Supreme Commander

Hebrews 1:4-14
 

Hebrews 1:4-14 says,
 
For to which of the angels did God ever say,
“You are my Son;
    today I have become your Father”[a]?
Or again,
“I will be his Father,
    and he will be my Son”[b]?
And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says,
“Let all God’s angels worship him.”[c]
In speaking of the angels he says,
“He makes his angels spirits,
    and his servants flames of fire.”[d]
But about the Son he says,
“Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever;
    a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom.
You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;
    therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions
    by anointing you with the oil of joy.”[e]
He also says,
“In the beginning, Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth,
    and the heavens are the work of your hands.
They will perish, but you remain;
    they will all wear out like a garment.
You will roll them up like a robe;
    like a garment they will be changed.
But you remain the same,
    and your years will never end.”[f]
To which of the angels did God ever say,
“Sit at my right hand
    until I make your enemies
    a footstool for your feet”[g]?
Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation? – Hebrews 1:5-14
 
Why are angels so important?  Why would he compare Jesus to angels, as opposed to something or someone else?  In order to answer that question you have to look at the history of the Jewish people.  They had knowledge and experience with angels.  Some of their knowledge came through the scriptures but some of it came through man-made rabbinical teachings.  These man-made ideas were often full of error.  They came up with ideas of what they thought angels were doing in the piritual realm. But the Bible does speak to the role of angels.
 
The scriptures teach that Angels were involved in the giving and maintaining of the Law (Galatians 3:19).  Do you remember what was contained in the Ark of the Covenant?  The 10 Commandments were in there.  Do you remember what statues were over the top of the Ark?  They were statues of angels.  Angels also were instruments of doing God’s will (Psalm 103:21).  They  were involved in executing the judgment of God (2 Samuel 24:16).  Angels were in the direct presence of God (Isaiah 6:1-3).  So, angels were highly respected by many of the Jewish people.
 
If you were writing something to the Jewish people to convince them that there was something new that they needed to embrace, how would you do it?  The Jews had about 1,400 years of going by the Old Covenant.  It wasn’t going to be easy to convince them of embracing Jesus and the New Covenant, or new scripture for that matter.  I’ve heard stories of baseball players that made it to the professional level.  The coaches would help them get over obstacles that had been hindering their improvement.  The player’s muscles and mind have been in the same routine for many years.  Muscles have memory.  This develops as they have been in a repeated pattern for a long period of time.  It’s not easy to retrain your muscles, or your mind for that matter.  The Jews had religious memory.  They had been doing the same pattern for so long that it was difficult for some people to change. 
 
The author began his argument for Jesus and the New Covenant by going back to the scriptures the Jews were familiar with.  He used seven different Old Testament passages to show that Jesus was who they needed to embrace.  They embraced Abraham and Moses, but someone greater than either one had appeared to the Jews.
 
In Hebrews 1:5 he explains that Jesus was called by God the Father as “His son”.  In Matthew 4, after Jesus was baptized, do you remember what God the Father spoke from heaven in the hearing of many witnesses?”  He said, “‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.’” (Matthew 3:17).
 
So, proof was supplied that Jesus is the Son of God by the very words of God the Father.  Jews knew that angels worship only God.  The scripture that’s quoted in Psalm 97:7 wouldn’t be about an angel being worshiped.  It must have been someone else who was worshiped.  Since the only one to be worshiped is God, then we know that Jesus, the Son of God, is to be worshiped.
 
Hebrews 1:7 makes a reference to Psalm 104:4 about someone, who is in possession of the angels, makes his angels like wind and fire.  The Jews, from their understanding of the Old Testament, would know that angels don’t create anything.  The only one to create is God.  Jesus, the one proven to be the son of God, was in possession of the angels.  The one created can’t be greater than the creator. 
 
Hebrews 1:8 is a reference to Psalm 45:6.  God will live forever and his throne will be forever and ever.  In the gospels, we see that people witnessed the Son of God refer to himself as God.  In John 10:33 we see the Pharisees say, “33 ‘We are not stoning you for any of these,’ replied the Jews, ‘but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.’”  His followers and his enemies saw him declare that he was God.  The Jews knew that only God has an eternal nature.
 
Hebrews 1:9 is in reference to Psalm 45:7.  It states a messianic prophecy that there will be one who will love “righteousness” and hate “wickedness”.  Jesus’ life, as testified by many reliable witnesses, showed that he was unlike anyone else they had ever seen.  He showed that he loved righteousness and hated wickedness.  He was like a bright light during the darkest midnight.  “In him was life and that life was the light of men. (John 1:4)
 
Hebrews 1:10 was a reference to Psalm 102:25 about being the one who is the creator.  The Jews knew, according to the scripture and according to some of their own man-made beliefs, that only God was the creator.  As witnessed by many, John records Jesus as saying, “Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.” (John 8:56)  Abraham lived probably a couple thousand years earlier and Jesus was saying that he existed before Abraham?  That would mean that Jesus was claiming something that only the creator God could claim. 
Hebrews 1:11-12 is a reference to Psalm 102:26-27.  Through many witnesses it was proved that Jesus rose from the dead.  He never perished.  3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. 6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time… (1 Co 15:3–6).
 
Hebrews 1:13 is a reference to Psalm 110:1 stating that someone would sit at the right hand of God.  The only one to prove that they are worthy to sit at the right hand of God is the only one  that couldn’t be proved guilty of any sin.  Not even Jesus’ enemies could prove him guilty of any sin, “Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me?” (John 8:46)
 
What does the author mean when he talks about Jesus “Having become much better than the angels…”?  The questions arise, “Isn’t Jesus God? Didn’t he create angels?  Wasn’t he always better than the angels?”  The author is actually referring to Jesus’ state after he rose from the dead.  Before angels or anything else was created Jesus was better than anything that was created.  He was more glorious, more majestic, more immense, more potent, more knowleadgeable.  But, when he came down to Earth he humbled himself.  Paul, speaking of Jesus’ incarnation said, “6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7  but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.” (Philippians 2:6-7)
 
The glorious God became an undistinguished man.  To be glorious means to have majesty and beauty.  It is something that is attractive and awesome.  In reference to the future Messiah, we read in Isaiah, “He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him…” (Isaiah 53:2).
 
