03142021 Is Jesus Enough?
Notes
Transcript
God Has Spoken...
God Has Spoken...
In the first four verses – one long sentence – divinely inspired words of God, the writer of Hebrews gives us pearls of truth knotted on one crimson strand - the theme of Hebrews perseverance by keeping our eyes upon Jesus...
“fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:2, NASB95)…so that yu will not crow weary and lose heart...
Through these words he encourages his hearers to persevere in the faith – to be faithful to the end.
God has spoken long ago to the fathers in many times and various ways...
BUT NOW...He has spoken finally and uniquely in the Son.
When we see the Son, we see the Father.
The words stress the divine glory belongs to the Son;
The sustaining power which upholds the universe belongs to the Son;
The work of redemption belongs to the Son;
The reigning, exalted majesty of God belongs to the Son.
But hearing these opening words of this sermon, I can imagine someone asking,
“But where does it say these things in the Bible?” or “Where does it say that in the OT?
If the Bible is our only rule for faith and practice, then there ought to be some evidence of these things in our Bibles...
That’s exactly what this preacher of Hebrews is going to do in verses 4-14. He doesn’t develop his argument like Paul does in Romans. It’s not a neat linear outline going from point A – Z. He switches back and forth between exposition and exhortation – between doctrine and doing.
His exposition focuses on the Son using different themes, but he always brings us back to the same idea that...
Christ is preeminent in all things - better, superior
The exhortation portions of this sermon return again and again to the same theme:
perseverance - sin, the results of continued unconfessed sin, punishment, promise, the need to receive the message of God, the voice of God, Jesus/the Son, obedience, endurance, and perseverance to the end.
All of this – exposition and exhortation - is woven together with words of promise or words of punishment.
If those who hear this word endure through faith there is great reward, but if the hearers fall away and reject the word of God he warns of the consequences:
31 It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Through exposition and exhortation, the writer seeks to motivate, to challenge - to encourage his listeners to action.
Now when we get here to verse 4, he makes the first of several comparative statements.
He calls attention to the Son, having sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much better than the angels, as He inherited a more excellent name than they....
Read Hebrews 1:3-2:1-3
3 And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they.
5 For to which of the angels did He ever say, “You are My Son, Today I have begotten You”? And again, “I will be a Father to Him And He shall be a Son to Me”? 6 And when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says, “And let all the angels of God worship Him.”
7 And of the angels He says, “Who 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, And the righteous scepter is the scepter of His kingdom. 9 “You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of gladness above Your companions.”
10 And, “You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the works of Your hands; 11 They will perish, but You remain; And they all will become old like a garment, 12 And like a mantle You will roll them up; Like a garment they will also be changed. But You are the same, And Your years will not come to an end.”
13 But 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 render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?
1 For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it. 2 For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty, 3 how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard,
Prayer of Illumination
Interesting - Now why would the author of Hebrews introduce the subject of angels here?
He has been arguing Jesus is the superior, the final revelation of God; that He is greater than the prophets; that you see God more clearly in Christ than in all of the law and the prophets.
Why Angels?
Why Angels?
It is apparently not because this congregation was tempted towards angel worship. You remember Paul talks about the Colossian Christians being tempted in that direction. There is no indication in the book of Hebrews that any of these people wanted to worship angels.
But these Jewish Christians were apparently tempted by some contemporary views about angels, to think of angels or maybe a particular angel as being higher or more even more important than Christ.
There is some thought here, as I mentioned last week, that this Jewish congregation had come in contact with a group called the Essenes, a non-conformist Jewish group who lived in a community at Qumran on the Dead Sea.
They believed that the Old Testament did speak about Messiah.
But the Essenes broke down the Old Testament teaching about Messiah into three categories.
They taught that there would be a prophet messiah who would come in fulfillment of the messianic promises and
there would be a priestly messiah who would come in the line of Aaron,
and that there would be a kingly messiah who would come from the line of David.
They believed that these three offices would be filled by three separate, distinct people.
The priestly messiah would be in charge of the revitalization of the religion of Israel
the kingly messiah would be in charge of the revitalization of the government and society in Israel.
