“‘You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning,
and the heavens are the work of your hands;
they will perish, but you remain;
they will all wear out like a garment,
like a robe you will roll them up,
like a garment they will be changed.
But you are the same,
and your years will have no end.’
“And to which of the angels has he ever said,
‘Sit at my right hand
until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet?’
“Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?”
B
elieve it or not, there are religious groups—cults that are masquerading as Christian—that teach that Jesus our Lord was an angel. These religious societies teach a variety of theological errors, including the heresy that our Saviour was created, that He never claimed to be divine, that He was not God in human flesh. They instruct their adherents that we sin against the Living God whenever we ascribe to the Son of God His rightful position as very God in human flesh. For the most part, these groups are characterised by vigorous efforts to make themselves acceptable to the Living God. Their goal beyond this life, the hope they offer deluded adherents, is dependent upon how well they can fulfil the duties they imagine God has imposed.
Heretical groups such as the one I’ve just described are able to deceive the unwary primarily because pastors of Christian churches do an abysmal job of teaching the doctrine of Christ the Lord. Pastors are under pressure from multiple sources to deliver sermons intended to make people feel good about themselves. Pastors are cautioned not to be controversial, not to make people uncomfortable.
Consequently, people are ignorant of what God has done and of who the Son of God is. We wouldn’t expect the unsaved to know Christ and His character since we have failed to reach them with the Word; however, many of those who affiliate with cults claim they were once members of Christian groups. Many would claim that they were once identified with evangelical churches, including Baptist churches. That is a blot against the pulpit of these churches.
In my estimate, one of the saddest charges found in the pages of the Word, is the divine lament delivered through Hosea. As he opened the fourth chapter of the book bearing his name, Hosea was guided by God’s Spirit to write:
“Hear the word of the LORD, O children of Israel,
for the LORD has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land.
There is no faithfulness or steadfast love,
and no knowledge of God in the land;”
[HOSEA 4:1]
Then, Hosea would reveal the LORD’s deep sorrow and grief when he wrote the lament, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” [HOSEA 4:6a].
Isaiah, a contemporary of Hosea, would speak on the LORD’s behalf, lamenting,
“My people go into exile
for lack of knowledge.”
[ISAIAH 5:13]
The LORD God has no pleasure in the pain brought to individuals through their disobedience. God grieves when it is necessary to discipline His people. However, because He loves His own, He will discipline them for their own good.
In another place within the prophecy, Isaiah has recorded the words of Hezekiah after God had healed the king.
“O sovereign master, your decrees can give men life;
may years of life be restored to me.
Restore my health and preserve my life.’
“Look, the grief I experienced was for my benefit.
You delivered me from the pit of oblivion.
For you removed all my sins from your sight.”
[ISAIAH 38:16-17 NET BIBLE]
Hezekiah had been sick, so sick that everyone anticipated that he would die. And he also anticipated that death was stalking him! The LORD, in mercy sent Isaiah to confirm that the end was near. Hezekiah didn’t receive this information with joy. He pleaded with God for healing. The LORD graciously sent His prophet back to the king to tell him that his plea was heard. Hezekiah would have another fifteen years to live.
After this, Hezekiah recognised that the sorrow attending his life was a blessing in disguise. His pain provided a canvas on which the LORD God could reveal divine mercy. This raises the question—how do you view your own struggles? What is your response to the pressures you face each day? Do disappointments or reversals in your life bring you to the point of despair? Does grief lead you to doubt God’s goodness? Are you able to confess that despite the trials you are passing through that the Lord is working to the praise of His glory. Too often we are focused on our own condition rather than seeing that the Living God is at work bringing glory to His holy Name.
Christ Jesus, born of a virgin and crucified because of the sin of mankind, is Creator. Power and might belong to Him. Angels serve Him. If we will know victory in our own lives, we will know Him as the One calling all things into being.
CHRIST IS CREATOR —
“You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning,
and the heavens are the work of your hands.”
[HEBREWS 1:10]
The writer speaks of the Son of God throughout this initial chapter of the Letter. In an earlier verse, he has quite pointedly spoken of the Son of God as pre-eminent, as the Firstborn of the Father [see HEBREWS 1:6]. The Son is to be worshipped by angels according to the Father’s dictum. The writer continues by identifying the Son of God as seated upon an eternal throne from which He rules over a Kingdom identified as His own [see HEBREWS 1:8]. Now, the writer identified the Son of God as Creator of all. The child whose birth is celebrated throughout the world and through the centuries is identified as the Creator of all things. This is the declaration—Christ Jesus is the Creator.
