1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:06,120 was Jesus. And in time, in times past you did speak to us by the fathers, but in these 2 00:00:06,120 --> 00:00:14,280 last days you've spoken unto us by your son. May you be lifted up, may your son be lifted 3 00:00:14,280 --> 00:00:19,340 up today, not only in our voices through singing, but in the proclamation and in the hearing 4 00:00:19,340 --> 00:00:26,000 of your word today. We love you and thank you for all you do. In Jesus' name, amen. 5 00:00:26,000 --> 00:00:36,880 Thank you, may be seated. What an appropriate set of songs we've sung. We have been defended 6 00:00:36,880 --> 00:00:46,600 by our country and by its military, and Jesus is also our defender. And there is no other 7 00:00:46,600 --> 00:00:51,360 name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. And that's what we're going 8 00:00:51,360 --> 00:00:56,200 to talk today about. We're in a series we started last week that's going to take the 9 00:00:56,200 --> 00:01:01,560 better part of a year, I believe. So hold on, hang on, keep coming as we walk through and 10 00:01:01,560 --> 00:01:06,200 travel through the book of Hebrews. If you have your Bibles, we're in Hebrews chapter 11 00:01:06,200 --> 00:01:12,040 number one, and I've entitled at least this part of the series in Hebrews with this title, 12 00:01:12,040 --> 00:01:20,280 Jesus is greater. Jesus is greater. And that is exactly the message of the series. It's 13 00:01:20,280 --> 00:01:26,720 the message of the book of Hebrews, and it is really the point of this particular sermon. 14 00:01:26,720 --> 00:01:32,520 So I'm excited to give it to you today. Last week, we spent most of our time in verses 15 00:01:32,520 --> 00:01:39,280 one and two, and I told you that verses one through four are really one sentence in the 16 00:01:39,280 --> 00:01:48,480 original language. That sentence is driven by two clauses, God spake and God what? Hath 17 00:01:48,480 --> 00:01:56,880 spoken. Say that with me. God spake, God has spoken. And that really is the verses that 18 00:01:56,880 --> 00:02:01,560 we're reading. Hebrews chapter one, let's just look at them again and we're going to 19 00:02:01,560 --> 00:02:07,000 walk through this almost phrase by phrase today. It's going to be a blast. Here's what 20 00:02:07,000 --> 00:02:13,040 it says, God who had sundry times and in diverse manners spake in times past under the prophets, 21 00:02:13,040 --> 00:02:21,320 hath in these last days spoken unto us by his son, who is the son of God? Jesus, that's 22 00:02:21,320 --> 00:02:28,280 exactly right. Whom he hath appointed, heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds, 23 00:02:28,280 --> 00:02:32,040 whom being the brightness of his glory and the express image of his person and upholding 24 00:02:32,040 --> 00:02:38,680 all things by the word of his power. When he had by himself purged our sins, sat down 25 00:02:38,680 --> 00:02:45,920 on the right hand of the majesty on high, being made so much better than the angels 26 00:02:45,920 --> 00:02:55,160 as he by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. The author of Hebrews spoke 27 00:02:55,160 --> 00:03:02,120 about two times that God spoke in times past and in these last days and times past he spoke 28 00:03:02,120 --> 00:03:09,280 unto the fathers by the prophets. It was fragmented, it was partial, it was progressive in its 29 00:03:09,280 --> 00:03:14,600 revelation, it went from incomplete to complete. It didn't go from less true to more true, 30 00:03:14,600 --> 00:03:22,640 it's all true. It went from incomplete to complete. In these last days he has spoken 31 00:03:22,640 --> 00:03:30,520 unto us by his son. This is God's complete revelation. And what you see in this very 32 00:03:30,520 --> 00:03:35,880 first part of the very first sentences are key to the theme of the book. God wants us 33 00:03:35,880 --> 00:03:44,880 to know that Jesus Christ is superior in every way. If you're offended by us talking about 34 00:03:44,880 --> 00:03:50,880 Jesus you're not going to like this series because the point of this series is Jesus 35 