The Superiority of Christ, continued

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Over the Angels, His First Warning
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The Author's first warning to the Hebrew converts in Rome is good for us to take note of also. Note: "If we neglect such a great salvation, we shall receive a just retribution." Other translations call it a "just penalty or punishment". Remember, the author is speaking of people who have accepted Christ but have drifted away, or backslid. People drift away from their commitment to Christ for many reasons. Pressures of family or job and even bickering in church cause many to stop coming and drift away. But it would appear that these people were doing this to escape persecution. The persecution of Christians in Rome started out as simply social persecution but eventually it turned to condemnation of death to all Christians.
To help these people, the Author tries to show them that Christ is able to meet their needs and to show them that He is vastly superior to whatever they were seeking refuge in. He does this by showing the superiority of Christ's nature and His name. Notice who He was. He was the "Son of God". He was the "Second Person" of the Trinity. He was God. Therefore, His nature was divine. Thus He was superior to the Angels. In Psalms it is written, "When God brings forth His first begotten into the world, let all the Angels of God worship Him." Matthew Henry says that all who are superior to men, as inferior to Christ in nature and power. So if the message declared by the Angels was valid, how much more was the message of Christ.
Notice this first warning, "If we neglect such a great salvation, we will receive a just retribution." What does that mean? First, let us define the word "neglect". It is used here the same way we would use it to define some ones lack of care and attention to the home or car or any other possession. Our salvation needs constant attention if it is to be for us all that it can be here on this earth. You cannot loose it, but you can loose the joy of it. You can loose the witness of it. You can loose the comfort of it. The lost of these is the "just retribution" that the Author is warning about. The Author warns that every transgression shall receive a just retribution. Please remember that the Author is speaking to Christian believers. The only retribution to non-believers is eternal separation from God (hell).
So, how can we come to know Christ and His salvation? The Author lists four ways that the Lord uses to bring salvation to peoples attention.

By the Word of God, declared by Christ and recorded by the Gospel writers.
By people like Paul, who wrote of a personal convection and was led by the Spirit to write God's Word.
Personal testimony it used by the Lord to enlighten people so that they may know of their lost condition and be aware that God has designed, in Christ, a means of escaping the judgment for that lost condition. In Matthew 4:24 it says that, by word of mouth, His fame spread through out all Syria. In Luke 7:11 it says that word spread through out all Judea that God had visited His people.

By "signs", "wonders" and "miracles". The Gospels record some 36 miracles that were performed by Christ. They also state that He did many more that were not recorded. The age of miracles is not over. Every day we see evidence of God's hand in our lives.
By the Holy Spirit. Notice the Author of Hebrews believes as we "Calvinists do, he says that the gifts of the Spirit are distributed according to His own will. Included in those gifts is the ability to understand God's plan of salvation.

So they were warned and we are warned about judgment. Without salvation, we are lost and will receive a just judgment. With salvation, if we neglect it, we will receive a just retribution. So the Author has established the deity of Christ, His plan of salvation and the judgment if we neglect it and now he will establish the "humanity" of Christ.

Over the Angels, His Humanity

Notice in these verses that two false teachings that were widely circulated at that time, are dealt with.

Angel worship. In the early church, Angel worship was started as an outgrowth of their appearances during the time of Christ. They appeared at His birth. They announced His resurrection. They announced His ascension. They instructed the Apostles concerning their duties prior to the coming of the Holy Spirit. To counter this movement, the Author assures the Hebrews that the "church" is not subject to Angels, but is subject to Christ.
The "scandal" of the cross. There was a growing feeling among the less enlightened, especially the Jews, that Christ's death on the cross was a scandal and was best forgotten. Here the Author justifies and glorifies the cross. In verse 10, he says, "It was fitting that He should be the pioneer of their salvation, made perfect, through the suffering of the cross." If you want to find out something about a toothache, go to someone who has had a toothache. The Author substantiates this in verse 18, where he says, "Christ suffered and was tempted in order that He be able to help those who are temped and who are suffering." The cross was necessary for salvation to be made perfect. There had to be punishment for sins. Christ took the sins of the world to the cross and became the atonement for all sins. The shame of it all is that man's sins made it necessary.

So to accomplish this atonement, it became necessary for God to become a man, capable of being tempted and suffering as a human being. Here, in these verses, the Author lists 5 reasons why Christ assumed a "human nature".

No higher nature or no lower nature could atone for the sins of man.
He had to assume the human nature that He might die. If He was to become the substitute for man, He had to be capable of suffering and dieing like a man.
He had to destroy Satan's power over death. Satan was the first to sin. He was the one that drew man into sin. Sin brought death into human nature, but by Christ's resurrection, death has been destroyed.
His death and resurrection would free man from the fear of death. Man feared death when there was no assurance of life after death but with the resurrection of Christ, came the assurance of eternal life, also the fear of Hell became a reality and the need of forgiveness became a reality and the plan of God, through Christ, became a reality.
His humanity allowed Him to experience life as a man would. He experienced sickness, hunger, loss of a loved one, pain, betrayal and finally, death. In all this, He suffered as you and I. We now have seated at the right hand of God, someone who knows, by experience, what suffering and temptation really is.

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