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APART from Scripture, we should have been disposed
to infer the existence of other orders of intelligent and spiritual beings
besides man. As the order of creation climbs up to man from the lowest
living organism through many various stages of existence, so surely the
series must be continued beyond man, through rank on rank of spiritual
existence up to the very steps of the eternal throne. The divine mind must
be as prolific in spiritual as it has been in natural forms of life.
But we are not left to conjecture. From every part
of Scripture come testimonies to the existence of angels. They rejoiced
when the world was made, and they are depicted as ushering in with songs
that new creation for which we long. They stood sentries at the gate of
a lost paradise; and at each of the twelve gates of the New Jerusalem an
angel stands (Rev. xxi. 12). They trod the plains of Mamre, and sang over
the fields of Bethlehem. One prepared the meal on the desert sands for
Elijah; another led Peter out of gaol and a third flashed through the storm
to stand by the hammock where the Apostle Paul was sleeping (Acts xxvii.
23,24).
But in the mind of the pious Hebrew the greatest
work which the angels ever wrought was in connection with the giving of
the law. The children of Israel received the law "as it was ordained by
angels" (Acts vii. 53, R.v.). It was necessary, therefore, in showing the
superiority of the Gospel to the Law, to begin by showing the superiority
of him through whom the Gospel was given, over all orders of bright and
blessed spirits, which, in their shining ranks and their twenty thousand
chariots, went and came during the giving of the decalogue from the brow
of Sinai (Psalm lxviii. 17).
It is not difficult to prove the Lord's superiority
to angels. It is twofold: in Nature and in Office.
In Nature. "He hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they" (ver. 4). In verse 7, quoted from Psalm civ. 4 (R.v. marg.), where they are distinctly spoken of as messengers and ministers, they are compared to winds and flames.-winds, for their swiftness and invisibility; flames, because of their ardent love. But how great the gulf between their nature, which may thus be compared to the elements of creation, and the nature of that glorious Being whom they are bidden to worship, and who is addressed in the sublime title of Son! (Heb.i.6; Psalm xcvii. 7.)
In Offce. In verse 14 they are spoken of as ministering spirits, "sent forth to do service for the sake of them that shall inherit salvation" (R.v.). This liturgy of service is a literal fact. When struggling against overwhelming difficulties; when walking the dark, wild mountain-pass alone; when in peril or urgent need-we are surrounded by invisible forms, like those which accompanied the path of Jesus, ministering to him in the desert, strengthening him in the garden, hovering around his cross, watching his grave and accompanying him to his home. They keep pace with the swiftest trains in which we travel. They come unsoiled through the murkiest air. They smooth away the heaviest difficulties. They garrison with light the darkest sepulchers. They bear us up in their hands, lest we should strike our foot against a stone. Many an escape from imminent peril; many an unexpected assistance; many a bright and holy thought whispered in the ear, we know not whence or how-is due to those bright and loving spirits. "The good Lord forgive me," says Bishop Hall, "for that, amongst my other offenses, I have suffered myself so much to forget the presence of his holy angels." But valuable as their office is, it is not to be mentioned in the same breath as Christ's, which is set down for us in this chapter.
He Is The Organ of Creation. "By whom also
he made the worlds." To make that which is seen out of nothing, that
is creation: it is a divine work; and creation is attributed to Christ.
"By him were all things created that are in heaven and that are in earth."
"All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that
was made" (Col.i.16; John i.3). But the word here and in xi. 3 translated
worlds means ages. Not only was the material
universe made by him, but each of the great ages of the world's story has
been instituted by Jesus Christ.
When genius aspires to immortality, it leaves the
artist's name inscribed on stone or canvas: and so Inspiration, "dipping
her pen in indelible truth, inscribes the name of Jesus on all we see-on
sun and stars, flower and tree, rock and mountain, the unstable waters
and the firm land; and also on what we do not see, nor shall, until death
has removed the veil-on angels and spirits, on the city and heavens of
the eternal world."
This thought comes out clearly in the sublime quotation
made in verse 10 from Psalm cii. That inspired poem is obviously inscribed
to Jehovah: "Thou, Jehovah, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of
the earth; and the heavens are the work of thy hands." But here, without
the least apology, or hint of accommodating the words to an inferior use,
it is applied directly to Christ. Mark the certainty of this inspired man
that Jesus is Jehovah! How sure of the Deity of his Lord! And what a splendid
tribute to his immutability!
Mark how the Epistle rings with the
unchangeableness of Jesus, in his human love (xiii. 8), in his
priesthood (vii. 24), and here in his divine nature (vv. 10-12). We live
in a world of change. The earth is not the same today as it was ages ago,
or as it will be ages on. The sun is radiating off its heat. The moon no
longer as of yore burns and glows; she is but an immense opaque cinder,
reflecting the sunlight from her disk. Stars have burnt out, and will.
