A Better Word

Why Hebrews?

If you’ll turn with me to the book of Hebrews, we’ll begin right from the beginning in chapter 1.

And we chose Hebrews very purposefully. Last year took us to the book of Exodus and Hebrews makes more references to the book of Exodus than any other book of the NT. So, as we prayed over what to approach next, we felt it best to teach Hebrews nowA Better Word while Exodus is semi-fresh in our hearts and minds.

Notes in Digital Worship Guide

I also want to let you know that we’ll be adding sermon notes to the digital worship guide each week. So, instead of having to take out your camera and snap pictures of quotes or pictures, all of those things will be available each week in the digital worship guide as a support for your note-taking.

Monthly Memory Verses

We’re also launching a monthly memory verse with this series. We encourage you to leverage this in your families and LifeGroups

"He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high."

Introduction

Have you ever been left hanging by someone at the last minute? You’ve made plans, you’re looking forward to spending time together, and then, out of the blue, they cancel. Maybe they’ve got a “good reason,” but you know the truth—they found something better.

It stings, doesn’t it? But if we’re honest, we’ve all been there, chasing after the Bigger better deal We want the best, the most fun, the most fulfilling—whatever it is that promises to make us happy. We’re on an endless quest for better.

Better—a word that drives so much of our lives.

“I wish my marriage was better.” “Maybe being single again would be better.” “If I just had better friends, a better job, better pay—then things would be better.”

We even use "better" to describe our health. We don’t just want to feel well—we want to feel better. We long to be better at everything: sports, music, academics, our jobs. And when we fall short, we beat ourselves up, telling ourselves, “If only I were better…”

But here’s the truth about better: it’s never enough. The pursuit of better is a cycle that leads us into discontentment and even addiction. Whether it’s alcohol, drugs, sex, material possessions, success, the success of our children, or reputation - we chase that high, that feeling of being better. Yet no matter how hard we try, it slips through our fingers, leaving us emptier than before.

We think that getting the better car, the better house, the better phone will finally satisfy us, but there’s always something—or someone—better. And so, we keep striving, never truly feeling better about ourselves, our relationships, our situation, or our future.

TRANSITION

Today we start a new series in the book of Hebrews called Jesus is Better. This is the theme that runs through the book of Hebrews

Jesus is better than the prophets

Jesus is better than supernatural experiences

Jesus is a better mediator than Moses, a better leader than Joshua, and a better priest than Aaron.

Jesus is better than the law, mediates a better covenant, and offers a better sacrifice.

Jesus is better than the temporal pleasures of this world, he offers hope for the best future in the new creation for all of those who trust him to be the leader and forgiver of their lives.

But why should you care?

What does Jesus being a better leader than Joshua or a better priest than Aaron matter to real life in 21st century Cleveland?

I’m convinced that one of the root causes of our constant striving is fear. We’re constantly worried that we’re not going to have enough and that we’re not going to be enough. And out of those fears of inadequacy come our striving for better everything.

But how might things change for us if we learned to believe, embrace, and live out of the reality that NOTHING is outside of Jesus’ control?

What if you could trust Jesus for your future?

What if you could trust Jesus with your family?

What if you were able to stop relying on making enough and lean into Jesus to be enough?

What if you were able to wake up every morning rested , go to sleep every evening in peace, and engage even the hardest moments of life knowing that it was going to be okay because nothing is outside of Jesus’ control?

Here is what the author of Hebrews writes about Jesus in chapter 2

Hebrews 2:8 (ESV)

Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control.

Transition

So, where to do we start on this journey of seeing Jesus as better?

well, the author of Hebrews begins with the issue of communication - namely the communication of God.

One of the great truths of Christianity is that God speaks. He is not silent and we’re not left to ourselves to figure out life’s biggest questions. God is a communicating God. God speaks. And he has something to say to you.

Transition/Illustration

There are two broad categories that delineate the way in which God communicates or reveals himself.

And there are generally two types of revelation - general and special.

