If you would open your Bible
to the first book of Hebrews, or to the first chapter of Hebrews,
Hebrews chapter one. Hebrews chapter one, and this
morning we're gonna be looking at verses one through three.
So let's begin by reading those verses. Hebrews chapter one,
beginning in verse one. God, who at sundry times and
in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the
prophets, 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, 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. Now I want to look at these verses
this morning. There are five things we want
to look at. First of all, it says that he
has spoken to us by his son. And I want to look this morning
at his son. And then also it speaks of the
brightness of his glory. And let's look at that brightness.
What is this glory? And also it says that he is the
express image of his person, that the son is the express image
of his person, of God the Father. And then it speaks of his power. What is his power? And then when
we get down to the end, I wanna go back up to verse two, and
it says that he has spoken to us in these last days. And I
asked this morning, what has he spoken? And what has he said
to us? Okay, if we look at verse one,
it says, God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in
time past unto the fathers by the prophets. Now, what that's
saying is that God spoke to the father, or to our fathers, or
to the children of Israel, many times and in many ways. He spoke
to them, If you remember, to the fathers, he spoke to Noah
by a rainbow. And he also, he spoke to Jacob
in a dream. And then to Moses, Moses was
there herding the sheep, and he looked and seen a burning
bush, and Moses approached that bush, and God spoke to Moses
through a burning bush. And then he spoke to the people,
also by the prophets. To David, he sent Nathan. And then to Moses, or to the
people, he sent Moses. And Moses spoke to God for the
people. And then there's Jeremiah, and
Isaiah, and Elijah, and Elisha, and Hosea, Ezekiel, and Daniel,
and John. John was the last of the prophets.
And God spoke to the people by the prophets. But it says, in
these last times, he has spoken to us by his son. Now the book
of Hebrews, if there was one term that you could use to describe
what is Hebrews all about, it's about better. Hebrews is about
better. See, in time past, he spoke by
the prophets, but in these last times, he has spoken to us by
his son, okay? In verse two, it says, hath in
these last days spoken unto by his son, okay? What is a son? A son, by definition,
is a descendant. Daniel is my son. Luke is Bob's
son. And Gabe is Marvin's son. And the Lord Jesus Christ is
the Son of God. Just as they have descended from
us, the Lord Jesus Christ has descended from God the Father. It says, when the fullness of
time was come, in Galatians chapter four, God sent forth his son,
made of a woman and made under the law. And in Matthew chapter
three, it says, and lo, a voice from heaven sang, this is my
beloved son, in whom I am well pleased. Now, I do want to say
this, that although He is the Son of God, that He is also God. In John chapter one, in the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And if you look down in verse
14, it says, and the Word, God, and the Word, God, was made flesh. So the Son of God is also God. He is equal with the Father in
every way. Now, there is a second meaning
when we talk about a son. And I think, and this is what
brought me to this passage, and this is why I wanted to bring
a lesson here, because when we think of sons, we often think
of Luke. and Daniel and Gabe in that sense. But there is another sense of
the word son that I want to mention this morning. And it is that
of image. It is that of likeness. Now,
the Lord Jesus Christ is the son of God in that he descended
from God, but he is also the son of God in that he is the
very image of God. And he is in the very likeness
of God. It's very important to remember
both of these things, that he descended from God and that he
is in the image of God. Now, Daniel, my son, he does
favor me. Okay, now I'll tell you a story
that occurred at work. Here about three or four months
ago, two, three months ago, Daniel, we both work at Eastman, big
place, eight, 10,000 people there, we never see each other. Okay,
a lot of times somebody will ask you, well, you know so and
so, they work there, there's a lot of people work there. Okay,
so, and we never see each other, we never cross paths there at
work. Well, one day, Daniel was working, and he decided that
he was going to come to where I work, into my department, and
look up Dad and say, hey, Dad, and see me. So supervisor said,
yeah, things are running good. Go see him. Well, Daniel come
into my department, and he walked in the door while I wasn't there.
And somebody said, you've got to be Moody's boy. You've got
to be Moody's boy. You look just like him. OK? Now, he does. And that is, he
shares my image to some degree, okay? However, there is a difference
between me and Daniel. You may see the similarities
in us, but you can also see the differences in us, okay? If me and Daniel were to walk
through the door, you would say, there's Daniel, and there's Tony. There is a difference in our
image. However, the Lord Jesus Christ, he, is just like his
father. He is just like him. As a matter of fact, if God were
to take a mirror and put it on this earth and shine his face
into it, you would see Jesus Christ. That's who you would
see. There is no difference. But Christ
looks just like the Father. Thomas said to the Lord, Lord,
show us the Father, that it suffices. And the Lord said to him, if
you've seen me, Thomas, you've seen the Father. Well, what is reflected? If our
Lord Jesus Christ is an image of the Father, then what is reflected? In verse three, let's look at
it. Who being the brightness of his
glory. The Lord Jesus Christ reflects
the very glory of God. And what is his glory? What is
the glory of God? Well, if we were to turn over
to Exodus chapter 33, Moses asked God one day, he said, show me
your glory. Is that not what he asked? Show
me your glory. Well, what was his glory? He said, I will make all my goodness
pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you.
