Jesus Is Greater Than | Bellevue Campus | September 13, 2026

Well, good morning, Spring Lake.

It's so good to see you.

It's so good to be together.

It's so good to be together as God's people and to worship Him and to sit under the teaching of His Word.

I'm excited to jump in this morning.

Before we do that, though, I wonder how you would summarize your life using two words.

For some of us, it might be family man, hard worker, good friend, coffee junkie, hacker fan, Jesus follower.

I was talking to somebody on Thursday and they said God directed.

I like that.

But as we get into our new series, diving into the book of Hebrews, here's the two words that we came up with that we're gonna see throughout this book over and over again.

Greater than.

That Jesus is greater than anything and everything.

And before we jump in, it's always helpful just to have some preliminaries as far as the background to the writing of a book that helps us to understand the context.

But we're gonna be in this book for quite a bit into next year, looking at about March or so.

So we're expecting to get a lot out of this.

But first of all, when we consider Hebrews, a big question comes up: who wrote this book?

Some people have said they think it's Paul, others have said Luke, some have said Apollos, some have said Barnabas, not Barabbas, that's somebody else.

Okay, Barnabas, the ministry partner of Paul.

All that to say, we don't know.

It's a mystery as far as who exactly it was because they never sign off.

They never say, I, Paul, am writing this by my own hand or anything like that.

And so there's some hints, but nobody really knows.

But that's not the important part.

The important part is that this is God's word for us that has ministered to God's people for centuries.

But as we look at to whom it was written, many scholars believe that Hebrews was written to Jewish Christians that were living in the area of Rome.

And the reasoning behind that is because the book of Hebrews has so many quotations from the Old Testament or allusions to the Old Testament.

In fact, it looks like at least 38 direct quotations and 55 allusions to the Old Testament that the Jewish Christian would have been very familiar with as the author is writing them.

Hey, this is hyperlinks to something that we already know.

Now, to some that might not seem like that big of a deal.

However, all of us can relate to any time we've been a part of a movie series or a TV series for a long time when finally there's the payoff.

Like if you've been watching 20 of the Marvel movies and suddenly something happens with a character, there has been a buildup that leads you to that where you appreciate it all the more.

Last week, my one of my daughters and my wife were watching a movie that I was not a part of.

However, I walked past the living room right at this critical point where the big reveal was this young guy that was working at this aquarium was actually the grandson of the woman that was living that was working there as well.

And it was this big emotional moment that I had stepped into.

It's like, wow, that's nice, but it really didn't mean anything to me because I hadn't been a part of the journey at all.

I'm not gonna tell you the name of the movie because that would totally ruin it for you.

And I'm not gonna do that.

But the point being is that if you were there from the beginning, the payoff of what you see happen at that point, it's significant.

And so as it comes to Hebrews, we realize that really everything leading up to Hebrews, what we have in the New Testament, it's not just now that we're followers of Jesus, we only read the New Testament.

No, as we continue to look at the Old Testament, we're seeing the promises of God, how everything was building up to the big reveal of Jesus.

And so we get this backstory.

We get the significance of all of it from all of all of Scripture, how it is God's redemptive story, beginning from the very first pages of Genesis, when it seemed like everything went off the rails, when everything was broken.

God's plan to redeem, to restore, to save a people for himself.

And so the Old Testament provides some significant backstory to Hebrews.

As far as the circumstances, the people that the author of Hebrews is writing to have already been going through some difficult things as followers of Jesus.

We see in chapter 10 that they have already suffered imprisonment for following Jesus.

They have experienced the loss of property.

However, they have not yet gotten to the point of losing their very lives, but that's what's on the horizon.

Many scholars believe that this letter was written shortly before Nero started killing off Christians, the bloodbath of going after followers of Jesus.

And so here there is some prep work being done.

And yet, even with what they're already facing, following Jesus was not easy.

It was getting more difficult.

And so, here with this continual difficulty that they're facing, it might cause anyone to question their choices.

Like, man, if if life is getting harder for following Jesus, is it worth it?

Should I continue to make these choices in following Jesus if it costs me so much?

And so these growing threats tempted them to give it up altogether.

They were fearful and discouraged.

And so the questions are what message could be given to people that are weary and discouraged, having difficulty to hold on?

Why follow Jesus if the cost could be so great?

What could be said to people to keep them from throwing in the towel and just going back to their old way of life?

When it seemed like, hey, things weren't so hard, you could just go with the flow, you didn't have everything coming against you.

Just those few questions are very relevant for us today because we face those questions as well.