General revelation: General revelation is God’s self-disclosure of his character in all of creation. It is accessible to all humanity apart from Scripture due to their basic rational abilities.

Special Revelation: Special Revelation is God’s self-disclosure of his character, works, and expectations to specific individuals.

Special Revelation can include various means

the writings of the prophets and patriarchs that we know as the Old Testament.

the writings of the apostles that we call the New Testament.

It can also include all of the various ways that God spoke to the apostles and prophets

dreams, vision

But there is one specific type of Special Revelation that is better than all the rest. This doesn’t mean that they are any less a word from God, but there is a better word.

And in an effort to exhort us and encourage us, the author of Hebrews begins by tell us about Jesus who speaks a better word.

Hebrews 1:1–2 (ESV)

1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets,

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

We begin with two periods of time and two ways in which God communicates with people in each of those periods of time.

The first is a time “long ago” in which God would speak at various times and in various ways through the prophets.

God’s method for mass communication to His people—for Special Revelation—was to use humans as His mouthpieces. And this happened in many, many different ways:

Narrative stories of God and His interactions with His people, as in Exodus, where He guided the Israelites out of Egypt, and in Ruth, where His providence is seen in the life of a Moabite widow, and Ezra, where God’s faithfulness is demonstrated in the rebuilding of the temple.

Poetry and Songwriting of King David in the Psalms, where heartfelt prayers and praises reflect God’s character and promises.

Wisdom sayings in Ecclesiastes and Proverbs, where God imparted practical and moral teachings for daily living.

Prophecy as in Jeremiah and Isaiah, where God's warnings, promises, and future plans were revealed to His people.

Visions and the interpretation of dreams, as in Daniel, where God provided wisdom and prophetic insight during Israel’s exile.

Symbolic actions, as in Ezekiel, who was instructed to lie on his side for 390 days to symbolize the years of Israel’s sin.

Miraculous signs, like the burning bush in Exodus where God called Moses, or the fleece of Gideon in Judges where God confirmed His will.

Angels, such as when Gabriel appeared to Daniel to explain visions, or when the Angel of the Lord appeared to Balaam and his donkey in Numbers.

Nature, as seen when God spoke through a storm in Job, revealing His power and sovereignty.

Direct encounters, such as when God spoke face-to-face with Moses on Mount Sinai, giving him the law for the people of Israel.

Lives and actions of His prophets, like Hosea, whose marriage to an unfaithful wife was used by God as a living illustration of Israel’s unfaithfulness to Him.

When we open the pages of the Bible, not only do we find a God who speaks, but a God who speaks creatively and intimately. We meet the God who uses his creativity to communicate his character and his love for his people in myriad ways.

And yet - there is still more to come.

If you follow the story of the Old Testament, you’ll see that amidst all of the various ways that God loved and rescued and cared for and forgave his people, they constantly fell out of love with him and chose to do things their own way—ignoring his care and communication.

And so, God, in his perfect plan and timing and purpose, speaks yet another way in these last days. And he speaks through his Son. The way that the author of Hebrews puts it near the end of Hebrews is that

“Jesus speaks a better word”

In his commentary on the book of Hebrews, NT scholar Sigurd Grindheim says this:

The piecemeal communication through the prophets serves as the foil against which the directness and immediacy of the new revelation is placed in sharp relief. Whereas the nature of a prophet is to be a go-between, to encounter the Son is to meet God face-to-face. The prophets are not God, but they speak for God. Their communication lacks directness. The Son is different. His own presence is the presence of God. He gives the final word from God in a way that could never characterize the prophets. The prophets could only point to the goods to be delivered. The Son delivered them. The prophets offered God’s promises. The Son fulfilled them.

We’re going to look at why Jesus is the final and better revelation of God to his people. Why Jesus is a better word.

Chiasm is a literary form in the bible where ideas are presented in a specific order that is both artistic and point us towards the most important idea.