The righteous lawgiver submitted himself to a corrupt government.  As he was talking to his disciples about paying taxes Luke records, “He said to them, ‘Then give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” (Luke 20:25)
 
The God who is pure and holy allowed himself to be touched by sinners.  Luke tells a story of a woman who was a notorious sinner, “38 and as she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.” (Luke 7:38)
 
The creator and king of the universe, who deserves to be served, came to serve and give up his life, “28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:28)
 
Angels were created as majestic, mesmerizing, and glorious creatures.  Even though they are created to be servants of mankind, they do this without departing from those attributes.  But Jesus laid down certain rights as God without his nature changing.
 
So, yes, Jesus laid aside his rights as God and became a man.  For a brief moment in time he became less than the angels.  He never became any less God.  He never renounced his part in the Godhead as the Son.  He never stopped being righteous, holy or pure.
 
Kenneth Wuest, a New Testament Greek scholar, stated, “The word “made” is the translation of ginomai (γινομαι), a word the meaning of which is in contrast to that of poieo (ποιεο) which means “to make.” The latter means “to construct or fashion something out of existing materials.” The former is the word used of the universe coming into existence. It means “to become.” The Son became better than the angels, inferring that at one time He was lower than the angels. The writer does not deny that He was, and is, essentially and eternally better than the angels. He is speaking here of His glorification which was conditioned upon His fulfilment of the requirements of His human state, which He emphasizes. After He had passed through the experience described in Philippians 2:6–8, He sat down on the right hand of the divine Majesty as Messianic sovereign, and thus became and was proved to be that which in reality He always was, superior to the angels. The superiority here is not that of moral excellence, but of dignity and power. He became superior to the angels when He resumed His preincarnate dignity at His resurrection. The writer tells us in 2:7 & 9, that for a little time, i.e., during His incarnation previous to His glorification, He was made lower than the angels.
 
Wuest, K. S. (1997). Wuest’s word studies from the Greek New Testament: for the English reader (Vol. 10, pp. 42–43). Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.
 
We know the timeframe in which Jesus was a “little lower than the angels” because of the preceding verse.  The author says, “After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.” (Hebrews 1:3)  He died on the cross, providing purification for sins.  He rose from the dead, thus conquering death and sin.  Later, he ascended to heaven where he remains to this day.  He is now glorified just as he was before he came to Earth.
 
Jesus wasn’t just a man.  He is God.  He is the supreme commander.  If God came to you right now and told you to do something, would you do it?  Well, he did over 2,000 years ago.  He gave us many clear statements as to what we are to do.  Do you know what he commands you to do?  If not, then make sure that you’ve scheduled at least 10-15 minutes a day when you can learn what he wants.  When we stand before God we can’t say, “Oops, I didn’t realize that was what you wanted!”  We won’t be able to blame our sophisticated email system that threw his important messages into our promotions box!  He’ll be able to see right through that one.
 
Not only was his sacrifice a worthy offering as described in Hebrews, he is also worthy to be obeyed.
 
Imagine you’re a sailor on a old ship.  Your captain sees another ship in distress.  He calls out, “Every man on deck! To your positions!  Pull up the anchor!  Turn the sail Eastward!  Move the rudder to 45 degrees!  Get the lifeboats ready!  Get the ropes ready so we can board the ship.”  One of the sailors stops what he’s doing and says, “Did you hear the captain?  Oh, praise the captain!  What a wonderful captain we have!  His appearance is glorious and his words are eloquent!  Let’s sit down and study the words of the captain.  Let’s sing a song to the captain!”  But, all the while, the captain’s commands are not obeyed.  He wanted them to rescue those poor, distraught souls on the boat leading to death. 
 
Jesus is worthy.  His sacrifice is worthy.  The New Covenant he brought is worthy.  May we be the ones who do what our worthy captain commands.  Amen  

Provider

Hebrews 1:1-3
 

Good morning! He is risen! He is risen indeed! Here we are this morning, a body of redeemed believers who have put their faith in Christ as Provider, because it is Christ who has saved us through His willing death on the cross, and we know that His sacrifice on our behalf was accepted by God because God raised Him from the dead. Praise God!
 
Each Easter season I always feel somehow rushed, as if I am hurried along from the cross to the resurrection, but the reality is that the disciples endured three awful days in which the Person they had loved and followed for three years was suddenly and shockingly gone from them. We know how the story turns out, but they did not. On Friday and Saturday and the first part of Sunday, they did not know what the rest of Sunday would look like.  
 
I’m not sure why I am so drawn to thinking about this period of time, but it was what led me a few years ago to write the video drama Rogue Twelve which tells a fictional story of that period of time that is based on the facts that we know in Scripture. The title of the drama reveals that the drama was a literary adaptation of the Star Wars movie Rogue One. If you haven’t seen it and would like to do so, let me know and I should be able to get you a link to it.
 
I don’t know how popular the phrase is, but I have read Max Lucado call the day before the resurrection Silent Saturday. I think it is good for us to reflect on this day, what it was like for the disciples, because it can mirror episodes in our own lives when we experience trials and challenges and begin to wonder, at least a little, if God is listening, and if He is listening, then wondering why He doesn’t act. And in a way, we are in the midst of a 2000-year-long silent Saturday, the age of the church, but also the age of persecution, the age of the Holy Spirit, but also the age of separation from Christ as glorified king, the age of people being born again through faith in Christ, but also the age in which people die and do not yet experience eternity with Christ in the new Kingdom, in the new Earth.
 
