HEBREWS 1:1-42008 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Hebrews 1:1-4

If you ask Harvey what his favorite food is, his response will be, "Well, it's the one that I'm eating right now." When we come into Hebrews, I can relate. What's my favorite book of the Bible?

Hebrews, man, this is just an incredible book. And I know I say that often, but the one that I'm reading right now, well, it's an incredible blessing. And the book of Hebrews especially has long been one of my favorites. As we see here in the book of Hebrews, some incredible things about Jesus Christ and the work that he has done

The book of Hebrews is all about Jesus and how he is far superior to every other religion, every other thing, every other religion.

person, every other existence, everything in this world, everything in this life is inferior to Jesus Christ. And the book of Hebrews proves that over and over again. And so I'm really excited about what God is going to be doing in our hearts as we head now into this book of Hebrews.

And there's a couple of things I want to encourage you with as we get started in the book of Hebrews, and that is to really dig in and engage in this study as we look at these things, to know that they're not just to be, you know, head knowledge and it's not just for information and so you can answer trivia questions, but really take some time on your own to read ahead and to contemplate.

Consider these things ahead of time so that God can go deeper in your heart and what He wants to do and the things that He wants to share with you personally throughout the book of Hebrews. God wants to speak to you and He wants to minister to your heart and He has placed before us an incredible avenue for that in the book of Hebrews. I would encourage you

There's this book, The Holiest of All, that I would encourage you to pick up. We don't have any on hand, but if you write your name down on the book table, I will get those ordered for you. There's a few I'm already ordering, and so we'll just add you to the list. You should have it by Wednesday, or you can pick it up next Sunday if you desire. It's a book by Andrew Murray, and it's a book that...

Well, it's not one of those easy kind of fluff readings that you can just sit through and get through in a day, but what I would encourage you to do is to pick it up and read along as we're going through these portions on Sunday morning. Because what Andrew Murray does...

is he does a really great job of taking these truths and challenging our hearts and an application in our own lives and taking these things and allowing God to transform us through them and what they mean to us in our worship of God and our walk with God. And just a couple of things off the back.

of the book, if you don't mind to share with you, give me an idea of what he deals with. He says, it is only the full and perfect knowledge of what Christ is and does for us that can bring us to a complete Christian life.

Andrew Murray explains how to have a life of joy, strength, and final victory. He explains the cure for all our failures and weaknesses. He explains how to destroy the devil's power. He explains God's holy place. He explains the power of the blood, the witness of the Holy Spirit, and true riches.

Christians can always live in victory and inherit the promises of the Bible. And so if you need joy, if you need strength, if you need to defeat the power of Satan in your life, if you need to know what intimacy is and what walking with God is, what it means to enter into the holiest of all, this is a book for you. And I encourage you to get it, to pick it up, and to stay engaged as we go through Hebrews because God has so much here for us.

In addition to that, in your bulletin, you might have noticed that instead of our normal weekly devotion, there's a weekly assignment. And what the Lord's really placed upon our heart is to give you the portion of Scripture that we'll be going through next week so that you can read ahead and consider those things.

Along with that are the quotations that are quoted or the passages that are quoted from the Old Testament. And so you can look at some of the background to those because pretty much every chapter of the book of Hebrews has quotations from the Old Testament because it was written to the Jews who that was their Bible. That's what they knew. And so the author of Hebrews uses the Old Testament very much.

I think it's a total of about 82 references to the Old Testament that is throughout the book of Hebrews. And so the passage we'll be going to next week, the passages that are quoted there in the Old Testament, and then some other things that you can kind of dig into this week to consider and put yourself in the sandals of those who had an encounter with an angelic being or with an angel.

and to consider what it was like to be in that situation and to experience what they went through, because next week, the author of Hebrews will be dealing with angels and how Jesus Christ is far superior to angels. And so we can look at those experiences and understand and recognize that our relationship with Jesus Christ is even far greater than those that the people experienced in the Old Testament with encountering angels.

So I want to encourage you in those things to really allow the Lord to do that work in you by participating and you get what you put into it. And so if you read ahead and prepare your heart, God will be even much more able to minister to you and work in your heart. Well, as we start here in the book of Hebrews, a couple of things as we begin. Many people would like to discuss and know the author of the book of Hebrews.

