The message today will come out
of Hebrews chapter one, verse one through three. The subject
is the excellency of Jesus Christ. Now, when someone writes a book
or tells a story, they start out slow and build up to some
great climax for the ending. But the writer of Hebrews, under
the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, is moved to begin with the excellency
of the person that is the subject of the whole book. the Son of
God, the heir of all things, the upholder of all things. And
from here, he makes a big splash and sets forth the glories of
the God-man, Jesus Christ. Now, in verse one, I want to
notice how the writer starts out. He says, God, God, who at
sundry times and in diverse manners spake in time past unto the fathers
by the prophets. He begins with God. Like Genesis
1.1, in the beginning, God, true religion starts here, God. Also in the book of Genesis,
God spoke and things happened. He spoke on different days. God
spoke on six different days and each day revealed something new.
This is what happened when God spoke to the father by the prophets.
Each time he spoke, Through the prophets to the fathers, there
would be a little more light given. Another type or a shadow
or a picture would be given of Jesus Christ, the Messiah. More
of the redemptive will of God would be revealed. God has never
left himself or his people without a witness concerning Jesus Christ. This also shows that the Old
Testament scriptures are the word of God. and that it was
God speaking through the prophets. They did not speak of themselves
or by themselves. They spoke as they were moved
by the Holy Spirit of God. How does God speak now? In verse
two, it says, 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. God used frail, sinful men to
speak in times past to the fathers, but now, now, in these last days,
he has spoken one more time to us by his Son, Jesus Christ,
and this is so important. Jesus Christ is the final spokesman. He is that prophet that Moses
said should come. and we are to hear Him. He is
the Word of God incarnate. Jesus Christ is the utterance
of God. It is written in John chapter
one, verse one, in the beginning was the Word and the Word was
with God and the Word was God. And in verse 14, it says, and
the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. Now in first John one,
one, it says that which was from the beginning which we have heard,
which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and
our hands have handled of the word of life." The word was made
flesh. John is saying, we have seen
him, we have touched him, we have looked upon him, we've handled
him. We have handled life. We have
looked upon life. That's what he's saying. Now,
when our Lord came into this world in the flesh, he made this
statement. As I hear, I speak. The words
that I speak are not mine, but his that sent me." And what he's
saying here is this, that he is the messenger and the message
of the new covenant. In Malachi 3, verse one, it says,
behold, I will send my messenger and he shall prepare the way
before me and the Lord whom you seek shall suddenly come to his
temple, even the messenger of the covenant. whom he delight
in, behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts. Now as a messenger,
he revealed the new covenant, the prophets, they knew parts
of it, but not the fullness of it. That was not revealed until
Jesus Christ came. Now we understand through Christ,
we understand all the types, we understand the Passover, we
understand the one it represented, we understand the types and the
shadows, And let's never forget this, they were just that, they
were types and shadows. Jesus Christ is the real. Out
with the old and in with the new. Christ came to reveal, he
came to dedicate and to enforce that new covenant. But not only
is he the messenger of the new covenant, he is the message of
the new covenant, which is the gospel. Our message is Christ
and him crucified. That is why he said, Take my
yoke upon you and learn of me. To learn of Jesus Christ is to
learn the gospel. It is to learn the new covenant.
Christ is God's message to sinners. He is the way that God can be
a just God and a savior. He is the way of satisfaction.
He is the way of justification. He is the way of sanctification.
He said in John 14, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father but
by me. He did not come into this world to show us the way. He
is the way. He is the way to God. He is the
only way to God. And that being so, don't go looking
for another way. Christ is the final revelation
from God. It is written in the scriptures,
in him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and you
are complete in him. And then it says here in Hebrews,
whom he hath appointed heir of all things. Jesus Christ is the
appointed heir of all things, all things that are seen and
unseen. This goes beyond what we can
even began to comprehend, but all things, belong to Jesus Christ. Now, if God the Father so honored
his son in making him heir of absolutely everything, how much
more should we honor him? Think of what the Lord Jesus
Christ will inherit. Heaven, earth, that new heaven
and new earth, everything that exists belongs to him. But do
you know that the one thing that he counts his most treasured
inheritance is his saints? Listen to Ephesians 1.18. The
eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that you may know
what is the hope of his calling and what the riches of the glory
of his inheritance in the saints. His chief glory and his chief
joy will be to possess the redeemed. Now it also says here back here
in Hebrews, by whom also he made the worlds. God the Father never
ever acted independently of God the Son or God the Holy Spirit.
