JESUS: GOD’S LAST WORD
HEBREWS 1:1-12
MANY YEARS AGO, THERE WAS A MAN WHO WORKED VERY HARD TO WIN A CERTAIN LADY’S AFFECTION. SHE WAS HIS NEIGHBOR, AND EVERY WEEK FOR 42 YEARS, THE SHY BUT PERSISITENT SUITOR SLIPPED A LOVE LETTER UNDER HER DOOR. THEY HAD HAD A FIGHT AND SHE SIMPLY REFUSED TO TALK TO HIM.
AFTER WRITING 2,184 LOVE LETTERS WITH NO REPLY OF ANY KIND, THE SINGLE-HEARTED OLD MAN EVENTUALLY GOT UP ENOUGH COURAGE TO GO TO HER IN PERSON. HE KNOCKED ON THE DOOR AND ASKED FOR HER HAND IN MARRIAGE. TO HIS DELIGHT AND SURPRISE SHE ACCEPTED AND THEY BECAME MAN AND WIFE AT THE AGE OF 74.
JUST LIKE THAT MAN GOD HAS ALWAYS COMMUNICATED WITH HUMANITY. WE DON’T ALWAYS LISTEN, BUT GOD DOES COMMUNICATE. GOD COMMUNICATED WITH ADAM AND EVE IN THE GARDEN, BUT THAT FELLOWSHIP WOULD BE BROKEN DUE TO THE FALL. GOD WOULD STILL SPEAK TO THEM OUTSIDE THE GARDEN, BUT IT WOULD NOT BE THE SAME. IT WOULDN’T BE ENOUGH.
LATER IN HISTORY THE HEBREWS WERE SLAVES FOR OVER 400 YEARS IN EGYPT. GOD HEARD THEIR CRY FOR MERCY. HE SPOKE TO MOSES AND MOSES LED THEM OUT OF BONDAGE IN EGYPT. HE SPOKE TO MOSES AGAIN AND GAVE HIM THE LAW. IT WOULDN’T BE ENOUGH.
LATER IN HISTORY THE HEBREWS WERE AGAIN CAPTIVE THIS TIME IN BABYLON. GOD HEARD THEIR CRY AND LED THEM BACK TO THE PROMISED LAND. IN THE MIDST OF THIS HE SENT HIS PROPHETS – ISAIAH, JEREMIAH, DANIEL AND OTHERS. MEN CALLED BY GOD, AND SPOKEN TO BY GOD, WERE RELAYING THE MESSAGE OF GOD TO GOD’S PEOPLE. IT WOULDN’T BE ENOUGH.
ALL OF THE WAYS GOD SPOKE TO THE PEOPLE WERE LIKE PIECES OF A PUZZLE. GOD DID NOT GIVE THE COMPLETE PICTURE ALL AT ONCE BECAUSE THE PEOPLE WERE NOT READY FOR THE WHOLE THING ALL AT ONCE. THERE HAD TO BE TIME FOR MATURITY AND GROWTH. THERE HAD TO BE TIME TO BUILD FAITH.
SKILLFULLY THOUGH AS OUR FAITH GREW, GOD ALLOWED THE VARIOUS PIECES OF THE PUZZLE TO COME TOGETHER, UNTIL THERE WAS JUST ONE MISSING. OUR PASSAGE TODAY TELLS US THAT IN THE LAST DAYS GOD HAS SPOKEN TO US BY HIS SON. THE LAST WORD, THE LAST REVELATION OF GOD THEN, IS JESUS.
CONTEXT:
HEBREWS IS ONE OF A SMALL NUMBER OF BOOKS IN THE BIBLE WHOSE AUTHORSHIP IS UNKNOWN. ALL WE CAN SAY ABOUT THE AUTHOR IS AS MIKE FOGERSON SAYS, “HIS QUILL DRIPPED THE INSPIRED WORD OF GOD AS GIVEN BY THE HOLY SPIRIT TO A DISCOURAGED LOT OF CONVERTED JEWS.”
