Posted on 12/11/2017 3:34:37 PM PST by metmom
"Having become . . . much better than the angels" (Heb. 1:4).
Through a deft use of the Old Testament, the writer proves that Christ is the mediator of a greater covenant.
Man is a wonderful and amazing creation—higher than plants, animals, and any other material creation in this world. But there are created beings even higher than man—angels.
Hebrews 2:9 shows this to be the case because when Jesus became a man, He was "made for a little while lower than the angels." After the fall of the rebellious angels under Lucifer, the angels in heaven were no longer subject to sin. These angels are holy, powerful, and wise. They are special beings created by God before He created man.
The Jewish people understood the exalted position of angels because they knew that the Old Covenant was brought to men and maintained by angelic mediation. Galatians 3:19 says, "Why the Law then? It was added because of transgressions, having been ordained through angels by the agency of a mediator, until the seed should come to whom the promise had been made."
Because of this high regard for angels by his readers, the writer of Hebrews was faced with a problem. If he was to show that Christ was the mediator of a better covenant, he would have to prove that Christ is better than angels. To do so, he used seven Old Testament passages to verify his claim.
If he had tried to prove from Christian writings that Christ is a better mediator, his unbelieving Jewish readers would have said, "We don't accept these writings as being from God." So in effect he wisely replies, "Open up your own Scriptures and I'll prove my claim from them." It results in a powerful and irresistible argument.
For the next several days, we'll see in what ways Christ is superior to angels and how He could mediate a better covenant for us.
Suggestion for Prayer
Because much of our understanding of the New Testament is based on the writings of the Old Testament, thank God for how He has brought His complete Word to us intact throughout the centuries.
For Further Study
Read Galatians 3:8, Romans 9:15, and Matthew 4:4.
What Old Testament verses to those passages quote? What truth does each of them verify?
Address those two concerns, one way or another, then we can look at posting of some source that you say was "mostly" Scriptural.
In #30 you had borrowed wholesale yet without attribution. In addition there was an aspect of consideration regarding Mariology.
Why must I need to repeat these things?
Go back and address the two issues, after which we can 'move on' from there.
Have you been baptized?
I detect a fullness about you.
Leave the poor woman ALONE!!
Can't you see how over worked she is??
Call n o man father.
And the punch bowl at the end of the buffet drink table contained mostly punch; too.
No sin means that 'Mary' was a hypocrite for 'observing the law' which was made for sinners.
Huh?
Where?
You have no Scriptural proof that our spirits that inhabit our bodies were once fallen angels in the past.
Humans are a separate category of created being than angels.
I fail to understand how the enemy can get people to obsess over the flakiest things they can imagine.
Genesis 6:
"There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown."
Agreed.
But I didn't say 'fallen' angels were us. Fallen angels are the small fraction of the sons of God (angel state) which refused to come to earth via the womb. But they did come here and mixed with 'daughters of men' (human state) before the flood and again after that - for example, Goliath, while a fighter for the Philistines was likely from one of the 'giant' bloodlines (Anakim, Rephaim, etc.)
Most angels are just us. In the first earth age, we were spirit - angels. And will be again once we drop the meat bags.
Keep in mind 'angel' in the bible often just means 'messenger', not necessarily a special type of being.
I think we have been through this, but again, archangels ARE something special - Michael, Gabriel, etc. And there ARE other special beings (Zoë, etc) which also never were and never will be human.
And it is quite logical to assume there are beings God created which are not even mentioned in the bible. It would be very arrogant to assume we know all He knows and does.
Again, I realize there are other interpretations of many aspects of the bible. After all, it was written by many different people over many centuries using at least 3 different languages - none of which are English, of course. And there are books/scrolls which quite fallible men decided don't belong in there - long after Jesus and ALL the folks He talked to directly had already split the flesh scene. And literally NONE of the original scrolls exist today, though Jesus Himself confirmed several parts or the OT as valid and we do have fairly old copies of the NT.
And, yes, what I'm saying means aliens have been to Earth - assuming aliens means anything not born/created on Earth.
So feel free to disregard what I think. As long as we all agree God is God and Jesus is our only chance to be saved and allowed to exist for eternity with God on Earth in the third and final Earth age.
Not that it matters really if we disagree, but what do you call 'humans' in the first age, those not born yet in this age and those now dead in the flesh and back to spirit bodies?
Part of what you say seems reasonable,
although I do not believe there will be
any eternal heaven here on earth.
I believe this earth has a life span just
Like every thing else.
Sure looks like goddess worship to me!
It does? Even though it states:
Catholics never have worshiped Mary as a goddess, but we do recognize that her soul, like every other soul ever made, is very much alive.
That's OK. It is at least possible I am wrong, but I don't believe so.
But Christ's revelation to John in the final book of what we today call the bible seems pretty clear that the 'New Jerusalem' is 'coming down' along with God and that He will live with us here. The description of that new city is quite specific - including dimensions, the number of gates, etc. And the mention of the new earth (age) having 'no more sea' and such certainly sounds like He is talking about this planet.
By the way, for all the talk here about all angels being something special and not related to us in any way, I'd suggest folks consider what Christ's messenger / angel said in that book. When John bowed down and attempted to worship the angel which showed him all this stuff, the angel chastised John:
"... See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book..."
As Jesus Himself said (to God) in what we call the 'Lord's prayer': Thy Kingdom Come!
Yep, and Jesus said whenr we are resurrected we will
be like the Angels in not marrying, we might. be more
like the them than we think.
But I think much of Revelation is symbolic- so I have not a blue
Sorry for the blunders in type but I am on this little
Dinky thing and doing nothing but screwing up.
4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.
5 The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. 6 The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. 7 So the Lord said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.
It does NOT say the GIANTs mated with the Humans; it merely says they were on the earth. ??? So; just WHO are the sons of God and the daughters of humans??? The BOOK says: Let Us create Man in Our image. So there you get some 'sons of God'; right?? The BOOK also says, in Genesis 5:3-4 When Adam had lived 130 years, he had a son in his own likeness, in his own image; and he named him Seth. 4 After Seth was born, Adam lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters. These things happened BEFORE Genesis chapter 6....
Step away from the H2 channel!
Ok... ;^)
As long as we all agree God is God and Jesus is our only chance to be saved and allowed to exist for eternity with God on Earth in the third and final Earth age.
Third?
Revelation 21:1
Then I saw "a new heaven and a new earth," for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.
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