Hebrews 1:1-3

Hebrews 1:1–3 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,

Sermon 11/30/14 (Joe Fager)

Good morning and welcome to the Countryside Vineyard.

My name is Joe Fager and I am one of the Pastor’s here.

This morning we are going to get into the meat of the book of Hebrews.

The last time I introduced you to the book in its fullness.

By way of remembrance for you

We talked about the fact that this book was written to Jewish Christians. Jewish men and women who had heard the gospel, who had believed that Jesus was their Messiah, their savior, but either through isolation or through persecution, or just out of habit, they were beginning to slide back into old habits.

Wait a minute… Does that sound familiar?

Anytime I get out of fellowship with other believers, or out of my bible, or not praying so much, I find myself going the same way.

I begin to slip away, I begin to forget really fast, now we each have our own places to fall back to, but regardless of who you are, when you stop listening, you will stop obeying, and you will slip backwards.

Satan is called the god of this world. He is also called the ruler of this age.

Look around you, he has set up a system in this world with the express intent of distracting you.

Think about it. Everything… Music, TV, movies, work, our phones, our lives.

I am convinced that society is intentionally designed to keep us in a mode of constant distraction.

This is why I chose the verse I did for this morning.

Jesus said the following in John 10:10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

This is what the book of Hebrews is about. It’s about, remembering who Jesus is, what Jesus did, and why it’s so vitally important not to forget.

The author does this by showing us that Jesus is better than anything we have ever experienced and why.

This morning the very first sentence lays this out. The writer of Hebrews right out of the gate compares Jesus to all of the prophets of the past.

The Jewish people hold an extremely high and reverent view of the prophets who were the primary agents or spokesmen to reveal God and His character to the people of Israel and the world.

Now God has sent a new spokesman, and His name is Jesus, God’s perfect spokesman, and we will show why that is true here this morning.

How there is no one better to reveal God than God Himself in the person of Jesus Christ.

I will start by reading in its entirety the section we will be looking at for each teaching.

So if you have a bible please turn to Hebrews Chapter and we will look at verses 1-3, and kind of set up for you the next teaching.

But before I begin to teach let’s

Pray…

I.               Body

So let’s read our text: Hebrews 1:1-3

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

A.          GOD'S SPOKESMEN "Long AGO"

1.              THE EXPRESSION "IN TIME PAST"...

a)              Refers to the period of time prior to the coming of Jesus

b)            That period of time described in the Old Testament (Genesis-Malachi)

2.              GOD SPOKE "TO THE FATHERS BY THE PROPHETS"...

a)              The "fathers" would be the ancestors of the Israelites

b)             The "prophets" would include great men like Samuel, Elijah, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel

c)              The Hebrew word for "prophet" means "one who boils over"

d)             It refers to one who is inspired by God to speak for Him

           - 1 Peter 1:20,21 – knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture                 comes from someone’s own interpretation. 21 For no prophecy was ever    produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were   carried along by the Holy Spirit.

     3. At times, the prophets themselves were unsure of what they

        spoke –

           - 1 Peter 1:10-12  Concerning this salvation, the prophets who            prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired       carefully,  11 inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them        was indicating  when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the        subsequent glories. 12 It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the  things that have now been announced to         you through those who preached  the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.

Now I have make a slight detour here.

           We talk about prophecy today, and we believe that God still gives the gift of prophecy to believers. This is not the same thing. Same word, but completely new definition.

This important!!

           The prophets who wrote scripture were called to a different calling than we      are today. They were bringing NEW Revelation of God’s will, they were       writing scripture. They were revealing things about God that had never          been revealed before.

           Today’s prophecy can never be like that. God will never reveal anything more than Jesus has already revealed. Jesus was better than the prophets of old, because He was the final revelation of God, and the perfect Revelation of God.

There are people out there today, who claim to be prophets, that are predicting the future, and saying they have a fresh, new revelation from God concerning faith and salvation. This passage we are looking at today says that can’t be true. Jesus is the best and the final revelation.

Prophecy today is meant to encourage us in our faith, to edify, not to change how we do things, or to make some new thing.

Joseph Smith claimed to have some new revelation from God written on golden tablets, that he found. That is where the Book of Mormon, which contradicts the bible on many points, comes from. The problem is that Jesus was the last and perfect and complete revelation from God concerning who He is, and who He expects and wants us to be.

So prophecy is to be tested against the revelation already given, namely the bible in its Revelation of Jesus Christ.

