God Has Spoken

I want to begin our time here this morning with some simple questions...

If your car starts once every three tries, is it reliable?

If you only go to work once or twice a month, are you a loyal employee and would you still have that job?

If your refrigerator stops working for a day or two every now and then, do you say, “Oh, well, it works most of the time”?

If your water heater provides an icy-cold shower every now and then, is it dependable?

If you miss a couple mortgage payments every year, does the bank say, “Ten out of twelve isn’t bad”?

If you’re only faithful to God when things are going well for you are you truly a faithful Christian?

Do you apply the same standards of faithfulness to yourself that you expect from other areas of your life?

We expect faithfulness and reliability from things and other people. Should God not expect the same from us?

With those thoughts in mind please turn to Hebrews 1:1-4.

We are starting a marathon trek through this marvelously theological and practical book…it is a book of 13 chapters enriched with deep theological truths, some of which are hard to comprehend and will blow your mind.

Hebrews is also a practical book about faith…specifically regarding the faithfulness of God’s people…explain more in just a moment...

Let me set the stage for our journey through Hebrews...

Authorship — The Holy Spirit

There is no stated author clearly identified in this book.

Many throughout time have offered their various opinions on the writer, but none can posit a dogmatic declaration with any certainty.

Origen stated it best “But as to who actually wrote the epistle, God knows the truth of the matter.”

The only internal information about the writer we have is...

He knew of their history — Heb 10:32-34.

He knew about their love for other Christians — Heb 6:10.

He spoke to their current spiritual condition — Heb 5:11-14.

He expressed a desire to visit them with Timothy — Heb 13:19-23.

He requested their prayers for him — Heb 13:18.

Whoever the writer was, his preference was to cite the Old Testament from the Greek translation (Septuagint) rather than the actual Hebrew text.

He was a master of the Greek language and the Old Testament.

This would have been the translation most familiar to the original audience.

That is all we know...So in other words…since God did not think it necessary for the writer to identify himself, the best answer to who wrote Hebrews is “God the Holy Spirit”…we will leave it at that.

Date of Hebrews — between A.D. 67 to 69.

It was quoted by Clement of Rome about A.D. 95…placing the writing before that date.

The Jewish temple was destroyed in A.D 70 — a significant event to the Jewish people and it is not referenced.

Had that already occurred, it would have given him ample arguments for the cessation of the Old Testament sacrificial system.

When referencing those practices, he uses the present tense…meaning they were still in operation.

In light of that, the generally accepted date of writing places it between A.D. 67-69.

Original Audience — Primarily Jewish believers.

“to the Hebrews” — is not original but can be traced back to the last quarter of the 2nd century.

Within the letter itself, you will not find an identification of the recipients as either Jews or Gentiles.

However, since the letter is filled with references to Hebrew history and religious practices and does not address any Gentile or pagan practices, the traditional view of a predominately Jewish audience is generally accepted.

Most likely the primary audience was probably a community of Jewish believers in or around Rome...(reference to Italy in chapter 13 is the only locality mentioned) who were not eyewitnesses to Jesus, but had learned of him from those who were.

I say primary because there are some passages we will encounter that indicate there were some who had not yet trusted and the writer is trying to convince them of the truth about Jesus.

He appeals to the authority of the Old Testament which would only make sense to readers who knew it.

What that means for us is that Hebrews assumes a certain amount of knowledge of the Old Testament…it discusses major figures, covenants, and theology…therefore, we will keep our Old Testaments open while we study this book...

The Theme of Hebrews — Jesus is the Ultimate Expression of God’s Work Among Humanity.

Using the OT heavily, He appeals to his readers with a Christology that communicates Jesus Christ alone is the ultimate fulfillment of everything God revealed to them…

Jesus is the better sacrifice, He is the better High Priest, the better covenant...

We’ll talk more about this as we progress through the book, but let me encourage you that as we study the book of Hebrews to mark/highlight every occurrence of the word “better” and its equivalents…and then to write those down separately to create a “Jesus is better than diary”…

When you are tempted to pursue something or someone more than you do Christ, or when your faith is shaky, you pull this journal out and remind yourself of the supremacy and finality of Christ that puts all things into its proper perspective.

