Christ Is Superior Series

Sermon Brief

Date Written: June 27, 2012

Sermon Title: Christ is Superior

Sermon Text: Hebrews 1:1-14 [HCSB]

CIT: Jesus is superior to the angels

CIS: Jesus is superior to anything this world has to offer

Main Idea: A proper view of Jesus is critical for any church body or individual believer be what God has called them to be.

Introduction:

In this world there have been many famous men. Aristotle, Plato, DaVinci, Alexander, Julius Caesar, Columbus, Washington, Jefferson, George Washington Carver, Lincoln, McArthur, Martin Luther King Jr, Regan and the list could go on and on and on…

There have been other ‘famous’ men whom we may wish never had been… Ghengis Kahn, Ivan the Terrible, Rasputin, Henry 8th, Louie 14th, Hitler, Stalin, Idi Amin, Pol Pot, Sadam Hussain, and most recently Osama Bin Laden.

The difference between these two groups of men are what they were famous for… one group was famous for putting others first and serving humanity… the other group was famous for putting themselves first and abusing humanity. One group was considered heroes and the other evil and cruel.

But the common thread among these men is that they are all in the history books and they have all left their mark on human history. If you ask 100 people who was the most famous man in the world… you would get almost 100 answers.

But here is another question, “who was the most influential man in the world?” Who would YOU answer? When asked this question in the election campaign in 2000, George W. Bush answered, “Jesus Christ!” and he went on to share how Christ was his hero and role model.

The fact of the matter is this, there is NO other man in all of human history with as much written about him as Jesus. Jesus was a man that actually has divided history. Historical record now falls into one of two categories, known now as the Common Era (CE) or Before the Common Era (BCE)… it used to be known as BC – before Christ and AD or Anno Domini which is Latin, translated as in the year of the Lord, or speaking of every year since the birth of Christ. Jesus literally has SPLIT history!

Jesus is the most popular person ever to set foot on our planet, and He is the most influential… but Scripture affirms that Jesus was not just a great man, but Jesus is superior to all things and is our great High Priest who intercedes for all humanity before the throne of God.

The writer of Hebrews caught onto this theme and Scripture confirms that Jesus is the central core to the Christian faith and that Jesus is central to all faith in God.

Jesus himself said, “I am THE way…” indicating/ implying a unique and exclusive vessel through which one must pass to get to the Father. Jesus also said, “I am the DOOR…” Jesus knew His role as the only perfect sacrifice, and He was fully obedient to the mission of the Father to give His life for the sin of the world.

Jesus suffered and died according to God’s plan and the Bible tells us that God then exalted Him with a name above ALL names… Peter proclaimed in Acts 4:12 that there is NO other name by which humanity can be saved!

Jesus! Name above all names! Songs, books, movies and countless other media are out there about this man who lived a simple life some 2000yr ago… who died a criminal’s death… who lived a life of austerity and had no earthly possessions!

God spoke thru Jesus (v.2)

…and now in these final days, He has spoken to us thru His Son…

God has always been a communicating God. In the Garden it was face to face, but after the fall it was thru prophets and divine appearances. Up until Jesus, God’s messengers had not revealed God’s complete word or message!

But when Jesus came He became God’s voice/word here in this world and THRU Jesus God spoke his message of Love to the world.

God gave His word to the world through His son Jesus as the NT is about Jesus the man, and the OT is about looking fwd to the coming of Messiah, Jesus!

God gave access to His kingdom to this world through His son Jesus Christ. We know Christ came to save the world and that through Christ men and women would come to salvation and forgiveness. God opened heaven’s doors in his Son Jesus.

God gave the life of the created order (perfect, innocent/justified before God) through His Son Jesus Christ. What humanity had bungled 1st in the garden and ever since in their mere existence, Jesus changed and repaired. His atoning death on the cross heals the rift and brings the lost who accept Him, into a relationship with their creator.