And it's something that is not specifically stated here in the book. And throughout church history, the author has been presumed to be and thought to be Paul the Apostle. Some have believed that Paul possibly wrote it originally in Hebrew and that Luke translated it into Greek. But there's been many others throughout the church that have thought that maybe it was Barnabas who wrote this book and others have thought Apollos wrote this book.

But it's not specifically stated, and so here's what I present to you. When Paul began his letters, in fact, you can look at the book of Philemon, the first word in the book of Philemon is his own name, Paul. The apostle Peter in 1 and 2 Peter did the same thing. As he was writing out, the first thing that he puts down is his own name. And so we start in Hebrews 1, verse 1, the first thing is...

God. That's who wrote the book of Hebrews, in case you were wondering. God wrote the book of Hebrews. He introduces himself here at the beginning. The Holy Spirit in 2 Timothy 3.16 says, "...all scripture is given by inspiration of God, and it's profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness." And so, whoever the human instrument was, it's not really so important. We understand that it's God who wrote these things, and

using a human instrument, but the instrument is not so important as the fact that it's God who wrote these things.

The book of Hebrews was written probably before, it seems most likely that it was written before 70 AD, which is when the temple was destroyed. In 70 AD, Titus, the commander of the Roman army, went into Jerusalem, conquered it, took down the temple, the sacrifices were stopped, pretty much the Jewish religion was put to an end because the temple was no longer there. And

And so as the author is dealing with many of these Jewish elements and the sacrifices and the Old Testament practices, they would not be an option if the temple was still standing. And so this book was written most likely before 70 AD. And it was written to Jewish believers, Christians,

Those who had come from a Jewish background, been raised as Jews, but had received Jesus Christ as their Messiah. Those who believed in Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord. And throughout the book we see this as he's writing to them. There's a danger, there's a warning that goes out to those Jewish believers because many of them

were turning back to the old covenant to avoid some of the persecution that would happen, avoid some of the confliction that would take place within families to kind of slack off in their relationship with Jesus and go back to the old covenant, which is what they were familiar with, which was what was more acceptable to them.

They're in their society. And so the author of Hebrews goes in great detail about who Jesus is and how he's far superior to... Well, he starts out with angels. We'll see next week. He goes on to show that Jesus is superior to Moses, to Aaron, to the Levitical priesthood, that the sacrifice of Christ is...

greater than all of the other sacrifices. The covenant of Jesus Christ, the new covenant, is far superior than the old covenant. The promises of Jesus Christ are far superior than the promises of the old covenant. Everything about Jesus Christ is far superior than what they used to have under Judaism and what they used to have under the old covenant or the Old Testament.

And so the author of Hebrews is warning them, he's showing them who Jesus is, and then warning them against walking away from this Jesus, against falling away, against sinning willfully, against not progressing and growing in their relationship with God. And so he gives several warnings as he proclaims the truth about Jesus Christ being superior, far superior than everything else.

Well, this morning as we started off in verses 1 through 4, we see Jesus Christ as God is being spoken of as speaking in various ways that now God is spoken through Jesus Christ. And we see seven characteristics about Jesus this morning that God wants us to know. Seven things that should impact our lives and change our hearts in regards to Jesus Christ.

Now, a lot of these things we also touched on in the book of Colossians. In Colossians chapter 1, we have somewhat of a parallel passage in the character and nature of Jesus Christ. And I encourage you, if you so desire, to dig into Colossians chapter 1 in addition to these things in Hebrews. We'll refer to that a little bit, but to study it on your own time, I'm sure the Lord would bless that.

But we start here in verse 1 of Hebrews chapter 1. And again, it says, God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets. And so again, God is being spoken of here. And it says that he has in times past spoken to the fathers by the prophets in various ways and in various times. God spoke.

What is the purpose of speech? What is the purpose of speaking? And what is the purpose of God speaking in various ways and in various times throughout history? Communication, of course, is to express thoughts, to express feelings, to express emotions, to express things upon the heart or the mind. Communication is to express those things that could not be known otherwise.

The fact that God exists, Paul tells us in Romans chapter 1, is apparent in nature. In Romans chapter 1, Paul tells us that God's existence, in fact His invisible qualities, His invisible attributes, have been known since time began by the things that have been created. The fact that God exists is proclaimed by everything around us and by all of nature.