The prophetic messiah would preach the word of God...
Above all these three figures would be Archangel Michael who would superintend the entire restoration of Israel in fulfillment of the promises of the New Covenant found in Jeremiah and elsewhere in the Old Testament.
This is exactly what this preacher is arguing against.
He wants it to be crystal clear that the Lord Jesus Christ, if they considered Him the prophet or the priest or the kingly messiah, whichever they considered Him to be, is not to be thought of as lower than Michael.
He is infinitely higher than Michael. He is the one who is come to fulfill all three offices - prophet, priest, and king.
This is the argument presented by the author of Hebrews. There is no one who even comes close to the exalted position of the Lord Jesus Christ. And because he is speaking to people who believe in the authority of the Old Testament, he is going to go right back to the Old Testament and he is going to say, “Let me show you what the Old Testament tells us about the Messiah. (Similar to what Jesus did with the disciples who walked with him on the Road to Emmaus - Luke 24:24-27)
He is the one who is the prophet.
He is the one who is the priest.
He is the one who is the king.
He is the one who is much more superior than the angels and has inherited a name that is more excellent than theirs.
What’s in a name?
What’s in a name?
Names in biblical times were not normally given to a child immediately at birth. And when they were given, the name described a characteristic.
Isaac = Laughter (Gen 21:6)Esau = red & Jacob = deceiver (Gen 25:25-26)
Moses was given his name because it sounds like the word in Hebrew for “draw out” of the water מְשִׁיתִֽהוּ .
Abram’s name was changed by God to Abraham which means the father of multitudes (many nations).
When Moses asked God who he was to tell the people who sent him, God answered Yahweh – I am that I am.
Isaiah’s prophecy (7:14) speaks of one called by the name Immanuel which means God with us.
Angel of the Lord speaking to Joseph = “She will bear a Son and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” (Matt 1:21)
Here is one that has a name greater than the angels for whom the Apostle Paul says is a name,
21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22 And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
A Name Above Every Name
A Name Above Every Name
“who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, (Phil 2:9-10)
The preacher establishes in this next section the unquestionable superiority of the Son as he references 7 OT quotations supporting his main theme:
Jesus is more superior than anything in this world that you can see. He is more superior than anything in this world that you can’t see. So keep your eyes focused upon Him, the author and perfecter of your faith.
These 7 OT references are directed at three main points...
1) the Son is superior to the angels because of his unique relationship with the Father (vv 4-5);
2) The Son is superior to the angels because of the Work He does (vv. 6-7);
3) The Son is superior to the angels because He is Eternal (vv. 8-12).
First in v 5 he quotes from two Old Testament passages:
Psalm 2:7 and II Samuel 7:14.
His Unique Position (v 5)
His Unique Position (v 5)
5 For to which of the angels did He ever say, “You are My Son, Today I have begotten You”? And again, “I will be a Father to Him And He shall be a Son to Me”?
This is not saying that Jesus was at one time not equal with God and later He became equal with God. This is speaking about what He received as a result of His work as mediator.
He and the Father had agreed, before the foundation of the world and through the covenant of redemption, to work on behalf of our salvation. And so, in fulfillment of His perfect work of salvation, He receives this name.
Look at Psalm 2:7 (Acts 2:7) 2 Samuel 7:14
7 “I will surely tell of the decree of the Lord: He said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.
This Psalm is speaking in the immediate context of the Lord’s Anointed King - David and his descendants. Yet, the author of Hebrews says that ultimately this Psalm applies to Jesus.
This Psalm is pointing to the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Son of the Father (“You are My Son”). The Son is absolutely unique; and so if we desire to participate in the blessings of this Son as adopted children, we must be related to Him by faith.
His name is above every name because of His Unique Position to the Father and because ...
His Completed Purpose (vv 6-7)
His Completed Purpose (vv 6-7)
Deut 32:43 & Psalm 104:4
What the angels do is important, but in the grand scale of things, they are still only messengers - ministering spirits sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation. (Heb 1:14)
They worship the Son. They are ministers for God. It is true – angels play an important and positive role in God’s design of things, but even when compared to beings as high as the angels, the Son is of an infinitely higher status than they because of...