I believe experiencing and reflecting on the Silent Saturday prepares us even more for and makes us appreciate even more, Resurrection Sunday. And so, with this in mind, before we look at today’s passage, I invite you to watch the following video, a spoken word poem on the subject by David Wilson, son of Berk Wilson. Berk, if you don’t know him, is the pastor of our sister church in Rayleigh, NC.
 
https://youtu.be/tzE2z-nJtuY
 
“There has never been a sadder day than that wholly silent Saturday, when Jesus cold cadaver lay riddled with holes on a slab in a grave, shrouded and lifeless, battered and weighed down by sweet smelling spices that did nothing to hide this one bitter truth that should still every heart: that the Light of the world lay dead in the dark. With no sound in His chest cavity, His blood listened to gravity and settled in His body making all His skin look pallid. He’d been left there to rot while His ministry atrophied. To be forsaken, forgotten, or remembered with apathy. For His words and His works to be put on a shelf. For what good is a savior who can’t save Himself?
 
“Now imagine being His disciples who’d been dreaming of when the rightful Jewish king would end the bloody cycle of violence by gentile tyrants, a messiah whose arrival would herald the righteous reprisal against all evil, one who would right all the wrongs done to God’s people and free them from their bondage and exile. And this Jesus seemed to bear that title. But with the final breath of Jesus’ death, it was like all the budding hope in their chests had regressed to the mere hope for survival. Their prayers to God had been stifled by the roaring mob and religious rivals who’d just crucified all their hopes and plans and dreams. When their shouts of “Hosanna” were drowned out by screams. And despite all the interceding and tears they cried, their pleading for deliverance was denied with seeming indifference from God on high who simply let it all happen. How could a just God just not take action? For if Yahweh’s been King since before the beginning, then why does it sometimes seem Satan is winning?
 
“So that Sabbath was no day of rest in the heart in the disciples’ chests. With darkened thoughts, they second guessed the sovereign God their lips professed. And, as every disciple becomes like their teacher, His followers mimicked their Lord’s lifeless features: Their blood ran cold at each sound outside, fearing any moment soldiers would come dragging them off to die. And their hearts were pierced with anguish and its beating stopped in dread. For their savior had been vanquished and deliverance was dead. And with a blank and empty stare, all their muscles went tense. For God was silent to their prayers, and they wondered where He went. No words on their lips, no light in their eyes, as they all questioned if this had all been a lie. The one they had hoped would be mighty to save seemed like a sick joke: a corpse in a grave. So as that sun sank in the west, that sinking feeling in their chests filled them with a void whose emptiness couldn’t be avoided. The darkness pressed in all around and bound them in a sorrow that found no hope in tomorrow, only an impending doom, an unending night as dark as the tomb in which Jesus lay. Their way forward was blocked like the rock at the door to Jesus’ sepulcher.  God’s plans were mocked and all they could see was the devil’s work. God’s Word in the flesh lay silent in death. The Lord of the Sabbath had been laid to rest. They’d left everything for Him. He left them bereft. The Resurrection and the Life was killed. The Vine was cut. The Way was shut. The Living Water all dried up. Their many questions but now everything was still. Jesus was still. The stone was till. The night was still. Their prayers were stilled. And God was still.
 
“Still. On. His. Throne!
 
“While the empty questions marked the day and fear spread like a cancer, from the silent depths of the darkest grave, God clearly gave His answer: And when Jesus’ heart beat, He beat back the dark and it retreated. The strength of Satan had been taken and the demons were defeated. For the sound of every pound announced that hell itself was beaten. And when He took His first breath, He took sin’s wages and repaid it. Now sin is removed like east from west. Repenters gain salvation. The Just and Justifier proclaimed emancipation. And abundant grace is received by faith for the debt of death has been taken. And when His eyes opened, He sent an open invitation for all to come and know Him and come alive. For Christ provides the Living Hope to hope in. The blood of the embodied Word of God has firmly spoken. And the curtain torn in two now proves the way to God is open. And as that stone rolled back from the mouth of the grave, the Rock of Ages rolled away the last obstacle that separated Holy God from sinful man. And as the Son arose, He stepped in to the morning, so that mourners now don clothes made of joy in the Lord. He is loving, all knowing, almighty in glory. So be still. And understand: That God grants us the prayers we would have prayed had we seen through His omniscient gaze. So we can look to Him with childlike faith and trust His hidden plan. For if every good gift descends from above, then even God’s answer of “No” is in love. ‘Cause while the disciples had begged for Jesus’ deliverance, God denied their request so that He could deliver us. There has never been a gladder day than that Sunday after Saturday when all the tears of gladness changed to tears of joy and lavish praise. When the empty hush was shattered, day broke forth with Jesus at the grave, a victor breaking captives’ chains, alive and robed in majesty. Now the resurrection has displayed God’s working through the blacker days. For Sunday’s dawning has proclaimed, God moves on Silent Saturdays.”   
 
I find that presentation so powerful, both the performance of it and, more importantly, the content in it. Today, on Resurrection Sunday, we will continue our series in the book of Hebrews by going one single verse further. But most of all, we rejoice because our Savior is risen from the dead. Paul reminds His Corinthian readers of this in I Cor. 15 by quoting a saying that had been formulated, memorized, and passed on by those who almost certainly personally knew the eyewitnesses of the risen Lord:
 
Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas [Peter], and then to the Twelve. After that, He appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles – I Corinthians 15:1-7
 
And Paul follows this by reminding His readers that Christ had also appeared to him. And we know that this event literally turned Paul’s entire life around from being a persecutor of Christians to becoming one of the persecuted, whose ongoing relationship with Christ changed his pride into humility, his hate into love, and his selfish motivations into a willingness to die if it meant that one more person would repent and, through faith, commit their life to Christ. And God used Paul to reach many people for Christ in his life, and countless more through his willingness to be a conduit for God to write to his generation and so many generations after him the letters of the New Testament that come from him.
 
