Hebrews 1:1-4 - Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the worlds. 3 He is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word. When he had made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.
5 Now God did not subject the coming world, about which we are speaking, to angels. 6 But someone has testified somewhere, “What are human beings that you are mindful of them,
or mortals, that you care for them? 7 You have made them for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned them with glory and honor, 8 subjecting all things under their feet.”
Now in subjecting all things to them, God left nothing outside their control. As it is, we do not yet see everything in subjection to them, 9 but we do see Jesus, who for a little while was made lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.
10 It was fitting that God, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many children to glory, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through sufferings. 11 For the one who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one Father. For this reason Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters, 12 saying, “I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters, in the midst of the congregation I will praise you.”
The scripture this morning includes the introduction section of the book of Hebrew, in which Paul says, God speaks to us "in many and various ways" by the prophets. Sometimes, it was through a dream, sometimes through a vision, sometimes through direct hearing of God voice.
Talking about God’s voice reminds me of a story that I’ve told you before, which is full of spiritual wisdom.
It is about a man who fell of a cliff, but he was able grab a branch of a tree growing on the side of the cliff and was hanging and dangling there. He looked down and saw the valley under him that looked endless. If he let go of the branch he would definitely die, he thought. But, the branch was very weak, and each time he made just a little move, he heard it began to crack.
But, he couldn’t hang in there for too long, so he cream up, "Help! Someone help me. Oh, God, please help!" Suddenly he heard a deep voice from above, "I am God. I heard your prayer, so I am here to help you." He said, "Oh, thank you God. Please get me out of here. I can’t hang in here anymore." God said, "O.K. I am here to help you. But in order to allow me to help you, you must listen to me." The man said, "OK, just tell me what to do. Quick!"
God says, "Good! First of all, let go of the branch." Suddenly the place became very quiet. After a few minutes passed by, his voice came back up, "Help, anybody else up there?"
Even though this story is very funny, it depicts a human problem very well. We want God to help, but we don’t trust his word.
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Paul wrote this letter to the Hebrews to tell them who Jesus really is. Many of them saw the power and authority of Jesus through his words, his teaching, and the miracles he perform. They knew that what Jesus was doing was something only God could do. But, they couldn’t say Jesus was God because, they don’t believe God could come down to earth. This world is a sinful world and God is holy, so the Holy One can’t enter and mingle with the sinful world. So some Jews are comfortable just to say that Jesus was an angle of God.
Paul wrote to them to counter that assumption by helping them understand who Jesus really is. From the first four verses we learn 6 attributes of Jesus, according to Paul, who has encounter Jesus face to face, and share the same conviction as the other Apostles.
Let’s look at these six attributes this morning.
1 - Jesus is God’s living Word. Therefore we must listen to him to know God’s will.
Paul says, "Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son,"
As Christians, we believe God’s word comes in three different forms. God’s Word came to us through the prophets, who wrote them in the scripture. So the scripture is our written word.
God’s word that is spoken through the prophets and pastors during their preaching, teaching, sermons is known as "spoken Word" of God.
And God’s word in its ultimate form is Jesus Christ himself. We call it that Jesus Christ is the incarnation of God’s word. John says, Jesus Christ is God’s Word in flesh. That’s known as the "Living Word."
Jesus Christ is the living Word, the ultimate revelation of God. And we must listen to him to know God’s will.
Jesus himself used a parable to talk about his identity. It was in Ma5thew 21:33-46
33 “Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenants and went to another country. 34 When the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce. 35 But the tenants seized his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. 36 Again he sent other slaves, more than the first; and they treated them in the same way. 37 Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and get his inheritance.’ 39 So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. 40 Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” 41 They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the harvest time.”
42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the scriptures:
‘The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;f
this was the Lord’s doing,
and it is amazing in our eyes’?
43 Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom. 44 The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.” When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them. 46 They wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowds, because they regarded him as a prophet. Mat 21:33-46
Notice Jesus compare himself as a stone. There are other places where he describe himself as a cornerstone. So you can say that Jesus has another last name that is ’Stone". And verse 44 says, "the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls."
A modern parable would be like this story:
It was a dark and stormy night on the Pacific Ocean, during World War II, the officer on the bridge came to the captain and said, "captain, captain there’s a light in our sea lane and they won’t move." The captain said, "What do you mean they won’t move? Tell them to move starboard. Tell them to move right now."
The signal goes out: "Starboard, starboard." The signal comes back: "Starboard yourself." The captain says, "I can’t believe this, what’s going on here? Tell them who I am."
The signal goes out: "This is the mighty Missouri, starboard."
The signal comes back, "This is the lighthouse."
When Jesus says, "The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls," he is saying that his Word is like a lighthouse and you will never crash a lighthouse but you will only crash yourself against the lighthouse.
And as the scripture says, the Pharisees knew exactly what he was talking about and they wanted to arrest. But, they dare not do it because of the crowd that believed Jesus was a prophet.
2 - Jesus will write the final chapter. Therefore we must trust him for our future.
v. 2 "whom he appointed heir of all things,..." Whoever is an heir holds the future.
All the injustice and suffering you face today, it might sound like the end of the world, but the last chapter is not yet written. The good news is that Jesus Christ will write the last chapter.
We must trust him, and it will take away a lot of stress from your life in worrying about the future.
3 - Jesus is the source of all creation. Therefore, we must Worship him.
"through whom he also created the worlds."
Not only that he is the future, but he is the beginning. That’s why God says, I am the Alpha and the Omega. I am the first letter and the last letter.
Being at the beginning of creation means he is God himself, or a least part of God. Part of the Trinity. Therefore we must worship him.
4 - He is what God is really like. Therefore we must know him in order to know God.
v. 3 "He is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being,"
Many people wants to know God. But there is no other way to know God than knowing Jesus Christ because as the scripture says here. He is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being. Look no further, God is right here in Jesus Christ. If you want to know God, know Jesus.
5 - Jesus sustains all things by his powerful word through which he made the world. Therefore, we must be obedient to him in order to make sense of life.
v.3 "he sustains all things by his powerful word."
Just like the lighthouse story I told you, God’s word is like the signals come out of that lighthouse and we must be obedient to the Word, or we will crash. His word is being lived by the obedient Christians in this world.
6 - He purifies our sins. Therefore we must give thanks to him.
v. 3, "When he had made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,"
How dose Jesus purify our sins?
Therefore we must thank him. That’s the difference between Christianity and religions. Christianity is not a religion. A religion tells you to do things, and to follow a set of rules to earn your salvation.
But Christianity doesn’t require you to do anything because it is already done by Jesus Christ. All the good deeds the Christians do are motivated by thanksgiving. Everything is done, the only thing left is to give thanks. That makes a world of difference from any religion in this world.
1 - Jesus is God’s living Word. Therefore we must listen to him to know God’s will.
2 - Jesus will write the final chapter. Therefore we must trust him for our future.
3 - Jesus is the source of all creation. Therefore, we must Worship him.
4 - He is what God is really like. Therefore we must know him in order to know God.
5 - Jesus sustains all things by his powerful word through which he made the world. Therefore, we must be obedient to him in order to make sense of life.
6 - He purifies our sins. Therefore we must give thanks to him.
