The Son and the universe.
"And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation," etc. The main subject of the writer is still the same—the superiority of the Son to the angels; and he here adduces further proofs of his superiority by setting forth the relations of the Son to the universe, in words which he quotes from Psalms 102:25-27.
I. THE SON IS THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE. "Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of thy hands." Notice here:
1. His existence before the universe. In the beginning he laid the foundation of the earth. When was that? Six thousand years ago? Nay, millions of years ago. The expression takes us "back to the fathomless abyss of ages of ages." Yet the existence of the Son takes us back beyond that, to us, incomprehensibly remote period. As the artist must have existed before the picture which he painted, and the architect before the edifice which he designed, so the Son existed before the universe which he made. "His goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting."
2. His agency in the creation of the universe. He "laid the foundation of the earth," etc. The heavens and the earth have not always existed; they had a beginning. They were not self-originated, but were made by Another. In the strict sense of the word, they were created by our Lord. He did not merely arrange or form the heavens and the earth out of pre-existent materials; he created them. He "laid the foundation." He began at the beginning, etc.
II. HE PRESIDES OVER THE CHARGES OF THE UNIVERSE. "They all shall wax old as doth a garment; and as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed." Changes are ever going on in the universe. Spring with its fresh and youthful beauty passes into the glowing and. gorgeous summer, etc. There are changes in the earth and in the seas. Even the mountains, which seem so stable and immutable, are subject to change. Suns and stats also are mutable. The heavens and the earth are growing old; they have had their infancy and. youth, etc. These changes are not effected by blind, unintelligent forces or laws. The Son of God superintends all of them. He is the Framer of all the laws of Nature, and the Force of all her forces. He is the Sustainer as well as the Creator of the universe. To the thoughtful and devout man this fact imparts a deeper, tenderer interest and attraction to the changes which take place in nature. Our gracious Savior and Lord is also the Superintendent and Sovereign of the universe.
III. HE IS UNCHANGEABLE AMIDST THE CHANGES OF THE UNIVERSE. "But thou art the same." He is the same in his being and character, in his will and purposes. Presiding over a universe in which all things are continually changing, yet with him there "is no variableness or shadow of turning." He is "the same yesterday, and today, and for ever." He is the same in knowledge. His understanding is infinite, and he knoweth all things. He is the same in purpose. The writer of this Epistle speaks of "the immutability of his counsel." "He is of one mind." He is the same in affection. "The mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed, but my kindness shall not depart from thee, nor shall the covenant of my peace be removed." "Having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end." What an inspiration this supplies to trust in him! It was thus, indeed, that these words were originally employed by the psalmist; for, as Ebrard points out, it is not "his unchangeableness as the immaterial Spirit that is spoken of (in Psalms 102:27), but the unchangeableness of Jehovah in his acts, in his relation to Israel, in a word, the Divine covenant-faithfulness." And upon this the psalmist bases his hope of the restoration of prosperity to Israel. Because he is immutable in his character and purposes and relation to his people, we may safely confide in him. "He abideth faithful; for he cannot deny himself."
IV. HE SURVIVES THE DISSOLUTION OF THE UNIVERSE. "They shall perish; but thou remainest ... And thy years shall not fail." We do not think that the annihilation of the heavens and earth is taught here, but that their present form and aspect shall pass away. Their substance will remain, but their present appearance will perish. "The day of the Lord will come as a thief; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are therein shall be burned up."
"The cloud-capped towers, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples, the great globe itself,
Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve;
And, like this insubstantial pageant faded,
Leave not a rack behind."
(Shakespeare)
But the Lord shall remain forever and ever. As he existed before the universe, so shall he exist when its present forms have disappeared forever. He is "from everlasting to everlasting." "I am the First and the Last, and the Living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive for evermore."
CONCLUSION. How immeasurably greater, then, is the Son than the angels! They could not create a world; but he created the entire universe. They have no sovereign control over the transformations of any world; but he is the supreme Agent effecting all the changes in every province of all worlds. They change; their knowledge changes by way of increase, and with new discoveries they have new admirations; their affections also change, growing more deep and intense; but he is superior to all change—the Immutable. They are not essentially immortal; their continued existence depends upon him; but he is essentially immortal—"the living One," the Eternal. Seeing that the Son of God is immutable and eternal, we have the strongest encouragement to trust in him at all times. Both in his power and in his willingness to save he is ever the same, and-" he ever liveth." His "years shall not fail."—W. J.