Why stand out at school or at work or in your family as a follower of Jesus if you're just labeled a nutcase or you're just ridiculed or you don't get the promotion because you live by a different value system?

Is living for Jesus really worth it?

And here's what we're gonna see through Hebrews is that Jesus is greater than anything.

He is greater than everything, period, and so it is gonna elevate our attention and our affection to Jesus.

That regardless of what we are going through, Jesus is greater and he is worthy of our all.

This study is gonna be encouraging for us, it's gonna be challenging for us, it's gonna be convicting for us, it's gonna be good.

Are you ready?

Let's pray.

Let's pray first.

We'll jump in.

Father.

As we're about to see this this morning, you have communicated to us and you desire to communicate to us today.

And so, God, I pray that you'd help us to pick up the line, help us to hear, help us to listen, help us to respond accurately to you.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

Alright, this morning, Hebrews chapter 1, we're gonna be looking at just the first four verses this morning.

Hebrews 1 · chapter mention

And so they're on the screen as well.

I encourage you to have them with you, or at least have something that you can interact with.

It just helps, I think, the retention a little bit, as well as if you want to write notes or different things.

Again, not that I'm urging you to write things down that I'm saying to you, but I'm wanting to encourage you to write down what is God teaching you this morning?

What is he desiring to encourage you with?

What is something that is just hitting you right where you're at that God is revealing that you can write this down?

Okay, so it just helps with retention levels.

So, in whatever way, whether you take digital notes or handwritten, just to be involved in the process.

But here's what it says 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 purifications 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, to theirs.

Three phrases that we're going to look at this morning as far as Jesus being greater than.

First of all, Jesus is greater than every messenger.

Jesus is greater than every messenger.

We know that in any relationship, communication is vital.

Without communication, you can make observations about someone, about what they're about, you can make assumptions about what the other person is about, or you just live in ignorance about what people are about.

And yet, when it comes to truly knowing someone, communication is critical.

And what we see here is that God desires to communicate, he desires to make himself known.

He wants us to know him.

And the author of Hebrews is making a really important comparison in the first two verses.

It's a contrast between time and means in the context of how God has spoken.

And so it's fair to say that unless God speaks, unless God reveals himself, we can't know him.

Now, Romans 1 says that from the beginning of time, that God's invisible qualities can be seen.

So we look at creation around us and we're like, man, there's design to this.

This kind of thing doesn't just happen.

And so there has to be a cause.

And yet to truly know the heart of God, the personality of God, the character of God, we can't just pick that up by what we see around us.

God has to reveal himself.

And so in the Bible, we see how God has spoken that he desires to be known.

And so, verse one, 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.

So this contrast being uh over time, how how God has communicated in the past and currently.

That he is talking about in the past, in the Old Testament, God spoke over a period of about a thousand years through prophets in various ways.

Where Moses went up a mountain and heard the voice of God, and the mountain shook, where Elijah hears a whisper, where Daniel receives visions, where God communicated in various ways.

And we're gonna take a deeper look at that actually tomorrow on the follow-up.

If you're not familiar with the follow-up, the follow-up is our Monday kind of after-sermon little YouTube show that we have where the teaching pastors just dive deeper into an aspect that we don't always have a lot of time to talk about on uh a weekend service, but it just gives some further context.

But the form of God's revelation was different as well.

It wasn't always the prophetic words of a prophet.

Sometimes God communicated through the narratives of Samuel, sometimes the songs of David, the wisdom of Solomon, that God used these means to reveal his character, to call people to repentance, to give promises, to draw people to himself.

Now, we know that communication styles can change over years.

Maybe you remember the days when you couldn't wait for the mailman to get to your house because you were expecting a letter.

And you'd go running out there and you'd open it up, see if it was there, and you were so excited about letters.

Then maybe letters went to emails, and then emails went to text, and so we say, Oh yeah, we understand how the means of communication can change, but it's not just that God was just updating his means of communication, it's that everything was leading up to this grand moment.

Everything else was just the forerunners, a shadow of the things to come, a type of the things to come, the ultimate revelation being the Son of God.

That God was doing something incredible that was involving thousands of years.

He's not simply saying that God has chosen a different means to communicate, but rather that God is using now the fullness of this communication.

Notice that what he is referring to here is not, hey, but now currently or presently, he is communicated to us through his son.

He's saying, No, in these last days, he is communicated to us by his son.

Again, we may think, and we talked about this a little bit when we did Revelation, as it comes to last days, we think that last days are like the last of the last days, right?

Oh man, are we living in the last days?

