A Better Message
Book of Hebrews Chapter 1
Notice how this epistle to the Hebrews begins without a greeting from an author, or an address to the Church, or even words of introduction.
All other books of the New Testament contain these things.
We do not know who the author was for certain, but most all the Church agrees that the author was the Apostle Paul though this is not certain.
By the words that are said, we can determine that those Hebrews this epistle is written to, would certainly have known this author.
Even though this great Book of the Bible was written to these Hebrews, we know that all the Word of God was written to the Church.
This audience according to the author, would be those Hebrew speaking Jews as distinguished from those who spoke Greek.
It is very possible that the Book of Hebrews was written before the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD simply because this destruction it is not mentioned.
1) The purpose of this terrific book was to show these Hebrews that much of the fulfilling of the Old Covenant is fulfilled with this New Covenant of Jesus Christ!
2) Another purpose of the Book of Hebrews was to invite these Jews to join the Church. It is Judaism that will convert to Christianity and not the revers.
2) Another purpose of the Book of Hebrews was to warn these Jews of the consequences of neglecting the salvation of Jesus Christ.
This is the same message that we are to carry to the world.
This is why the Book of Hebrews begins as it does:
*****Heb 1:1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
Heb 1:2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
We should understand that most of these Jews have always looked upon the prophets of God as great men with the message of God.
Another thing we should consider is, that humanity has always felt an inner drive to live forever in a perfect world and we know from history this world we live in is far from perfect, and there has been no perfect place in all this world after God shut down the Garden of Eden to humans.
This is behind much of the money that is spent in an attempt to find such a world somewhere in outer space which will also never happen.
There is a place, and it is called Heaven but you cannot get there in a spaceship.
You can only get to Heaven by the Lord Jesus Christ!
The Bible teaches us where to look for this perfect world and it also shows us how to get there.
Joh 14:1 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
Joh 14:2 In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
Joh 14:3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
Joh 14:4 And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.
These words of the Lord Jesus Christ tell us the truth of this perfect world, and it is only by Jesus Christ that we can get there.
Most of this world which is called Earth reject the truth of God!
The Book of Hebrews is written so all the Jews could understand these truths.
Since the Bible is written for the Church, then the Church had better understand these things also.
The Lord Jesus Christ is God in the flesh, but He is also the greatest of all Prophets.
He is the greatest of all kings!
He is the greatest of all lords!
He is God in the flesh which is the message of this Book to the Hebrews!
Remember a prophet of God must speak the truth because all their words came from God and cannot lie nor deceive.
We could say that all the Bible is written prophecy because all the Word of God comes by the Lord Jesus Christ and is insured correct by the Holy Spirit!
The Bible speaks of the "last days" and much of the Church always wanted to know when these "last days" began and this Book of Hebrews is specific, these "last days" began when the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ began on this earth.
This passage also reveals again that the Lord Jesus Christ is our Creator!
This book begins with (using my words) "God, at many times and in many diverse ways spoke in the past by prophets who He had "called" and "these prophets could only speak what God told them to speak".
Deu_18:22 When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.
"But since time has grown short to be saved, God came to this earth as the true Prophet, the Lord Jesus Christ"
This same Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, is also our Creator!
This same Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, is also our Savior!
This same Messiah will return to get the Church because He is our Redeemer!
I believe the Apostle Paul was the writer of the Book of Hebrews, but this is not as important as the message to the Church and to these Hebrews.
The writer says: "it is time to stop teaching the Old Covenant and time to teach the New Covenant of God!
Mat 26:26 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.
Mat 26:27 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;
Mat 26:28 For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
Yes, this is a "blood covenant" the blood of the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, the "Gospel".
1Co 15:1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;
1Co 15:2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
1Co 15:3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
1Co 15:4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
The prophets of God were incredibly special servants of God.
The prophets of God had such a special message.
The prophets of God could tell others how to be acceptable to God
The prophets of God could tell others how to live to please God.
You see, no one man could ever tell us all we need to know about God.
The Lord Jesus, God in the flesh, had many things to say but He chose specific things for us, enough to give us His salvation message
God and the truth of God is far too big for any one man.
Joh 21:25 And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.
Then, the Lord Jesus Christ being the ultimate Prophet of God is the supreme spokesperson of God!
One of the first things that we can understand is that God loves humanity.
God does not want us to be in the dark in our understanding of our God!
He wants us to know where we came from.
He wants us to know why we are here, our purpose.
He wants us to know where we are going.
He wants us to know how we can conquer the trials of life, how to conquer evil and wickedness, and especially how to conquer death.
Because all these things are so important God sent His Son the Lord Jesus Christ who is the "express image" of God.
*****Heb 1:3 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 on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
Heb 1:4 Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.
