Route 66: Hebrews - The Supremacy of Christ

I'm going to read the first four verses of this book Hebrews, chapter 1, verses 1 to 4.

Hebrews 1:1–4

Long ago, god spoke to our ancestors by the prophets, at different times and in different ways.

God spoke to our ancestors by the prophets at different times and in different ways.

In these last days, he has spoken to us by his Son.

God has appointed him heir of all things and made the universe through him.

The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact expression of his nature, sustaining all things by his powerful word.

After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high.

So he became superior to the angels, just as the name he inherited is more excellent than theirs.

Lord, we want to see Christ.

It's our prayer.

Lord, show us your glory.

Show us your glory in the face of your son, that we might be satisfied in knowing him more deeply.

What a glorious book this is.

All the scripture is given and it's profitable for us.

So let us find great profit in this book tonight.

In Jesus' name, amen, name, amen.

If you're struggling to read the book of Leviticus, take the book of Hebrews and read that alongside the book of Leviticus.

If you're struggling to read the book of Leviticus.

To read the book of Hebrews, you got to read the whole Old Testament.

The writer of Hebrews we don't know who the writer is, but the writer of Hebrews does a masterful job of showing readers how all the Old Testament scriptures are pointing forward to Christ and to his greatness.

And the writer mentions you don't have to turn over there right now, but the writer mentions in chapter 13, verse 22, that he's writing a message of exhortation.

What is that message of exhortation in the book of Hebrews?

Here it is in a nutshell Because Jesus is greater than everything else, we should keep trusting in him.

Because Jesus is greater than everything else, we should keep trusting in him.

So we're going to look first at the greatness of Jesus and then we'll consider several of these exhortations throughout the letter to keep trusting in him.

So here's how I have it broken down and there's more complex outlines that you could look up and find.

But I have chapter 1, verse 4, through chapter 2, chapter 2, verse 18, as Jesus greater than the angels.

Then especially chapter 3, verse 2, to chapter 4, verse 11 Jesus as greater than the priests.

So first angels.

If you look there at verse number four, I just read verses one through four of Hebrews, chapter one.

It says that he became superior to the angels, he inherited a name more excellent than theirs, unless we think, okay, so Jesus was a human and then he did such a great job that God gave him a raise, so to speak.

That's not what the writer is saying, because if you look down to verse number 8, to the Son, this is what the Father says your throne, god, is forever and ever, and the scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of justice.

So Jesus is greater than the angels because only Jesus is equal with God.

He is a son to the Father, a son to the Father from eternity past, a son to the Father renewed and announced in his work.

In coming into the world as the God-man, as the human mediator, an angel didn't take on human flesh.

An angel's not equal with God, an angel's not the Son of God in the way that Jesus himself is the son of God and, importantly, angels don't redeem.

Jesus is greater than angels because only he can redeem.

Look over in chapter two.

There the writer speaks of Jesus as the preeminent human.

Jesus as the preeminent human, still God, from chapter 1, but now taking on this role of Adam in subduing the earth, and you see Jesus crowned with glory and honor in verse number 9 of chapter 2, suffering death.

And then look at verse number 10.

In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, so we can be a son of God, not in the same divine sense that Jesus is, but truly in him.

It was entirely appropriate that God, for whom and through whom all things exist, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through sufferings, of their salvation perfect through sufferings.

So Jesus is the pioneer of salvation.

Only he redeems.

Verse number 13,.

I will trust in him.

Here I am with the children God gave me.

Jesus came with this mission of redemption.

Verse 14,.

Since the children have flesh and blood in common, jesus also shared in these so that through his he might destroy the one holding the power of death, that is, the devil, and free those who were held in slavery all their lives by fear of death.

Verse 17,.

He had to be like his brothers and sisters in every way.

He had to become human in order to become a merciful and faithful high priest, and we're already moving ahead to that third way.

Jesus is greater than the priest.

We'll come back to that in a few minutes here.

But just note right now he did it to make atonement, verse 17, for the sins of the people.

So we have Jesus greater than angels.

I've never had a direct encounter with an angel, that I was at least aware of.

Whenever that happens in scripture, they're awesome, awe-inspiring creatures, and yet Jesus is more awesome and awe-inspiring than even the greatest angel.

Second category of examples of things that Jesus is great he's great in everything.

Angels things that Jesus is greater he's greater than everything.

Angels also prophets.

God says it at the beginning here.

In this contrast, in the opening verses, I read chapter 1, verse 1, he spoke to our ancestors by the prophets at different times, in different ways.