His Eternal Permanence (vv 8-14)
His Eternal Permanence (vv 8-14)
The last point (v. 8-14) emphasizes the Son’s eternal rule and nature as the second person of the trinity and points us to three OT references...
6 Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of uprightness is the scepter of Your kingdom. 7 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of joy above Your fellows.
25 “Of old You founded the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands. 26 “Even they will perish, but You endure; And all of them will wear out like a garment; Like clothing You will change them and they will be changed. 27 “But You are the same, And Your years will not come to an end.
1 The Lord says to my Lord: “Sit at My right hand Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”
God is one, but there are three distinct persons in the Godhead - “three distinct persons and one essence” – Here is the Son directly addressed as God (v. 8) and in the next breath the declaration that God has anointed him, setting him above everything else in this world (v. 9)
Here is the one who is the same yesterday, today and forever, whose years will not come to an end.
Here is one (v. 13) who is exalted to the right hand of God the Father, who intercedes for us even now.
Name above every name - His Unique Position with the Father - His completed Purpose on behalf of those He came to save and His Eternal Permanence....
Angels - Their Purpose
Angels - Their Purpose
This Preacher focuses our attention on the preeminent position of Jesus in order to draw our attention to the preeminent authority of Jesus.
And he does this to draw our attention away from the things in this world that so easily distract us - Is Jesus really enough?
He is our final authority - He is all we need and in a world that struggles with the question of authority and doing enough – here we have the answer - Jesus is all we need. Jesus is enough to meet our every need.
And yet, even with this warning what do we see - hear today?
There exists a great fascination with angels even among many in the Christian church.
Search on Amazon.com - over 80,000 books about angels...
Angels 101: An introduction to Connecting, Working and Healing with the Angels,
Adventures of My Guardian Angel,
In the Arms of Angels: True Stories of Heavenly Guardians;
Angel Therapy Handbook;
Angels all Around Us: A sightseeing Guide to the Invisible World . . . on and on
But remember what the writer of this sermon has said:
Don’t get distracted by the things around you - “Fix your eyes upon Jesus. He is the author and perfecter of your faith.”
Don’t be distracted by wordly wisdom.
Jesus is not one way among many.
He is THE WAY.
Hebrews challenges us to “consider Jesus”
1 For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it.
1 Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
3 For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
Fix your eyes upon him - the exalted author and finisher of the faith, as a means of staying the course of commitment.
Our Lord is the Eternal One (1:8-12; 13:8), and we need not fear that our changing circumstances or the passing of time will diminish his abilities on our behalf to deliver what he has promised.
Here is the one who stands outside of time as he encourages us who are stuck in time to persevere in our faith through time.
Is Jesus Enough?
Is Jesus Enough?
The angels, as glorious and exalted as they are — notice how the author of Hebrews points that out in the very last line? He’s not downplaying angels at all; they are servants of God.
“Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?” (v. 14)
As glorious and as exalted as they are, no angel was ever humiliated for you.
No angel ever hung on the tree bearing the full weight of your sins - those He came to save
Angels (1 Peter 1:12) long to look into the mystery of this relationship that God through Christ has with his people - those created in His image.
But the Son of God, who is superior to angels, who is master of all angels, who is King ruling and reigning over all creation, who is the Creator of this world, who sits at the right hand, He shed His blood for you.
And the Father says, “You see what My Son did for you so that you could be forgiven, so that you could be accepted, so that you could be brought into the family of God and inherit all of the things that I promised to My Son, do you see what He endured for you, the humiliation that He bore for you?
No angel ever did that for you.
Is Jesus Enough?
Jesus is all we need; there is nothing and no one who can add anything to Christ. His person and His work are perfect. He is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). He is the only one who can save, provide, bless, equip, and strengthen.
This persevering faith in Christ involves trusting in His complete sufficiency.
On the night of Jesus arrest, Philip made a request of the Lord: “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us” (John 14:8). Jesus’ answer was that He is enough: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (verse 9). Philip thought he needed something else—maybe another sign, maybe a little more revelation—and that would suffice.
But Philip already had all he needed, standing right in front of him.
Jesus is enough.