Christ the True and Better - Hebrews 1 - The Better Messenger

Good morning family.

Thank you.

Turn to Hebrews chapter one.

We have gone through quite a bit of letters so far and this is the letter to the Hebrews.

A couple of things before we dig in.

They really do not know who the author of this letter is.

It's written probably between AD 67 to maybe 69.

It was written by a person in Italy.

That's in chapter 13.

Based on the language that's in this, and I encourage you not only to read it but listen to it.

I can't help but to think it's Paulian in its writings.

There's so many phrases used.

And if there's anyone who would be qualified enough to be able to write this in the form that it's written would be Paul.

It is written with some Greek terminology.

So that would also qualify Paul.

But there is no definitive understanding of who exactly wrote it.

And the mystery is important.

And I'll explain that now.

The reason why I think we don't know, because typically in all the letters, whether it's written by John or Peter or Paul or anybody else,

they usually say Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus.

This letter has no recognition of whoever the apostle was or whoever the person is that wrote it.

And I think there's a reason.

And here's why.

Because when you read this letter, you cannot help but understand that what God is saying through this letter is there is no one better.

There is nothing better than Christ.

And so I think the absence of the individual author, the hand that wrote this or penned this letter,

isn't there because Christ is the true author of this letter.

And you're going to see it clearly right in the first chapter.

The first chapter is a definitive statement on Christ is the better, period.

And you're going to have a clear, you'll see it clearly as we go through verse by verse.

I want you to just enjoy this wonderful letter.

See the Jewishness of this letter, the Old Testament scriptures that is used to clarify in its history of the supremacy

and the reality that out of all the things, whether it's priests, king, prophets, sacrifice, covenant, high priest, Christ is the better.

And that's what we're going to be on over these next several months.

There'll be going through Hebrews and then through Hebrews we will go and reconcile some of that, some of Hebrews with Old Testament scripture,

which is saturated through this letter.

You'll see scripture interpreting scripture, context upon context, precept upon precept.

It's a very amazing written letter.

And it's just the amount of information that's in here is going to shock you.

Just that's how good it is.

To me, when you read Romans, Romans and Galatians are really kind of hand in hand letters.

But when you read Romans, you see the detail of the reality of Christ and his sacrifice and him being king and over all things sovereign, over everything.

And in Hebrews, you see the reality of Christ, the better and the details that just saturate this letter of that.

So I hope you enjoy it. I'm enjoying it and I enjoy it.

So just really cool.

That being said, I want to pray and we're going to start diving in immediately.

OK, Father, I want to thank you so much for your faithfulness and goodness.

Thank you. You are holy and true.

You are the only God, the complete and total sovereign, the supreme being of all things that you literally hold all things together by the very word of your power or in the power of your word.

We give you glory, honor and praise.

Help us to see the better that all the things that have ever been given to mankind, there is no one better.

There is nothing better than Christ.

Lord, we praise you and thank you for your love, your mercy and grace.

May the full counsel of your words be spoken.

Lord, help me, Lord, so that your words are honored and glorified and you are high and lifted up and that you would draw all men unto you as you have promised.

We praise you and thank you in Jesus name. Amen.

All right. Christ, the better messenger.

Now, most of the time when you read Hebrews, there's this idea that Christ is the supreme.

And that's true.

The supremacy of Christ is all over this letter.

But I think the letter is really written in comparison.

There's this and then there's Christ.

So it's this compared to Christ.

Priest, high priest, Christ.

Priest, Christ. King, Christ.

Covenant, Christ.

And you see this throughout this letter.

It's an amazing, amazing walk.

And I can't help but look at this chapter and go, he starts off this chapter with a with a home run like this.

There is there's a clear understanding of what is being said here.

Christ is the better messenger.

And in verse one, it's clarified.

So let's go.

It says the message came from God.

OK, the message came.

Here it is.

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

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

Let's go through this.

Verse one.

Long ago, a long time ago.

As a matter of fact, before before the earth was even created, before God created everything and enduring that time of creation, once he established the earth and the people on it, there were many times and in many ways God spoke.

To the fathers by the prophets.

