The Son’s Radiance – the Exalted Glory of God
- Sunday, February 7th, 2010| Sunday, February 7, 2010 | ||
| 6:00 am |
Introduction:
Flesh and blood Christians struggling to overcome past traditions and adjust to the fresh movements of God in a fast changing world.
They struggled to hold onto their faith in Christ in a world of growing chaos and powerful pressures from their culture.
For the most part, they were second generation Christians.
They had professed faith in Christ for some time. But they’ve reached a stage of discouragement and spiritual lethargy. Some had given up meeting in corporate worship. Experiencing opposition to their faith both from friends and family and from the culture around them. Fits the time between 65-69 AD…prior to destruction of Temple. Author steps into the background and exalts Christ. Brings them and us face to face with the central issue:
Who is Jesus?
~ No other NT book deals as fully with the present priesthood of JC.
~ No other NT book urges believers with such passion to call on their great high priest for help.
~ And, no other NT book focuses as much on the present greatness of Jesus as Hebrews except Revelation.
~ Hebrews has a special focus on the end times and the City of God coming to earth.
In summery:
~ Do we believe that Jesus is God the Son who is the creator and sustainer of the world?
~ Are we trusting in His death on the cross and his resurrection as the fully and completely sufficient basis for our salvation?
~ As a habit, do we turn to Jesus our High Priest for strength to face pressures, resist temptation, conquer guilt and achieve self-control in our day to day situations?
~ Do we count it the highest privilege to take up our cross daily and bear his reproach in the midst of a confused and immoral world?
~ Is the expectation of Christ’s return a shining reality to us that renews our strength and our outlook on life?
These are the encouragements and questions we will encounter in the Book of Hebrews.
I. Jesus Christ is God’s Last Word to Us!, 1:1-2a
Hebrews 1:1-2 “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son”
A. God spoke
For us to know anything about God, He must tell us.
Humankind lives in a natural box.
In himself he does not know anything for certain about the supernatural world outside his box.
The religions of the world are all an attempt by man to get outside his box.
But the message of Christianity is that God has spoken!
~ In ages past at many times and in many ways.
~ In these last days, in his Son.
God has taken the initiative to speak to us!
B. The Messengers: through the prophets
To our spiritual ancestors.
2 Peter 1:21 “For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”
2 Timothy 3:16 “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,”
Superintended the writers so that the message was completely true!
C. The Message: True but not complete! Let me ask you: do you understand the Old Testament?
Would you like to understand it better?
The Old Testament is incomplete.
40 + authors, over 1500 years.
A building process: line upon line, truth upon truth.
Genesis gives us some truth.
Exodus adds to this truth.
Truth builds and builds and builds.
Theologians call it “progressive revelation”
Progressive in the sense of from promise to fulfillment.
The OT is promise….the NT is fulfillment.
Matthew 5:17-18 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.”
1 Peter 1:10-12 “Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.”
The OT was not in any erroneous but it was under development.
Like a set of children’s picture books of
First letters. Then words. And then sentences.
Given the pictures of the tabernacle and the ceremonies and the types or pictures of Christ in the OT.
Hebrews 11:39 “And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised,”
To Adam and Eve was given the first promise of the coming Savior.
To Abraham and Isaac was given a picture of the Father’s sacrifice.
To David it was revealed that it was from his descendants that…
To Micah was given the name of the town from which the Messiah would come.
To Daniel was given the time of the Messiah’s birth.
To Malachi was given the fact that the Messiah would be preceded by a forerunner.
To Jonah was given the picture of Christ’s death, burial and resurrection.
Piece upon piece revelation was given.
Each piece pointed to the Messiah. But only in Jesus Christ Himself does it all come together.
John 4:25-26 “The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”“
Everything only comes together and is held together in Jesus Christ.
ILL: Ball puzzle! Interlocking pieces puzzle. He is the “interlocutor”
Referred to 7 times in Hebs: 1:2,5,8; 3:6; 4:14; 5:8; 6:6; 7:28; 10:29
II. The Seven Excellencies of Jesus Christ, 1:2b-3
1. He is “heir of all things”
All things belong to him and fall under his authority.
Psalm 2:8 “Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.”
Psalm 89:27 “And I will make him the firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth.”
Not a chronological term here.
Has to do with the legal rights of the firstborn.
Hebrews 2:5-9 “ Now it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking. It has been testified somewhere, “What is man, that you are mindful of him, or the son of man, that you care for him? You made him for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned him with glory and honor, putting everything in subjection under his feet.” Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him. But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.”
