Strathalbyn Church of Christ

Hebrews 1:1-4 (Additional readings: Jn 1:1-5; Col 1:15-20).

Theme: God’s Majestic Son. Sermon by Pastor David Williams.

Strathalbyn Church of Christ. 4 July 2021.

Let’s pray. Lord Jesus, we cannot describe how wonderful you are. We cannot appreciate all that you have done for us. Yet help us now – just to catch a glimpse of your majesty, your love, of the glorious person you are. Amen.

What is your view of Jesus? Do you ever get bored hearing about Jesus? If so, can I suggest you may never have understood just how amazing he is. You may have a half-baked view of him as just a simple teacher, or just a noble martyr. If so, I want to shatter your images today. For Jesus is incredible. There are things about Jesus that you may never have seen before. At times the Bible erupts in praise as the writers struggle to take it all in – we see this especially in Colossians 1, John 1 and in Hebrews 1. As we look at these verses, I hope you will see that Jesus is worthy of our worship – he alone is worthy of it, why settle for anything less.

1. God has spoken

He didn’t need to, but God has spoken. This is amazing and shows how much God loves us. We can know God because he has spoken. But first, let’s clarify two things:

- Is God unknowable?

- Are words reliable?

a. Is God unknowable?

Yes and no. God is so different to us – he is creator, we are created. He is holy and good; we are blinded by our sin. So yes, it is impossible for us to know God through our own efforts. He is a mystery. Yet the mystery has been revealed for he has revealed himself clearly to us. “No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known”, Jn 1:18. Yes, God is unknowable – but the unknowable God has made himself known through his son.

b. Are words reliable?

Can they convey truth? Yes and no. Words get a bad press today. Look at today’s catch phrases – all showing that we cannot trust words. Spin-doctors in the media and politics on the left and on the right; social media silos and echo chambers; post modernism – truth is all relative; and more recent ones: virtue signalling, cancel culture, fake news. Words and truth seem irrelevant in a post truth age. Can words really convey meaning or truth? Yes and no. It depends on who is speaking. True words spoken honestly do convey truth and meaning. In fact, there is nothing else that can, for –

c. Words are essential

It is impossible to know the mind of another truly and fully without words. There is no substitute for true and honest words.

There was this couple. She says, “Do you know what today is?” He: “I reckon I do. We started going out a year today!” She is impressed. But then silence. As the silence continues, so many questions and doubts arise in her mind: “Why doesn’t he say more? Is he having second thoughts? Maybe he doesn’t like my new dress, or is cross because I burnt the toast, or … Oh no! It’s my hair. I have a bad hair day! Should I see a counsellor? How will I break it to my mother?” Meanwhile, lets flip over and see his emotional struggles: “A year ago. Ahh, I remember that day well. Yes … I had the ute serviced. Probably due for another I reckon. But those spark plugs have been giving problems. Wonder if I should try Bosch plugs instead. Cost a bit more but they’re a good brand. Yes, I reckon I’ll go with Bosch.”

You don’t understand the mind of another by guesswork. You need good honest communication. We can understand the mind of God because he has revealed himself in his Word, and in words we can understand.

d. God speaks plainly.

Again, he didn’t need to, but God speaks plainly. Think what a great gift this is. The gods of the Greeks did not speak plainly. The Greeks had to look for omens in the entrails of goats or go to oracles who spoke in strange riddles. They had to guess. But our God speaks plainly. What was a mystery has been made plain. Even a child can know Christ. Karl Barth, the most famous – and complex – theologian of the 20th century was asked what he believed. He replied, Jesus loves me this I know, for the bible tells me so. We don’t need to be a professor of theology to know Jesus loves us. God tells us this plainly in his Word.

e. God has spoken through his son.

His son is the key to understanding God’s revelation, his Word. But we can fall into two errors:

i. We ignore his revelation, and seek God or answers in dreams, ecstatic experiences, and prophecies. The New Age movement is thriving as people seek answers apart from God. - even in church. I found a Buddhist mandala in an Anglican church in Melbourne. I’ve heard the Apostles Creed rewritten so the Spirit becomes some life force that has more in common with Star Wars than with Scripture. Buddhist concepts of meditation, yoga relaxation and mindfulness are taught in schools and even some Christian colleges. We are ignoring God’s plain revelation and turning elsewhere for answers to spiritual matters.

ii. We read his revelation but without the key – without Jesus. How do you approach the OT? The OT is not redundant. Rather, it is a book of promises that were fulfilled in Christ. Jesus said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not even the smallest detail of God’s law will disappear until its purpose is achieved”, Matt 5:17-18. God has spoken through his Son, and this includes the OT. Are you reading the OT through the lens of Christ.

God spoke through the prophets and through his Son. Are you listening?

2. God’s son revealed

God has spoken in Hebrews about his Son. In the first four verses, there are nine or ten claims about Jesus – any one of which is mind blowing. I’ll deal with these claims under 3 heads: Christ and Creation; Christ and God; and Christ sat down.

a. Christ and creation

Jesus created and now sustains all things. Did you know that?

