Equipping University

When we think of angels as they appear in novels, movies, television shows, and art, we are prone to end up with a disjointed, inconsistent, and unbiblical view of these creatures. The only true way to gain a proper understanding of angels (and demons) is to study what the Bible reveals about them. The author of Hebrews forces us to consider angels because he mentions them repeatedly in the first two chapters of the letter. So, considering the author's inclusions of angels and remembering his purpose in writing this letter - the supremacy of Christ - the most important thing we can know about angels is where they stand in relation to Jesus Christ. It is to this matter that the author of the letter directs our attention next.

When we think of angels as they appear in novels, movies, television shows, and art, we are prone to end up with a disjointed, inconsistent, and unbiblical view of these creatures. The only true way to gain a proper understanding of angels (and demons) is to study what the Bible reveals about them. The author of Hebrews forces us to consider angels because he mentions them repeatedly in the first two chapters of the letter. So, considering the author's inclusions of angels and remembering his purpose in writing this letter - the supremacy of Christ - the most important thing we can know about angels is where they stand in relation to Jesus Christ. It is to this matter that the author of the letter directs our attention next.

In America, Christ is tiny and He is getting smaller every day. What are we to make of this Americanization of Christ? Michael Horton compares the American religious scene to Aaron and the golden calf. He notes that "It was not that Aaron was willing to have Israel worship a false God, but that he was willing to let them worship the true God falsely." We dare not repeat the same mistake. Instead, we must come to see and know Jesus in all His glory, supremacy, holiness, and beauty. The book of Hebrews instructs us in how we may best do this as the supremacy of Christ is the very theme of the entire book from the very beginning and we begin our study there.

How much could you endure? Would you endure in the faith for very long if it meant that you could not keep your job or if it became difficult to feed your family because you believed the teachings of an itinerant preacher from Nazareth? Would you stay true to your faith in Christ when authorities come to seize your car, home, and land? Would you stand strong in the face of imprisonment for the mere fact that you worship a Jewish carpenter who claims to be the Son of God? Would you endure physical torture from strong-armed thugs because you refuse to recant your faith in the resurrection of Jesus Christ? Even worse, could you endure the slaughter of your family before your very eyes just because you refuse to renounce your faith in Jesus? These are the questions that first-century Christians were asked and these questions were no mere philosophical exercise. They awoke every day to the question, "What are you willing to trade for Jesus Christ?"

It is important to realize that the phrase "he descended into hell" does not appear in the Bible. Instead, the words are found in the Apostles' Creed, where we read that Christ "was crucified, dead, and buried, he descended into hell; the third day he rose again from the dead." The question before us is this: "What does it mean that Christ "descended into hell"?