Isaiah we're going through on Sunday morning, very important prophet.

And yet verse 2, in these last days he's spoken to us by his son.

Do you hear how it heightens?

There's the prophets.

As great as they are, christ is greater.

Look over to chapter 3.

Jesus is faithful chapter 3, verse 2, to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was in all God's household.

Moses, great man, faithful, prophet of God.

And then the writer goes on to say in verse 5, moses was faithful as a servant in all God's household, as a testimony to what would be said in the future.

But Christ was faithful as a son over the household, servant son, lesser, greater.

It's all God's plan, it's all God's house.

But Jesus is greater than Moses.

This goes all the way back to Deuteronomy where the Lord said even through Moses, I'll raise up a prophet like you from among your brothers.

You'll listen to him, looking ahead to Christ, who fulfills that.

So he's greater than Moses.

I'll raise up a prophet like you from among your brothers.

You'll listen to him, looking ahead to Christ, who fulfills that.

So he's greater than Moses.

And then, as the writer goes on, he describes the history of Israel going into the promised land under Joshua.

Joshua not spoken of quite as directly as a prophet, but a leader of the people, one who was giving God's word to the people at different times.

And so the whole nation, under the guidance of leaders and prophets, is going into the promised land.

And yet they struggled to find their true rest.

And the contrast in chapter 4 is Joshua who, as a great spokesman and leader of God, he gives partial rest, temporary rest in the land, but not the final rest.

So look at chapter 4, verse 1.

Since the promise to enter his rest remains.

Let us beware that none of you be found to have fallen short of it.

So he takes the promise from the Old Testament and says that's still applicable for you people that I'm writing to the rest, there still remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God and he it's a bit of a complicated argument, but he's reading his Bible and putting in order God's history of dealing with his people and he says well, wait, if David says in Psalms later, after Joshua there's rest, that even though Joshua did get them into the land and the land was called the place of rest, they got in there.

But David later is saying about rest, so that means Joshua couldn't have given him the final rest.

Aha, there's a pattern of rest from the creation of the world to Joshua, to David, to the greater son, jesus Christ, and, as he says in chapter four, those who verse 10, enter into Christ's rest rests from their own works.

We believe and trust the words of Jesus.

Come in here, come unto me all you that labor and heavy laden, I'll give you rest.

He's greater than Joshua, greater than Moses, greater than all these Old Testament prophets.

He's also greater than the priests.

A good chunk of Hebrews is taken up with Jesus as the final and great high priest.

Look at chapter 5, verse 1.

Every high priest taken from among men is appointed, in matters pertaining to God, for the people to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins.

And this is where, in this section of Hebrews for sins, and this is where, in this section of Hebrews Leviticus, you know why all these sacrifices, why all these animals being slaughtered.

Hebrews helps to give us a theological accounting, a divine interpretation of why those events were necessary.

But if you're just reading through your New Testament Bible and you just read Hebrews, you might be a little confused as to what priest, what sacrifices.

Well, that's going back to the whole Old Testament structure.

So in the Old Testament, in the Old Covenant, god established various human priests through the line of Levi and they were a kind of mediary, a go-between between the nation of Israel and God.

People would bring gifts and sacrifices.

The people would offer those on their behalf.

They would communicate in different ways God's blessing to the people.

The Lord bless you and keep make his face shining.

So these priests were go-betweens, and it says that there.

And it says that there.

And then it says in verse number three that those old covenant priests had to make an offering for their own sins as well as for the people.

As important as the priests were, you couldn't.

In the Old Testament it wasn't like you know, johnny from the tribe of Benjamin, what do you want to do when you grow up?

I really think I'd like to be one of those priests.

I'm going to train for that.

That wasn't an option.

You had to get called and selected by God and it was really only one tribe.

So this is a special group of people, but as special as they were.

You read through Leviticus, other parts of the Old Testament.

They couldn't presume to stand between people and God as though they were a pure channel of connection.

They had to purify themselves.

They had to offer sacrifices for themselves.

So already in the Old Testament there were signs that these priests are not all that's necessary.

Even they themselves need redemption.

Verse number five and this is the humility of our Lord.

Even Christ himself did not exalt himself to become a high priest, but God said to him you are my son.

Today I become your father, and also in another place, you are a priest forever.

According to the order of Melchizedek, jesus didn't come from the tribe of Levi, so he must be disqualified from being God's priest.

Not so fast.

The writer again is reading his Old Testament so carefully and saying, yes, during the old covenant time the priests were from this specific tribe.

But is that all that the Old Testament has to say about priests?