Now we mentioned last week that we don’t know who wrote the book of Hebrews, as it does not have the traditional opening section that we see in most other letters. But whether the writer was Paul, one of his proteges, or someone else, the ultimate letter writer of Hebrews is the Holy Spirit. And so let us look at verse three of chapter one of this incredible letter:
 
The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful word. After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. – Hebrews 1:3
 
As with the passage last week, we have here lots of deep concepts in a few short words. Let’s start with “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory.” Wow – what a difficult place to start!
 
What is the glory of God? What is glory? I spent a fair amount of time looking for a “perfect” definition and did not find one. But one component of a number of definitions that probably most resonated with me is the idea that glory is like extreme excellence, perfection to the point that it elicits expressions of awe and amazement, and in the case of God, worship.
 
If you think about a quality of God, for example, God’s majesty, you could start by trying to think of the most majestic thing you could imagine on Earth, maybe a king in the most amazing robe you have ever seen, with the most perfect crown; a king who carried himself with incredible presence, appearing, well, regal, and speaking as one with great wisdom, but also great compassion, someone with whom you could immediately tell that if his subjects followed his instructions, they would be the happiest people on Earth. Now try to imagine someone whose majesty was so far beyond this that it made this previous picture look like a drawing made by a two-year old in comparison. Try to imagine Someone so majestic that, somehow, even the stars and planets would somehow come alive and come to Him to bow down to Him, a King so perfect that no person who truly saw Him would ever imagine not pledging their lives to Him and having no will, no desire, other than serving Him in any way He asked, no greater pleasure than being given by Him something to do for Him. That begins to give you a picture of glory in this one area, the area of majesty.
 
God’s glory has this “infinite beyond-ness” aspect to it, not just in one area, but in every aspect of who God is. His goodness, His justice, His holiness, His love, His wisdom, His power, His mercy, His patience, and countless more. One way the Bible communicates God’s glory is to say that to look on Him in His glory would cause you to immediately die. One analogy we might use would be to imagine us only a few feet away from sun in our solar system – we would cease to exist, we would be absorbed or scattered into nothingness in a fraction of a second amidst that unimaginable combination of heat and light.  
 
Now this verse says that the Son is the radiance of God’s glory. This too is hard to understand. I think of this in the following way: If you think about the sun in our solar system again, it has an overwhelming output across the electromagnetic spectrum, including frequencies that we can see as well as many others that we cannot see, frequencies that our above or below our limited range of vision. The radiance of the sun, form our perspective, is the portion of those frequencies that we can see. In the same way, because Jesus put on flesh, became a man, and lived among us, we can see Him in a much more concrete way than we can “see” God the Father. So the Son, Jesus, being the radiance of God’s glory means that, in Jesus, we can see the narrow aspect of God’s vast spectrum of glory that is visible to us.
 
This makes me think of the opening of I John:
 
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. – John 1:1-3  
 
In Jesus, John saw the radiance of God. I am also reminded with Thomas’ experience with Jesus:
 
Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in His hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.” A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” Then He said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see My hands. Reach out your hand and put it into My side. Stop doubting and believe.” Thomas said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” – John 20:24-28
 
One of the things I love about this encounter is how Thomas made his rather foolish declaration, and one whole week later, when Jesus appears, He speaks straight to Thomas as if continuing the conversation from a week ago. I am sure Thomas thought, “Oh, You heard me say that.” Probably this was followed moments later by the thought, “Oh, You hear everything I say.” And although the first thought of such a realization is that, we regret things we have said, and perhaps even fear what God must think of us when we realize this, Jesus does not condemn Thomas. He greets him (and the other disciples) with a greeting of peace. And then, although His words to Thomas may be embarrassing to him, they are without accusation – and although the text does not reveal the one that Jesus uses, Thomas’ response shows us all we need to know – Thomas completely puts himself under Jesus’ command, calling Him Lord, and also, by calling Him “my God,” expresses both an understanding of who Jesus is, as Hebrews puts it, the radiance of God’s glory, and Thomas also worships Him. 
 
Returning to our verse:
 
The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful word. After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. – Hebrews 1:3
 
So let us explore the next part of this verse: Jesus is the exact representation of God’s being. The Greek word translated as “exact representation” is very interesting. Before I tell you this word, let me tell you the root word for this word: it is charax, which means something sharpened to a point, like a stake. So what is the Greek word  for “exact representation”? It is charakter, from which we get the English word “character.” Charakter has to do with an item engraved or carved to be a copy or likeness of something else. Now, this does not at all mean that Jesus was created, or carved by God. But what it does mean that when you look at Jesus, you see God Himself.
 
Now what is so interesting about this is how the word “character” has evolved. In its modern use, it only describes people. We can talk about a character in a play, for example. And we have words derived from this word, such as “characteristic” which describes some aspect of something. But most interesting to me is that we use the word “character” to describe something profound about who we are – our character determine how we behave, both in public and in private when nobody is looking. As for the use of the word in this passage, it incorporates all these ideas. Jesus is, indeed, a perfect representation of God, and importantly, this includes God’s character. To know Jesus is to know the Father.
 
I am reminded of one of Jesus’ final conversations with the disciples before the crucifixion:
 
Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where You are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. If you really know Me, you will know My Father as well. From now on, you do know Him and have seen Him.” Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” Jesus answered: “Don’t you know Me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father.” – John 14:6-9
 
And yes, there are mysteries here – we know that God is a Trinity, three Persons in one, and we know that there are differences in these Persons. But what we see here is that when it comes to charakter, in both the Greek and English senses, there is perfect likeness. It would be wrong, for example, to view God the Father as more judgmental and Jesus as more loving. They have different roles, different responsibilities, but between them there is perfect likeness.
 