The sovereignty of the Son and the service of the angels.
"But to which of the angels said he at any time," etc.? The writer is still treating of the preeminence of the Son over the angels; and he shows it in the facts that he is a Sovereign and they are servants.
I. THE SOVEREIGNTY OF THE SON OF GOD. "But to which of the angels said he at any time, sit on my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool?" This quotation the writer makes from Psalms 110:1-7. This psalm is confessedly Messianic. It is frequently quoted in the New Testament as applying to our Lord. "And no psalm more clearly finds its ultimate reference and completion only in Christ." The quotation teaches that:
1. The Son is exalted to the mediatorial throne. "Sit thou on my right band." "He sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high." (See our notes on "The exaltation of his position" as stated in Psalms 110:3)
2. He is exalted by the highest will. "But to which of the angels said he at any time," etc.? "The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand," etc; "Him God exalted with his right band to be a Prince and a Savior."
3. He is exalted with the sublimest expectation. "Till I make thine enemies the footstool of thy feet." Here are several points.
II. THE SERVICE OF THE ANGELS OF GOD. "Are they not all ministering spirits," etc.? Notice:
1. The nature of the angels. "Spirits." We do not enter upon the question whether angels are pure spirits or not. It seems to us that they are not without some form or vesture; that they are not "unclothed, but clothed upon." Their bodies are spiritual. "There is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body." Angelic forms are not gross and material, but refined and ethereal. They do not impede their activities or clog their aspirations, but are the exquisite vesture of their bring and the suitable vehicle of their power. (On the qualities of these spirits, see introduction of our homily on Psalms 110:3, Psalms 110:4)
2. The office of the angels. "Ministering spirits."
"And the wearied heart grows strong,
As an angel strengthened him,
Fainting in the garden dim
'Neath the world's vast woe and wrong."
(Johann Rist)
They suggest caution and watchfulness to the unwary; by their serene invisible presence they solace the sufferer; and they serve about the dying bed of the saint, and convey the emancipated spirit to its heavenly rest. "Lazarus … was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom."
"Oh, th' exceeding grace
Of highest God that loves his creatures so,
And all his works with mercy doth embrace,
That blessed angels he sends to and fro.
To serve to wicked man, to serve his wicked foe.
"How oft do they their silver bowers leave,
To come to succor us that succor want!
How oft do they with golden pinions cleave
The flitting skies, like flying pursuivant,
Against foul fiends to aid us militant!
They for us fight, and watch, and duly ward,
And their bright squadrons round about us plant;
And all for love, and nothing for reward.
Oh, why should heavenly God to men have such regard?"
(Spenser)
CONCLUSION. Learn:
1. The dignity of the Christian. Angels minister unto him. God cares for him; for he sends forth the angels to promote his interests.
2. The dignity of service. Angels, the highest orders of created beings, serve God by ministering unto little children, distressed Christians, and afflicted saints.
3. The supreme dignity of the Son of God. He "came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many;" and now he "is on the right hand of God, having gone into heaven; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him," Well does Dr. J. H. Newman say, "When we survey Almighty God surrounded by his holy angels, his thousand thousands of ministering spirits, and ten thousand times ten thousand standing before him, the idea of his awful majesty rises before us more powerfully and impressively. We begin to see how little we are, how altogether mean and worthless in ourselves, and how high he is and fearful. The very lowest of his angels is indefinitely above us in this our present state; how high, then, must be the Lord of angels! The very seraphim hide their faces before his glory, while they praise him; how shamefaced, then, should sinners be when they come into his presence!"—W.J.
HOMILIES BY C. NEW
The two Testaments a progressive revelation of God.