00:03:50,880 --> 00:04:00,440 is greater, Jesus is better, Jesus is superior in every single way. Thirteen times in the 36 00:04:00,440 --> 00:04:05,760 book of Hebrews the word better is used. We'll talk about the angels and why Jesus is better 37 00:04:05,760 --> 00:04:10,360 than the angels. He'll say in these verses that Jesus outranks the angels. He will also 38 00:04:10,360 --> 00:04:15,560 say in the rest of these verses in Hebrews 1 that Jesus Christ outlasts creation itself 39 00:04:15,560 --> 00:04:21,080 and these first three verses that Jesus out speaks not only creation, he out speaks the 40 00:04:21,080 --> 00:04:28,480 prophets. They were God's partial word. When God spoke in his son the Lord Jesus that is 41 00:04:28,480 --> 00:04:36,560 God's final word. God's full, final, complete message to mankind is found in the person 42 00:04:36,560 --> 00:04:44,640 of his dear son the Lord Jesus Christ. So I'm here to preach Jesus to you today. That's 43 00:04:44,640 --> 00:04:49,480 why we're here. We'll see in the remaining part of this sentence and really the entirety 44 00:04:49,480 --> 00:04:55,680 of the study of the book of Hebrews again that Jesus is superior in every way. And I 45 00:04:55,680 --> 00:05:02,520 want you to hear this. The most important thing about you, the most important critical 46 00:05:02,520 --> 00:05:08,680 thing about you is what you think about when you think about Jesus Christ. Let me say that 47 00:05:08,680 --> 00:05:14,120 again. The most important thing about you is what you think about when you think about 48 00:05:14,120 --> 00:05:23,120 Jesus. It's crucial that you think rightly about Jesus. He is superior literally to everything 49 00:05:23,120 --> 00:05:29,360 in the universe. So here's my sermon in a sentence. Jesus can be known. You can know 50 00:05:29,360 --> 00:05:36,040 Jesus is greater by understanding and believing. Seven magnificent statements found about Jesus 51 00:05:36,040 --> 00:05:42,080 Christ in Hebrews chapter one verses two and three that we're going to look at today. Now 52 00:05:42,080 --> 00:05:48,200 let's look at the first term that describes Jesus Christ and I hope that you internalize 53 00:05:48,200 --> 00:05:55,240 these yourself. Okay, this is so cool. Are you ready? You don't seem ready. Are you ready? 54 00:05:55,240 --> 00:06:01,480 Come on. Here we go. God who at sundry times and a diverse man are spaking times past under 55 00:06:01,480 --> 00:06:07,760 the fathers by the prophets. Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his son whom he 56 00:06:07,760 --> 00:06:16,440 God hath appointed Jesus air of all things. So the first thing that he is the first term 57 00:06:16,440 --> 00:06:21,800 that we're going to see to show that Jesus is greater is that he is an error. This is 58 00:06:21,800 --> 00:06:26,000 not the only place where Jesus is referred to as an error. What's an error? Someone who 59 00:06:26,000 --> 00:06:32,880 receives an inheritance. Anybody here ever been in error or will be in error in some 60 00:06:32,880 --> 00:06:37,920 way? Okay, there's a few. Yeah, I've got some property in Texas that's going to come to 61 00:06:37,920 --> 00:06:44,360 me at some point because I am an error. I'm an error. Are you in error? I want you to 62 00:06:44,360 --> 00:06:47,440 know that if you're in Christ, you're all errors. We're going to talk about that in 63 00:06:47,440 --> 00:06:53,760 a second. It's all over the scriptures that Jesus himself is referred to as an error. 64 00:06:53,760 --> 00:06:58,000 In Mark chapter 11, a bunch of scribes come to Jesus when he was in the temple and they 65 00:06:58,000 --> 00:07:02,960 ask him what authority he has. He's in there and he's teaching, he's ministering, and they 66 00:07:02,960 --> 00:07:08,160 come up to like, who's authority do you speak on? And this leads to Jesus telling them the 67 00:07:08,160 --> 00:07:13,040 parable of the tenants. So if you have your Bible, I'll put the verses on the screen, 68 00:07:13,040 --> 00:07:16,400 but if you want to read along with me, put that ribbon. Anybody got a ribbon in your 69 00:07:16,400 --> 00:07:20,480 