The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful word. After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. – Hebrews 1:3
 
The author of Hebrews goes on to describe Jesus as “sustaining all things by His powerful word.” The word for “word” here is rhema, which is different than the word used in John 1, “In the beginning was the Word” – there the word is logos. Rhema, as used here, could also be translated as “command”, as in Jesus “commands all things to be preserved, and thus they are.”
 
John Bullard pointed out to me last week after the message that there are strong connections here to the opening verses of Genesis. God, described as Elohim, a name for God in plural form, says “Let there be light” and so on, and then these things happened. Most interesting to me is how God keeps on saying, in effect, “Let this happen” and “Let that happen” until it comes to man, and then He says, “Let us make mankind in our image; in our likeness.” Note the plural and singular juxtaposition here: Three times in this verse the pronouns are plural; yet image and likeness are singular, further illustrating that Jesus is the exact representation, the charakter of God. And His powerful word is what causes the universe to be and to remain as it is.
 
Let’s go on to first part of the next sentence: Jesus provided purification for sins, that is, He is our provider of purification. The Greek word translated purification means washing, cleansing. It is also used to describe healing a leper. As you know, the way Jesus did this is through the combination of living a life without sin, and then receiving the punishment for the sins of the world through the cross. The sacrifice of the Passover lamb, a perfect lamb without spot or blemish in the prime of life, from which those who applied its blood did not receive the punishment of the final plague on Egypt, the plague of death, is a picture of the true Lamb of God. It is profound to me that the three plagues preceding this final plague only applied to Egypt, but this plague of the death (of the firstborn son of each household) applied to everyone, Jew and Egyptian. It wasn’t enough to know about the lamb sacrifice to be protected from the angel of death; one had to personally apply the blood of the lamb to their home. Those who did so were in effect purified from sin; the angel of death did not “see” the firstborn son in that home, but instead “saw” the blood of the lamb. So it is for those of us who have personally put our faith in Christ; we too are deemed righteous because God sees the blood of the Lamb of God.
 
And so to provide this for us, Jesus died on the cross. But as we celebrate today, Jesus did not stay dead. God raised Him from the dead. And because of this, there is an “after” as the verse says, “After He had provided purification for sins.”
 
And what did Jesus then do? He sat down at the right hand of God. This is a huge theme of Scripture. I was surprised just how many verses use this phrase. One Old Testament example I think is a particularly, well, colorful, illustration is from I Kings 2. A brief background: This passage takes place shortly after King David dies of old age and Solomon becomes king. We could easily spend a whole message on background of this story, and if you want to learn about it read I Kings 1. But for no, let us ignore all this and simply look at the behavior of King Solomon when his mother Bathsheba comes to talk to him.
 
When Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him […], the king stood up to meet her, bowed down to her and sat down on his throne. He had a throne brought for the king’s mother, and she sat down at his right hand. “I have one small request to make of you,” she said. “Do not refuse me.” The king replied, “Make it, my mother; I will not refuse you.” – I Kings 2:19-20
 
If you want to learn if Solomon indeed did not refuse her, read on. It’s exciting reading! But for now, just note how Solomon literally set the stage so that his mother could sit at his right hand. This was a position of honor, as well as a position of granted authority. This tradition is ancient, and it is interesting that even today when we want to describe someone working closely with someone who has been given a lot of authority, we say that this person is their “right hand man”. However, an Internet search shows that this phrase seems only to be used today when talking about evil dictators and coaches of men’s sporting teams.
 
Something else I have thought about is the arrangement of a typical ancient throne room. You typically have the throne facing out towards where the people come. Important people work around the king, but they too tend to face towards the king, in a direction similar to that of the “common” people. Guards might be an exception, but they are typically pretty far away from the king, providing a buffer space between the people and the king. But a person who sits at the king’s right hand faces outward towards the people just like the king. So you can see what a high honor this is – not just a private honor, but a very public one. The person who sits at the king’s right hand is more like the king than like the people.
 
The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful word. After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. – Hebrews 1:3
 
Jesus, after His death and resurrection, sat down at the right hand of God. This word picture is likely meant to be symbolic, but I like to imagine God the Father preparing a second throne for the Son, giving Him the place of highest honor, because He was faithful unto death.
 
The New Testament uses this theme repeatedly. Apart from multiple references in the book of Hebrews (which we will save for later in the series), let’s look at an encouraging example from Romans 8:
 
If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all—how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. – Romans 8:31b-34
 
Again, I picture Solomon telling his mother, “Anything you ask, and it will be granted to you.” And I similarly picture God the Father telling Jesus the same as He prays for us! How encouraging!
 
The disciples knew that sitting down at the position of the right hand of a leader was to be placed at the most honored position of all. Remember that they actually argued about who would get to sit at Jesus’ right hand (and left hand) – they were picturing doing so here on Earth, after the expected military victory, when Jesus would reign in Jerusalem. But Jesus warned them that they did not know what they were asking for, because to sit with Jesus meant you had to go through what Jesus was about to go through.
 
I love the phrase, especially on this Easter Sunday, “Christ Jesus who died, more than that, who was raised to life”. I find that the western church, apart from this specific time of year, tends to stop at “Christ Jesus who died”. But as you read Scripture, you see in the New Testament a stronger emphasis on “more than that, who was raised to life” than perhaps we tend to make. I have read that the eastern orthodox churches tend to place a greater emphasis on “more than that, who was raised to life”. I do not know if this is true. Perhaps one reason that the western church does not do this is its roots in Roman Catholicism in which images of the crucified Christ are everywhere. I do not know for sure. But I do think it would be spiritually healthy for us to consistently also think “more than that, who was raised to life” when we think about Jesus dying for our sins on the cross.  
 