He is the heir of the universe, yet he had nowhere to lay his head. Luke 9:58
He had nothing for himself. Even his clothes were taken.
But he will completely and eternally inherit all things!
Romans 8:16-17 – wonders of wonders –
Those who embrace him will enter his eternal kingdom and inherit all things with him.
Those who reject him will lose everthing!
2. He “made the world”
Gk: aiones = literally – ages
The whole created universe of time and space.
Not only the creator of the physical world but he is responsible for creating time and space.
He created the physical universe and everything that is needed to make it function! As we move forward.
The very idea of global warming to the point of impacting the earth is born out of ignorance.
He created everything
John 1:3 “All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.”
Colossians 1:16 “For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.”
Sir John Echols, nobel laureate in neurophysiology said in Chicago in January 1968 that the odds that intelligent life evolved on earth are 400 thousand trillion, trillion trillion trillion to one.
Our hearts beat 800 million times in a normal lifetime. Pump enough blood to fill a string of tank cars running from Boston to NY. All the memories of our lifetime are packed into a ½ inch cubic section of our brains.
The Sun is 865,000 miles in diameter. You could pack 1.2 million earths in the sun and still have room for 4.3 million moons.
Where did all this come from? Jesus Christ himself.
Jesus is not a created being as JW’s and Mormons teach!
But the emphasis here is on the periods of time (dispensations) through which the world has passed, is passing and will pass.
3. He is “the radiance of His glory”
Gk: apaugasma = radiance = what shines out from the source of light.
The sunshine. The moon beams! Jesus is the radiance of God! Jesus Christ is the glorious light of God.
John 8:12 “Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.””
2 Corinthians 4:4 “In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”
2 Corinthians 4:6 “For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”
Jesus Christ is the full expression of the radiance of God.
And he comes into our lives to give us light to see and know God.
He gives us understanding and purpose and peace and joy.
I love to sit and read and pray and nap in the Sonlight!
4. He is “the exact representation of His nature”
Gk: character = representation. (Only here in NT)
Facsimile
Clear impression of Emperor on coins or the image made with a seal
Jesus Christ is the perfect, personal imprint of God.
Colossians 1:15 “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.”
Image = eikon = precise copy / image of God
Col 2:9 “9For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily,”
5. He “upholds all things by the word of His power”
He holds them all together
Not like Atlas holding the universe as dead weight. But, he carries all things forward (Gk: pheron) on their appointed course. An earthquake comes along and disrupts the normal condition of things. Can you imagine if Jesus took his hand of this world and relinquished his sustaining power?
Col 1:17 “And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.“
Philippians 1:6 “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.“
6. He “made purification of sins”
Jesus dealt with the sin problem once and for all.
Gk: katharismos = both the removal and cleansing of sin.
He established a new order of relationship between God and humankind.
7. He “sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high”
a. The place of honor.
b. The place of authority and power!
c. His work was finished
d. To intercede for us – he has the Father’s ear!
Why talk to Mary or anyone else when Jesus is right there?
A person who says anything less of Jesus than this says is foolish!
My friends, do you know who Jesus is?
Many have said…
Jesus Christ came from the bosom of the Father to the bosom of a woman.
He put on humanity so that we could put on divinity.
He became the son of man that we might become the sons of God.
He was born contrary to the laws of nature, lived in poverty, was raised in obscurity and only once crossed the border of the land of his birth. He had no wealth or influence other than his own person. He was not trained / educated in the great universities of his But other than his mom and dad his relatives did not understand
In his birth he startled a king.
In his boyhood he puzzled the learned Drs. of theology.
In his manhood he not only developed followers but enemies.
He ruled over nature.
He walked on the waves and quieted the sea.
He healed many people without medicine and did not charge
He never wrote a book and yet all the libraries of the world could not hold the books about Him. He never wrote a song but he is the focus of more songs than anyone or anything in history. He never founded a college yet he has more students than all the universities of history put together. He never practice medicine or psycho-therapgy but he has healed more broken hearts and more broken bodies than all the doctors in history.
Jesus Christ is the star of astronomy
The rock of geology
The lion and lamb of Zoology
The harmonizer of all conflicts
And the healer of all diseases.
Throughout history men have come and gone yet He lives on.
Satan could not seduce him.
Herod could not kill him
Death could not destroy him, And the grave could not hold him.