AIM: To elevate our perspective of JESUS so that any sense of flagging faith is renewed by a fresh understanding of the importance and significance of JESUS.
Hebrews was written to Jewish Christians, probably 2nd generation, whose parents had embraced ‘Christ’ as Messiah and so these people had inherited a faith which they were finding challenging to follow. They needed to know that Christianity was true and Christ was worth following.
Today: HE’S GOT THE WHOLE WORLD IN HIS HANDS
In three massive statements the writer exalts Jesus beyond the criticism, sarcasm, doubts or insults thrown at him in any era of human time.
Hebrews 1:2 & 3b “…..whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe….sustaining all things by his powerful word”
He declares that Jesus is….the ‘HEIR OF ALL THINGS’……He is the ‘MAKER OF THE UNIVERSE’……He is the ‘SUSTAINER OF ALL THINGS’.
The Lord we have trusted was no mere Galilean preacher. The clear message to the original readers of this letter was: ‘Surely the Christ whose hands has shaped the universe and summoned the galaxy of stars into being could hold these Jewish Christians in days of testing and guide their steps through times of adversity’.
This SON of GOD is superior in every way because he is at the very centre of LIFE. He is the answer to the greatest questions of life. How did life come to exist? How does life continue to exist? Why does life exists?
Colossians 1:16-17 “For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”
• HE IS THE CREATOR
He took chaos and created life – Genesis 1:2 “Now the earth was formless and empty”
(NKJV) “The earth was without form, and void” (became….)
Hebrews 1:10 “In the beginning, O Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands.”
Hebrews 11:3 “By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible”
The SON was actively involved in creation – Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”……1:3 “And God said….”
The Son spoke the creative Word…..John 1:1-3 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made”
This universe is not self-existent – it was made – it has a purpose
Humanity is not self-existent – we did not make ourselves – we have a purpose
Hebrews is telling us that ……. WE EXIST INTENTIONALLY
Creation was an intentional act and not an accidental happening. We human beings are not mere products of impersonal, purposeless forces working through chance on some blind and unfeeling matter. We are the creatures of a personal creator, who has become incarnate in Jesus Christ our Lord so that we might know him personally and serve him lovingly.
Isaiah 42:5 “This is what God the LORD says— he who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and all that comes out of it, who gives breath to its people, and life to those who walk on it”
People whose hope or faith is flagging need to know that life is not a series of chance happenings. We are not lucky to be alive – God intends us to be so (Luck – playing golf with Neville this week)
Don’t underestimate the Son of God. After all the most significant person in the universe is surely the one who made it!
• HE IS THE SUSTAINER
Hebrews 1:3 “…sustaining all things by his powerful word”
Colossians 1:17 “He is before all things, and in him all things hold together”
All things cohere, or are held together, by him. There is so much we do not know about the universe and even the galaxies beyond our own. To believe that they happened by chance is one thing but to believe that the balance of existence is sustained by chance takes even greater faith, or stupidity.
The SON did not create the world and leave it to itself. He takes responsibility for the cosmic maintenance of all that he has created. Nature is subservient to his word and he retains the power of control over what he has made.
Throughout the Bible God’s control over creation is demonstrated:
• He chose to flood the earth in Noah’s day
• He parted the Red Sea in Moses’ day
• He made the sun stay up all night in Joshua’s day
• Jesus commanded a storm on Galilee to stop and it did…..
Hebrews is telling us that ……. WE ARE HELD BY STRONG HANDS
Jesus is the glue that holds life together. He is not just the sustainer of the material universe but also the sustainer of our spiritual destiny. And he sustains our lives by the same means he sustains the universe…..”….by his powerful word…”
Hebrews 12:2 “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith..”
Acts 17:28 “For in him we live and move and have our being”
We, like these Hebrew readers, need to know that the hands that both created the universe and now sustains it, hold our lives too.
John 10:28,29 “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand”
Don’t underestimate the Son of God. He has never dropped one of the lives that he sustains with his compassionate heart and powerful hands.
• HE IS THE HEIR
Hebrews 1:2 “….whom he appointed heir of all things..”
Hebrews 1:8 “But about the Son he says, ‘Your throne, O God, will last forever and ever and righteousness will be the scepter of your kingdom’”
Colossians 1:16 “…all things were created by him and for him…”
What the writer is effectively saying is that he is the heir of all things; of the material universe, of all its creatures, of its history and progress. He alone is worthy enough to be the final goal of the life of the individual and of the human race and of the universe.
Psalm 2:7,8 “I will proclaim the decree of the LORD : He said to me, "You are my Son; today I have become your Father. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession”
Ephesians 1:7-9 “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment – to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.”
Hebrews is telling us that……. WE ARE HEADED SOMEWHERE
The new creation is the realization of the purpose of God for all of creation which is found in Jesus.
Isaiah 65:17-19 "Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create, for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight and its people a joy. I will rejoice over Jerusalem and take delight in my people; the sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more.”
John Trapp (17th Century Commentator) “Be married to this heir and have all”
The one who created the world is the one who finally redeems it. Jesus is not just the one who will sustain the earth so that it reaches its destination, but he sustains us so that we achieve our ultimate destiny in life.
Jude :24 “To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy”
Don’t underestimate the Son of God. This Jesus, CREATOR, SUSTAINER and HEIR has called us friends. That really is someone worth following, worshipping and serving whatever cost may be involved.