So this this amazing gospel, this message was set in time before time began.

And then once God established time, there are many times and through many ways, God spoke.

This word spoke is the Leo.

This word, Leo, interesting enough, means to use words in order to declare one's mind and disclose one's thoughts.

So when God is speaking, what he's doing is he is declaring his mind and his thoughts to you concerning all things pertaining to life and godliness, especially concerning his son and the gospel.

Isn't it interesting?

Leo is the word he uses here. God, Leo, to our fathers by the prophets. Now that kind of clarify some things that this could not have been Luke, a Gentile writer.

Because this individual writer associates himself with the Jews, meaning to our fathers by the prophets.

So I can't help it. Like I said, at this point, I'm kind of thinking through going, OK, Paul can say that.

If you remember, Paul says I'm a Pharisee of Pharisees, right?

I'm a I am a Jew of Jews. There's no one like in reality, I'm a I'm a Benjamin.

Like he can clarify those things.

Either way, there's no there's no real understanding of that.

But I can't help but think about that.

Now, the word by the prophets here, the word prophets means prophetess.

So prophetess is a man filled by the spirit who pleads the cause of God, a spokesman or messenger.

That's what prophetess means. It's interesting.

He's using these particular terms to clarify the message or the messenger.

So God spoke through men, prophetess, who were spokesmen and messengers for him in many times and in many ways.

The second he said, he says, but in these last days, ouch.

Last days when when Jesus was on the earth, when Jesus resurrected, when Jesus ascended, he is the word.

In the beginning was the word words with God and the word was God.

He is the word he spoke in the these last days.

And that's what it says here. But in these last days, he has the Leo to us by his son.

I want you to get that. He is the spokesman.

God spoke. He Leo'd. He gave us his mind and his thoughts through his son.

OK, to whom he appointed.

In other words, Christ, the whole reason why Christ came was to bring the message to the world.

Behold, the kingdom of God is at hand. Who is the kingdom?

He is repent and believe the gospel. What is the gospel?

Christ died on the cross was buried rose again on the third day.

What is the message of the kingdom?

So you clearly see this over and over and over again.

Now, this word appointed, it's not as if someone had been called to.

It means to to set to fix or establish.

That's what this word means.

Establish. What did he establish? He established that the sun is the heir of all things through whom also the sun he created the world.

So he is the established one.

So literally right in the first two verses, you have the messengers, meaning the prophets, and the messenger, meaning Christ, and that Christ is the supreme prophet.

He is the better prophet, and he has established all things through him who created the world.

Pretty pretty clear so far.

So what you get right off the bat in verses one and two is the clear establishment of Christ being the one who brings the message.

He is the messenger.

God is the messenger. Hebrews three, one, three and four.

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.

And after making purification of for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high, having become as much superior to the angels as the name.

He has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

Wow. I mean, there's some clear statements here.

You get this huge, gigantic statement concerning the reality and the supremacy of Christ and the and the betterness of Christ compared to the prophets and the angels.

And then what you what you see in the comparison in the rest of the chapter is here's Christ.

Here's the angels. Here's Christ.

Here's the angels.

So I want you to see this.

Let's go.

Verse three, he is Christ is the radiance of the glory of God.

He is the kind of glory.

He is the full glory of the Godhead.

And the exact imprint of his essence.

In other words, if you were to see Jesus, you would see the father.

He states that, did he not?

Jesus says, if you've seen me, you've seen the father.

And he even says, if you reject me, you reject the father.

Jesus is the exact identical in every way of the father.

There is no there is no misunderstanding when you see the father, the son, the Holy Spirit.

They are identical in every way down to the very essence of their being.

I said early in the first service, you know, when I first got here, it was hard for me to pick out Sal and Steve Mariano.

It's very difficult.

They're identical twins.

Right. But now, after being around them so much, I know I can tell.

You won't be able to sell with Jesus.

Jesus is the father.

The father is Christ and Holy Spirit.

They are Yahweh.

And they are distinct in persons.

They are clearly persons of God.

And God in his wisdom, being three distinct persons, it's an amazing fault that the very will, desire,

essence of the son is the same exact imprint of the will and desire and essence of the father.

