Christmas. God's Greatest Revelation
Christmas: God’s Greatest Revelation
Hebrews 1:1-4
Couple had a Christmas wedding. Beautiful ceremony. Wonderful reception.
Took their honeymoon in Washington, D.C. Wonderful time. Beautiful White House Christmas tree. Saw all of the buildings decorated and lit up for Christmas. Took a romantic carriage ride through historic Capitol Hill. Even snowed a little while they were there.
Even stayed in the Watergate Hotel in Washington.
When they first checked in, the bride was a little concerned.
“What if the place is still bugged?”
The groom said, “I’ll look for a bug.”
He looked behind the drapes, behind the pictures, under the rug.
Finally, he said, “AHA!” Under the rug was a disc with four screws.
He got his Swiss army knife, unscrewed the screws, and threw the screws and the disc out the window.
The next morning, the hotel manager asked the newlyweds, “How was your room? How was the service? How was your stay at the Watergate Hotel?”
The groom suspiciously asked, “Why are you asking me all of these questions?”
The hotel manager replied, “Well, the couple in the room under you complained their chandelier fell on them.”
What you don’t know really can hurt you ... or others!
What you don’t know about God … and salvation … can be hazardous to your eternal health.
There are some things that God wants you to know. That’s why He has spoken.
[Read Hebrews 1:1-4]
v. 1 – “God … spoke in time past” – in different times and in different ways – by the prophets.
Talking about OT revelation.
· Sometimes God spoke through His mighty acts of history – like the parting of the Red Sea.
· Sometimes God spoke through angelic messengers who revealed truth to His prophets – as He did to Daniel.
· Sometimes God spoke to His prophets through dreams and visions – as He did to Ezekiel and Isaiah.
· Sometimes God spoke directly to the heart of His prophets with a message for His people – as with Amos and Elijah and others among the prophets.
Bottom line: He spoke in time past.
But notice God’s final, full, perfect, permanent, greatest, and most glorious revelation of Himself:
v. 2 – “God … has in these last days spoken to us by His Son.”
Christmas – the incarnation – the coming of God in the flesh.
Christmas – the revelation – the unveiling of all that God is in His Son.
Passage continues on to show us seven things that God wants you to know about Jesus.
Greatest truth anyone could ever talk about – I’m sharing with you today.
I pray with all of my heart that you will get a bulldog grip on this truth – and don’t let it go.
When the child of God
Loves the Word of God
And sees the Son of God,
He is changed by the Spirit of God
Into the image of God
For the glory of God
Because He has found the truth of God.
Notice with me seven stunning certainties about Jesus Christ.
1. Jesus is the Son of God
God wants you to know and understand today that Jesus is His Son.
Jesus is the Son of God.
Hebrews 1:2 … His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things …
Notice those two words that go together here: His son, whom He has appointed heir.
In the Bible, there is a vital connection between sonship and heirship
Jesus is God’s unique, only begotten Son. His Father possesses all that there is in the universe, and Jesus is the heir. He will inherit the universe.
As God’s Son and heir, Jesus shares ownership of everything with the Father.
· The same character.
· The same holiness.
· The same majesty.
· The same righteousness.
· The same glory.
· The same power.
· The same kingdom.
· The same authority.
· The same dominion.
Some folks may show up at your door from time to time, wanting you to take some of their literature. They believe all kinds of strange things about the end of time, prophecy, and what not. And they love to talk about those things.
But the main thing that separates those folks from biblical Christianity is this: they don’t really believe that Jesus is God. They believe that He’s an agent of God. They believe that He’s a messenger of God. But they don’t believe that He is the eternal Son of God.
All that God is, Jesus is. He is nothing less than God.
God underscores that truth throughout the Bible:
Psalm 2 is a psalm about Jesus. It goes back to eternity past, and records a conversation between Jesus and the Father long before the worlds were formed:
Psalm 2:7 The Lord has said to Me, “You are My Son, today I have begotten You.
Psalm 2:8 “Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your possession.”
In Jesus’ lifetime, God amplified this same truth.
Matthew 3 records something that happened at the very beginning of Jesus’ ministry:
Matthew 3:16 When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him.
Matthew 3:17 And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
One day – deep into His ministry – Jesus took Peter, James, and John – His inner circle – to the top of a mountain. There something amazing happened.
