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God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, 2 in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. 3 And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they."
Welcome to worship this Lord's Day! We are so thankful to have our beloved brothers and sisters in Christ with us today, thank you for joining us, we are glad you're here.
I would again like to encourage all of you to please visit our Prayer Wall,
as there have been a number of new prayer requests. Please add any prayers or concerns that you may have as well. We
are all called to pray with and for one another, in keeping with the
commands of our Lord.
Ever since the world first began, God has been speaking to man, at different times and in different ways; sometimes it has been by direct communication, other times through dreams and visions, however, God has primarily spoken to mankind through His prophets. In biblical times, when God’s prophets spoke, His people listened. The reason was simple. When a prophet spoke, the people knew they were hearing a message directly from God.
In the Old Testament, God frequently spoke to His people through the prophets. This communication, however, was periodic and partial in nature. It was spread over a period of at least 10 centuries and it was given in a variety of means.
God’s message was then no longer spoken through the prophets but through God’s own Son, Jesus Christ. The prophets were merely instruments in the hand of God, however, Jesus was the visible presence of the invisible God. Formerly, the revelation of God was fragmented, now it is complete, formerly it was partial now it is perfect, formerly it was preparatory, now it is fulfilled.
God did not entrust His full revelation to be given by man. He took the initiative to declare it Himself through His Son, Jesus Christ. Every other religion in the world is merely man’s attempt to discover God. However, in Christianity is God bursting into the world, to once and for all, demonstrate to mankind, Who He really is.
Throughout the book of Hebrews, the writer over and over again repeats the word "better" which is found some thirteen times within this book to demonstrate to all of us, and to every other religious system, the absolute superiority, the supremacy of Jesus Christ!
Let us bow our heads in prayer.
Heavenly Father,
Father, thank You for giving us this Word, giving us a wonderful picture of Your Son Christ, majestic beyond comparison, He is our blessed, matchless, incomparable Savior. Thank You for what the Old Testament concealed of Christ, is revealed to us throughout the pages of the New Testament writers, inspired by Your Holy Spirit. Father, we humbly thank You for the precious sacrifice of Your Son. We give honor and glory to Your Son, Jesus Christ. We confess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, the One alone who bore our sins in His own body, the One who knew no sin became sin that we might become the righteous of God in Him. The One Who died in our place that we might spend eternity with You. In His name give You the praise, honor and glory.
Amen
Today's Message: The Supremacy of Christ
The letter to the Hebrews answers all the basic questions. However, I must warn you, its answers cut cross-grain to the popular views of our society today. We live in a society, where being tolerant, accepting and non-judgmental are the prevalent virtues of the day. Truth, is viewed as subjective and personal, no longer absolute and universal. Therefore, if Hinduism or Buddhism brings you spiritual fulfillment, who is to say that you are wrong? If you believe in Islam, Catholicism, Judaism, or any other of the world’s New Age religions, or in any combination of them, as long as you’re not hurting anyone, it would be considered judgmental for anyone to say that you are believing a lie. That is the prevailing mindset of our tolerant culture. The only person they will
not tolerate is someone who insists that Christ is the onlytrue view. The Letter to the Hebrews cuts across all of this this modern mindset by affirming that God is, that He has spoken, and that His Son, who is the epitome of His revelation, is supreme over all.
Allow me to say clearly and boldly, that God demands total allegiance. He is not tolerant of other false gods. To turn away from Him to any other religion or way of approaching God is to turn toward certain judgment and condemnation. He alone will help us make sense of our trials. Therefore, we must consider Him more fully, submit to Him completely, and trust Him implicitly in all the trials of life. The absolute supremacy of Jesus Christ should motivate us to enduring faith in the face of all of our trials.
As you probably know, there is quite a bit of debate over who wrote Hebrews. There are a number of people who believe that the Apostle Paul wrote it. The earliest known statement on the author is from Clement of Alexandria, c.155-c.220, who said that Paul wrote it in Hebrew and that Luke likely translated it into Greek. However, the language and thought patterns are not typically like those of Paul. And, the statement in chapter 2:3-4seems to indicate that the author, like his readers, was a second-generation Christian who had believed the testimony of the Apostles. However, we know that Paul heard the gospel directly from the risen Lord Jesus Christ.