And so is the spirit.

It is mind boggling to see the triune God at work in the persons of who he is.

To try to explain that, I don't have enough time in all of eternity to explain it.

We are limited based on our humaneness to be able to understand that.

Just know it is absolutely true that God is triune and exactly as he says he is in all three persons of who he is.

It is amazing.

That being said, here Jesus is the exact imprint of his nature.

In his very essence, Christ is God in every way.

And so much so that God says that he, Christ, upholds the universe by the word of his power.

So I want you to hear that.

Okay?

There's a lot going on in the world.

Right?

A whole lot going on.

I've been, you know me, stuff drives me nuts.

I shouldn't watch YouTube.

I just, there's all kinds of things going on.

You know what tomorrow is.

Everybody knows.

I mean in 2017 the eclipse went through and hit seven salums and there are seven, seven, God said seven times, piece, piece, piece.

And now it's going to be seven Ninevahs.

Seven opportunities to repent.

It happens to be the cross and I'm like you got to be kidding me.

Are we serious?

You're so focused on the event and not focused on the one who controls the event.

Who do you worship?

The event or the God of the event?

And the event doesn't do anything but speak to the reality of the gospel of Christ because that's the point of all creation.

So don't be bugging out going oh this is it.

They got, they got five red cows over in Israel.

They're going to sacrifice one of them.

There's a, there's a, there's going to be a, you know, an eclipse and the moon's going to turn to blood and we're going to be raptured like tomorrow morning.

Every day you should be living like the rapture is happening.

Every second, the very moment we should be living right now at this very moment, at moment as if Christ is going to return.

Stop focusing on the events and start focusing on the King.

But that's the point here.

When he says that he upholds the universe by the word of his power, no eclipse happens, no earthquake happens without God's permission.

The waves will not even go beyond the border by which God sets it unless he says so.

It's not some natural, in reality it's not the naturalness of an earthquake that causes a tsunami.

It's God says go ahead and do the tsunami.

Like God is sovereign to the detail.

You've got to understand that.

If God was not sovereign over his kingdom, he would not be the God of the universe.

Right?

And what you're seeing here is this.

He upholds the universe by the word of his power.

The very fact that we exist is because he says so.

God can at any moment decide, you know what?

Nah.

It's all over.

I'm done.

If he does that, run while you're not going to because you're going to all of us will be dust.

Right?

So we have to really understand the power of our God.

He is either all powerful, omnipotent, or he's not.

We can't pick and choose.

I say he is.

That being said, let all the eclipses and all the earthquakes and all the other stuff happen because God says he will keep his righteous ones.

Look what it says in verse four.

I mean it continues in verse three.

After making purification of sin, after he gave his life to satisfy the wrath of God and cleanse us of our sin, he purifies us of our sin.

And the consequences of our sin, he, Christ, sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high.

Now I want you to understand something.

This isn't that Christ at one time didn't have power.

This isn't that Christ at one time wasn't in charge.

What it means is that when Christ came and did what he was supposed to do, fulfill the plan, Ephesians chapter one,

what you end up really coming to understand is he then sets him up as the faithful ruler of all things.

He is the one in authority.

He sat down at the right hand.

The word right hand here means the authority of God, of the majesty on high.

If you have any questions about that, read Ephesians.

I mean read Philippians chapter two.

Verse four says having become as much superior to the angels.

This word having become is an important word.

It's not that Jesus wasn't.

This word having become is genomai.

Now genomai means to arise or appear in history or to come upon the stage.

In other words, in the same way that he came upon the stage in creation, Genesis one, right,

in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

And God said, let there be light coming upon the stage.

He does the same thing when it comes to our salvation.

He steps into world history, puts on flesh so that he could save his people.

He appears in history.

He comes on stage.

And it says that as much, that word as much means the greatest, longest or unmeasurable.

You cannot measure the reality of who he is.

He is the greatest.

He is the longest.

He is unmeasurable in every way.

So the one who came upon the stage is the greatest of all.

Now he uses this word superior.

The word superior is criton in the Greek.

