Hebrews 1:1-3
SOMETHING BETTER
A NOTE FROM PASTOR JACK
This is not a whole series on Hebrews as originally intended. I only gave a few messages and stopped the series. I trust that what messages I did complete will be helpful. I did complete a whole Wednesday night Bible Study on Hebrews however. You may access that at http://www.sermonseeds.org/Hebrews%20-%20Revelation/Hebrews%20-%20Revelation.htm
The computer I use today is better than the manual typewriters on which I typed papers as a college student.
The computer I use today is better than the electric typewriters I used to use to type my messages.
The computer I use today is better than my first computer.
The computer I use today is better than the computer I was using at the beginning of this year.
And knowing the life span of computers and that technology is constantly improving, I can predict that one day I will probably have another computer that will be better than the one I’m using now!
We are constantly looking and striving for something better.
· A better job
· A better home
· A better grade
· A better behavior from our children
· A better relationship with our spouses, children, family and friends
· A better sound system, computer, or car
There are times when it would do us well to be content with what we have.
1 Timothy 6:6 - But godliness with contentment is great gain.
Hebrews 13:5 - Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
There are other times however, when it is good to seek something better.
Philippians 3:13-14 - Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting thosethings which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, [14] I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
I should be striving for a better knowledge of God, a better understanding of God’s Word, a closer walk with God, and better fruitfulness in the service of God.
The Book of Hebrews is a book that is constantly showing us something better. The Word better is used thirteen times in this book. It is a book written to Jewish Christians who were tempted to bail out on Christianity and go back to Judaism. In this book we find lessons that show us that because Jesus Christ is better, there is a better way for us to live now.
You might even be like the Hebrews to whom this letter was written. You may be considering bailing out on your traditional faith and going back to something you once knew, or leaving your traditional faith for something more modern or trendy. You shouldn’t do this, because Christ is better and the true Christian life is better than anything anyone else can offer. The Book of Hebrews shows us this.
We are not sure who the author of Hebrews is. God doesn’t say. If God hasn’t told us, it isn’t important. I don’t think we need to worry about who the author is.
In the first three verses of Hebrews 1, we are shown right off the bat that God has given us something better than the Jewish religion had before. God has something better than liberal Christianity or a Christian legalism that puts us under bondage
According to these first three verses:
WE HAVE A BETTER MESSAGE
WE HAVE A BETTER MESSENGER
Because we have a better messenger and a better message, we have a better life and a better hope.
WE HAVE A BETTER MESSAGE
Since the first word of Scripture was written down there has always been a good message.
We had a good message because God has spoken!
God spoke in the Old Testament.
Hebrews 1:1 - God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
God did not speak his message all at once in the Old Testament. His message came over the course of hundreds of years through 39 Old Testament books. From time to time he spoke.
Also God’s message came in various ways.
John MacArthur – “God spoke to men. Sometimes it was in a vision, sometimes by a parable, sometimes through a type or a symbol. There were many different ways in which God spoke in the Old Testament. But it is always God speaking.”
John MacArthur, MacArthur New Testament Commentary – Hebrews (Moody Press, Chicago, 1983), p. 3
As good as the Old Testament is there is a problem.
It is an incomplete message.
God had more to say to us.
The Old Testament speaks of promises which were yet to be fulfilled.
That’s why there is a New Testament besides the Old Testament.
God spoke in past times to the “fathers”, the Jewish ancestors. Today He has spoken to us through His Son.
We now have a completed message with the addition of the New Testament.
We now have the “Good News” of Christ in the Gospels.
We now have the theology of Christ in the Epistles.
And we have a description of Christ’s culmination of all things in the future in the Book of Revelation.
We now we have a completed Scriptures.
Rev. 22:18-19 - For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: [19] And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
WE HAVE A BETTER MESSAGE
WE HAVE A BETTER MESSENGER
Hebrews 1:1 - God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
In the Old Testament, God spoke through good men, His servants, the prophets. Men like Moses, Ezra, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Daniel received messages from God and wrote them down.