Purpose of Hebrews — an exhortation to remain faithful to God and His Word.

This is the practical side of Hebrews…this book is more like a sermon than it is a letter.

Hebrews 13:22 “But I urge you, brethren, bear with this word of exhortation, for I have written to you briefly.”

The writer identifies this as a “word of exhortation” meaning it was an encouragement, a source of comfort, it was intended to motivate them to action.

They were facing the reality of intensified persecution that already cost them much and could result and did result in some dying...

To use our modern terminology…they were facing a real “cancel culture”…

…their world was falling apart...as they faced that persecution, they were tempted to cast aside any identification with Christ.

In our present culture we really have no concept of how hard life would have been for these Jewish believers...

Persecution from outside — government…Christianity was not an accepted religion by pagan or Jewish culture...

Persecution from inside — to abandon your heritage to follow Christ brought wrath and indignation from your family and the entire Jewish community.

This was a small group of Jewish Christians who were scared stiff!

Some had begun to avoid contact with outsiders.

Some had even withdrawn from the worshiping community altogether (10:25).

The author feared there might be those who, if arrested, would succumb to the conditions of release—a public denial of Christ (6:6; 10:29).

Did God know what was going on? If so, how could this be happening to them? Did he care? Only God could protect them, but where was he? Why did he not answer? Why the silence of God? (sound familiar…Habakkuk)

So throughout this book he builds an argument that Jesus is better than all the other things you are placing your faith in…don’t shrink back…don’t abandon Christ…

I think there are two verses that stand out as key verses...Hebrews 2:1

Hebrews 2:1 (NASB95)

For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it.

The other is Hebrews 3:12.

Hebrews 3:12 (NASB95)

Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God.

Hebrews becomes a very practical book because the writer of Hebrews provides a series of warnings and advice designed to stir his readers into action…that includes us…there are six of them.

Six warnings...

Don’t drift from what you’ve heard (2:1-4)

Don’t disbelieve the “voice” of God (3:7-14)

Don’t degenerate the “elementary principles of Christ” (5:11-6:20)

Don’t despise “the knowledge of truth” (10:26-39).

Don’t devalue “the grace of God” (12:15-17)

Don’t depart from Him “who speaks” (12:25-29)

This journey through Hebrews will be a long journey, but it is our prayer that this highly theological and practical book will penetrate our hearts much like the writer intended…to exhort us to remain faithful to God and His Word as we consider the truth that Jesus is Better than Everything.

Main Point: Jesus is Better Because God is Fully & Finally Revealed in Him.

Hebrews 1:1–4 “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.”

No usual greetings here…the writer wants to make his point quickly and focuses the attention where it belongs…the ultimate revelation of God, Jesus Christ.

He stresses the finality of God’s revelation in His Son, Jesus.

What does the writer reveal about Jesus as God’s Son that makes him the final revelation of God and better than everything?

He is the Prophet through whom God has spoken.

Hebrews 1:1 “God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways,”

Right off the bat we gain some rich theological truth regarding the doctrine of revelation.

God is the source of revelation.

The writer makes a theological assertion we cannot ignore…God is a God who speaks...

The very fact that God has spoken to His people is a marvelous thing.

Why that is marvelous is because the One who created us and the universe chose to reveal Himself to us…

that in itself is a work of grace…because if God did not reveal Himself, we would never know who He is on our own and would never know the meaning of the cross and resurrection of Christ…we could not know God without revelation.

Bible speaks of two types of revelation...

General revelation — Psalm 19:1-2; Romans 1:20.

Psalm 19:1–2 “The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. Day to day pours forth speech, And night to night reveals knowledge.”

Romans 1:20 “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.”

General revelation is not sufficient to give us any understanding of salvation available in Christ.

Special revelation —2 Peter 1:21; 2 Tim 3:16-17; Heb 1:1-3.

This is the direct, verbal revelation that comes from the mouth of God

There are two sources of special revelation

Scripture

2 Peter 1:21 “for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.”

2 Timothy 3:16–17 “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.”

Jesus

Hebrews 1:1–2 .

He points us to the Old Testament…long ago to the fathers through the prophets...

