Hebrews 1:1-4 “God’s Final Word”
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Welcome
“Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land. Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. Today, if you hear his voice,” (Psalm 95:1–7, ESV)
Announcements
Questions for Cog In The Wheel Newsletter
†CALL TO WORSHIP based on Psalm 24:7-10
Pastor Austin Prince
Minister: Lift up your heads, O you gates;
Congregation: be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of Glory may come in!
Minister: Who is this King of Glory?
Congregation: The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. We come to worship him today!
†PRAYER OF ADORATION AND INVOCATION
O Lord our God, Creator of all that is visible and invisible–the earth and all that dwells in it is for your honor. The earth declares it and we your people declare that you are the Lord. Receive our worship this morning as a testament to your glory. Perfect our worship by the blood and intercession of Christ, and send us the Helper, the divine Spirit that our words and actions could be pleasing to you. Receive our prayer offered in the name of Jesus.
†OPENING PSALM OF PRAISE #100B
“All People That on Earth Do Dwell”
†CONFESSION OF SIN & ASSURANCE OF PARDON
based on Matthew 5:2-12
Elder, Craig Hoffer
Minister: Blessed Jesus, you offered us all your blessings when you announced, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.”
Congregation: But we have been rich in pride.
Minister: “Blessed are those who mourn.”
Congregation: But we do not grieve injustice and sin.
Minister: “Blessed are the meek.”
Congregation: But we are a stiff-necked people.
Minister: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.”
Congregation: But we seek to fill our lives with other things.
Minister: “Blessed are the merciful.”
Congregation: But we are harsh and impatient.
Minister: “Blessed are the pure in heart.”
Congregation: But we have pursued the impure.
Minister: “Blessed are the peacemakers.”
Congregation: But we have not sought reconciliation.
Minister: “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness. And you, when people insult, persecute, and speak falsely against you because of me.”
Congregation: But our lives do not challenge the world. We have hardly made it known that we are yours.
Minister: Your law demands holiness and our works fall short.
Congregation: We plead with you to forgive our sins and clothe us in Christ’s perfect righteousness. Amen.
Minister: Christians: In Christ, God has has made atonement for sins, propitiation for wrath, and reconciliation for all who believe.
Congregation: We believe - help our unbelief! From the joy of forgiveness, kindle in us the joy of holiness. We ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.
CONTINUAL READING OF SCRIPTURE 1 Thess. 5:12-28
THE OFFERING OF TITHES AND OUR GIFTS
CONGREGATIONAL PRAYERS
THE LORD’S PRAYER
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
†HYMN OF PREPARATION
“With Simple Faith”
SERMON Hebrews 1:1-4 // God’s Final Word
PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION
Blessed are you, God of all creation. You spoke in the beginning and all things came to be. You spoke, and your word came to dwell among us, full of grace and truth. Bless this place where we would hear your voice. As the word is spoken, may our ears be attuned to you. As the word is spoken, may you speak to us.
Text Hebrews 1:1-4
1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 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. 3 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, 4 having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.
AFTER SCRIPTURE
Every word of God is perfect, let his people bless his Holy name.
Intro
In C.S. Lewis’s book “Till We Have Faces”, there is a young Princess named Oural who is quite ugly, and she does some spiteful and prideful things in the story that are also quite ugly. And in her shame and pride, she decides that she will veil her face, something that she does for the rest of her life, even when she becomes queen and reigns for a long time. She wears the veil for so long that people forget what she really looked like at all. She becomes a great mystery. When she talks with you, you can’t see the expression on her face and it makes people nervous, and unsure of her true feelings. The people began to make up stories and tell tales of what she must really be like behind the veil — maybe she is hideous, or maybe she is the most lovely. They see her and hear her in many ways, but as she lives behind the veil, it fills them with intrigue, and conjecture.
A similar image is used in the New Testament to describe what it is like before and after Christ came. Before Christ, there was a veil to seeing God in the full. Moses had to turn away from looking at God as he passed by him. God was known through the mediators of prophets and through His word and through signs, and it was as if there was this covering over His face. They could see Him and hear Him, but they didn’t know Him fully. They couldn’t see the expression on His face, as it were, and that would make you wonder what He is thinking. Is he cold, or indifferent? I’m sure the thought has crossed your own mind: what is He really like?
But that all changes when we look at Jesus. 2 Cor. 3:16 says, “But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.” When we look at Jesus, we are looking the expressions of God’s face. “For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (2 Corinthians 4:6, ESV).
Through Jesus, God’s character—His expressions—becomes clear.
