Sermon Tone Analysis

*Hebrews 1:1-2… *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.

*Commentary*

            The author of Hebrews begins his epistle by reflecting upon the past and how God had spoken His words to His people “long ago” which is a reflection back to the days of the Old Testament.

The author says “our fathers” which indicates that the anonymous writer was a Jew and was writing to Jews.

The “fathers” he speaks of are clearly men like Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Joshua, Samuel, David, and Solomon in addition to the OT prophets who spoke.

In v. 1 he says, “at many times and in many ways God spoke…” The phrase “at many times” is literally “in many parts.”

The first “part” was when God began to reveal His will to Adam.

Later He revealed more of His will to Noah, then to Abraham, then to Moses, then to David, then to the prophets, etc.

Now God’s revelation came down through time in parts, and it came in various “ways.”

God spoke to Adam in the Garden of Eden, likely through the pre-incarnate Jesus Christ.

He spoke to Moses on Mt.

Sinai through a burning bush, to the prophets in dreams and visions, and to Daniel, Zacharias, and Mary through the angel Gabriel.

David and others recorded much of what God revealed to them in poetic verse, but God also inspired other writings containing His revelation in prose.

Some of it is even apocalyptic.

Whatever way God spoke, and to whomever He spoke, all that God revealed to the prophets of old was unfolding in a progressive revelation, and the writer of Hebrews will make the point that all of what God spoke in the ages past has its full climax in His Son Jesus Christ who is the fulfillment of all.

In v. 2 the author says, “in these last days God has spoken to us by His Son.”

The “last days” was a phrase used by Jews to denote the time their long-awaited Messiah would appear and deliver them.

Now the writer refers to his day as the “last days” because Jesus Christ is the Messiah – the Son of God through whom God would now speak and instruct His people.

This Messiah was “appointed the heir of all things.”

Jesus is the /heir/ of all things while in the flesh, for being made man, he put on a man’s nature.

In doing so he became the inheritor of all that God originally gave to Adam.

Of course Adam gave mankind’s inheritance away by sinning, but Jesus, as the heir of all things, fully restored what mankind had in Adam before he sinned.

Now because Adam sinned, all of his offspring also sinned.

Jesus, however, reversed that curse by providing atonement for sins.

Those who place their faith in Him for salvation begin to enjoy the good things of God as their union with Christ allows them to identify with him and all of his inheritance as God’s Son and heir.

Without Christ mankind is destitute and hopeless.

Jesus Christ is not only the heir of all things, he is also the creator of the world!

It was through Christ that God the Father created the earth in Genesis 1-2.

John 1:1-4 says as much, and Colossians 1:15-17 says that Jesus not only created all things but that all things are held together by him.

Clearly Jesus Christ is the Messiah, and the “last days” came when God became flesh.

*Food for Thought*

            The Bible claims to be God’s Word.

God speaks in this written word, and He has done it through many different people at many different times.

Jesus was God clothed in flesh, and when he came to earth he spoke as God Almighty.

He surrounded himself with men who, after he ascended into heaven, wrote down his words.

Those words as recorded in the Bible are God’s words because Jesus is God, so the only way to truly know God is to study that Word allowing Christ to reveal Himself.

What a loving God we serve in Christ!

He has revealed His will to us!

*Hebrews 1:3-4… *[Jesus Christ] 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.

*Commentary*

Verses 3-4 also reveal a wonderful Christology.

Jesus is first said to be the “radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature.”

Radiance is light, so Jesus is the light shining from God.

He does not merely reflect the light of God, he is God.

Verse 3 says he is the “exact imprint of [God’s] nature” which is a statement of clarification to the idea that Jesus radiates God’s glory.

The term for “imprint” denotes a mark or brand burned in or stamped onto something.

It is the precise reproduction in every respect of that which it reflects.

Because Jesus is God, and because God is all-powerful, v. 3 says, “he upholds the universe by the word of his power.”

Colossians 1:16-17 says basically the same thing: “For by [Jesus Christ] all things were created, both in heaven and on earth… all things have been created by him and for him.