So for those who want to ignore the Old Testament the writer of Hebrews would have an issue with you…

Long ago…the age that preceded the coming of Christ.

the fathers…the spiritual leaders of Israel received the revelation

through the prophets… these were the spokesmen and writers…they would communicate God’s message both in word and print…they spoke to men for God and sometimes to God for men...

God’s revelation of Himself was progressive.

Many portions…many ways....is a reference to God’s revelation of Himself being progressive…

God did not back the “dump truck of truth” up and unload it all at the same time…it was segment by segment over a long period of time.

God used a variety of modes or methods to communicate His word.

It was always adequate for the time.

It always revealed more of God and his ways.

It was always in continuity with the previous words of God…meaning it never contradicted what He already revealed about Himself.

So very clearly the writer affirms the authority and authenticity of the Old Testament but God’s story was not complete yet…it needed a conclusion, a messianic conclusion.

Yes the Old Testament is God’s Word, but it is not the FINAL word.

Jesus is the Singular and Final Revelation of God.

Hebrews 1:2 “in these last days has spoken to us in His Son...

It is clear the writer creates a contrast between the multiplicity and diversity of form and content to the single and final revelation in Jesus as God’s Son.

He is also contrasting two different periods of time…what took place long ago and what has now taken place in Christ Jesus.

Last days is the word eschatos from which we derive the word eschatology…the doctrine of last things.

In Jewish thinking God’s work was dispensational…meaning God’s work with Israel was age specific…age of the patriarchs, age of Moses, age of the prophets, all of which were to be followed by the age of the Messiah…which to them was the last period of time, however long that may be…which will culminate with the eternal state when God permanently dwells with His people…see that in Isaiah 2:2 and Daniel 10:14.

To the NT writers, the “last days” were inaugurated in the life, death, resurrection, and exaltation of Jesus…to them the last days were a present reality.

The writer is not trying to strike a debate as to when the Messiah was coming but to recognize he has already come and as the Messiah,

Jesus ushered in the final source of God speaking to us, so we would do well to listen to Him.

It is very important for us today to make sure that our theology of Jesus is gathered from what the Bible reveals about him

…not our culture, not those spiritual leaders who claim to have a “word from Christ” and that word contradicts the revealed truth found in the pages of the marvelous book...

Notice he doesn’t say God speaks to us through dreams and visions, audible voices, and garbled up, ecstatic speech...

You will never hear me say those words “I have a message from Christ”…because the final word has been spoken in Christ and we find all we need to know in Scripture!

If anyone claims that God spoke to the, it better be inline with the Scripture and the truth He chose to reveal to us!

Jesus fulfills everything God says about Himself and everything in the Old Testament pointed to Him as the final fulfillment in God’s plan of redemption.He is the conclusion to the story.

God is no longer speaking through the prophets, He is now speaking through HIS SON!

Jesus is the fullest, most complete revelation of the Father possible since he shares the Father’s divine nature as the second member of the Trinity.

In the rest of this text, the writer beautifully lays out his argument for us as to why we should listen to Jesus.

He is the Heir of all things.

Hebrews 1:2 “whom He appointed heir of all things,...

The writer is using traditional categories of Judaism his audience would have understood.

To be an “heir” was to be invested in everything…the son was given full authority…doing business with the son was doing business with the father...

John 14:6–7 “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.””

He is the Creator who made the universe.

Hebrews 1:2 “ ...through whom also He made the world.”

Similar to what John said in his gospel account…John 1:1–3 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.”

Not only did Jesus fulfill the Old Testament promises and prophecies, he is also the agent of creation.

The alpha and omega…the beginning and the end.

It is important to see here how the writer of Hebrews connects the doctrines of redemption and creation…God is the God who creates and the God who redeems…if we miss the doctrine of creation, we miss the doctrine of redemption because they are inextricably linked...

We did not create ourselves…we are responsible to our creator.

We sinned miserably against our creator and have no means within ourselves to be reconciled to Him.

God reached down in history to provide the reconciliation we needed and provided for our redemption.

The redemption we needed was God becoming one of us, so he could die for us, so he could redeem us.

The one who created us, is the one who gave Himself for us so He could recreate us!

He is the Representation of God’s being.

Hebrews 1:3 “And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature...

Radiance goes back to the notion of the shekinah glory in the OT.

