Fix Your Eyes on Jesus

Today is 1st day of Advent. The countdown to Xmas has begun:

4 wks = 28 d = 672 h until our Xmas worship service.

It’ll probably be the busiest Xmas season in 3 years. Enjoy it!

For 4 weeks, lots of things will have “Xmas” in the title. It’s overwhelming: Xmas shopping, Xmas movies, Xmas gatherings, Xmas treats. People want to be in the “Xmas spirit” whatever that means . . . Q: Is everything called “Xmas” really Xmas?

Don’t get jaded or cynical about Xmas. But we should be discerning. We should exercise good judgement.

What’s the focus @ Christmas?

What’s your focus in Advent?

Go ahead and decorate or go shopping or watch Xmas movies – if you like. But at some point in the countdown to Xmas, take time to read the Bible and ponder the power and the glory of the whole Xmas story.

In Advent worship services, we often mention prophets and angels. Both play a role in the cosmic events of the Xmas story. Author of Hebrews starts with prophets. Prophets appear repeatedly in the OT. What makes someone a prophet?

Prophets speak God’s Word.

Prophets play a vital role in the history of God’s people. God guides and shapes, scolds and encourages his dearly loved people. God speaks to his covenant people through the prophets: Moses and Miriam, Elijah and Elisha, the Major OT books recorded of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and then the 12 shorter books, often called Minor Prophets. Most of the poetry the author quotes in Heb. 1 is from the Psalms and Prophets.

The author of Hebrews writes,

In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but

Hebrews 1:1 (NIV)

But there’s a change. God gets rid of the middleman:

in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son,

Hebrews 1:2a (NIV)

We should listen to what God says through his Son.

God the Son isn’t just a chip off the old block. Jesus IS God:

[God] has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.

Hebrews 1:2b-3a (NIV)

When Jesus speaks, he brings the very word of God. One of the gospel writers, says that Jesus IS the Word of God.

It’s probably important then, to pay attention to the message he brings. In the next chapter, the author presses this point:

We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.

Hebrews 2:1 (NIV)

Pay the most careful attention!

We hear something of God’s message through his Son in ch. 1:

After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.

Hebrews 1:3b (NIV)

The Son of God provides purification for sins and now reigns with glory and honour in heaven!

God’s word through his Son is an amazing rescue plan if you need to be purified from sin and disobedience.

This summer we studied the 10 Commandments together in a series of sermons. In the OT, the Angel of the Lord gets mentioned frequently (54X). There’s a tradition in Judaism that the 10 Commandments were delivered to Moses on Mt. Sinai by the Angel of the Lord.

God’s Law, his instructions for holiness, is the binding message the author of Hebrews mentions in ch. 2

Since the message spoken through angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment,

This is the law as a teacher of sin. God – Father, Son, & HS – created humankind in his image, perfectly able to love him 100% and love our neighbours as ourselves. But our first parents doubted God’s word and disobeyed God’s instructions.

Ever since their fall into sin, all people have had impure thoughts, have used foul language and done dirty deeds. The angel of the Lord brought this message to Moses, teaching God’s dearly loved people to trust God to purify them from sin.

But now, in these last days, God has sent his Son. You’ve got to appreciate the parallelism.

How shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation?

This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him.

Hebrews 2:2–3 (NIV)

The message from God by his Son deals with salvation from disobedience and punishment. Jesus’ message is one of purification.

God the Son entered his own creation in order to provide purification for sin. God the Son became human – that’s the core of the Xmas celebration – God entered his creation in order to rescue humankind. That’s the “salvation" the author keeps mentioning.

Jesus purifies people from sin by taking their punishment. He suffered all through his life but most intensely on Good Friday. As he was beaten, mocked, spit upon, and nailed to the cross, Jesus was the punished for every violation of God’s law, for every time you’ve disobeyed God’s instructions to be truthful, righteous, and loving to God and neighbour. By dying on the cross, Jesus rescues you from death and damnation.

If you ignore so great a salvation, how are you going survive?

God intervened in his creation. He doesn’t want anyone to miss out. Our first goal is to celebrate this great salvation through Jesus but we’re also part of God’s mission to ensure that nobody else misses out on Jesus’ message.

The author of Hebrews reminds his readers of all the signs that confirm Jesus’ death and resurrection.

This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.

Hebrews 2:3–4 (NIV)

Jesus’ signs and wonders: throughout the gospels: Mt, Mk, Lk, Jn

Signs and wonders didn’t stop there!

The “signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit” have continued wherever Jesus’ messengers went. Author of Hebrews includes himself among “those who heard him;” those who heard the Lord Jesus.

What kind of signs and wonders, miracles and gifts of the HS is the author talking about? Have you seen any of these wonders?

Miracles of healing are amazing. I’ve met w/ family and friends in circle around a woman w/ brain cancer, confessing sin, praying, & anointing w/ oil. God answered prayers with healing.

I’ve sat w/ couples at wedding anniversaries: 5 y, 17 y, 33 y, 50+ y of marriage. Often as the couple looks back, they marvel at how God provided for them: food and clothing, family and community, but the greatest gift: God was the source of love and forgiveness in their relationship.

That’s one of the wonders we get to celebrate as a congregation this week too: 45thanniversary! There have been ups and downs in the history of Tburg CRC & Crosspoint CC. Times we shone brilliantly as a testimony of salvation through Jesus and times our behaviour and words fell short of the mark. We have experienced miracles of healing and renewal and times we have needed to ask God’s forgiveness and forgiveness from one another.

God confirms the salvation he offers through Jesus by the fact that there’s still a community meeting here, worshipping God, and telling the gospel story again and again. That there’s faith in this congregation is a sign of the work of God among us.

At Crosspoint, our goal is to continue to announce salvation through Jesus with full expectation that God continues to testify to the truth of the gospel with “signs, wonders and various miracles, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit.” We don’t have control over what shape God’s signs and gifts of the HS will take. But the worship services, the ministries, the Bible studies are all geared towards announcing, celebrating, and responding to God’s message of salvation through Jesus Christ.

If you pay attention to God’s Son and his message of salvation, you have a lot to celebrate –at Christmas and all-year-round. That’s the author of Hebrews’ main concern: that you don’t miss out on the message of salvation.

His main audience was Jewish people, people who paid attention to OT prophets and had great respect for angels and their messages. The author is concerned that people will get distracted from God’s message – the word that was so important that God sent his Son. So the author makes his case that Jesus is superior to prophets and angels.

This book puts the spotlight on Jesus.

The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.

Hebrews 1:3 (NIV)

The author of the book of Hebrews invites you to fix your eyes on Jesus. You’re encouraged in ch. 3:

Holy brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus.

Hebrews 3:1a (NIV)

And again in ch. 12:

Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.

Hebrews 12:1b–2a (NIV)

But the idea of fixing our eyes on Jesus is present from ch. 1.

The author invites you to marvel at what God has done and is doing through Jesus. A new era has begun.

As you count down the days ‘til Christmas, I encourage you to enjoy the festivities and special stuff. I like eggnog and candy-cane ice-cream as much as the next person. But that’s not what the Christmas season is all about.

Our focus through Advent is on Jesus’ coming for us and for our salvation.