HEBREWS WAS WRITTEN TO FIRST CENTURY JEWISH CHRISTIANS. ACTS CHAPTER EIGHT TELLS US THAT A GREAT PERSECUTION BROKE OUT AGAINST THE CHURCH IN JERUSALEM. THIS WOULD BE AROUND THE TIME OF STEPHEN’S DEATH, THE FIRST CHRISTIAN MARTYR. ALL THE JEWS SCATTERED FROM JERUSALEM THROUGHOUT JUDEA AND SAMARIA. THIS BOOK WAS WRITTEN TO ENCOURAGE THESE JEWS.
BEFORE THESE JEWS TURNED TO CHRIST, THEIR RELIGION WAS JUDAISM, WHICH WAS A SACRIFICIAL SYSTEM. WHEN THEY PUT THEIR FAITH IN CHRIST, THEY CAME TO UNDERSTAND THEY NO LONGER NEEDED THAT SYSTEM. THIS CREATED GREAT PERSONAL CONFLICTS FOR THEM. MANY AFTER CONVERSION, HAD BEEN DISOWNED AND FORSAKEN BY THEIR FAMILIES. THEY ALSO EXPERIENCED SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC PERSECUTION BECAUSE OF THEIR FAITH STAND.
THEY STARTED OUT STRONG IN THEIR FAITH, BUT THEIR SPIRITUAL ROOTS HAD NOT DEVELOPED AND GAINED STRENGTH, AND AS A RESULT OF THE PERSECUTION THEY FACED, SOME BEGAN TO DRIFT BACK TO THEIR OLD WAYS.
HEBREWS 6:12: WE DO NOT WANT YOU TO BECOME LAZY, BUT TO IMITATE THOSE WHO THROUGH FAITH AND PATIENCE INHERIT WHAT HAS BEEN PROMISED.
THE THEME OF THE BOOK OF HEBREWS IS THAT JESUS IS GREATER. “KREITTON” IS USED 13 TIMES IN HEBREWS TO DESCRIBE JESUS CHRIST. THE AUTHOR WANTS THE JEWISH CHRISTIANS TO REMAIN STRONG IN THEIR FAITH AS JESUS IS STRONGER THAN ANY OF THEIR PREVIOUS BELIEFS.
THIS MAKES HEBREWS RELEVENT FOR OUR TIME AS WELL. THERE ARE PEOPLE IN OTHER COUNTRIES WHO FACE PERSECUTION IF THEY ACCEPT CHRIST AS SAVIOR AND TURN FROM THEIR ESTABLISHED FAITH BASE. IT CAN BE SEEN IN OUR OWN COUNTRY, AND IN OUR OWN AREA OF CAMPBELLTON.
OUR PASSAGE PICKS UP ON THE THEME “GOD IS GREATER.” OUR WRITER, WHO IS VERY KNOWLEDGEABLE ABOUT THE OLD TESTAMENT SHOWS MANY AREAS WHERE JESUS IS GREATER THAN OLD TESTAMENT JUDIASM, AND WE SHALL LOOK AT SOME TODAY.
JESUS IS GREATER: THAN THE PROPHETS
THROUGHOUT THE FIRST 4000 YEARS OF HUMANITY, GOD SPOKE TO PEOPLE THROUGH THE PROPHETS. THE JEWS REVERED THEIR PROPHETS FOR GOD’S WILL WAS COMMUNICATED THROUGH THEM.
THE ISSUE FOR THE PROPHETS WAS THAT THEY DID NOT HAVE THE FULL STORY. THEIRS WAS ONLY A FRAGMENTARY REVELATION. EACH PROPHET HAD A FRAGMENT OF THE REVELATION AND DELIVERED THAT PART OF THE MESSAGE THEY RECEIVED.
1 PETER 1:10-11:
CONCERNING THIS SALVATION, THE PROPHETS, WHO SPOKE OF THE GRACE THAT WAS TO COME TO YOU, SEARCHED INTENTLY AND WITH THE GREATEST CARE, 11 TRYING TO FIND OUT THE TIME AND CIRCUMSTANCES TO WHICH THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST IN THEM WAS POINTING WHEN HE PREDICTED THE SUFFERINGS OF THE MESSIAH AND THE GLORIES THAT WOULD FOLLOW.