And it is to this thought, the supremacy and clarity and the finality that comes through Jesus, that the author of Hebrews is keen on us understanding. In fact, the word κρείττων, “better,” “superior,” is used 19 times in this book.
Christ is superior to angels (chs. 1-2), to Moses (ch. 3), to Joshua (chs. 3-4), to Aaron (ch. 5), to Abraham (ch. 6), to Melchizedek (ch. 7), to the old covenant (ch. 8), to the tabernacle (ch. 9), to the high priest (ch. 10), and the hope of the promise (ch. 11), the kingdom (ch. 12), and to the city to come (13).
Christ is better.
And the first place that we focus on the supremacy of Christ, the setting stage for the whole book, is that Christ is the better word. Christ is the best word—the final word.
It’s all about the word of God. And with this full and final word of God, do we still think that God has a veil over His face?
Must we continue to wonder what the real God is like?
Perhaps we can look at the expressions on His face and really tell who He is?
As we consider how He ministers to us and consoles us in our very real and tough lives, do we have enough to live on? Does His word help in time of need? Are the words that He has given enough in my life as a teenager, a lonely marriage, a single-mother, the parent of a lost child, or when my health has failed? Can God’s word Help in real trouble and pain?
The writer of Hebrews opens this way (our text for today):
“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, whom he appointed 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.” (Hebrews 1:1–4, ESV)
Outline
4 Major Comparisons
Jesus compared to the fathers and prophets (vv.1-2)
Jesus compared with God (vv.2-3)
Jesus compared to angels (v.4)
1st Comparison: Jesus compared to the fathers and prophets (vv.1-2
1st Comparison: Jesus compared to the fathers and prophets (vv.1-2
“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, (Hebrews 1:1–2, ESV)
There is really two comparisons going on here. The comparison of time (long ago vs. these last days), and the comparison of speaker (God spoke in many ways through fathers and prophets vs. God speaking through The Son).
Before Christ, God spoke to His people in a variety of ways: through signs, wonders, prophets, types, shadows, history, poetry, whirlwinds, tablets of stone, a passover lamb, a burning bush, etc. But that’s part of what made up that veil. I was all speech that came from God, and it was all revelation to bless and help fallen man, it was all sufficient for the hearers to respond in faith. It is a part of God’s revelation, but not in the full. There is a word that theologians use at times that is helpful here. The word is teleology: it means that something has a telos, or an end goal. If you are looking at the foundation of a house, just a pile of stones and some rough lumber laying around, you might be really confused, but if someone comes and shows you the house later on, you’ll understand what all of that early foundation work was for. There was a goal. It was all building up towards something else. And that’s what is going on here. Long ago and in many ways, God’s speech was the foundation of the house, but when the Son comes, you see the house in full. All of the law, the sacrifices, the rituals and traditions, and revelations are pointing to Christ. But when Christ comes, when the son comes, He isn’t just an addition to that speech. He is the final word.
Many were the messages of the prophets. Many were the prophets. Many were the fathers, but there is only one Son. And His word is a full and final word.
The author Hebrews makes the case for Christ’s supremacy in the following verses, but before we get there, we should notice what else this verse is saying.
The prophets of old spoke in various ways, but in these last days God has spoken by the Son. These last days not only refers to what had recently happened in the life of the church at the time of this letter, namely the death and resurrection of Jesus, but “these last days” is a reference not to ‘the last day’ of apocalypse and end of the world, but to this last era. This era is the final era — all of the signs and speech of the prophets and fathers has climaxed in the Son. These latter days are marked by the lifting of the veil — that we have a direct revelation from God through the Son.
And though even at the writing of this letter the Son had already ascended to the throne of His father, in these last days He speaks to us through the Son. God’s word, just like the Son, is living and active (ch.4).
When we talk about the scriptures being sufficient, this is why. This is what we mean. Everything that is needed for life and salvation and godliness can be found in the living and active scriptures, and all of scripture culminates and crescendoes in the final word of Christ. All the promises of God are yes and amen in Christ. Everything that you need from God, the aid you need in times of trouble, doubt, suffering, confusion, guilt, shame, if you need hope for life now, if you need hope for what is to come after death, if you want to know the reason why you are made, if you want to know what kind of person you are to be today, if you need to see behind the veil and vanish the mystery of what God is like and if He really cares, then you look at Christ. He is the final word. He is a sufficient word.
Are you still looking for more speech in more ways? Are we looking for a feeling? Are we looking for another priest? Are we looking for signs?
Don’t. Look to the Son.
Christ’s is better
2nd Comparison: Jesus compared with God (vv.2-3)
2nd Comparison: Jesus compared with God (vv.2-3)
7 ways that Christ is the better word. 7 ways that Christ is compared to the Father.