I cannot speak of Christ as Creator without pointing to the opening words of John’s Gospel. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men” [JOHN 1:1-4]. John’s identification is quite bold and quite specific. There can be no mistake about the meaning of what is written; one may reject it, but one cannot doubt that this is the declaration of the written Word of God.
The enigma of mankind’s refusal to recognise Christ as Creator is emphasised again in JOHN 1:10: “He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.”
As Paul opens the missive he penned to the Christians in Colossae, he observes, “[Christ Jesus] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross” [COLOSSIANS 1:15-20].
I recognise that I live in a world that does not believe that Christ called all things into being. I recognise that I live in a world that does not believe that Christ Jesus is alive. I recognise that I live in a world that does not believe that Jesus is very God. However, the unbelief of the world does not change reality. Jesus Christ, very God, is alive; He made all things and He reigns.
Let me contrast the emphasis of our world with the reality of the Word. We have exalted “science” as though science is a god. Carl Sagan popularised the saying “The cosmos is all that is or ever was or ever will be.” The statement, like much of contemporary science, is an attempt to promote the idea that science has explained all things from nuclear fusion to biological reproduction has been explained without inserting God into the process. The thought that all things can be explained without appealing to God as Creator, is attractive to anyone who is fearful of God.
To say that “The cosmos is all that is or ever was or ever will be” is a religious statement. Those making such statement don’t mean for such assertions to be religious, but they are. They are statements of faith; they posit a position that requires faith, they depend upon faith since no one making such a statement will be present to verify that the cosmos is eternal. In fact, they exalt the cosmos to the position of the divine.
Aren’t such assertions evidence of the verity of what Peter has written? Peter wrote, “This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, ‘Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.’ For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished” [2 PETER 3:1-6].
Why are wicked people afraid to acknowledge that Christ is Creator? And make no mistake, those who refuse to acknowledge Christ as Creator are wicked. Those who refuse to embrace Him as very God are wicked and must face His condemnation. Isn’t the fact that they are afraid to acknowledge Him as Creator of all things because they realise that if Christ is acknowledged as Creator they are responsible to worship Him? Wicked people seek to dethrone Christ as Creator precisely because they know that if they confess Him as Creator they must give an answer for why they have not honoured Him as possessing all power!
Reading the Psalms one morning in August, I recalled what is written therein.
“Oh come, let us sing to the LORD;
let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
For the LORD is a great God,
and a great King above all gods.
In his hand are the depths of the earth;
the heights of the mountains are his also.
The sea is his, for he made it,
and his hands formed the dry land.
“Oh come, let us worship and bow down;
let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!”
[PSALM 95:1-6]
Confessing Christ as Creator demands that we worship Him as our Maker! Those who attempt to deny Him as Creator intuitively recognise that if they admit that Jesus is Creator, then they must worship Him. And worshipping the Son of God would mean that those worshipping could not longer continue as the centre of their lives. Therefore, refusing to believe, these pathetic souls seek to dethrone Jesus as very God.
How foolish it is for someone to say that Jesus is a good man, to claim that He is a great teacher, or even to assert that He is a powerful being, while simultaneously refusing to confess Him as Lord, as Master. From earliest days, people who didn’t know Jesus as Lord have debated who He might be. On one occasion, the Master challenged His disciples about this very issue. You may recall the account that Matthew has provided.
“[Jesus] asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’ And they said, ‘Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter replied, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ And Jesus answered him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven’” [MATTHEW 16:13b-17].
While many people were debating who Jesus might be, Simon the Son of John confessed Jesus as the Son of God. This confession would merit Simon receiving a new name given by the Son of God. Henceforth, he would be called “Peter,” “Rock.” Today, we might say his name was “Rock Johnson.” Moreover, Peter’s state was anything but casual. This was not some throwaway line in the midst of daily banter; this was a confession prompted by the Spirit of God. It was a practical demonstration of the situation Paul described when he wrote, “No one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except in the Holy Spirit” [1 CORINTHIANS 12:3]. One can only receive Jesus as Master, as ruler over life, as rightful regent of the soul, when that person is controlled by the Spirit of God.
This truth is confirmation of Jesus’ cautionary words. Recall that the Master said, “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out” [JOHN 6:37].
Soon after saying this, the Lord would say, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him” [JOHN 6:44a].
Emphasising this truth, Jesus also taught, “Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me” [JOHN 6:45b].
It is obvious that to claim that Jesus is a great teacher, or a good man, or even saying He is merely a powerful entity without acknowledging Him as God over all, is the height of folly. Writing the saints in Rome, Paul was explaining the privileged position Israel occupied in the divine plan. Then, he made this stunning affirmation which every child of God should hear: “To [the Israelites] belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen” [ROMANS 9:5]. Amen, indeed!
