Jesus: The Complete Revelation of God
(Hebrews 1:1-3)
1. Scan over the introduction to Hebrews.
2. A pastor and a church member stood by the side of the road, taking turns holding up a sign that said, "The End is Near! Turn around before it’s too late!"
It wasn’t too long until a car drove up. The driver saw the sign, rolled down his window and yelled out: "I just wish you religious nuts would leave us alone!" and he sped up and drove around the curve out of sight.
Shortly, they heard the sound of tires screeching on the pavement… and a big splash.
The church member turned to his pastor, “You know, pastor, I tired to tell you we should have just put up a sign that said ’bridge out’” [Jeff Strite, Sermoncentral].
3. Communication is a big issue. But the ability to communicate abstract thoughts by the spoken or written word is part of what it means to be in God’s image.
4. Human beings are creatures that talk, and God is the Creator who talks!
Main: God has spoken to us in a superior manner through His superior Son!
I. The Son is SUPERIOR to the Prophets (1-2a)
Not a Pauline letter with a greeting, but an eloquent document. The first sentence is said to be some of the most eloquent prose in the NT, sophisticated in rhetoric. Verses 1-4 are believed to be part of a hymn (alliteration/rhythm).
A. God revealed Himself PARTLY through His Prophets
1. How God spoke and revealed Himself
• angels - Genesis 16:11-12 & visions - Genesis 15:1
• dreams - Genesis 28:10-19 through symbolic actions - Jeremiah 18:1-10
• through a gentle whisper -1 Kings 19:12 & miraculous signs - Exodus 8:20-25
B. God revealed Himself FULLY in Jesus
1. A comparison
• good and better
• ongoing and final
• partly and completely
2. Pastor Rodney Buchanan said, “Many people believe in reincarnation, astrology, communicating with the dead, astral projection and transcendental meditation -- unable to distinguish between what they believe and genuine Christian teaching. In fact, they see no conflict with believing these things and believing in the Christian faith at the same time. Many people believe that it is judgmental to say that it is wrong for unmarried people to live together, to have an abortion, to practice homosexual behavior — unaware that the Bible speaks clearly against all of these kinds of behaviors. Our culture seems to think that everyone can believe or do whatever they want and everyone is still right. Many are saying that all religions are basically the same with different names for God.” [Sermoncentral]
• Missouri is called the “Show Me” State; that’s what God did; instead of merely describing Himself, He veiled Himself in human flesh…
3. How the has revealed God, but the Son leads us into His will (shepherd)
C. He has done so in these Last Days, the MESSIANIC era
II. The Son is Superior to CREATION (2b-4)
A. In both His HUMANITY and Deity, He is Supreme (2b-3a)
1. The Son is the HEIR.
2. The Son is the One through Whom all things were CREATED.
• No mistake that John 1:1-4 sounds so similar to Genesis 1:1
• God speaks and everything is created through the Word
• The Word became flesh…
3. The Son is the GLORY of God [like a beam coming from the light source]
4. The Son has the EXACT attributes of the Father
5. The Son HOLDS everything together.
• there are more atoms in a glass of water than glasses of water in all the oceans in the world.
• If you remove the empty space in matter, you could fit the entire human race in apple… [BBC]
B. Only the Son could provide a perfect SALVATION (3b)
1. Purified us from our sins
2. Sat down, meaning His work of atonement is done
3. To sit down in heaven, he had to ascend; to ascend, had to rise from dead.
4. At the right hand, the place of honor and intercession
5. He is above the angels (in vs. 4), our theme for the next sermon.
C. Human EGO means many people value their spiritual “expertise” above Jesus.
1. In the early 40’s actress Billie Burke — famous for playing Glinda in the Wizard of Oz — sometimes had a high opinion of herself. She was on a transatlantic ocean trip, she noticed a man getting some sun on the deck. He seemed to be suffering from a very bad head cold.
“Are you uncomfortable?” she asked him. The man nodded his head.
“I’ll tell you just what to do,” she said. “Go to your room and drink lots of orange juice. Take two aspirin. Cover yourself with all the blankets you can find. Sweat the cold out. I know what I’m talking about. I’m Billie Burke from Holly wood.”
“Thank you,” the man said. “I’m glad to meet you. I’m Dr. Mayo from the Mayo Clinic.”
2. Jesus is not some guru akin to other gurus; He was a rabbi, but so much more than a rabbi; we cannot pick and choose what we believe as though we were in a cafeteria. How dare we disagree with Jesus.
• When He says “jump!” we should say “how high” on the way up!
3. Jesus is a Man in addition to being God, but not a sinful man, risen Lord!
D. Since the Son is superior to all, He should be our top PRIORITY in life!
Application: There is freedom in knowing who to listen to. Sometimes we want to make a decision, but we are not comfortable. We need permission.
Because God has spoken clearly, you have permission to follow His Word, even if nobody else does. This can create stresses, but it removes the stress of who to listen to. God has spoken. We are fools if we ignore what He has said.
• If your family objects, choose Jesus over your family
• If your peers object, choose Jesus over your peers
• If your fellow employees object, choose Jesus over them
• If you object, choose Jesus over yourself!