What about this guy, melchizedek?

And you might miss it.

It's a story in Genesis that doesn't get pages and pages of attention, although the name of Melchizedek is brought up later in Psalms.

So there's a repeated already in Scripture, this pattern of biblical writers, like the psalmist in Psalm 110, looking back to Melchizedek and saying there was a picture there of something greater.

So he summarizes some of these events of God's work through Melchizedek in chapter 7.

And if you go back and look at the story, there's a battle and then, after the battle, this man, this priest of the Most High God, this king of Salem, a king and a priest, this royal priestly figure, melchizedek, comes out to bless Abraham and then he kind of goes off the scene and we don't know exactly where he came from or where he's going.

And the writer makes a comparison, an analogy to Jesus and says that Melchizedek, we never learned who his parents were, we never learned about his death.

I don't think the writer is saying that he wasn't a human being, but, just in the way the story is told, he's just there.

Well, jesus, in a much greater way than Melchizedek, truly never had a beginning, truly will never, ever have an end.

So the old covenant priests kept dying.

That's why they had to get more people, because they would serve for a time.

Then death Jesus himself died, but he didn't remain dead.

He's even at God's right hand.

So if you look over to chapter 10, look at verse 19.

Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have boldness to enter the sanctuary through the blood of Jesus, he has inaugurated for us a new and living way through the curtain, that is, through his flesh.

There was a curtain that divided the most holy place from the rest of the temple complex when Jesus died.

This curtain is torn in two and we have access into the true sanctuary of heaven, the spiritual place where God dwells, to have communion with him.

Again, let us draw near with a full heart and full assurance of faith, and then he'll go on, and I'll come back to this exhortation.

But Jesus has ascended to the true tabernacle of heaven.

That's the original copy of which that old covenant temple was just a shadow.

He's ascended there living forever.

How much greater is he than the priest that he lives forever?

And he offers a sacrifice not of lambs, bulls, goats.

He's greater than the priest because he offers a sacrifice of himself.

Go back, if you will, to chapter eight.

Go back, if you will, to chapter 8.

The main point of what is being said is this this is verse 1.

We have this kind of high priest who sat down at the right hand of the majesty in heaven, verse 6.

But Jesus has obtained a superior ministry and to that degree he is the mediator of a better covenant which has been established on better promises.

Chapter 10 emphasizes he's offered a perfect sacrifice, without blemish, without spot.

So he lives forever.

He's offered the perfect sacrifice.

He's this once for all, great high priest in the order of Melchizedek and he brings in a whole better covenant.

The old covenant was administered by those priests.

So the writer's logic here in these chapters if there's a change in the priesthood, now, this eternal order of Mechazik, this Christ, there's going to be a change of the covenant that the priests administered and the new covenant is better than the old covenant.

The writer takes the words of Jeremiah and says it's here it's been inaugurated and begun in Jesus Christ.

It's true, and it's not just, as we heard this morning, for Jews.

It's true for all who turn in faith and repent and believe and trust in Christ's sacrificial work on their behalf.

So look at chapter 8.

You can see this, verse number 7.

If the first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion for a second one.

But finding fault with his people, he says the days are coming when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel.

And then he goes on to speak of forgiveness of sins, of intimate knowledge of the Lord, of hearts being written and engraven with the law.

Without Christ, none of this is possible.

Without Christ we'd have remembrance of sins year after year, temporary passing over, but in Christ we have fullness, we have joy.

So Jesus, this one who is greater than angels, greater than prophets, greater than priests, and of course the covenant he brings in is greater in its effectiveness and the ministry of the Spirit and the power of work in our hearts.

These are examples of the main point the writer is making.

How marvelous is the Lord.

We think of the words of John's gospel.

Time would fail to tell of even more ways that Jesus is greater than prophets and priests, ways that he's greater than kings.

That's not focused on as much in the book of Hebrews, it's more of a priestly focus.

But he's greater than everything else, everything you could imagine.

And so what do we do with that?

We should keep trusting in him.

The logic is not merely it's the right thing for you to do, just to trust, that's true.

But he's giving you all these reasons.

He's painting this portrait of, in light of the glory of Christ.

How would you not want to keep trusting in him?

So let's survey a few of these words of exhortation.

Go back to chapter 2, verse 1.

For this reason, we must pay attention all the more to what we've heard, so that we will not drift away.

For if the message spoken through angels was legally binding and every transgression, disobedience, received the just punishment, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?

We must pay attention all the more to the words that we hear, to the words that we hear when we hear scripture being read.

It's not tradition, it's not merely to give us a moral compass.