The word criton means more useful, serviceable, advantageous or excellent.

Now do you see why I challenge you all the time?

Do your word studies.

If you don't do your word studies, you're not going to really come to understand the

deepness of your God.

I could easily just preach a really nice happy message.

I can tickle your ears.

But it won't teach you about the reality of God, of Christ.

Christ is the one who appeared into all of world history and came upon the stage of world

history.

Why?

Because he's the greatest of all things.

In order to show you that he is more useful, serviceable, advantageous and more excellent

than the angels.

In other words, if you were to look at the hierarchy of God and God's economy, there's

God.

Then God created angels.

And the scripture says that he created man little less than the angels.

That's how it works.

And Christ made himself less than the angels to save you.

Think about that.

And that reality, he is more useful, serviceable and advantageous and excellent than all the

angels he's ever created.

Mind blowing.

It's amazing.

What's interesting is this word angels, angelos means messenger.

That's all it means.

So out of all of the heavenly messengers, he is the greatest.

Now, because of that very act, him being more useful, more serviceable, more advantageous

and excellent, he has a name that he has inherited which is more excellent than theirs.

So Christ is more excellent than Gabriel.

Christ is more excellent than Michael.

So if a Jehovah's Witness comes in and says, well, guess what?

Jesus is just like his brother, Gabriel and Michael.

They totally have not read this.

Because there is no greater name.

The angels' names can't even compare to the supremacy of the name of Jesus, of Yeshua.

There is no greater name.

Now, that being said, the word inherited, it's not that he had to wait or be given a name.

This word inherited means he obtained by right.

The name that is his by right is his alone.

No one in all of creation has that name.

What's interesting is we know that he's been given the name Yeshua, Joshua in the Greek

or Jesus in the English.

And you can go through all kinds of names based on the language.

But there is a name that's written on his thigh that no one knows.

Curious to know what that name is.

But there is no name greater than his name.

And that's what it says here in Philippians chapter 2 verse 9 that even the name of Yeshua,

Philippians 2:9

even the name of Jesus says in 2 9, it was bestowed on him the name that is above every name,

that at the name of Jesus, at the name of Yeshua, every knee shall bow and every tongue

confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

It is no other name.

He is the only one who has the right to bear that name, the name above all names that saves his people.

That's what this means.

Now, who would have thought that we would have gone through four verses and it would have been that much?

It's a lot of information.

Now, we haven't even gotten into all the doctrine, but that's a lot of doctrine for you to know.

So what this writer does so that you understand the importance of verses 1 through 4,

he clarifies with impact the reality of these truths.

And this is what it says, the comparison of the messengers of position and of authority.

Those are the two things you'll see here.

One is position, the next is authority.

Are you ready?

Here we go.

Verse 5 through 6, here is position of Christ concerning Christ and his position.

For which of the angels did God ever say, you are my son, today I've begotten you.

Today I have ganao, I've caused to rise or to arise.

I have caused you to arise.

You are.

That's what that word begotten.

Begotten is not that he had to come into being.

What it means is that he arose from what he already was, God.

I have begotten you.

That comes from Psalm chapter 2 verse 7.

Psalms 2:7

Or again, he says, I will be to him a father and he shall be to me a son.

That comes from 2 Samuel chapter 7 verse 14.

2 Samuel 7:14

And again, this is number 3, to clarify Christ's position.

And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, let all God's angels worship him.

The word firstborn here means the root word comes from protas.

And I think that's the important thing, because the word that's used here in the original, it just says of Christ being the first.

To give you an understanding of what that root word comes from, it comes from this understanding that he is first in time or space or first in rank.

So it's not that he's the firstborn of God like the only one and the first one.

No, it is he is first in rank.

No one outranks him.

That's what this means.

He is the firstborn into the world, as he said, let all God's angels worship him.

No one in all of creation has been commanded besides Christ that they should worship him.

The angels must worship him.

And we see that in the birth of Jesus.

Right?

Everybody knows that little Christmas song.

Deuteronomy chapter 32 and 43 in Psalm 97 verse 7.

Deuteronomy 32 · chapter mention Psalms 97:7

That's just Jesus.

