It’s All About Jesus
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
The book of Hebrews is considered to be a complicated book by some.
However, the book is no complicated. It does give us some hard to understand texts, but the basic message of the letter to the Hebrews is that we can be confident in the person of Jesus Christ.
It is a letter written to the Jewish people. They are being persecuted under Roman rule, and because of their fear, they are returning to the old way of living. They are returning to the law.
The author of this letter is encouraging them to remember that Jesus is everything. If we return to the law, then we are losing everything.
In these first four verses, we see three things about Jesus.
I. The Final Word
I. The Final Word
God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets,
Since the Jewish people are discouraged, they are trying to return to the former things because that is what they are comfortable with.
This is a great danger for any church in any age because when the turbulence starts shaking the plane, we just want to get off. The final destination is soured because we want things to go back to being comfortable.
But in the life of a Christian, we don’t go back, we go forward.
Time and time again the Bible warns us of “returning to the former way”
But you have not so learned Christ,
if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus:
that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts,
and be renewed in the spirit of your mind,
and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.
As professing Christians, we believe that we should all be getting more Christlike.
That means that we are progressively changing into His likeness. We are changing day by day into Jesus Christ. The only way for us to do that personally and congregationally is to embrace an attitude that says, “I will follow Jesus and not return to the former things!”
The author of Hebrews is likewise reminding them that all those former things that they are holding on to are gone, and that everything is now about Jesus.
He says, “in various time and ways God spoke by the prophets.”
But the prophets were not the final word, Jesus is the final word.
What are the times and ways in which God spoke?
A. Nature’s Word
A. Nature’s Word
For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,
because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
Professing to be wise, they became fools,
and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.
This is something called natural theology.
Not that we don’t need the Bible to prove that God exists, but the fact of the matter is that by creation we can plainly see that there is a Creator.
But men, even in the beginning of time before the flood of Genesis 7, were corrupt and said, “There is no God, there is only material.”
So God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.
The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, They have done abominable works, There is none who does good.
The Lord looks down from heaven upon the children of men, To see if there are any who understand, who seek God.
They have all turned aside, They have together become corrupt; There is none who does good, No, not one.
So, God spoke to humanity in Nature in and in Creation and they rejected Him anyway.
B. Morality’s Word
B. Morality’s Word
What God did when He called Israel His people, is He very clearly defined His moral standard.
And God spoke all these words, saying:
“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
“You shall have no other gods before Me.
“You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth;
you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,
but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
“You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Six days you shall labor and do all your work,
but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates.
For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.
“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.
“You shall not murder.
“You shall not commit adultery.
“You shall not steal.
“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”
Now, there are a lot of laws besides these, but from these 10, every other law that we find in the Old Testament flows.
Jesus summarizes the entire law with two statements!
Jesus said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’
This is the first and great commandment.
And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
When we think about the 10 commandments:
(1) The first four laws have to do with loving God: 1. No other gods; 2. No carved images; 3. Do not take His name in Vain; 4. Remember the Sabbath.
(2) The final six laws have to do with loving your neighbor: 5. Honor your Father and Mother; 6. Do no murder; 7. Do not commit adultery; 8. Do not steal; 9. Do not bear false witness; 10. Do not covet.
So, God gave His moral law, and He made it as simple as 10 commandments and as complicated as Deuteronomy and Leviticus…but still, they couldn’t follow the law.
C. The Prophet’s Word
C. The Prophet’s Word
People are divided on exactly how many prophets there are in the Old Testament, but there is somewhere between 65-72 prophets that God used as His mouth piece.
These people spoke on behalf of God, usually to call the nation to repentance, but sometimes to encourage them through a difficult time.
But, for every prophet that God sent, the people of Israel rejected them and looked for something different.
“You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you.
Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers,
who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it.”
God, at one point in time spoke by the Prophets but they would not hear them.
God is patient, but God also has perfect timing.
D. Jesus’s Word (2a)
D. Jesus’s Word (2a)
God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets,
has in these last days spoken to us by His Son,
The writer is saying to them, “Don’t repeat the mistakes of the past. We know that God speaks to us and has spoken to us, and now He speaks to us through His Son Jesus. To return to the former ways of doing things is not going to cut it! This is the final word. It is the Word of the Son, Jesus.”
Later in the book, the author gives a sincere warning about ignoring the words of Jesus.
See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven,
The theme of the book is that it’s all about Jesus.
When we get spiritually lazy, and we neglect to live by and to live in the Word of God, we slip into disobedience and our hearts get hard. And when our hearts get hard, we start moving backwards in our faith instead of forwards.
These Hebrews were slipping in their dedication to God’s word and the faith.
1. Backslidden
1. Backslidden
(1) They were not maturing as quickly as they should have been.
For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food.
(2) They weren’t paying attention to the most basic tenants of the faith.
Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God,
of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
It’s a waste of time to try and change what God has clearly spoken about in His word. We don’t need to live according to dead religion. We don’t need to try and earn the favor of God, we must repent from those things and embrace the grace of God. Perfectionism will destroy a church. Extremism will destroy a church.
(3) They were missing church and didn’t think it was important to gather corporately
not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.
Sometimes I see that it’s a popular thing to say, “You can have church anywhere.” And that’s true, so long as you’re gathered with your local body of believers. To substitute the local church for your idea of church is to forsake the assembling of yourself. There’s no way around it, no matter how unpopular it is to preach.
It’s neither extreme or unreasonable to have a conviction that people ought to be at church.
It is extreme and unreasonable to condemn someone because they don’t make every single service or gathering.
What should we look for to consider someone as faithful to church?
The mark is the love that they have to gather with one another.