The universe is waxing old, as garments which from perpetual use become
threadbare. But the wearing out of the garment is no proof of the waning
strength or slackening energy of the wearer. Nay, when garments wear out
quickest, it is generally the time of robustest youth or manhood. You wrap
up and lay aside your clothes when they have served their purpose; but
you are the same in the new suit as in the old. Creation is the vesture
of Christ. He wraps himself about in its ample folds. Its decay affects
him not. And, when he shall have laid it all aside, and replaced it by
the new heavens and the new earth, he will be the same forevermore.
With what new interest may we not now turn to the
archaic record, which tells how God created the heavens and the earth.
Those sublime syllables, "Light, be!" were spoken by the voice that trembled
in dying anguish on the cross. Rolling rivers, swelling seas, waving woods,
bursting flowers, caroling birds, innumerable beasts, stars sparkling like
diamonds on the pavilion of night-all newly made; all throbbing with God's
own life; and all very good: but, mainly and gloriously, all the
work of those hands which were nailed helplessly to the cross, which itself,
as well as the iron that pierced him, was the result of his creative will.
He Is The God of Providence. "Upholding
all things by the word of his power" (ver. 3). He is the prop which underpins
creation. Christ, and not fate. Christ, and not nature. Christ, and not
abstract impersonal law. Law is but the invariable method of his working.
"In him all things live, and move, and have their being." "By him all things
consist." He is ever at work repeating on the large scale of creation the
deeds of his earthly life. And if he did not do them, they must be forever
undone. At his word rainwater and dew become grape-juice; tiny handfuls
of grain fill the autumn barns; storms die away into calm; fish are led
through the paths of the sea; rills are sent among the mountains; and stars
are maintained in their courses, so that "not one faileth."
All power is given unto him in heaven and on earth.
Why, then, art thou so sad? Thy best Friend is the Lord of Providence.
Thy Brother is Prime Minister of the universe, and holds the keys of the
divine commissariat. Go to him with the empty sacks of thy need; he will
not only fill them, but fill them freely, without money and without price;
as Joseph did in the old story of the days of the Pharaohs.
He Is The Saviour of Sinners. "He purged our
sins." We shall have many opportunities of dwelling on this glorious fact.
Jesus is Saviour, Redeemer, and the High-Priest. This is his proudest title;
in this work no angel or created spirit can bear him rivalry. In the work
of salvation he is alone. No angel could atone for sin, or plead our cause,
or emancipate us from the thrall of evil.
But notice the finality of this act. "He
made purging of sins " (see Greek). It is finished; forever
complete; done irrevocably and finally. If only we are one with him by
a living faith, our sins, which were many, are washed out; as an inscription
from a slate, as a stain from a robe, as a cloud from the azure of heaven.
Gone-as a stone into the bottomless abyss! Gone-never to confront us here
or hereafter! "Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea,
rather, that is risen again; who is even at the right hand of God; who
also maketh intercession for us" (Rom. viii. 34).
He Is Also King. And on what does his kingdom rest? What is the basis of that Royalty of which we constantly sing, in the noble words of the primitive Church? "Thou art the King of Glory, 0 Christ." It is a double basis.
He is King by right of his divine nature. "Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever." Well might Psalm xlv. be entitled the poem of the lilies, as if to denote its pure and choice and matchless beauties. It celebrated the marriage of Solomon: but, after the manner of those inspired singers, its authors soon passed from the earthly to the heavenly; from the transient type of the earthly realm to the eternal and imperishable realities of the divine royalty of Christ.
He is also King as the reward of his obedience
unto death. "He became obedient unto death, even the death
of the cross: wherefore, God also hath highly exalted him" (Phil. ii.8,9).
Satan offered him sovereignty in return for one act of homage, and Christ
refused, and descended the mountain to poverty and shame and death; but
through these things he has won for himself a Kingdom which is yet in its
infancy, but is destined to stand when all the kingdoms of this world have
crumbled to dust.
As Christ emerged from the cross and the grave,
where he had purged our sins, it seemed as if words were addressed to him
which David had caught ages before: "The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit on
my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool" (ver. 13; Psalm
cx. I). This is the interpretation which the Apostle Peter, in the flush
of Pentecostal inspiration, put upon these words (Acts ii. 34). And, accordingly,
we are told, "He was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand
of God " (Mark xvi. 19). "He sat down on the right hand of the Majesty
on high" (ver. 3).
"He sat down." Love is regnant. The Lamb is in the midst of the Throne. Behold his majesty, and worship him with angels and archangels, and all the throng of the redeemed. Prostrate yourself at his feet, consecrating to him all you are and all you have. Comfort yourself also by remembering that he would not sit to rest from his labors in redemption, and in the purging away of sins, unless they were so completely finished that there was nothing more to do. It is all accomplished; and it is all very good. He has ceased from his works, because they are done; and therefore he is entered into his rest. And that word "until" is full of hope. God speaks it, and encourages us to expect the time when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power; and when death itself, the last enemy, shall be destroyed (1 Cor. xv. 24-26).