Hebrews 1

Text: Hebrews 1:1-3

CIT: “Jesus is the most important message heaven has to give.”

If God designed marriage than I want to know what he has to say about it.

If God designed finances, government,

If God designed fatherhood, motherhood,

If God designed friendship If God designed brotherhood

If God designed my ability to think, speak, live

Than I want to know what he has to say about this.

When a vehicle is designed you are given an owners guides.

(Bring Owners Manuals)

God provided an owners manual.

He made an Old covenant and then gave a manual called the Old Testament.

But that is not exactly true is it. Truthfully people in the OT had little of the OT at any point.

Books of Moses

In fact until Moses came along and God gave him the first five books of the Bible called the Torah (Hebrew word the scroll that contains the law of God) or Pentateuch (greek word for five books). Moses wrote Genesis - Exodus - Leviticus - Numbers - Deuteronomy. None of what took place in the book of Genesis happened under the written Torah.

Hebrews expects the crowd to have a knowledge of the Torah

By the way the author who is unknown is writing to an audience that is unknown. Save to say that his audience would have had an intimate knowledge of the Torah. This is why many as I do believe this was written to anxious Jews that have a struggle letting go Moses and clinging to Christ.

Illustrate with the Toddler

They are the toddler holding to the couch fearful of taking their first independent steps. They need to let go because that is where all the liberty is, but it is scary.

Transition: Hebrews is explaining that the writings of Moses were true and from God because…

I. God has been delivering a Message this whole time.

Consider these “sundry times” this is simply to point out that the full revelation of God is a benefit that has only been afforded believers for a short period of time. The books of the Bible have only been completed since the end of the first century. It’s 2024 that means that roughly 1920 years.

If history were a lifetime it would be like:

At sixty only having the Bible since you were forty.

If you are not forty years old yet you would still only be holding the books of Moses and the prophets.

The book of Genesis ends roughly 2300 years after Creation. So you wouldn’t have had the first five books of the Bible until you were 20 years old.

God chose to reveal himself God chose to reveal himself to different people differently. God chose to complete his revelation.

Hebrews opens with the the reminder that God used his prophets to write the Words that we have in our hands today.

Why was He writing?

So how did God bring us the Revelation of who He is. And make no mistake about this. Revelation is what the Bible is about. The Bible is not about helpful tips, The Bible is revealing the Plan and person of God.

The Message that God has been delivering is Himself.

There is a God in heaven that created man and enjoyed his fellowship with and union with his creation. He has made him in a specific image that allows us to love and understand God.

The Bible is not just a love letter,

The Bible is not just a manual,

The Bible is not just a history book

The Bible is a Revelation of Himself in all those things. He is writing to the saints that desire to know Him. Why does the world not love the Bible? - Simple they don’t want the God of the Bible. Because that is who if found here.

Don Stewart writes for the Blue Letter Bible and says this of Revelation.

Revelation can be defined as "God's supernatural disclosure to human beings of truth they would not otherwise know and are incapable of discovering on their own." This communication may be either oral or written. Revelation is usually understood as God's written communication to humankind.

It Is The Reverse Of Human Reasoning Revelation is the opposite of scientific research or human reasoning. The knowledge that God has revealed about Himself to humankind could never be attained through any type of scientific experiment or logical reasoning. It is entirely a supernatural disclosure from God.

It Consists Of Truths Revealed By God Alone Only God reveals the truths of revelation. He alone is the source of knowledge about Himself and His plan. Revelation is, therefore, an act of God. Jesus said.

Don Stewart, Blue Letter Bible https://www.blueletterbible.org/faq/don_stewart/don_stewart_368.cfm

Illustrate with the Sculpter

Don also points out that Revelation is from the context of a Sculpter or Painter revealing a great work of art.

The congregation gathers around and they have been excited to see the presentation and then the sculptor will pull back the cloth covering his masterpiece and say “TAH-DAH” and the crowd will gasp, clap, and cheer for the work done. This is the work of Revelation that God has undertaken in the writing of the Scriptures. The reader is to look in the Bible and say wow look at His beauty.

II. God has delivered his Message through His Son.

Today we have a full revelation. We don’t have to hope that the truth will come we have all that God will give to us in revelation.

Imagine that now. Jesus is the message for today. What was insufficient in the law Jesus is. What as not enough from the prophets is fully realized in Jesus. God is the message Jesus is the revelation.

Then God reveals something that is easily taken for granted.

The end of this story is Jesus glorified inheriting all that His father has for him.

The beginning of man Jesus was there too.

Wait -

John 1:1 KJV 1900

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Exactly

John 1:3 KJV 1900

All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

In other words…

III. God delivered himself to man through Jesus Christ.

The Brightness of His Glory

If there is something to be known about God is that he is full of glory. He is worthy of his glory. It was Moses that wanted to see the glory of God and couldn’t because he couldn’t handle it so God had to shield him to protect Him and let his glory pass by.

Jesus is what the rays are to the Sun.

Jesus relates to God the way radiance relates to glory, or the way the rays of sunlight relate to the sun.

Keep in mind that every analogy between God and natural things is imperfect and will distort if you press it. Nevertheless, consider for example,

There is no time that the sun exists without the beams of radiance. They cannot be separated. The radiance is co-eternal with the glory. Christ is co-eternal with God the Father.

Jesus is the reflection of the Image

Just as I would point to a reflection and say that is me. SO the father points to Jesus and says there is God.

He describes that glory by pointing out that their work is the same.

It is His Word that upholds Creation

Their compassion is the Same.

It is he that Purged us

Their position is the Same.

It is he that is at the right hand of the Father

God has Completed His Revelation you have the whole revelation.

Saints need to have their own toddler moment where we let go of the Bible as merely a book of how to’s and instead start walking as independent free followers of Jesus.