Fixing our Eyes on Jesus | Carlos Velez | Calvary Church

Uh so today we start a new series. We

start a series on the book of Hebrews.

Uh so we're taking a look at the book of

Hebrews. And what we're going to do uh

over the next several weeks is basically

we're going to kind of look at a chapter

each week. And Hebrews is a very rich

book. Uh it's a deep book. Uh it's a

complicated book at times. And here's

the thing about Hebrews. We really don't

know who wrote it.

We there's like different theories that

are out there about who but we really

don't know who wrote it and we actually

don't know who it was written to.

The reality is is that Hebrews is a

little bit different than some of the

other New Testament books that you would

read uh because a lot of those other New

Testament books are letters and when you

read them they have a certain kind of uh

flow that they begin with and that's not

the way with Hebrews. Hebrews actually

doesn't read like a letter. It actually

reads more like a sermon. Uh it's it's

as if you're reading a sermon

manuscript.

And and the person who's who wrote the

the book of Hebrews uh writes this

sermon with basically like this

assumption of knowledge. Uh while we

don't know who it's written to, we kind

of think that it was written to uh

Christians who had some sort of Jewish

background. so some sort of

understanding, some sort of deep

understanding because the person who

wrote it has a deep understanding of

Jewish background and doesn't go uh out

of his way to explain when he just drops

this Old Testament references. He just

drops them out of context. Uh there's a

scholar George Guthrie who points out

that there are 35 quotations in the book

of Hebrews of the Old Testament. There

are 19 summaries of the Old Testament

material and 13 times he mentions his

Old Testament name or topic. This guy

knows his Old Testament and he assumes

that you know it as well. And so he

writes this sermon that way. Now

regardless of who he's writing it to,

regardless if uh it is uh Jewish

Christians or Jewish background

Christians, regardless of who he's

writing to, what he's doing is he's

writing to a group that have been going

through a difficult time.

uh they were persecuted or they're

feeling pressure and and and what's

going on is that they're starting to get

tired and they're starting to get weary

out of all this pressure and they begin

to feel this temptation to just just

drift a little bit. They're just feeling

this temptation to kind of just drift.

They're they're they're walking this

path trying to follow Jesus and then the

pressure happens and they just start to

feel a pressure to kind of drift a

little bit.

And what that means is that they begin

to try to drift towards what they used

to know. They they try to drift towards

uh ceremonial rituals or ceremonial

sacrifices or to the old Jewish way.

They start to try to drift to what life

was like beforehand. Because what's

happening, this temptation to drift is

occurring because life is so difficult.

Following Jesus has become so difficult

that they're beginning to wonder, is

Jesus even worth it? Is Jesus even worth

this life, this this this dedicated life

towards him? And they they feel that

temptation to drift. They weren't

rejecting him. They were just tempted to

drift a little bit.

Now, we might feel that temptation to

drift at time. You might be going

through a difficult time. You might be

going through some times that are hard

and you might feel that temptation to

drift a little bit.

Now, I I highly doubt that your

temptation to drift, it's a se

ceremonious ceremonious rituals of

animal sacrifice. I highly I if you do

feel that temptation to drift, we should

probably talk later. Um, but what do we

drift to, right? We drift to other

things at that point. We start to drift

towards

the way things used to be or maybe some

cultural norms that you used to do or

different identities that you used to

have or just different things that you

had before knowing you start to try to

drift to that. I'm wondering like, okay,

is Jesus really worth following him this

way or do I need to I just feel this

temptation to drift drift back to

things? And Hebrews responds to this

temptation to drift not with shame, not

with pressure,

but with clarity.

With clarity. The author of Hebrews is

like, "Okay, you want to know if Jesus

is worth it? Well, what I'm going to do

is I'm going to lift your eyes up and

I'm going to provide clarity to tell you

who Jesus is and just why he is worth

it. There's a a scholar named Michael

Krueger and he writes a he writes a book

on Hebrews and he summarizes the entire

book the entire book into three words

into three words and the three words are

this

Jesus is better.

