Jesus, the Final and Full Word of God

Transcript

This transcript was generated automatically from the audio and may contain small errors.

In Hebrews chapter 1 today, and so if you want to take a second to turn there, it's going to be near the end of your Bibles. Couple of books before Revelation, just before James, Hebrews appears. It's a bigger book. We're just going to be covering today. The next couple of weeks, we are going to be looking at the book of Hebrews. We're going to be digging right in. And Hebrews is a peculiar book in the New Testament. Hebrews has an author that is unknown. We don't know who wrote Hebrews. Theories abound. We don't know who it was. The literary style of Hebrews is very deep and very scholarly. It is full of drawn out metaphors. Yet it has a rhyme and a meter about it that suggests that Hebrews is actually an extended sermon that is a 13 chapter sermon. And fortunately for you today, we will not be having a 13 chapter sermon. Okay, it's just a one chapter sermon. And I hope

you've turned there in the in the letter to the Hebrews, really, because it's a sermon, there's no better way to start than to just read the beginning of Hebrews. So I want to read the first couple lines of Hebrews chapter one. Hebrews 1-1 and following it says, long ago at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets. But in these last days, he has spoken to us by his son. So God spoke through the prophets in the Old Testament. He spoke through the prophets all throughout everything before Jesus, okay? But Jesus, and this is the point that it's making here, Jesus is higher than the prophets. That before God spoke through the prophets, but in these last days, we're gonna focus on that in just a second, He has spoken to us by His Son. The implication that is that the Son is better. That the prophets are black and white, but the Son is color. That the

prophets are audio but that the Sun is 4k ultra HD surround sound okay that that the prophets the prophets weren't false but the Sun is true in in in discounting or in in talking about the Old Testament it might sound like we're discounting it and we're not that the Old Testament is good and there and needed but in comparison to Jesus. Jesus then is the final word. That's why it says last days. In other words, there's not a third time that Jesus or that God is going to speak more completely than through the Son. That we have the prophets and then we have the Son and through the Son in the last days as a final word, God speaks. God has spoken ultimately through His Son, by His Son. Okay? And so at the very beginning we see this establishing a comparison, but then He moves on really to the main point in the next couple of verses in talking about the Son.

So in the next couple of verses in 2 and 3, we'll pick it up with, He has spoken us by his Son, whom the Son, he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He, the Son, is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature. And he upholds the universe by the word of his power or by his powerful word. We see here the Son is God incarnate in every way, that the Son owns everything, that the Son is exactly like God in nature and in power. Jesus then is distinct, yet He is God in every way. This should call to mind other kinds of verses. 1 1 it says in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God and you see here in in Hebrews 1 it's talking about Jesus as the word again that God has spoken through the Son. Colossians 1 19 it talks about Jesus says in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell in

In other words, there's not a part of Jesus that's not God. It's making the point in the beginning of Hebrews, it is drawing our eyes straight toward the Son. And it's giving us this understanding of who the Son is. We keep going in Hebrews in the latter part of verse 3 and end of verse 4. It says, after making purification for sins, He, the Son, sat down at the right hand of majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs." In making purifications for sin, this should call to mind other verses. Again, Colossians, we read 119 where it talks about all the fullness of God is in him, but in Colossians 120 in the next verse it says, and through him, through the sun to reconcile to God all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of the cross. When it says that Jesus sat down, having become as much superior to angels as the name he

has inherited is more excellent than theirs. Jesus had a mission, came to make peace, and when he was done, he took his rightful place. He took his rightful name, and he did it, and it was done. Not only is Jesus distinct, yet God, in His distinction, He was able to willfully endure the cross and make peace. This is Jesus, the final Word of God. It is helpful to remember that whenever Hebrews was written, there were other rival words of God, or powerful words that were floating around. this letter was written, there were many other ways that people believed that God's spoke. So for example, they might go to the Temple of Artemis or the Temple of Aphrodite. They might make a sacrifice there to receive a fresh word from their God. They might do something to earn favor so that whatever they were trying to do would get done. So they would go and they'd make a sacrifice, they would hope that their God would do something for them.