1a - first idea

2a - second idea

3a - central idea

3b - central idea repeated/accentuated

2b - second idea repeated/accentuated

1b - first idea repeated/accentuated

The flow of my message will actually follow the chiastic structure that is present in the text. Take a peek at the screen with me.

whom he appointed the heir of all things (Jesus reigns)

through whom also he created the world. (Jesus rules)

3 He is the radiance of the glory of God

and the exact imprint of his nature

and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. (Jesus rules)

After making purification for sins,

he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, (Jesus reigns)

Jesus is a Better Word Because He Reigns & Rules

Jesus Reigns (position)

Jesus has been appointed heir of all things

He is seated at the right hand of the Father (the Majesty on High)

Jesus Rules (action)

…through whom he also created the world

and he upholds the universe by the word of his power

When we say He reigns, we mean He holds supreme authority over all things.

When we say that Jesus rules, we emphasize His active exercising of authority.

Jesus doesn’t only possess authority; He actively governs the universe - exercising that authority.

There’s no higher court of appeals—what He says goes. He is King of Kings, and no one outranks Him.

Jesus is the heir of all things—everything belongs to Him. There are no disputes over ownership or authority. As the rightful heir, He holds everything forever.

Jesus is also seated at the right hand of the Father, a position of power, fulfillment of prophecy, and authority. Sitting at the right hand symbolizes the completion of His work and the beginning of His reign.

But His reign is not passive. Jesus not only reigns over all things, but He also created and upholds the universe by His word. From the tiniest cells in your body to the furthest galaxies, everything was created and is sustained by Jesus' power.

Jesus beginning was not in a manger in a barn in Bethlehem. Jesus is one of the three persons of God - eternally coexistent with the Father and the Spirit.

He was the agent by which the world was created. Some of this is still a mystery as to how it all works, but the Bible is pretty clear not only here in Hebrews, but in other portions as well.

Colossians 1:16 (ESV)

16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.

John 1:3 (ESV)

3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.

And he didn’t just set things into motion and then stand back and see how it would go. Colossians 1:17 tells us that Jesus holds all things together.

Colossians 1:17 (ESV)

17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

That means He’s intimately involved in keeping creation functioning at every level, from the cosmic to the cellular.

Think about the enormity of this:

1-2 trillion galaxies in the observable universe

Each galaxy contains hundreds of billions of stars

Every second, a star somewhere explodes in a supernova which creates more energy in a few seconds than our sun will produce in it’s lifetime.

At any given moment 2,000 thunderstorms are happening around the globe.

There are 10 quintillion insects on the earth playing a vital role in our survival - pollinating plants, decomposing organic matter

Your body - just you - contains over 37 trillion cells - each of which is made up of billions of molecules and atoms.

Every second billions of chemical reactions take place in your body to make it work.

Your heart will beat about 100,00 times today pumping 1.5 gallons of blood per minute to keep you alive.

All of this he upholds effortlessly - without lifting a finger or breaking a sweat.

So what does this mean for you?

If Jesus truly rules and reigns over the cosmos, then you can have confidence that He rules and reigns over your life too. The One who sustains the universe can certainly sustain you through whatever you're facing.

If Jesus reigns (and he does), and you’ve trusted him to be the leader and forgiver of your life, you don’t need to fear the future—your eternity is secure. If Jesus owns everything, then you need not worry about your inheritance in heaven.

If Jesus rules (and he does), you don’t have to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders—He’s already carrying it. You can rest in His control over your circumstances.

That disappointment at work

The worry about your children

The social anxiety at school

The stress over finances

If Jesus reigns, then even in seasons of uncertainty, you can trust that Jesus knows better than you how to play the long game! You can trust that despite our foolish choices, he is working even our boneheaded decisions towards an ultimate end that is for your good and his glory.

Francis Schaeffer was a pastor and theologian who lived in the middle part of the 20th century. I have a collection of his letters to congregants and in one of those letters to a couple walking through a season of cancer, he says this:

Our trusting the Lord does not mean that there are not times of tears, and I think it is a mistake as Christians to act as though trusting the Lord and tears are not compatible. As a matter of fact, it is my opinion that the greatest trust in the Lord comes when we trust Him in the midst of tears.

