The Message and the Messenger

Yes, that is a terrible pun, or at least an attempt at one. Today, we begin a new sermon series, studying the book of Hebrews. This book is likened to a sermon in itself. So, in essence, I will be presenting many sermons from this sermon-like book. We also are somewhat in the dark as to who wrote this letter. Scholars don’t really know, though there are various ideas as to whom it might have been. It may have been Paul, Luke, Barnabas, or even Clement of Rome. What we do know is that it was inspired by the Holy Spirit.

As I’ve been preparing for this series, I believe it is safe to suggest that we could summarize the book of Hebrews by using the phrase, Jesus is greater than . . . And that makes even more sense when we look at the historical context that dates this book to the last part of the 1st century.

Just like many Christians today, the readers of Hebrews were up against incredible opposition to their faith. Many were tempted to throw in the towel, giving up and going back to ways that were considered safe in the culture. Here is where the author writes to encourage them that all they need is found in Jesus Christ.

Something else which I found fascinating is that this book is written in Greek, but has an amazing number of references to that which would be very familiar to Jews. Evidently, the recipients of this writing were Greek-speaking Jews. This helps us in understanding the temptation to go back to the things which they and their ancestors were familiar with in their worship of God. Judaism may have seemed like a much safer and comfortable way, rather than the way of Jesus.

My friends, we know that following Jesus and living according to His ways creates conflict between us and the world, just as it did with these Christians around Rome. But just like the author of Hebrews presented to his readers, we can also receive the same encouragement that there is nothing or nobody that compares with Jesus. Christ is superior to all that dares to be compared to Him. In the dark times of discouragement, we can be encouraged to look to Jesus. We dare not get sidetracked and focus on what is going on all around us that desires to sidetrack and discourage us. Focus on Jesus!

Today, we will begin this sermon series with the first three verses of Hebrews 1. Immediately, we will be looking at God’s means and people who were to represent Him to humanity.

In Christ, we have the perfect representation of God.

The Messengers Were Chosen Men. - 1.1

Hebrews 1:1 NASB95

God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways,

Remember that we can assume that the readers of this message were most likely Jewish Christians. So, a great deal of what will be shared will be understood by them and would not be foreign to their knowledge.

The writer simply shares that God had chosen to reveal to their ancestors, Himself , information about Himself, and what He desired, through men whom He had appointed as prophets. We know, looking back through time, that God’s purpose for presenting all this information, was to prepare His people for the coming of Jesus Christ.

We also remember that Romans tells us that God has been revealed through nature, so that humanity is without excuse. However, we would not be able to know much else about God, besides His power in creation, were it not for Him revealing it to us through the prophets. You might say that we needed to “hear from Him.”

Let’s face it, we live as if what we are actually experiencing is all that there is. Yet, we have that gnawing sensation that there is something else, something supernatural, beyond us. Left to our own devices, if we try to figure that mystery out, we end up with a lot of manmade explanations that always fall short; thus, the multitude of cults. Humanity needed a voice to speak to us and reveal what that supernatural mystery was.

The reality is, we cannot reach out and discover much of anything about God. We need Him to somehow enter into our realm and make Himself known to us. So, God used the prophets in many ways to speak about the Son of God and His role in this world and our lives. They were the instruments and means of sharing this news about Jesus, inspired by the Spirit of God. We need to remember that the Old Testament contains the voice of God just as the New Testament continues that.

We also get the impression that God’s means and methods were not always the same, but quite varied. It was also done at His discretion and timetable, not based upon an appointment plan or only when the Jewish people were open to listening to God.

What exactly does many portions and many ways mean? To simplify this, the writer is actually using a play on the Greek words. We might say many books and in many ways. Obviously, there are many separate books in the Old Testament. Within those books, we read how God spoke to the prophets through visions, parables, symbols, object lessons, etc. The many books contain many styles of writing, including narrative, poetry, history, etc. Some of the writings include prophecy, doctrine, warnings, encouragements, etc.

Yet, even in these varied presentations to His people, God did not reveal everything. You might say that it was not completed yet. More and more was revealed through the many writers and prophets, but the revelation of God was not complete. However, in just this verse, the Holy Spirit is clearly showing the validity of the Old Testament, in that it was also divinely inspired. So we move on to the next verse to see a further progression.

The Messenger Was the Son. - 1.2

Hebrews 1:2 NASB95

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.

The writer moves from the ancient past, as it were, forwarding to more current times. Again, we see that God is revealing Himself to His people by means of His Son, Jesus Christ. Here we move into the New Testament. The Old Testament looked forward to the revelation of God in Jesus Christ. The New Testament deals with the reality that God has come as Immanuel, in the Person of Jesus Christ, and how this reality affects everything that we do and how we are to live.

Previously, the messengers were merely flawed men who had been called and appointed by God to be His messengers. Jesus was chosen before the foundations of the world to appear at this precise moment in history. Jesus is the One who will inherit all that God the Father has for Him. Jesus is the One Who was there at creation, doing the creating,

It has been said that Jesus is God’s full and final revelation. Just the phrase, In these last days was an obvious connection to the fact that Messiah was coming, in the Jewish mindset.

I appreciate how John MacArthur explains the connections and differences with the Old Testament and New Testament.

The Old Testament had been given in pieces. To Noah was revealed the quarter of the world from which Messiah would come. To Micah, the town where He would be born. To Daniel, the time of His birth. To Malachi, the forerunner who would come before Him. To Jonah, His resurrection was typified. Every one of those pieces of revelation was true and accurate; and each one related to the others in some way or another. And each one in some way or another pointed to the Messiah, the Christ. But only in Jesus Christ Himself was everything brought together and made whole. In Him the revelation was full and complete.