God never tries to prove His existence because nature does that. Here in the beginning of Hebrews chapter 1 verse 1, it starts out saying, God spoke in these various times and various ways to the fathers by the prophets. In no way trying to prove the existence of God. It's assumed it's already proved by all of creation. But what God has spoken is revelation beyond the fact that He exists.

It's not trying to prove that God exists, but he's revealing more of himself than just that he exists. God, in fact, has always been speaking. Since the very beginning, we see there in the Garden of Eden, God, in Genesis chapter 3, showed up in the garden to have his daily walk as he walked.

would always do his daily time with Adam and Eve to walk about the garden to spend time together and he calls out to Adam where are you from the very beginning he has been speaking forth because he desires to reveal more of himself he

He desires to communicate to mankind how much He loves us. He desires to communicate and reveal Himself that we might have right relationship with Him because He desires an intimate relationship with every person.

He speaks in order to reveal how we can approach Him and how we can have this right relationship with Him. God, from the very beginning, has desired this and He's been speaking. He's not a God who is silent. He's not a God who is way off in a distance. But He's a God who is right here with us and He's a personal God. He's a God who speaks because He desires for us to know Him.

It tells us that he spoke in various times in various ways. And we see that all throughout the Old Testament. There's a variety of ways that God spoke to people and God spoke to his people throughout history. He spoke, remember, to Joseph through dreams. And he would have those prophetic dreams and those things that God was speaking to him in the dreams and in the interpretation of dreams. He spoke to Moses. You remember he first appeared to him in a burning bush.

But then he also spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai. He spoke to Moses in the tent of meeting. We've been reading through Isaiah on Wednesday evenings and we've seen a variety of ways that God has spoken to Isaiah and that God has used Isaiah to reveal himself to his people.

With Jeremiah, we've been reading through the Bible in a year. We've been in Jeremiah and we saw one case where God tells Jeremiah to go and bury a sash and then later on to go unbury it and pull it out. And he uses that to speak and reveal himself to his people in a variety of ways in various times. And many of those we don't even know. How did God speak to Noah?

Was it an audible voice? Was it a still small voice? Was it something that was a thought upon his heart? Was it something that God had someone come and deliver to him? How did God speak to Abraham? When Abraham was told to leave his father, to leave the area of Ur and to go to the place that God would show him, how did God speak? We don't know for sure. We don't know exactly. But what we do know is that God has been speaking.

Using a variety of people and a variety of methods and styles throughout history, God has sought and desires to reveal Himself. And still to this day, God is speaking. He's not silent. He's not trying to keep Himself hidden from us, but He's desiring to reveal Himself. And so He continues to speak. In verse 2 it says,

He has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds. God spoke in a variety of ways in the past. Through the Old Testament, to the fathers, by the prophets, we've seen a variety of ways that God has spoken. But now, things are different. Now in these last days, God has spoken to us by His Son, Jesus Christ.

Christianity, when it was given birth there in the New Testament church in the book of Acts, it was not a new religion that was started. It was a fulfilled religion. It was brought, first of all, to the Jewish people.

And the Jewish people had known the Old Testament. They'd known God. God had been speaking in a variety of ways to them. They'd been raised in those things, raised in this worship of God. And now Christianity was the fulfillment of all of those things that they had been taught and known and had been written in their scriptures. It was the fulfillment of all that they had known their whole lives. In receiving Jesus Christ as the Messiah, it was the fulfillment of

of Judaism, of the religion that they worshipped. It wasn't a brand new thing, but it was the fulfillment of what was already there. All of the prophets, all of the things that God had spoken before in those various times and various ways that He spoke, all of them, all of that prior revelation was pointing towards the fulfillment of the words that were spoken and the fulfillment of the words that were spoken are found in Jesus Christ.

In John chapter 5 verse 39, Jesus tells the scribes and the Pharisees, You search the Scriptures, for in them you think that you have eternal life, and these are they which testify of Me. All of the Scriptures, Jesus says, they speak of Me. All of God's revelation prior to the coming of Jesus Christ pointed to...

And we're not fulfilled until the coming of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of all of God's revelation. The Old Covenant, the Levitical system, God's way that man could approach Him. It was all temporary. It was all foreshadowing. We'll see that later in the book of Hebrews. The things which are to come, which are the things of Jesus Christ. The Old Testament speaks of Jesus. The Old Covenant promises the coming of Jesus.