The entire book of Hebrews is summarized

by Krueger into three words. Jesus is

better. He's better than anything that

we could be tempted to drift towards.

And we're going to unpack that a little

bit today. So, let's jump jump into the

book of Hebrews. Okay. So, if you have a

Bible, turn to Hebrews chapter 1. Uh if

Hebrews 1 · chapter mention

you don't own a Bible, uh feel free to

take one of the ones that we have here.

Uh take it home. It's our gift to you.

We believe that the Bible is filled with

life-changing truth and we want you to

have access to that truth. So, if you're

using one of the Bibles that we have

here at Calvary, turn to page 817.

Hebrews chapter 1, starting at verse 1.

Hebrews 1 · chapter mention

In the past,

God spoke to our ancestors through the

prophets at many times and in various

ways.

But in these last days, he has spoken to

us by his son, whom he appointed heir of

all things, and through whom also he

made the universe.

The son is the radiance of God's glory

and the exact representation of his

being, sustaining all things by his

powerful word. After he had provided

purification for sins, he sat down at

the right hand of the majesty in heaven.

So he became as much superior to the

angels as the name he has inherited is

superior to theirs.

Okay, here's the big idea for the sermon

today. Okay, here's the big idea.

Because Jesus is God's final word,

supreme son and reigning king, there is

no one and nothing better to trust,

follow, or return to. You got that?

Because Jesus is God's final word,

supreme son, and reigning king. There is

no one and nothing better to trust,

follow, or return to.

And the author of Hebrews unpacks this

very unpacks this big idea throughout

the book by answering three questions

consistently as we go through the

different chapters. And the three

questions are this. Who is Jesus? What

has Jesus done? And why does this

matter? Who is Jesus? What has Jesus

done? And why does this matter? So,

let's take a look at that first

question. How do what do we see in

Hebrews 1? What do we see in Hebrews 1

in regards to answering that first

question? Who is Jesus? Who is Jesus?

Well, as we look at chapter 1, the first

thing that we need to understand is

this. Jesus is God's final and full

revelation. Jesus is God's final and

full revelation. Here's what I mean by

that. Okay?

God has expressed himself throughout the

entirety of the history of mankind. The

throughout the entirety of the history

of humanity. He's expressed himself.

He's spoken. He's revealed himself

throughout that entire history.

When he first created and everything was

good, he revealed himself by giving us

access to himself. And so we live in

community with him and we are aware of

who he is. But when the fall happened,

when sin entered the world, when God is

rejected, that access is now denied. And

so God chose not to leave us alone. But

he continued to reveal himself by

speaking to us through his prophets,

through scripture, through visions,

through prophecies,

through dreams. God revealed himself

throughout the entirety of the Old

Testament.

And he reveals himself

in partial ways. Partial ways. Every

word is true, but he doesn't reveal

himself in his entirety because

everything that he's speaking, every

revelation of himself that is happening

is pointing forwards pointing forwards

to Jesus.

But then in Hebrews 1, what do we see

here? We see but in these last days he

has spoken to us by his son.

God reveals himself in a new and unique

way. He reveals himself through Jesus.

Jesus

is not just another messenger in a long

line of messengers for God. He is the

message. He is the message.

He does not merely deliver God's word.

He is God's word made flesh.

And then the author of Hebrews goes into

that even more um in in depth. He says,

"The sun is the radiance of God's glory

and exact representation of his being."

That is a huge statement. It's a huge

statement that we can't miss and it's

very rich. Let me explain what's going

on there.

This past Father's Day, I got to preach

with my my dad. I've never done that

before. It was great. I really enjoyed

that. Uh I'll never take for granted

that I had that opportunity. And we had

a little bit of fun with it, my dad and

I. We had a little bit of fun with it.

We decided uh that we would dress alike.

So, we wear the same shirt and we wore

the same kind of uh jeans. And I talked

him into actually I didn't talk him into

it. I bought because it was Father's

Day. I bought him a pair of sneakers

that were like mine and I said, "Hey,

it's Father's Day. Here's my gift to

you. Now you got to wear that when we go

preach when he walked into here."