But scripturally, the last days refers to the time between when Jesus ascended and when he's coming back.

So we are living in the last days.

In other words, God's communication is final in Jesus.

That Jesus fully reveals who God is.

And so in the Old Testament, God used many times in many ways, but now it's all Jesus, the one who says, I'm the way, the truth, and the life.

No one comes to me.

No one comes to the Father except through me.

So Jesus is greater than every messenger, every prophet, everything that came before ultimately was leading up to who Jesus is.

He was not just another prophet, he's not just another messenger, he's not just an example or just a teacher, he's the only means by which we can have a right relationship with God.

He is the only means by which we can truly know God, that who Jesus is, how he lived, what he said is the ultimate portrayal of who God is.

And so Hebrews goes into this unique nature of Jesus even more as we see that he is greater than everything created.

We see that in verses two and three.

But before we jump there, in the last two weeks, in fact, tomorrow it will be two weeks ago, that my family welcomed our new grandson into the world.

Yeah.

Awesome.

I don't say it for that.

That's not why I say it.

I know it always feels weird.

That's not why I'm saying it.

But it is amazing to hold this little, this little guy, our first boy, born into our family.

I'm so used to girls.

Now we have this boy as I'm holding him, seven pounds, all seven pounds, one ounce of him, and 19 inches long.

And I'm holding him as he fits in this little area right here.

And seeing these little mannerisms of how he pulls in, he sucks in his bottom lip.

So it does this, and all these little squeaks and grunts and little facial expressions, little tuft of hair.

And as I'm holding this little guy, the reminder this is how Jesus came into the world.

How humbling that is, how amazing that is.

Because when we think about Jesus, what comes to mind might be Christmas and little baby in a manger, or maybe we think of the stories of Jesus on a hillside and teaching thousands or feeding thousands of people or healing a paralytic or bringing someone dead back to life, or we think about the cross and we think about the empty tomb.

However, it's so much more than that of who Jesus is.

And that's what we're gonna see in this next part of Hebrews.

It says in the latter part of verse 2, whom he talking about God, whom God appointed heir of all things, talking about Jesus, 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.

Now, just in these two verses, there are four incredibly powerful statements about Jesus relating to how he is greater than all creation.

First of all, he is the heir of all things, meaning that everything, everything exists for him.

You know those times where you're talking to someone, you think, what you think it's all about you?

If you were to say that about Jesus, yes, yes, it is.

And it's not an issue of pride, that's the reality.

It is all about him.

That's why everything exists.

We usually think of an heir as someone that receives something upon death, but in Jewish culture, it didn't pertain to death, it was ultimately in relationship to the father, of what they earned, of what they had, because the father had given it.

And so this inheritance is ultimately a fulfillment of what was stated in Psalm 2.

We see in verses 7 and 8 of Psalm 2, it says this, and this is not in the notes.

So again, this is where notes come in handy for yourself.

But it says, I will proclaim the Lord's decree.

He said to me, You are my son, today I've become your father.

Ask me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession.

So he's saying here, this is this is all for Jesus.

It's all for his possession, it's all for his praise, it's all for his purpose, it's all for his glory, he is the heir of all creation, it all belongs to him.

Secondly, what we see just in these two verses is that Jesus is the creator of all things, that everything is by him.

It reveals the eternality and the power of Jesus, that he's not part of creation, as some religions espouse.

He's not a man that became God, he is God Himself.

The entire universe is made by him.

The universe functions the way it does because he has designed it that way.

The laws of physics operate the way they do because he has designed it that way.

Everything that we can see microscopically or telescopically is there because Jesus has created it.

The same voice that called for paralytics to pick up their mat and walk.

The same voice that welcomed children to himself, the same voice that welcomed the outcast, the same voice that calmed the raging sea, is the same voice that spoke everything into being.

The voice that exuded truth and grace.

Colossians 1, verse 16 says, For in him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities, all things have been created through him and for him.

Colossians 1:16

Someone can ignore Jesus, they can rebel against Jesus, they can reject Jesus, but it doesn't change the fact that Jesus is their creator and that they exist.

For his purpose, in the same way that your kids can write you off, but it doesn't change the fact that that's your kid.

The same way as it comes to our responsibility before Jesus.

Everywhere we go are reminders of him.

His fingerprints are all over it.

And creation, although currently under the curse of sin, is still because of Jesus.

Thirdly, we see in these two verses that Jesus is God.

Verse 3 says, the sun is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being.

See, you can't, you can't extract, you can't separate radiance from glory any more than you can separate shine from light.

