The Superlatives Of The Savior

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?"