These verses form the keynote of the Epistle. The Hebrew Christians were being cast out from Jewish worship and fellowship. To be excluded from the temple, the center of national unity, the home of the people to whom pertained "the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the Law, and the service of God, and the promises, and the fathers," was to be reduced to the level of the uncovenanted Gentiles. The writer encourages them in their trial by exhibiting the far greater glory of him to whom they had come than that they had been called to leave. Moreover, the old dispensation was hastening to its end; Judaism was dying out; the temple-worship was about to cease. The writer foretells this in prophetic symbolism (Hebrews 12:26, Hebrews 12:27), Thus he seems to stand on the ruins of an old world. But the Epistle is to show a new world rising from its ashes—the first done away that the second may be established. The stars are fading, but only because the sun has risen; the types are cast aside, but because the reality has come. Priest and sacrifice, altar and temple, national greatness and sacred lineage,—they are all going. "Let them go," says he," for in their place has appeared with unspeakable glory the great fulfillment of them all—the Lord Jesus, who abideth for ever." That is the substance of the Epistle—the glory of the old economy fulfilled and surpassed in Christ. The subsequent chapters are but "a prolonged echo of this opening strain." The subject of these words is—The two Testaments a progressive revelation of God.
I. THEY TEACH THAT IN HOLY SCRIPTURE GOD HAS SPOKEN TO MAN. "He spake … he hath spoken." We might expect God to speak because a revelation is necessary. The world needs God, perishes without him, cries out after him. The world cannot find God; to the utmost earthly wisdom he is unknown. God is a God of goodness and love; his works declare it; then God must reveal himself to man.
1. Scripture declares itself to be God's voice. Christ and the apostles affirm this of the Old Testament. You cannot believe in Christ without accepting the Old Testament as an infallible declaration of the Divine will; for so he accepted it. They also affirm this of their own teaching in the New Testament: "We speak not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth."
2. The effects of Scripture prove that this witness it bears to itself is trite. As the apostles proved their mission by "signs, and wonders, and divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost," so does the Bible; that it is a divinely inspired utterance is proved by Divine results. It meets the complicated needs of human nature, satisfies the heart, opens blind eyes, casts out evil spirits, transforms the character, regenerates the world, turns the wilderness into paradise. It does what only God can do; then God is in it.
II. THEY TEACH THAT IN THE LORD JESUS CHRIST WE HAVE GOD'S PERFECT UTTERANCE TO MAN. "God … hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son."
1. Since God is the Author of both revelations, we may expect to find the new in the old. "God spake to the fathers … God hath spoken to us." And God is One; then we must expect to find the revelation one. Scripture is not two books, but a unity. See this in its outline; it begins with, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth;" it ends with the creation of the new heavens and earth. It begins with the story of man's expulsion from the garden—paradise lost; it ends with the vision of redeemed man dwelling under the tree of life, on the banks of the river of the water of life—paradise regained; and between the beginning and the end we have the steps by which that develops into this. Thus the New Testament and the Old throw mutual light on each other; we cannot sever them without hurt. He who only reads one knows neither.
2. Since Christ is the Substance of the New Testament, the new revelation will be a distinct advance on the old. The text contrasts as well as compares them. There is a sense in which Christ may be said to be the Substance of the Old Testament—"To him give all the prophets witness;" and we do not understand it unless we read it with Christ as the key. But in a far higher sense is he the Substance of the New. "God spake to the fathers in many parts," i.e. in fragments. One aspect of truth was seen in one type, another in another; they needed to be combined if the full truth was to be known. "And in diverse ways," by types, prophecies, requirements, providences, angelic ministry, human teachers, etc; thus the old revelation had great disadvantages. Mark the contrast: "He hath spoken unto us by his Son." No longer in fragments or by many voices, but by one living Person, the embodiment of the Father's thoughts concerning us; "the Word" made flesh. Christ not only the Messenger, but the Message.
3. Since Christ is God the Son, there can be no revelation beyond what is given in him. As long as God spoke by human teachers a greater and better might arise; but when he spake by his Son the climax was reached. The Son knows the Father perfectly, and can make no mistake as to the mind of the Father. To know how God feels about men, learn of Christ. "This is my beloved Son: hear him." To know what God is, look at Christ. "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father." To know what God would give, study Christ. He is God's "unspeakable Gift;" "in him are hid all the treasures," etc. All that God has to say to us we hear in Jesus, and there can be nothing beyond that.
III. THEY TEACH THAT, IN HAVING SPOKEN TO MAN, GOD HAS PLACED HIM UNDER SOLEMN RESPONSIBILITY. "God hath spoken!" What then?