I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will be merciful
to whom I will be merciful. God's glory is found in his sovereign
grace and his sovereign mercy to ruin sinners. No matter how
bad the sinner is, God is pleased to save a sinner. That sinner
will be saved. You see, this declaration of
sovereign grace and sovereign mercy is good news. To a ruined, lost sinner, sovereign
grace is good news. Now, the religious people hate
that term, and the religious people hate a sovereign God in
salvation. but for the ruined sinner who
has no hope, who has looked to himself and has found nothing,
when he hears that God will be merciful to whom he will be merciful. Oh, that's such good news. And
that is the glory of God. His glory is in his death. His
glory is in his substitution. the just for the unjust, and
he cannot be merciful and gracious without his death. His glory
is most magnified, and his glory is most seen at the cross, where
he, the just, died for the unjust. And then, let's look again at
verse three. It says he is the express image
of his person. Reading verse three, who being
the brightness of his glory and the express image of his person. Remember, I give the example
of a mirror and that if the Lord was to reflect, if God Almighty
was to reflect himself that we would see Christ himself, That's
what it's telling us, that the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of
God, is the express image of God. What does express, or what
does this mean, this term express image? Well, by definition, it
means the exact expression of God. the image of anything. The Lord Jesus Christ is an exact
expression of God. It is marked likeness. It also
says that it is precise, exact, reproduction in every aspect,
every aspect. Well, how is our Lord Jesus Christ
an expression of God the Father? He is holy. He is just. He is love. He is long-suffering, and he's
merciful, and he's gracious. Just as God the Father is, so
is God the Son. We cannot know God the Father
lest we know God the Son. It is by him that we know God. Religion, and I've heard it,
and I'm sure you all have, too, on TV, and say, well, there's
different ways to God. There is not. There's only one
God. His name is the Lord Jesus Christ. There are no other way to God
because he is God. In 2 Corinthians chapter four
it says, for God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness
has shined in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge
of the glory of God in the face, in the face of Jesus Christ. And then, we want to look at his power.
In verse three, it says, who being the brightness of his glory
and the express image of his person and upholding all things
by the word of his power. What is his power? His strength. Well, this word power means strength. It means ability. It says, when
he had by himself purged our sins. See, the text itself tells
us what his power is. It is his power to put away sin. In his life, he has the ability
or the power to be our righteousness. And then, in his death, he has
the ability to be our substitute. That is his power. And then,
in his resurrection, he has the ability to be our life. And then, he sat down at the
right hand of the Father on Hawaii to be our mediator and to be
our king. You see, all power has been given
to the son, all power. He is our Lord. He is the Lord
of the living and He is the Lord of the dead. All power has been
given to the Son. How much power? How much power
does God have? That's how much power has been
given to Him. You see, He is the Lord. He is God. And then, I said I wanted to go back and
look again at the first, and it says, have in these last days
spoken unto us by his son? Okay, what has he spoken? Now, if the Lord has spoken,
what has he spoken? It says that in times past, he
spoke by the prophets, and by different ways, but in these
last days, he has spoken to us by his son. I'd like to know
what he has to say, wouldn't you? Well, where would you go
to hear what he said? I'd want to go hear one of his
sermons, wouldn't you? Matthew chapter 11, it says,
he said, come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden,
and I will give you rest. I am the living bread which came
down from heaven. If any man eat of this bread,
he shall live forever. He that believeth on me hath
everlasting life. And then in John chapter six,
37, he says, all that the Father giveth me shall come to me. And
of him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out. Do you see the goodness of the
father and the son? The son has spoken. What has
he spoken? He has spoken that which the
father would have him speak. And that God so loved the world
that he gave his only begotten son, that all, the whole, whosoever
believeth in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. You
see, the Lord Jesus Christ is an express image of the Father. And when I hear his name, I think
of God. I see God in Christ. And again, I say that when we
read the scriptures, And we see this term, son, it is descendants. It is speaking that he did indeed
descend from God. But let's always remember that
he is the express image of God Almighty because he is God. And I pray the Lord will bless
this. And there's one other thing I
had wrote down here. What did the leper say? Lord,
if you will, Thou can makes me clean. What did he say? I will be thou clean. Come to the sun. Look to the
sun. Hear the sun. He hath spoken. God has sent him to speak. Amen.