Again and again we encounter analysis of a text never intended to stand alone in understanding a matter. God has provided a multi-faceted approach to revelation that is seen from Gen to Rev through authors millennia apart who corroborate one another.
Jesus is presented as a man only - never God. Certainly there are some texts that may be read into to form a view that Jesus is more than a man, or even an equal to the Highest God. But these are based on pre-conceived notions surfacing centuries after the apostles.
Even in the answers here, God's word is used to elevate Jesus to a place not his.
- He (Jesus) made the universe. The word is aiōnas (ages) and has nothing to do with universe or world, yet it gets quoted all the time anyway. Heb 1:2
- He sits on the right hand of the majesty in heaven (V3) He sits on the right of GOD ~12 verses, the Father ~2 verses. What can be deduced from this is; Jesus is not God, the Father and God are the same one, God IS the Father as the entire NT points out repeatedly.
Thus Jesus, not being God,
- is rightly raised from the dead by God,
- appointed heir of all things by God,
- exalted by God
- anointed by God
Because it is only His to give to His son. The NT, when read with humility and free from abstracts of tradition, reveal a Jesus who could never be God, a God who could never 'empty' Himself to be not God and still be a man who could do all the things Jesus did.
did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped Phil 2:5
God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name v9
glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh John 17:1
So to Heb 1:8 We know there are many called god through the ages. But there is only one God. Even if we momentarily suppose a 3in1 God, they are allegedly all equal, all God.
Here Jesus is decidedly NOT equal in anything! He is granted a station he has never had before - heir, exalted above all other names and above his companions. The Father is greater in every way at every moment forever.
You have loved righteousness and have hated wickedness; because of this, God, Your God,
has anointed You
Why is this such a big deal? When would God ever find Himself in a place where, 'because', and then He is made more than He presently is? Never!
Jesus as the man of flesh alone, did have to choose between righteousness and wickedness - his whole mortal life. There was NO backstop, no second chance. IF he sinned he would die and never be raised again. That isn't the Eternal God we're talking about, but His son.
Sit at My right hand, until I may place Your enemies as a footstool for Your feet
If Jesus is also God, he should, now ascended, exalted, made heir of all, be able to subdue his own enemies. But no. Again, he is but a man, now immortal, but still a man and not God - waiting on his God to follow through on His promises at the appointed time.
That's why Stephen was stoned - he saw the ascended Jesus - his Lord and Master in the place where he said he would go. Not by going there of himself, but be taken there by his God. Mark 16:19
Indeed, as v5 points out in perfect harmony -
You are my Son; today I have begotten You
God made His own son, made him Lord, made him the Christ Acts 2:36 Made him everything he needed to be Saviour and to accomplish what he was sent to do as the logos of God become flesh.
+++++++++++++++++
An honest and exegetical study of true worship will show that it may be given to anyone we choose to serve, honour and even obey. The insistence that to worship Jesus means he must be God is folly. God says to worship no other god, to worship Him only - as God! Jesus, having accomplished his mission to save all creation from doom is worthy of great praise - not because he is God - but because he is NOT!
Made like us in every respect Heb 2:17, this mortal man won against the prince of evil, how? With his God by his side. Now, rightly, he is at God's side as His amazing son - the second and last Adam.
Let all God’s angels worship him. Heb 1:6
INDEED!