1) The Son is the appointed heir of all things (v.2).
All that the Father has is given to the Son. He is the rightful owner because they are one. When I way comparison, it does not mean that I am comparing the differences between Jesus and God; the comparisons that the text are drawing out are that Jesus and the Father are one — the revelation of Jesus is the very revelation of God.
And that word telos is helpful here again. All of creation and all of redemption history is culminated in Christ. That’s the end goal. All of creation and existence finds their fit and purpose and meaning in Christ. “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.” (Romans 11:36, ESV)
And in our preaching and in the mission of the church, the way we wield this better word, the gospel of Jesus Christ, is that He is gathering the nations for His inheritance. We are not on mission to beg or to plead for His Lordship and kingdom, we are to declare His lordship.
2) The Son is the creator of all things (v.2).
Again, the point of the comparison is that Jesus and the Father are one. Jesus is the creator of all things. In the beginning, God created the world by His word. And the opening lines of John’s gospel we read:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.” (John 1:1–3, ESV)
That very word would later become the incarnate word. Jesus is not just a hero in our story, something less than God but helpful. Jesus and God are one.
This final word that we have, this speech comes to us from our very Creator and Author of all things.
3 & 4) The Son is the radiance of the glory of God — exact imprint of His nature (v.3).
The Son isn’t like God; He is the exact imprint of His nature.
Getting the identity of Christ right and almost right is absolutely critical. He isn’t a mere reflection of the Light: He is the radiance and heat of the Light. He shares the glory with God.
The word to us spoken in Christ is the word of God.
I like Carl Henry’s definition of revelation: It’s “God gracious self-disclosure, forfeiting his own privacy that we would know him.”
As that grace to us has come in these last days, these days ongoing days now, when we look at Christ, He shows us God as he truly is.
The veil is off. What is God really like? Look at the Son. Look at the cross. Look at how he interacts with and touches the sinner. Look at His tears. Look at His parables that he rejoices over the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the Prodigal son. Look at the patience and mercy and effort and holiness. But don’t try to look beyond. Who God is is revealed to us in full in the face of the Son.
5) The Son upholds (sustains) all things by the word of his power (v.3).
Jesus is the composer and orchestrator of all things. He is in full control over the forces of gravity and the orbit of planets, the small happenings within the cell, the weather, the complexities of your body. He sustains it all.
He isn’t like the figure of myth, Atlas, who holds the world up with strained muscle; He upholds it by His word. And He not only holds the world, but He upholds His people by His word. As He governs His church, do we think that He can keep the cosmos but He can’t keep us? He can hold the universe but He can’t hold my needs and my prayers? The government is on His shoulders — the government of all things.
In the distress of life, we often think of His word as a small thing, advice or a suggestion or perhaps a bit of wisdom. But it is the Word that holds the world. And when we cast our cares upon Him; He will sustain you as well.
Jesus is the better and final word.
6) The Son made purification for our sins (v.3). He took away the stain and guilt of sin, not just as a shadow of greater things to come (like the former sacrifices), but as the substance of all that had been prefigured.
The word purification doesn’t occur that often in the New Testament, but we must remember that the book is called Hebrews because the author is writing to a Jewish audience. He is correcting their understanding of who Jesus is. Purification is language from the day of Atonement (Lev. 16). A priest would have to make purification for sins through sacrifice, but they were never satisfactory. They were to be made again and again if someone were to be clean. But in the Son, the final and full sacrifice was made, creating a permanent and full purification, giving us access to the Father.
In this final word, there and there alone are we to find rest. There and there alone are we to find the covering of our souls through the blood of the Lamb.
7) The Son is seated (v.3).
The Son is seated with the Father. His work is done and complete, but that doesn’t mean that He is no longer active. He is seated now to rule and to reign (Ps. 110).
Priests were not able to sit down because they had to always continue their work. But Christ’s work as the High Priest is over and now He is seated to rule.
The word of the Son is the word of the word’s sovereign.
3rd Comparison: Jesus is superior to Angels and Has superior name (v.4)
3rd Comparison: Jesus is superior to Angels and Has superior name (v.4)
Many commentators believe that there was a special emphasis placed upon the role of Angels in Jewish thought — we’ll look at this more next week. The reverence for angels is seen through the Bible — when they show up, people want to bow down and worship them. But the Angels are the ones who cover their eyes and face before the throne of God. They were messengers and spoke through signs and wonders, but Jesus is the full message. And His name is superior. And what name is that? It’s that He is the Son. He is the heir, the exact imprint, the full and final word.