And today in Burleson, we don't have temples to Aphrodite or Artemis. I don't think so. I mean, I haven't been in some parts of Burleson, so maybe we do and I just haven't found them. However, we're not really dealing with that in today's culture, but there are still competing Competing words, competing fresh words, we just call that advice, right? Advice is everywhere. Books, speakers, conferences, master classes, social media is full of it, and they're all promising this silver bullet advice that will revolutionize whatever. your parenting, revolutionize your career, revolutionize your productivity, revolutionize your marriage, revolutionize your job, revolutionize the way that you spend your weekends. And all this advice, all these words, it's not bad per se. It's not, I mean, I'm sure there's bad advice. But I don't mean that advice in total is bad.

I also know that not all advice is the same, but we must ask the question, what is this advice based upon? What are the underlying assumptions? When we receive advice, what are the things that they believe that makes that advice make sense? When you look at a lot of advice that gets thrown around in Burleson, Texas and in the surrounding area, you have a lot of advice that is based on social advancement. You have a lot of advice that is based on individual achievement. You have a lot of advice that is based on progress for progress sake. And all of those things, all those underlying assumptions that aren't spoken, they are things that actually compete with the gospel. In the gospel of Jesus Christ, the word that was spoken through Jesus, right? Jesus says, come to me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. He didn't say, come to me, everybody who won the race

so that I can give you comfort and a trophy and cheer for you. That's not what Jesus said. Jesus actually says, if you are weak, if you haven't achieved what you needed to achieve individually, if you have failed in your life, those are the people that I want to come to me. And that really contradicts a lot of the advice that we hear. Jesus says the first are going to be last, and the last are going to be first. And that's different than the advice that we hear to get ahead, to be the best. Jesus actually speaks in collectivistic terms. Jesus talks about his people being one body in one baptism. One baptism, he prays in John 17 for his disciples to be one as he and the Father are one. Jesus speaks in collectivistic terms. We are as Americans and particularly as Texans and maybe even more particularly as smallish town Texans. We like our individuality. Come and take it is a way of life. It is. We have laws that establish it,

and we enjoy those things. And look, I'm not picking on Texas too hard here, or even on the come and take it mentality. I actually believe that individual responsibility is a good thing in society. However, Jesus, although there was individual responsibility in his teaching, there were also collectivistic terms. There were also, okay, you might be doing okay, but your brother's hurting, what are you doing over here? Go be with your brother. Go cry with those that are crying. Go rejoice with those that are rejoicing. And sometimes Jesus gets a little too communist for us. He gets a little too collectivistic. A little too socialist. What's going on? Jesus thought you were Republican. When Jesus speaks in those terms, This is the gospel bearing out, and this rubs up and knocks off the advice that we get in America, in Texas, in Burleson. It pushes on us. Jesus is the final word.

There's not another word coming. It is final and authoritative. This year, for our sermon series, this year, we're actually going to be planning to look at all of Hebrews, all 13 chapters and we're going to do it over a span of many weeks, like 20 something weeks. They won't all be together, I promise. We're going to do it in about five or six weeks, chunks, different times of the year. And for this chunk, for this week, for this series that we're doing right now, we're going to be covering the first four chapters of Hebrews. So if you want to get ahead, if you're the high achiever, you want to read the first four chapters of Hebrews, go right on ahead. Okay? I'm looking at you, Robin Keller. Okay? Get ahead... Oh, Craig, sorry, both of you. Just work to get ahead. First four chapters of Hebrews, you should have seen the look on her face when I called her out.

All right. Sorry, Robin. It won't happen again this week. All right. I wanna take these by themselves because really, these first four chapters, They really help us see the magnitude of Jesus, the incomparable beauty and worth of the Messiah. So in no uncertain terms, Hebrews, the first four chapters saying this is Jesus. He's not a prophet. He's not an angel. He's not advice. Jesus is God incarnate and his work on our behalf is final. It is done. It is finished. It is established. There's nothing going to change it. There's nothing coming to replace it. It is the final word.