Like those go together.

And he's saying that is what Jesus is, that he is God.

He perfectly demonstrates God in his character, in the heart, and what he said and what he did on earth.

Now, when we think about representatives, we know in our government, our form of government, that we elect representatives to represent us.

We want them to represent our views, our opinions, our values, but we know that doesn't always happen well.

Sometimes your representative is making decisions where it's like, I can't believe they did this, I can't believe they said this, I can't believe they acted like this.

But Jesus is the perfect representative of God.

He is God.

So if we want to know God, we look to Jesus.

That is the chosen means that God has used to communicate in these last days.

So for someone that says, Hey God, why don't you say something to me?

If you're God, do this.

He desires to communicate through his son.

That is the means that God has given.

And so when we think about this, what would you say to someone that says, anyone that has been in Green Bay has experienced Wisconsin?

I mean, technically that's true.

You can't be in Green Bay without being in Wisconsin.

But you can't fully experience Wisconsin only in Green Bay.

Like if your view of Wisconsin was only Green Bay, you are missing out on cops.

And if for those of you that don't know what cops is, we'll have a little education session at the welcome desk afterwards.

Or you're not gonna know the Midwest surfing capital in Sheboygan.

You're not gonna experience the bluffs of lacrosse.

You're not gonna experience all these different aspects of Wisconsin only by Wisconsin by Green Bay.

It's gonna be very limited.

And yet, when it comes to Jesus, he's not just one aspect of God.

He is fully God, the fully imprint, this picture of a stamp, that whatever's on the stamp is what's coming down, perfect representation, or actually a coin.

That as a coin was made, that perfect imprint that what was here going down here, the exact same thing, the perfect representation of who God is.

Jesus is the full measure of God, no gaps.

He perfectly images him.

That's why he says in John 14, 9, anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.

Lastly, fourth thing we see in these two verses, Jesus is the sustainer of all creation.

That he didn't just create things and just let it go, he didn't just set it on an axle or spin it off, but that he is still actively involved.

He holds it all together, he sustains it.

Think of that.

The law of physics exists the way they do because Jesus is holding it all together.

Every molecule, every galaxy, from the tiniest of things that we are not even aware of, to the massive things happening millions of miles away.

Unfathomable amount of things going on in any moment.

And for many of us that have seen superhero movies, we've seen this moment where maybe the superhero, it's the big buildup at the end.

Maybe he's straining with everything within him to save people and yet fight the villain.

There's a speeding train, he's gotta save that, and we see him straining, and he's pushing with everything in him to try to hold it all together.

Fight the enemy, save people, stop whatever is happening in this catastrophic moment.

And is he gonna be able to do it?

And we see him straining so much, and yet with everything happening in the universe that he is holding together, how is he doing it?

Is he straining with everything in him?

No, it simply says by his powerful word.

I mean, think about that.

Jesus is the ultimate multitasker, he is keeping everything in order, everything is working as he has designed it to.

He is holding it simply by his powerful word, and it's not that he's maxed out because then on top of the entire universe and everything that's going on, he's saying, Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden.

Come to me with your burdens, give those to me too.

Cast your anxieties upon me, all that stuff.

It's not like, hey, don't you know I have this entire galaxy, this entire universe be running, but still, he invites us on a personal level to come to him, desiring to take all of that from us.

The one who holds it all together, that he is personal as well.

And so the sun is the radiance of God's glory, the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.

Jesus is not maxed out, and he will never be maxed out.

He doesn't get tired of you.

Those things that you've been praying for a while, man.

I wonder if he's tired of me yet.

No, he's not.

He's saying, keep it coming, keep it coming.

Rely on me.

I'm the one that has created you.

I love you.

I'm holding it all together.

Keep looking to me, keep trusting me.

And here's the part that's so humbling for us is because there are times if we are honest where we see something so good, we think, man, that person, maybe it was a romantic pursuit.

That person is out of my league.

When it comes to Jesus, realizing, man, he's so good, and he is so worthy, and he's so powerful, and he's so holy, he is so great, and I've blown it, and I'll fall short, and I get distracted, and I have blown it in so many ways, feeling like, man, I do not deserve to come to him.

I don't deserve to be in the same room as him, I don't deserve to even talk to him, and yeah, we don't deserve it.

But here is the great hope for us that Jesus is greater than our sin in every power.

We see that in verses three and four.

Look at this.

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.

Notice what he says.

It's not after he had spent his time on earth, after his mission was accomplished, he went back to heaven.

No, after he had provided purification for sins, that is a blanket statement that has personal ramifications for you today.