Bible? Or if you're looking on an app, there's probably some way you can bookmark it. Go 70 00:07:20,480 --> 00:07:27,200 over to Mark chapter 12. Mark chapter 12 and Mark 11, they're asking them about who's 71 00:07:27,200 --> 00:07:32,640 authority do you come under? He goes into a story starting in Mark chapter 12 as part 72 00:07:32,640 --> 00:07:37,600 of his response to them. Look at what he says. Mark chapter 12 verse one. And he began to 73 00:07:37,600 --> 00:07:45,480 speak unto them by parables. A certain man planted a vineyard and set a hedge about it 74 00:07:45,480 --> 00:07:52,520 and dig the place for the wine fat and built a tower and led it out to husbandmen and went 75 00:07:52,520 --> 00:07:58,400 into a far country. So you have the guy who does all of the work. He purchases the land. 76 00:07:58,400 --> 00:08:03,960 He builds a vineyard. He builds the field. And then he, it says here and build a tower 77 00:08:03,960 --> 00:08:09,800 and led it out to husbandmen. That's the old way of saying he rented it out to them. Right? 78 00:08:09,800 --> 00:08:15,880 What song was that? Rooms for Let? I don't know. I probably shouldn't bring up songs. 79 00:08:15,880 --> 00:08:23,960 I don't know. Okay. So, Rooms anyway. King of the road. Yeah, that's what it was. All 80 00:08:23,960 --> 00:08:33,240 right. ADD. Okay. The lead is the renting it out. So he lent it out to vineyard people, 81 00:08:33,240 --> 00:08:39,320 to husbandmen. Verse two. And at the season he went to the husband, he sent to the husband 82 00:08:39,320 --> 00:08:45,000 a servant that he might receive from the husband of the fruit of the vineyard. Time to collect 83 00:08:45,000 --> 00:08:54,200 rent. Time to collect the payment on your using my vineyard. Verse three. And they caught him 84 00:08:54,200 --> 00:09:03,320 and what? Beat him and send him away empty. So the husbandman keeps sending servants to the tenants. 85 00:09:03,320 --> 00:09:09,320 They keep beating them and sending them away. Now in any parable that you read, one of the things 86 00:09:09,320 --> 00:09:14,200 you have to do to interpret it is who are all these people? Who does it apply to? The person who 87 00:09:14,200 --> 00:09:21,560 owns the vineyard is God. The husbandmen are mankind and God keeps sending his messengers to 88 00:09:21,560 --> 00:09:28,040 mankind. This would be the prophets. God who at sundry times and in diverse manners, spake in 89 00:09:28,040 --> 00:09:36,600 times past unto the prophets. Do you get it? Okay. And what are the people doing with the 90 00:09:36,600 --> 00:09:44,120 prophets? They're beating them. Is that not what happened with some of the prophets? Yeah. Verse 91 00:09:44,120 --> 00:09:57,080 six. Having yet therefore one son. Who's the son? You got it. His well beloved. How many sons did he 92 00:09:57,080 --> 00:10:04,520 have? One. Were they like the prophets? Were they like the other guys coming? No. They're sent by 93 00:10:04,520 --> 00:10:12,360 the father. They're sent by the owner. But here he comes. He sent himself, him also last unto them 94 00:10:12,360 --> 00:10:18,440 saying they will reverence my son. What's his reasoning? Okay. If they keep beating the prophets, 95 00:10:18,440 --> 00:10:23,560 maybe they'll reverence my son. Verse seven. But those husbandmen said among themselves, 96 00:10:23,560 --> 00:10:35,880 this is the, do you see it? Air. Come let us, what? And the inheritance shall be ours. Now think 97 00:10:35,880 --> 00:10:43,160 about how stupid that is. You know you can get on, like if you're nice enough to people and you're 98 00:10:43,160 --> 00:10:47,640 kind enough to people, you become like family even if you're not family. And there may be, 99 00:10:47,640 --> 00:10:52,600 has anybody ever heard of somebody getting on somebody's will, even though they weren't family? 