- Letters of Francis A. Schaeffer: Spiritual Reality in the Personal Christian Life (Sickness and the Attacks of Satan)

Trust in the One who rules and reigns. He holds the universe together by His word, and He holds you in His hands.

Jesus is a Better Word Because He Reigns & Rules

Jesus is a Better Word Because He Reflects & Redeems

whom he appointed the heir of all things

through whom also he created the world.

3 He is the radiance of the glory of God

and the exact imprint of his nature

and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.

After making purification for sins,

he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

The primary way that God spoke prior to Jesus was through prophets - men and women who would speak for God. We recently finished our study in Exodus where Moses regularly fills that role - going up on the mountain to commune with God and then telling the people what God had said.

If you recall, at one point, Moses comes back down the mountain and his face is shining because of the glory and power that he experiences on Sinai.

Jesus is not an intermediary like Moses - Jesus was and is God - the exact imprint, the perfect reflection. Colossians tells us that all of the fulness of God dwelt in Jesus.

I was talking and praying with someone from CVC earlier this week about rekindling their intimacy with God. And I mentioned that we don’t just want to know about God, we want to know God first hand.

I could tell you that my wife has brown hair and teaches 4th grade and enjoys gardening. I could tell you how funny she is or even show you a picture of her, but that doesn’t mean that you know her. Learning about God through the old testament is good. Through the prophets and other various ways of communication that we mentioned earlier, there is a lot that we can learn about God, his character, and his love for his people.

But in Jesus we get to see God in a way that we can understand because he comes down to our level - he becomes human without losing any of his god-ness. And so we can relate on a more intimate level. As we read the accounts of Jesus’ life in the gospels we see....

the character of God as Jesus shows compassion to the hurting, mercy towards sinners, and rebuking oppressors.

We see God’s humility as Jesus leaves the comfort of heaven to become human and die for the sake of his enemies.

Biblical Scholar William Barclay says it this way:

“In him (Jesus) God displayed not some facet of of his truth; god displayed Himself fully revealed to men....The prophet had to use human methods to transmit his part of of the truth of God. Jesus revealed God by being himself.... The prophets grasped part of the mind of God; but Jesus was the mind of God.” - William Barclay

But perhaps the most extraordinary way that Jesus is a better word is that he is redeemer. While Abraham and Moses and the the priests and all of the other heroes of the OT did so much and taught us so much. And while Jesus is the full and final revelation of God - a better Word in that he rules and reigns and reflects, the pinnacle of Jesus being a better word is in his work as redeemer.

No one but Jesus Christ was able to...

live the life we could never live - a perfect life and

die the death that we deserve for our rebellion against God

And come back to life proving his power of sin and death offering us new life both now and forever.

Not Abraham, not Moses, not David, not Solomon, not Isaiah, not Jeremiah - none of them. While they were able to tell us of God’s soon-to-come redeemer, they were only preparing the way.

Jesus and Jesus alone make purification for sins by humbling himself to come to this earth as a man and dying in the place of his enemies in order to make them his friends.

Look at verse 3 with me again:

Hebrews 1:3 (ESV)

3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

That doesn't seem to make any sense!! He’s the radiance of the glory of God. He upholds the universe by the word of his power. And HE - this almighty, ruling and reigning one humbled himself to the point of death!?

Yes - he did.

So that when you and I should have hard condemnation, Jesus says mercy.

When you should have heard - “GUILTY” - Jesus says - forgiven.

When we should have heard - get out! - Jesus says, come in.

When we should have heard, “I’m done with you!” - Jesus says - It is finished!!

The sons of God, the radiance of the glory of God. The one who spoke the world into existence and upholds everything went to the cross

and he was cursed and abandoned so that you could here - the Lord bless you and keep you.

and Jesus heard - may you bear the wrath of the Father and be shown no mercy

- so that YOU could hear - the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you.

and Jesus experienced disconnection from the Father and no peace, so that you could hear

The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

Jesus is a better word.