Untitled Sermon (1)

Jesus is Better!

The main idea of the book of Hebrews is that Jesus is better. The author of the book is speculated but relatively unknown. Scholars are pretty confident that it was a letter or a sermon written to Jewish Christians. And again, the main idea is to communicate to the believing audience that Jesus is better, so don’t give in to anything that is not of Jesus. In other words, “Christ is the best. Here’s why he is the best. Now that you know he’s the best, don’t go anywhere else! Why would you go anywhere else!?!” In fact the words better, best, and greater appear 25 times. Better The writer goes to great lengths to say that Jesus is better than the Old Covenant, the law of Moses, the priests, the prophets, etc. In Hebrews 1, he goes to great lengths to say that Jesus is better than angels. But before he does that, he gives a introductory word about who Jesus is. Do you know who Jesus is?

Introduction: Who is Jesus?

It is quite common to hear, in the church, the phrase, “What you believe about God is the most important thing about you.” This is true. Side note, it feels weird to take a phrase that people say a lot and praise it! I feel like cliches get a bad rap. Some are bad, but some are good. Shout out to the good ones. But this is true! What we believe about Jesus is foundational to who we are and what we do. And while we can assume that we all know who Jesus is, we shouldn’t just assume. This is too important. You know, Juliana and I love to rock climb. It’s fun, we do it together, it’s good excercise, etc. But you better believe I don’t assume Juliana knows how to belay me down the wall. And I don’t just assume that the highest holds on the bouldering wall are going to stay where they are. Instead of assuming, I do two things. First, I test things. I feel them out; I’ve watched these things work, I’ve watched Juliana belay other people and other people belay on the same wall. I’ve seen people grab those holds and I’ve watched them stay in place. Throughout time these things have passed the test. Second, I trust in an authority. What I mean is that I trust the people who have the authority to place the holds where they are. These things aren’t done by your average joe, but by professional routesetters. People who have been trained to do this task safely are coming in to put those holds in place so I don’t fall 15, 25, 50 feet to paralyzation. In the same way, we must not assume the identity of Christ. Why? Because when we do, we get way, way off. Stephen Nichols has a great book on this called Jesus Made in America. If you at all enjoy history and/or want to understand the movements of how our culture has understood Jesus, order that book. So instead of assuming the identity of Christ, we need to test our understanding of it with the Scriptures and trust the authority of the Scriptures. We test the scriptures by reading it and interpreting it faithfully and we trust the authority of the Scriptures by understanding that everything God has said in them is perfectly true and trustworthy.

So, believing that God’s word is completely true and trustworthy, let’s read it! says,

The Supremacy of God’s Son

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.

5 For to which of the angels did God ever say,

“You are my Son,

today I have begotten you”?

Or again,

“I will be to him a father,

and he shall be to me a son”?

6 And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says,

“Let all God’s angels worship him.”

7 Of the angels he says,

“He makes his angels winds,

and his ministers a flame of fire.”

8 But of the Son he says,

“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever,

the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.

9  You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;

therefore God, your God, has anointed you

with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.”

10 And,

“You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning,

and the heavens are the work of your hands;

11  they will perish, but you remain;

they will all wear out like a garment,

12  like a robe you will roll them up,

like a garment they will be changed.

But you are the same,

and your years will have no end.”

13 And to which of the angels has he ever said,

“Sit at my right hand

until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”?

14 Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?

So here’s our roadmap for the message today. We’re going to look at verses 1-3 and how they ascribe to Jesus absolute deity and absolute authority. Then we’re going to look at verses 4-14 and see how Jesus is completely better than angels. Finally, we’re going to put these things together and ask why this is so important for our doctrine, and more importantly, our life.

Point 1: Jesus is the Full Revelation of God

Wow. I believe that is one of the most appropriate things we can say after reading a text like that. Wow. This passage is one of those “poster child” passages for Christology (the study of Christ) and more specifically, the deity of Christ.

The first thing we should notice about it is its sudden change in audience. Especially given the fact that this was a letter written to Jewish Christians, it’s really significant. The main verb in the first sentence of the letter is the word “spoke.” Verses one and two revolve around this idea and boy is it significant. It may not seem this way; however, because you and I speak every day. I’m speaking right now! But when God speaks, the level of importance and value rises infinitely. When the writer says “God spoke” what he is getting at is the fact that God has revealed himself. So, immediately, the writer of Hebrews describes that a three major shift in the revelation of God has taken place. First, the revelation used to be “long ago,” but now it is “in these last days”? Do you see? At the beginning of verse 1 and then verse 2? Okay, shift number 2. Before, God spoke to our Fathers whereas now he speaks to us. And the last shift is that God used to speak by the prophets, but now he has spoken by his Son. An easy way to summarize this is that in the Old Testament and the Old Covenant, God revealed himself through human prophets who delivered God’s word to Israel. But in the New Testament and the New Covenant, God has revealed himself to us, not through any human prophet but his very Son. Why does he do this? Let’s read on!

The son is the one “whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom he also created the world . (Verse 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.” Here we begin to see that the Father reveals himself through the Son because the Son is the only perfect representation of the Father. He radiates God’s glory and is the exact imprint of his nature? In what world could that ever be said about any prophet? None! There is none like Jesus. As the Son of God, Jesus is equal with God. And if Jesus is equal with God, there is no better revelation than God himself in the person of Jesus Christ. The text goes on to say that “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.” Who can sustain creation but God alone? Job tells us that in chapter 38. Who can forgive sins but God alone? The whole Bible tells us that one! Having done all these things, Jesus is worthy to “sit down at the right hand of the Majesty on high” as a perfect member of the Trinity.

Why does this matter then? Why is it important for me to know the details of the deity of Jesus Christ and the fact that God has revealed himself to us through Jesus Christ?

We only have eternal security if Jesus is God

We can keep ourselves from accidental heresy

We can have greater, truer joy in our great God

Point 2: Jesus is Better Revelation than Angels

Application: Christ is Worthy