100 00:10:52,600 --> 00:11:02,360 Has anybody ever heard that? Okay. If you kill my kids, you're not getting in my will. 101 00:11:02,360 --> 00:11:11,960 Who agrees? That's stupid. Right? This is dumb. That's who we are. 102 00:11:15,080 --> 00:11:18,200 Why would we expect good from God when we reject his son? 103 00:11:21,240 --> 00:11:25,480 Who was the son? He's the heir. And they took him and killed him and cast him out of the 104 00:11:25,480 --> 00:11:29,800 garden, out of the vineyard. What shall, what shall therefore the Lord of the vineyard do? 105 00:11:29,800 --> 00:11:36,200 He will come and destroy the husbandmen and will give the vineyard unto others. And have you not 106 00:11:36,200 --> 00:11:43,080 read the Scripture? The stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner. 107 00:11:44,040 --> 00:11:50,440 What is he saying? The stone that the builders, those prophets that you rejected, the prophets 108 00:11:50,440 --> 00:11:55,080 that rejected, you know, when they come, you rejected the prophets. Now when he comes, 109 00:11:55,080 --> 00:12:01,640 the people reject. There's this Old Testament verse that Jesus is quoting here that says, 110 00:12:01,640 --> 00:12:09,400 hey, guess what guys? You're in the Bible. I'm the chief cornerstone and you're coming and rejecting 111 00:12:09,400 --> 00:12:15,560 me. That's what he's saying. This was the Lord's doing in his marvelous in our eyes. You remember 112 00:12:15,560 --> 00:12:24,600 that? What did they do? Verse 12. And they sought to lay hold on him, but feared the people. Listen, 113 00:12:24,600 --> 00:12:33,640 think about that story. You get it? He's telling them the story and they perceive we're like the 114 00:12:33,640 --> 00:12:38,840 people beating the prophets and we're like that you're claiming to be the son of the son of the, 115 00:12:38,840 --> 00:12:44,360 of God. And you're saying that we're like the people that are killing people trying to get onto 116 00:12:44,360 --> 00:12:51,080 the will. And that makes us so mad that you made us part of that. We want to kill you. They're 117 00:12:51,080 --> 00:12:58,760 fulfilling the prophecy because they're mad about who thinks that's stupid, right? They're going right 118 00:12:58,760 --> 00:13:03,640 into it. This then makes you stupid for they knew that he had spoken the parable against them and 119 00:13:03,640 --> 00:13:10,040 they left and went their way. What was Jesus claiming to be in that parable? He was claiming to be 120 00:13:10,040 --> 00:13:17,800 the son of God and the heir to all that God is and all that God has. Jesus is the heir. Jesus 121 00:13:17,800 --> 00:13:25,000 is predicted to inherit all things in Revelation 5. A great, strong worships Jesus Christ because he 122 00:13:25,000 --> 00:13:29,720 is worthy to open the scrolls. There's all these scrolls. Who's worthy to open the scroll and it's 123 00:13:29,720 --> 00:13:35,400 the son. This Revelation 5 is about the Lord Jesus Christ. In this passage, there's a book. The book 124 00:13:35,400 --> 00:13:40,360 is written on the inside and on the outside. It's sealed with seven seals. This passage about the 125 00:13:40,360 --> 00:13:46,440 book in Revelation 5 comes after the fourth chapter where you have a magnificent, a song praising God 126 00:13:46,440 --> 00:13:52,600 for His creation. We know that sin entered in and marred God's creation, but when Jesus, the Lamb of 127 00:13:52,600 --> 00:13:59,720 God came, shed his blood at the cross of Calvary. He not only made provision for the forgiveness 128 00:13:59,720 --> 00:14:05,480 of our sins, but the Lord Jesus Christ purchased back unto Himself a ruin in a marred universe. 129 00:14:05,480 --> 00:14:11,160 So they began to look. Who is worthy to open the seals? The seven sealed book represented the title 130 00:14:11,160 --> 00:14:16,760 deed to the universe. Who's worthy to open this book and no one was found worthy? Then there was a 131 00:14:16,760 --> 00:14:23,160 declaration that was made, behold the Lamb, who's worthy to open the book. The Lamb is worthy to 132 00:14:23,160 --> 00:14:28,680 open the seals. And so they go through and they open all the seals. They get to chapter 11 and it says 133 00:14:28,680 --> 00:14:35,560 this about Christ at the very end. The seal judgments go, the trumpet judgments go, verse 15. 