It's the words of the living God that are bringing our souls along to glory and helping inform and fuel and motivate our faith.

Faith comes by hearing, hearing by the word.

Let's go over to chapter three.

Another example of this he's talked about how Israel was largely unbelieving.

They didn't get to enter the promised land because of unbelief Verse 12, watch out, brothers and sisters, so there won't be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.

He's he's giving a sincere warning.

He's not trying to make people believe they're not saved when they are.

He is trying to encourage them.

Christ's greatness doesn't mean you should be less urgent about your faith.

That means you should be even more urgent about your faith.

And then he brings in, at more than one place in this book, the importance of our work together to be trusting in the Lord.

Look at verse 13 of Hebrews.

3.

Encourage each other daily.

Yes, we should read the Bible on our own.

Yes, we've got access to it.

But part of this walk of faith is grabbing someone else's hand and saying let's walk in faith together today.

When you're discouraged, letting someone else take your hand and say let's walk in faith together today.

I want to keep trusting in Jesus, don't you want to keep trusting in Jesus?

Over to chapter six.

Let's go to chapter six.

Well, let's go to chapter four first.

Chapter four first, verse 14,.

Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, jesus, the son of God, let us hold fast to our confession.

That's not just the words that we articulate, that's the heart expression of what's true about Jesus and our trust in him.

He's perfected in glory.

We're going to meet him, keep confessing him and trusting him.

Just like Walter gave us a wonderful example of that with his ride with the tow truck driver, we want to keep that confession before us.

And then he goes on to say we do not have a high priest who's unable to sympathize with our weaknesses but has been tempted in every way, as we are yet without sin.

Therefore, let us approach the throne of grace.

We need help in our walk of faith.

We're called to continue believing.

We need grace to continue believing.

So ask for grace to continue trusting in God.

And he gives it.

He's generous, he doesn't chide us.

Okay, now let's go over to chapter six.

Chapter six and this is a passage there's a couple of these in Hebrews that are particularly sobering and they can trouble Christians sometimes that are particularly sobering and they can trouble Christians sometimes.

But he says here in verse number four of chapter six it is impossible to renew to repentance those who were once enlightened, who tasted the heavenly gift, who shared in the Holy Spirit, who tasted God's good word and the powers of the coming age.

It's impossible to renew them to repentance.

Is the writer saying someone who's truly saved can lose their salvation?

No, he's not saying that.

We know that because of so many other scriptures, including scriptures right here in Hebrews, that when we're in Christ's hands we can't be taken out of his hands.

He's the author and finisher of faith.

But I do think we want to put warnings like this together with the rest of the warnings of Hebrews.

I don't think this is a different thing than the regular staccato pattern he's given throughout the book of keep trusting, keep trusting.

I believe better things, he's going to say even in chapter six I believe better things of you, things that accompany salvation, keep trusting.

So these warnings, and this very serious warning is meant to urge us on to believe, not to make us think man, I'm probably not a believer.

This is how Spurgeon talks about some of these passages, this one in particular.

Charles Spurgeon says that someone might say well, you say they cannot fall away.

In other words, a true Christian will never completely abandon Christ once and for all.

They won't lose their salvation.

What is the use Spurgeon says, of putting in this if, if it's like a ghost that has no existence?

My friend God has put it in.

He has wise reasons.

It is put in if you do this, you won't, et cetera.

It is put in to keep you from falling away.

God preserves his children, but he keeps them by the use of means.

There is a deep precipice.

There is a deep precipice.

What is the best way to keep anyone from going down there to the deep precipice?

Why?

To tell him, if he did, he would inevitably dash to pieces.

You understand the logic of what he's saying there.

He's not saying well, what if I really went down there?

Would I really be killed because god says I couldn't be?

It's not to give you that kind of reasoning.

There's the precipice If you go down there, you'll be dashed to pieces.

Well, I don't want to go down there, I want to keep trusting in Jesus.

That's what he's doing here.

He's motivating our faith, encouraging us on in the Lord.

Over to chapter 10.

One more example of this word of exhortation that the greatness of Jesus over everything means we should keep trusting in him.

Chapter 10, verse 23.

Let us hold on to the confession of our hope.

The second time that language of holding on to the confession has been used here.

The confession of our hope, without wavering, since he who promised is faithful, tied back into God's faithfulness.

The writer never says you've got strength on your own to persevere in the faith.

He says God's faithful and he's worth trusting in continually.

And then, once again, the writer brings us back to the need of one another, christians, in our life.

Verse 24,.