He spoke in a variety of ways, that is, God spoke in a variety of ways, but now there's not a variety of ways. Now He has spoken to us through Jesus Christ. And Jesus Christ is the fulfillment. And so there's no need for further revelation. There's not going to be another testament, another covenant, another revelation. Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of all that God has ever spoken.

Everything that can be known about God is known through Jesus Christ. Everything that God has for us is found in Jesus Christ. Jesus is the fulfillment of everything. He's the fulfillment of the scriptures, of God's plan. He's the fulfillment of salvation. He's the fulfillment of all that God has for us. In these last days, He has spoken to us by His Son.

Jesus Christ is the fulfillment. Now as we look at Jesus Christ fulfilling all these things, we also understand as we see these characteristics of Jesus Christ that He is not just a man. He is not just a good teacher or a great prophet. But we are looking really at the deity of Jesus Christ as we study these things. That Jesus Christ is God.

Now it's important to understand that when we say that Jesus Christ is God, we do not mean that Jesus Christ is the Father. The God, well, the God that we serve, the God that we worship, the God of the Bible, is a God that is triune in nature. And it's difficult, in fact impossible, for us to really understand and grasp this fully. But we can see what the Scripture says.

That God is one. There is one God and yet God is the Father but also Jesus Christ is God. But Jesus is not the Father. And the Holy Spirit is God but the Holy Spirit is not Jesus. The Holy Spirit is not the Father. Here in Hebrews chapter 1, the Father is speaking about the Son.

proclaiming that He is God. They're distinct. We call them three separate persons in the Godhead, although persons probably isn't the best word, but what English word can define and describe an infinite God? It's the best that we can do because of our limited resources in the English language. But we understand that God is three in one. He is triune in nature. One God, the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit.

And so we're looking at Jesus Christ being God. And as God, He is far superior. He is the fulfillment of all that God the Father has ever promised and all that God the Father has ever spoke of. And He is the fulfillment of everything that you need, that I need, and that our hearts desire. So seven characteristics about Jesus Christ we see in this revelation of God to us through Jesus Christ. Number one, we find that He is the heir of all things.

The heir of all things. This is the position that Jesus holds. He is the heir, which is somebody who holds the right to receive property, position, or title. Jesus Christ is the heir of all things. Everything is rightfully His. All things that exist rightfully belong to God. He is the one who is to receive everything.

All property, position, and title. All glory and honor. Everything that exists belongs to Jesus. But an heir is someone who, although that is their rightful place, although that is their right, it is not yet received. And so right now this is, well, this is how we see Jesus. Later on in Hebrews chapter 2, we'll see this in a couple weeks, it talks about how God has put all things under subjection

to Jesus Christ. Everything is under His authority. Everything belongs to Him. Everything is under His power. Yet, Hebrews 2.8 goes on to say, but we do not yet see all things put under Him. Although this is true and although this is His place, although this is rightfully His, we do not see it yet.

Hebrews 2 will go on to say, what we do see is Jesus made a little lower than the angels. We see the work of salvation and God's grace in bringing many to salvation in Him. But there will come a day where we will not see, well, I'm sorry, where we will see all of the things, everything, be put in subjection to Jesus Christ. When He comes again, His second coming, His return.

The world will be subject to Jesus Christ. Daniel records this event in Daniel chapter 7 where it tells us that to Him, that is to Jesus, is given dominion and glory and a kingdom that all peoples and nations and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away and His kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed. We do not yet see this, but He is the heir. He is the rightful one.

The one who has the right to all things, persons, nations, all honor, all glory, his rightful place is to be over those for the rest of creation to be subjected to him. Again, we do not see that yet, but we will see it. Jesus Christ is coming again. And upon his coming, he will inherit all things. It will be the fulfillment of all these things that we've seen.

So first of all, He's the heir of all things. Everything belongs to Jesus Christ. Number two about Jesus we see also here in verse 2. He says, through whom also He made the worlds or created the ages. The second thing we find about Jesus Christ is that He is the creator. Who is it that created the heavens and the earth? Well, we look at Genesis chapter 1 verse 1. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. God spoke it into existence.

