The Son: God’s final word

Join me, won't you, to read Hebrews.

It's going to be up on the screens if you would prefer to read it that way.

But let's open God's word.

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets.

But in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.

He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature.

And he upholds the universe by the word of his power.

After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

This is the word of God.

Well, good morning, everyone.

It's good to be back from holidays with you all.

And I can see a few visitors in the crowd.

So a warm welcome to you.

My name is David.

I'm the pastor here.

And I can also see Dave and Alison.

Welcome back, guys.

And you'll be with us for a while.

So that's lovely to have you back with us.

All right.

Will you pray with me as we come to God's word?

Father, as Hebrews says, your word is living and active, that you are presently speaking to us through your word.

And so I pray that you would help us be ready to hear you speak.

Give us every help to understand what you're saying.

And may it just overwhelm us with whatever we're facing.

May what you say be bigger and greater.

I ask for your help as I try to speak truthfully and clearly.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

Well, I wonder, if you know the book of Hebrews, if you've heard of it before, what comes to mind?

What's the book about?

What's in it?

I think for many, one of the first things, if you're like me, you think of is it's known for its strong warnings.

Don't fall away from Christ.

Is that?

I'm trying to gauge body language here.

But that's one of the first things I think people think of in the book of Hebrews.

Hebrews, a quick skim of its contents, even the verses we're looking at today, it is, you're just swimming in the Old Testament.

Which is one of the reasons why the elders, we want to do Hebrews now, because we've just finished Exodus.

But these Christians seem to have come out of Judaism.

They'd initially shown great commitment to Jesus, even to the point of suffering, real loss.

But something's happened.

Over time, their zeal has, it's fading.

And they seem to be asking a question.

Is this really it?

If we're meant to be so blessed by God in Christ, why is life so hard?

You read the end of the book, and it's about, it's encouraging.

The faithful of old had to endure a lot.

You're not alone in this.

You hear of discipline, being the loving hand of the Father.

Why is life so hard?

They're in danger of just, let's just slip back into Judaism.

Let's just come under the safety of Judaism again.

It offers a long history of God's people.

Religion is, you can taste it.

You can smell worship of God.

You can bring your animal sacrifice.

You can go to a human.

I shouldn't touch myself.

I don't think I'm a priest.

Go to a human, a real living priest.

It's religion you can touch and see and smell.

It's safe.

You'll be accepted in society.

I don't know.

I don't know any of you who are tempted to go back into Judaism.

I won't ask for hands to be raised.

I'm not tempted to go back into Judaism.

So why should you and I listen to Hebrews?

Because I think we all ask that question they're asking.

If God really is so committed to us who believe in Jesus,

why is life so hard?

Is this really it?

I love church.

Is this it?

We can ask that question.

I'm not tempted to go to Judaism.

I'm not tempted to revert back to ancestral worship.

My mind does not think of that because I didn't grow up in that world view.

I'm not tempted to think of karma.

I'll tell you what I am tempted.

To just go slip back into the materialism.

My mind just goes there all the time.

That what is here in the present, the past doesn't matter,

the future doesn't matter here, this is what matters.

That's what I'm tempted.

What is real is what you can eat, what you can buy,

what I can achieve.

My mind dreams of these big projects that when I stop and reflect,

I think I'm just trying to build my own name if I pursue those projects.

That's what I'm tempted to go back into.

It can be lots of things that can make us start to doubt that Jesus is the full thing.

He's it.

A bit of hardship, a bit of doubt,

and some are just starting to weigh up the pros and cons.

Is your marriage really worth that effort?

You want to change jobs, you want to change churches,

because you think it's going to satisfy your soul.

You find the achievements and applause in your workplace way more exciting than what's happening right now.

That home renovation, you can see it.

Isn't that more exciting than getting stuck into Hebrew?

Whatever it is, I don't know what it is for you.

I know my own heart better.

But we're all tempted to just revert to what our culture says will give us life.

So we need to hear Hebrews.

It's such an encouraging book.

And yes, there's strong warnings.

But I don't think the strong warnings are the main message.

They're just the negative side of the coin.

Now David's back.

I'm going to use his coin illustration.

It's just the negative side of the positive message of the book.

The message of the book is endure.

Endure in faith and hope.

Why?

Because there's a key word that goes throughout Hebrews.

Better.

Jesus is better.

It comes up repeatedly.

He's better than Moses to bring you to God.