Hebrews, again, is often described as this long essay or a long sermon about Jesus. And the reality is, I think that Hebrews is much more like a therapy session. Hebrews is much more a therapy session for whenever we get stuck looking forward. When all we can see are our problems, our causes, our deadlines, our plans, what we've got going on this week, what we've got going on today. When we get stuck, when we get lost looking forward, what Hebrews does, what the first four chapters here do, is it draws our eyes upwards so that we can see higher things, so that we can see a blessing that is higher than we can imagine. We can see a hope that is higher than our doubt, so that we can see a calling that is higher than our best effort. It pulls our eyes upward, specifically to see someone, not just something, but someone that is higher. When Jesus enters our life, He needs no introduction.

There is no confusion as to who Jesus is. Let us then, as we pour over the first four chapters, let us become enamored. Let us just behold the beauty and the magnificence of Jesus, the mercy, the grandeur, the grace, all of it, of the eternal Son, Jesus. Jesus is higher. That's what these first four chapters of the Hebrews are about. And this is everything. This is everything. If Jesus is not higher, we are lost. We need him. We need to see him in his beauty. We need to hear him in his commands to us. We need the therapy session. We need to get out of always having to look forward and we need to look up. And this is what Hebrews one through four does. So let's keep reading. Let's continue to look up. In verses 5-7, Jesus is compared to angels. And it finishes with this, I'll just read 7. It says, of the angels, God says, He makes His angels wins and His ministers a flame

of fire, but of the sun, He says, Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of Your uprightness, is the scepter of Your kingdom. It talks about angels being winds and flames. The idea is that that's temporary. A flame of fire just kind of happens and goes away. A wind, it happens quickly, it's changeable, right? Now look, let's not sell angels short. Every time an angel appears to somebody in the Bible, the first words out of the angel's mouth to the person is, do not be afraid. Every time somebody saw an angel, they thought they were gonna die. every time. Imagine seeing something appear, something so beautiful, so majestic appear, and then they start talking to you and you're like, I'm either hallucinating or dead, okay? Or I'm going to die, okay? These aren't small potatoes, heavenly speaking. Angels aren't just kind of, you know, these throwaway things. They are weighty beings.

They invoke fear in humans. Naturally, these great angelic beings that cause terror in humans are a flash in the pan compared to the sun whose throne is forever and ever. The author continues, I wanna look at eight and nine together. It says, but of the sun, he says, your throne, oh God, is forever and ever the scepter of your uprightness, is the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness. Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions. Something interesting is beginning to happen in Hebrews 1 because we are, the Hebrews, the author here is beginning to quote Psalm 45. And that's why in some of your Bibles, verses five, seven, eight, nine, are all kind of broken out different, right? So this is quoting Old Testament. It's quoting Psalm 45, six, and seven. And it quotes Psalm 45 in particular

because in Psalm 45, it seems like, as you read it plainly, It seems like there are two gods in Psalm 45. Two gods, and you see it here too. It says, and we're just quoting Psalm 45, six and seven right here. It says, you're throne, oh God. So it's talking to God. Your throne is forever and ever, septum, your uprightness, septum, your kingdom. You, God, have love, righteousness, and hate witness. Therefore, God, your God, okay, who? God's God? Who are we talking about now? Do we have two gods going on? Therefore God, your God has anointed you. So God, your throne is forever. Therefore, God has anointed you. What's going on? Why are there two gods here? What's going on? The author then brings in Psalm 102 in the next couple of verses and we kind of get the full picture here. In Hebrews 1, 10 through 12, it says, and you, Lord, lay the foundations of the earth in the beginning and the heavens are the work of your hands.

They will perish, but you remain. They will all wear out like a garment. Like a robe, you will roll them up. Like a garment, they will be changed. Again, we're talking about this temporary versus permanent. It says, but you are the same and your years have no end. The author of Hebrews is building upon what he established all the way back in verse 3 when he starts talking about how the Son is the exact imprint of the radiance of His glory. When he starts, he's building on that and he's saying, Jesus is God.