PETER WAS TELLING US THAT THE MESSAGE THE PROPHETS WERE GIVING WAS GOD’S MESSAGE FOR A FUTURE PEOPLE.
VERSE 2 TELLS US THAT THE FINAL PIECE OF THE PUZZLE, THE FINAL REVELATION OF GOD WOULD COME IN THE PERSON OF HIS SON.
HOW MANY TIMES HAVE WE SAID THAT SOMEONE IS THE SPITTING IMAGE OF HIS FATHER, RIGHT DOWN TO CHARACTER AND TEMPERMENT. IT MEANS THEY ARE SIMILAR TO EACH OTHER.
THEREFORE, TO SAY THAT JESUS IS THE FINAL REVELATION OF THE FATHER MEANS THAT EVERYTHING WE WANT TO KNOW ABOUT THE FATHER WE CAN LEARN FROM WHAT HE HAS REVEALED THROUGH HIS SON JESUS.
VERSE 3 TELLS US THAT JESUS IS THE EXACT REPRESENTATION THE EXACT IMPRINT OF THE FATHER. THIS MEANS THAT GOD’S CHARACTER IS COMPLETELY PRESENT IN THE PERSON OF JESUS.
THE WORD FOR “IMPRINT” IS THE SAME WORD USED TO DESCRIBE THE IMPRINT FOR COINS, AND SOMETIMES THE INSTRUMENT TO STAMP THE COINS. THE IMAGE THAT IS STAMPED ON THE COIN IS THE EXACT DUPLICATE OF THE STAMP. GOD’S CHARACTER IS IN JESUS IN THE SAME WAY. MOREOVER JESUS IS NOT ONLY THE IMPRINT OF THE STAMP, HE IS THE STAMP ITSELF.
THIS MAKES JESUS GREATER THAT THE PROPHETS OF OLD. WHILE THEY SPOKE THE WORD OF GOD, JESUS WAS AND IS THE WORD OF GOD.
JESUS IS GOD’S LAST REVELATION BECAUSE HE IS HEIR OF ALL THINGS:
THE GREEK WORD FOR FIRSTBEGOTTEN IS (PROTOCOS). WE GET THE ENGLISH WORD “PROTOTYPE” OR FIRST ONE FROM IT. JESUS WAS THE PROTOCOS OR THE FIRST AND ONLY BEGOTTEN SON OF THE FATHER.
IN HEBREW CULTURE THE PROTOCOS SON WAS HEIR TO A GREATER SHARE OF THE ESTATE. THEY ARE A FUTURE JUSTIFIED LEGAL OWNER, CHOSEN BY THE PERSON WHO HAS MADE THEM HEIR.
THE CHOICE OF HEIR CAN COME FROM FAMILY LINE OR AS A REWARD. BOTH CAN BE APPLIED IN JESUS’ CASE. HE IS THE SON OF GOD, BUT HE WAS ALSO FAITHFUL AND OBEDIENT TO THE POINT OF GOING TO THE CROSS.
PHILIPPIANS 2:8-11:
AND BEING FOUND IN APPEARANCE AS A MAN, HE HUMBLED HIMSELF BY BECOMING OBEDIENT TO DEATH— EVEN DEATH ON A CROSS! 9 THEREFORE GOD EXALTED HIM TO THE HIGHEST PLACE AND GAVE HIM THE NAME THAT IS ABOVE EVERY NAME, 10 THAT AT THE NAME OF JESUS EVERY KNEE SHOULD BOW, IN HEAVEN AND ON EARTH AND UNDER THE EARTH, 11 AND EVERY TONGUE ACKNOWLEDGE THAT JESUS CHRIST IS LORD, TO THE GLORY OF GOD THE FATHER.
JESUS IS GOD’S LAST WORD BECAUSE HE IS HIS RIGHTFUL AND ONLY HEIR.
JESUS IS GOD’S LAST WORD IN CREATION:
JESUS WAS GOD’S AGENT IN CREATION. WHAT THE FATHER SPOKE, THE SON CARRIED OUT
JOHN 1:2-3:
HE WAS WITH GOD IN THE BEGINNING. 3 THROUGH HIM ALL THINGS WERE MADE; WITHOUT HIM NOTHING WAS MADE THAT HAS BEEN MADE.
