The Supremicy of Christ 10-15-2023
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Good or Best
Good or Best
We are going to start into the book of Hebrews for a few weeks before the Thanksgiving/Advent seasons start.
The book of Hebrews presents the supremacy of Christ.
Jesus first miracle at the wedding in Cana re-supplied the wedding parting with more wine
Jesus made better wine.
When the master of the banquet tasted it, he was amazed.
He called the bridegroom aside
10 and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.”
The Jews had God’s special revelations.
They had the Law
They had the Prophets
They had the Psalms and Proverbs.
God’s poetry and wisdom literature
They had God’s sacrificial system.
But through Jesus
the Jews and everyone else could receive a better Gospel.
with a once and for all payment of sin,
that covered all who would receive it.
None of us our likely to choose Judaism over Christianity today but
sometimes people like you and me choose the outward forms of religion
and not a relationship with Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
As we study the book of Hebrews, let’s be open to the Holy Spirit showing us where we have taken the form of religion over relationship with Christ.
Let us be willing to confess to God when we see we have taken the good in place of the best,
let’s allow Him to change us.
Date/Author and background
Date/Author and background
The book of Hebrews was written about 64AD, before the destruction of the 2nd temple in Jerusalem.
Many people have been suggested as the Author: Luke, Paul, Barnabas, to name a few. Whoever wrote this book knew Timothy
23 I want you to know that our brother Timothy has been released. If he arrives soon, I will come with him to see you.
The writer of Hebrews may have written from Italy.
24 Greet all your leaders and all the Lord’s people. Those from Italy send you their greetings.
The book or letter was written to Jewish believers somewhere
Perhaps 2nd generation believers
who, under persecution may have been considering returning to Jewish customs
and they needed to hear,
like we ALL need to hear,
How much better
How much more complete
How much superior
was the work of Jesus
over the Jewish sacrificial system.
Christ the greater Messenger
Christ the greater Messenger
Hebrews begins
1 In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways,
Can we name some of the ways God spoke in the Old Testament:
Visions
Isaiah had dreams, Isaiah 6 says
1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple.
Dreams
When Jacob was running for his life from Esau, he laid used a rock as his pillow and went to sleep
12 He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.
God directed Joseph,
the husband of Mary, to flee to Egypt to save Jesus and His mother. Matthew2.13
13 When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”
Moses and Abraham
for example
11 The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent.
1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty; walk before me faithfully and be blameless.
In the very next chapter the Lord visited Abraham,
had a meal with him and
then they walk and talked about Sodom
16 When the men got up to leave, they looked down toward Sodom, and Abraham walked along with them to see them on their way. 17 Then the Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?
20 Then the Lord said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous 21 that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know.”
23 Then Abraham approached him and said: “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked?
But the access to God was NOT available all the time.
If you wanted to ask God a question, you would take a gift to the prophet
or take a gift to the priest, as your question and they would ask God,
usually it was overnight before you would have an answer.
But when Jesus was asked questions, He knew the Fathers answer right away, and gave it,
22 The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law.
There was something different about Jesus.
So Hebrews chapter 1 continues
2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe.
The Son of God, is a very different spokesperson for God the Father then anyone else
It says here that
He is heir of all things
that is he owns everything
It says here that
All things were made through him.
So Jesus has been with the Father
FOREVER,
THEY BUILT THE WHOLE UNIVERSE TOGETHER
That makes Jesus a super representative for God the Father.
In fact it says
3 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.
Exact representation of his being
Exact representation of his being
One of the disciples, who was hoping to see the Father said
8 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”
But Jesus is the
The New International Version Chapter 1
exact representation of his being
So Jesus said
9 Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
Sustaining all things
Sustaining all things
The New International Version (Chapter 1)
3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.
Jesus is the word of God.
As it says in John 1.1-3
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
We learn here in Hebrews that Jesus also sustains all this by the same power of His words.
Talk about a powerful speaker.
God’s Son is the MOST powerful speaker, hands down.
He just is.
It talks about Him in Revelation 19:15
15 Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.” He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty.
illus:
I have often thought if I could draw cartoons, I would draw this scene from Revelation 19 as an Old West scene with all the bad guys in a mob about to come in and tear up the town.
And one law man meets them at the edge of town and with two words
wipes them all out
“Drop Dead”
and boom, the sharp sword strikes them all down.
Crisis over.
So Christ is the exact Representation of the Father
And Christ has a powerful voice, that can both sustain all things and
destroy the enemies of God.
Verse 3 also mentions Jesus
Provided Purification for sins
Provided Purification for sins
The New International Version (Chapter 1)
3 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, ........
It only took 6 days for
God the Father,
God the Son and
God the Holy Spirit
To create the whole world and the universe,
but to pay the penalty for sin
To come into our world,
as the word incarnate
it took Jesus over 30 years
to provide purification for our sins.
Thank you Jesus for taking the time, to provide purification for our sins.
can you say that with me?
Thank you Jesus for taking the time, to provide purification for our sins.
Amen
Blessed be the Lord.
After all this work, what did Jesus do
Hebrews 1:3 (NIV)
3 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.
What does it say He did
The New International Version Chapter 1
he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.
Do you sit down and take a break,
in the middle of a fight?
No of course not.
But Jesus sat down
as though the bulk of His work is done
And guess what ????
The bulk of Jesus work is Done.
It is finished! He paid the penalty for our sins and
will never have to do that again.
Now it’s in our court, to accept His free gift of grace
There was a time when my older sister gave mom macrame for Christmas.
My sister would stay up all night making these macrame,
and come morning
she wasn’t done.
She would yell from her room,
you can’t get up yet, I’m not done.
But praise God when Jesus sat down at the Fathers right hand,
His work of salvation was done.
Does that mean Jesus has nothing to do?
Rom8.34 says
34 Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.
So,
in addition to sustaining this world, this universe He helped create
Jesus, at the right had of the father is
INTERCEDING FOR US.
The sacrificial system of the Old Testament
Created a way for people to come to God
It taught them about right living
It taught them that God was Holy and
Gave us rule to help us live Holy lives
better lives.
It was Good.
But Jesus provided a way that is not just better
It is best.
Next week we will begin comparing Jesus to other good things,
like God’s angels
I wonder if anyone here discovered this morning that they have been focusing on church attendance rather then having Jesus in their hearts.
Lets close singing.