Out With The Old; In With The New

This time of year, we say out with the old and in with the new. We have said out with 2006 and in with 2007. We are hopeful that the old days were good, but the new days and year will be even better. When I was growing up in the 70’s and 80’s, music was outstanding, or so we thought. We blasted out music on eight track tapes and we had 45’s and records. The years have passed since then, we moved onto cassette tapes, and the sound was better. Years continued to pass and they came out with CD’s. Recently we can now download music from web sites like I-tunes.com and load them onto our I Pods and the music is better than ever. When we look at the old way of listening to music, I believe that most of us would say that I pods are the better way to go. Out with the old and in with the new.

When I was growing up, I also had a girlfriend or two that lived 1-4 hours away from me. I went to Cran-Hill Ranch in Rodney, Michigan and I was able to find a girl to date for the week and I fell in love or so I thought. The camp was a one-week camp, so we would sort of date and at the end of the week, we parted our ways. I remember those great times that I had when I went home. I wrote a letter, addressed it, and sent it on its way to the new love of my life and I would wait for at least a week or two to get a response. I was not allowed to call because it cost too much. Today a teen could go to a camp, find a girl, and part ways and they could get onto a computer and communicate with her via e-mail or on instant message. For me I had to wait 1-2 weeks for a response, today they can get an answer in a few seconds using instant message or 1 day using e-mail. Which way is better. I say out with the old, in with the new.

We could say the same thing about telephones. I remember sitting next to the phone and if I wanted to talk to someone I had to stay put in the same spot for as long as the conversation lasted. Today we have cordless phones and cell phone and I can go anywhere I want to talk to someone. I can walk anywhere in the house and I can get in my car and get on the cell phone and drive from here to Detroit and get a hold of anyone I want as long as I have a signal. Which way is better? I say, Out with the old and in with the new. Today we are going to look at a scripture that has that same kind of thinking to it. Out with the old and in with the new. We are going to begin a series of messages on the book of Hebrews. I have set aside 8 weeks for us to look at this book and so I do not anticipate getting through this entire book. I want to begin by reading Hebrews 1:1-4.

Hebrews 1:1 - 4 (NIV) In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways 2but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. 3The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. 4So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.

The writer of Hebrews is unknown today. Many people would say if I had to guess, I would say that Paul wrote this book to the Hebrews. The early church father Origen is remembered as saying that “Only God knows who wrote Hebrews.” Hebrews opens out by saying in the past God spoke to our forefathers through the Prophets. At many times and in various ways. In the past is a way of saying in the old times, kind of like when I had two mail a letter. It refers to the old times, the Old Testament, or the Old Covenant that God made with His people. God would communicate a message to a person, like Moses or Elijah, Isaiah or Hosea and they would have to receive the message and send it to the people. For example, God saw how the people from Nineveh were disobedient to the Lord and this greatly disturbed the Lord. He talked to Jonah and told him to go and preach against it and if they repent, I will spare their lives. Jonah received the message, he became like the Israelites, he was disobedient to the Lord, and he ran away from God. The rest is a whale of a story. Jonah ran in the other direction and so the message had trouble getting through to the people whom needed to hear it. Jonah boarded a ship headed to Tarshish, a great storm began to brew, and Jonah is thrown overboard and lands in the belly of a great fish. I don’t know about you but that would get my attention! He says Lord, I hate the smell of fish guts and so I will do what you ask, even though I really do not want too. The great fish spits Jonah out onto the beach and he delivers that message to the people of Nineveh, they receive the message from the Lord and repent and God forgives them and everyone is happen. I said all that to say that the old way had some problems. Out with the old.