Let us consider one another in order to provoke love and good works.

Have you thought this week how could I provoke love in someone else?

We do a good job of provoking other things besides love, don't we?

But it takes intentionality right.

That doesn't happen just accidentally.

You've got to make it your aim and ambition to have Christian friends, that you're going to provoke them to love and good works.

And the whole context these letters that were written, or perhaps this was even a sermon, some of the justice that was written down, but these were read aloud in churches.

Church is a very basic and first place to be able to express these one another commands.

So if you really want to keep trusting in Jesus, you're going to want to be committed to a church, you're going to want to be regularly gathering with the saints to worship, to encourage, to exhort to comfort, to speak about the glories of Christ the King, to exhort to comfort, to speak about the glories of Christ the King.

So that would be a part of what it means to provoke to love.

If you're very eager to speak to someone when they're out of line in your eyes, but you're not eager to speak about the greatness of Jesus, then you miss the flow of Hebrews.

We're always pouring out the greatness of Jesus and then, in light of the greatness of Jesus, there are going to be occasions where we say look, this is how great Jesus is.

Don't go that direction, keep following Christ, keep trusting in him.

Chapter 11 gives us these amazing examples of people who have trusted in Jesus and his greatness, and there's actually some encouragement here.

There's some people we think of as great saints, but then some, like you know, aren't mentioned, and some that are mentioned kind of like whoa.

That was a saint News to me.

It mentions Samson.

You read the Old Testament and judges you think it wasn't exactly a burning and shining light of wonderful, consistent faith, but there was some kind of seed of true faith in his heart.

That must have lasted, Otherwise he wouldn't have been put in here.

So hey, we're weak, we're going to falter, we're going to stumble, get up and keep walking.

Altar, we're going to stumble, get up and keep walking.

And in this chapter they're hoping.

Not in the near term.

It's all oriented towards the future.

They knew they would attain a better resurrection.

Moses yeah, there was treasures in Egypt, but he wanted to suffer with the people of God because he was looking ahead to the reward.

They were looking for a city that has foundations as builder and maker, as God.

As you read through this chapter all throughout, it's future, future, future, better resurrection, better hope, better city, better glory to come.

Chapter 12.

We're going to be winding down and conclude here, but really I think the whole book of Hebrews is nicely summed up in chapter 12, verse 2.

Keeping our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.

How great is Jesus who began the good work?

How great is Jesus that he's going to complete it?

Where else can we go?

Lord, you have the words of eternal life.

Who else can I look to besides you?

That's our focus, the place, and I want to.

I'm not going to take more time with this, but just read Hebrews 12 sometime, maybe even this week, and it talks about us coming to the heavenly Mount Zion, some of those things Isaiah talked about.

That's beginning now.

It's not just future, but it's beginning now.

And then the writer wonderfully leaves the people with this reminder again of what Jesus has accomplished.

So if you look down to verse 12, jesus Hebrews 13, jesus also suffered outside the gate that he might sanctify the people by his own blood.

Let us then go to him.

There might be opposition, that comes along with it, but if we're standing next to Jesus, we can't be in any better place.

He's verse 20, the great shepherd of the sheep.

If you had Moses as your pastor, shepherd of the sheep, if you had Moses as your pastor, how great would that be.

If you had David, as you know, your king, how great might that be.

But we have Jesus as our prophet, priest and king.

We have Jesus as the great shepherd who never sleeps.

You might have trouble sleeping because you're worried.

Jesus doesn't sleep because he's not worried in the sense that we are, but he is caring, he's watching over his people day and night, and a fundamental way that he's watching over us is to keep us in the faith, firm to the end.

So keep trusting in him.

Let's pray.

Lord, how awesome are your works, how awesome is the son who's the radiance of your very glory, who reveals the image of God to us?

And Lord, we have in Jesus the greatest of all shepherds.

Thank you for our Lord, who has come to sacrifice himself, who has opened up this new and living way, that even now we're spiritually in the heavenly Jerusalem, alongside redeemed saints like Marge, who can worship before you in unhindered glory.

Lord, give us a sense and an experience, a taste of eternal things.

Forgive us for looking back at Egypt.

Forgive us for listening to the tempter and, at times, to our own hearts.

Lord, we want to grow strong in faith, giving glory to you.

We want to never underestimate the greatness of our Christ, but to speak of him, to love him, to trust him.

And, lord, let this be a regular pattern of our life, not a once a week pattern, not a once, even a once a day pattern, but the meat and drink and breathing of our souls would be.

Christ is all in all, and we ask this in Jesus' name Amen.