He's better than Joshua to bring you into rest.

He's better than the city you're living in.

There's a better city coming.

He's the better high priest.

He's the better sacrifice.

He's really dealt with your sin.

He's the better covenant, better promises.

That's what Hebrews is about.

He's better.

Endure.

Endure.

He's better.

Anything else promising meaning and purpose and hope and joy,

it's an imitation.

It's alluring you away from what's better.

I think that's what Hebrews is about.

And I need to hear it.

I hope you're starting to be convinced you need to hear it too.

We all need Hebrews.

And in this punchy opening, like, it's kind of a letter,

but it's kind of not.

The author just, he doesn't have time for saying, hey, how are you doing?

He just, he goes, he puts a bomb underneath the people going,

Jesus is better.

What we're going to see in these opening verses is the son of God is God's full and final word to us.

Now, why is he the full and final word?

Well, verses two and three, just look at who he is,

by virtue of who he is and what he's done and what he's doing.

You can't add anything to him.

So that's where we're going.

So if you want to open your Bibles with me,

let's look at verse one and the first part of verse two.

God is a speaking God.

We saw that in Exodus, didn't we?

He wants to be known.

He has spoken his will for your life.

He's spoken, not specifics of his will,

but we have all we need to live a godly life.

He's spoken his will for history.

This is such good news, that God is a speaking God.

We can know him.

I'm no scientist and I always fear when I use these illustrations,

one of you is going to correct me afterwards.

Correct me afterwards, not right now.

But if you study an atom, apparently the size of it,

the nuclei compared to the electrons,

the distance of that, the relative distance,

is like a fly in the middle of a basketball stadium.

You study that, that's incredible.

You should bow down and worship whoever made that.

You're not going to find God there.

You're not going to find his will for you and for history.

You're not going to find it in coincidence and providence.

People read the star signs and people look for answers

in interpreting political events and interpreting,

oh, I bumped into so-and-so, maybe I should marry them.

People, you won't find God's will in providence.

You will find it in his word.

You won't find it inside you, in your conscience.

It's too, you'll find something there of God's will,

but it's too vague.

I think the sin, absorption of self, it's too messed up.

It's such good news.

God is a speaking God.

We can know him.

We can know his will.

We'd be utterly lost if he didn't speak.

He has spoken.

And we're told here he's spoken in two stages.

Notice the contrast between verses 1 and 2.

Long ago, in these last days, there's two stages.

At many times, in many ways, God spoke to our fathers.

He has spoken to us by the prophets, by his son.

There's two stages.

You consider all the privileges Moses had as a prophet

and the prophet, other prophets are measured by.

He had a visible, audible call of God.

He saw the plagues.

He saw the manifestation of God and heard his voice.

He saw the presence on Mount Sinai.

He met with God as a friend speaks face-to-face

in the tent of meeting.

His glory filled the tabernacle.

And not even Moses could go inside.

He just hit the deck and worshipped.

All that incredible revelation of who God is,

his desire to save and come into covenant relationships,

so much of his will.

And yet, this author is saying, it's partial.

The entire Old Testament revelation, at many times, many ways,

that's just saying it's fragmentary.

It's partial.

That's stage one.

Stage two is better.

Now, we don't have the word better here,

but that's the point of this passage.

It's better.

This isn't saying the Old Testament is less true

and the New Testament more true.

It is a unified word from a unified God.

It's not saying less true and more true.

It's the progression from partial to full

or promise to delivering on that promise.

That's the progression.

It's not true and false.

It's promise to here it is.

Or to use Hebrew's language, shadow to reality.

Chapter 10, verse 1.

When Joshua led the people of God into the promised land,

that is a literal land.

But Hebrews are saying, that's just a shadow.

It's a copy.

It's the real thing is in the sun.

We are in the days of reality.

The real thing has come.

We've been in the last days for 2,000 years.

The last days is the fullness.

The reality has come.

God has spoken to us.

Isn't that incredible?

Sometimes we get discouraged, though, don't we?

We want another word from God.

We know Jesus is meant to be the answer.

If you've been to church long enough,

we know Jesus is meant to be the answer.

We want God to give us a third word.

Give us a third stage.

So many people crave this.

We crave this.

Give me some human institution

to give me something on top of what the word of God says.

Give me a human teacher on YouTube

or someone you've met,

someone who seems impressive,

to give me more.

I think sometimes we seek pastoral advice.