Jesus’ clothes began to shine, exceedingly white, like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them. He was clothed with bright light. Then Elijah and Moses appeared, and they began to talk to Jesus.
Peter started talking, “It’s good for us to be here. Let’s make three tents, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
He didn’t know what he was saying, but he was talking anyway. Then God the Father interrupted Peter’s rambling:
Mark 9:7 And a cloud came and overshadowed them; and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!”
Mark 9:8 Suddenly, when they had looked around, they saw no one anymore, but only Jesus with themselves.
“This is My beloved Son!” “This is My beloved Son!” “This is My beloved Son!” “This is My beloved Son!”
God has underscored this truth. He wants you to know that Jesus is God’s Son.
Notice another certainty about Jesus with me:
2. Jesus is the Creator of the World
Hebrews 1:2 … through whom also He made the worlds …
First 10 words of Scripture are:
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”
Q: “Brother Rummage – You’re an educated man. You’ve been to graduate school and post-graduate school. You have a Ph. D. And even before you went to seminary, you took biology and astronomy and chemistry at secular schools and university. Brother Rummage, surely you don’t believe in creationism.”
A: “Absolutely I do!”
Q: “Yes, but Brother Rummage, surely you don’t believe that God created the world in a week.”
A: “Oh, no, I don’t believe that. It only took Him six days. On the seventh day He rested!”
Q: “But, Brother Rummage, surely you don’t believe those were six literal days.”
A: “Well, the Bible calls them six days. If God didn’t mean what He said, why didn’t He say what He meant?”
I’m an unashamed, unabashed, and unapologetic creationist.
I believe that God made everything – including human beings – and that He did it the way He said He did in His Word.
I believe that Adam and Eve were real people who lived in a real garden and got themselves into a real mess!
IL: Would you believe me if I told you that the suit I’m wearing came into being through spontaneous generation? That it just happened. What if I said, “I took a bolt of fabric, three spools of thread, eight buttons, a pair of scissors, and a sewing needle. I locked them in a closet for five years. I opened the closet this morning, and I discovered that from that assortment of materials a men’s suit had evolved?”
Would you believe that? What if I put those things in the closet for 15 years? Or 15,000 years?
Secularists and evolutionists would tell us that man and all of creation just happened.
That if you take nothing and add time plus chance, you wind up with everything and everybody.
Thousands upon thousands of people believe that man emerged out of primeval slime. Man just evolved.
· Man – whose every cell is more complicated than New York City – just happened.
· Man – whose tiny cubic half-inch section of brain cells contains all the memories of a lifetime – just accidentally emerged.
· Man – whose ear transfers sound waves from air to liquid without losing any sound – had no divine and intelligent designer at all.
Here’s the truth: If you’ve got a problem with creationism, you’ve got a problem with far more than just the first few chapters of Genesis.
You’ve got a problem with the entire Bible – because every page of the Bible assumes that we are God’s creation and are therefore accountable to Him.
More than that – you’ve God a problem with Jesus. Because the Bible clearly says that He is the creator.
Hebrews 1:2 … through whom also He made the worlds …
The word translated “worlds” here is aiōnas. The aeons. It does not mean the material world but “the ages,” as it is often translated.
That means Jesus Christ is responsible not only for the physical earth; He is also responsible for creating time, space, energy, and matter.
Jesus Christ was the active agent in all creation. He brought into being the stars, the atmosphere, the earth, the human race, and God’s plan for all over history.
Everything – spiritual and physical was made by Him.
John 1:3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.
Colossians 1:16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.
God wants you to know that Jesus is the Creator of the World.
But then also notice …
3. Jesus is the Glory of God
Hebrews 1:3 who being the brightness of His glory …
Notice two words: first, the word, “glory.” It’s a word that means “shining light.” It pictures God’s holiness and power and majesty.
Notice the word “brightness” – it means something that shines out. It’s a picture of radiant light.
The light of the moon is reflected light. Without the sun shining, the moon would be dully dead and deadly dull. Just a cold, darkened rock moving through space.
The sun, however, possesses radiant light. It shines on its own.
The Bible says that Jesus is the radiant light of God’s glory. Human beings can reflect God’s glory. That’s what we’re intended to do. But Jesus radiates God’s glory. Because He is God’s glory.