Some suggest that Barnabas, Apollos or even Priscilla may written Hebrews. However, all of these views present various problems, therefore, we probably should conclude, "God only knows the truth about who wrote Hebrews." Most scholars however, do agree, that it had to be written before the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem in A.D. 70.
Open with me your Bibles the chapter 1 in the book of Hebrews. Today we will be looking at verses 1 through 4 of the wonderful book that was written to the Jewish believers, for the most part, however, also some Jewish nonbelievers. While the recipients of the letter were suffering persecution, it had not yet reached the point of martyrdom.
I would like to encourage you to follow along with me as I read to set the text in our minds.
"God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they."
Before we begin, allow me to say, God spoke throughout the pages of the Bible, and He still speaks today. When God speaks we can be certain that it is God Who is speaking. If you are having trouble hearing God’s voice, then may I suggest, that either you do not belong to God or that you are not right with God!
Jesus speaks about the key to spiritual perception in Luke chapter 11. Having just spoken about the spiritual blindness of His generation in verses 29-32, Jesus speaks to the question of whose fault it is when there is a lack of spiritual perception. In so doing, He teaches us that the key to spiritual perception is a heart that is pure. In verses 33-36 He said, " No one, after lighting a lamp, puts it away in a cellar nor under a basket, but on the lampstand, so that those who enter may see the light. The eye is the lamp of your body; when your eye is clear, your whole body also is full of light; but when it is bad, your body also is full of darkness. Then watch out that the light in you is not darkness. If therefore your whole body is full of light, with no dark part in it, it will be wholly illumined, as when the lamp illumines you with its rays."
In verse 33, Jesus tells us that the lack of spiritual perception is not God’s fault.One of the purposes of light is to help one find his way in the dark. Therefore, in lighting a darkened room, one will place his lamp on a place of prominence, such as a lamp stand, so that it might provide as much light as possible. The point is, that when it comes to God revealing Himself to us, He certainly has at least as much sense as we do. Therefore, God does not hide Himself from us, but instead, works to reveal Himself to us.
Jesus goes on to tell us that the lack of spiritual perception is our fault, in verses 34-36. Jesus tells us that our eyes work to help us maneuver about. By deciphering the various images of light that bombard them, our eyes help us know how to get around in this world. If, however, our eyes go bad, then everything goes dark and we are left to stumble about.
In verse 35, however, Jesus says " Then watch out that the light in you is not darkness," by which we discern spiritual light. However, if our hearts have become darkened, then we are left without spiritual perception, condemned to wandering lost in spiritual darkness.
The Apostle Paul speaks of the blindness of the heart, in Ephesians 4:17-19, "So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness."
I have been asked a number of times over the years, how does this blindness or hardness of heart occur? The short answer is, it develops from time after time of choosing to not walk in the light we have received. God has established a law in the universe which governs man’s spirituality. In Galatians 6:7, Paul tells us "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap."
If one sows rejection of God’s light, he will reap spiritual blindness; however, if he sows reception of God’s light, he will reap spiritual
perception.
And in I John 1:5-7, we're told "This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin."
When God spoke to Moses, he knew what God wanted, how He wanted it, and when. Similarly,
we can know what God wants, how God wants it, and when God
wants it done., if we would only listen.
In verse 1, we are reminded of Genesis 1:1,"In the beginning, God …" The writer does not mess around with speculation or philosophizing. Nor does he compile arguments to persuade the skeptic that God exists. It starts with the fact of God. For the author of Hebrews, God is central. In fact, he uses the word 68 times, an average of about once every 73 words throughout the entire book. The writer thrusts God in your face as a prime reality. If you ignore Him, you do so to your own peril and final destruction. Unbelief is not a matter of empiricism or rationalism. It is a matter of sin!
In writing to Jews who have accepted God as the Creator, he focuses rather on God’s special revelation through the written Word of God. And, he repeats throughout the book, that the Old Testament was inspired completely by God. I want to make something clear, before we move forward, the inspiration of Scripture does not mean that God dictated the very words, although on occasion He did.However, by God's using the different personalities and styles of the various authors, He superintended the process so that the authors recorded God’s message, without error, to us.
