Big Idea: Jesus is God’s greatest revelation, so we
must pay more careful attention to the message about Jesus and not drift
away.
Don’t look anywhere else. Jesus is the real
deal , greater than angels, crystals… etc.
Sermon preached at the opening of the sermon series on the book of Hebrews.
May the words of my mouth and the
meditations of all our hearts be now and always acceptable in thy sight O Lord
our strength and our redeemer. Amen
Hebrews… Why
Hebrews?
- We’ve been saying that we want Clear Biblical Teaching, relevant to our culture today and also brings together themes from Old and New Testament.
- We’ve also been saying that we need to have clear challenge in our teaching about who Jesus is and what he means for us today
- We also want to encouragement the parish … in our discipleship as well as providing all of us with confidence in our faith.
- Also we’re covering Hebrews now because … Sunday PM (our Youth Group) are doing it and as a leadership team we wanted to make sure that the whole family of the church were working on the word of God together in this season.
Where we’re at … at the moment
We’re living
in confusing times … Financially, Socially, technologically … norms are
changing… more people than ever are asking questions as to identity. Our world
today is developing faster, communicating more. We’re trying to grapple with
all sorts of issues whilst also maintaining links with our past and looking
forward to our future.
Hebrews audience
There are
many parallels to the days that the book of Hebrews was written.
The church
community, the Christians had undergone a huge shift in their thought process
… Imagine
being a Jew in the 1st
Century … you’re content … you’ve got a temple to go to … you know what should
be done at a temple and a synagogue, You’ve got a community with leaders,
teachers, and friends and family who you’ve grown up with, you know the stories
of your history, you know of Creator God, you know he acts in human history.
That’s all fine.
But then you
also have encountered this teaching about Jesus, you’ve readily accepted that
he is the promised messiah, he’s the one who came from God, who is God and who
was born, lived, taught, died, rose and ascended and returning.
You in your
mind can accept both of those.
But then
there are problems within the church community …There is a growing issue with persecution … your friends are ridiculing you … you are facing persecution from
within the Jewish community and from outside …. From Government forces
Then also
there are those who have wandered from these teachings … people who have been
listening to others … people who do sort of make sense but you know that
there’s something not quite right about what they are saying … you just can’t
put your finger on it but it doesn’t sit well with you.
So you are confused …
… Do you go
back to the familiar… your life the way it was as a Jew (and forget about the
Christian stuff) ?
… Do you
dabble in the new upstart stuff … the strange things … angels or whatever else
… or Do you
stick to the encountered teaching of Jesus?
This
confusion is where the writer to the Hebrews is speaking into
Into the text
Well the
writer to the Hebrews is at pains to communicate the essential message that
Jesus is better …
Basically it’s the familiar
message we’re used to hearing with advertisers - The best just got better— It’s
not that our previous product was poor. It’s just that the current one is
superior.
He’s Better
than the Law and the Prophets … Matthew’s Gospel says he’s the fulfilment of
them.
He’s Better
than anything else… in all creation … because he’s the creator (whether that be
the fresh winds, or ancient wisdom of angel teaching, crystals or whatever else
people come up with)
---
So with that
background … Let’s look at how the writer to the Hebrews does communicate this
Verse 1
reminds the hearers what they already know …
He
reminds them that God spoke … they have no issue with that … he spoke in many
ways
In Genesis we find God speaking directly to Adam, Cain and Noah, to
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. God spoke through a rainbow (to Noah), an angel (to
Hagar), dreams (to Joseph), a burning bush (to Moses), (to high priests), a
small voice (to Elijah) and a vision in the temple (to Isaiah).
During the final
centuries of Old Testament history, God spoke through oracles (Amos), life
experiences (Hosea, Jonah, Ezekiel), symbols and symbolic acts (Ezekiel),
sermons (Haggai), mystical signs (Zechariah) and by questions and answers
(Malachi).
This might have been one of the issues for them … but we are reminded that he also spoke through the son … Who comes
before God’s voice speaking to the prophets and also afterwards … in the person
of Jesus
We then see in verses 2-3
In Hebrews 1:2-3,
our author shines four colored spotlights, as it were, on the Son through whom
God has spoken in these last days. In these lights we see him progressively as
(1) God’s Son/heir, (2) the divine agent in creation, (3) who shares God’s
eternal nature, (4) and who is now enthroned at God’s right hand.
In other
words – We’re told … yes this is new, its better and its in line with the past.
Then - we see that because he’s God’s Son … he’s
above anything else … and the argument develops … why would you want to look
anywhere else when Jesus who is God’s Son, through whom the world was created,
who has made away for eternal life and is sitting at God’s right hand … why
would you bother wasting time with other stuff.
Angels,
crystals, stones… or whatever else are of the created order.
Do you see
the futility in worshipping the created rather than the creator. That’s where
this line of thinking is taking us to… The rest of Chapter 1 talks about this
We as readers are asked at the end of Chapter
1 Are
they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake
of those who are to inherit salvation?
Basically … angels … aren’t they meant to serve for our sake
(sent by God)
To bring us closer to him… when we get any other picture of
them then we run into problems.
Angels are postal workers … bringing messages … from the one
who sent the message
Imagine getting a message from the President to
head up for dinner … You aren’t going to say it’s fantastic … that postman is
great … he’s just doing his job … no you’re going to say … the president wants
to see me. Why settle for anything other than the person who has sent the
message.
Chapter 2 Begins with the warning
Therefore
we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away
from it. … how shall we escape if we neglect
such a great salvation? ….
Basically return to the message – you’ve heard …
continue down that path and don’t drift from it.(image of a boat being driven off course slightly by winds)
The rest of the book of Hebrews looks at how this
decision not to drift will ensure we stand on a firm foundation.
So What? ... Apply it!
None of us here this morning are 1st
Century Jews … but all of us have heard the Good News and in some ways have
responded to it
Constantly we have those three options
… Do you go
back to the Old ways (and forget about
the Christian stuff) ?
… Do you
dabble in the new upstart stuff
… or Do you
stick with the encountered teaching of Jesus and grow and develop as a disciple?
When we
become Christians we clothe ourselves with Christ … we are called to a life of
faithfulness, a life that has meaning and purpose far beyond anything we can
think or imagine. It takes time as Christ shapes us and moulds us into people he
would have us be.
That process
sometimes is painful, sometimes it seems that it would be much easier to revert
to old ways. But Christ call is to keep going – he has something in store for
us. The writer to the Hebrews is reminding us to Keep Going
It is, as we
shall see later in this book … a marathon … but it is a marathon within a
community, a community of supporters who are encouraging us to keep going even
when times are tough, when the reward seems so far away.
I suspect for
some here, times are tough … that sometimes we feel we’re hanging in there by
our fingertips.
Let’s be very
clear who it is we are worshipping and giving our lives to … The bold claim of
Christianity is clear …
It is only the exalted
Jesus who can make purification of sins, according to Hebrews (1:3; 8:1–2;
9:1–10:18), and provide us a way to draw near to God (4:14–16; 10:19–25).
It is only the exalted Jesus who can offer
help to us in our time of need (4:15–16), deliver us from death (2:14–15), and
lead us to glory (2:10; 12:22–24). In short, it is only the exalted Jesus who
is fit for our worship and attention and who can help us persevere in the
Christian life.
That’s what we as Christian are sure
of
Nothing less than the best
Questions for Discussion
Look at verses 1:2-4 – What is said in these about who Jesus is and what he has done
What are my distractions? & How can we help one another to stay focused on the message of Jesus?
Which of the statements in 1:1-4 are most easily forgotten when life is easy
New Song
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