We should understand that God used His Son Jesus to be the Creator of all we see and all that we cannot see.
**He is our Savior, and He is also our Maker!
We see here another reason that the Lord Jesus is far above any prophet even all the prophets of God!
We know that it was the Lord Jesus who Created all the worlds or all this universe.
We know that all the great universe that can be seen so far, is vast with many solar systems, but we should keep in mind that the Greek word (aiones) could also mean (Ages).
**Jesus Christ is the Maker of all our vast universe and all the ages that roll one after another.
Jesus Christ is in control of all of time, as it moves forward to its end.
Event to event and generation to generation, will all come to their conclusion with the beginning of eternity or the time of no time.
Col 1:16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
Col 1:17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
Col 1:18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
The Lord Jesus Christ is the "Glory" of God Himself!
There is no human that can compare to our Savior and our Maker!
The Lord Jesus Christ possessed the glory of God before He came to this earth to make away for our freedom from sin!
Jesus Christ has always existed as the "Glory of God".
Which means all those places in the Old Testament where we read of the "Glory of God" we are reading about the Lord Jesus Christ!
Just as the glory of the Sun reaches down to earth and touches the lives of mankind, then the Lord Jesus Christ has in every Age been that glory of God that has reached down to this earth to touch the lives of all mankind, but most of the world has ignored Him.
The Lord Jesus Christ is the "express image" of God, which means in every way He is the exact representation of the God of the Bible!
The Lord Jesus Christ is the physical being of the God of the Bible because He is the God of the Bible!!!
**Jesus Christ is the very substance the very Person of God!
Joh 10:30 I and my Father are one.
Joh 14:9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?
Joh 14:10 Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.
**Jesus Christ is the Sustainer of this thing called our Universe.
All Christians that accept that "climate change" is because of humans, have forgotten that the Lord Jesus Christ is the sustainer of our Universe.
Yes, we could do a better job in all things that relate to our home planet, but we are not in control of it, it is the Lord Jesus Christ who allows or does not allow all the things that are going on, good or bad!
It is the Lord Jesus Christ who is the glue that keeps our Universe together!
Col 1:17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
**The Lord Jesus Christ our Redeemer
It is our Maker who sacrificed Himself so that we can live in eternity!
When we believe, when we truly believe in all the things of our Lord Jesus Christ, the righteousness and the death, then God takes this faith and honors it by counting that man or woman or child as being in the righteousness and the death of His Son and therefore pure enough to enter into Heaven, their sins being washed away by the blood of Christ.
1Jn 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
Rev 1:5 And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,
Rev 1:6 And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
You see all the things written down for us about the Lord Jesus Christ are then true!
At least in the KJV Bible which is an English translation of the "Received Text"!
**It is by the Lord Jesus Christ that we can have a conversation with our God!
He is Mediator and Intercessor and the only Person who has the right to represent us before God!
Jesus Christ is not our Judge; we have already been judged by the Word of God.
Jesus Christ stands before God to plead for us, and to offer His own righteousness and His sacrificial death for us.
God will now deal with us in love and not in judgment!
Heb 7:25 Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.
**The Lord Jesus Christ is superior to all life in Heaven but His Father, and He is on equal standing with His Father because they are One and the Same.
*****Heb 1:4 Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.
Heb 1:5 For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?
Angels do actually exist, and they are glorious beings created by the Lord Jesus Christ to be His messengers and also His servants.
They are spiritual beings who live in God's presence, but we are wrong to look to angels instead of Jesus Christ.
When we take any attention that should be shown to the Lord Jesus Christ and offer it to the angels, we have made them false gods!
This is a terrible sin!
They have their purpose, but it is not to be mediator or intercessor between us and God!
Yes, we are unworthy to approach God, but the Lord Jesus solved this problem for us and not some angel!
God is never too busy to hear from His children and no angel is ever needed to take any message to God for us.
We are never to seek an angel to meet face to face even though we may meet an angel during our lifetime.
The angels are assigned by God Himself to do as He pleases, and they are not for our use!
Much of the world does not believe that Jesus Christ is the only Mediator, and when they seek help from the spiritual world through some angel or person in the spiritual world, this is an abomination in the eyes of God because He has told us all that the Lord Jesus is our only Mediator.
God does not ever send His angels for any of these things!
They are "messengers" and in some case provide protection for God's children.
They may deliver believers through some trials of life:
Act 12:7 And, behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him, and a light shined in the prison: and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell off from his hands.
Act 12:8 And the angel said unto him, Gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals. And so he did. And he saith unto him, Cast thy garment about thee, and follow me.
Act 12:9 And he went out, and followed him; and wist not that it was true which was done by the angel; but thought he saw a vision.
Act 12:10 When they were past the first and the second ward, they came unto the iron gate that leadeth unto the city; which opened to them of his own accord: and they went out, and passed on through one street; and forthwith the angel departed from him.
Act 12:11 And when Peter was come to himself, he said, Now I know of a surety, that the Lord hath sent his angel, and hath delivered me out of the hand of Herod, and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews.
Psa 34:7 The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.
Psa 91:11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.
Isa 63:9 In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old.
The Lord Jesus Christ is far superior to all angels!
Jesus Christ is the Son of God and nowhere in the Bible does it say the angels are the sons of God!
Psa 2:7 I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.
God did not send nor cause any angel to be born in this world, and you cannot be a child of God without being born into this world!
God sent the Lord Jesus Christ to secure perfection and righteousness for mankind and Christ obeyed, and by His obedience He forever established a relationship between God and man
Jesus Christ is far superior to any angel because God is a Father and Jesus Christ is the only Son of God.
It is Jesus Christ who made our way to meet God face to face.
No angel could ever have accomplished this!
*****Heb 1:6 And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him.
When we understand that the Lord Jesus is the "first" begotten, we should understand the superiority of the Lord Jesus being above all others.
It is the Lord Jesus Christ who is to be worshipped and praised and not some angel!
When the Lord Jesus Christ was born into this world by His mother Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit, He was attended to and worshipped by the angels.
When the Lord Jesus Christ returned to Heaven, He was attended to and worshipped by the angels.
When the Lord Jesus returns to this earth, and it is not as far away as we might think, He will be attended to and worshipped by the angels!
Mat 13:41 The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity;
Mat 13:42 And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
The Lord Jesus Christ entered into this world to save mankind!
He did not send that angels to do this for Him!
He is that person who conquered life, death, and Hell to save mankind not the angels!
It is Jesus Christ by whom we can make it to Heaven and not some angel!
Php 2:9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
Php 2:10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
Php 2:11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
It is the angels who are commanded to worship the Lord!
*****Heb 1:7 And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire.
Heb 1:8 But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.
Heb 1:9 Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
The Lord Jesus Christ is God's heir, angels are only created beings to serve God in the operation of His creation!
The Lord Jesus Christ is not a created being, but God in the flesh!
The Lord Jesus Christ is the Sovereign Majesty of this universe and of all His creation!
He is God Himself!
It is the Lord Jesus Christ who has a throne that is eternal, forever, and forever!
Joh 3:31 He that cometh from above is above all: he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth: he that cometh from heaven is above all.
It is the Lord Jesus Christ who has been anointed with the oil of gladness above all people!
That word "fellows" means all creatures in Heaven and all creatures upon this earth!
Jesus Christ is above all angels.
Jesus Christ is above all prophets, all priests, and all kings.
Jesus Christ is above all believers, living or dead!
Jesus Christ is exalted because He is God!
Jesus Christ rules and reigns in righteousness.
Jesus Christ hates sin and iniquity.
Therefore if we look to angels for help, we will get no help, we must look to the Lord!
God loves His Son Jesus enough to believe everything He says!
Rom 5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
Rom 5:2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
If we place our faith in anyone else but Jesus Christ, then we will fail, the angels cannot help us but by the command of the Lord Jesus Christ!
*****Heb 1:10 And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands:
Heb 1:11 They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment;
Heb 1:12 And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail.
Everything Christ Jesus made in the beginning will perish!
All His children will have been "Born Again"
Everything that has been "Born Again" will survive throughout eternity.
It is our Creator we owe our life to, not some angel!
It is our Creator that will keep us throughout eternity and not some angel.
The only ones who will live in eternity are the Lord Jesus Christ and those that He has saved to be with Him.
Eph 3:9 And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:
Eph 3:10 To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,
Eph 3:11 According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:
Eph 3:12 In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.
We need to quit wasting our time on fallacies, and grab hold of our Savior and never let go!
Time grows shorter every day.
Jesus Christ has finished all the work on this earth as the faithful Son of God and we will meet Him in the clouds on Redemption Day better known as the Rapture of the Church.
Jesus Christ has conquered the forces of sin and death, so that we may live and be with Him forever.
Jesus Christ now sits on His throne in Heaven and is the Right Hand of God, which means it is He who has the power of the Living God!
God at no time has ever told any angel to sit at His right hand and some say it is these things that caused Lucifer to rebel.
As believers we are to look to the Lord Jesus Christ for our salvation and life!
Angels are powerful creatures but under the direct control of the Lord Jesus Christ, for it is He who is Captain of the angelic hosts.
Angels are servants and not lords.
Christ and Christ alone is Lord, of all His creation!
Amen
No comments:
Post a Comment