Hebrews (2)
Notes
Transcript
introduction
What are some people who, when they speak, people listen? If John Madden was speaking about football, people listened. If Warren Buffet was speaking about finance, people listened. If Anthony Fauci was speaking about the pandemic, initially, people listened.
There were/are people who were an authority in all kinds of fields that we relied on to help us understand the intricacies of differing topics. But there was another well-known group that thrived thousands of years before anybody heard of any of these people. They were spirit-empowered prophets, and when God’s prophets spoke, people listened. They had authority because when they spoke, it was as if they were speaking with the very breath of God. Their words were God’s words. However, we need to remember that even though their words were worthy of obedience, the prophets, not one of them, were worthy of worship.
Looking at the great regard the Hebrews had for the major means of revelation in the Old Testament, the prophets and angels, the author of Hebrews compares these earthly and heavenly beings with God’s final word and Messenger, Jesus.
Make no mistake, these people, these holy people and holy angels were very important and significant, but they still infinitely inferior to the Son of God. Being God’s final word, he is superior in his person than God’s previous messengers and ministers-whether they were human or angelic. Why is this? Because Jesus was the incarnate word of God. He was fully human and fully divine and he occupied a superior place over all things.
The Prologue
The Prologue
Long ago God spoke to our ancestors by the prophets at different times and in different ways. In these last days, he has spoken to us by his Son. God has appointed him heir of all things and made the universe through him. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact expression of his nature, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. So he became superior to the angels, just as the name he inherited is more excellent than theirs.
Long ago God spoke to our ancestors by the prophets at different times and in different ways.
As we discussed last week, the author doesn’t identify himself or the destination or people he is writing to. He does tell us three things:
God spoke. He revealed himself.
He spoke to the forefathers. The Old Testament contains the word of God given to the forefathers.
God did this speaking through the prophets. Prophets like Hosea, Ezekiel, Malachi, and the rest of the prophets were speaking to the wandering human beings.
He spoke at many times. God spoke in fragments, a little here and there and in various ways. He spoke through visions, angels, events and people.
In the first century, Peter the apostle, described the ministry of the Old Testament prophets in 2 Pet. 1:21.
These prophets words were “inspired by God and profitable for teaching, reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness” (2 Tim. 3:16).
There were the Who’s who of the Bible: Elijah and Elisha, Isaiah and Jeremiah, Daniel and Jonah, Malachi and John the Baptist. They never took long to get a hearing as they stood up-often alone-to speak God’s word. These things that were speaking were not always easy to hear. People had strayed multiple times through different times. But regardless of the message, difficult or reassuring, they couldn’t be ignored.
When he spoke in various times, they obviously didn’t come all at once. They may have been spread out throughout these different time, but they were always accurate.
As we grow up, we get a lot of information from our parents over the course of many years. They were not complete messages. They would be communicated to me through discipline, instruction or through a living example for me to follow. Sometimes they would happen over dinner or as we traveled. I had a lot of conversations with my dad about life and lessons that I had to learn. I still speak to him on the phone, or, if I travel back to Tennessee, in person. These messages came throughout childhood, into adolescence and now into adulthood. They were broken up based on the need of the conversation and was always geared towards maturity.
Now, the experience of childhood is similar to the ministry of the Old Testament prophets. The purpose of their messages were intended to mature God’s people through instruction and discipline. But ultimately, they were God’s revelation and road map towards the great arrival of the Messiah, Jesus Christ.
because no prophecy ever came by the will of man; instead, men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
In these last days, he has spoken to us by his Son. God has appointed him heir of all things and made the universe through him. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact expression of his nature, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. So he became superior to the angels, just as the name he inherited is more excellent than theirs.
The author contrasts long ago and these last days. Between the old testament and the fulfillment of the new covenant is highlighted.
Don’t confuse these last days with the “last days”. We are talking about recently at that time. Not the end of days type of thing.
The point of this line is that the culmination of the prophesies of the old testament has found it’s climax and supreme expression through the person and work of the Son.
To use an analogy, think of a classical piece of music that starts off slow and soft. It progresses into a moving climax, loud and booming. Unlike this though, picture the composer and conductor Himself stepping onto the stage and becoming the soloist, summing up in his performance all the themes, melodies and chord changes of everything that came before.
Christ is the final and fullest expression of God’s message and word to all humankind. This doesn’t mean that the things that came before were not important, they were the instruments. The Son was the music. He is the One to whom, for whom, through whom, and about whom all these musicians had been playing.
To underscore the superiority of Christ, the author gives 7 strong statements that demonstrate this.
The Son rules as heir of all things.
first (beginning)
1. The Son rules as ___________________.
1. The Son rules as ___________________.
First, when it says all things, it means ALL things. Nothing is outside this circle. If we remember, God gave a share of the responsibility to rule over the earth to Adam and Eve as his image-bearers (Gen. 1:26-28).
When they fell into sin, they/we forfeited the right to rule as heirs of creation. But when Jesus took on humanity, he became the last Adam. All that Adam lost has been restored to Christ.
Genesis 1:26–28 (CSB)
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness. They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, the whole earth, and the creatures that crawl on the earth.” So God created man in his own image; he created him in the image of God; he created them male and female. God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every creature that crawls on the earth.”
2. The Son created the universe of time and space
second
2. The Son created the universe of ____ and _____.
2. The Son created the universe of ____ and _____.
Second, some translations say universe others say world. But in the greek, the word “aion” is used. It means “ages”, this is where we get the word “eons”. These are periods of time through which the created order exists.
We know that Christ is perfect and has been given the right to rule over all things, which is what we just talked about, we know also that he is the perfect creator of everything past, present and future.
