JESUS, THE PERFECT REVELATION OF GOD
Hebrews 1:1-13
I was recently approached by a young mother who wanted her baby baptized. She stated that she had some problems with what she had seen in many churches, and in the lives of many Christians. I agreed with many of her grievances. But she went on to say that she wasn’t sure what she wanted to teach her child about God. She wanted her child to be tolerant and open minded about God and life — and that is good. She said she thought the moral teachings of the Bible were a good teaching tool in “some instances,” but she wanted to teach her child that “God is EVERYTHING — everyone, every atom, there’s just no separation between us and them. No judgment because we are all every atom, everyone, everything.” This young woman was sincere in what she believed, and is a good person, but she had no idea that this belief was not Christian. She did not realize that what she believed was a philosophy called Pantheism.
Part of living in a free-wheeling culture like ours is that people believe all kinds of things. And, of course, people are free to believe whatever they want to believe, but they should not confuse what they believe with Christianity. Many people who believe in reincarnation, astrology, communicating with the dead, astral projection and transcendental meditation are at the same time 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.
It is confusing to live in such a time. Someone recently said, “Why doesn’t the world believe what we have to say?” Then answering his own question he said, “I think it’s because so many Christians don’t act as though they believe it themselves.” He paused and said, “How can we get Christians to believe what they believe?” So many Christians who have been in church and Sunday School all their lives don’t seem to know what they believe. They don’t seem to be able to articulate what the Bible and Christian faith teaches. They seem helpless to distinguish between truth and error. This is why I quote so much scripture when I preach — first of all, to educate as to what the Christian faith is, and secondly, to help you to understand that this is not my opinion, but what the Bible says. This is the teaching of the historic Christian faith.
This morning we begin a new series on the book of Hebrews. And there is no more important teaching than the one we are considering today: the nature of Christ. We need to understand what we believe about Jesus and what he taught. The teachings of Jesus Christ are unique. They are not anything like the teachings of other world religions or modern cults. We could spend a whole year talking about those important differences. But not only are the teachings of Jesus unique, Jesus Christ himself is unique. There has never been a more important person in the history of the world than Jesus Christ. No one has influenced the world or had a more impact on individual human lives than Jesus of Nazareth.
The writer of the book of Hebrews outlines some of the points of his uniqueness in this first chapter. The first thing that he highlights for us is: The Incomparable PERSON of Christ. Jesus was greater than all who came before him in earth’s time. The writer of Hebrews, first of all, tells us that Jesus is superior to the prophets. The prophets were the greatest men of the Old Testament era. They had visions of God and served him with great works of power, but none of them could compare with Jesus Christ. God spoke to Job out of a whirlwind, He spoke to Joseph in dreams. He spoke to Moses out of a burning bush. He spoke to Joshua through an angel. He spoke to Samuel through a voice in the darkness. He spoke to Elijah through a whisper. He spoke to Daniel through a vision. But now, says the writer, God has spoken to us not in a dream or a vision, but in person — through his Son. God spoke to our spiritual fathers through the prophets, but now God speaks to us through his Son. He spoke in the past at many times and in many ways, but in these last days, he speaks to us through Jesus. God spoke to the people indirectly through the old prophets, but Jesus speaks to us directly as God. The prophets, great as they were, could not compare with him. They may have spoken the word of God, but Jesus was the Word of God.
But he is not only superior to the prophets, he is superior to the angels. The writer says, “So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs. For to which of the angels did God ever say, ‘You are my Son; today I have become your Father’? Or again, ‘I will be his Father, and he will be my Son’?” (Hebrews 1:4-5). This book was written to a group of people who were questioning their faith, and some had even fallen away from the true faith. Some of them had been seduced into worshiping angels who are lesser beings.
There is a renewed interest in angels in our culture. Television has had several programs on angels — the message filtered through the minds of the television writers. I reached my point of saturation when John Travolta was cast as a chain-smoking, hard drinking, womanizing angel in the movie called Michael. Angels are nothing like Travolta was in the movie, or in real life. But neither are angels anything like the little naked cherubs with wings that we see so often. Angels are majestic and powerful servants of God who overwhelm people with their glory. In the book of Revelation John tells us what it was like when he had an encounter with an angel: “I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, ‘Do not do it! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God!” (Revelation 19:10). But Jesus is greater than any angel. Remember that the writer of Hebrews quotes the Scripture when he informs us: “And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says, ‘Let all God’s angels worship him’” (Hebrews 1:6). The angels are not to be worshiped, but God’s Son Jesus Christ is to be worshiped — even by angels.
Jesus never refused worship. The wise men worshiped him (Matthew 2:11). When Jesus healed the blind man, he worshiped him (John 9:38). After the disciples saw Jesus walking on the water, they worshiped him as he came into the boat (Matthew 14:33). After his resurrection, his disciples worshiped him (Matthew 28:9). When Jesus showed Thomas his wounded hands and side, he fell at his feet worshiping and said: “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28). When Jesus calmed the storm, his disciples said, “Who is this? Even the wind nd the waves obey him!” (Mark 4:41). Here was someone who was totally other than anything they had ever known. He was in control of the weather and the world. With a word he calmed the raging sea. This is what Hebrews means when it says, “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word” (Hebrews 1:3). By his word, not only is the wind and sea made to do his bidding, but all things are sustained by his powerful word.
Jesus is superior to the angels, for the writer says, “So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs” (Hebrews 1:4). This was an important correction to the heresies which had infiltrated the church at that time. There were those saying that Jesus was only an angel, perhaps the highest and most powerful angel, but still only an angel. This first chapter of the book of Hebrews obliterates that lie. Actually, today there are cults which still teach this ancient heresy. The Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses both teach that Jesus Christ was nothing more than an angel. They say he was the highest created angel, Michael, the Archangel, but still an angel. But this chapter clearly says that is not true. It says, “For to which of the angels did God ever say, ‘You are my Son; today I have become your Father’?” (Hebrews 1:5).
