Hebrews Chapter 1: The Supremacy of God's Son

The first chapter of Hebrews, promptly titled "The supremacy of God's son", in the ESV translation of the Bible, focuses on highlighting the nature of Jesus Christ as above all that came before and all that will come after Him. The chapter exposes the contrast between Jesus and the angels exposing how Jesus is far superior to them in both nature and purpose. Hebrews also puts Jesus on display as the culmination and ultimate fulfilment of all the prophecies revealed in times past.

Hebrews 1:1 begins with pointing out that God spoke to the Israelites long ago through various prophets and in various ways. There are a few things worthy of note in the first verse before we proceed:

Long ago: There is a period of silence between Malachi, the last of the old testament prophets, and the incarnation of Jesus where, for four hundred years, there had arisen no prophet, so that the coming of the Son might be so much more magnified and demonstrably evident in the eyes of the Jews and the entire world in retrospect.
At many times: The Greek can also be interpreted to mean: "in many portions". This highlights that God did not just reveal himself at many different times but also in pieces which when brought together culminate to the full revelation revealed and fulfilled in Jesus Christ. All was not revealed to each one prophet; but one received one portion of revelation, and another another. To Noah the quarter of the world to which Messiah should belong was revealed; to Abraham, the nation; to Jacob, the tribe; to David and Isaiah, the family; to Micah, the town of nativity; to Daniel, the exact time; to Malachi, the coming of His forerunner, and His second advent; through Jonah, His burial and resurrection; through Isaiah and Hosea, His resurrection. Each only knew in part."
In many ways: The writer also highlight that God spoke in many different ways. We see God speaking to Moses through the burning bush, To Moses he speaks audibly as one would talk to as with a friend, to David through Nathan in a Parable, to Elijah in a "still small voice", and in so many other ways. We can see through this that God speaks not just through His word, but His method of communicating can also be a part of His message.

Hebrews 1:2 then continues to display the escalation that comes with the coming of Jesus Christ, that God has spoken in many times and in many ways through the prophets, but ultimately has now spoken through the Son, who not just is the heir of all things, but through whom all things were created. This sentiment is presented directly by Jesus in Matthew 21:33-39. The Son is a significant escalation because of the nature of the revelation which He carries and His fulfilment of the revelation that comes before, the prophets each carry a part of the revelation while the Son carries the fullness of the revelation of God as He is God Himself in Human flesh. The verse affirms the uncreated nature of Christ by establishing that all things were created through Him, in parallel with John 1:3.

Hebrews 1:3 Continues to expound on the nature of the Son. It describes the son as

The radiance of the glory of God: Through Him we can see the glory of God, He is inseparable with God as it is impossible to separate God from His glory John 1:4-5.
The exact imprint of His nature: Establishes the Son as of equality with God in nature and essence, establishing Him as God as it is through His word that the universe was created and is upheld Hebrews 11:3, Hebrews 1:2. The verse then displays the role of Jesus in the salvation of men as he mad the purification for sins and the honour he received as He sat at the right hand of the majesty on High. Our sinful nature could not without the blood of Jesus Christ come into direct contact with God. The people before the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ could only come in contact with the presence of God through sacrifices offered for them through the priests and following the purity laws as laid out in the Law of Moses. Even so, only the High priest was allowed to enter the Holy of Holies and only once in a year. However the blood of Christ, being infinitely more powerful than the blood of the lambs, and the righteousness of Jesus being infinitely sufficient for all, opened the door through Christ offering, that all through Him can come to the mercy seat of God and be accepted into his house without facing the wrath of God.

In Hebrews 1:4 we sees Christ becoming superior to the angels, which is directly in contrast to the nature that Christ took through the incarnation as according to Hebrews 2:9. This shows that Christ, for a while, took a nature that was below the angels and after His finished work on the cross, He was exalted once more to an elevated position far above the angels. The contrast also shows that the revelation revealed many times and in many ways through the angels and through Moses in past days was not able to achieve the union between man and God that could only be achieved through the manifestation of the Son in human flesh and His finished work on the cross.

Hebrews 1:5-14 continues this thread of contrasting the Son and the angels highlighting the infinite difference that lies between them. Verse 5-6 Highlight the uniqueness of His sonship as well as His nature as God by highlighting that no angel has ever been called a begotten son of the father, nor has God ever called the angels to worship him. This also shows that not only through His resurrection from death, but even from His incarnation, angels were called to worship and be subject to him. Verse 7-9 further contrasts the power that is granted to the angels by God, with the everlasting nature of the son, to show, how infinitely more powerful than the angels and further establishing His nature as God Verse 8. In verse 10-12 we see Jesus as the creator of the heavens and the earth, his eternality, and his eventual role in the Judgement of the earth. In verse 13-14 we see the role Jesus takes by sitting at the right hand of God(which signifies that He has the authority of God), showing that he rules, and the angels' role as ministering servants who are sent to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation.

Throughout the chapter it is made clear that Jesus Christ is God Himself and He is superior to all created beings. We see his role in the creation of the world, the sustaining of the created world, the salvation of the fallen world, and the Judgement of the earth. We see that Jesus owns all things in two ways, firstly in being God and the one through which all things were created, and the second sense through His glorification and inheritance after His resurrection following His death on the cross and His offering of His blood for the salvation of mankind.

Some Takeaways

Jesus is God and He is supreme above all created beings
God can speak to His people in different way, and the way God speaks can be as important as the message He delivers
Jesus Christ is the radiance of the glory of God, the more we behold him the more we become like him. If we want to be more like God wants to be like Him, then we need to look at Jesus and emulate him.
Jesus upholds the universe, what more our life, If we want to live a great life, we need to put our trust in, and follow Jesus and He will uphold our life