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Hebrews 3:1-6: Consider Jesus
In life, we are all faced with decisions.
Many times - particularly in adulthood - these decisions are life altering.
Examples include getting married, starting a family, or becoming a homeowner.
For my family, when we went home shopping a couple of years ago, we had a very specific thought in mind: a forever home.
Something that worked for our small family that would work now, as well as for the future.
There are many advantages to being a homeowner, including freedom, financial implications, credit implications, and for many investment implications.
But imagine being in God's House, where Jesus is the owner.
We're going to talk about that today, as we continue in our sermons series in Hebrews called "Greater Than."
Today we will be in Hebrews chapter 3, so go ahead and find your way there now.
In this chapter, we will see two things.
First, we will see the benefits of living in God's House, and second, we will see that Jesus is even greater than Moses.
Let's go ahead and begin by reading verse 1.
1 THEREFORE, HOLY BROTHERS, YOU WHO SHARE IN A HEAVENLY CALLING, CONSIDER JESUS, THE APOSTLE AND HIGH PRIEST OF OUR CONFESSION,
I'm going to pause here, as there is a lot packed into this single verse.
So, what I want to do is break this verse down a little before getting into the rest of the text.
This is important because it will help us to connect chapter 2 with what we are about to read.
First thing to notice here is the terms HOLY BROTHERS and HEAVENLY CALLING.
For the Christian, these are critical words.
We learned last week that we have been made part of God's family, by being united in the blood of Jesus.
His work makes it possible to commune with God.
We also see here that we share in a heavenly calling because we are now part of God's family.
This is something we'll talk more about this morning.
John Piper says that this "heavenly calling relates to the two great needs that we have: a word from God and a way to God.
And it's a calling, which means it is meant to show us the way home to God."
Only a Christian can be called a holy brother and share in this heavenly calling.
Aside from this amazing truth found immediately in this section, we also need to define a few words and terms to help us better understand what this section is saying.
The first word is a word that may not be a strong enough word in the English language for us to fully grasp its meaning is:
Consider = this means to put your whole mind to, to observe with careful attention.
It's an active and intense word, a call to action.
The writer here is saying, above all else, look to Jesus.
This is a difficult task for anyone, let alone the Christian today.
What does this mean for us today?
Well, how about the example of media, or government, or societal influences in general.
What they are doing is trying to force people how to live, what to believe, and in a sense trying to tell us what is good and bad.
Considering Jesus means that we hold the Truth of the Word of God in higher regard.
This means we will, often, be going against the grain.
Going against what the culture tells us to believe.
This is difficult, no doubt, but the reward outweighs the immediate benefits of belonging to the world and instead we belong to the Household and family of God.
Several years ago, my manager said in a staff meeting that I was going to "fix" the training compliance numbers, so that we can pass an upcoming audit.
Immediately, I corrected him and advised everyone that I was going to audit the numbers and ensure they were accurate.
The next morning, I pulled him aside and advised him that I would not lie, and if he expected me to, then I was prepared to submit my resignation.
I had to stand up for the truth, even if it meant not passing the audit, or even me losing my job.
The next word is unique as a designation to Jesus, and that is the term:
Apostle = this is the only time that this term is used to describe Jesus.
The term used here means "one who is sent by commission" or "one sent forth."
Interestingly, this is the same term used in chapter 1, verse 14 to describe the angels sent out as ministering spirits.
We know that Jesus was sent by God, as He Himself confirmed this in John 17:18 in His High Priestly Prayer to the Father when He said:
YOU SENT ME INTO THE WORLD, SO I HAVE SENT THEM INTO THE WORLD.
This is part of that heavenly calling we just talked about.
The next term I want to look at is also found in verse 1, namely,
High Priest = the THEREFORE in verse 1 ties this section into at least the latter part of chapter 2 that we looked at last week.