JESUS IS THE CREATOR OF THE PHYSICAL UNIVERSE, SPACE AND TIME. HUMANITY WAS CREATED BY JESUS.
IF WE DON’T RECOGNIZE A CREATOR THEN WE HAVE A BIG PROBLEM EXPLAINING HOW THIS MARVELOUS, INTRICATE UNIVERSE CAME INTO BEING. EVOLUTION CAN ONLY TAKE US TO A STARTING POINT BUT CANNOT EXPLAIN WHERE THAT STARTING POINT CAME FROM. CHRISTIANITY SIMPLY BUT PROFOUNDLY SAYS “IN THE BEGINNING GOD.” CHRISTIANITY PROMOTES AN ORDERLY, LOGICAL, PROGRESSION OF CREATION. EVOLUTION LEAVES CREATION TOTALLY TO CHANCE. IT IS THE EQUIVILENT OF TAKING SOME MUD, PUTTING IT IN A PAPER BAG, SHAKING IT, AND HAVING A HUMAN COME OUT AS A RESULT.
JESUS IS GOD’S LAST WORD AS HE IS THE RADIANCE OF GOD’S GLORY:
F.F. BRUCE WRITES:
“JUST AS THE RADIANCE OF THE SUN REACHES THE EARTH, SO IN CHRIST THE GLORIOUS LIGHT OF GOD SHINES INTO THE HEARTS OF MAN”
THE GLORY OF GOD IS THE MANIFESTATION OF ALL HIS DIVINE ATTRIBUTES – THE SHINING FORTH OF HIS GLORIOUS PERSON. WHEN JESUS CAME, HE WAS, AND IS, THE EMBODIMENT OF THE SHEKINAH GLORY THAT HOVERED OVER THE ARK OF TESTIMONY.
JESUS DOESN’T REFLECT THE GLORY, AS THE MOON REFLECTS THE LIGHT OF THE SUN. JESUS IS THE GLORY. JESUS TRANSMITS THE LIGHT OF GOD’S GLORY INTO OUR HEARTS. WITHOUT THE SON OF GOD, THERE IS ONLY DARKNESS.
2 CORINTHIANS 4:6: FOR GOD, WHO SAID, “LET LIGHT SHINE OUT OF DARKNESS,” T MADE HIS LIGHT SHINE IN OUR HEARTS TO GIVE US THE LIGHT OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD’S GLORY DISPLAYED IN THE FACE OF CHRIST.
JESUS IS GOD’S LAST WORD BECAUSE HE IS GREATER THAN ANGELS
BIBLICAL ANGELS ARE MAJESTIC, POWERFUL SERVANTS OF GOD. THE BOOK OF HEBREWS LEAVES NO DOUBT THOUGH THAT JESUS IS GREATER THAN ANY ANGEL.
HEBREWS 1:5: FOR TO WHICH OF THE ANGELS DID GOD EVER SAY,
“YOU ARE MY SON; TODAY I HAVE BECOME YOUR FATHER”?
THE JEWS WEIGHED ANGELS VERY HIGHLY IN THEIR CULTURE. THEY SAW THE RULES AND REGULATIONS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT LAW AS BEING MEDIATED BY ANGELS. FOR THE JEW THE LAW CAME THROUGH THE INTERVENTION OF ANGELS, SUCH AS THE ANGEL OF DEATH AT THE PASSOVER.
HEBREWS 1:14 TELLS US THAT ANGELS ARE MINISTERING SPIRITS SENT FORTH TO SERVE “HEIRS OF SALVATION.”, WHICH WOULD BE CHRISTIANS.