John 1:14 And the Word [Jesus, God’s eternal Son] became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
Jesus is the glory of God.
Now, the next truth about Jesus travels hand in hand with this one:
4. Jesus is the Image of God
Hebrews 1:3 … and the express image of His person …
You’ve heard the story of the little boy drawing a picture. His teacher asked, “What are you drawing?”
The boy replied, “It’s a picture of God.”
The teacher said, “But, no one knows what God looks like.”
The boy answered, “They will when I finish this picture.”
God’s word says, “If you want to know what God looks like, turn your eyes upon Jesus!”
He is the image of God. The phrase, “express image” translates the Greek term used for the impression made by a die or stamp on a seal. The design on the die is reproduced on the wax.
In the same way, Jesus Christ is the reproduction of God. He is the perfect, personal imprint of God
The night before He was crucified, Jesus was in a large Upper Room with His disciples. Talking to them about going to the cross and then going to heaven to prepare a place for them. Philip made a request:
John 14:8 Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.”
John 14:9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father.”
Paul says it this way:
Colossians 1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
God wants you to know that Jesus is His glory and His image. Everything you need to know about God is found in Jesus. Everything you need, period, is found in Jesus.
Think about that – God doesn’t just give us grace – He gives us Jesus – the Lord of grace. He doesn’t just give us peace – He gives us Jesus, the Prince of Peace. Even life itself is found in Jesus, the Resurrection and the Life.
Christianity is all about Christ – all about Jesus!
Notice another certainty about Jesus …
5. Jesus is the Sustainer of the Universe
Hebrews 1:3 … and upholding all things by the word of His power …
Notice the word: “upholding.” The Greek term means to carry something along.
Jesus is the propelling force in this universe!
Ephesians 1:10 … that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him.
Colossians 1:17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.
Consider how vast our universe is.
A ray of light travels at 186 thousand miles per second. If you could hitch a ride on a light beam, you would reach the moon in only 1 1/2 seconds. In 2 minutes and 18 seconds you could reach Venus. In 4 1/2 minutes, you would reach Mercury. In 1 hour and 11 seconds, you would reach Saturn. To reach Pluto, 2.7 billion miles from earth, it would take you nearly 4 hours traveling at the speed of light. But having got that far, you would still be well inside our own solar system.
Polaris - the North Star – is relatively near to us. It is 400 trillion miles away. It would take you 431 years to reach that star, if you could travel at the speed of light. The next time you look at the North Star, remember that the light you are seeing started traveling in the year 1574, and has only just arrived!
An unimaginably huge universe, and Jesus sustains it all, moment by moment.
Consider how intricate our universe is.
If you took all of the blood vessels out of an average child, and laid them out in one line, the line would be over 60,000 miles long! An adult’s vessels would be closer to 100,000 miles long! In your lifetime, your heart will beat 800 million times, and pump enough blood through your blood vessels to fill a string of tank cars running bumper to bumper down Interstate 85 from Charlotte to Atlanta!
Your body is amazingly intricate, and Jesus sustains it, heartbeat by heartbeat.
A few years ago, my family and I visited New York City at Christmastime. A wonderful place to see.
There’s a statue in front of the RCA building in New York City. It’s a massively proportioned, magnificently muscled Atlas with the world resting on his shoulders. Yet as powerfully built as he is, he is straining under the weight, barely able to stand.
Then, you walk across the street to St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and you’ll find a little portrait of the boy Jesus. It’s almost hidden by the altar. Jesus appears to be no more than eight or nine years old. And yet, as little and as frail as he appears, he is holding the world in one hand!
He’s not straining. He’s not sweating. He has the power to sustain the world.
We have to decide whether we will try to be like Atlas or will trust Jesus to carry the cares of our world.
We’re nearly done, but I want you to notice with me two more things that God wants you to know about Jesus. As important as the other certainties have been, these last two are by far the most important. They’re the ones that can make the greatest difference in your life personally.
6. Jesus is the Savior of Sinners
Hebrews 1:3 … when He had by Himself purged our sins …
Think for a moment about how Jesus’ work has been described here:
Jesus is at work in revelation – “God … has … spoken to us by His Son.”
Jesus is at work in creation – “through whom also He made the worlds.”
Jesus is at work in representation – “being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person.”
Jesus is at work in continuation – “upholding all things by the word of His power.”