Let us finish today with one more verse that highlights Jesus sitting down at the right hand of God:
 
I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in His holy people, and His incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength He exerted when He raised Christ from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. – Ephesians 1:18-21
 
Let this verse sink in for moment. Do you believe that in the life you live today, the power of the resurrection of Christ is available to you? Does this mean that God will answer every prayer the way you want Him to? No. As we heard so well expressed in our opening poem, the likely prayers of the disciples were not answered – Jesus did not avoid arrest, He did not escape arrest, He did not win in the various trials, He did not avoid being scourged, He did not avoid the cross, and He did not survive the cross. At least, as of Saturday of that terrible week, He did not. But God heard all those prayers, and He did not give them what they asked for but instead gave them something infinitely better. By faith, believe that the same is true of us today – God hears all of your prayers, and He will answer them, in love, with more than you can imagine. He is our provider – of forgiveness, of our needs, of life, of more than we could ever begin to hope for.
 

Heirs

Hebrews 1:1-2
 

Welcome to our new series on the book of Hebrews! If you have seen the outline of this series you know that we are going to take about 3½ months to go through the book, and that, once we get past the first two weeks, we will cover roughly a chapter a week. But these verse two weeks, we are only covering a few verses. There are a couple of reasons for this. First, it is good to gain some background before doing a deep dive into Hebrews. Hebrews builds strongly on the Old Testament, particularly on the first five books of the Old Testament, the Torah, and second, we happen to be at the place on our calendar where we especially commemorate the death and resurrection of Jesus. And so these first two messages will go slowly into Hebrews so that we can talk about these other things as well.
 
Now, I want to start today by showing you the first two verses of Hebrews up front – so here they are:
 
In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom also He made the universe. – Hebrews 1:1-2
 
Wow – that is a power-packed, weighty sentence, right at the beginning. Whoever wrote the book of Hebrews apparently didn’t have use for traditional introductions. If you look at the letters of Paul, Peter, and James, you see pattern. It starts with who the letter is from, usually describing something about this person, as how they are related to Christ – and this is interesting, because in traditional letters of that time, one would include in the “from” some connection with their families, especially if they were well-regarded, and also include their titles. The New Testament letter writers instead chose to only focus on Christ, and this shows how they viewed their “traditional” connections or honors as meaningless compared to their being servants of Christ, called by Him, made members of His family, etc. The second part of an introduction would normally be who the letter was to, whether an individual or a group or even the broad category of all believers in Christ. Traditional letters from that time would also have a “to” section. And most of the New Testament letters then had a greeting statement, again, similar to other letters of that time, except that this greeting would be in the name of Christ.
 
But here, in Hebrews, all of that is missing. As a result, we don’t even know who the author of the book of Hebrews was, although it is pretty clear from context that it was either Paul, or, more likely – in my opinion – someone working closely with Paul, someone who was Jewish and who knew the Old Testament scriptures extremely well, and also someone who knew the people that he was writing to. I don’t think there is really much point trying to guess who this might have been, but it is also clear from the context the letter that the letter was written sometime between the resurrection of Christ and the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70. Based on a statement in Hebrews that the intended audience should have been a lot more mature in the Lord by now, I think it is likely that the date was much closer to AD 70 than it was to the date of the resurrection.
 
Again, we don’t have a traditional greeting, so we don’t know for sure who the letter was written to, but again, there is a lot we can figure out from the context of the letter. Given the deep emphasis on Old Testament concepts, it was clearly written to a group of Jewish people that included Jewish believers, and again, given what the letter says, we know it was not a group of people who personally had been with Jesus. Most likely it was not Jews within Israel at all, but in some other community. We know from the letter that these Jews were experiencing some degree of persecution for their faith.
 
Now, this is really a point for later in the book, but I think it is worth saying here. It is a mistake of interpretation to assume that everyone in the group was a true believer in Christ, that is, was someone who had personally been what the Bible calls “born again,” someone who had personally prayed a prayer of repentance and commitment to follow God, through Jesus, by faith, making Him the Lord of their life. There were, among the believers, others who were at various preliminary steps into this journey of faith. There were no doubt some who had some degree of intellectual belief, but not yet a conversion of the heart, a conversion of the will. And there were others, also Jews, who did not really believe at all, but were still a part of this community.
 
If we step back and think about this for a moment, we should not be surprised by this. What I have described, apart from the Jewish aspect of it, describes most churches, most local bodies or communities of Christians throughout the world, not only today, but for the past two thousand years. We have had many people attend this church over the years who were not Christians when they first came here, but who definitely were Christians when they moved away. And it was not here, but at an earlier church that our own Christine Custer has a similar story. She actually went to a Bible study on how to share the gospel, volunteered to be one of the people “practiced on,” so to speak, and through the process, became a believer!
 
And so, it is good to make a mental note that the author of the book of Hebrews at different times in the book speaks to different subgroups of people within the community to whom the book is addressed – those truly born again, those who are what we might call “close”, and those who still have quite a ways to go, so to speak, in terms of the gulf between what they believe (i.e., in self-reliance) and what a Christian believes (in Christ as their personal Savior) and also the gulf between how they live (i.e., by works) and how a Christian lives (by faith).    
 
Now, the book of Hebrews is a book of contrasts between the Old Testament life under the law and the New Testament life of faith in Christ, and we see this contrast brough out in the very first sentence of the book. In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways. In the Old Testament we see a pattern – the pattern begins before Moses, but it is really brought out at the time of Moses – a pattern in which God speaks to a representative, someone eventually given the formal title of prophet, and this representative passes on God’s words to the people. At many times, through many people, over many generations, God passed along instructions, praises, and warnings to people through these prophets. These prophets also told of future events – not that I don’t use the word “predicted” because these people did not, in and of themselves, predict anything. They simply passed along what God said would happen. These tellings of future events sometimes came true during the prophet’s lifetimes, and sometimes were fulfilled later. Some are yet to be fulfilled. But many of these accounts found their ultimate fulfillment through Christ, His life, His purpose, His ministry, His death, His resurrection, and His future eternal reign. But note that, as Hebrews uses this word, “prophet” does not only mean one who tells the future – it also describes the many people, including Moses, who told his people how God wanted them to live right then and there.
 