Let’s recall what Paul said in Col. 1:16.
Also, John said in John 1:1-3
Colossians 1:16 (CSB)
For everything was created by him, in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through him and for him.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. All things were created through him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created.
3. The Son brilliantly radiates God’s glory.
third
3. The Son brilliantly radiates _____ _______.
3. The Son brilliantly radiates _____ _______.
Third, the word radiance refers to “brightness from a source”. Like the rays of the sun continue to convey warmth, light and provide energy as long as the sun continues to exist, Jesus is conveys the glory, majesty, and power of God ion to ion. No prophet or angel can claim this. They were reflectors of God’s light but Christ is the light itself.
The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact expression of his nature, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.
4. The Son exactly represents God’s nature.
fourth
4. The Son exactly represents _____ _______.
4. The Son exactly represents _____ _______.
Fourth, the son shares in everything that God is in His divine nature. The word for exact representation is a figurative use of the noun “charakter”. This is a word used to describe an engraved character or impress made by a die or seal, like on a coin. Nature is hypostasis, the authentic being of God.
All of this is to say that Christ is completely the same in his being as the Father, even though they are distinct persons. We shouldn’t confuse this fact: the father is not the son and the son is not the father, but everything the father is, the son is too.
The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact expression of his nature, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.
5. The Son powerfully upholds all things by His word.
fifth
5. The Son powerfully ________ ______ _________ by His word.
5. The Son powerfully ________ ______ _________ by His word.
Fifth, there is a statue of the god Atlas holding the earth. We need to, instead of picturing that, picture Jesus holding up the entire universe. He sustains creation not by physical strength but by his word.
The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact expression of his nature, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.
Atlas
6. The Son made perfect purification for sins.
sixth
6. The Son made perfect purification for _____.
6. The Son made perfect purification for _____.
Sixth, Adam undid all of humanity by his disobedience, but the last Adam, Jesus, through his voluntary suffering and death, drove out death and darkness. What was poisoned by sin, was cured by his blood. Again, no prophet or angel could do this.
The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact expression of his nature, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.
7. The Son sat down at the right hand of Majesty.
seventh
7. The Son ____ ______ at the right hand of Majesty.
7. The Son ____ ______ at the right hand of Majesty.
Finally, in Revelation, we are given the description of the throne room of God where everything is praising him Rev. 5:13. No exalted saint or powerful angel can stand at the right hand of God and receive praise and glory that is only given to the divine majesty.
But, the exalted son, the perfect lamb of God, is worthy to sit in this place of glory and honor to receive this worship. Rev. 5:13.
The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact expression of his nature, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.
Revelation 5:13 (CSB)
I heard every creature in heaven, on earth, under the earth, on the sea, and everything in them say, Blessing and honor and glory and power be to the one seated on the throne, and to the Lamb, forever and ever!
So he became superior to the angels, just as the name he inherited is more excellent than theirs.
When we see Jesus sitting in the most exalted position in the universe, we know that he is superior over all things. This includes angels.
They were created by God through Jesus to minister and serve.
Heb. 1:7
When the Son took on a human nature, endure death and sin, rose from the dead and ascended into heaven, he inherited a name that no angel had the right to bear. As the Son bears the name of the Father, so the Son of God would bear the name of God, this is the divine name YHWH or kyrios (ki-ri-ose).
Paul also teaches this in Philippians 2:9-11.
Hebrews 1:7 (CSB)
And about the angels he says: He makes his angels winds, and his servants a fiery flame,
Philippians 2:9–11 (CSB)
For this reason God highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow—in heaven and on earth and under the earth—and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Let every believer, if he wants to see his sins, stand on tiptoe, and look up. Will he see them there? No. If he looks down, will he see them there? No. If he looks around, will he see them there? No. If he looks within, will he see them there? No. Where shall he look, then? Where he likes, for he will never see them again, according to that ancient promise, “ ‘In those days and at that time,’ declares Yahweh, ‘the guilt of Israel will be sought, but there is none, and the sins of Judah, but they will not be found, for I will forgive those I left behind’ ” (Jer 50:20). Shall I tell you where your sins are? Christ purged them, and God said, “I will cast all their sins behind my back.” Where is that? All things are before God. I do not know where behind God’s back can be. It is nowhere, for God is everywhere present, seeing everything. So that is where my sins have gone. I speak with the utmost reverence when I say that they have gone where Yahweh himself can never see them. Christ has so purged them that they have ceased to be. The Messiah came to finish transgression and to make an end of sin, and He has done it.
Believer, if He has made an end of it, then there is an end to it, and what more can there be of it? Here is a blessed text for you; I love to meditate on it often when I am alone: “As far as east is from west, so he has removed far from us the guilt of our transgressions” (Psa 103:12). This He did on Calvary’s cross; there effectually, finally, totally, completely, eternally, He purged all His people from their sin by taking it upon Himself, bearing all its dreadful consequences, canceling and blotting it out, casting it into the depths of the sea, and putting it away forever. It was indeed amazing love that made Him stoop to this purgation, this expiation, this atonement for sin; but, because He was who and what He was, he did it thoroughly, perfectly. He said, “It is finished,” and I believe Him. I do not—I cannot—for a moment admit that there is anything to be done by us to complete that work, or anything required of us to make the annihilation of our sins complete. Those for whom Christ died are cleansed from all their guilt, and they may go their way in peace. He was made a curse for us, and there is nothing but blessing left for us to enjoy.1
1 Charles Spurgeon, Spurgeon Commentary: Hebrews, ed. Elliot Ritzema and Jessi Strong, Spurgeon Commentary Series (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2014), 12–13.