AS A RESULT OF THE PERSECUTION, SOME OF THE JEWS RETURNED TO THEIR OLD WAYS, INCLUDING THE WORSHIP OF ANGELS. THIS IS TOTALLY CONTRARY TO SCRIPTURE. CONSIDER JOHN’S TEACHING IN REVELATION:
REVELATION 19:9-10:
THEN THE ANGEL SAID TO ME, “WRITE THIS: BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO ARE INVITED TO THE WEDDING SUPPER OF THE LAMB!” AND HE ADDED, “THESE ARE THE TRUE WORDS OF GOD.” 10 AT THIS I FELL AT HIS FEET TO WORSHIP HIM. BUT HE SAID TO ME, “DON’T DO THAT! I AM A FELLOW SERVANT WITH YOU AND WITH YOUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS WHO HOLD TO THE TESTIMONY OF JESUS. WORSHIP GOD! FOR IT IS THE SPIRIT OF PROPHECY WHO BEARS TESTIMONY TO JESUS.”
JESUS IS GOD’S LAST WORD BECAUSE HE IS GREATER THAN ANY ANGEL. ANGELS ARE SERVANTS OF GOD, BUT JESUS IS THE SON OF GOD.
JESUS IS GOD’S LAST WORD IN SALVATION
ACTS 4:11-12:
JESUS IS “ ‘THE STONE YOU BUILDERS REJECTED, WHICH HAS BECOME THE CORNERSTONE.’ 12 SALVATION IS FOUND IN NO ONE ELSE, FOR THERE IS NO OTHER NAME UNDER HEAVEN GIVEN TO MANKIND BY WHICH WE MUST BE SAVED.”
ON JUDGMENT DAY THERE WILL BE NO “IFS, ANDS, OR BUTTS. THE ONLY QUESTION WILL BE, “DID YOU ACCEPT THE FORGIVENESS AVAILABLE THROUGH JESUS CHRIST?” BEING A “GOOD PERSON” WILL NOT DO, “HAVING A FAITH” WILL NOT DO, “DOING A LOT OF GOOD THINGS” WILL NOT DO, HELPING OTHER PEOPLE WILL HAVE NO WEIGHT WHEN YOU STAND BEFORE THE KING.
JESUS IS LORD OF ALL, BECAUSE HE IS GOD HIMSELF. JESUS IS LORD OF ALL FOR HE AND ONLY HE CAN CLEANSE US FROM ALL SIN.
PHILIPPIANS 2:9-11:
THEREFORE GOD EXALTED HIM TO THE HIGHEST PLACE AND GAVE HIM THE NAME THAT IS ABOVE EVERY NAME, 10 THAT AT THE NAME OF JESUS EVERY KNEE SHOULD BOW, IN HEAVEN AND ON EARTH AND UNDER THE EARTH, 11 AND EVERY TONGUE ACKNOWLEDGE THAT JESUS CHRIST IS LORD, TO THE GLORY OF GOD THE FATHER.
WHOEVER WILL ACCEPT HIS SACRIFICE, BELIEVE IN HIM AND ACCEPT HIM AS LORD AND SAVIOR – THEIR SINS ARE PURGED AND WIPED OUT. TO THE JEW THE CROSS WAS A STUMBLING BLOCK, BUT TO THE BORN-AGAIN CHRISTIAN IT IS THE POWER OF ETERNAL LIFE.
1 PETER 1:18-20:
FOR YOU KNOW THAT IT WAS NOT WITH PERISHABLE THINGS SUCH AS SILVER OR GOLD THAT YOU WERE REDEEMED FROM THE EMPTY WAY OF LIFE HANDED DOWN TO YOU FROM YOUR ANCESTORS, 19 BUT WITH THE PRECIOUS BLOOD OF CHRIST, A LAMB WITHOUT BLEMISH OR DEFECT. 20 HE WAS CHOSEN BEFORE THE CREATION OF THE WORLD, BUT WAS REVEALED IN THESE LAST TIMES FOR YOUR SAKE.
CHRIST’S CROWNING ACHIEVEMENT WAS WHEN HE TOOK MY SINS TO CALVARY AND BROUGHT THEM UNDER THE BLOOD OF FORGIVENESS. THROUGH THE CROSS AND RESURRECTION JESUS DEALT WITH THE SIN PROBLEM ONCE AND FOR ALL.
JESUS IS GOD’S LAST WORD BECAUSE HE IS GREATER THAN THE POWER OF SIN.
JESUS IS GOD’S LAST WORD BECAUSE OF HIS GLORIOUS RETURN
ONE DAY JESUS IS GOING TO RETURN AND SETUP HIS KINGDOM ON EARTH. NO OTHER RELIGIOUS FIGURE THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAS EVER CLAIMED TO DO SUCH A THING.