That was the only time he ever wore

them. Um,

but we dress like and my dad and I,

we're similar, you know, we're we're

very similar. We we both wear glasses.

Uh, we're both

um

we're both hair challenged.

you know, hair is not an easy thing for

us. Um, but but we're just similar.

We're also different. Uh, my dad is 5'4

on a good day.

Uh, we're we're different in a lot of

ways, but we're very I'm very we're very

similar. I'm very similar to my dad.

That's not what the author of Hebrews is

saying. What is he saying?

It's the radiance of God's glory and the

exact representation of his being.

The exact representation of his being.

Jesus is not similar to God.

Jesus is God.

He's not similar to God. He is God. He

is of the same essence and of the same

glory. To see Jesus is to see God.

>> Amen.

And so this final and full revelation

is brought to us by God himself in the

form of Jesus the son.

But the other thing that we learn about

who Jesus is in Hebrews 1 is that Jesus

is the supreme son over all creation.

Look at some of the stuff in verse 2 and

three. What does it say? through whom

also he made the universe in verse three

sustaining all things by his powerful

word.

What's happening here?

Jesus stands at the center of all that

exists. It gets unpacked a little bit

more in verses 10-2 which says he also

says in the beginning Lord talking about

the son talking about Jesus. In the

beginning Lord you laid the foundations

of the earth and the heavens are the

work of your hands. They will perish,

but you remain. They will all wear out

like a garment. You will roll them up

like a robe. Like a garment, they will

be changed, but you remain the same, and

your years will never end.

God created everything through the sun.

And the sun continues to sustain all

things by his powerful word.

Jesus is not simply part of history. He

is the reason history exists at all. And

this is not the first time that we hear

this concept. This is not the first time

we hear this concept in the Bible. This

truth. Actually, John in his gospel

begins his book the exact same way. John

John 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1. In the beginning was the

word. The word is referring to the son.

And the word was with God. And the word

was God. He was with God in the

beginning. Through him all things were

made. Without him nothing was made that

has been made.

Like John, Hebrews begins with creation.

Hebrews begins with the creation account

just like the book of John and is done

to make a theological point. Jesus can

only be rightly understood when he is

placed at the center of God's entire

redemptive story.

Jesus is not a new story.

He is the fulfillment of God's

redemptive story. He is the completion

of God's redemptive story. He is the

center of God's redemptive story. In

order to understand Jesus, you have to

understand that he is placed at the

center of God's entire redemptive story.

And what we need to understand is that

everything came into existence because

of the son. Everything continues to

exist because of him.

And if Jesus is the creator and the and

the sustainer, then what that leads us

to understand is that he is superior

to everything that depends on him. So he

is superior to all of creation.

What's another way of saying that?

What's another way of telling us that

Jesus is superior? Jesus is better.

He is better.

And as the author is writing to a group

that is tending to try to drift, is this

tempting to be drifting towards other

stuff, the author reminds him that Jesus

is superior to everything and he is

better.

And then he moves from the question of

who Jesus is to the next question. What

has Jesus done? What has Jesus done?

Well, the first thing that he points out

is that Jesus has accomplished complete

redemption.

Jesus has accomplished complete

redemption. Let me explain to you what

we mean by that.

When we go back into Hebrews, what does

it say? After he had provided

purification for sins, he sat down at

the right hand of the majesty in heaven.

This is huge.

There are details in that sentence that

are huge. Let's unpack it a little bit.

When uh when my kids were young, we used

to go to Lancaster. Um okay, growing up

in New York, I never called it that. It

was called Lancaster.

All of you say it wrong. So, we would go

to Lancaster. Uh and out there there is

uh um this replica of the tabernacle

uh from the Old Testament. If you read

the Old Testament talks about the

tabernacle was a place of worship for

the Israelites. They made a replica in

Lancaster that you can go and visit and

they they just kind of tell you about

it. They explain it to you. And so I

remember taking the kids to go see it

and it's really fascinating. You kind of

get to see how things are done and all

those things. And here's the thing that

you will notice if you go there. If you

go and visit the the tabernacle, you

know what's not there inside the

tabernacle?