The shekinah was a shining visible glory that demonstrated the majesty of God…Ex 13:21; 40:34-35.

Seeing Jesus is the way we see the glory of God most fully…but more than that Jesus is the exact representation of the Father’s nature.

The root word is that of a stamp…like on a coin...

As the 2nd member of the Trinity, Jesus is fully God at the same time as being fully man.

No human son is the exact representation of this father…there may be a close resemblance, but not an EXACT representation...

Jesus and God are of the same divine essence.

The writer of Hebrews pushes us that to understand Jesus rightly is to see Him as the climax of God’s revelation and the divine God himself.

He is the Upholder of all things.

Hebrews 1:3 “... and upholds all things by the word of His power...

Not only did Jesus create the world, he sustains it also…this is a present active participle…meaning not only did Jesus possess the power to create, He is presently displaying his power to control and it is only by his grace he has not displayed his power to bring to an end.

If at any point Jesus said “I’ve had enough and decided it was time to end the world, he could do it.”

He is the Priest who provided purification for sins.

Hebrews 1:3 ... When He had made purification of sins...”

Purification encapsulates the priestly work of Christ and recalls the sacrificial system of the OT.

We will deal more specifically with this when we get to chapters 9 & 10.

Jesus himself is the sacrifice that accomplished once and for all what the Old Testament sacrifices could not…complete forgiveness…

The OT sacrifices could only cover their sin.

Jesus’ sacrifice would completely purify them from their sin.

The writer introduces his readers to this concept because it sets the stage for the rest of his argument.

He is the King who sat down at his place of honor.

Hebrews 1:3 ... He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,”

To be at someone’s right hand is to be in a place of favor and authority.

This means that Jesus holds the place of supreme Majesty above “all powers, and above all kings, above all wonders, and all created things.”

And because he sits on God’s right hand he is able to intercede on our behalf…Romans 8:34 “who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.”

He is better than angels

Hebrews 1:4 “having become as much better than the angels,...”

Angels held a prominence place in their ministry to Israel in the Old Testament…in the Jewish mind, these were the highest beings next to God.

Jewish intertestamental literature demonstrated an intense focus on angels…some of it good, some of it bad…so the writer of Hebrews needed to correct their theology.

Historically, there was a sect within Judaism that taught the archangel Michael had an authority that rivaled and even surpassed that of the Messiah.

Having become is a verb that refers to change of state, not change of existence…

Jesus is eternal, he existed before He took on a fleshly body…

when he took on humanity he became lower than the angels but now has been exalted high above them because of what He accomplished in redemption.

Here is our first instance of the word “better”… it is a word that denotes being of high status, more prominent, higher in rank, preferable, more superior… he will use this word 12x in 13 chapters.

Jesus is better than angels because he is not one of them…He is God the Son!

He inherited the highest name possible.

Hebrews 1:4 ...He has inherited a more excellent name than they.”

That name is LORD…the Sovereign Son of God…no angel or other human being can claim the name of the Son of God.

This is another rich theological truth…it speaks to the eternal sonship of Jesus…Jesus did not BECOME the Son of God when he took on flesh…He was, is, and always will be the Son, the 2nd member of the Trinity.

Inherited does not mean there was a time when Jesus was not God and became God…he has been fully God from eternity…

what it does mean that because Jesus is the Son…He has been appointed as the reigning sovereign Lord…His position in the Trinity is equality with God!

You’ll need to come back next week to learn more about the name Jesus inherited.

Lesson for Life — Let Us Truly Treasure Jesus, our Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer.

Just in these first 4 verses we find a treasure trove of rich theology.

Revelation

Creation

The Trinity

The Relationship of the Old & New Testament

Christology

Atonement

But even more rich is what this text reveals about our Savior.

Revelation of God

Ultimate fulfillment of God’s revelation

Heir of all things

Creator

Radiance of God’s glory

Expression of God’s nature

Sustainer of all creation

Purifier of God’s people

Mediator for God’s people

Sovereign Son of God

Hebrews is not for the theologically faint of heart…what a remarkable portrait of Christ we see in this text!

What more do we need to hear before we truly treasure Him above everything else?

Let’s ask for God’s help to motivate us grow in our faithfulness to Him...