CHRIST IS ETERNAL —
“You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning,
and the heavens are the work of your hands;
they will perish, but you remain;
they will all wear out like a garment,
like a robe you will roll them up,
like a garment they will be changed.
But you are the same,
and your years will have no end.”
[HEBREWS 1:10-12]
To be God, God must of necessity be self-existent. This means that God is not dependent upon man for His existence. If you foolishly say that you do not believe in God, your unbelief does not affect Him. The Living God is eternal and transcendent, and that is precisely what we witness in the presentation of the Son of God that is provided in the text before us this day. Christians must always remember that what is said in the text, is said of the Son. We know this to be the case because in the EIGHTH VERSE, the writer has written, “Of the Son [God] says…” Then, quoting from the Old Testament Scriptures the writer focuses attention on the Son of God, identifying Him as the One of whom the Psalmist spoke. Thus, citing the 102ND PSALM, the writer says of the Son that He is the Creator, and He is eternal and that He is immutable or unchanging.
Why should it matter whether Christ is eternal? One major reason this matters is because we need One who will save us eternally. This point is emphasised elsewhere in this Letter to Hebrew Christians. The writer is speaking of the eternal priesthood of the Christ, when he explains, “This becomes even more evident when another priest arises in the likeness of Melchizedek, who has become a priest, not on the basis of a legal requirement concerning bodily descent, but by the power of an indestructible life. For it is witnessed of him,
‘You are a priest forever,
after the order of Melchizedek.’
“For on the one hand, a former commandment is set aside because of its weakness and uselessness (for the law made nothing perfect); but on the other hand, a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God.
“And it was not without an oath. For those who formerly became priests were made such without an oath, but this one was made a priest with an oath by the one who said to him:
‘The Lord has sworn
and will not change his mind,
“You are a priest forever.”’
“This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant.
“The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them” [HEBREWS 7:15-25].
Reaching back into the writings of the Old Covenant, the writer points to something written in the Psalms—the Christ has an eternal priesthood. He contrasts this with the transient and temporal nature of those priests who are mere mortals, pointing out that death prevented them from continuing in office. Of the Son, however, the writer notes that the reason the Son’s eternal priesthood is important is that He always lives. His eternal nature allows Him to make intercession for His own people. In short, we have an eternal priest, an advocate and intercessor who stands before the throne of the Father making intercession for us. Christ is pleading for us, even at this time!
This position is emphasised elsewhere in Scripture. For instance, John writes, “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world” [1 JOHN 2:1-2].
Dear people, we do stumble, we falter, and we fall. I’m not suggesting that we excuse sin, but I am seeking to ensure that we know that when we do err, we are not rejected. Rather, we have an eternal advocate, One who pleads for us before the throne of the Father. Even now the Son of God pleads for each of His own. If I were perfect, I would not need an advocate; however, I’m far from perfect, and I shall not be perfected until the Master calls me home. Then, after my metamorphosis, I will be perfected in Christ. At this moment, I stand perfect in Christ the Lord because He is perfect—and I am in Him, and He is the everlasting advocate for sinners. I feel a shout coming on. Christ lives eternally, and therefore, I am kept safe in Him because He lives evermore.
Paul writes in a similar vein when emphasising the relationship of the believer to Christ the Lord. “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written,
‘For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.’
“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” [ROMANS 8:31-39].
Christ Jesus is at the right hand of the Father interceding for His people. Therefore, because He forever stands at the right hand of the Father, no one can bring a charge against God’s holy people. You, if you are a child of the Living God, are now justified, and your justification is an eternal justification. You, because you are a child of the Lord God, are loved by Christ the Lord, and His love will never be withdrawn. You, as one who has been adopted into God’s Forever Family, will never be separated from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus. He is eternal, and all the benefits that we hold dear are secure in Him because He lives forever and ever. This is the reason why the truth of Christ’s eternal nature is so essential to the child of God. This is why we do not fear the future; we know Him who holds the future, and He lives forever. Amen.
CHRIST IS RULER — “To which of the angels has he ever said,
‘Sit at my right hand
until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet?’”
[HEBREWS 1:13]
“Sit at My right hand,” is the invitation that the Father extends to the Son. Throughout the pages of the New Covenant are found statements that speak of the Saviour being seated at the right hand of the Father. Let me point to a few instances in emphasising this truth. As Stephen, the first follower of the Master to seal his testimony with his life, was dying, his body battered and broken by the stones that had been flung by an angry mob, he lifted his eyes and declared, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God” [ACTS 7:55-56].