So we have three Old Testament references, predominantly Psalms, where God says he is the one in position.

And then he gives one verse concerning the angels.

Just one.

He says, Hebrews 7.

Angels, he says, he makes his angels wins and ministers of flame of fire.

And his ministers a flame of fire.

That's what it says.

In other words, your position is to do what I tell you.

Christ's position, supreme.

Angels, servants.

That's position.

So when you want to look at the reality of the Christ the true and better, he is the better messenger.

OK?

So here's a comparison concerning authority of Christ.

Here's the authority.

Verse 8 through 12.

Again, three more scriptures.

Actually two.

Two large scriptures.

But of the son, he says, your throne, O God, is forever and ever.

The scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.

I mean, that's kind of like right from the beginning.

You, the son, are the king.

Your throne, O God, is forever.

One, the son is God.

Two, it's his throne.

OK?

He rules with a scepter of uprightness and it's the scepter of his kingdom.

In other words, he rules with uprightness and he rules from his kingdom.

Now, you have loved righteousness concerning Christ.

Jesus, you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness.

Therefore, God, Elohim, your Elohim, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond companions.

In other words, out of all things, you are the anointed one.

Wow.

I mean, that's a pretty big statement.

That's actually Psalm 45, 6 through 7.

And again, he carries on.

This writer knows his stuff.

You, Lord, laid the foundations of the earth in the beginning.

And the heavens are the work of your hands.

They will perish, but you will remain.

They will wear out like a garment, like a robe.

You will roll them up like a garment.

They will be changed.

But you are the same and your years will have no end.

What does that tell you?

That Jesus is the Lord who created all things.

He's laid the foundation by the work of his hands.

He will remain and everything else will fade away.

He alone is king and he is eternal.

He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

And to his years, there is no end.

He doesn't have years.

Wow.

And he gives one verse, little one, concerning the angels.

Are you ready?

Hebrews 13 and 14.

Hebrews 1, 13 and 14.

And to which of the angels has he ever said?

And that's a statement.

What he's saying is he's never said this to any of the angels.

He never will say this to any of the angels.

And the angels will never have the opportunity nor the thought of having this said to them.

Because it only is reserved for one king, Jesus.

To which of the angels has he ever said, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet?

You see, the angels are his ministers of flame of fire.

Jesus commands the angels.

That's Psalm 110 verse 1.

Psalms 110:1

And he ends this little statement so you understand clearly what the angels' purposes are.

Why does God, why has God created angelic beings?

Are you ready?

For one reason.

One reason.

Besides serving and worshiping the God of all creation, here it is.

Are they not all, are not all ministering spirits sent out to serve the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?

All angelic beings, all ministering spirits are sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation.

The whole purpose of an angelic being is for the purpose of the gospel.

That is it.

Their job is to bring the message of the gospel, to talk about the king of the gospel,

so that the glory of the gospel of Christ is proclaimed among all the earth.

That is their job.

What more do you want?

We're more enamored with the reality of an angel appearing before us,

but we're not enamored with the reality of the presence of the living God.

We should be broken before him right now.

So when we look at this on chapter 1, he is the better messenger.

He is the supreme messenger of his own word and his gospel.

No one else can say it like he can.

He clarifies this in chapter 2, and that's for next week.

Okay?

Now, I hope you had some fun with that.

Go home, read it, listen to it, highlight, write in your Bibles,

get your Bible all nice and marked up. Mine's not. I preach from it.

I have a bunch of Bibles.

So I want you to really be thinking about the reality of the better messenger.

There is none.

The prophet and the angels, out of all the messengers, he's the best.

Okay?

Now, let's pray, and then we'll get into our last song,

and then hopefully we'll see you guys on Wednesday for Bible study.

All right?

Father, I want to thank you so much for your faithfulness and goodness.

Thank you for your word.

What an amazing opening to a letter.

What an amazing declaration of the reality of the better messenger.

Out of all of creation, there is no one better.

You deserve it. You have the right to it.

It's your name. It's your gospel. It's your word. It's your ways.

We thank you in Jesus' name. Amen.