I remember seeking pastoral advice

and you kind of get frustrated

because they keep pushing you back to Jesus,

these pastors.

Give me something more.

And some look for this additional direct word

from the Holy Spirit.

We're tempted to look for this third stage.

And a pastor in America,

a lot of you would have heard his name,

John Piper,

he had a really searching question for himself

that I found really, really helpful.

He asked himself,

is the aching of my soul

and the confusion of my mind

really owing to the fact

that I have exhausted this word of Jesus?

Have I exhausted who Jesus is

and the implications of all he's done

and the promises?

And have I exhausted that

and that's why I'm discouraged?

And then John Piper goes on to reflect

on what he thinks God the Father might respond to us.

Is my word, Jesus Christ,

so short, so simple,

so thin

that you're done with it?

You've got it all.

It has shaped your mind.

It has moulded you

so that now you think his thoughts after him.

You're done with that

and you want a third word?

Jesus is the full and final word.

We are expecting Jesus to come back.

We are not expecting any more word.

We don't need one

because he's full and he's final.

We don't need one.

And verses two to three

show us why.

Why is the son full and final?

I'm going to leave verse four,

even though it was read this morning,

I'm going to leave it for next week

because I think it connects

into the detail of next week better.

If you're confused by angels,

join the club first of all,

but have a think this week.

It's along the lines that

the Old Testament revelation was mediated,

was given through angels.

So just think on that during the week,

but we'll look at it more next week.

We're going to focus on two to three,

verses two to three.

Apparently mountain climbers

who go way up in altitude,

the air pressure is so low.

Again, I'm going to say something scientific

that I don't understand.

And inside your head,

the pressure's higher.

So they're known for getting nosebleeds,

is my point.

Mountain climbers are so high up,

they're known for getting nosebleeds.

And one pastor called this

nosebleed Christology.

Like the theology here,

we are going so high up,

you should be getting a nosebleed.

And the problem with that,

and the problem I found preparing,

to my shame I think,

is it doesn't feel relevant.

I want,

I want saying,

more practical,

the everyday life,

but

don't,

please don't be fooled

that this is irrelevant.

Don't come to church

for a quick fix

of the problems you're facing.

What we really need

is a nosebleed.

We need to go up.

We need a nosebleed view of the sun.

I've only,

unfortunately I've only got

Mount Kosciuszko to,

that's my experience

I can draw on,

but

why do we linger at the top?

Not for practical use.

You linger

because you're blown away.

You're just looking

as far as the eye can see

and you're just,

you're blown away,

aren't you?

With such a view.

That's the point of these verses.

If you're starting to doubt,

is Jesus really that great?

Oh,

let's,

let's climb.

Let's go up.

There's something of a

mirror image chiasm here.

People see chiasms everywhere,

but verses two to three

where the points kind of radiate out

and the central point

is the central point.

So I'm going to start there

and start at verse three.

Who the sun is,

is why he's

full and final.

He is the radiance

of the glory

of God

and the exact imprint

of his nature.

We shouldn't be thinking of the sun

as representing God

like a painting

represents

the person.

because they're two different things.

Don't think of representing

like an ambassador

representing a president.

They're two different,

they're two different things.

A better illustration is

the light coming in

from the sun

arrived eight,

oh,

arrived,

no,

arrived now,

but was,

came from the sun

eight minutes ago or so.

That's light,

that radiates

from the sun.

Are we seeing the sun?

Yes.

It's of the same stuff.

It is the same essence

radiating out.

That is who the sun is.

All the glory of God

is radiating,

is light

coming from the father.

That is who the sun is.

If you have seen me,

you have seen the father,

Jesus says.

You read the gospels

and he is the full display

of the character of God.

He's not

approximating God.

He's not just similar

in essence,

he is the same

character,

he's the same

essence.

Moses

never

claimed

such a thing.

Scripture

never says

anything like this

about

someone like Moses.

Either Jesus

is so

far above

any

prophet

or

religious

authority,

if this is true,

he's so far above

anyone else.

If it's not true,

he

he's so far below.

It just,

what a ridiculous

claim if it's not true.

You've got to make a choice.

He's way above

any other

authority

or he's,

just disregard him.

Don't choose

anything in the middle.

He's not simply

describing God,

he's not pointing away

saying there's God

over there,

he's,

he's radiating,

he is the radiating

glory of God.

You can't add

anything to him

because of who he is.