Now we see that Jesus is at work in purification – “when He had by Himself purged our sins.”
He purged us – our sins are filth before God. Nothing can wash them away, except for His blood.
What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus; what can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
For my pardon this I see—nothing but the blood of Jesus; for my cleansing, this my plea—nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Nothing can for sin atone—nothing but the blood of Jesus; naught of good that I have done—nothing but the blood of Jesus.
This is all my hope and peace—nothing but the blood of Jesus; this is all my righteousness—nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Refrain: Oh! precious is the flow that makes me white as snow; no other fount I know, nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Hebrews 9:12 Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.
According to God, Jesus is not a good way to heaven.
Jesus is not a great way to heaven.
Jesus is not the best way to heaven.
According to Almighty God – Jesus is the only way to heaven.
I am told that if you visit Manila in the Philippines, you will discover something amazing at the Manila garbage dump, of all places.
Tens of thousands of people make their homes on that dump site. They’ve constructed shacks out of the things other people have thrown away. And they send their children out early every morning to scavenge for food out of other people’s garbage, so they can have family meals.
People have been born and grown up there on the garbage dump. They have had their families, their children, their shacks, their garbage to eat, finished out their lives, and died there without ever going anywhere else, even in the city of Manila. It is an astonishing thing.
But if you were ever to travel to Manila, and if you were to visit that garbage dump, you would discover something even more amazing. You will encounter some Americans also live on the garbage dump. Not because they have to, but because they choose to.
They are missionaries, Christians who have chosen to leave their own country and communicate the love of Jesus Christ to people who otherwise would never hear it. That is even more amazing. People would leave what we have to go here and live on a garbage dump.
It’s amazing, but not as amazing as the journey from heaven to earth.
The Son of God made that journey, and he knew what he was doing. He knew where he was going. He knew what the sacrifice would be. He journeyed from heaven to earth on a mission to save the human race.
He paid the price.
I’m a sinner. You’re a sinner. We’re all sinners.
Sin deserves payment, and the only sufficient payment is death.
Romans 6:23 “The wages of sin is death.”
Jesus paid the price for your sins with His own blood.
Ephesians 1:7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace
In His own body, He made purification for our sins. By faith in Him, and the blood that He shed, our sins can be washed away forever!
God wants you to know that about Jesus.
He wants you to know that Jesus is His Beloved Son. He wants you to know that Jesus is the creator of the world. He wants you to know that Jesus is His glory and His image. He wants you to know that Jesus is the sustainer of all of life.
But He wants you to know more than anything that Jesus is the sinner’s Savior. If you trust Him, He will save you!
One final thing God wants you to know about Jesus:
7. Jesus is the Lord of All
Hebrews 1:3 … sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
Hebrews 1:4 having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.
Notice what these verses tell us about the Lordship of Jesus – He is highly exalted in Heaven, and He has sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.
Don’t miss that: as Lord, He has sat down.
That means that He has completed His work. Everything that needs to be done for sinners to be saved has already been done.
In the temple, the priests never sat down. Why? Because they could never complete the work of redemption.
Hebrews 10:11 And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.
Day after day. Sacrifice after sacrifice. It was never over.
Hebrews 10:12 But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God,
Hebrews 10:13 from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool.
Hebrews 10:14 For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.
He sat down, not because He was tired, but because the work of redemption was finished.
All kinds of religions. Confucianism. Buddhism. Hinduism. Mormonism. Islam. Judaism.
All kinds of names with all kinds of doctrines and teachings and beliefs.
But if you boil it all down: there are only two religious systems in the world: religions based man’s works and religion based on God’s grace.
Every religion other than biblical Christianity spells salvation: d – o. “If I’m good enough, if I’m moral enough, if I pray the right way the right number of times a day, if I do enough religious things – then somehow I can do enough to save myself.”
Biblical Christianity spells salvation: d – o – n – e. It’s done. Everything I need to do to be saved has already been done. I simply receive by faith the gift of God’s grace, and He saves me through Jesus Christ.
By His grace – He saves me.
By His grace – He strengthens me.
By His grace – He will use me.
So, by His grace – I trust Him.
By His grace – I serve Him.
By His grace – I worship Him.
By His grace – I honor Him.
I cannot work my soul to save
For that my Lord hath done;
But I will work like any slave
For love of God’s dear Son.