God's Final Revelation of Himself

GOD SPEAKS

Hebrews 1:1–2 NKJV

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, through whom also He made the worlds;

Here we have the fact of inspiration: God spoke in the person of the prophets—God spoke in the person of his Son: God was the real speaker, the prophets and the Son were the persons employed by God; what these uttered God uttered.

In the Greek text, the order of the words is, “At sundry times and in divers manners God spake.” The Greek places his words at the beginning of a sentence for emphasis. Therefore, the main idea in the writer’s mind here is not that God spake, but that it was at sundry times and in divers manners that He spake. He is not combating the denial of a revelation, but is preparing the reader for the truth that God has now, after the preliminary revelations, given a final word in the revelation of His Son.

Wuest, K. S. (1997). Wuest’s word studies from the Greek New Testament: for the English reader (Vol. 10, p. 31). Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

GOD SPOKE

Revelation Was Progressive, Piece-meal in form and content

The First Testament revelation was progressive. All could not be revealed at once, and because all could not be understood at once. Thus the revelation was given in many parts. In addition to this, it was given in different modes. It was given in the form of law, prophecy, history, psalm, sign, type, parable. Expositor’s says that the people of Israel “were like men listening to a clock striking the hour, always getting nearer the truth but obliged to wait till the whole is heard.”

Wuest, K. S. (1997). Wuest’s word studies from the Greek New Testament: for the English reader (Vol. 10, pp. 31–32). Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

In the giving of the First Testament truth, God did not speak once for all, but in separate revelations, each of which set forth only a part of His will. One writer was given one, and another, another element of truth. God spoke in different ways. This does not refer to different ways in which He imparted His revelations to the writers, but to the difference of the various revelations in contents and form. He spoke to Israel in one way through Moses, in another, through Isaiah, etc. At the beginning of the revelation, the presentation was elementary. Later it appealed to a more developed spiritual sense. Again, the revelation differed according to the faithfulness or the unfaithfulness of Israel. Clement of Alexandria associates this passage with , “the many-tinted (polupoikilos (πολυποικιλος)) wisdom of God.”

Wuest, K. S. (1997). Wuest’s word studies from the Greek New Testament: for the English reader (Vol. 10, pp. 31–32). Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

JESUS SPEAKS

The Subject of, and Final Word of Revelation

“spoke,” is a participle in the Greek text, and is associated with the word “spoken” of verse two, which is a finite verb. That is, “God, having spoken, spoke.” Thus, we have the two revelations, that of the First Testament and that of the New, joined together.

Wuest, K. S. (1997). Wuest’s word studies from the Greek New Testament: for the English reader (Vol. 10, p. 33). Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

Wuest, K. S. (1997). Wuest’s word studies from the Greek New Testament: for the English reader (Vol. 10, p. 33). Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

“in these last days” The Jews saw two ages: the current evil age of rebellion and sin and the coming age of righteousness inaugurated by the coming of the Messiah in the power of the Spirit. The OT emphasizes the coming of the Messiah in judgment and power to establish the new age. However, it failed to see clearly the first coming of Jesus as the “Suffering Servant” in and the humble One riding the colt of a donkey in . From NT revelation we know that God planned two comings of the Messiah. The period between the Incarnation (the first coming) and the second coming involves the overlapping of the two Jewish ages. This is designated in the NT by the phrase “last days.” We have been in this period for over 2000 years.

Utley, R. J. (1999). The Superiority of the New Covenant: Hebrews (Vol. Volume 10, pp. 8–9). Marshall, Texas: Bible Lessons International.

ABOUT JESUS COMING

JESUS TOOK OVER

The New King James Version Jude

. 17 But you, beloved, remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ: 18 how they told you that there would be mockers in the last time who would walk according to their own ungodly lusts.

The letter to the Hebrews begins by asserting the greatest single fact of the Christian revelation: God has spoken to man through his word in the Bible and through his Son, Jesus. In Christ God has closed the greatest communication gap of all time, that which exists between a holy God and sinful mankind.

LISTEN UP!

His Words Announce Good News, Bow Your Knee

GOD SAVES

GOD SAVES

GOD SAVES

GOD SAVES

CREATOR AND SUSTAINER OF LIFE

He Designed, Made and Sustains Everything

GOD HIMSELF

He Is The Eternal God Revealing Himself To Mankind

PRIEST AND SACRIFICE

PRIEST AND SACRIFICE

He, And He Alone Saves His People From Their Sin

STAND FAST!

GOD REIGNS

The New King James Version

Matt. 3:17; Mark 1:1, 11; Luke 3:22; John 1:18; Acts 13:33; [Heb. 1:5; 5:5]

HEIR APPARENT

As Anticipated In , His Triumph Over Sin Will Be Made Permanent

KING OF KINGS

RIGHT HAND

Already Seated, His Work Is Done

LIVE BY FAITH!