2 Peter 1:21 - For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
These were good, godly men who under the direction of the Holy Spirit wrote. And in the New Testament, good and godly men also wrote down the Word of God under the direction of the Holy Spirit.
What is the difference?
Hebrews 1:2 – God has in these last days spoken unto us by his Son,
God sent a special envoy from Heaven to speak to us. This is who the New Testament writers speak of. This special envoy is the better messenger that the Old Testament did not have.
HE IS A BETTER MESSENGER BECAUSE OF HIS PERSON
HE IS A BETTER MESSENGER BECAUSE OF HIS PERFORMANCE
HE IS A BETTER MESSENGER BECAUSE OF HIS POSITION
HE IS A BETTER MESSENGER BECAUSE OF HIS PERSON
Who is Jesus Christ? He is the eternal Son of God.
Mark 1:1 - The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God;
John 1:1-2 - In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. [2] The same was in the beginning with God.
Jesus Christ is God in the flesh.
If I needed to communicate a message and couldn’t go myself and Dottie could not go, do you know who I would send to communicate that message? I would send my son David, or my Son, Mark or my daughter Donna.
When God chose to save a sinful, rebellious world…
When God chose to communicate what He is like…
When God chose to show us Himself…
He sent His Son!
We are coming close to another Christmas.
One of the great prophecies of Christmas is Isaiah 9:6.
In this verse God shows us just how great the person is whom He sent to us.
Isaiah 9:6 - For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
The Son God gave is “wonderful”.
Just consider all the prophecies concerning Him in the Old Testament, His miraculous miracles, His substitutionary death for us, His glorious resurrection, and the prophecies concerning His return and the establishment of His kingdom and then a new Heaven and a new earth.
He is indeed wonderful.
As you consider all of Jesus’ teachings, you will find Him to be the “counselor”. Nobody ever taught with the authority or insight of the Lord Jesus. From the Sermon on The Mount, to the parables, to the Olivet Discourse on prophecy, to the Upper Room discourse, there is nothing greater in all the world than the “counsel” of the Son of God. It is He who has the ability to teach us the things of God.
He is indeed the counselor.
And He as the Son, is “mighty God”.
He calmed a roaring sea, fed five thousand people, healed the sick and raised the dead. And He Himself raised from the dead and ascended into Heaven. He is mighty God.
And as the Son He is also the “everlasting Father”. That means “Father of eternity”. Jesus is eternal. He has always existed as the Son within the Trinity.
In John 8:58 Jesus said …Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.
And Jesus is the Prince of Peace. He is Prince of Peace because as the Son, He died to secure peace between God and Man. Now, those who place their faith in Him have peace with God and can experience the Peace of God.
John 14:27 - Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
Not only does the writer of Hebrews tell us that Jesus is a better person because He is the Son. But he tells us that Jesus is a better person because He says of him in Hebrews 1:3, Who being the brightness of his glory,
For this word brightness I would use the word “radiance”.
Jesus Christ radiates the glory of God.
Just as the sun radiates light that comes from within itself, the Son of God radiates the glory of God which is in Himself. That’s better than any prophet could ever do!
John 1:14 - And the Word was made 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 radiates the glory of God’s attributes, because he is God.
Jesus radiates the glory of God’s love.
Jesus radiates the glory of God’s forgiveness and hope.
Jesus radiates the glory of God’s righteous judgment and mercy to those who will trust Him.
Jesus is also a better person because Vs. 3 goes on to say that Jesus is the express image of His person.
Express image means “exact duplication”. Just as our copy machine makes an exact replica of the original bulletin that I type, so the Lord Jesus Christ is the exact duplication of God. That’s because He is God!
John 14:9 - …he that hath seen me hath seen the Father;
So Jesus is a better messenger because of His person. He is the Son of God, the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person.
HE IS A BETTER MESSENGER BECAUSE OF HIS PERSON
HE IS A BETTER MESSENGER BECAUSE OF HIS PERFORMANCE
The Lord Jesus has done more than any prophet or any other person.