134 00:14:35,560 --> 00:14:42,120 And the seventh angel, Revelation 11, 15. And the seventh angel sounded and there were great voices 135 00:14:42,120 --> 00:14:48,040 in heaven saying, this is the out future, this is what they're going to sing one day about Jesus. 136 00:14:48,040 --> 00:14:55,560 Do you hear it? You want to know it? Verse 15. The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of 137 00:14:55,560 --> 00:15:04,680 our Lord and of His Christ. And He shall reign for, you have to almost do it in rhythm, don't you? 138 00:15:04,680 --> 00:15:11,160 And He shall reign forever and ever. And the four and twenty elders which sat before God in the seats 139 00:15:11,160 --> 00:15:17,080 fell on their faces and worshiped God. Jesus Christ is the heir of all things. 140 00:15:18,440 --> 00:15:25,000 What is amazing is that we're told that when we come to know Christ, we become joint heirs with Him. 141 00:15:26,360 --> 00:15:31,800 Romans 8.16 says this, the Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children 142 00:15:31,800 --> 00:15:38,040 of God. If you're saved, you're a child of God. That's what it means to be born again, to be born 143 00:15:38,040 --> 00:15:43,800 from above. You are born into God's family. Everything belongs to Jesus and when we become a child of 144 00:15:43,800 --> 00:15:53,800 God, Jesus Christ is our older brother. And Romans 8.16 says, verse 17, and if children then heirs, 145 00:15:53,800 --> 00:16:02,920 heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. If so be that we suffer with Him, that we may also be 146 00:16:02,920 --> 00:16:11,000 glorified together. That does not mean that we are equal with Jesus, but we're coheirs with Jesus. 147 00:16:11,000 --> 00:16:16,040 Those who are in Christ are joint heirs with Christ. The down payment of that inheritance is the 148 00:16:16,040 --> 00:16:24,360 spirit of God himself that seals us unto the day of redemption. Jesus Christ is greater because, 149 00:16:24,360 --> 00:16:31,880 first of all, He's the heir of all things. Here's the next magnificent term to help us understand 150 00:16:32,440 --> 00:16:41,400 that Jesus is greater. Are you ready? Number two, Creator. Creator. It says, by whom also He made 151 00:16:41,400 --> 00:16:48,360 the worlds. As in these last days, God, as in these last days, spoken to by His Son, whom He 152 00:16:48,360 --> 00:16:57,000 has appointed, heir of all things, by whom also He made the worlds. There is more than enough evidence 153 00:16:57,960 --> 00:17:08,120 to prove that Jesus Christ of Nazareth is a person of history. On this point, anyone who studies 154 00:17:08,120 --> 00:17:15,000 history seriously agrees. No one can make a cogent argument that there was no such historical figure 155 00:17:15,000 --> 00:17:22,840 as Jesus. There's also more than enough evidence to prove that he rose from the dead. Again, 156 00:17:22,840 --> 00:17:29,000 people deny this historical fact, but when they do, they deny it by ignoring the evidence or listening 157 00:17:29,000 --> 00:17:35,800 to someone who denies the evidence. Not because the evidence is not there. The Bible makes it clear 158 00:17:35,800 --> 00:17:41,960 that through, sorry, the Bible makes it clear, though, that Jesus is coming in these last days 159 00:17:41,960 --> 00:17:49,000 was not His beginning. Let me say that again. Jesus is coming in these last days was not His 160 00:17:49,000 --> 00:17:58,600 beginning. He existed before His incarnation. At Christmas time, we celebrate the fact that 161 00:17:58,600 --> 00:18:04,760 God became flesh and dwelt among us, but He existed before He became a baby in Bethlehem. 162 00:18:04,760 --> 00:18:12,200 He pre-existed. He pre-existed creation itself because the Bible teaches clearly that Jesus 163 00:18:12,200 --> 00:18:19,800 Himself was active in creation. Here it is stated that God the Father not only revealed Himself 164 00:18:19,800 --> 00:18:25,240 through Jesus Christ and made Him heir of all things, but it also that it was this same Jesus 165 00:18:25,240 --> 00:18:34,360 that made the worlds. The word worlds translator here is Aonus or ages, the eons. He made them. He 166 00:18:34,360 --> 00:18:40,920 made the ages. He is the originator. He is the sustainer of all things. What a concept when you 167 00:18:40,920 --> 00:18:46,120 begin to think about this universe of ours and all that about how all of it came to existence. 