But how did God create it? How did He speak it into existence? Here, the author of Hebrews tells us that it was through Jesus Christ that all things were created. It was through Jesus Christ that God made the worlds, that God made the ages, that God created time, that He created all things that exist. In John chapter 1,

The Apostle John shares something very similar, starting out with verse 1, which we all know, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. And then verse 3 of John 1, All things were made through Him, that is, through the Word, that is, through Jesus Christ. And without Him, that is, without Jesus, nothing was made that was made. John tells us the same thing. We see it also in the book of Colossians,

Scripture is quite clear. Jesus Christ is the creator. He is the one who created all things. Everything was made through him and without him, nothing was made that was made. There's nothing that exists that was not created by Jesus Christ. There's not one atom that exists that was not created by Jesus Christ.

Not only does Jesus have the right to everything, not only is He the heir of all things, but He is the creator of all things. He's not just a good teacher or a wise man. Jesus Christ is God. He is the creator. Now, if all things were created by Him and nothing was created without Him, you can reach the logical conclusion here that Jesus Christ is not a created being.

It makes sense and we understand. The scripture teaches. Jesus Christ was not created. He's not the first act of God in creation and thinking that God created Jesus Christ first and then Jesus created everything as the Jehovah's Witnesses would teach. Nothing was created apart from Jesus Christ because He is God. He has always existed. He is not a created being. He is the being that created everything.

Jesus Christ made the world. He's the heir of all things. He's the creator of all things. And number three, he is the exact image of God. We find this in verse three. It says, "...who being the brightness of his glory and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high."

The first part here in verse 3, we learn that Jesus Christ is the exact image of God. He starts out saying He's the brightness of His glory or the brightness of God's glory. The brightness is the outshining of God's glory. The glory of God is manifest in Jesus Christ. God makes Himself known

Through Jesus Christ. Just as sunlight is the outshining of the sun, Jesus Christ is the outshining. He's not just the reflection, just reflecting God's glory, but He is the outshining of God's glory. Jesus Christ reveals the glory of God to us because He is the, it goes on to say, the express image of His person.

Jesus Christ, consider this for a moment, is the express image of God. The express image could also be translated the exact expression. Jesus is the exact expression of God. Now when it comes to you and I,

We are created in the likeness of God. In Genesis chapter 1, God says, Let us make man in our image according to our likeness. We were created in the image of God and in the likeness of God. Being created in the image of God means that while we have the likeness of God, we have similarities in our nature, in our makeup, that we are...

Well, similar to God. There's resemblance there. But when we talk about Jesus Christ being the express image or the exact expression of God, we're not talking the same terms here as you and I are created in the image of God. We are somewhat of a reflection of God. We have a resemblance to God. But Jesus Christ is the image of God. He's the exact expression of His person.

So much so that in John chapter 14, there Jesus is talking, remember, that he says, I'm going to...

go away, but don't let your hearts be troubled. I'm going to go prepare a place and I'm going to come back and receive you unto myself. And you know where I'm going and you know how to get there. And Thomas says, whoa, what are you talking about? We don't know where you're going. We don't know how to get there. And Jesus says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. And I think at this point, the disciples are still confused and have no idea what's going on. And so Philip asks, well, just show us the Father then. That's enough.

You know, we don't know all what you're talking about. We don't understand what you're saying really, but just show us the Father. That'll be enough for us. And Jesus tells Philip in John chapter 14 verse 9, Have I been with you so long? Yet have you not known me, Philip? He says, He who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, show us the Father? Jesus is the exact expression of God in such a way that he can tell Philip, If you've seen me, you've seen the Father.

He who has seen Jesus Christ has seen the Father. He who knows Jesus Christ knows the Father. He who has relationship with Jesus Christ has relationship with the Father. He who has received Jesus Christ has received the Father. Jesus is the exact expression of God. The exact expression of His person. He exactly and accurately and perfectly expresses the nature, the character, the person of God the Father.

Now, of course, this could not be true if Jesus Christ were not God. He is the exact image of God because he has the nature and character of God. Man resembles God, but Jesus Christ reveals God. And so if you want to know about God, you go to the person of Jesus Christ. He's the exact expression of who God is. You want to know how God feels about you? Look at what Jesus Christ has said.

