The Superlatives of the Savior
Hebrews 1:1-3
We live in unprecedented times where the church is concerned. It is safe to say that our generation has never experienced the issues we are facing today. We are now dealing with our third wave of Covid with all the problems associated with this virus. There are two things that stand out about these days. First is the “falling away” that the church is experiencing. We are told that 20% of professing Christians will not return. Some suggest that this trend had started prior to Covid and but whether it did or not the fact remains that attendance has declined and continues to suffer. Second, is the effect of the stress of the last two years on the ministry. We are seeing the loss of 1,700 pastors per month citing depression and burnout. Schaeffer Institute. In a Barna Survey dated December 24, 2021 38% of pastors have thought about quitting in the last year. And pastors are more than twice as likely to experience anxiety and depression than other vocations. There is not enough time this morning to analyze everything that is going on and I don’t pretend to have all the answers but I do know that if we will look we can find encouragement in God’s Word. Let’s read our text: Our Text:
1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high:
THE CONTEXT:
The author identified neither himself nor the people to whom he was writing. However, the content of the book, including the frequent references to the Hebrew Scriptures, makes it clear that he was writing to Jewish Christians who were sorely tempted to leave the Christian church and revert to Jewish worship.
There were a number of reasons why these Jewish Christians might have been tempted to return to Judaism:Families and friends surely pressured them. This could have taken many forms––expressions of disapproval, shunning, disinheritance, etc.
They would have missed the elaborate rituals and furnishings of the Jewish Temple and the synagogues. Christians didn’t have church buildings in those days, but met in the homes of fellow Christians. Compared to Jewish worship, Christian worship must have seemed spare––even poor.
Those who had enjoyed special status in Judaism would miss the prestige and influence that they once enjoyed. Luke tells us that “a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith” (Acts 6:7). Whether they could have become Jewish priests again is open to question, but some would likely be tempted to return if they thought that would be a possibility.
The author spends the first ten and a half chapters of this thirteen chapter book (1:1 – 10:18) emphasizing the superiority of Christ and the new covenant to Moses and the old covenant. In chapters 1-2, he focuses specifically on the superiority of Christ to angels. Sermonwriter.com
You can’t help seeing that the writer had one main goal in writing and that was to declare the superiority/supremacy of the Savior. I want you to encourage yourself in the Lord this morning and think about three things:
I. The Savior is perennial. 1. existing for a long or infinite time; enduring
In a world filled with uncertainty He is a glorious certainty. When you cannot count and anything or anyone else you can count on Him. Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ is [eternally changeless, always] the same yesterday and today and forever. AMP
Malachi 3:6 For I am the LORD, I change not; KJV
a. Because He never changes His promises are true.
The theologian Adam Clarke notes that in the Greek there are no less than 5 five negatives in this short discourse. I will Never ... Never ... Never ... Never ... Never... leave you or forsake you.
A man was having a conversation ... with a farmer ... from upstate New York.
They both were discussing the weather, and the farmer assured the traveler ...that he could tell what the weather was going to be ... by watching the behavior ... of his cows.
"When the cows are standing ... that means ... no rain ...for the next 24 hours.
When they are lying down ... Well that means it is going to rain."
The traveler asked ... "What does it mean when half the herd is standing ... and the rest are lying down?"
The farmer smiled and replied ... "That means that half of them are wrong!" (Pause)
Predicting the weather... and predicting the future ... is as old as mankind.
Well beloved ... today I am going to predict Your future.
And I am convinced ... that What I will tell you ... is completely accurate.
Why am I so sure?
For I am only going to repeat ... what God has already stated.
So ... I Predict ... and give you assurance ... that God will be with you ... throughout this year.
And I can predict this ... with 100% accuracy.
For God declared "I will Never leave you ... or forsake you." (Hebrews 13:5) (Copied)
I take great comfort in knowing that my Savior is referred to in Isa. 9:6 as "the everlasting Father" and as the Apostle James declares is the “One with whom is no variableness or shadow of turning.”
So dear friend in these times of loneliness and isolation take heart that we have a Savior who is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. He is the abiding ever present one.