1. If God has spoken, it leaves man's ignorance without excuse. No one with this Book need be in ignorance on Divine things. If God has spoken it is to teach us something; then he cannot have spoken so unintelligibly that we cannot understand him. If he has spoken here, we may rely on this Book as on a rock. Distinguish between human interpretation of truth and the truth itself; but when you have discovered the truth, hold it and assert it positively. What is truth? What God hath said.
2. If God has spoken, his Word must be man's ultimate authority. We must have infallibility or we can have no rest. Where is it? The Church in her history has proved that she is not infallible. Man's moral consciousness proves that it is not infallible, for the "inner light" in different men points in different directions, is perverted by sin, bribed into silence, educated into error. There is no infallibility if it be not in the Bible. But it is here, for here God hath spoken. Then find your creed in it, and base your life on it, making it in all matters the final and authoritative court of appeal. It must be madness to oppose personal opinion or expediency to what the Lord says.
3. If God has spoken, irreverence and neglect of Scripture are man's loss and shame. "God hath spoken!" Then with what solemnity should we listen to his voice; with what constancy should we draw near to this temple to hear his will; and with what awe, taking our shoes from our feet, as on holy ground! Think of God speaking, and no "Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth," rising from our heart! Are you neglecting Scripture? Remember God has no other voice after this; Christ is his last appeal to men. "Having, therefore, one Son, his well-beloved, he sent him last unto them, saying, They will reverence my Son." "God hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son;" to be deaf to that last appeal is to have God speechless to us forever.—C.N.
The surpassing glory of Christ, who is the Substance of type Christian revelation.
I. THIS PASSAGE SETS FORTH THE PERFECT DEITY OF CHRIST. If the doctrine of the Trinity is not here, it is at least implied that in the Godhead there are more Persons than one. "God hath spoken by his Son;" "God hath appointed him;" "Through him God made," etc. Then the Father and Son are distinct Persons. But, as clearly, they are one God, for there are statements here with reference to the Son which could not be made of one less than Deity. The Deity of Christ is here set forth in three particulars.
1. In his possession of the Divine nature. "The effulgence of his glory, the very image of his substance." Not "the brightness of his glory," as though there were one point where God's glory is greatest, and that point Christ; but "the effulgence," the shining forth of what else would be hidden. The beams of light are the effulgence of the sun; without them we could not see the sun or know he is there. So Christ is" God manifest in the flesh." Not "the image of God," as though parallel with "Let us make man in our image;" but "the very image of his substance." The idea is that of a showing forth what else would be concealed. "The Image of the invisible God;" "No man hath seen God," …the only begotten … hath declared him." Christ is the showing forth, shining forth on man of God, so that "he that hath seen me hath seen the Father." But this would be impossible unless he were himself God. A created being can utter something about God, or bear faint resemblance to him, but he who reveals God perfectly must be God's coequal self.
2. In his fulfillment of the Divine work. "Through whom he made the worlds,… upholding all things by the word of his power." Only God can create. But "all things were made by Christ; without him was not," etc. Take the hundred and fourth psalm, "the natural theology of the Jews," and in every verse in which David speaks of the natural world subsisting on God's bounty you may insert the word "Jesus." Where Coleridge, in his 'Ode to Sunrise in the Vale of Chamounix,' makes snow-clad peak, and thundering avalanche, and mysterious glacier, and verdant valley, and azure sky, echo back the one word "God," we may substitute the word "Jesus." Isaiah heard the angels sing," Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory." But "this spake he of Jesus;" that greatness is that of Deity.
3. In his occupation of the Divine position. "Whom he hath appointed Heir of all things." Christ on the throne of the universe, "Lord of all." That involves a right to the homage of all, the position of Controller of all, and the end for which all things exist. That can only be true of God. "Jehovah reigneth; he doeth his will," etc; "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only;" "The Lord hath made all things for himself." Christ can look abroad on everything that is and happens, and say, "It is mine." And when the end comes, ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands of angels will be heard crying, "Worthy is the Lamb to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and. strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing;" and every creature which is in heaven and on the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, will respond, "Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power be unto him that sitteth upon the throne."
