Hebrews 1:5
For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son? For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?
Hebrews 1:5 declares God to be the Father and Christ to be His Son in words never spoken to any angel. It presents them as two distinct individual personal beings, united yet personally separate from each other. That sonship is the ground of His exaltation far above the angels, by inheritance bearing a more excellent name and standing as heir of all things with full access to the Father's counsels. In the presence of the angels the Father ordained Him equal with Himself and invested Him with command over the heavenly host, so that all angels are required to bow to Him and obey Him as readily as the Father. This same exalted Commander humbled Himself by taking humanity to redeem fallen men, and is therefore to be worshiped and served as Life-giver and shared in by faith for victory over temptation.
Father and Son Distinct
God speaks to Christ as Son and declares Himself to be His Father in a twofold declaration of sonship and fatherhood never addressed to any angel. No angel was ever given that name and relationship, and the paired statements mark Christ's unique sonship and exalted position above the angels. The Father and the Son are thereby shown to be two distinct individual personalities and distinct personal beings. This distinction of persons stands alongside their unity, with the wider context of Hebrews 1:3-14 presenting the same truth of Father and Son as two distinct persons.
It is sonship that grounds His exaltation: because He is Son He is so much greater and better than the angels and has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. That inherited name and greatness belong to Him as God's Son in contrast to every angel, to whom such fatherhood was never spoken. As Son He is equal with the Father and occupies an exalted position with Him. He is heir of all things, the One by whom God speaks in these last days, with all the Father's counsels and secret purposes opened to Him.
Son Above the Angels
Hebrews 1:5 marks Jesus as the Son of God and not an angel, one who existed with the Father before the angels were created and ever stood at the right hand of God. In the presence of all the angels the Father conferred special honor upon Him, ordaining Him equal with Himself and investing Him with unlimited power and command over the heavenly host. All the angels were required to obey His word as readily as the Father's word, to bow to Him and yield Him implicit obedience, and this requirement extended even to Satan. As Son distinct from and exalted above the angels, He is the one to whom God reveals His secret purposes.
This exaltation took away none of the honor Jesus had before, for His mild, loving authority had never been questioned. He had given no commands but what it was joy for the heavenly host to execute, and His loving authority had been gladly obeyed. To refuse to bow to Christ and to rebel against the authority of the Son is rebellion against the authority and government of God.
Though heaven's exalted Commander honored by the angelic host, He humbled Himself by taking humanity and becoming a servant. In bringing the firstbegotten into the world the Father incarnated Christ in and through whom He establishes the kingdom of heaven among men. He accepted human life and death to redeem people and raise them from sin's degradation. As the divine Son who built God's house He is worthy of greater glory than Moses, and through His human life those who receive and believe in Him may share in the divine nature.
Call to Faithful Response
The declaration never addressed to any angel proves the one so addressed is so much better than the angels and has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they, declaring His divine sonship as heir of all things by whom God speaks in these last days. Because He is God's Son and Life-giver, He alone is to be worshipped and served. His bringing as firstbegotten into the world is His incarnation, in and through whom the Father establishes the kingdom of heaven among men.
The Father-Son relation declares Him higher than the angels and holds out a precious promise before believers. That promise is not to be sneered at or mocked but to be grasped as an eternal reality. Grasping it calls for a mind purified from sin and the allurements of the world, kept fixed on eternity, closed earthward and opened heavenward to let in the glory of God shining across the heavenly threshold.
The presentation of God and Christ as distinct personal beings calls believers to connect with these heavenly Powers. Through that connection they may pray, believe, and receive, and so share in the divine nature, overcoming temptation without yielding to it. Though He humbled Himself by taking humanity and becoming a servant, He is the divine Son who built God's house and is worthy of greater glory than Moses, and through His human life those who receive and believe in Him may share in the divine nature. Created things display God's power to save and serve as object lessons, but they are not God.