This is important, because the audience to whom this letter was written was wrestling with the question of how they were to live as Jewish followers of Jesus Christ. And so the letter writer begins to answer this in the very first sentence – yes, God spoke to the prophets in the past – He revealed His will and future events to them – but now, we have the words of someone greater to go by – the words of Jesus.
 
The letter writer then provides three ways that Jesus is greater than just a prophet: He is God’s Son, He is God’s appointed Heir of all things, and He is the one through whom God created everything.
 
Let’s look a bit more deeply at each of these three topics. First, Jesus is God’s son. What did that phrase mean to the Jews at that time? It meant the Messiah. This is doubly enforced by the earlier phrase “in these last days”. “Last days” is a reference to the time in which the Messiah would come. Even the Samaritans knew this. Look freshly at the end of the account of the woman at the well, from John 4. Recall the scene: Jesus has sent His disciples into a Samaritan town to buy food. He is outside the town, at a well, and asks a Samaritan woman for water. She is surprised He is asking, because normally, Jews don’t want to associate with Samaritans at all. He tells her that if she knew who she was talking to, she would ask for and He would give her living water. As their conversation continues, He reveals that He knows things about her past and present, and she says that she realizes now that He is a prophet. Their conversation continues, and they talk about what it means to be a true worshipper. Then she says this:
 
“I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am He.” – John 4:25-26
 
Notice again what she says: When Messiah comes, He will explain everything. Compare that with this opening of Hebrews: In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son.
 
It’s interesting to me that even today, Jews repeat this idea. Growing up, many times I heard it: “When Messiah comes, all will be made clear.” Well, Messiah has come. And indeed, through the Scriptures, what we need to know has been made clear for us. There are of course many things we don’t yet know, but we will have eternity with Him to learn those things.
 
I think it is important to notice the singular tense of “Son.” As the old song goes, Abraham had many sons. But God has one Son. Now Scripture speaks of the sense in which, by faith, all who follow Him become “sons” with Him, but when Scripture is speaking of Jesus as God’s Son, it is speaking not of just another man, but of Jesus’ divine nature as one of the three Persons of God. This is of course hard for us to fully understand, because there is nothing truly like it. All analogies fall short, all break down. But Scripture is abundantly clear there is only one God, but yet, God has? Is? – even the simple verbs fail us here – three Persons.
 
A son is of the same nature as the father. The son of a lion is not a squirrel. The son of a lion is a lion. And in this sense, the Son of God, although He came to earth as a human baby and lived as a human man, is not only a man. He is fully man, but He is also fully God, the same nature as His Father.  
 
Let’s look at the opening verses of Hebrews again:
 
In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom also He made the universe. – Hebrews 1:1-2
 
Let’s look more deeply at the second statement: He is God’s appointed heir – of all things. Again, this speaks to the uniqueness of Christ – God did not divide His inheritance, because there were no further “children” to give the inheritance to. The Son of God is unique – nothing like a merely human prophet at all.
 
Now, normally, when do heirs receive their inheritance? The answer is that they receive their inheritance upon the death of the one giving the inheritance. This is so normalized in our minds that it seems profoundly wrong if anything else is suggested. Indeed, many aspects of the account of the prodigal son are shocking, but one of them occurs at the very beginning of the account:
 
“There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them. – Luke 15:11-12
 
This feels all wrong, because it is all wrong. You shouldn’t ask for you inheritance; you should patiently wait to receive it. But equally shocking is the fact that, in this story, the father goes ahead and gives his inheritance.
 
But – try to imagine a world in which Adam never sinned, in which people lived forever. Would there even be inheritances? Suppose there was. Then when would they be given? This is not clear, but one thing is certain: the giver would still be alive when it happened.
 
God, the eternal God, God the Father, appointed Jesus heir of all things. As with the Trinity, there is much that is hard to fully understand here. I do not think this passage means that Jesus took all things away from the Father, leaving the Father with nothing. Again, Jesus and the Father are One. But I do think Scripture is clear that there are differences between the Persons of the Trinity, and Jesus, the Son, obeys the Father in all things. I think again of John 4, when the disciples come back to Jesus after Jesus’ discussion with the Samaritan woman at the well, and the disciples are confused when Jesus says something about already having food that they know nothing about. Jesus then says this:
 
“My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work.” – John 4:34
 
The nature of the relationship between the Father and the Son is that the Father expresses His will to the Son, and the Son carries out the Father’s will. The Father then is the one who has all things, who controls them, because He is the one who leads. And one of the Father’s actions is to appoint the Son “heir of all things.”
 
Now, as we are in the week before we celebrate Easter, I think it is good to reflect on both the will of the Father and the obedience of Jesus in the week leading up to the resurrection. For multiple reasons, I believe that Jesus found in this week the greatest challenge He would ever face in continuing to obey the Father’s will.
 