II. THIS PASSAGE SETS FORTH THE UNION OF DEITY AND HUMANITY IN ONE GLORIOUS PERSON. No word about Christ's humanity, but the idea is here. The passage could not have been written had not God become man. For it declares his Godhead. Then he was God from everlasting. But mark the expressions: "Appointed Heir of all things;" "Made better than the angels." Neither of those expressions can you apply to Deity. As God, Christ has an inalienable property in the universe, and cannot be "appointed" heir to it; so, too, he is better than the angels, and cannot be "made" better. He who can be "appointed heir" anti "made better" must be a creature. Here, then, is a great mystery; there must be a sense in which Christ who was God, was also, at some time, a creature. This would be inexplicable but for our knowledge of the Incarnation. See what this points to.
1. The assumption by him of human nature. We depend for our knowledge of that entirely on Scripture; but there it is stated plainly, "The Word was God … the Word was made flesh." He who creates and upholds and is Heir of all things, he who is "the effulgence," etc., was born, and lived, and suffered, and worked, and obeyed, and died, and was buried as man.
2. The necessity for the union of these two natures for his mediatorial work. Apart from the Incarnation Christ could be no Savior. Since the Law had been given to man, man must keep it if God's moral government is to be vindicated; and since man had broken the Law, by man must the penalty be endured. The Savior, therefore, must be man. But the race had sinned; no man, therefore, could redeem his brother; none, moreover, who was not under personal obligation to fulfill the Law. The Savior, therefore, must be God. The Incarnation alone met the necessity.
3. The reassumption of Divine glory in the capacity of Mediator. Christ ascended to the throne of the universe as God-Man; that explains his being "appointed" to that position. As God he had an inalienable right to it; his appointment to it was in that twofold nature he had adopted as Redeemer; he was always "Head over all things," but on his ascension he was made "Head over all things to the Church." He has now received his eternal glory for the good of his people. All he is and has as God, he holds in pursuance of his redemptive work. What a future for the world, when the glory and resources of the Godhead are given over to secure its salvation! What security and benediction for the people of God!
III. THIS PASSAGE SETS FORTH THE RELATION OF THIS GLORIOUS PERSON TO A SINFUL WORLD. The worth of dwelling on the glory of Christ is in the fact of the relation he has entered into with regard to men; to cherish the thought of his greatness is to find redemption glow with a new meaning. What is Christ to man as Redeemer? The Old Testament speaks of him as Prophet, Priest, and King. All these are in our text. "God hath spoken unto us by his Son"—there is Christ our Prophet. "He made purification of sins"—there is Christ our Priest. "He sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high"—there is Christ our King.
1. Think of his prophetic work in the light of his glorious nature. What does he teach? He is not merely the voice, he is "the Word." He himself is what God says to us; the substance of the gospel is just Christ. How much we hear in him when we know that he who, as Jesus of Nazareth, was humbled, sorrowful, bruised, accursed for us, was the God of such surpassing glory! In proportion as we understand that glory will be the force and sweetness of the message heard in beholding Jesus, that "God is love."
2. Think of his priestly work in the light of his glorious nature. The expression, "he made purification of sins," was used in the sense in which the Hebrews would naturally understand it—the sense of cleansing of sin by sacrifice—and evidently refers to Christ's substitutionary sacrifice, "the offering of his body once for all." But what wonderful light beams on that redemption when we know the glory of him who made it! What grace is in it then! what security! It is the glory of Jesus that makes him able to save the worst. It is because he is God that his blood cleanseth us from all sin.
3. Think of his kingly work in the light of his glorious nature. The sitting down on the right hand of the Majesty on high must refer to his mediatorial kingship, for it was after he had made purification of sins. But think of the glory of that kingship. Christ "Heir of all things" for us. For us he is Lord of providence; then providence is on our side. For us he is Lord of all temporal resources; then the supply of our needs is assured. For us he is Lord of the spiritual world; then no foe above our strength shall assail us. He Who on the highest throne is crowned with glory is as truly there for us as for us he was crowned with thorns. The hand which now wields the scepter of the universe, wields it as truly for us as for us it was pierced at Calvary. What safety, what blessing, that means for the Church!
We cannot speak of the glory of the Son of God as we would, nor think of it as it is; but we may meditate on it, rejoice in it, try to understand it better, and praise him for it, till in the fuller light and with the fuller powers of the higher world—
"We at his feet shall fall,
Join in the everlasting song,
And crown him Lord of all."
C.N.