Hebrews 1

1) God Speaks!

Heb 1:1-2 “God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.”

It wrong to assume that God created a world that He is silent in

God created a world so that He could interact with it

From the beginning we see God involved with humankind

He was involved with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden

He was involved with Israel

And He is involved today

Jesus said many times, “He who has ears, let him hear”

QUESTION: What do you think Jesus meant by saying that?

Listening is not the same as hearing

To hear the voice of God your heart must be right with God

And the reason many people do not hear from God is not because God has stopped speaking, its because people have stopped listening

God spoke to His People in the past

God spoke through the prophets

God raised up men in the past as a mouthpiece to his people who were repeatedly backslidden and falling into sin.

These were men who could declare, “Thus saith the Lord”

Old Testament commands, exhortations, stories, visions, dreams, mighty acts, breathtaking theophanies, and a still small voice, to name a few

What was once the Word of God will always be the Word of God

God speaks to us today through His Son

What is he referring to as “these last days”?

This is the age in which we living in

We can divide the times into three categories

The time before Jesus

The time after the birth of Jesus

Eternity

To us!

How did God speak through His Son?

Through His Words

Scripture

Through His person (His character and His response to humanity)

Through His works (miracles)

2) God revealed Himself to us through Christ

Heb 1:3 “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,”

What is someone’s nature?

It is what someone truly is. Their essence, what they are made of.

What God essentially is, was manifested in Jesus Christ

This is why Jesus said Philip, “If you seen Me you have seen the Father”

Jesus is an exact representation of God’s very being or nature. So when we read the gospels and the Words of Jesus, it is as if God Himself is speaking and acting and responding.

Does anyone in here separate Christ from God the Father when you think of them in your mind?

Jesus is more loving?

God is more powerful?

Jesus is more forgiving?

God is more judging?

The nature, the love, the way Jesus acted and responded to humanity is the same exact way God responds to us today. This takes the distance out of the text from when it was written to today. If the nature of God was revealed in Jesus, then that is the way I can see God today.

Where is Jesus as today? (At the right hand of the Father)

If Jesus is in heaven, then how does God speak to us?

Jesus speaks to us today through the Holy Spirit of God.

John 14:16-20 “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. “After a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me; because I live, you will live also. “In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.”

John 10:27 “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me;” \

3) God sends Angels to minister to those who will inherit salvation

Heb 1:14 “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?”

Notice the angels do not minister to everyone

Who do they minister to?

All those who will inherit salvation

That includes those who are not yet saved, but will be saved

The cultural belief is that everyone has a guardian angel

That is simply not true

These are God’s agents sent out to serve God’s people

How do they minister to us?

They are sent to earthly missions for the benefit of believers

Can you remember a time in your life when you felt supernatural deliverance or presence?

Application: What does an angel look like today?

Heb 13:2 “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it.”