He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”

So everything has its being and its nourishment through Jesus Christ who holds the entire creation together by the “word of his power.”

Remember it was simply God’s “word” that created the heavens and the earth and all they contain in Genesis 1-2.

Now by that very same word it all holds together.

Some folks are deists believing that God created the universe but that He left everything to natural law.

He performs no miracles and is wholly disinterested in His creation.

But Hebrews says otherwise.

Jesus, as God, not only created the universe and holds it all together, he came to earth and poured out his blood to atone for sins.

Then, after his work was complete, dying for his creation, he “sat down” at God’s right hand.

Sitting down at the right hand of the “Majesty on high” is an image of the ultimate honor and alludes to Psalm 110:1 which is cited explicitly in 1:13.

“Purification” of sins was the work of priests, so Jesus was a priest.

And contrary to the Israelite priests who were continually busy sacrificing animals to atone for the sins of the people, Jesus made purification for sins, /then he sat down/!

His work was fully complete (cf.

John 19:30).

Verse 4 says that once Jesus Christ’s work as a priest was complete, in addition to the fact that he upholds the universe as God, he “became” superior to the angels in name and deed.

The fact that the writer mentions Christ’s superiority over the angels proves that angels had become prominent in the thoughts and beliefs of the Jews – maybe too prominent.

Because the Jews viewed God as impersonal they adopted the belief that angels were intermediaries between them and God who bridged the gap.

Of course angels had appeared in OT times to give messages to man from God (e.g., Manoah, Daniel, Mary, etc.), but this gave rise to many false beliefs about their worship.

The Jews believed in guardian angels for both individuals and nations, an angel in charge of the sea, angels of weather, angels as wardens of hell, angels that recorded history, destroying angels, and an angel in charge of death.

No wonder the writer of Hebrews instructs these Jews that though angels are important, they pale in comparison to Jesus Christ.

*Food for Thought*

Christians today could learn some lessons from Hebrews 1. First, we must understand that Jesus is the ONE mediator between God and man (1 Tim.

2:5).

The Virgin Mary and dead saints are dead and don’t hear our prayers.

Jesus intercedes for us, not angels.

And second, Jesus is superior to all other messengers of the past.

The one who created and upholds the universe is at our service, looking out for us and protecting us in order that we might glorify Him.

Are you?

*Hebrews 1:4-6: *“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.”

*Commentary*

            Hebrews 1:4 claims that Jesus, because he is the Son of God and because of what he accomplished as Creator of the universe, Sustainer of it, and Redeemer of mankind, “became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.”

So Christ became superior, and in vv.

5-6 his superiority is seen in both his name and his dignity.

First, Jesus’ /name/ is superior to angels.

The author quotes Psalm 2:7 saying, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you.”

This is a messianic Psalm that anticipated the Messiah, and the Hebrews author affirms it was fulfilled in Jesus Christ.

King David originally wrote the Psalm, and this was a reference to him being God’s son and servant as king over Israel (cf. 2 Sam.

7:8-16).

Of course God promised that the Messiah would come through David’s royal line, and Christ did indeed stem from David.

In saying, “Today I have begotten you” David used this as an expression of the unique privileges he had in being God’s anointed king over Israel.

But the author of Hebrews used it in a deeper and messianic sense, and so when Jesus Christ was born he was “begotten” as the Son of God – affirmed as such through his resurrection (Acts 13:33-34).

Therefore Jesus cannot be put on the same level as angels since his name is superior to theirs.

The term “angel” simply means “messenger,” and although the angels in the Bible were used in a spectacular way by God as heralds of his words, they are in fact strikingly inferior to Jesus in name and function.

Jesus was not simply a messenger of God, He is God’s Son.

Second, Jesus’ /distinction/ is superior to angels in v. 6.

The author quotes Deut.

32:43 from the Septuagint (Greek version of the Hebrew text).

This quote speaks of the Messiah coming and the angels worshipping him.

Grammatically it can either refer to Christ’s second coming (“and when he again brings his firstborn in to the world…”), or it could simply be another quote to make the point regarding his first coming as the Messiah (“and again, ‘when he brings…’”).