The way to solve the two God problem, if you will, in verses 8 and 9 or in Psalm 45, is the fact that God is anointing somebody else who is also God incarnate. The author of Hebrews is pulling out Psalm 45 to say Jesus is God, he's the guy. He's the answer to the two God riddle in Psalm 45 that Jesus is God incarnate. And he backs it up, he kind of beefs it up here in verses 10 through 12 when he's quoting Psalm 102, because he is saying, I mean, look at the language of verse 10. It says, you Lord laid the foundations of the earth in the beginning. Let's take that phrase in the beginning. Does that make you remember any other verse? It's Genesis 1:1, in the beginning, what happened? In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Look what you have here. You have in the beginning, you laid the foundations of the earth and the heavens are the work of your hands.

It is reciting Genesis 1:1 and saying, that's the sun. The sun in the beginning created the heavens and the earth. What a powerful statement. Psalm 102, right? Like it's saying, look, they're all gonna perish, verse 11, they're all gonna perish, but you remain, sun remains. They're all gonna wear out like a garment, like a robe, you're gonna roll them up. Like a garment, they're gonna be changed. But you're the same and your years have no end. It's not only saying in Hebrews 1 Jesus is the final word of God. It's also saying that Jesus is the full word of God. That Jesus is God. That Jesus rules on the throne with the scepter, verses 8 and 9. That Jesus in the beginning created the heavens and the earth, verse 10. That Jesus, verse 11 and 12, is the everlasting Father like we talked about over Christmas. And the churches that are receiving this letter are definitely

needed to hear it. The churches that are receiving this letter, again, had many other gods, all these fake gods taking the spotlight. They had people displaying their beauty vying for attention. They had governments forcing allegiance to specific gods. And it was probably very easy for somebody who's reading the letter to the Hebrews, which is a letter that was probably a circulation letter written to a bunch of different churches, okay. This letter was meant to be kind of passed around. That's why it's the letter to the Hebrews. It was easy for all of them, all the people that were receiving this letter, to get lost looking forward. To get lost seeing only what is in front of them, only what they cannot do, only ways they are imprisoned, only things that frustrate them. And look, I don't need, I don't think, to stretch it very far, to say that today,

in the here and now, it is very easy to look forward only and to be discouraged. To look and say, when is this pandemic going to be over? To look forward and say, Well, I've got, you know, I'm frustrated with this, with this business doing this. I'm frustrated with the government doing that. I'm frustrated with Biden doing this. I'm frustrated with Republicans doing this. I'm, it's so, so easy. All you have to do is turn a TV on. That's all you have to do. And as soon as you do, you are locked in to a bunch of things that you cannot control. Things that are frustrating, things that make you want to spit nails, things that make you worry about your children and your children's children and their children. Okay? I'm only, I'm only, only 44 years old. But I worry about the world that my children are going to grow up into and become adults in. I worry about that.

And, and, and the way I don't worry or the way I stay off of worrying about that so much is that I don't turn on the news, any news channel. I don't turn on the news a lot. Because all I'm inundated with when I turn the news on is just more stuff that is frustrating, right? I just see on the news, on social media, just everywhere, I see athletes, I see influencers clamoring for attention. I hear the next silver bullet advice theory about increasing my productivity or making me a better father or making me a better man. I see things that are going to improve my sleep, improve my health, improve my breathing, improve lots of other things about my life. I hear commercials about it all the time. Everything is geared to keep your eyes down, forward, only on what's right in front of you, only on things that are extremely frustrating. It is a relentless push to keep your eyes forward.

And what we need to do as a church, as a people, we need to take regular time to look up. If you can think about it this way, if you think about being in the world as a believer, as a follower of Jesus, that being in the world is similar to being underwater. underwater will not kill you, okay? Trying to breathe underwater will, but being underwater won't. As believers, if we follow Jesus, we are called to go into the world. We are called to be in the world, not of the world, which means that we are called to go underwater if we follow the metaphor, just not breathe there. And if that's all true, and it is, then every once in a while, on a regular basis, you You need to come up for air. You need to breathe. Your spirit needs to breathe. Man, that's why I think it's great that we meet once a week, because it's really good like once a week to just come in here and spiritually breathe.