Chairs.

I mean, you have chairs on the outside

as you're kind of looking in for you to

sit. So, you can sit down and watch it

because some of you were like, I'm not

going then. But no, but there's no

chairs inside.

You know why there's no chairs inside?

Because there was no chairs in the

tabernacle. You know why? Because the

priest never sat down.

Because the work was never done.

The priest did not sit down because the

work was never done. There was always a

need

for their work to continue because there

was continuously sin that was occurring.

Not just in the people but in their own

lives. There was continuously a need for

the work of the priests, a work for the

sacrifices because the work had to

continue.

But Jesus is different

because in the old covenant priests

never sat down. Their work was never

finished. But Jesus

Jesus didn't need a sacrifice for his

own sins. He was perfect.

Not only was he perfect, he offered the

one perfect sacrifice that could be

offered

himself.

Himself.

Therefore, there was no need for

repetition.

Therefore, there was no need for

additional supplements. Therefore, there

was no need for any improvements. He

offered the perfect sacrifice in himself

and he sat down

because the work was finished.

The work was finished.

This seated posture declares completion.

The work is done.

God's justice is satisfied. Sin is dealt

with. Access to God is secured. It is

finished.

It is finished.

But did you notice where he sits?

Because his seated posture does not just

convey completion, it conveys authority.

He sits at the right hand of the

majesty, the place of royal authority.

Jesus is our savior and he is our king.

He is our king. What else does Jesus do?

Jesus reigns as king.

We see that uh in uh Hebrews 1:8. It

Hebrews 1:8

says, "But about the sun, he says, 'Your

throne, oh God, will last forever and

ever. A scepter of justice will be the

scepter of your kingdom." Jesus reigns

as king. And the author of Hebrews does

something really interesting in this

chapter

because what the author of Hebrews is

doing throughout the book is pointing

out that Jesus is better, Jesus is

superior. And when he brings up this

concept of Jesus being king, he creates

a contrast and a comparison. And it's

the first contrast and comparison that

the author of Hebrews does in this book.

He does it throughout the book. In this

chapter, what he does is he compares

Jesus to angels.

Verses 5-14. There's this contrast of

Jesus with angels.

And it's not that the author of Hebrews

is saying that angels are bad. That's

not what he's saying. In fact, they're

glorious servants.

But they're servants.

They're servants.

They aren't the son.

The sun is superior to them.

You see, angels stand.

Jesus sits.

Angels serve.

Jesus reigns.

Angels surround the throne.

Jesus occupies the throne.

Jesus is superior

and he reigns as king.

So what? Why does this matter?

Why does this matter to us?

Author Vivas is writing people going

through some very difficult times.

Why does this matter? If you're going

through a difficult time, why does this

matter?

Well, the first thing we need to

understand of why it matters is this.

We live in the last days.

Hold up. It says so here, but in these

last days, he has spoken to us by his

son. So, we're going to talk through

this for a little bit, but I want to

correct a little bit of our

understanding of what those words mean.

When I say we live in the last days, I'm

not talking about some sort of countdown

clock

that is counting down to zero.

We often approach the words last days in

regards to that and think of it as some

sort of countdown clock and we're kind

of trying to figure out the timing of

that countdown clock.

What we need to understand is this. When

we talk about the last days, it refers

to the final stage of God's redemptive

plan.

We are in the time of God's final stage

of his redemptive plan. He had been

promising as we learned in the story and

he had been speaking throughout the Old

Testament and then he finally speaks and

reveals himself through his son. And

what we need to understand is there is

no greater revealing of himself coming.

He has revealed himself to the through

his son and there is no greater

revealing of himself coming.

And so the question is not whether God

will speak again

but whether we're listening to how he's

already spoken and how he's revealed

himself in his son Jesus. Are we

listening?

Are we listening?

The second reason that this matters is

this.

Going backwards makes no sense.

Going backwards makes no sense. What did

we talk about before? We talked about

how these people who were the Hebrews

was written to, they trying to follow

Jesus. They're they're walking and

they're trying to follow, but their

thing is hard. So they're they're

feeling this drift and and they're

feeling this drift to just be pulled

back to these other things. And the

temptation is this drift to go over here

and and they're being pulled in these

directions.

And what the author of Hebrews is saying

is that Jesus is better than prophets.

He's better than angels. He's better

than priests. He's better than

sacrifices.

He's better than any of the substitutes

that they could be coming up with.

And the reality is is that at times in

our lives, we're trying to follow Jesus

and we're walking towards that and

things get difficult and things become

just hard and we feel that drift and we

feel that temptation and that pull to be

drifted back drift back to what we once

knew. Maybe it's more comfortable there.

Maybe it's a little easier there. Maybe

things might be a little better. And

what the author of Hebrews is saying is

no, Jesus is better.

Jesus is better.

Returning to substitutes is not just

foolish, it's tragic

and dangerous and unnecessary.

Hebrews exposes substitutes by showing

us the surpassing worth of Christ.

The surpassing worth of Christ.

And that's huge.

That's huge

because what we need to understand is

this. The third reason why this matters,

the third reason why Hebrews matters is

this. Clarity, not effort, is the

antidote to drift. Clarity, not effort,

is the antidote to drift.

Here's what happens at times in my maybe

not you, but at times in my life. So, if

I'm trying to follow Jesus and I'm

trying to walk this path of following

Jesus, but things get difficult and I

have this temptation to to just drift

and I'm just kind of struggling a little

bit and and and and moving back and

forth, what ends up happening is that I

try to be stronger and what I try to do

is rely on my son. Okay, I'm not going

to drift. I'm going to do things the

right way and I'm going to and I'm going

to try to work harder at fall. My

efforts are futile and it's the wrong

answer.

Clarity, not effort, is the antidote to

drift. Here's why. Drift rarely happens

through open rebellion.

It happens through distraction.

It happens through blurred vision.

Blurred vision that can come with

weariness. You ever get tired and it's

just hard to see? Like you just maybe

you're driving at night and you're just

tired. It's just hard to see. Your

vision's kind of blurred.

The answer is for not for me to try

harder. The answer is for me to see

clearer.

The answer is for me to see with

clarity,

to fix my eyes on Jesus,

to see Jesus for who he is. To fix

my eyes on him.

What Hebrews is saying to the people and

what we need to hear is fix your eyes on

Jesus. Here's

the thing that we need to understand

when it comes to that.

This is a very it's a nuance twist, but

we need to understand this. Hebrews does

not say

life is hard, so look at Jesus.

Here's the problem with that statement.

When I say my life is hard, so I need to

look at Jesus. Who am I beginning that

statement with? Myself.

And the anchor is myself. My life isn't

going the way I wanted. My dreams aren't

going the way I wanted. My expectations

aren't going the way I wanted. So to get

all of that in line, let me fix my eyes

on Jesus and then my life, my dreams, my

expectations will fall in place.

That's not what Hebrews is saying.

Hebrews is saying this. Jesus is

supreme.

Therefore, endure.

When I fix my eyes on Jesus and I get

clarity about who he is and clarity of

the wonder of who he is and the beauty

of who he is and the power of who he is,

when I see Jesus for who he is and I see

what he's done, my life will explode in

worship of him and I follow him because

my eyes are fixed on him. And whatever

else happens, whatever else is going on,

whatever temptations happen, they don't

matter

because my eyes are fixed on the one who

is better on the superior Jesus.

So fix your eyes

on him. Fix your eyes on Jesus. Hebrews

begins and ends with the same call. Fix

your eyes on Jesus. And what we need to

understand is that this series is not

primarily about mastering a difficult

book.

It's about recovering a clear,

compelling vision of Jesus and growing

in our love and appreciation of Jesus.

The whole point of this series

is so that we begin once again to see

Jesus clearly

and respond with hearts of appreciation

and love

that our appreciation and love of Jesus

grows.

Jesus is God's final word. He is the

very radiance of God. Through him all

was created and all creation is

sustained through him. He has offered us

the purification of our sins and

victoriously sits on his throne,

reigning as the perfect savior and the

perfect king. And there is no one and

nothing that we could ever turn to that

is better than him. There is no one and

nothing that we could turn to that is

better than him.

So, as we look at the book of Hebrews

over the next several weeks, let's turn

our eyes away from the cheap, fugile

substitutes

and let's focus on Jesus in all of his

glory. Let's pray.

Lord, we thank you

for who you are and what you have done.

We thank you for your goodness,

for your holiness,

for your strength and power.

We thank you for your love.

God, I ask you that you would allow us

to see your son clearly

in each day of our lives. And as we see

him clearly, our hearts will explode

with gratitude and appreciation and love

and worship.

We pray this in Jesus name. Amen.

When you came in today, you should have

received a communion cup.

Uh if you didn't, you could raise your

hand and we someone will bring it over

to you.

But we do communion as a church because

we were commanded to by Jesus.

And what did Jesus say was the purpose

of doing communion? He said, "Do this in

remembrance of me."

This time of communion is a time to

remember Jesus for who he is and what he

has done.

Jesus is far superior to everything. He

is the supreme king.

Through him all was made. The through

the son all was made and all is

sustained. There is nothing greater than

him.

And yet he chose

to lay down his life for you

and for me.

Have you ever stopped to just think

about that?

How costly that act was?

How powerful that love is?

What we're going to do is I'm going to

invite you to peel back the part of the

cup with the bread

and don't eat it yet, but just hold it

and spend some time just praying,

thinking about Jesus, who he is,

and what he's done.

Spending some time in appreciation and

love with him.

And then in a moment as you do that,

after you do that, I'm going to open up

the Bible. We're going to read from the

Bible and then we'll eat the bread

together. Spend some time in prayer.

In the book of Hebrews

chapter nine, it says this.

But when Christ came as high priest

of the good things that now already that

are now already here,

he went through the greater and more

perfect tabernacle that is not made with

human hands. That is to say is not a

part of this creation.

He did not enter by means of the blood

of goats and calves, but he entered the

most holy place once for all by his own

blood.

thus obtaining eternal redemption.

The blood of goats and bulls and the

ashes of a heer sprinkled on those who

are ceremonially unclean sanctify them

so that they are outwardly clean.

How much more

then will the blood of Christ who

through the eternal spirit offered

himself unbllemished to God cleanse our

consciousness from acts that lead to

death

so that we may serve the living God.

For this reason, Christ is the mediator

of a new covenant that those who are

called may receive the promised eternal

inheritance.

Now that he has died as a ransom to set

them free from the sins committed under

the first covenant.

With grateful hearts, let's eat the

bread together.

If you can peel back the part of the

other side. We're going to drink the cup

in a moment together.

If we were to continue on in that

chapter,

we would read this. For Christ

did not enter a sanctuary made with

human hands that was only a copy of the

true one. He entered heaven itself now

to appear for us in God's presence.

Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself

again and again the way the high priest

enters the most holy place every year

with blood that is not his own.

Otherwise, Christ would have had to

suffer many times since the creation of

the world. But he has appeared once for

all at the culmination of the ages to do

away with sin by the sacrifice of

himself.

Just as people are destined to die once

and after that to face judgment, so

Christ was sacrificed once to take away

the sins of many. And he will appear a

second time, not to bear sin, but to

bring salvation to those who are waiting

for him.

In gratitude of the full and complete

work of Jesus, let us drink together.

Lord, we thank you.

We thank you

for the work that is finished

for your redemptive work, for your

saving grace.

We thank you,

God. God, I ask you that you would allow

our hearts to respond every single day

with gratitude for that redemptive work.

That you would stir in us an awareness

of the gospel, an awareness of your

presence, an awareness of the access we

have to you because of Jesus.

and that you would cause us to just be

overwhelmed

with that truth

in a way that goes and spills out to

everyone we come in contact with and you

would change lives because of the

gospel.

We love you and we thank you in Jesus

name. Amen.