. He will begin by pointing to His identity as God the Son.

I’m already in awe. My salvation was initiated by that realization — Jesus is indeed God in human flesh. This truth changed everything. I vividly remember sitting in my living room more than fifty years ago and recognizing who Jesus is and why He came. I immediately had the powerful sense of Him being in the room, filling it with light and changing everything. I remember later, sitting on my front step in the sunshine, that my attitude toward people was different. I also remember the deep joy that filled my heart.

PRAY: Jesus, this was nothing that I did. You walked in and I simply knew without a doubt who You are and why I needed You. I still need You. That realization is stronger now than ever. You are everything to me and I am so grateful that You decided to come into my life. I thank You also for Your Word and for using it to teach me life-changing truth. You are amazing and so is the freedom that You give.

PONDER: Since that beginning, think of the wonder that Jesus is in my life and the wonder of the changes He has made. Consider what the Word of God says and how that applies to me:

God says: “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” (Romans 9:15)

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)

This is a great wonder and I gratefully praise His name!