In
II Peter 1:21, Peter put it this way, "for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God."
I want you to understand, that if God had not chosen to reveal Himself, no one could know Him. Its important that you get that.
Paul says in II Corinthians 4:3-4, "And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God."
And in I Corinthians 2:14, he tells us "But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised."
There is a misconception among many Christians, that anyone can choose to understand the gospel at any time and believe in
Jesus Christ. Our job is to share the gospel, and explain the gospel, however, people then must decide whether to believe it or not.
However, Jesus said in Luke 10:21-22, "At that very time He rejoiced greatly in the Holy Spirit, and said, “I praise You, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from thewise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight. All things have been handed over to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him."
Beloved, Jesus' words simply do not make sense if He wills to reveal the Father to everyone! I believe that clearly, whether or not a person knows God lies with Jesus’ choice of that person, not with the person’s choice of Jesus. For anyone to claim anything different, plainly denies the statement made by our Lord and exalts a proud, and fallen mankind. Scripture humbles the pride of man by demonstrating that if God had not chosen to reveal Himself through His Word, man would be in total spiritual darkness. We could not know Him at all!
In verses 2-3, the author writes "in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,"
Christ is the Heir of all things! Since He is the Son, even more particularly the only Son, of God He is also the heir, the sole Heir of all things.He is the Heir of all things because and He is the Creator of all things! He is not only the Creator of the Universe, He is the Sustainer of the Universe! The writer makes this abundantly clear when he says He " upholds all things by the word of His power."
Consider for a moment, what sheer destruction would instantaneously if the earth's rotation were to slow down even the slightest bit. The sun, having a surface temperature of 12,000 degrees F. would burn us up; in contrast, if it were any further away we would freeze. The earth is tilted at an exact angle of 23 degree, providing us with four seasons. Were not so tilted, vapors from the oceans would move north and south and develop into dreadful continents of ice. If the moon did not retain its exact distance from the earth, the tides would ultimately flood the land completely, twice a day. If the atmosphere did not remain at its present density, but were to thin out even a little, many of the meteors which now harmless burn up when they hit the atmosphere would constantly bombard us!
Look, you can either choose to believe that it is the result of millions of years of
evolution or you can accept what the Bible says, Jesus maintains and
sustains the balance of the universe!
The author of Hebrews goes on to say "When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high," Jesus is shown superior in that when he had completed the
redemption of man, he was escorted by the angels to the throne of
Almighty God. He sat down at the favored place of the Father with
calmness and confidence. The implications of that phrase are staggering "He sat down." I believe tat few statements in the Bible are filled with greater
importance than this one.
We know a great deal about the temple in Jerusalem, interestingly, there were no chairs in the temple that took some 46 years to complete. The reason there were no chairs, is because
the priest of Israel never sat down. Why? They never sat down because their
work was never done. Their work was never done because the sacrificial blood of
bulls and goats could never take away sin. It was temporary; it was insufficient and incomplete. And so, priest after priest, year after year, century after century, with
tedious
repetition, would come to the Temple; and they would perform their function, however, they
would never sit down. They could not rest because their work was never finished, the task was never completed.But once Jesus paid the penalty for sin, it was once and for all! The writer of
Hebrews later explains in
chapter 10 verses 11-12, "
By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God"
John 19:30, "
Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, "It is finished!" And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit."
In Closing..
When God speaks to us, though we may not know all that He has in mind, the Holy Spirit gives clear directives today. God is personal. He wants
to be intimately involved in your life. He will give you clear guidance
for living.
After Jesus offered himself as the "once for all time" sacrifice for sin, he
work was now completed and never needed to be repeated. Therefore, "He sat down" – that
is the significance of His triumphant words shouted from the Cross, "tetelestai," meaning it has been finished. He sat down – his work is finished. He sat down – his position is
fixed. None of the angels held such a position of honor in heaven.
Seated in honor, Jesus remains Superior.
May it be so..
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
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