Just be with my brothers and sisters in Christ and just be like, yeah, yeah, saving grace is the norm. Yeah, like we can look forward to heaven. Yeah, we have a hope that doesn't die. Yeah, like we believe scripture is true. And it's not that I just hate being outside of church, but it is like being underwater. It is tougher to exist, right? It is hard, it is difficult. What I want to encourage you to do, I want to encourage you to take time every day, not just once a week. Look, coming to church service is good. And I know it's like spiritual inhale, Like it's so good, okay? Trust me, I'm with you. I love it, okay? It's like a refill station. I get to drink from the fire hose when I'm with you guys. I really do love it.

But if I'm just drinking from a fire hose once a week, I'm gonna start suffocating on about Wednesday, right? Like it's not, I need ways personally that I can come up for air. I need ways personally that I can drink deep of Jesus' majesty that I can look up and I can see Jesus in heaven and know that a pandemic is not going to overtake him. I'm going to look up and I'm going to know that whatever concerns I have about my children, my family, my spouse, my career, my job, my friends, anything, my parents, any concern I have is not above Jesus. It's not outside of his control. He's not in heaven going, oh, I did not even see that coming. God, I wish, Drew, I wish I would have known, otherwise I'd have done something. No, Jesus is on the throne. It's done. And we can trust that. That actually can have, and it's not like a mind job, it's a reality. The truth is that Jesus is on the throne.

Whatever the news cycle's saying, Jesus is still on the throne. Whatever's happening with your family, Jesus is still on the throne. It's not outside of his control. You can still depend on him. You can still trust him. We need to find ways during the week to come up for error so that we can remember that. If we don't come up for error, we will forget that. And we might remember it when we're back here on a Sunday if we're not sick. We might remember when we come back on a Sunday, but you don't need to wait a week. Come up for error. This is what we call a quiet time. A quiet time. actually what Christians for the last like 250 years have been calling a quiet time. Okay? If you are not having a quiet time, or this goes by several other names like personal Bible study, what devotion, whatever you want to call it, it's fine. I don't want to quibble over words. Okay? Well, not those words. I don't want to quibble over those

words. If you don't have a time that happens at least a few times a week, if If not every day, if you're not having that, what I wanna do is I wanna be super practical right now. I wanna prescribe you a six step quiet time, okay? I'm being a doctor. It's the closest I'll ever get to being a doctor, but I'm gonna prescribe to you a six step quiet time. Step one, we're getting in. Step one, plan for 10 to 15 minutes that is distraction free. And I even have them listed. So, sorry, I didn't note that, but there we go. Six step quiet time, first step, it's actually the next slide. Here we, hey, plan for a 10 to 15 minute time that is distraction free. Put your phone somewhere else, pick a chair, and sit there 10 to 15 minutes, super easy. Number two, pick a place to start reading, a place in the Bible, not a place in your house. I would recommend, if you're just completely flying blind

here, I'd recommend Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, kind of all like right in the middle, would not recommend Revelation. It's a great book, just not one to start with. It's just don't do it. Or Hebrews for that matter. Stick with something. Galatians always get go to for me, but there's plenty that are good. I would just say, pick a place to start reading. And then after you've picked your place, number three, you're gonna pray, Jesus, lift my eyes up, let me see your glory, when we see your majesty, speak to me through your word. Number three, just pray that prayer. Number four, read until your heart sparks with a thought. Now, some of you are gonna, that's gonna be too touchy feely for you. I understand that, I get it. I don't care, okay?