The Master, having been seated at the right hand of the Father, stood to receive His servant. Just so, we should have no doubt that the Saviour will stand to receive each of us when we have stood firm for His sake. Do you remember Paul’s declaration concerning what lies beyond this moment called now? The Apostle wrote, “I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing” [2 TIMOTHY 4:6-8].
Encouraging all who follow the Master, Paul writes in the Letter to Roman saints, “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written,
‘For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.’
“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” [ROMANS 8:31b-39].
Though we considered this passage of the Word only moments ago, take note of it again. As we read those words again, did you note how the Apostle declares that Christ the Lord died and was raised, and that He is now at the right hand of God. There, at the Father’s right hand, the Son of God intercedes for His own beloved people.
Urging saints to focus on what truly matters, in his missive to the saints in Colossae, Paul writes, “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory” [COLOSSIANS 3:1-4]. It is distressingly easy to become caught up in the matters of this present life, matters which must pass away with the passing of the earth. However, as followers of the Risen Son of God, we are to focus on Christ and His glory. We are to live in light of eternity with the Son of God and not on this present, dying world.
In this Letter to Hebrew Christians, the writer speaks of Christ’s work, noting as he writes, “Every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified” [HEBREWS 10:11-14].
Permit me to point to one other writer who speaks of Christ seated at the right hand of the Father. Peter, writing of Christ’s suffering and the responsibility of we who believe to identify with Him in that suffering as we submit to baptism, instructs us, “Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him” [1 PETER 3:18-22].
Why does it matter if Christ rules or not? Why should we be concerned whether Christ is at the right hand of the Father or not? One reason this should matter is that Christ waits to welcome His child home, presenting him before the Father. There is a powerful and dramatic scene described as Stephen, the first follower of the Christ to seal his testimony with his life. I would suppose that Doctor Luke received the information from Paul, who had been present on the day Stephen was killed.
This is the scene we have received in the Book of Acts. “[Stephen], full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. And he said, ‘Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.’ But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him. Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’ And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them.’ And when he had said this, he fell asleep” [ACTS 7:54-60].
As the enraged mob flung stones at the saint of God, he looked up and saw what must have served to encourage him greatly. Stephen saw the Son of God standing at the right hand of the Father. Jesus stood to receive His servant, welcoming Him into Heaven, standing to present him before the Father. In the same manner, I have no doubt that we who follow the Saviour will witness Him standing to receive us, presenting us before the Father when that day comes that we must set aside the flesh.
I confess that I don’t relish the prospect of dying. I cannot know what will be experienced as I am compelled to cross Jordan. I do know that the death angel is not the terror some imagine since Christ has removed the sting of death. This is taught as the Apostle instructs the Corinthian saints, “This perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:
‘Death is swallowed up in victory.’
‘O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?’
“The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” [1 CORINTHIANS 15:53-57].
I don’t relish the process of dying, but I do believe that the angels of God will carry me into the presence of my Saviour. God sent His holy angels to transport Lazarus into glory. The Gospel reads, “[Lazarus] died and was carried by the angels [to glory]” [LUKE 16:22a]. Since the holy angels carried Lazarus into glory, I have no doubt that God will send His angels to escort me into His presence.
An aunt whom I never met died while in her youth. She suffered a ruptured appendix in the days before modern antibiotics were available. Overwhelming sepsis ultimately claimed her life. She had been in college in Pittsburg, a town not far from where I grew up, when she was stricken. Hospitalised in that community, the surgeons discovered they were too late to avoid the overwhelming infection.
Her dad, my granddad, was present with her when she died. She was quite ill and clearly dying. The death dew was on her brow, when suddenly she raised up on her elbows and said, “Oh, Daddy, can you hear that?”
“What is it, Edna? What do you hear?” he anxiously asked.
“The most beautiful music you’ve ever heard, Daddy.”
Then, her eyes opened wide and she exclaimed, “Oh, Daddy, they’re beautiful. Do you see them, Daddy?”
“What is it, honey? Who do you see?” he asked.
And with that, my aunt passed into the presence of her Saviour. I have no doubt that she was carried by the angels into the presence of her Lord, the One who died to save her and in whom she trusted.
As the angels carry the redeemed into Heaven, I am confident that as the child of God arrives in Heaven, Christ the Lord will stand to receive His child. Like Job, I hold to this promise,
“After my skin has been thus destroyed,
yet in my flesh I shall see God,
whom I shall see for myself,
and my eyes shall behold, and not another.
My heart faints within me!”
[JOB 19:26-27]
Here is my question for you. Do you know this Saviour? Are you saved? Amen. Amen, indeed.
[1] Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2016. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