We see evidence of this in the Garden of Gethsemane. From Mark 14:
 
They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to His disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” He took Peter, James and John along with Him, and He began to be deeply distressed and troubled. “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” He said to them. “Stay here and keep watch.” Going a little farther, He fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from Him. “Abba, Father,” He said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from Me. Yet not what I will, but what You will.” – Mark 14:32-36
 
Luke 22 adds the following:
 
And being in anguish, He prayed more earnestly, and His sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. – Luke 22:44
 
The anguish was not because Jesus could not escape from what was about to happen to Him. I believe the anguish was because He could escape, and this was a great temptation to Him. We see a hint of this in John 18:
 
When He had finished praying, Jesus left with His disciples and crossed the Kidron Valley. On the other side there was a garden, and He and His disciples went into it. Now Judas, who betrayed Him, knew the place, because Jesus had often met there with His disciples. So Judas came to the garden, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and the Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons. – John 18:1-3
 
Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to Him, went out and asked them, “Who is it you want?” “Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “I am He,” Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.) When Jesus said, “I am He,” they drew back and fell to the ground. – John 18:4-6
 
So what happened here? Why did they draw back and fall to the ground? We don’t know the exact reason. Perhaps the Holy Spirit illuminated in them briefly a glimpse of who it was they were approaching – perhaps the way He said “I am He” echoed the voice of God in the burning bush that appeared to Moses, the God who told Moses His name was “I am that I am”. I also think of the angelic army surrounding and protecting Elisha in 2 Kings 6 that God briefly allows Elisha’s servant to see. In short, we don’t know what they saw, or felt, but it is clear that they had a glimpse of something that quite literally stopped them in their tracks. Jesus, at any time, could have done absolutely anything to change the situation, to prevent the arrest. He could have smitten them down with bolts from heaven. He could have instantly transported Himself to another place, even to heaven.
 
But none of these actions would have been the will of the Father. The Father willed that Jesus be arrested, appear before Annas, appear before the Sanhedrin, be condemned by them to death, appear before Pontius Pilate, appear before Herod Antipas, appear before Pilate again and be condemned to die, at various times to be mocked, spit upon, and savagely beaten, and then be marched to Golgotha, to be crucified and experience unimaginable agony with every labored breath, and to die, the Son of God, to die, there on that cross, and there, to experience both the separation from God, and the wrath of God, the punishment of God, for all the sins of mankind from Adam to the last sin of man before the end of days when man at last – those who have given themselves to Christ – will be completed, perfected, and sin no more.
 
I am reminded of many verses, but one of particular poignancy to me is this from John 10:
 
“I am the good shepherd; I know My sheep and My sheep know Me—just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father—and I lay down My life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to My voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. The reason my Father loves Me is that I lay down My life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from My Father.” – John 10:14-18
 
I am also struck by Jesus’ words “It is finished.” Remember earlier how He said His food was to do the will of His Father and to finish the work? Jesus had finished His race – He had made it to the end of His mission as the Lamb of God, never disobeying in the slightest the will of the Father. He had completed what He had come to Earth to do – to be the vehicle through which God would redeem mankind. And although He wrestled with His future in the Garden, He triumphed, because of His love for the Father, and because of His love for us.
 
Let’s return again to our opening verses of Hebrews:
 
In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom also He made the universe. – Hebrews 1:1-2
 
God has indeed spoken to us by His Son, not just through the words He said, although there was so much wisdom and depth and life in what He said that we can study it for our entirely lives and never run out of new things to learn. But just like how God spoke through the earlier prophets “at many times and in various ways,” God too spoke through Jesus, not only through His words, but through His actions, and one of the most important messages God sent us through Jesus was the message of the cross.
 
The brutality of the cross teaches us both the seriousness of our rebellion and sin and the incredible depth of love that God has for us in what He was willing to do to bring us back, restored to Him. But it equally teaches us about the greatness of Jesus, who endured the unimaginable by choice. He is the faithful one. He is the perfect one. And even in the middle of a scene so horrible that most onlookers passing by looked away – even the great orator Cicero taught that crucifixion should never be even talked about – in the middle of this horrendous scene, we see that Jesus is the glorious one.
 
As John the Baptist exclaimed,
 
“Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” – John 1:29
 
Notice the image in the background of this slide, the image we will use for the entire series. This is an anchor, but notice its resemblance to the cross. The cross is indeed an anchor for our souls – because Jesus finished the task set before Him. He is indeed the glorious one, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.
 
And now let me read from Revelations 5, but join with me in speaking out loud what the various groups say about Jesus. Start speaking when they speak: 
 
And they [the 24 elders] sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because You were slain, and with Your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.” – Revelation 5:9-10
 
Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. In a loud voice they were saying: “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!” – Revelation 5:11-12
 
Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying: “To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!” – Revelation 5:13
 
This is God’s Son, whom God appointed heir of all things. Let’s come once again to our opening verses in Hebrews.
 
In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom also He made the universe. – Hebrews 1:1-2
 
There is one more phrase to discuss: “through whom also He made the universe.” The very opening of John’s gospel brings this up:
 
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made. In Him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. – John 1:1-4
 
I’m not sure why I forget this. I tend to think of God the Father as the Creator and Jesus as the Son made Flesh. But, at a minimum, Jesus was the co-creator, although I don’t think this term does the situation justice. I think Jesus carried out God’s will in Creation just like He carried out God’s will on the cross. Again, we get in trouble when we dig too deep trying to understand the Trinity, but I think of it as God is the designer, and Jesus is the builder. Or maybe God is the big picture guy, and Jesus is the engineer. In any case, when Hebrews says it was through the Son that God made the universe, that includes life – it includes us.
 
Colossians 1 goes a bit further:
 
The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through Him and for Him. – Colossians 1:15-16
 
All things have been created for Him. Wow. So Jesus, Messiah, Son of God is heir of everything, and everything was made for Him in the first place. I feel like this gives us a little peek, a little glimpse into the depths of love that lie within the Trinitarian God. We are told that God is love. Like many things we have discussed today, this is hard to understand. But again, I think we get a glimpse of what it means here.
 
I encourage you, this special week, to focus in your quiet times on the events leading to the cross, and in them, on the greatness of Jesus, the Son of God, heir of all things, and implementer of the creation of the Universe. Allow Him to speak to you, as the prophets did of old, in many ways – through His word, through prayer, and through your actions of response to Him.
 
There is so much more I could have said today – because of Christ we are co-heirs with Him! We could spend another message just beginning to unpack that idea – but I wanted today to just focus on Jesus, rather than on what benefits have been passed down to us. Even if Christ gave us nothing, He would be worthy of eternal praise. Praise Him this week.