The second thing that the book of Hebrews highlights for us is: The Incomparable POSITION of Christ. Christ is superior to the angels and prophets because his position is superior to theirs. The angels are servants of God, but Jesus Christ is the Son of God. The prophets spoke the word of God, but Jesus Christ is the Word of God. Listen again as the writer says, “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word” (Hebrews 1:3). In the Greek, the original language in which this book was written, it literally says that Christ is the exact representation of God’s essence. And the word for “exact representation” is a word which can be used for a stamp. This word was also used to describe the work of an engraver who makes an exact copy of another piece of jewelry. Jesus Christ was the express image, an exact copy, because he was the exact essence of his Father. Paul puts it like this: “He is the image of the invisible God. . . . For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form” (Colossians 1:15, 2:9).
This has enormous implications. First of all, Jesus Christ is unique. He is like no other. No one can compare with him — not Mohammed, not Krishna, not Buddha and not Confucius. Not even Moses can compare with Jesus. For even though Moses was the great lawgiver of the Old Testament, Jesus came as the One who would free us from the condemnation of the law. Jesus Christ was greater than the priests, for even though they made atonement for the people by offering sacrifices for their sins every day, the Bible says, “Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. For the law appoints as high priests men who are weak; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever” (Hebrews 7:27-28). He is the high priest of heaven.
The story is told of a famous actress back in the early 40’s. Her name was Billie Burke, and she was quite impressed with herself. Once, when she was on a transatlantic ocean trip, she noticed a man getting some sun on the deck who 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 aspirins. Cover yourself with all the blankets you can find. Sweat the cold out. I know just 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.”
There was a great deal of difference between the two people. One had a home remedy, but the other was a physician. Their positions in the medical world were vastly different. In a similar fashion, the other religious leaders of the world may have a home remedy for what ails the world, but Jesus is the great Physician. Moses and the prophets were great spiritual leaders, but Jesus Christ is God. He is the “radiance of God’s glory.” He is able to do things that no one else can do. His position in the spiritual world is unique.
This leads to the final point. The third thing that the book of Hebrews highlights for us is: The Incomparable PURPOSE of Christ. The work of Jesus Christ is totally different from other religious leaders, and even other great people of the Christian faith. His work comes as a result of his position. His position as the Son makes him the Savior of the world — that was his purpose. He alone could have done that work. The writer of Hebrews says, “After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven” (Hebrews 1:3). No one else was qualified to do that. He alone could take away our sins through his sacrifice on the cross.
I read about a school board in Rhode Island that had done an exhaustive search for a new principle of the local high school. After meeting with several candidates, they held a press conference. The president of the board walked to a microphone and said, “After finding no qualified candidates for the position of principal, the school board is extremely pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. David Steele to the position.”
Jesus Christ is qualified for his position. He is uniquely and fully qualified for the work he was given to do. In fact, there is no one else who is in any way able to do what he has done. There are no other qualified candidates.
Mark’s teacher called his mother in the middle of the afternoon: “Mrs. Smith, your son did something in class that surprised me so much that I thought you should know about it immediately.” Mark’s mother became concerned, even though she knew her third-grader was usually well-behaved. “Nothing like this has happened in all my years of teaching,” the teacher continued. “This morning I was teaching a lesson on creative writing. And I as I always do, I told the story of the ant and the grasshopper.” She told Mark’s mother the story: “The ant works hard all summer and stores up plenty of food. But the grasshopper plays all summer and does no work. Then winter comes. The grasshopper begins to starve because he has no food. So he begins to beg, ‘Please Mr. Ant, you have much food. Please let me eat, too.’” The teacher said, “Then I told them, ‘Boys and girls, your job is to write the ending to the story.’ Your son, Mark, raised his hand and asked if he could draw a picture. I told him that he could if he finished the ending of the story first. As in all the years past, most of the students said that the ant shared his food through the winter and both the ant and the grasshopper lived. A few children wrote, ‘No, Mr. Grasshopper. You should have worked in the summer. Now, I have just enough food for myself. So the ant lived and the grasshopper died.’ But your son ended the story in a way different from any other child, ever. He wrote, ‘So the ant gave all of his food to the grasshopper. The grasshopper lived through the winter, but the ant died.’” And what was the picture at the bottom of the page? Mark had drawn three crosses.
No one else would do what Jesus Christ has done. No one else would be willing to do what he has done. He gave his life that we might live. He is the true revelation of God.
Rodney J. Buchanan
March 10, 2002
Mulberry UMC
Mt. Vernon, OH
www.MulberryUMC.org
Rod.Buchanan@MulberryUMC.org
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION (March 10, 2002)
1. What beliefs have you heard people recently share which were off the wall?
2. What would you say to someone who believed that all religions are basically the same, only with different names for God?
3. What is unique about Jesus Christ?
4. Why is Jesus different from angels? How is he different from the prophets?
5. Read the account of the angel and John in Revelation 19:10. When people worshiped Jesus while he was on earth, he allowed them to do so. Why did he do this?
6. Read Hebrews 1:3. What does this verse tell you about the nature of Christ?
7. How is Christ different from any other religious teacher?
8. Read Hebrews 1:3, 2:9-10. What was the work Christ came to do?
9. How does the work of Christ differ from other religious leaders you have learned about?
10. Is Jesus Christ one among many in your mind, or is he unique? How should this affect the way you think and live?
11. How could you share the uniqueness of Christ with an acquaintance who is an unbeliever?