Application
What hope do you have when your world needs sustaining? What word to you have when our souls are stained with sin and we need to be pure? Where do you look when you want to know the face of God? We have a full and final word in Christ.
He is Lord. Do you see that the Lordship of Christ in your life would be an advantage to you? Do you see the word of the Lord as an advantage to you? This final word that is living and active and sufficient, profitable for all things.
Sometimes we can find rest in the fact that something is too far away or too far fetched and distant to have any real obligation in our lives. Like before Roe was overturned, there is this sort of sinister pessimism which says, “that will never happen, so we don’t have to work that hard to accomplish it.” Or, the mission of the church and evangelism is too big, I don’t have to contribute. My part is too small. That work is too big. There are many such situations.
This text reminds us not to make the word of God and Jesus’ lordship one of them. That we shouldn’t take any rest or comfort in the shadows of other revelation. We shouldn’t be searching for feelings, priests, or patterns because we’re on the search for a word from God. Yes, life is complex and difficult. Yes, you will have trials this week and real needs. Yes, there will be counseling needs this week. But the word of God is living and active. God has spoken by His Son, and His Son is the final and full word.
Conclusion
The book of Hebrews is a book about the supremacy of Christ, but it is also a book that is filled with warnings. One such warning which comes at the end of the book is fitting for this very section. It’s a warning that directly relates to these opening lines.
“See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven.” (Hebrews 12:25, ESV)
The warning is as solemn as the promise is glorious. The word of God is with you and the word of God is full.
†HYMN OF RESPONSE #325
“All Glory, Laud, and Honor”
THE MINISTRY OF THE LORD’S SUPPER
Minister: Lift up your hearts!
Congregation: We lift them up to the Lord.
Minister: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
Congregation: It is right for us to give thanks and praise!
CONFESSION OF FAITH
The Nicene Creed p. 852
Christian, what is it that you believe?
INVITATION TO THE LORD’S TABLE
This table is for those who belong to Christ through repentance, faith, baptism, and continuing union with his Church. You who do truly and earnestly repent of your sins, and are in love and charity with your neighbors, and intend to lead a new life, following the commandments of God and walking in his holy ways: draw near with faith, and take this holy sacrament to your comfort; and make your humble confession to almighty God.
PRAYER
Minister: Let’s pray together.
Congregation: We do not presume to come to this thy holy table, O merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in thy great mercies. We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under thy table: but you are the Lord, who is always able to have mercy.
Grant us therefore, by thy grace, so to eat the flesh of thy dear son Jesus Christ, and to drink his blood, that our sinful bodies may be made clean by his most sacred Body, and our souls washed through his most precious blood, and that we may evermore dwell in him, and he in us. Amen.
DISTRIBUTION OF THE ELEMENTS
SHARING OF THE LORD’S SUPPER
As I read the words of institution, “Eat and drink.”
THE WORDS OF INSTITUTION 1 Corinthians 11:23-26
For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.
†OUR RESPONSE #234
Tune: The God of Abraham Praise
The whole triumphant host gives thanks to God on high;
“Hail, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost!” they ever cry.
Hail, Abraham’s God and mine! I join the heav’nly lays;
all might and majesty are thine, and endless praise.
†BENEDICTION: GOD’S BLESSING FOR HIS PEOPLE
The Lord of peace Himself gives you peace; at all times and in every way. The Lord be with you all.
Grace Notes Reflection:
The opening lines of Hebrews soar with the vision of Christ as the supreme sovereign of the universe, the exact imprint of God’s nature, and His complete work of purification. But it also does this while framing Christ’s superiority through the lens of Him being a better and final word of revelation. Not only should we see Christ as supreme, but we should find in that supremacy all the fullness of God’s revelation to us—He is the supreme word. What was creation for? Christ. What were all the sacrifices pointing to? Christ. Where is our hope? Christ. With all the myriad needs for counsel in the church, where will our help come from? Christ. Doctrinally, this is called the sufficiency of scripture. All that is needed for life and godliness is here, and we should look no further. This does not mean that the answer to every question is the simple Sunday school answer, “Jesus”. It means that every situation, though complex, is met with fully sufficient help for life and godliness. What problem lies outside the scope of what Hebrews frames as Christ’s lordship? All problems in creation can be managed by the one that upholds the universe. All problems with sin are managed by the one who has made final purification for sins. All problems with providence are managed by the one who is sitting and ruling on the throne.
It is this inheritance of God’s speech that the church now lives. His word is living and active and complete. With all of the trials that the church will face, with all of your needs today, with all of the burdens that you carry, we need not scan the horizon for some new word to help. We need not search for a feeling or a new prophetic word.