“He has spoken to us by his Son … through whom … he created the world … and he sustains the universe by the word of his power”, Heb 1:2-3

“For by [the Son] all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, … all things were created through him and for him … and in him all things hold together”, Col 1:16-17

“All things were made through him, and nothing was created except through him”, Jn 1:3

Jesus created and sustains all things.

Think what it means that Jesus is the creator.

- The one who gave bread to the 5000 created the wheat plant and the soil, water, air and sunlight needed for its growth.

- He who calmed the sea, created it with a word.

- He made the tree that formed his cross; he made the iron that formed his nails.

- Hands that flung stars into space, as the song goes.

As Son, he will inherit his own creation. Traditionally, the first-born son usually inherited the farm. Many of us know the difficulties that this can cause. Do you divide it up so that what remains is not viable, or does one inherit the lot? Jesus will inherit the lot – everything in creation belongs to him. But amazingly, we don’t miss out. We, his brothers and sisters, get to share in his inheritance (Rom 8:17).

b. Christ and God

Jesus is God. But the cults try to reduce Christ. They deny either that he was God or that he was man. Don’t believe the lies of the Mormons, the Jehovah Witnesses, the Christadelphians, the Muslims, the Unitarians. They all try to reduce Christ. But John is clear: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God”. Who is this Word? He is Jesus, “the Word who became human”, John 1:1, 14. Or as Paul says, “in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell”, Col. 1:19.

Hebrews has already spoken of Jesus as the divine creator. The author speaks of his divinity in two other ways:

First, he is the radiance of God’s glory. Moses’ face glowed after coming from God’s presence (Ex 34:29-35). His radiance was just a reflected radiance. But Christ’s radiance comes from himself. “He is the radiance of the glory of God”, Heb 1:3. Jn 1: “We have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth”, Jn 1:14. In Christ, we see the radiance of God’s glory (cf. 2 Cor 4:6).

Second, he is the exact image of God’s nature. Before photos, people had to rely on drawings. The reliability of the image varied. My daughter Maryanne will tell you anything you wanted to know about British royalty. When King Henry got tired of yet another of his unfortunate wives, he had the artist Hans Holbein send him a painting of a beautiful princess, Anne of Cleves. However, the painting was too good, and Henry was disappointed when he met Anne in person. The marriage did not last. All because the image was not an accurate copy. But Christ is the exact image – in ancient coinage, the head of the emperor imprinted on the metal was an exact match of the stamp on the die. Christ is “the exact imprint of God’s nature” because he is God (Heb 1:3). “He is the image of the invisible God”, Col 1:15.

So, Jesus is God, creator and sustainer of all things. Glory radiates from him, the splitting image of his father. Does this lift your understanding of Jesus? God has spoken – are you listening?

c. Christ sat down.

“After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high”, Heb 1:3.

_Where _does Christ sit? When you have done an important work, you may get to sit in a special place. The guest speaker sits at the head table. Well Jesus is seated at the right hand of the majesty. There is no greater place to sit than that! In the ancient world, the only one who might dare to sit in a throne next to a king was a co-regent – a queen, or a prince. Again, the fact that Jesus sits next to God shows us again that he had the divine right to do so because he is God.

Why did he sit down? He had finished his work. What were his last words on the cross? “It is finished!” Meaning that all that had been prophesied in the OT, all that Jesus had come to do – as the lamb of God who bore the sin of the world – that had all been finished. Do you know that your sins have been purified? Past, present and future. So today when you next sin – Jesus doesn’t have to stand up again and do some more work – he doesn’t need to be re-crucified. No, his work is finished.

Jesus cried, “it is finished!” This does not mean that Christians will not sin. We will, but the power of sin is defeated. The penalty for sin has already been paid in full. Death is defeated. Satan is conquered. Do you know this – not just in your head but in your bones. Do you know that when God looks at you, he sees you as his beloved child, free from the taint of sin.

Heidi may correct me – her husband Jacques is a silversmith. But as I understand it, when silver was purified in past times, it was heated to oxidise the dross. That dross disappeared leaving pure metal. When we have been purified, our sin and shame, our guilt and fear vanishes. That is what Christ has done. He has borne our sins – destroyed them in the furnace of the cross. The heat of God’s anger against sin destroyed sin on the cross. Sin no longer has any power over us. You can walk out of church today a free woman, a free man – that lifelong burden, that secret shame, is lifted from your back today. God has spoken – are you listening? We are purified by Christ. His work is done. Our sins no longer stand between us and God.

God has spoken – he has spoken by his son.

Christ sat down, after making purification for sin.

Jesus is worthy of our worship – he alone is worthy of it, so why settle for anything less. God has spoken – are you listening?

Lord Jesus, help us to see you as you are. Help us to love you, to worship and adore you with all our heart, mind, soul and strength. Help us from this day to serve you faithfully. Amen.

Source:

· _Jesus Son of God by Rev. Dr. Wei-Han Kuan, St Alfred’s. https://www.stalfreds.org/sermons/jesus-son-of-god/_