Gripped by Glory Homily - RTS-O

Introduction

Hebrews 1:1–4 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, 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, 4 having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

Our theme for this week’s chapel messages is “persevering by faith in a wearying world.” We’re going to take a walk through a few passages in the letter to the Hebrews as we engage this theme. The world is full of chaos. We experience it in our lives and we see it happening to others on a daily basis. And the point of what I want to share with you this morning is that no encouragement to endure or persevere in the Christian faith is going to have any teeth unless we are gripped by the incomparable glory of Jesus Christ.

This is what’s happening as we open the book of Hebrews. Their pastor is writing his word of exhortation to a suffering people. He’s going to tell them in Heb. 10:35 that they have need of endurance, but he doesn’t begin his message that way. He begins pointing them to unrivaled glory, majesty, and authority of the Son of God. The supremacy of Jesus Christ is their source of eternal hope in a topsy-turvy, upside-down world.

He seeks to grip their hearts and minds with this vision of Jesus as the glorious prophet, the glorious priest, and the glorious king.

Glorious Prophet

Hebrews 1:1 ESV

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

He reminds them that various points and times in history, and in different ways, God raised up and anointed prophets to declare his word with authority; Abraham, Moses, Samuel, Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, and on and on for centuries. God spoke to his people through the prophets always to direct them to himself.

As glorious as the word spoken through the prophets was, it was varied and diverse because the prophets were many in number. But a change took place when Jesus came on the scene. 

“In these last days,” the Pastor says, “God has spoken to us by a Son, by the unique and only Son.”

When God the Son took on human flesh, and was born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who are under the law, Jesus’ word became the final, complete, full word of God.

That’s why he says in the first verse of ch. 2, “Therefore, we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.”

In other words, God has upped the ante. The Son is not just one of the prophets. He is the heir of all things. He has an inheritance. His inheritance is the whole world. Not just people, but he came to lay claim on the whole thing. He came to lay claim to the entire world as his own possession because he is the One through whom the world was created. He is the glorious radiance and exact imprint of God’s essence. He is God. And he makes the glory of God visible to us. That’s why Jesus could say to his disciples in John 14:9, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.”

Glorious Priest

You almost have to ask the question how could the description get any better? But then you read the second part of v. 3.

After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.

Just like the comparison between God’s word through the prophets and God’s word through the Son, there is a comparison between the ongoing work of the OT priests and the final work of the great high priest, Jesus Christ. 

The priesthood was necessary because God in his mercy had chosen a people for himself. He promised them, “I will be your God, and you will be my people.” The problem was that God will not dwell in the midst of sin. Every day blood was shed so that the people would not be consumed. But when the One who is the radiance of the glory of God came, he came as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. He came both as the sacrificial offering and as the offerer. He is the great high priest who offered himself as the only One who could crush sin. As he was being beaten and whipped, as the blood was flowing from his head, his hands, his feet, purification was being made for the sins of everyone who puts their trust in him. It is as the hymn writer says,

See from His head, His hands, His feet,

Sorrow and love flow mingled down:

Did e'er such love and sorrow meet,

Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

Jesus made final and complete purification for sins. How do I know that it’s final and complete? Do you know what was missing in the tabernacle? There was no chair. They had to stand daily offering the sacrifices. There was no chair because there was no rest. But when Jesus made purification for sins, the Bible says that he sat down. He took his seat. The work was finished. There no longer remains any need for any other sacrifice for sin.

Glorious King

The fact that he sat down tells us not only that he’s completed his work of purification for sins, but also that he is the supreme King and Judge. For he sat down, not any old place, but at the right hand of the Majesty on high. He completed his work and was restored to his rightful position in heaven as the King of kings and the Lord of lords, as the One before whom every knee will bow and every tongue confess. Because of where he sits, right now we only know him as the glorious king by faith. He reigns supreme over heaven and earth.

There is truly no area of existence, material or immaterial, over which he does not have absolute authority. This is meant to be a comfort to those who believe, and warning to those who don’t. And the Pastor is talking to people who claim to know Jesus. He loves them and is pained that some are drifting away because things are getting rough. 

There is only one way to endure, and to thrive as a Christian. I would go so far as to say that there is only one way to endure and thrive in life period. And that way begins with having a clear view of the glory of Jesus Christ, the Glorious Prophet who declares God’s final word to us, the Glorious Priest who purifies us, and the Glorious King who rules over and protects us.