When you are reading devotionally, you are speaking to the Lord God in heaven. And if you wanna objectify that or quantify that, you go right on ahead and try. I haven't been able to and I've been at it a good while. So if you somehow discover the secret formula to quantifying all that, cool. But the best way I can describe it is read until your heart sparks with a thought. And that could be the first verse you read, it could be the 50s, it doesn't matter. You're not worried about time or reading a certain amount of verses, you're just reading until your heart sparks with a thought. Number five, you need to consider that thought and you need to reread it as you do. just ruminate on that thought. It's what the Bible calls meditation. It's not just for the Middle East. Meditation is a Christian tradition. Okay? So consider that thought, meditate on that thought, even rereading the

scripture as you need to, maybe. And number six, pray again. Pray, thank you. Thank you for speaking to me. Plant this in my heart. There it is, there's your six step quiet time. But more than just being six steps, I mean, I am being a little cheeky by being so prescriptive with it, but I do want you, I do want you to see, it is important for you as you have your head underwater in a world that does not care about the Lord or the things of the Lord, doesn't care if you're having a hard time praying. You speak to a friend who doesn't know the Lord and you're like, man, it was just really hard for me worship in the church service today. They're going to look at you like you have three heads. They have no idea what you mean. Okay. You are in this world, you are underwater. You need to take time every day or at least a couple of times a week. Like if you're doing it, none's a week,

then start with a couple of times. If you're doing a couple of times, maybe try to add another and get your head above water and see Jesus in his majesty. See the all-encompassing beauty and grace and glory of the eternal Son. This is what Hebrews chapter 1 wants us to see. It goes through great lengths to help us see we need to see Jesus. Another way to say it, Jesus is the full and final word of God. And if Jesus is all that, then he deserves our attention. If Jesus is all that, then taking a few minutes to gaze upon him is going to flood our souls with joy. It says the joy of Lord is our strength. It's going to flood our souls with joy. It's going to prick our conscience whenever things we need to repent of. It's going to make us think of something, maybe somebody that we need to pray for, it's going to spark our hearts with a thought. Take that spark as from the Lord, ruminate on that thought, meditate on that thought,

rereading scripture as you need to, and be thankful. This 6-At Quiet Time is not perfect, right? Like you could probably poke holes all through that, but it is a way to get started. It is extremely practical, and I would encourage you this week, begin to try. get lost looking forward, take time to look up, read of Jesus and let it spark your heart. Jesus is the full and final Word of God. I want to move into our time of invitation and I really just I really just want to point out the obvious that what we read in Hebrews 1 that Jesus is the final Word of God is the basic message of Christianity. That there's not another kind of salvation that's coming, right? That what Jesus has established is salvation. And really, what you need to do to respond to that is to listen to that salvation, to hear the full and final word of God. We have a time of response and we end our services with this time every week.

And it's because we believe that the word of God is living and active. I believe that as I'm preaching what the Lord has put on my heart to preach, that the Holy Spirit is going through that and speaking to your heart now, that there are thoughts that are sparking in your heart, even now, things that you need to respond to, things you need to say something to someone about, things that you need to pray to the Lord about. If you need help doing that, that's what we're in the business of doing as a church, right, like that's what we do. We help people figure out what the Lord is helping them do, right? Take that next step. So during our time of response, if you need prayer, I'm gonna be right up here. You can come pray with me. If you don't wanna come up here, you wanna pray with the person next to you, go right on ahead, right? Prayers with me don't matter more than prayers

with other people, okay? So pray with somebody, but respond. If you need to join the church, if you wanna come forward and say, I'm gonna be baptized, then come on. This is the time to do that. So I want to encourage you as we sing, please stand. Worthy to be praised, Forever and a day I give glory to the one who saved my soul He found me and you freed me from the shame that was my own And I cannot begin to tell how merciful you've been

Lord, my ears have heard of you, but now my eyes have seen You're worthy, You're worthy, You're worthy, Worthy to be praised, Forever and a day. We'll sing in front of Your eyes, pray. We'll sing an anthem of Your glorious name. We'll sing an anthem of Your highest praise. We'll sing an anthem of Your glorious name. You're worthy, You're worthy, You're worthy, Worthy to be praised Forever and a day You're worthy, you're worthy, you're worthy To be praised Forever and a day