In Hebrews 11:2 we are told that it is by the Lord Jesus that God made the worlds. I owe my existence to the Son of God.
It says here that He created the worlds and the word here means “the ages”.
John MacArthur said, “Jesus Christ is responsible not only for the physical earth; He is also responsible for creating time, space, energy, and matter. Christ created the whole universe and everything that makes it function, and He did it without effort.” MacArthur, p. 14
That is quite a performance, but there is more!
Hebrews 11:3 tells us that He is upholding all things by the word of His power.
Most of us have seen jugglers. Jugglers can toss several things in the air and keep them under control. Sometimes they will do this while balancing themselves on something, and or twirling something around a body part. Jugglers can be absolutely amazing.
The Lord Jesus Christ is more amazing than any juggler.
He upholds all things by the word of his power.
Colossians 1:17 - And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
· Why is it that the earth always stays in exact orbit around the sun? Lord Jesus upholds it that way.
· Why is it that we have our seasons year after year? Lord Jesus upholds it that way.
· Why is it that when I toss a ball up in the air, it comes down? Lord Jesus upholds it that way.
You and I can count on order in the natural world around us simply because Lord Jesus holds it together!
Creating everything and holding them together are certainly great performances. But there is one more thing that He did that is absolutely amazing. Hebrews 11:3 tells us that He has by Himself purged our sins.
When something is dirty you clean it. You shoot your gun and you clean it. You dirty the tub, so you wash it. The dishes are dirty, so they are washed. Your body is dirty, so you wash it.
Our sins are dirty.
Isaiah 64:6 - But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
Our sins are dirty, so Jesus purged or purified them. He washed them. And He did it by Himself.
He is the only one that would ever qualify to wash away our sins because he is the only one that was sinless Himself.
Jesus didn’t need your help and doesn’t need your help to wash away your sins.
· He didn’t need your good works.
· He didn’t need you to keep the 10 Commandments, which is a good thing, because we’ve all broken them.
· He didn’t need your church attendance.
· He didn’t need your keeping the sacraments.
· He didn’t need your money.
· He did it Himself!
2 Corinthians 5:21 - For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
1 Peter 1:18-19 - Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; [19] But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
So Jesus died to purge our sins, to wash us clean. So how do we take that bath? How do we make sure that His blood has washed our sins away?
How do we apply His blood to our account?
Ephesians 2:8-9 - For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: [9] Not of works, lest any man should boast.
By faith tell Jesus that you are apply His blood to your account if you haven’t already. Trust Him as your Savior.
HE IS A BETTER MESSENGER BECAUSE OF HIS PERSON
HE IS A BETTER MESSENGER BECAUSE OF HIS PERFORMANCE
HE IS A BETTER MESSENGER BECAUSE OF HIS POSITION
Look at Vs. 2 – God has appointed Jesus “heir of all things”.
We have an heir or heirs. My heirs are and David, Mark, and Donna, my children. I can appoint an heir, if I like and chose someone to inherit whatever I have when I die.
God has appointed Heir. Not that God is going to die, but that God has appointed hat all that is rightfully His belongs to Christ, His Son.
Being heir will include on day inheriting the nations of the earth to rule over them. See Psalm 2.
Being heir will mean that every single person that ever lived will bow the knee to the Son of God. See Philippians 2:9-11
Being heir will include living and reigning with God for all eternity in the new Heaven and new earth.
See 1 Corinthians 15:25-28
Being heir will include us as being joint-heirs with Christ. See Romans 8:16-17
As heir where is Jesus?
Hebrews 1:3 tells us that He …sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
Right now Jesus sits in a place of honor, authority, and power. He is just waiting until the Father says that it is time to act. Then He will return.
Psalm 110:1 - The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.
So there should be no doubt in your mind.
WE HAVE A BETTER MESSAGE
WE HAVE A BETTER MESSENGER
HE IS A BETTER MESSENGER BECAUSE OF HIS PERSON
HE IS A BETTER MESSENGER BECAUSE OF HIS PERFORMANCE
HE IS A BETTER MESSENGER BECAUSE OF HIS POSITION