He's full.

You can't add

to that.

And because of who he is,

that's why he

does what he does.

I hope you're getting

just a little bit

of a blood trickle

so far,

but it's going to get worse.

Verse 2,

through whom

he,

God,

created the universe.

World here

for ESV translation,

it feels too narrow

for the word

in Greek.

Everything exists

in the ages

of history.

Through whom

he made

all things.

an unbelieving

physicist,

Dr.

Brian Green

describes the

wonder of

the universe.

Now,

he's not a

Christian,

and here we go

talking about

something scientific

I don't understand

again,

but entropy.

Everything

that exists,

everything in

matter,

has entropy.

It goes from

order to

disorder,

and not the

other way.

Here's his point.

Dr.

Green says,

you'd think that

entropy must have

been lower

in the past.

It would suggest

that at the Big Bang,

entropy was in a

really low value,

really ordered

state.

Now,

that's confusing

because,

A,

we don't really

know how the

universe came

into existence.

That's a

physicist saying

that.

B,

if it's so

ordered,

you ask

yourself,

how did it

get so

ordered?

I mean,

when the

books on the

shelf are

alphabeticalised,

I can't even

say that word,

we know how

they get

ordered.

Some

intelligent

being came

along,

you or me

or my kid,

and put the

books in

alphabetical order.

But if the

moment of

creation was so

highly ordered,

the question is,

who did that?

Or what did

that?

Or what's the

origin of this

order?

I was really

struck by

Hebrews 11,

3,

preparing for

this series.

By faith we

understand that

the universe was

created by the

word of God,

so that what is

seen was not

made out of

things that are

visible.

My house,

my coffee

machine,

my body,

institutions,

countries,

they feel so

solid.

They feel like

that's real,

that's,

and spiritual

stuff,

but all those

things can be

shaken.

It can be,

it can come to

an end.

Entropy will

have the last

word.

God,

there's something

more foundational

than stuff,

and the

son is

it.

He was there

in the

beginning.

He was with

God in

creating all

things.

He was not

only in the

beginning,

but he

upholds the

universe by

the word of

his power.

I'm going to,

if,

apparently,

if a sheet of

paper,

the thickness,

not that

thickness,

but the side

view of a

sheet of paper

was the

distance between

the earth and

the sun,

then the

distance between

the earth and

the nearest star

would be a

stack of

paper,

21 metres

high,

the nearest

star.

So that's

cricket pitch,

for those who

love cricket.

That's the

closest star.

And the

distance across

our Milky

Way galaxy,

on this

scale,

is New

Castle to

Canberra,

plus 50

k's.

That's just

our galaxy.

I know

this is

doing justice,

but if

someone is

holding all

that together

and he's not

straining,

going,

whoa,

this is a

burden,

just by the

word of his

power,

he is

upholding.

That is

not the

kind of

person you

ask into

your life

to be your

personal

assistant.

That is

not the

kind of

person

whose word

to you,

you go,

hmm,

I really

like that

bit,

I'm going

to pick

and choose.

That's not

the kind

of person

you doubt

that he

knows what

life is

all about.

If he

withdrew his

word of

David

bought

existing,

you'd have

no,

you wouldn't

see a cloud

of smoke,

I just,

I don't

know,

nothing.

It's not

just my

heart keeping

me going,

he's upholding

me and

everything by

the word of

his power.

Is your

nose bleeding

yet?

I know

I'm not

doing it

justice.

of course

he can

declare

God's

full and

complete

will for

our lives

and the

will for

all history

because he

holds it

all together

which means

he can

progress

history to

God's

end.

Verse 3,

there's one

main verb

in verse 3.

Everything else

is kind of

detailed to

say why

it's so

fitting that

Jesus sat

down.

He sat

down,

he's

enthroned

at the

right hand

of the

majesty in

heaven.

Why is

that so

fitting?

Because he

is the

radiance of

the glory

of God.

Because he

is the

one upholding

the universe.

He created

all things.

Who else

should be

sitting at

God's right

hand?

And to

think that

this one

also is

the one

who made

purification

for sins.

Such a

glorious one

came and

dealt with

my

rebellion

against such

a one.

He came

and dealt

with all

my sin.

And look

at the

tense

there.

He's not

making

purification.

It's not

he will

make.

It's past

tense.

He's made

purification

and he's

sat down.

Every other

priest has

to stand

up and

keep offering

guilt

offerings.

