Stolen Identity

 

Hebrews 1:4-14

Has anyone stolen your identity?  It has not happened to me, but I got this information from the BBB. “First, although it may be a small consolation, you are not alone. This past year, various surveys put the number of identity theft victims in the U.S. alone at between 700,000 and 9 million, depending on how broadly the crime is defined and how recently the survey was taken.”  So identity theft seems to be alive and well in our world, in fact many businesses have been started to alert a person that their identity has been stolen.

In Hebrews 1:4-14 the Holy Spirit is using the service of the writer to establish the supremacy of Jesus Christ over all others and all things.  It is assumed that a group referred to as Gnostics, a religious movement teaching that salvation comes by learning esoteric spiritual truths.  The apostle Paul gave this insight in Colossians 2:18, “Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind.”  It is a wise Christian who tests every thought by the revealed word of God. 

“Still, there's "no new thing under the sun."  False worship has been around ever since Satan aspired to the throne of God.  Unfortunately, the mad rush to worship and glorify angels always comes at the expense of sound Christian doctrine.  In most cases, as in the New Age writings, Christ is left out altogether, or else He is reduced to merely one of the pantheon of characters that’ve visited earth.  In Hebrews 1:4, the writer begins describing the absolute supremacy of Christ in all things.  And almost immediately, only three verses in, he starts putting angels in their proper place.  He does it by reaching back into the Psalms and reclaiming verses, which his Hebrew audience would be familiar with.  It's a perfect format for learning how to "see Christ" in the Old Testament.” Jim McClarty

The enemy of our souls has a goal and it is to turn your heart away from truth, and Jesus Christ is the Truth.  Satan would prefer that you worshiped him, but he will settle for religion, yes I know Baptists that worship being a Baptist, and he has no problem with you worshiping a goat or an angel.  In fact the worship of angels is quite trendy in 2011, many books are written about angels, and most of them leave Christ’s supremacy out of their books.  As Jim stated, “There’s no new thing under the sun.”  We are told in 2 Corinthians 4:4, “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”

The bottom line is who will I believe, some person who puts a spin on Scripture or will I agree with the authority of Scripture.  Hebrews 1:3, states, “He (Jesus) is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.”  As you read verses 4-14, you see the Holy Spirit making a clear case that Jesus is to be worshipped for these reasons: He is God’s only Son, angels were created by Him.  God the Father called Jesus His Son, angels are never referred to in this manner.  We are told that God the Father called Jesus God and said His throne is forever.  He is also Creator and verse ten is very clear on that. 

Now verse 14 is clear that angels are being sent out by God to serve those who are to inherit salvation.  But they should never be the object of our worship, only Jesus Christ has that place of honor, all others fall way short.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice