" intro & superiority of the Son

I grew up seeing the behind the scenes of ministry. my dads’ being a pastor i would every so often hear stuff him vent to mom about some congregants being abit difficult. My parents were good at not letting us know the difficulty that it was to minster to a gorup of people. However, i learned that at a young age i was good at hearing vonerasations even when i was not trying to. dont worry i use those powers for good. when i hear things i mind my business....one event though was unavidable that my parents needed to share it with me and my siblings. There was this individual who had been in the l;earship board for a while now. She was respected by the few people that were left. They had had bad experiences with the past two pastors.and she was the one that hold the church togheter. several left. When my dad was appointed at the church he knew the huistory and was semsitive to and empatithic to what had ahappend. WIthing the month my dad was noticing that this poarticular congregant had a lot of saying and what she said go in that chuyrch. however, my dad wanted to build the churh up however he wanted to rewspect and walk according to their pace. After a year my dad would come home distressed and back then i diud not know what was going on i assumed it was money or something else but not the church. Until one day on my dad’s birthday he had a meeting with the board. That night he came and he knocked on my door and i saw hims eyes were red i asked hwat was wrong and he just said that mnthing htat he just wanted to hug me and give me a kiss. one months aftyer our parents sat us down and told us that my dad was being sued by that individual. Long story short the uMC provded a lawyer for my dad. Back then i was around 17 and i wanrted to be a lawyer so my parents thought it would be agood idea to go and see a case up clolse. Tey puylled me our of school and ii noticed that my mom was nwertvous and upset and my dad was cool as a cucumber. I was just happpy to be out of school. The day of the trial i ended up being in awe of the lawyer. We were waiting to be let in the court room and the lasywer met up there and the second the secuirtyt saw him they opened the door for him and for us. My dad sat and while the judge was asking qquestions, the plaintiff (lady from church_) kept raising her voice annd pointing at my dad. while she was yelliung, the judge was slamming the little hammer, the lwayer kept answering the judges questions, moo was crying next to me and my dad....well he was calm. The times that i would see him this calm was when he was in his favorite chair at homelistening to music.

In less than 40 min, the judge declared my dad guilty and even asked if he wanted to counter sued him for defaminity. my dad denied. To this day i was amazed with the authority that the lawyer had. The judge respected him and treated him as a college. he respected both parties. but sher knew that the lawyer had an authority that none of us did. My dad later told me that he was calm because he trusted in God and in the lawyer and knew that eh had nothing to hide. And he knew that the lawyer was going to stand up for him so there was not need to tlak and aste his energy. Everything was under control.

This month before we enter the season of advent. The first coming of our beloved savior. We will be studying the9 Superiority of God the Father. In the sermon Series “In Christ Alone.”

This months our scriptures will be from Hebrews. A bit of background , The book of Hebrews was written for those who were experiencing opposition to their faith in Jesus and facing pressure to give up. The purpose of the letter is to reassure them that everything they seek can be found in Christ. Hope in Christ is so much better than what society has to offer. Once their entire lives are transformed in Christ, the believers can withstand any persecution the world throws their way.

There are three main parts to Hebrews. The first two focus on portraying Christ as the ultimate expression of God: He is superior to angels, Moses, and Joshua (1:1–4:13).

The word of God declares:

God’s Final Word: His Son

1 In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. 3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. 4 So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.

The Son Superior to Angels

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

“You are my Son; today I have become your Father”[a]?

Or again,

“I will be his Father, and he will be my Son”[b]?

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

“Let all God’s angels worship him.”[c]

7 In speaking of the angels he says,

“He makes his angels spirits, and his servants flames of fire.”[d]

8 But about the Son he says,

“Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever; a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom. 9 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy.”[e]

10 He also says,

“In the beginning, Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth, 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 You will roll them up like a robe; like a garment they will be changed. But you remain the same, and your years will never end.”[f]

13 To which of the angels did God ever say,

“Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”[g]?

14 Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?

Warning to Pay Attention

2 We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. 2 For since the message spoken through angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, 3 how shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. 4 God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.

Jesus Made Fully Human

5 It is not to angels that he has subjected the world to come, about which we are speaking. 6 But there is a place where someone has testified:

“What is mankind that you are mindful of them, a son of man that you care for him? 7 You made them a little[h] lower than the angels; you crowned them with glory and honor 8 and put everything under their feet.”[i][j]

In putting everything under them,[k] God left nothing that is not subject to them.[l] Yet at present we do not see everything subject to them.[m] 9 But we do see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

10 In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered. 11 Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters.[n] 12 He says,

“I will declare your name to my brothers and sisters; in the assembly I will sing your praises.”[o]

13 And again,

“I will put my trust in him.”[p]

And again he says,

“Here am I, and the children God has given me.”[q]

14 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— 15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. 16 For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. 17 For this reason he had to be made like them,[r] fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. 18 Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

In the first couple of chapter we are explained the Uniqueness of Christ in Comparison with Other Mediators between God and Humankind. Chirst is to be known as Revealer, Representation, Royal High Priest (1:1–4)

Revealer

Whatever the alleged problems of speaking about “revelation,” our author shares with the mainline traditions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam the conviction that “God … has spoken” (1:1–2). This belief is “basic to the whole argument of the epistle” (Bruce 1964: 1). Unlike the traditions of Judaism and Islam, however, the author declares that Christ alone constitutes the definitive disclosure of the nature and being of God. He articulates the reality of an otherwise unfathomable God. Christ is “the exact imprint” of “God’s very being” (Gk. tēs hypostaseōs, “his underlying nature”). This means not that he “resembles certain aspects” of God but that as his exact representation he reveals “what it is that makes God be God” (Montefiore 1964: 35).

Christ’s work as Revealer, the author urges, stands equally in continuity with the OT revelation through the prophets and in contrast with its fragmentary or varied nature. “There is … a conception of a longitudinal ‘revelation history’ … a continuity which allows [OT revelation] to be construed as parts of a single process”; nevertheless, we also note “discontinuity.… The process has … achieved perfection … in the Son” (Hughes 1979: 6). To speak only of “NT Christians” in contrast to “biblical Christians” represents a deviation known in the second century as the “heresy.” We cannot ignore the OT, without it we are not able to understand the importance and the meaning of Christ.

“These last days” (1:2; Gk. ep’ eschatou tōn hēmerōn) reflects the Gk. LXX translation of Heb. beʾaharit hayyamim (cf. Jer 23:20; Dan 10:14) to signify the well-known contrast between “the two ages” of OT expectation and of Jewish apocalyptic. The practical significance for us is that those who used this language for the coming of God’s “Son” (v. 2) perceived this as nothing less than a cosmic turning point in God’s dealings with the whole world, not simply for Israel’s history.

Representation

At the heart of this epistle lies the theme of Christ as mediator:(i) As “descending” mediator Christ represents God to humanity. He reveals who God is, reflects or radiates God’s nature, and performs God’s work. (ii) Later the author will expound Christ’s role as “ascending” mediator: he represents humanity to God as high priest (4:14–5:8; 7:4–9:28). In 1:1–3a and 1:4 Christ represents God to humanity; v. 3b begins to anticipate Christ’s high-priestly representation of humanity to God.

Christ’s role and rank as representative of God also draws on OT and Jewish traditions concerning Wisdom and the Word as agents of God. “The hymn is a striking expression of Wisdom Christology.… In Heb 1:1–3 . we have a way of speaking about Christ in Wisdom terms”. In the OT Wisdom is “beside God like a master-worker” (Prov 8:30) as God “created the worlds.” Further in the Hellenistic Jewish book of Wisdom, Wisdom is described in terms which occur only here in the LXX but which are taken up in Heb 1:3: Wisdom is God’s creative agent in shaping the cosmos and as such acts as a “reflection” or “radiance” (Gk. apaugasma) of God (Wis 7:26; cf. Wis 7:21–27 and 9:2). The image suggests a channel of effects, like the warming of the earth by the sun through its rays. NT writers (esp. John 1:1–3; 1 Cor 8:6; Col 1:16, 17; Heb 1:1–3) apply this distinction between source of creation (usually Gk. ek, “from,” with the genitive) to God the Father, and agency of creation (usually, as here, Gk. dia, “through,” with the genitive) to Christ.

1:3 the radiance The Greek term used here is usually rendered as “reflection” or “radiance.” Because of the connection between glory and light, this is best understood as the Son radiating God’s glory. glory Describes God’s divine presence and splendor. The reference to God’s glory also relates to creation, God’s mighty acts), and His presence within the temple/tabernacle

The issue which Philo and Hebrews address about how a God who is “beyond” can be “real” for the world surfaces again today. Many argue that a “real” God would become a mere “object” in the world. But Hebrews insists that the enfleshed “Son,” Jesus Christ, is “the exact imprint of God’s very being”: it is Christ who makes “real” the otherwise hidden, mysterious God who is Other and Beyond. It is thus that God becomes definitively known, even if glimpses of this reality have been anticipated by “the prophets.” These verses find an echo through him [Christ] all things were made.” Christ is “the Place of the Conceivability of God” (Jüngel 1983: 152). He maintains the providential government of all created existence, whether terrestrial or transterrestrial being Through Christ God keeps the cosmos from falling into the abyss of non-being.

Royal High Priest

Hebrews makes special use of the theme of “drawing near” to God or of “entering into” his presence. This liturgical picture complements Paul’s social picture of reconciliation and putting things right. Hence the High Priest assumes a special role in “opening the way of approach” (Scholer 1991). Hebrews presupposes that God is not only generous in grace but also awesome in holiness. It cannot be taken for granted that human persons may “approach” God simply because they may wish to do so. However, God himself has provided a way of approach through the high-priestly work of his Son. The author emphasizes again and again that Christ’s priestly work is “finished” in the sense of its reaching a perfect completion

“The Son of God has accomplished something incapable of achievement by anyone else” (The word “purification” (Gk. katharismos) is relatively rare in the NT as an exposition of Christ’s atoning work (but it belongs to this priestly frame of thought

The thought moves on to the Christ’s being “superior to angels” (1:4) since angels were perceived also as agents of mediation between humanity and a holy, transcendent God. Occasional allusions occur in the NT; for example, “the angel Gabriel was sent … to Mary” (Luke 1:26, 27), and Jesus speaks of guardian angels in Matt 18:10. But while these “angels of the Presence” convey messagesand perform tasks, no angel conveys or reflects the reality of God’s own being. In this sense, our writer insists, any revelatory or representational role assigned to angels is of a qualitatively different order from the unique role of Christ as the one mediator between God and humanity.

Chapter 2:

In the second chapter we are being exhorted by the author. The subject of exhortation can be found all over the bible. It is when A message urging action that is characterized by warnings, advice, instructions, and urgent appeals.

It is important for us to understand and truly believe the authority that Chirst has. That God has given Christ. Becaseu trhough His airhotity we believe we are forgiven, restored, and saved from the savage hands of the accuser.

Not to long ago I was aggressively reminded of who I was before accepting CHirst. I explained like the blanket of Grace that covered me was removed and the old rags were eft to be seen and the shame began all over again. This past Wednesday in our James Bible study we began sharing how difficult it is to represent christ in days were our patience is tested daily…Then the subject of forgiveness came up…The hardest thing is not for God to forgive ourselves but for us to forgive ourselves. God does not remember our sins. The word says that once we confess, He forgives us and throws it from east to west. But it is only Christ who can truly erase that shame. When we forgive ourselves we are able to grab God’s forgivens and with the authority that we are given through Jesus Christ we are not chain to that anymore.

Before we pray, I want to encourage to take a couple of seconds. Is there something or someone, past, that has been heavy in your heart. Regrests a sense that you could have been a better parent, spouse, child, person. Know that God knows