At this point, it is quite clear that Jesus is above and over the Old Testament, including the practices, procedures, and people. Just like the frightened Jewish Christians of that time, who were tempted to go back to the old ways, we too can be encouraged by the truth; all that we need, we already have in Jesus Christ.

Jesus came to fulfill the promises of the Old Testament. This fulfillment is in process still and will be completed when we enter into glory.

Jesus came to reveal God the Father. This is another evidence that Jesus is not just fully man; He is fully God. He is the revelation of God.

We see that Jesus has been appointed heir of all things. This shows the end and finality of what Jesus came to do. Nothing else is needed to fulfill all that has been promised. This is also a reminder that since Jesus is God’s Son, it is logical that He should be heir. What I find incredible is that Jesus wants to share that with His brothers and sisters, you and me.

Also He made the world. He is the one Who was at the beginning. He is the originator of all life. We also see in verse 3, that He sustains all that there is. Of course, we know that only God can create. Thus, we understand that Jesus is God, since He can create. But there’s even more that we discover by a unique Greek word used here for world. Normally, the word would be kosmos. However, the writer uses the word aionas. The word refers to the ages; it is where we get the word eon. In other words, not only did He create the physical world, but also created time, space, energy, and matter.

Yet, there’s more to the fact that Jesus is above all else, in that what He presented was absolutely perfect.

The Messenger Was Perfect. - 1.3

Hebrews 1:3 NASB95

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,

Here, the writer takes special time to present the fact that God’s Messenger was absolutely perfect. He radiates the very glory of God. He is precisely and exactly like God the Father in His nature. He holds the universe together by just the power of His word. After He had provided what was needed to cleanse us from our sins, showing that His work had been finished and done to perfect completion, He sat down at the right hand of Almighty God, in the place of honor.

That’s an incredible amount of information to try and digest. So let’s take a little time and break this down so we can better understand the significance of all this.

We start out with Jesus being the radiance of His glory. This is not a refection; this originates from Jesus as He shows God to us. We know from the Bible that no one will ever see God the Father. However, Jesus reveals the Father to us. It has been said that when considering the sun which lights the earth, that the brightness of the sun is not the sun. Jesus is completely God, yet He is a separate Person of the triune Godhead. So, without Jesus, we could not experience the light of God. In fact, the Bible tells us in John that Jesus is the Light Who came into the darkness.

We also read that Jesus is the exact representation of His nature. Everything that the Father is, the Son is. The Greek word for exact representation describes the indention or impression that is made by a die or a stamp on a seal, such as a notary seal. You might say that if you’ve seen Jesus, you’ve seen the Father, even though He cannot be seen. We see this taught from Colossians 1.15.

Colossians 1:15 NASB95

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.

Then we read the phrase that Jesus upholds all things by the Word of His power. Simply put, Jesus supports and maintains all that there is. The Greek word further emphasizes the ongoing process by having this in the present tense; Jesus doesn’t stop taking care of this universe.

Is this really important? Listen to what would happen according to many scientists, if this weren’t true.

Hebrews: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary His Administration

Consider, for example, what instant destruction would happen if the earth’s rotation slowed down just a little. The sun has a surface temperature of 12,000 degrees Fahrenheit. If it were any closer to us we would burn up; if it were any farther away we would freeze. Our globe is tilted on an exact angle of 23 degrees, providing us with four seasons. If it were not so tilted, vapors from the oceans would move north and south and develop into monstrous continents of ice. If the moon did not retain its exact distance from the earth the ocean tides would inundate the land completely, twice a day. After the first flooding, of course, the others would not matter as far as we would be concerned. If the ocean floors were merely a few feet deeper than they are, the carbon dioxide and oxygen balance of the earth’s atmosphere would be completely upset, and no animal or plant life could exist. If the atmosphere did not remain at its present density, but thinned out even a little, many of the meteors which now harmlessly burn up when they hit the atmosphere would constantly bombard us. We would have to live underground or in meteor-proof buildings

Next, we come to a very powerful statement about Jesus, When He had made purification of sins. My friends, the Bible clearly states that all of us are sinners. It also tells us in point blank words, that the wages of sin is death. However, we know that Jesus was hanged on a cross to pay the death penalty of sin in our place. All of humanity is left with the choice to accept this reality that Jesus died for our sins and is alive forevermore, which allows us to be set free from the wages of sin and from the control of sin. The only other choice is to reject all of this and live for eternity in hell.

This leads to where Jesus sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. We know that symbolically, the right side represents the position of power. We also understand that the Majesty on high is God the Father. Jesus is sitting, showing the completion of His work as the perfect messenger. In fact, Jesus’ final words on the cross were it is finished.

Musings

Jesus is greater than the messengers who were chosen by God to reveal the Father and to show that the Messiah would be coming to reveal the Father.

Jesus came as the Messenger to reveal the Father and the heart of the father in providing salvation to all who would believe on Him. Jesus is greater than the world which He created.

Jesus is greater than all the sacrifices and offerings made to offer atonement for sin. He came to offer the perfect and final sacrifice for sin. He is greater than death and sin.

You see, all of what Jesus did as a representation of God the Father and all that He continues to do is wondrous and glorious. But, there is nothing that can top the blessed truth that you and I can be set free from sin and death. This was done for us once and for all. This allows us to have access to the Father. To God be the glory!