I love being at church. There isn’t another group of people I’d rather be around than my church family. That’s not superficial, that’s real. You are my faith community. You are a people that I want to serve and to serve with. It has nothing to do with legalistic attendance and everything to do with a desire to gather and to worship with you.
The Bible says, “In these last days, He has spoken by His Son.” and we would be wise to always seek the face of God in everything that we do. And we must endeavor every day to live by His word.
II. The Supreme Authority
II. The Supreme Authority
Sometimes we get it twisted and we think that we, some board or organization, or some kind of man made document is the authority over what goes on.
But the supreme authority over all things is Jesus Christ. He is the creator of the world and all that is in it, and what He says goes.
My authority is the Bible. If the Bible doesn’t say it, I’m not for it.
A. Appointed Authority
A. Appointed Authority
God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets,
has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things.
What has He been appointed to?
In Adam, the world was lost and so was his dominion.
The dominion that Adam lost is the dominion that Jesus Christ has now been appointed to inherit.
How did He do that?
Through a legal process of reconciliation and redemption, Jesus purchased the world back by His life’s blood which He spilled on the Cross.
Because of His righteousness, Jesus rose from the dead and will now inherit the earth as His prize.
He won’t just get a sin cursed world, He will get a new earth.
Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away.
Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.”
The One Who is sitting on the throne is Jesus! He will make the world new by His own Authority.
B. Creation Authority
B. Creation Authority
has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;
We already know through the gospels that He controlled the winds and the waves.
But John’s gospel really shows us the deity of Jesus Christ, where John declares that Jesus is responsible for all of creation.
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 were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.
For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.
So not only does Jesus have the authority to command creation, He has the power and the authority to create from nothing.
But this carries more than just a authority over the physical.
Jesus has a special authority over the prophets because Jesus is standing in heaven looking down through the corridors of history while we are still trying to wait for the future!
The Son of God is outside of the cosmos. He is not bound by space and time. He has supreme and ultimate authority and is greater than any prophet, priest, or angel.
III. The Highest Position
III. The Highest Position
who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.
We can think about all kinds of people in positions of power and respect them, hate them, or even want to be like them!
Sometimes we can work it into our own minds that we are in positions of power and the Bible says that it makes God laugh!
The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect.
There is no one that holds a higher position than God. The moment we think that we can start calling the shots is the moment that God brings us to ruin!
We must live in submission to God each and every day.
A. Majestic Position
A. Majestic Position
1. Brightness
1. Brightness
That word “brightness” means “radiance”.
He is quite literally a knight in shining armor. In His majesty Jesus sits on the highest throne.
2. Word of His Power
2. Word of His Power
It also says that He “upholds all things by the word of His power.”
There is something majestic about power.
What makes a lion so special?
I’ve seen those videos of prides of lions walking down bustling streets in Africa, and what can the people do?
Three males lions walking down the middle of a road? The only thing you can do is stop and let them get to where they are going, praying they don’t get hungry in the middle of their walk!
The majesty of the lion is their size, their demeanor, their raw power so delicately controlled. At any moment that lion could do whatever it wanted and no human could stop it with their bare hands.
Yet, no weapon of man or satan could stop Jesus Christ. He is as majestic as they come. He comes riding down on the cloud, out of the darkness to rescue His people.
3. Sitting in Majesty
3. Sitting in Majesty
When it says, “sat down at the right hand of the Majesty of high, it is saying that Jesus is sitting at the right hand of the Father.
The point is, what man, or what prophet has ever sat at the right hand of God?
The Jewish people, and we do it too, try and return to what man says. To what a prophet says. And we forget to look in the Bible for our instruction and life. It is by the word of Almighty God that we are made alive.
B. Unique Position
B. Unique Position
v. 3 says, “He had by Himself purged our sins.”
Now, Jesus is self-sustaining. Every other power here on earth needed a source of life, but Jesus is the source of life.
Purging the Pipes
When you walk into a nice commercial building or when you go to big venue or sporting events, if you’ll look up to the ceiling or on the walls, you’ll see something that most people won’t notice.
You’ll see pipes running everywhere. In many cases, those pipes are welded.
Welding is basically melting metal on metal and making it stick.
When you work on Navy Programs there are a lot of specialized rules and processes for welding.
There was a particular ship that I worked on and they only allowed you to weld two pipes together using something called a weld band.
A weld band was a circular piece of metal big enough around to slide over whatever size pipe you were welding.
Well, there’s also such things as a butt weld. What you do is you feather the face of the pipes and you butt them together and weld them.
The only way we were allowed to butt weld pipes on that ship was if we purged them first. The reason that we had to purge them was because there could be no impurities in the weld.
What we would do is we would cap those pipes with just enough space to put a line in there for a gas called argon.
Argon can be very dangerous. It has no smell and cannot be seen, and what it does is it displaces the oxygen. In other words, it pushes out any other type of gas and all that’s left is argon.
So, when we would “purge” the pipes, no gas or impurity was in there except for that argon.
As a result, the welds stayed clean and free from contamination.
What the writer is trying to convey in v. 3 by saying that Jesus purged us is that He didn’t need to offer a sacrifice for Himself and then cleanse us, but that He removed the contamination of sin by His own power.
This is how we know that Jesus is our High Priest. It is a unique position that only He holds.
For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens;
who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people’s, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself.
For the law appoints as high priests men who have weakness, but the word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints the Son who has been perfected forever.
C. Inherited Position
C. Inherited Position
having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.
Not only was Jesus made better than the priests and the prophets, He is made higher than the angels!
The Jews places a heavy emphasis on angels. But even the angels are below the name of Jesus.
Conclusion
Conclusion
There are so many other things that are fighting for our attention. We need to understand that there is nothing that we have more precious than Jesus.
When we start sacrificing our status in Christ by returning to the former things, we are doing ourselves a disservice.
