Superior To Angels

What this episode covers

“In Defense of Being Average”, Mark Manson encourages his readers to accept that they won’t be extraordinary at most things they do, if anything. He writes: “There are over 7.2 billion people on this planet, and really only about 1,000 of those have major worldwide influence at any given time. That leaves the other 7,199,999,000 +/- of us to come to terms with the limited scope of our lives and the fact that the vast majority of what we do will likely not matter long after we’ve died. This is not a fun thing to think about or accept.” His point is that once you accept average, you might actually be emotionally free to appreciate the simple and mundane aspects of life, which take up most of our time. As far as secular advice goes, it’s actually not that bad. But what happens when you are below average? What happens when you fail at the one thing you have devoted your life to? What do you do then? Hold onto that thought for a moment. Apparently, there were some false teachers promoting the worship of angels, or attempting to place Christ on par with angels. If they held to the teaching of the Qumran/Dead Sea Sect, they believed the Archangel Michael would hold a higher office than the Messiah in glory. Paul warned the Colossians of false teachers who were “insisting on asceticism and worship of angels” (Col 2:18). Even John was tempted to worship the angel who showed him the revelation of God’s final judgment and glory. Twice the angel rebuked John for bowing down before him (Rev 19:10; 22:8-9). There is a universal temptation to worship inferior glories. Do you underestimate the value of Jesus and elevate the importance of a vague spirituality? Are you seeking to know Christ and Him crucified, or is there some deeper, more mysterious spiritual experience that you are after? For too many believers, Christianity is less about Jesus and more about increasing their own intellectual knowledge, developing their own eschatological vision, or having their own spiritual experience. When we know that Jesus is superior to everything we can be content when He is all we have. When you hit rock bottom, Jesus is enough! Read Hebrews 1:1-6. A Better Name (4) Highlighting the uniqueness of the Son requires some clarification. Since Jesus has been exalted to the right hand of the Majesty on high (Heb 1:3), isn’t his status much like the angels who are said to surround the throne of God? So the author highlights the superiority of the Son of God. Although the Son has always been superior to angels—participating in their creation (v.2)—in the course of redemptive history, Jesus became man and was exalted in his glorified humanity. As the Son of God, his redeeming work brought many sons to glory (Heb 2:10). The superiority of the name of the Son is a common theme for Paul as well. He told the church in Ephesus that Christ was exalted—raised and enthroned in heavenly places—“far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come” (Eph 1:20). Paul told the church in Philippi that, “God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father,” (Phil 2:9-11). Names Mean Something Sometimes we can place too much emphasis on the importance of a name. The billionaire Elon Musk and musician Grimes named their son X Æ A-Xii (pronounced ‘Ex Ash A Twelve’) and their daughter Exa Dark Sideræl (known as ‘Y’). Their nicknames are ‘X’ and ‘Y’. There is no doubt that our names do have an impact upon people’s perceptions. A bad name might get skipped in a stack of resumes while a likable name receives preferential treatment. When Carrie and I were considering baby names for the first time, if it were up to me, Madelynn Paige might have

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