  C. GOD SPOKE "AT VARIOUS TIMES AND IN DIFFERENT WAYS"...

          1. His revelation did not come all at once, but progressively at

          different times.

           2. His methods varied as well, using visions, dreams, symbols,

          etc.

So God has clearly revealed Himself as One who "speaks"; that is, He

communicates His will to mankind! What He revealed through His prophets

"in time past" is certainly wonderful, but now consider what we learn

regarding...

II. GOD'S SPOKESMAN "IN THESE LAST DAYS" (2-3)

  A. THE EXPRESSION "IN THESE LAST DAYS"...

     1. Literally, "at the end of these days", which may be understood

        as referring to either:

a.    The closing period of the Jewish age (cf. Milligan)

OR…

        b. The period of the Messiah (most commentators)

     2. The Old Testament often spoke of "the last days" –

     3. As such it often had special reference to the age of the Messiah

        a. The apostles spoke of their time as the time of this

fulfillment - Acts 2:16-17 Peter’s address to the people on the day of Pentacost.

14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. 15 For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. 16 But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel:

           17      “ ‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares,

                       that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh,

                       and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,

and your young men shall see visions,

and your old men shall dream dreams;

           18      even on my male servants and female servants

in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.

Then he goes onto say that this person is none other than Jesus whom the chief priests had delivered up for crucifixion.

        b. Thus it denotes the final phase of history, brought on by

           the first coming of Christ, continuing until His second

           coming and the consummation of all things -

1 Cor. 10:11 1 Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come.

We are in these last times. I know, I know it seems like it has been a very long time. 2000 plus years, and who knows how many more are to come before “the last day” gets here, but it is coming. I love the encouragement that Peter gives us in this.

 This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, 2 that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, 3 knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. 4 They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” 5 For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, 6 and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. 7 But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.

8 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.

This means that there are people out there who God loves and wants to be with Him in heaven for eternity that have not come to repentance, who have not heard and believed the good Word.

That means for us that we have work to do.

A man from our congregation came up to me and basically said I have such a struggle believing in God because of all the junk in this world. All the evil. I can’t believe that a good God would let this go on for so long.

Look the reason there is so much evil is because the church has neglected her duty. We are all commanded to go out make disciples of all nations.

If instead we live the same lives as those out there. If we buy into all the lies the “God of this age” Satan puts out there, if we allow ourselves to be sucked in, and refuse to be different, refuse to be that salt and light, how can these people be saved.

Listen, Jesus told us that we would do more and even better works than He did, now why we would He say that?

It’s because when we trust in Him, and allow the Holy Spirit to take control, and are obedient to Him, we are like little Jesus’ running around, doing the things that He did, loving the way He did.

When there is more Jesus, more love, more power, there is less evil. Evil gets overcome, and people get saved, and they do not perish.

We let sin, distractions, and all kind of things in, and poof, we are rendered ineffective, and Satan has won.

That’s the answer to evil, submit to Jesus. Say to yourself, no I am not going to continue to lay down, and not confront the sin in my life, the sin in other’s lives, etc.

I’m not going to be politically correct. I am going to stand on the Word of God, and live by it.

That’s when we will see change in our neighborhoods, in our workplaces, in our homes, etc.

And because this is the last days, He has given a perfect revelation of Himself, as this passage says,

 B. GOD "HAS SPOKEN TO US BY HIS SON"...

     1. God has spoken once again, but note the contrast!

     2. "In time past" it was through "prophets"; but "in these last

        days" it is by "His Son"!

a. God has sent His own Son to speak for Him!

        b. As wonderful as the prophets were, how can they compare to

           God's own Son?

Now I want to take a moment to clear up this whole idea of God’s Son. I believe that many people get hung up on this title.

I mean when I think of my son, I think of someone who came out of me. I was, and then my son was.

Before my son was born, he was not yet created, but now he is.

The bible teaches very plainly, however that God’s son is different.

In John 1:1 we read the following. In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.

If we jump down a little further to verse 14 it says that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, GLORY as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

You see, right here, before the beginning that we know He was there as the Word of God. He is eternal, not created, but was in fact the agent of creation. That this Word was God.

It is not until He takes on flesh, as the person of Jesus Christ that He is called the Son.

So you see Jesus is fully God, eternal in nature, and has the all the attributes of God, but He came to earth as a man, born of a woman to redeem mankind from all of their sin.

He is the only human who is fully God and fully man at the same time. That is why He has the title, Son of God.

That is why this revelation is so much better than all of the previous revelation of God we have ever gotten from the prophets.