You want to know how to relate to God? Relate to Him through Jesus Christ. You want to know what God has done for us? You look at the person of Jesus Christ. Again, all things spoken of in the past, the way that God has spoken and revealed Himself, it's all fulfilled in Jesus Christ. He is the exact image of God. Number four, we find that He is the sustainer of all things. It goes on there in verse three to say, "...and upholding all things by the word of His power."

He is upholding all things. God did not create the world and then just stand back to watch and see what would happen. He didn't just kind of, you know, create it, wind it up, and then step back and go, hmm, let's see how this plays out. You know, just kind of hands off. Let's just see what they do with all that I've given to them. God is intimately involved in every element of every life, every millisecond of every day.

He is the sustainer of all things. He is constantly involved. He sustains everything. Colossians 1.17 tells us that in Him all things consist. God created all things. Jesus Christ created all things. But it's also in Him that all things continue to exist. Not just their beginning, but even their existence now is by the power of His Word.

By the power of Jesus Christ. His infinite power. That all things exist and continue and are sustained. We can see the example of this in the Adam. And we talked about this briefly also as we went through the book of Colossians. What is it that holds an Adam together? Now I'm not an expert or physicist or anything. I can only understand the basic elements. But there in the Adam...

the nucleus of the atom, there's these protons that are positively charged and we can relate to it as magnets, you know, there's the positive and negative side of a magnet. If you try to take two magnets and push, put the positive sides together,

you know what happens. They resist. They push apart. They will not stick together. Now, if you flip them around, the positive and the negative, they'll stick together, no problem. But you put the positives together, and they will not. They'll push apart from each other. In the same way, these protons that are within the nucleus of the atom are all positively charged, and therefore constantly pushing apart from each other.

Pastor Chuck shares it this way and I just trust his math. If you have a teaspoon of protons and you put it at the North Pole and you take another teaspoon of protons and you put it at the South Pole, the amount of force that would be pushing these two away even at that great distance...

could only be restrained by 30,000 pounds of force. You would need 30,000 pounds of force to hold these two teaspoons of positively charged protons in place at opposite ends of the earth. The point is, it takes a great deal of force to hold these protons together. What is it that holds these protons together with inside of every atom that exists in all the universe?

Well, scientists have come up with a brilliant name. They've named it the strong force. That's the force that holds these together. They don't know what it is. There's no physical explanation. There's no real reason that science can prove why the protons within atoms, all being positively charged, stay together. There's just this strong force that holds them together. Well, we know, of course, this force is Jesus Christ.

Now, simple physics will tell you that the force that holds it together has to be at least as strong as the force that is trying to push it away. And so the force that holds these atoms together has to be at least as strong as the atomic bomb. The atomic bomb is simply the releasing of an atom. It's the releasing and allowing these positively charged protons to spread out.

to push away from each other as they naturally desire to do, as is natural for them. And it's the releasing of that atom, the releasing of those protons, that does all the damage. So the amount of force in the atomic bomb is what is necessary to keep that from happening in every atom. So consider for just a moment. At least the amount of force of the atomic bomb is being applied to every single atom

in all the universe, simultaneously, constantly, and without fail, for every nanosecond of every day, 6,000 years and counting, by Jesus Christ. He sustains all things. By the word of His power, all things exist. We talk about the omniscience, is it omniscience? That's all knowing. Omnipresence. Thank you, Jesse. The omnipresence of God.

He exists everywhere at once. Well, you could see how this would have to be true. He is the sustainer. He holds all things together. There's nothing that exists apart from God. There's nothing that exists apart from Jesus Christ. He is everywhere present because He's holding everything together all the time, all at the same time, with greater force than you and I can even imagine. Jesus Christ is the sustainer of all things.

Number five, He purged our sin. We see that also in verse three. He says, when He had by Himself purged our sins. This is what's amazing about the Gospel message. The same Jesus who is the Creator and Sustainer of all things and Heir of all things is also the same one who purged our sin. Who took it upon Himself to come in the form of a servant to endure the cross and despise its shame.