The Trinity never acts independently of each other. But the word world
here means ages. In Colossians 116, it says, 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 or things, all things were created
by him and for him. Everything was created by Jesus
Christ and everything was created for Jesus Christ. God did not
create this world for me or you. He created it for Jesus Christ.
He who is the heir of all things is also the creator of all things. Everything that God does, He
does through the mediation of the Lord Jesus Christ. All things
are ruled by Christ. All things have been put into
His hands. And if we are gonna deal with God Almighty, we are
gonna deal with Him through Jesus Christ in a saving way. Now, if we miss Christ, we're
gonna deal with God as a consuming fire and gonna wind up in hell.
But now it says in verse three, who being the brightness of His
glory, Brightness means out shining, like the rays shine out from
the sun. Even so, Jesus Christ reveals
the glory of God in his person. If you'll remember back in the
Old Testament, there was a tabernacle in the wilderness. And in that
tabernacle, there was what was called the Shekinah Glory. That's
where God made his presence known. And it filled the inner sanctum
of the tabernacle. That represents Jesus Christ.
Christ is the outshining of God. Jesus Christ is the visible of
the invisible God. If we would see God's glory,
we must look to Jesus Christ to see it. Not with the natural
eye, but with the eye of faith, which is the gift of God. And
then it says in that verse three, and the express image of his
person, no one has seen God at any time. That's what it says
in John 118. No man has seen God at any time.
The only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father,
He has declared Him, He has seen Him. What this is saying is that
the Son, Jesus Christ, this one who walked on earth in the flesh,
is absolutely God in every way. In His person, in His attributes,
He is the one and true God of heaven and earth. It is written
in Colossians 2.9, for in him dwelleth all the fullness of
the Godhead bodily. And then it says in verse three,
and upholding all things by the word of his power. At this very
moment, present tense, Jesus Christ is commanding all things
to do as he wills them to do. God did not create the world.
like a wind-up toy and let it go. God created all things by
His Word, that is by His Son, and turned everything over to
Him to run moment by moment. Like a general commands his troops,
so the man Christ Jesus commands the universe to do as He will. It is written in Daniel 4.35.
And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing.
And he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven and
among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay his
hand or say unto him, What doest thou or what are you doing? The
scripture says he gives no account of any of his matters, not to
us. He's the sovereign. He is the sovereign, we are not.
Now what men call The laws of nature is really Christ commanding
everything to work together for our good. The universe, as someone
said, derives its integrity from Jesus Christ. The term word here
can be translated command. When he had by himself purged
our sins, here is the heart of the gospel. Here is atonement. As one writer said, he literally
carried out a cleansing. He bore our sins in His body
on the tree. He was made to be sin for us
that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. The effect of
His work was to remove all sin from the people He died for and
to present them before God absolutely spotless. Jesus Christ could
not cleanse His people without becoming their substitute. And
his blood being shed for them, for it says in Hebrews 9.22,
and almost all things are by the law purged with blood. And
without shedding of blood, there's no remission. For the wages of
sin is death. And if we're gonna escape death,
then somebody's gotta die. Somebody's gotta die. And that
somebody is gonna be Jesus Christ if I'm to escape death. Now notice
it says, by himself, no one could help him redeem his people. He
must tread the winepress of God's wrath alone. Augustus' top lady
wrote, not the labors of my hand can fulfill thy law's demands.
Could my tears forever flow? Could my zeal no respite know?
All for sin could not atone. Thou must save and thou alone.
Then it says he sat down on the right hand of the majesty on
high. Having finished the work, that
he was sent to do, he sat down. Enthroned on high, no priest
in the Old Testament ever sat down because they never finished
their work. But Jesus Christ, he cried, it's
finished. And when he rose and went on high, he sat down. Now
the one who humbled himself to become a servant even to the
death of the cross is now seated. The Lamb of God that hung on
the cross is now enthroned at the right hand of the majesty
on high. This means he got the job done.
He said in John 17, four, I have glorified thee on the earth.
I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. He achieved
what he came to do. Now closing. If we can get a
hold of this, it will comfort our hearts, assist our worship,
and help us to give him the glory due unto his name. My friends, we worship and we trust an enthroned
Christ who is worthy of all glory, honor, and praise. May God bless
His Word, till next time.