That he has provided purification for sin.

He has provided the means to have access, to have relationship to this creator, the sustainer, this one who is so awesome, who is so good, who is so great, who is so loving.

He has provided access, he has provided purification of sins.

Sometimes we can't really fathom the kind of spiritual debt that we have.

We know that the wages of sin is death, but we can't imagine how offensive our sin is to a holy God.

But one thing we can equate to is financial debt.

So imagine that you are in such debt, you have mortgage debt, you have car loans, you still have student loans, you have personal loans, you have so much debt that it keeps you up at night, it wakes you up with this cold sweat, thinking, How am I ever gonna pay this all off?

You are a slave to it.

You can't sleep, it's impacting your health, and then someone says, I'll take care of all of it.

Every debt that you have, everything that you owe.

I'll pay it all.

And that's what Jesus has done for us spiritually.

Every debt, everything that was messed up in us, broken, that alienated us from God.

Jesus provided the means, he provided the purification from sin.

He paid it all, and then he took a seat.

And the posture is significant because he sits next to what Hebrews refers to as the majesty.

He says that twice throughout this book.

The majesty.

In other words, the sovereign one, the powerful one, the one who is in control.

And Jesus has overturned the curse of sin, and then he sits because the work is done.

You don't have to slave away trying to, man, I hope he accepts me.

I hope I do enough.

No, it's simply based on what he has done for you.

By putting your trust in him, he has provided the purification of sins.

So even in this context here, it is the follow-up to what was promised already in Psalm 110, verse 1.

Psalms 110:1

The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.

So Jesus has secured the victory over the powers of darkness, over our sin, over death.

He is greater than the angels himself.

And that's how he leads, ends verse 4.

And we're actually gonna pick that up more next week that Jesus is greater than the angels, but his name is to be honored.

He's the victorious one, he's the creator, the sustainer, he holds it all together, he loves you.

He's provided everything that is necessary in order for you to know him and have a relationship with him and enjoy eternity with him.

And one day every single knee is gonna bow before him just at the mention of his name.

Right now, that the name uh that people use flippantly, the name that people use as a curse word, the name that people mock and ridicule, one day, just at the mention of his name, all creation is gonna hit the floor.

Because he is worthy, and he is our greatest joy.

What he has done for us is greater than every power.

And so here's some so what's.

If Jesus is greater than every messenger, that means for us that he is the greatest news that we could ever receive.

To embrace the news of what he's done, meaning that there is gonna be nothing that you read in your social media feed today that is gonna be greater than him.

There's not nothing that you're gonna see in the news this week as good or usually as horrible as it's gonna be, that is greater than him, that he does not have control of.

There's nothing that we read that is gonna be greater news than what we have in Jesus.

There's no better hope than what we have in Jesus.

If Jesus is greater than everything created, then that means he's gonna be greater than any other pursuit that we might have.

Anything from a romantic pursuit to a career choice to something that we think is gonna make us happy, any possession that we might be going after, any new invention, any dream, destination, every career choice, every hobby.

If Jesus is greater than our sin and every power, then we have no reason not to go to him in our failure or in our fear, understanding that he has provided the means by which we can be made right, that he alone is the means by which we can be forgiven.

Understanding that it's not our efforts that make us right before God, but the perfect accomplishments of Jesus, that he reigns over all of it and he invites us in in a personal relationship where you have access to him.

Jesus is our creator, our sustainer, and our savior.

And so here's the question for us to consider not a one-time consideration, but something continually that we should be thinking about.

If Jesus is greater, as Hebrews espouses, as the Bible espouses, as we're gonna continually see, if Jesus is greater, what are we treating him lesser than?

Where is he on the scale?

If he is greater, if he really is greater, where do we have him, number two or number three, or where is he not even on the list?

And then what do we need to do about that?

Thank God by his grace he gives us the opportunity to see him clearly and to respond to him rightly, that we might walk in a right relationship with him, enjoying him forever.

Will you pray with me?

It's gonna be a good study, you guys.

Looking forward to it.

Father, we thank you so much for your word, and God, I pray this morning that you'd help us to see you more clearly.

God, that what we read this morning isn't just about a bunch of facts, things to fill our heads.

But God, I pray that the reality of this would put wind to our sails, that it would awaken our hearts, that it would enliven our passion for you, our obedience to you.

Because there is no other name under heaven by which we can be saved.

There's no other name that is going to cause all the creation to bow before you.

And so, God, we give Jesus all the praise today.

In his name we pray.

Amen.