That is why this revelation, this representation of God, and the words He speaks are the final perfect words from God. There is not and will never be anything more.  

This person, Jesus Christ, is God in the flesh.     

That is why the wirter goes on to say so many wonderful truths about Jesus.

It says He is appointed heir of all things.

  C. THE EXCELLENCE OF "GOD'S PERFECT SPOKESMAN"...

     1. Jesus is "the appointed heir of all things"!

        b. As the "beloved Son", it is only natural that He would be

           the appointed heir

        c. What does "all things" include?

 1) All that the Father has! - John 16:15 All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you. [1]

           2) The authority to raise and judge the dead - John 5:26-296 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. 27 And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man.

           3) The authority to rule in heaven and on earth – Matt. 28:18

8 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

           4) This authority Christ has even now! - Acts 2:36; 10:36;

              Eph. 1:20-22; 1 Peter 3:22; Rev. 1:5

Speaking of Jesus Peter says in 1 Peter 3:22

who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.

What about Rev. 1:8, last week’s sermon from Pastor Bill.

I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.

     2. Jesus is "through whom He (God) also made the worlds"!

        a. Not only the "Heir", but also the "Creator"!

        b. For it was through the Son that God created the universe

           - cf. Jn 1:3; Col 1:16

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.

           1) All things were created "by (or through) Him" (He is the

              Creator)

           2) All things were created "for Him" (He is the rightful

              Heir)

     3. Jesus is "the brightness of His (God's) glory"!

        a. In Jesus we see the very radiance of the glory of God!

        b. As John wrote, "...we beheld His glory, the glory as of the

           only begotten of the Father..." - Jn 1:14

        c. When we behold Jesus, we see an extension of the glory of

           God!

     4. Jesus is "the express image of His (God's) person"!

        a. He is the exact representation of God's being and

           character! - cf. Col 2:9 For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily

        b. Therefore Jesus could say...

           1) To Thomas: "If you had known me, you would have known

              my Father also; and from now on you know Him and have

              seen Him." - Jn 14:7

           2) To Philip: "He who has seen Me has seen the Father;" - Jn 14:9

 5. Jesus is "upholding all things by the word of His power"!

        a. Not only the Creator, but also the Sustainer of the

           universe - cf. Col 1:17 ("in Him all things consist")

           1) By His word the universe holds together!

           2) All He has to do is say the word, and the universe is no

              more!

        b. Note well:

           1) This illustrates the power of His Word

           2) Shall we not listen when He speaks? - cf. Lk 6:46

     6. Jesus has also "by Himself purged our sins"!

        a. A clear reference to His death on the cross for our sins

        b. This speaks to His role as our Redeemer, a theme that will

           be prominent later in this epistle - cf. He 2:17; 9:26,28

     7. Jesus has also "sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on

        high"!

        a. This Jesus did when He ascended to heaven - Ep 1:20; 1 Pet. 3:22

        b. Sitting at the right hand of God is a place of honor, but

           for Jesus it is also a place from which He reigns!

           1) As indicated in Ep 1:21-22; 1Pe 3:22

           2) It is true that He is waiting for the His enemies to be

              made His footstool (He 10:12-13), but He is reigning

              until that time! - cf. 1Co 15:25-26

           3) As stated in Ps 110:1-2, from which the author to the

              Hebrews quotes, the Messiah was to "rule in the midst of

              Your enemies"

        c. Thus Jesus is truly "the ruler over the kings of earth"

           - Re 1:5; 17:14

CONCLUSION Worship Team

1. The sentence does not end with verse three...

  a. It continues on into verse four, with a declaration of Jesus'

     superiority over angels

  b. But that verse and the rest of the chapter we shall save for the

     next study

2. But what have we seen in this lesson?

  a. God is clearly a God who speaks, He makes His Will known to

     mankind! He wants you to know Him, that is why Jesus says I came to give you life, and life more abundantly.

  b. And now He speaks through His Son, Who is:

     1) The appointed Heir of all things!

     2) The Creator!

     3) The brightness of God's glory, the express image of His

        person!

     4) Our Sustainer, Redeemer, and King!

How can one turn their back on Him? Especially when the Majesty on

high proclaimed at the Mount of Transfiguration:

  "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!"

                                      - Mt 17:5

The question for you today is this

Are you heeding the words of the Beloved Son, "God's Perfect Spokesman"? - cf. Mt 28:18-20; Re 2:10

[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2001). (Jn 16:15). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.