Sermon Central
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Yes Virginia, He Is God
Contributed by Horace Wimpey on Aug 9, 2012 (message contributor)
Summary: In Hebrews 1:4-14 we see the diety of Jesus established through His Divine Names, His Divine Works, His Divine Worth and His Divine Attributes.
Yes Virginia, He is God
Intro. An angel appears at a faculty meeting and tells the dean that in return for his unselfish and exemplary behavior, the Lord will reward him with his choice of infinite wealth, wisdom, or beauty. Without hesitating, the dean selects infinite wisdom. "Done!" says the angel, and disappears in a cloud of smoke and a bolt of lightning. Now, all heads turn toward the dean, who sits surrounded by a faint halo of light. One of his colleagues whispers, "Say something." The dean sighs and says, "I should have taken the money."
. Our scripture this morning talks a lot about angels. As I read through it this week, I said to myself and God, Lord what do you want me to deliver out of these passages?
. That’s one of the greatest things about preaching through a book. It forces the preacher to dive deeper into the scripture to really see what God is saying and why.
.As I read and studied I realized that what God is saying here to us is that Jesus is superior to all created beings. Even the angels.
. I thought; don’t we all know that. In my preparation I found that no, some religions of today don’t know that or don’t accept that Jesus is God and that He is superior to everything and everyone.
. The Mormons and the Jehovah Witnesses teach that Jesus is an Angel and not God.
. That was the same problem that the writer of Hebrews was trying to address.
. You see, The Jewish people had almost elevated the angels to the same stature as God.
. John McArthur writes, “many believed that angels acted as God’s senate or council and that He did nothing without consulting them.”
. They really had no concept of the trinity and many believed that in genesis 1:26 where God says let US make man in our image refers to making man like angels.
. There was a long history of the Jewish people almost deifying angels.
. To the Jew, angels were of great importance and were exalted above everything except God.
. In order to get them to fully understand who Jesus was, the writer had to make them understand who Jesus was.
. He was above the angels.
. Jesus was God.
. Our scripture today drives home the fact of the deity of Jesus.
. September 21, 1897. Virginia O’Hanlon wrote a letter to the editor of the New York Sun. This is what she wrote:
. "DEAR EDITOR: I am 8 years old.
"Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus.
"Papa says, 'If you see it in THE SUN it's so.'
"Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?
. The editor responded to Virginia with a long list of why there is a Santa Clause and penned this now famous quote.
. “Yes Virginia, there is a Santa clause.”
. The writer of Hebrews was saying to the Jews and to us that Yes, Virginia and Jewish nation and Gentiles , Jesus is God.
. Lets read our scripture.
.4 This shows that the Son is far greater than the angels, just as the name God gave him is greater than their names.
5For God never said to any angel what he said to Jesus:“You are my Son.
Today I have become your Father.”God also said, “I will be his Father, and he will be my Son.”
6And when he brought his supreme Son into the world, God said, “Let all of God’s angels worship him.”
7Regarding the angels, he says, “He sends his angels like the winds, his servants like flames of fire.”
8But to the Son he says,
“Your throne, O God, endures forever and ever. You rule with a scepter of justice.
9You love justice and hate evil. Therefore, O God, your God has anointed you, pouring out the oil of joy on you more than on anyone else.”
10He also says to the Son, “In the beginning, Lord, you laid the foundation of the earth and made the heavens with your hands.
11They will perish, but you remain forever.
They will wear out like old clothing.
12You will fold them up like a cloak and discard them like old clothing. But you are always the same; you will live forever.”
13And God never said to any of the angels,
“Sit in the place of honor at my right hand
until I humble your enemies, making them a footstool under your feet.”
14Therefore, angels are only servants—spirits sent to care for people who will inherit salvation.
. In these 14 verses we see the deity of Jesus proven through his Divine Names, His Divine Works, His Divine Worth and His Divine attributes.