When we look back again at verses 17-18 of chapter 2, we saw that Jesus had to become man, to become a merciful high priest, and we are reminded of these words:
17 THEREFORE HE HAD TO BE MADE LIKE HIS BROTHERS IN EVERY RESPECT, SO THAT HE MIGHT BECOME A MERCIFUL AND FAITHFUL HIGH PRIEST IN THE SERVICE OF GOD, TO MAKE PROPITIATION FOR THE SINS OF THE PEOPLE.
18 FOR BECAUSE HE HIMSELF HAS SUFFERED WHEN TEMPTED, HE IS ABLE TO HELP THOSE WHO ARE BEING TEMPTED.
You see, a high priest was one who represents one party to another.
The root word here paints the picture of a bridge.
Jesus is that bridge from sinful man to a holy God.
Jesus unifies the offices, so to speak, of apostle and priest.
He stands between man and God and vouches for the Christian.
The next word I want to look at is:
Confession = this is an action made by Christians.
This Greek word is found 6 times in the New Testament, three times right here in Hebrews.
Each time it refers to the confession of faith.
It's a profession of faith.
Think about the implication of this sort of confession.
These are new Christians being persecuted for their beliefs (see Hebrews 10:32-36).
These were Christians likely living under Roman rule.
Christians who - because of their suffering - considered returning to Judaism.
Confessing your faith in Jesus is difficult, even today.
In our culture today, a Christian is labeled as a bigot, a racist, a homophobe, and more.
But let's not forget about our brothers and sisters abroad who literally risk their lives for professing Christ as Lord.
Let's get back into the text now and see how all this ties into our main idea that will be discussed shortly.
Let's pick back up in verse 1 and read through the entire section:
1 THEREFORE, HOLY BROTHERS, YOU WHO SHARE IN A HEAVENLY CALLING, CONSIDER JESUS, THE APOSTLE AND HIGH PRIEST OF OUR CONFESSION,
2 WHO WAS FAITHFUL TO HIM WHO APPOINTED HIM, JUST AS MOSES ALSO WAS FAITHFUL IN ALL GOD'S HOUSE.
3 FOR JESUS HAS BEEN COUNTED WORTHY OF MORE GLORY THAN MOSES-AS MUCH MORE GLORY AS THE BUILDER OF A HOUSE HAS MORE HONOR THAN THE HOUSE ITSELF.
4 (FOR EVERY HOUSE IS BUILT BY SOMEONE, BUT THE BUILDER OF ALL THINGS IS GOD.)
5 NOW MOSES WAS FAITHFUL IN ALL GOD'S HOUSE WAS A SERVANT, TO TESTIFY TO THE THINGS THAT WERE TO BE SPOKEN LATER,
6 BUT CHRIST IS FAITHFUL OVER GOD'S HOUSE AS A SON. AND WE ARE HIS HOUSE, IF INDEED WE HOLD FAST OUR CONFIDENCE AND OUR BOASTING IN OUR HOPE.
Again, we will be talking about two things here.
We will talk about the House of the Lord, and we will also spend some time talking about how Jesus is greater than Moses.
Both of these truths are important for this young, Hebrew Church, as well as for us today.
I'll be doing a little something different this morning because I am going to ask you to help me with this next part.
You guys are going to help fill in the blanks today.
Look again at the text, I've left it up the full text for you.
What is the word that is used most often in this section?
House, that's right!
There you have it, our main idea today:
The house of the Lord is greater than every other house.
You see, this chapter isn't all about Moses and Jesus?
The writer, however focuses on supremacy of the House of the Lord.
The writer presents three arguments defending the supremacy of the House of the Lord:
1.
The house belongs to God
a. Let's look at 1 Peter 2:4-5:
4 AS YOU COME TO HIM, A LIVING STONE REJECTED BY MEN BUT IN THE SIGHT OF GOD CHOSEN AND PRECIOUS,
5 YOU YOURSELVES LIKE LIVING STONES ARE BEING BUILT UP AS A SPIRITUAL HOUSE, TO BE A HOLY PRIESTHOOD, TO OFFER SPIRITUAL SACRIFICES ACCEPTABLE TO GOD THROUGH JESUS CHRIST.
b.
What is most promising about this?
a. Verse 6 tells us that we are the house of the Lord.
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