The God Who Speaks
Ralph Green
Hebrews • Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 2 viewsGod speaks (unlike dead idols) & Jesus is His Messenger.
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
The God Who Speaks - Hebrews 1:1-4
Introduction - Last time I was with you (thanks to Bro. Pat for teaching last Wednesday), we began with an overview of Hebrews. The purpose of the book showing the major theme is the superiority of Jesus Christ - He’s better than angels, He mediates a better covenant, He provided a better sacrifice for sin & a better salvation that lasts for all eternity! Hebrews is a major theological treatise that is the first of 9 letters to believers (as opposed to 9 letters addressed to churches). Remember 9+4+9 = 9 letters to churches, 4 letters to individuals and 9 letters to Jewish & Gentile Christians. We didn’t have time to dig into chapter 1 so tonight we’re going to dig in to chapter 1. Over the course of this study, we’re going to take more of a survey approach and hit the highlights. (Read text 1:1-4).
Vs. 1 “The God who speaks” -
The very 1st word God - Draws a line in the sand much like Moses did under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in Gen. 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” You see if you don’t have faith that our God speaks and reveals Himself to us as the agent of Creation, then the rest of the Bible is completely worthless and we should turn out the lights and go home because the party is over as Don Merideth used to sing back in the day on Monday Night Football.
Contrast the God of the Bible who speaks to the human race with the worthless dead idols who have no way to communicate with their worshippers. God was clear when He spoke to Moses & the COI and gave the Big 10 with commandment # 1 in Exodus 20:3-6
“You shall have no other gods before Me.
“You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth;
you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,
but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
The Psalmist expresses the folly of idolatry very well in Ps. 115:1-8 (turn & read).
But before God spoke to humans, God made a powerful statement about Himself through Creation as Creation is evidence of a Creator, just like the fact I’m wearing clothes reveals somewhere out there is a clothing maker! To refuse to admit and acknowledge somewhere, somehow, someone made my clothes is foolishness. A person could say “I’m an a-clothist” - I don’t believe that cloth makers make clothes - they can even be sincere but doesn’t make it true.
Well how did the preacher get clothed? Well billions and billions of years ago, a little tiny speck began to collect other little specks over millions of years that became thread and it kept getting bigger and bigger until bang - an explosion happened, but rather than everything exploded outward, this explosion moved everything inward and all those threads became clothes, eventually evolving over time into the shirt and jeans the preacher is wearing today....How am I doing so far? Of course this is absurd because the evidence is clearly there - the fact there are clothes generally reveals the fact there is a clothier out there somewhere - I know there are actually tags on my shirt and jeans that tell me who the maker is.
The concept General Revelation.
A couple of definitions:
1. General revelation is God’s communication of Himself to all persons at all times and in all places.
2. General revelation refers to the disclosure of God in nature, in providential history, and in the moral law written in the human heart, whereby all persons at all times & places gain a rudimentary understanding of the Creator & His moral demands.
Applicable Scriptures:
Ps. 14:1 “The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, They have done abominable works, There is none who does good.”
Ps. 19:1 “The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork.” (1-6)
Rom. 1:20 “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,”
General revelation’s purpose & usefulness:
1. It reveals some things about God.
2. It reveals some things about humanity.
3. It is of some use in evangelism.
General revelation is not sufficient for salvation as God’s message of salvation comes through special revelation.
Rom. 10:14-15 “How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!””
Propositions on special revelation:
1. Special revelation is God’s manifestation of Himself to particular persons at particular times and places.
2. God’s purpose in special revelation is to enable those persons to come into a redemptive relationship with Him and bless others with this knowledge.
3. The record of God’s special revelation of Himself is recorded in the Holy Scriptures.
4. God’s special revelation is perfectly revealed & confirmed in the person, message & miracles of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Applicable Scriptures -
John 1:1-4, &14 & 18
John 3:1-2 “There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.””
John 5!!! Specifically vs. 24, 37-40.
Vs. 2 So God speaks and He speaks through His Son!
Notice Jesus’ qualifications as God’s spokesman:
1. Jesus owns it all - 2a
He is the appointed heir of all things by God Himself.
2. Jesus created it all - 2b
We read just a moment ago John 1:3 “All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.”
3. Jesus reveals all of who God is - 3a
Colossians 1:15-16 “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 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.”
4. Jesus upholds it all - 3b
“By the Word of His power” - Power is dunamis - inherent power. But not only is he Creator, he is also Sustainer—“sustaining all things by his powerful word” (v. 3c). He is not passively sustaining the universe like “Atlas sustaining the dead weight of the world.” Rather, he is actively holding up all things. He does it by his spoken word. The writer is very specific here. He does not use logos (“word”), which is used to indicate revelation, but rhema (“word”), the spoken word. Just as the universe was called into existence with a spoken word, so it is sustained by the utterance of the Son. Hughes, R. K. (1993). Hebrews: an anchor for the soul (Vol. 1, p. 27). Crossway Books.
5. Jesus cleanses all sin - 3c
Some claim the world came about through the “Big Bang theory”. Well, here is part of God’s version of the Big Bang, Cosmic activity in the universe, creation spoken into existence and upheld & maintained by Jesus’ spoken word - then Bang: Jesus atoned for our sin by His perfect sacrifice! “By Himself” - God didn’t need any help to pay for sin, no human effort involved, it was God & God alone who dreamed up the plan of redemption, implemented the plan of redemption in Gen. 3 by making a temporary covering for sin, promised the plan of redemption, sent the Redeemer for redemption & followed through and carried out the plan of redemption! He sat down!
6. Jesus rules it all - 3d
“All authority has been given to Me in Heaven & on Earth...” (Matt. 28:18).
7. Jesus name is above all - vs. 4b
Phil. 2:9-11 “Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
Conclusion:
1. Jesus is better than the prophets. (vs. 1)
2. Jesus is better than the angels. (vs. 4-14)
(Note vs. 4-14 quote several OT passages demonstrating how Jesus is better than Angels). If your Bible has cross-references, you can look them up!
Vs. 13-14 summarize this well (Jesus sat down at the right hand of God vs. 4)
Applications:
1. If God has gone to such great lengths to speak to reveal Himself to us and speak to us; we better listen, pay attention and obey Him!
2. If you want to know who God is, you need to know who Jesus is!
3. Even though the world appears to be falling apart around us, Jesus Christ is in complete control!
4. If Jesus Christ can take care of the universe, He most certainly can take care of you!
Matt. 10:27-31.
Close - In the 1939 classic movie the Wizard of Oz, Dorothy and her crew follow the yellow brick road to find the wizard of Oz to help her get back home. When they meet the “wizard” - Dorothy’s dog Toto exposes him to be a fraud by pulling back the curtain to show an old many just speaking into microphone. When he realizes he’s exposed, the wizard quickly and embarrassed pulls the curtain back into place and says quite humorously: “Don’t pay attention to the man behind the curtain.”
Well folks, God has pulled back the curtains of Heaven and Earth, has sent us His one & only Son and spoken to us in this way: “Better pay attention to the man behind the curtain!”