To humble himself to the point of death. Even death upon the cross. Jesus Christ purged our sin. The word purge means to make clean. He did away with our sin. He made us clean. He washes away the guilt. He washes off my heart. He makes me clean. And notice that it's in the past tense. He purged our sin. It's already been accomplished. It's not a work that...

still has some left remaining. But He purged our sin. In John chapter 19, Jesus is there on the cross in verse 30. He cries out right before He breathes His last. He cries out, It is finished. And He bows His head and gives up His spirit. What is finished? The purging of our sins. He already did there upon the cross everything that was necessary to take care of our sin. There's nothing left left.

to be done in order for our sin to be purged. There's nothing left to be done in order for our conscience to be cleansed. There's nothing left to be done for us to be forgiven. It's already been accomplished. He purged our sin. He did it once for all. Hebrews chapter 7 will go on to say, the priests, they had to offer sacrifices continually. There was always offerings going on.

But what Jesus Christ did, He did once for all. It was one sacrifice, the sacrifice of Himself that accomplished the purging of sin for the rest of time. And it says, by Himself. He purged sin by Himself. Meaning that He did not need any help. There was no one there that helped Him.

Now, Richard was here early this morning and he was cleaning up the sanctuary and taking care of the bathrooms and vacuuming and setting up the tables. But you know, he wasn't here by himself. There was some other guys who helped him, but he just gets the credit because I mentioned his name right now. Now, if he really wanted to, he could show up early enough and take enough time to do everything himself. But not so with Christ. By himself.

Because no one else could. Because there was nothing that anybody else could contribute. He is the only one. He did not need help. And it's a good thing because if He did, there was no one that could help. He is the only one. Religion could not help purge our sin. Angels could not help purge our sin. Only Jesus and His sacrificial offering of Himself there upon the cross.

could take care of our sin. He did not fall short. He does not lack anything when it comes to purging our sin. And there is no other way. He is the only one, the only way of salvation, the only way to be forgiven. Jesus Christ by Himself purged our sins. The only way to the Father is through Jesus Christ because He's the one who's taking care of our sin. So He by Himself, number five, purged our sin. Number six,

He now is at the right hand of the Father. We see that at the end of verse 3 there. He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. Jesus now is seated at the right hand of the Father. Mark records this for us as well in Mark 16 as Jesus is ascended into heaven and Mark tells us that He sat down at the right hand of God. Notice that He sat down here in Hebrews 1 there in Mark 16.

Jesus Christ is seated. Now, just go back in the archives for just a moment with me and search your databanks for the chairs that were listed there for the tabernacle or for the temple.

And all of the articles of furniture and the elements there involved in the worship of God, where were the chairs? You go inside the holy place and you have there the altar of incense. You have there in the Holy of Holies the Ark of the Covenant. You have the candlelight there on the side. And then you have the table of showbread. There's a table, but no chairs. Why no chairs? Well, because the priests, their work was never done. There was always work to be done because, well...

Sin had not been taken care of yet. The offerings were temporary. They were a covering, but they needed to be offered continually. There was always work to be accomplished, but the work of Jesus Christ, not the same. Once and for all, it's been done. It's been accomplished. He's seated at the right hand of the Father.

The right hand of the Father, this position, the right hand, is something that's very significant and important. It means that He has all authority and power of God. In a sense, He's God's right hand man. He has all the authority of God, all the power of God. Jesus said this in Matthew 28, verse 18. As He's giving the Great Commission, go into all the world and make disciples, He says, He proceeds it by saying, all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.

All authority belongs to Jesus Christ. He is at the right hand of the Father. All authority, all honor and all glory belong to Jesus Christ. They're at the right hand of the Father. He ever lives to make intercession for us, Hebrews 7 tells us. He ever lives to plead our case before the Father, to pray on our behalf, to share with the Father. This is one of ours.

He ever lives to make intercession for us. He's the mediator between us and the Father as He's there at the right hand. 1 Timothy 2.5 tells us there's one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. We come to God through relationship with Jesus Christ. We come to God through Jesus Christ. He is the mediator. He is our intercessor. He's there seated at the right hand of God with all power and all authority.

Verse 4 goes on to say, Having become so much better than the angels, as he has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. Now he starts out here saying that he has become better than the angels. And this is what we'll be digging into next week. So we won't do that here. I encourage you to read ahead, to prepare your heart. We'll see what God has to say next Sunday as we dig into those things. But number 7, the characteristic about Jesus Christ, I want to finish with there at the end of verse 4.

