Jesus The Real Deal Series

SIMPLY JESUS

Jesus; the Real Deal

Hebrews 3:1-6

INTRODUCTION

-There is some great stuff happening with the Adventureland Ministries for kids back there.

-They are celebrating the end of their first workshop today and will be starting a new one on the life of David next week.

-Get your kids back there, and if you would like to help, we can always use people to work with the kids!

-We are on our 5th message in this Hebrews series and I wanted to start today with a quick recap of what we’ve covered so far.

-In week 1 we saw that Jesus is the Final Word from God.

-We looked at 7 facts about Jesus that all point to him being God.

-In week 2 we saw that Jesus is the King of Angels.

-No angel was ever called the Son of God; there is only 1 capital “S” son of God…and that is Jesus.

-In week 3 we were warned not to drift away from the message of Jesus, and saw that Jesus is our anchor.

-And last week we saw that Jesus is was 100% God and 100% man

-And because he came as a man he is able to identify with our suffering, he knows every temptation that we know, and he is able to help us with the trouble that comes our way.___________

-You’ll remember that the author of Hebrews is writing to Jewish Christians in the 1st century.

-We suspect that they were being persecuted and that some were considering walking away from the message they heard about JC.

-From this point on in Hebrews we are going to get into a lot of comparisons and contrast between Jesus and the Old Testament.

-And all of these are to drive home an important. Jesus and his covenant are superior to the OT in every possible way.

-And chapter 3 compares Jesus with Moses.

THE ROLES OF JESUS AND MOSES (vs 3:1-2)

3:1 And so, dear brothers and sisters who belong to God and are partners with those called to heaven, think carefully about this Jesus whom we declare to be God’s messenger and High Priest. 2 For he was faithful to God, who appointed him, just as Moses served faithfully when he was entrusted with God’s entire house.

-I like that phrase think carefully about Jesus.

-When you decide to follow Jesus, remember who you’re dealing with. This is….

JESUS THE MESSENGER: LITERALLY “APOSTLE”.

-Apostle was the official title given to the men who were charged with spreading the message of the gospel throughout the earth.

-Jesus isn’t called an apostle anywhere else in Scripture, but it’s a title that fits perfectly. Because apostle means messenger.

-And Jesus came with a message for all the world. He called his message the “Good News” and it’s the best we’ve ever heard.

-John 3:16 summarizes the Good News very well. Let’s read it together from the screen:

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

-Jesus was sent to tell us that there is forgiveness of sins, and salvation, and hope of eternal life…through him.

-How does that compare to Moses? Moses was also a messenger, he was the one who delivered the OT Law to God’s people.

-The author also calls…JESUS THE HIGH PRIEST:

-That may not mean much to us…we’ve never had a high priest.

-But the original readers understood the author’s point here; they were Jewish and understood exactly who the High Priest was

-The high priest was the ultimate authority among the Jewish people. This was a holy man and the only man who could enter the holy of holies where the presence of God resided.

-Our author is saying that Jesus IS THE ONE WHO MEDIATES BETWEEN GOD AND HIS PEOPLE.

-And Moses also served as a mediator between God and the people of Israel. And he also says …

JESUS WAS FAITHFUL: That may be a bit of an understatement!

-Jesus was the only man who ever lived, who DID EXACTLY WHAT HE WAS SUPPOSED TO DO. every single time.

-In John 8:28 Jesus said, “I do nothing on my own but say only what the Father taught me.”

-He stayed true to his mission without deviating at all.

-And to a lesser degree Moses was also faithful:

-When the people all went astray, Moses confronted them.

-When the people made the golden calf to worship, Moses ground it up into powder, put in the water and made them drink it.

-He wasn’t messing around with God’s law! He was faithful.

-When they were complaining, whining, and wishing they could go back to Egypt, Moses stuck with God.

-You can see what the author is doing. He is comparing Jesus with Moses and pointing out some similarities: