Jesus is Better | Pastor Ben Nistor | Hebrews 1:1–4 | 06/21/2026

Hebrews chapter 1

Hebrews 1 · chapter mention

in many ways is appropriate for Father's

Day,

but we don't suit the biblical text to

the holidays that are set by the nation.

The word of God is what dictates

what we believe and what we see.

And so, I thank God that Hebrews chapter

Hebrews 1 · chapter mention

1 landed on today.

As we've been planning this for several

weeks, I've been thinking about Hebrews

1

and how this is a Father's Day passage

in some ways, and at least three ways.

If you're fatherless,

you have a father in God,

and he speaks to you today.

If you're a father,

you must take the word

and exhort your children.

But there's another way that this

passage reminds me of the fatherhood of

God.

God is always so tender and patient with

his people.

The father

always brings us along gently and slowly

in this book.

He goes back to the basics, back back to

the foundation.

And he reminds us of a key,

a foundational

passage,

a foundational reminder. That's what a

good father does. He goes back to the

basics, repeats himself ad nauseam,

says it over and over and over again.

And we can't get sick and tired of

hearing what the father says to us today

through the son.

Because when he speaks through the son,

he's going to say the same thing over

and over and over again. There's many

foundational biblical passages that you

and I need to know as Christians.

Every Christian needs to know these

passages, and there's many more. I did

not have the space. We could say the

entire Bible

is foundational to your faith, but there

are those key passages that condense in

a very small

series of verses key biblical truths.

One day

and God is such a good father to do

this.

One day through the scriptures you may

need to recall to your heart and to your

mind some important truths in order to

endure great trials. You can fill that

in on your second bullet point.

A key question here

as God speaks through his word today and

tells us about the son.

When you face trials

will you seek God's voice apart from

Jesus

or

will Jesus be enough for you?

Let me give you some foundational truths

that you probably need to know.

And I've listed them out here. These

were off the top of my mind. I'm sure

you probably have some other great

foundational passages. You can write

them off to the side, but if you're a

Christian, the father wants you to know

that Genesis 1 and 3 is in the Bible.

He's your creator. And he made you male

or female.

And God the Father also discloses to us

that our original parents, Adam and Eve,

fell.

Where Adam failed as a father

Romans 5 says Jesus succeeded as the

son.

In Exodus 20, the father gives commands.

He says, "Do this, do this, don't do

this." The 10 Commandments. That's a

foundational passage for you and me,

brother and sister.

What about the Psalms, the tender heart

of God the Father?

Psalms 1 and 2 tell us about

the beauty of a righteous man planted by

streams of living water.

Psalm 8

answers the question, "Why does God

regard man?" Why does he do that?

Psalm 16, Psalm 19, Psalm 22, all of

these Psalms are foundational and you

should know them.

Well, the Father also reveals in time

Isaiah 53, the suffering servant. The

Father will send a servant to come and

to suffer

so that he might make many righteous.

The Father also shows us promises in the

scriptures, Jeremiah 31. The promise of

a new covenant. The old one had not done

so well. The The people had not done so

well with it. The covenant was okay, but

the people were not.

And so, the Father then has to say, "I

will write my law in your heart. You

will not need to remember the truth

anymore because I will recall it. It'll

be in your mind. Nobody will need to

teach anybody."

The promise of the new covenant is a

real promise from a real fatherly God.

The Father also sends the Son in in

Matthew 28, uh the Son

the Lord Jesus Christ stands and says,

"All authority has been handed to me by

the Father. Go, I'm sending you now."

Matthew 28 is a foundational passage. Uh

John 1, the word made flesh is a

foundational passage to your faith and

my faith.

The Father and the Son, we're told, were

there at the creation of the world.

In John 13 to 17, Jesus says, "If you

have seen me,

you have seen the Father."

These are foundational. Romans 6 to 8,

not only are you free from sin through

Christ, you're alive to Christ, you live

by the Spirit, and you're loved by the

Father.

And that beautiful chapter, Romans 8,

says, "What can separate you from the

love of the Father?" Nothing.

Because you're sealed by the Spirit

through Christ.

In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul receives the

gospel and we're told, this is the

longest chapter on the resurrection.

In Galatians 5, the Father wants us to

know how to live by the Spirit.

In Ephesians 2, we are told that we were

dead, but now we're made alive through

the Father by grace and faith through

Christ.

In Philippians chapter 2, we're told

Philippians 2 · chapter mention

that having the mindset of Christ means

laying down, laying aside your needs

just like Jesus did, the Son,

in order to be exalted by the Father.

In Colossians 1:15-20, we're told that

Colossians 1:15–20

the Father made Christ to be preeminent.

He is the most supreme.

And finally, in 1 John 4, the love of

God was shown in Christ.

The Father demonstrates his love for

sinners by sending the Son.

Why am I sharing all these foundational

passages with you? Because Hebrews

chapter 1:1-4

is a foundational passage for you and

me, brother and sister.

It is one of the most important passages

to wrap your mind around.

The Father's plan is to reveal now in

these days his will

through the Son.

What a great Father that God is

to show us

the Son.

So, let's look at the Epistle of

Hebrews. Let's look at some background

here. This is a sermon, a letter written

as a word of exhortation. Exhortation

means to uplift, to encourage, to in an

excited and in an

in an in an urgent way to bring about

encouragement. And so, you see this

urgency in the letter. You see the call

to correction.

He's exhorting them. He's trying to

encourage them to pursue faith in the

midst of persecution.

Now, who was this written by?

I like Origen's answer to this question.

God only knows certainly.

We don't know who wrote Hebrews, only

God knows.

And we can also say that God wrote this

for our benefit.

This was written to Jewish Christians

living in Italy at the time.

And this is important. I I want to spend

a little time here unpacking the

audience for you and for me this

morning. These Christians are exhorted

to pay attention to the gospel in order

not to drift.

This is important because in the

Christian faith we can drift.

When trials come we can drift.

When obstacles entangle us we can drift.

And so this letter

read like a father to these children of

the faith

is an exhortation to remain

steadfast, to pay attention to the

gospel in order not to drift. In Hebrews

Hebrews 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3

the people are challenged to take care

and hold fast to Christ.

In Hebrews 5: 11 to 12, they're rebuked

for having become dull of hearing.

They should be teachers but they need

the basic principles.

They had suffered the seizure of

property for being Christians. In

Hebrews 10 we're told

that they gave up a lot.

Some were avoiding outsiders.

Some were forsaking even the church.

Standing with the Lord Jesus to these

believers could mean imprisonment.

Just like Timothy in Hebrews 13 we're

told was released from prison.

But it could also mean eventual

martyrdom,

dying, being put to death for the sake

of Christ.

Just as many from of old were put to

death.

In Hebrews 12

the writer encourages

his audience to lift your drooping hands

and strengthen your weak knees and make

straight paths for your feet so that

what is lame may not be put out of

joint, but rather be healed. You see,

this group of believers had been

suffering under the pressure of trials

and persecution and in Hebrews 12, the

writer says something beautiful. He

says, this right here

is discipline from a loving father.

A loving father's discipline their

children.

A father's do not discipline those who

are not their children. Of course they

don't.

And the writer of Hebrews says rightly,

your father is a loving father.

This is a good thing.

So, be strong, be encouraged,

strengthen yourselves.

In the final exhortation in Hebrews 13

Hebrews 13:13–14

verses 13 to 14, the writer challenges

the readers to bear the reproach of that

Christ endured. So, this morning,

Sheridan Hills Baptist Church,

what will God say to you to help you

endure in the faith?

He'll say this,

Jesus is better.

He's better than anything.

See how good of a father God is?

He points you to the son.

Says Jesus is better.

Well, let's look at how Hebrews chapter

Hebrews 1:1–4

1 verse 1 to 4 unfolds.

We're told here at the beginning.

Let's read the passage together. It's on

your outline on the top there.

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. You can

circle

son.

Who is the son? He appointed him 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. Amen.

Notice number one that God spoke long

ago.

In verse one, we're told that he spoke

long ago at many times and in many ways.

Let me rehearse for you some of the ways

that God spoke.

These are extraordinary. God appeared to

Abraham and Jacob in human form in

Genesis 18 and 20 and 32.

God sent Joseph dreams and

interpretation in in Genesis 40, Joseph

says, "All dreams and interpretations

belong to God."

God spoke to Moses at Sinai in the

thunder and lightning and the voice of a

trumpet. He trembled the entire

mountain.

God used a donkey to speak prophecies,

Numbers 21 to 24.

God whispered to Elijah at Horeb in a

small voice.

Elijah had thought that

God would come and be magnificent and

majestic and do these mighty things,

and yet

God came in a small voice to remind

Elijah

that there are still faithful few.

God informed Ezekiel through visions. He

saw lots of bizarre things if you read

the letter

or the the book of Ezekiel, you'll see

that he saw flying objects, he saw

different creatures.

Ezekiel even performed some bizarre

symbolic acts to communicate God's

message to God's people.

God spoke to Daniel through dreams as

well.

Amos, the prophet, gave direct oracles

from God.

And Haggai preached sermons.

Zechariah employed mysterious signs. We

looked at the book of Zechariah last

year.

And he had all these strange visions and

signs.

And Malachi used a lot of questioning

and answering back and forth with God.

What does this all show about God?

That he communicated in these many ways

and in many times.

The fact that God spoke in these ways

demonstrates that God loves to

communicate with people. He loves to

communicate with me and you. Imagine a

father who comes home from work

and he is out the door, he unlocks the

door, he walks in

and his children are there and they

greet him and instead of

extending a warm communication to them,

he brushes them aside and says, "I don't

want to love you through communication."

And then proceeds to be on his phone or

proceeds to go take a take a nap or

proceeds to lock himself in his den.

What kind of loving father do you have?

The the loving father of God, the the

fatherliness of God here shows us that

he comes and he communicates. He enters

into the drama of history

for you and for me. He loves to

communicate with us. A loving father

comes home from work, of course, to

greet his children with love and

affection, to hold them, to ask them

about their day,

to ask them, "How many Pop-Tarts did you

eat today?"

To ask them if they obeyed Mama, to ask

them what did they learn, what did they

explore, what did they see? Did they

bring dirt into the house? Did they

clean it up after they brought the dirt

into the house?

The father is there, he's engaged, he

loves them. He communicates in various

ways through letters,

through

admonitions, through warnings, through

encouragements, through songs,

through love,

through expressions

that are so unique to God.

Are you a loving father? Do you

communicate the love of the father?

Well, look here that these forms of

communications were revealing more about

God throughout history. The more and

more God spoke, the more and more God

communicated, the more and more we

learned about God. God doesn't just

communicate because he loves you, he

wants you to love him.

He communicates so that you would love

him. That's why a loving father comes

home from work to communicate so that

his children would love him as well.

And yet, and yet,

as dramatic and wonderful as these forms

of communication were,

they were never God's

final word.

Isn't that amazing? They were never

God's final word. In fact, he gave

Israel a period of silence for nearly

400 years.

He didn't say anything.

Sometimes silence communicates a lot as

well.

In this case,

the silence of God was the ramp up

to the dramatic

arrival

of Jesus, the Son of God.

Notice that number two, God speaks in

these last days. So, number one, he

spoke long ago. Look at the ways he

spoke, but notice now that he speaks in

these last days.

In these last days, he has spoken to us

by

his son.

There's a shift in history so

powerful was the arrival of Christ that

it split history in two epochs.

The first one was

the the communication to the

forefathers, but this one is

the communication of the Son in these

last days. There's a shift in history.

But there isn't just a shift in history

long ago to in these last days, there's

a shift in communication at many times

and in many ways,

but today

he speaks

through the single

the single focal point which is his son.

God is speaking.

God is no longer speaking in the former

ways.

In other words, today he is speaking

by his son.

What a beautiful thing for God to do to

show us in a singular fashion

the Son. To say, "This is the Son. You

must look to him. If you would like to

be saved, look to Jesus the Son." And by

the way, he can do all of those things

in the past, all those communications

that he had, all of those different

expressions, the many times and many

places, all of those all of those are

pointing to this last communication that

he gives through his son.

God speaks through the Son to show his

final revelation. Look at the fourth

bullet point there.

Let's look at the other books of the New

Testament say about this. In John 1:18,

John 1:18

John writes that no one has ever seen

God. The only God who is at the Father's

side,

and he has made him known.

Colossians 1:1 uh verse 15, he is the

Colossians 1:1

image, Jesus is, of the invisible God,

the firstborn of all creation. First

1 John 2:23

John 2:23,

no one who denies the Son has the

Father. Whoever confesses the Son has

the Father also. They come in a pair.

The Father sends the Son, the Son

testifies to the Father. If you know the

Son, you know the Father.

What an appropriate final word then for

God to speak to you and me.

What a good Father

that the Father is to show us the Son.

God speaks through the Son to show that

he is better than the Old Testament

figures and system. Now, this is what

the author of Hebrews is getting at. If

you want to know all of those things in

the Old Testament, all of those former

ways that God spoke to the Father, if

you want to know what they were pointing

to,

look no further than the Son.

Jesus is better than the angels were

told in Hebrews chapter 1.

Hebrews 1 · chapter mention

Jesus is better than Moses in chapter 3.

We're told

that Moses was great, but you know who's

greater? Jesus.

We're told in Hebrews 7 that the

priesthood, the Old Testament priesthood

was good. It was great.

But Jesus is better than that

priesthood.

The old covenant was great, too.

But the the new covenant, the one that

Jesus oversees,

that one's that one's better.

We're told that the sacrifice he gives,

the blood he sheds,

that is better

than any blood you could ever provide

through a bull or a goat.

We're told that the tents built by

hands, the the temple, the tabernacle,

you know what's better than that?

The the tabernacle, the the temple that

Jesus builds in heaven for you and for

me.

That place he prepares for us.

You know the hope of the Old Testament,

the hope of all of those forefathers

that Hebrews 11 showcases, Abraham,

Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua,

David, the judges.

You know what's better than the hope

they had?

The hope you have, which is Jesus.

You have a better hope.

A better heavenly place, a better city,

a better sacrifice, a better covenant

with Christ. You have a great high

priest.

He's He's greater than anything you know

to be great in the Old Testament. Jesus

is greater than that.

Why? Why does God speak through Jesus

today? Why?

Why Why is he not interested in speaking

in the former ways? Why is he not

interested in doing ex- interested in

doing extraordinary things, signs,

wonders?

Why isn't he interested in taking the

sun and darting it across the sky and

replacing with a magnificent sun

brighter than the sun we currently Why

is he not interested in doing that?

Because Jesus is better

than all those things.

Jesus is better

than everything.

If there's a message you want to give to

your children today, fathers, it is

that.

Jesus is better than anything.

Notice then this grand theme of God the

Son, verses two to four in this letter.

It's interesting he starts with showing

us that Jesus

that God speaks through him, and the

first thing he says is that Jesus is the

heir of all things. Now, that's an

interesting place to start.

At the end. When do you inherit

something?

At the beginning of your life or at the

end of somebody else's life and kind of

in the middle of yours, right?

So, when all things are done and all

things are passed away, Jesus inherits

everything. So, then why start with

that? Why not say Jesus is creator? Why

not start with the second one? He is the

creator of the world. Why not start with

air?

Because

God wants you to know where all this

ends up.

He's not just speaking to you today.

He is

showing us the end. The end is that

Jesus is the heir of all things, of all

creation, and of all redemption.

That's why he starts

with this reality that Jesus is the

inheritor, the heir of all things.

Colossians 1:16 says, "All things were

Colossians 1:16

created through him and for him." You,

me,

the stars, the planets, the earth,

everything

is his.

Now, yes, he is the creator of the

world. John 1:3 says, "All things were

John 1:3

made through him and without him was not

anything made that was made."

Romans 11:36 says, "For from him and

Romans 11:36

through him and to him are all things."

To him be glory forever. Amen.

Colossians 1:16 says this, "For by him

Colossians 1:16

all things were created in heaven and on

earth, visible and invisible, whether

thrones or dominions or rulers or

authorities."

Do you see all things were created?

Everything, everything that you see,

everything that you don't see,

everything was created

by him.

He is the radiance, in the third place

we see here, that he is the radiance of

the glory of God. This is in the text.

In verse 3, he is the radiance of the

glory of God in the exact imprint of his

nature.

In John 12:45,

John 12:45

Jesus says something so striking.

"Whoever sees me sees him who sent me."

In 2 Corinthians 4:6, it says, "God, who

2 Corinthians 4:6

said, 'Let the light shine out of

darkness.'" Remember at creation?

Uh he has shown in our hearts to give

the light of the knowledge of the glory

of God in the face

of Jesus Christ.

It It is a mistake to confuse the word

radiate with reflect. Jesus doesn't

merely reflect, like a mirror reflects,

your glory, your face.

Jesus radiates

the Father.

Like the sun

radiates its warmth to the earth.

Doesn't just give us light. He gives us

heat.

Which is why we have the AC so cold in

here this morning.

The sun radiates

the glory of heat.

Jesus radiates the glory of the Father.

When you look to Jesus,

who is better than all these things,

when you look to him,

at once

he peels back with the force of the

radiation of the Father, he peels back

the sin in your life.

He He exposes you.

In that sense, yes, Jesus does radiate

the glory of the Father. He's holy, he

is just, he is righteous, he's perfect.

And that exposes you. In Hebrews 4, it

says that God's word pierces down to the

very bone, it divides the bone with the

marrow.

And all creatures are exposed. Nobody's

hidden from his sight.

But the sun radiates

not just the holiness of God, but the

warming love of God.

In that moment, when

when you're faced with a trial,

the radiating love of God through Jesus

Christ is palpable.

You know that he's with you.

In Hebrews 13, he says, "Jesus is the

same yesterday, today, and tomorrow."

Jesus will never leave you or forsake

you. He will always be by your side.

And because Jesus is by our side, we can

feel the radiating warmth love of God.

Do you feel the radiating

warmth

of God's love for you?

Look no further than the cross.

The love of God displayed for you and

for me. The love of God that said, "I'm

going to send my perfect son to die in

the place of sinners." The death you and

I deserve, he took upon himself

to express to you

the warmth and the love of God. The

forgiveness of sins, the freedom.

Wow, Jesus is the radiance of the glory

of God. He radiates the beauty of God's

forgiveness to us.

Well, not only that, Hebrews tells us

that Jesus is the exact imprint of God's

nature.

I love the photo that you saw earlier.

If we could pull that up of David and

his son.

Now, after church, you can have them

stand side by side and see the

resemblance. But from the back, you can

kind of tell that Michael is going to

kind of become like his dad from the

back at least.

You can kind of see that. You can

There's stands the posture. Good job,

Michael. Nice back, straight, shoulders

back.

He stands with his father. You can tell

that this is a father and a son.

I remember when Noah was born, everybody

would say that he looked like me and I

would hold him in my arms at night and

look in his eyes.

As I'm holding him, and I would say,

"Sorry, son. You look like me."

There is no doubt when we walk into a

room that Noah

and I look the same.

People can point out very quickly that

we look the same.

We don't necessarily just look the same.

Sometimes our children carry the same

habits we do.

They say certain things or do certain

things that you're like, that's

definitely that's definitely a Nister

kid.

Sorry.

There are other things that we see, not

just image and behavior.

But what about this?

Christ is the exact imprint of God's

nature because Christ

is perfect. Everything he does,

everything he says, everything he is,

every journey he took, every person he

saved, every person he healed is what

the Father would do.

To have that exact nature, to have

They're not the same person. Noah and I

are not the same person. Michael and

David aren't the same person.

But the the Son of God reflects so

perfectly the Father

that Jesus would say, "If you've seen

me, you've seen the Father."

Colossians 1:15 says, "He is the image

Colossians 1:15

of the invisible God,

the firstborn of all creation."

John 14,

this is interesting. This is an

interesting episode here in the upper

discourse, in the upper room discourse.

Jesus is with his disciples, that's the

setting. They're They're eating. It's

the Passover, the night before Jesus is

um tried, and Philip, one of the

disciples, says to him, "Lord,

show us the Father, and it is enough for

us."

Jesus said to him,

"Have I been with you so long and you

still don't know me, Philip?

Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.

How can you say, 'Show us the Father'?

Do you not believe that I am in the

Father and the Father's in me?

The words that I say to you, I do not

speak on my own authority, but the

Father who dwells in me does his works.

Believe me that I am in the Father and

the Father's in me,

or else believe on account of the works

themselves.

What was Jesus doing so tenderly with

Philip here?

He was bringing him along and saying,

"Philip,

I can't do anything more than what I've

already done.

I've already showed you the love of the

Father."

Now,

we're in John 14.

It's not until John 20 and 21

that Jesus completes this work.

Philip, if you don't believe that I and

the Father are one,

in a couple of chapters you're going to

find out

that the Father and I are one.

I won't I don't want to confuse you.

The Father didn't die on the cross with

the Son.

That didn't happen. We don't believe in

something called Patripassianism,

the belief that when Jesus died on the

cross, so did the Father. We don't

believe that they're intertwined that

closely.

But we do believe that when Jesus

was on the cross and he died,

that the love of the Father

was fully displayed.

And that love

emanated forth, radiated forth.

That same love is what's bringing many

people to salvation today. If you

believe that Jesus is Lord and you

confess with your mouth

that he is Lord, you will be saved.

If you believe that he died for your

sins at the cross,

receive the love of the Father.

No, Philip, it is not enough for you to

know the Father

apart from me.

You must know the Father through me.

Jesus is the exact imprint of God's

nature. When When Jesus acts, it's the

Father's act

through him.

Now, Jesus is also, Hebrews tells us,

the one who upholds the universe by the

word of his power.

In Colossians 1:17, he is before all

Colossians 1:17

things and in him all things hold

together.

In Christ, we move and breathe and have

our being. Your very existence right

now, in this seat, in this century, in

this month, on this day, at this time

is a guarantee

that Jesus

holds you together. He sustains all of

you by the word of his power.

It's interesting that it doesn't say the

power of his word.

This word is a creative word.

It's a creating word. It's the same word

that God spoke all of existence into

being.

All of creation into being. This word,

the word that created the heavens, the

mountains, the ridges, the canyons, the

caverns, the oceans, the depths, the

heights, the moons, the stars, that word

is what sustains you

and me.

And it's the word of Christ. It Isn't

Jesus better?

Isn't Jesus better than any word you've

heard?

Jesus is also, we're told, the purifier

of sins.

It's interesting that the word he

upholds us by the word of his power is

right before

this reality that he is the purifier.

We're told in verse 3, in the middle of

there, after making purification for

sins. So, he's the purifier.

How did he purify our sins? He did it

First John 1:7 says, "The blood of Jesus

1 John 1:7

his son cleanses us from all sin." He

did it through his blood. First Peter

chapter 2:24 says, "He himself bore our

sins in his body on the tree that we

might die to sin and live to

righteousness. By his wounds you have

been healed." What a great salvation,

the purifier.

He doesn't purify just by the word, but

by the blood.

What is the reward of that purification?

We're told

in Hebrews that after making

purification, he sat for sins, he sat

down at the right hand of the majesty on

high.

He is the one who sits at the right hand

of majesty on high enthroned.

Now, the author of Hebrews will unpack

this using Psalm 110. In Psalm 110,

which is applied to Jesus, we're told

that the Lord says to my Lord,

"Sit at my right hand until I make your

enemies your footstool."

Uh originally in the Psalm, this would

have been for the king of Israel. But

here,

the author of Hebrews shows us that no,

this is ultimately about Jesus, who God

took

after he gave his life on the cross and

purified sinners, he took him

out of the tomb, raised him up,

and sat him at the right hand of

majesty.

Do you know

that Jesus is at the right hand, seated

the right hand of the majesty on high?

Do you know that?

Romans 8 says this. Look at this

glorious truth.

"Who is to condemn Christians?" Paul

asks.

"Christ Jesus is the one who died. More

than that, who was raised, who is at the

right hand of God? And what is he doing?

Reigning." No.

He is doing that, for sure. But Paul

says this, "He is at the right hand of

God, who indeed is interceding for us."

You and I have a bridge to the Father

through the seating of the Son by the

majesty on high.

The Son is praying for you and me right

now.

What a better intercessor.

What better intercessor is that than the

Lord Jesus? Yes, ask your friends to

pray for you.

But go to Jesus and say, "Jesus, this is

my request. Go to the Father.

Intercede for me."

He does it. He's glad to do it.

There is no better friend to pray for

you than Jesus.

And then finally,

this is the argument that the author of

Hebrews unpacks in chapter 1 and 2. The

final point there in verse 4, "Having

become as much superior to angels as the

name he has inherited is more excellent

than theirs."

We're told that Jesus is the one who is

superior to angels.

In Philippians 2:9-10, "Therefore, God

Philippians 2:9–10

has highly exalted him and bestowed on

him the name that is above every name,

so that at the name of Jesus every knee

should bow in heaven and on earth and

under the earth."

1 Peter 3:22,

1 Peter 3:22

look how beautiful this is. Jesus has

gone into heaven and is at the right

hand of God. We saw that in Hebrews

already. With angels, authorities, and

powers having been

subjected to him.

Jesus is

better

than the angels.

Isn't this foundational? Don't you need

to know this?

Don't you need to know that the the word

that God speaks is Jesus today? There is

no better word. There's no other word

coming. There's nothing greater than

these

about Jesus. Now, let's be careful.

The things that we're describing here

are great and marvelous things.

The author of Hebrews is not comparing

Jesus to bad things and saying he's

great. And it's self-explanatory why

those things are horrible.

He is comparing Jesus

to great things.

And the and the rest of this letter,

he's going to unpack all sorts of Old

Testament pictures that are great,

marvelous, wonderful, miraculous.

Jesus is greater

than all of those because Jesus is the

heir, he's the creator. Jesus is the

radiance, the imprint of God's nature.

He is the one who upholds the universe

by the word of his power. He's a

purifier. Jesus is at the right hand and

he's better than the angels.

What will help you endure

when you face

tiny little trials?

The author of Hebrews knows

that when you and I face trials

that come nowhere near close to these

majestic things

that Jesus will be enough for you

to face them.

Because Jesus is better

pay much closer attention to the gospel,

we're told in Hebrews 2:1.

Hebrews 2:1

Because Jesus is better than all these

great things, hold fast your confidence.

Because Jesus is better, take care. Now,

listen, as we go through this list,

circle the one you need to do

in light of who Jesus is.

In chapter

3:12, it says, "Take care lest you be

taken in by the deceitfulness of sin."

In Hebrews 4:7,

Hebrews 4:7

because Jesus is better, do not harden

your hearts against him.

Because Jesus is better, strive to enter

God's rest.

Because Jesus is better than these

things, strive for peace

and for the holiness without which we

will not see the Lord.

Because Jesus is better, offer to God

acceptable worship with reverence and

awe for our God is a consuming fire.

Because Jesus is better, listen.

Because Jesus is better, let marriage be

held in honor.

And let the marriage bed be undefiled.

Why?

Because Jesus is better than those

things.

Because Jesus is better, keep your life

free from the love of money.

Why? Because he has said, "I will never

leave you nor forsake you." Because

Jesus is better, listen, Jesus also

suffered outside the gate. Because he's

better than even the suffering

of this world.

Let us go to him outside the camp and

bear the reproach he endured.

Because Jesus is better,

Sheridan Hills,

endure.

Let

God speak to you through the Son.

Let that sustain you.

Let that empower you. Let that encourage

you. Let that remind you that you have a

loving father who would tell you today,

Jesus is better.

Let's pray.

Father in heaven, thank you for this

final word to us.

That Jesus is better.

We are hard pressed,

often tempted to drift.

We're tempted to lose sight of who you

are, Lord Jesus.

You're the Son of God,

the purifier of our souls,

>> [music]

>> the heir of all things, the creator.

You uphold the universe by the word of

your power.

In you, in you, we see the exact imprint

of God's nature

>> [music]

>> and the radiance.

You are greater than the angels. You're

greater than Moses.

All good things,

but none come close to you.

>> [music]

>> So, Lord, I I do pray for our church now

that when we suffer

or when we're tempted to drift,

when we're tempted to leave our spouse

or tempted to [music]

fail at parenting or tempted to

forsake the gospel for the

fleeting

pleasures America offers.

>> [music]

>> Help us to see what Moses saw when he

escaped [music]

Egypt, the fleeting pleasures of Egypt,

because Christ was better [music] for

him.

Help us to be like Abraham who

knew that you would raise Isaac from the

dead if

he were to sacrifice him.

Help us to be like all of those who've

gone before us

who have [music] placed their hope and

trust in you

and who were all the better for it

because they knew

that Jesus is better.

You've spoken in the past, you've spoken

today. [music]

Help us to live now

for your glory, believing that you are

better.

In Jesus' name, [music] amen.