II. The Savior is pertinent. 1. relevant or applicable to a particular matter; apposite:
The book of Hebrews was written to an audience who were struggling with faith, people who were Judaic Christians struggling with doubts about the relevance of Christianity, struggling to see if Christianity was in any way “better” than the Judaism that they had left. After all, Jews were a nation chosen by God. The most hunted and the most hurt people on earth (A well-known Jewish writer went to the extent of asking “God, I know we are the chosen people, but why did you not choose someone else?”) So what is different about Christianity that they should follow this Jesus of Nazareth? What is different about him that they should take that plunge?
Does the book of Hebrews have any relevance to us today? Does the Christ portrayed in Hebrews make any difference in the way we live and present the Gospel to this country, that we have been called to save?
One commentator draws an analogy to the mountaineer’s dilemma when faced with a steep wall in front of him. When you are climbing a mountain and reach a place where these is a steep wall in front of you, with no footholds or anything else to hold , the mountaineer is forced to take a decision. One decision that he can take is to abandon the journey and return back to base camp. The other decision is to use the pendulum method to get across and continue the journey. The pendulum method is exactly what is sounds like, You attach a strong hook to the highest point that you can reach and then pass a rope that is attached to your body through the loop, go down a little bit, hang into empty space, with your foot placed against the wall, and then swing like a pendulum to the other side of the steep wall, where you could get a foot hold, once you , and your team, get your foot on the other side you pull out the rope from the loop and then you have lost all connection with the previous place you were in. The hook that you used is firmly out of reach for you, and there is only one way to go; up!! There is no going back, the only thing you can do is to keep going ahead. This is risky and requires a lot of courage. For many people , who are good, who are well off, who are successful, a decision to follow Jesus, is like this. At some point in time of their faith walk , they reach this position where they have to take a call, to return to the old faith or to take that plunge and keep going in the new faith, with no return. I am sure all of us are familiar with the song “I have decided to follow Jesus, No turning Back, No turning Back”. Dr. Madana Kumar
Our Savior is always pertinent, always relevant, timely, never out of date and available for every need we have during these difficult times. All that He asks is that we trust Him; not a program, not a creed or catechism or the latest trend in worship or technology but Him personally.
There’s not a Friend like the lowly Jesus:
No, not one! no, not one!
None else could heal all our souls’ diseases:
No, not one! no, not one!
Jesus knows all about our struggles;
He will guide ’til the day is done:
There’s not a Friend like the lowly Jesus:
No, not one! no, not one!
2
No friend like Him is so high and holy,
No, not one! no, not one!
And yet no friend is so meek and lowly,
No, not one! no, not one!
3
There’s not an hour that He is not near us,
No, not one! no, not one!
No night so dark, but His love can cheer us,
No, not one! no, not one!
4
Did ever saint find this Friend forsake him?
No, not one! no, not one!
Or sinner find that He would not take him?
No, not one! no, not one!
5
Was e’er a gift like the Savior given?
No, not one! no, not one!
Will He refuse us the bliss of heaven?
No, not one! no, not one!
III. The Savior is preeminent. 1. surpassing all others; very distinguished in some way:
In our day there are those who teach that the God of heaven is the same god that is worshipped by many religions, therefore it really doesn't matter which god you call on or serve; that this god sent forth many teachers like Mohammed, Buddha, Confucius, and Jesus. If you remember our message a few weeks ago this is called pluralism and let me say right here and now that there is no such thing. There is only one God and He is the God of the Bible, not the Koran or the Book of Mormon or any other religion. His name is Jesus and He is the superlative Savior! He is excellent, unmatched, unbeatable, untouchable, outstanding, exceptional, incomparable, unparalleled, consummate, unrivaled, supreme, peerless unrivalled and without equal. He is all of this and more.
Jesus is matchless in salvation, for He is the way:
Acts 4:12 "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved."
Romans 10:13 "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."
John 1:12 "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:"
Jesus is matchless in supplication, for He is life.
John 14:13 "And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 "If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it."
John 16:23 "And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you."
Jesus is matchless in the Scriptures, for He the truth.
John 1:1 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. 6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. 8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. 9 That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. 11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not. 12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: 13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. 14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth."
(Colossians 1:15-19) “15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
19 For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;
Conclusion: If you have been struggling with anxiety, depression or just a a spiritual malaise during these difficult times remember that we have a Savior who is perennial, a Savior who is pertinent and a Savior who is preeminent!