He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. Jesus Christ has the most excellent name. The most excellent name. The name of Jesus. Paul tells us in Philippians chapter 2 that God has highly exalted Jesus and given him the name which is above every name. There is no name that compares to the name of Jesus. He goes on in Philippians 2.10 to say that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow

for those in heaven and those on earth and those under the earth. There's not one exception. Every knee will bow at the name of Jesus. Verse 11 tells us that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. The name of Jesus is above every other name. There's no one that compares to Jesus. He, being God, became a man.

He became the avenue by which we must be saved. Acts chapter 4 verse 12, Peter says, there's no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. Jesus Christ is the way to the Father. Jesus Christ, His name will cause everyone to bow and every tongue to confess that He is Lord. And as we look at these seven things, as we wrap up these seven things, I want to end with this and that is that

These things are not, again, just answers to trivia questions. So on Jeopardy one night, you know, who has the name above every name? Oh, I know, it's Jesus. It's not just answers to trivia questions and knowledge for our head. I want to encourage you as we have seven things before us, consider these things. How does this person, Jesus Christ, impact your life?

He is the heir of all things, which means all things belong to Him. Personalizing it, it means everything that I have belongs to Jesus. The correct response is to use it for His glory. Everything that I have, it's yours. To be a good steward. To honor Him and represent Him. To do His will with those things that He has given to me. Even as we saw Hannah there saying,

The Lord has lent him to me and I lend him to the Lord with that little baby boy. And the same thing that Segment and Candice are saying. That little boy, Brandon, he belongs to the Lord. Your children, your family, those that God has given you authority over, they belong to the Lord. You better honor him with the way that you treat his property. Those things that are so precious to him. The way that you raise those children. The way that you represent him.

He is the heir of all things. Everything that you have, it's not yours. It belongs to Him. He made the worlds. He is the creator. He's my creator. Now, the proper response to understanding that Jesus Christ is my creator is that I need to worship Him as my creator. I'm His completely. My life is indebted to Him. He created me. I exist because He gave me life.

To worship Him as my Creator is the proper response. He's the exact image of God. The proper response then is to know God through Jesus Christ. The proper response is to get to know and develop a relationship with Jesus Christ that I might know God. To spend time with Jesus Christ that I might spend time with God. To spend time in His presence that I might be in the presence of God. The proper response, understanding that He is the sustainer of all things is to know that He sustains me.

He's the one who takes care of my needs and provides for me. And it's cause for praise, to worship Him and praise Him for sustaining me, for meeting my needs, for taking care of me. He purged my sin. Not only did He purge all sin, generically and to all the world, and yes, that's true. And consider that for just a moment. If you sin once a day for the rest of your life or for your whole life, how many sins is that? And if there's six billion people on the earth, how many sins is that?

And if there's however many people that have lived from the beginning of time till now and they've all sinned once a day, how many sins is that? And if history continues on, people are continued to be born till the end, how many sins is that? I mean, that's an incredible feat. Jesus Christ purged our sin. Only He could do it. But not only did He do all sin, He purged my sin. He took care of my faults, of my issues.

of my rebellion against God so that I can have right relationship with God. He is my Redeemer and He's at the right hand of the Father. Again, the position of right hand. He has all authority. So the proper response, be obedient to Him. Recognizing, learning, Jesus Christ has all authority. I need to be submitted to Him and subject to Him. He has the most excellent name. Proper response, recognizing the name of Jesus, is to bow before Him now.

not wait until it's too late, but to surrender to Him now, to worship Him now, to confess Him as Lord now, not just as Lord in general, but Lord of my life, to bow before Him and surrender to Him as my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He is the name above every name, the most excellent name, Jesus Christ. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, God, we thank You for what You have done for us in sending Your Son,

God, thank you for loving us so much that you don't keep yourself distant and far off. Lord, you're constantly speaking to mankind, to humanity, to us individually and personally because you desire for us to know you. You desire for us to have the fulfillment of joy and peace, relationship with you. God, thank you for speaking to us by your Son, Jesus Christ.

And Jesus, we thank you for your offering, for your gift, for what you have done for us. That you, Jesus, being God, humbled yourself and became a man to take my place, to receive my punishment, to pay the debt that I owed. Thank you, Jesus, for what you have done. And so, Lord, I bow before you and I proclaim you as Lord. Jesus, give me strength. Pour out your spirit upon me that I might walk with you, that I might honor you, that I might represent you.

that I might draw close to you and be transformed into your image. Jesus, you be magnified in my life and glorified in me. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of his word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.