REVELATION 1:7-8:
“LOOK, HE IS COMING WITH THE CLOUDS,” AND “EVERY EYE WILL SEE HIM, EVEN THOSE WHO PIERCED HIM”; AND ALL PEOPLES ON EARTH “WILL MOURN BECAUSE OF HIM.” SO SHALL IT BE! AMEN. 8 “I AM THE ALPHA AND THE OMEGA,” SAYS THE LORD GOD, “WHO IS, AND WHO WAS, AND WHO IS TO COME, THE ALMIGHTY.”
HEBREWS 1:8 TELL US THAT HE WILL REIGN FOR ETERNITY. JESUS DIDN’T STAY IN THE GRAVE. HE IS ABOVE ALL, AND IN THE PLACE OF HIGHEST POWER. HE IS OVER EVERY AUTHORITY AND RULER IN THE UNIVERSE.
TO SIT AT THE “RIGHT HAND OF MAJESTY” AS HEBREWS 1:3 STATES IS TO SIT IN THE PLACE OF ALL AUTHORITY. THE RIGHT HAND IS THE HAND OF POWER AND THIS IS THE PLACE JESUS OCCUPIES.
WHEN JESUS SAT AT THE RIGHT HAND OF THE FATHER FOUR THINGS WERE SIGNIFIED.
1. IT WAS A PLACE OF HONOR. PHILIPPIANS 2:11
2. IT WAS A PLACE OF REST. HEBREWS 10:22
3. IT WAS A PLACE OF AUTHORITY 1 PETER 3:22
4. IT IS A PLACE FOR INTERCESSION ROMANS 8:34
JESUS IS GOD’S LAST WORD BECAUSE HE IS COMING BACK.
CONCLUSION:
WHO IS JESUS THEN AND WHY IS HE GOD’S FINAL WORD?
IN MATTHEW: HE IS MESSIAH
MARK: THE MIRACLE WORKER
LUKE: THE SON OF MAN
JOHN: THE SON OF GOD
ACTS: HE IS THE POWER OF THE CHURCH
ROMANS: OUR JUSTIFIER
CORINTHIANS: THE ONE THAT SHALL REIGN UNTIL HE HAS PUT ALL
HIS ENEMIES UNDER HIS FEET.
GALATIANS: THE REDEEMER FROM THE CURSE OF THE LAW
EPHESIANS: THE ONE IN WHOM WE HAVE REDEMPTION THROUGH
HIS BLOOD EVEN THE FORGIVENESS OF SIN
ACCORDING TO HIS RICHES IN GRACE.
PHILIPPIANS: THE ONE THAT SHALL SUPPLY ALL OUR NEEDS
ACCORDING TO HIS RICHES IN GLORY
COLOSSIANS: THE FULLNESS OF THE GODHEAD BODILY.
THESSALONIANS: THE ONE COMING BACK FROM HEAVEN WITH A
SHOUT AND WE WILL RISE TO MEET HIM IN THE
AIR, AND BE WITH THE LORD FOREVER.
TIMOTHY: THE ONE MEDIATOR BETWEEN GOD AND MAN
TITUS: HE IS THE BLESSED HOPE
PHILEMON: THE FAITHFUL PARTNER
HEBREWS: THE HIGH PRIEST AFTER THE ORDER OF
MELCHIZEDEK
JAMES: THE GREAT PHYSICIAN
PETER: THE ONE COMING AS A THIEF IN THE NIGHT
JOHN: HE IS LOVE
JUDE: THE LORD OF VENGENCE
REVELATION: THE LORD OF LORDS. THE LAMB ON THE THRONE
THE LIGHT OF THE NEW JERUSALEM AND THE
KING OF ALL KINGS.
HE IS THE “I AM” OF THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS.
BUT HIS GREATEST NAME OF ALL IS OUR LORD AND SAVIOR AND OUR SOON COMING KING.
AND THAT IS WHY JESUS IS GOD’S FINAL, COMPLETE REVELATION AND HIS LAST WORD TO HUMANITY.