Not

Jesus.

His offering

by his

own blood.

It's done.

the sin

you commit

on your

last day

on your

deathbed.

If you

trust in

Jesus,

if you're

in him

by faith,

he's already

purified it.

It's done.

And so

he sat

down.

Who else

is worthy

to occupy

that place

at God's

right hand

but him

but the

son?

he's

heir of

all things.

He's

reigning.

He's

over the

devil.

He's

reigning

over the

devil.

He's

reigning

over our

bodies.

He's

reigning

over all

politics.

He's

reigning

over the

weather.

I struggle

to imagine,

I don't know

about you,

I struggle

to imagine

a new

earth

sometimes

and new

bodies.

I believe

it,

don't get

me wrong,

you're

probably

worried

about your

past now

but I

believe it

but sometimes

it's hard

to imagine

is it

not?

How can

I know

that the

son can

come good

on such

a promise

that a

city of

God is

coming?

When he

says,

blessed are

the meek,

not the

self-seeking

but blessed

are the

meek

who

inherit

the

earth?

How can

he promise

that?

How can

I know

that?

How can

the son

guarantee

that?

Because

he's the

heir.

It's

his.

It's

his to

give.

The

new

creation

is

his.

How can

I know

that nothing

in all

creation

can

separate

me from

the love

of God

in Christ

because

he's

the

heir.

It's

all

his.

He's

going to

use all

that

sickness

for your

glory not

to destroy

you.

Knowing

he's the

heir is

so important.

It

guarantees

our hope.

He's the

anchor of

our soul

as Hebrews

will describe

later.

I hope

your nose

is gushing.

I can't

see any

physically but

I hope

your spiritual

nose is

gushing.

You can't

add anything

to this

guy.

How do

we finish?

Chapter 2

verse 1

Therefore we

must pay much

closer attention

to what we

have heard

lest we

drift away

from it.

How do

you endure

in faith?

Be

obsessed

with the

Son.

Be

fanatical.

Not in

violence of

course.

None of

this lukewarm

stuff with

Jesus.

Be a

fanatic

about him.

God

you are

known by

this one

if you

trust him.

He knows

you.

He's with

us in

this room

right now

by his

spirit.

You are

caught up

in his

will for

history and

into the

eternal

ages.

we have

to pay

much

closer

attention

to this

one.

Let's

not go

looking for

a third

word.

We don't

need one.

We don't

need one.

We don't

need one.

I want

to come

right down

from

altitude to

put our

feet in

the dust

for a

second.

Probably

give us

vertigo or

whatever it

is by

doing this

but what

strategies are

you putting

in place?

Start of

the new

year.

I get

out of

habits.

I'm in

bad habits

at the

moment.

What

habits are

we putting

in place

to pay

much

closer

attention

to the

sun?

Are you

specific

strategies?

What are

you going

to read?

How are

you going

to read

it?

When?

With

who?

How are

you going

to get

your teeth

stuck into

Hebrews?

Don't let

sermons be

enough.

Re-listen to

the sermons.

There's so

many good

resources.

Don't go

googling it

but come

talk to us

for good

resources.

How are

you going

to get

stuck

into

Hebrews

in this

series?

Start of

the new

year,

I would

love to

see every

person in

a small

group.

Is that

I don't

think that's

unrealistic.

If medically

we can do

it, we

need each

other.

Hebrews is

going to

talk about

this.

I need

you.

I have

blind

spots.

This

temptation

in my

life, it

blinds me

to the

glory of

Jesus and

I need

you to

keep going.

So please

make specific

plans for

small groups.

who knows

what's really

going on in

your life?

There was a

sin I've been

convicted of

recently.

You're all

wondering what

it is now.

Emma asked

the question,

who are you

going to

talk to?

Great

question.

Great

question.

Make a

plan.

Who knows

you well

enough that

they see

you and

they love

you?

He's

worthy of

paying much

closer

attention.

Don't let

anything let

you drift away

from him

because he's

better.

He's

better.

He's

worthy of

our

obsession.

Will you

pray with me?

Let's pray.

Father, we

look forward

to when you

send your

son to

return and

restore all

things so

that we can

know you

face to

face.

But thank

you in the

meantime that

you've given

your word and

you are speaking

through your

word about

your son.

Lord, may

you fill us

with your

spirit that we

might pay

closer attention

to your

son as a

church family.

In Jesus'

name I

pray.

Amen.