168 00:18:47,000 --> 00:18:52,840 Many today want to tell us that everything came from nothing. I don't believe that everything came 169 00:18:52,840 --> 00:18:59,880 from nothing. I believe that everything came from someone. That someone is Jesus Christ. 170 00:18:59,880 --> 00:19:08,760 If there's design, there's a designer. There's a painting, there's a painter. Here are some verses 171 00:19:08,760 --> 00:19:14,840 that tell us that Jesus created all things. Not only Hebrews 1, 2, they created the whole world. 172 00:19:15,800 --> 00:19:19,480 Genesis 1, 26 says this, and God said, 173 00:19:19,480 --> 00:19:35,080 let us. Is God singular? And God said, let us make man in our image after our likeness 174 00:19:35,640 --> 00:19:40,040 and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the air, over cattle, 175 00:19:40,040 --> 00:19:44,600 over all the earth, over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in 176 00:19:44,600 --> 00:19:53,400 his own image, in the image of God created he, him, male and female created he, them. You have us 177 00:19:53,400 --> 00:20:03,400 and are and he and him. Why do you have plural and singular? It's because God is one, but he exists 178 00:20:03,400 --> 00:20:12,680 in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. John 1 once says this, in the beginning was the word 179 00:20:12,680 --> 00:20:20,120 and the word was with God and the word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. 180 00:20:21,160 --> 00:20:30,120 All things were made by him. Who is him? The word. Who's the word? Well, later on it says, 181 00:20:30,120 --> 00:20:35,960 and the word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory as of the only begotten of the 182 00:20:35,960 --> 00:20:45,160 Father full of grace and truth. Who created the world? Jesus did. God did. The Spirit did. 183 00:20:47,560 --> 00:20:52,680 Later, all things were made by him. Colossians 1, 14. This is an amazing verse. Are you ready? 184 00:20:53,800 --> 00:20:58,920 In whom we have redemption through his blood, talking about Jesus. Who do we have redemption in? 185 00:20:58,920 --> 00:21:02,920 Who's the person that we have redemption in his blood through? Who is that? It's Jesus. 186 00:21:02,920 --> 00:21:07,800 Okay, verse 14. Colossians 1. It's up here. In whom we have redemption through his blood, 187 00:21:07,800 --> 00:21:14,680 even the forgiveness of sins. Who is the image of the invisible God? The first born over every 188 00:21:14,680 --> 00:21:23,560 creature for by him were all, for by who? The one that redeemed us by his blood for by him were all 189 00:21:23,560 --> 00:21:31,480 things created that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be 190 00:21:31,480 --> 00:21:37,960 thrones or dominions or principalities or powers, all things were created by him. He's the Creator 191 00:21:37,960 --> 00:21:48,040 and for him, he's the air. And he is before all things and by him, all things consist or are 192 00:21:48,040 --> 00:21:52,680 held together. You'll see that in a minute. By him, were all things created for him. Were all 193 00:21:52,680 --> 00:21:57,640 things created. He's holding it all together. Jesus Christ created the whole world. He made 194 00:21:57,640 --> 00:22:02,200 something out of nothing. He brought new life where there was none. He can do the same thing for 195 00:22:02,200 --> 00:22:09,800 you today. He can bring life where there is no life. There's no other name under heaven given 196 00:22:09,800 --> 00:22:17,880 among men whereby we must be saved. He's the air. He's the Creator. He wants you to have new life. 197 00:22:18,920 --> 00:22:21,960 Here's number three. Don't get worried. I got seven. 198 00:22:21,960 --> 00:22:32,280 Here we go. Number three, radiance. Radiance. It says here who being the brightness of his glory. 199 00:22:32,840 --> 00:22:40,840 We're just taking it phrase by phrase. Jesus is the air. He is the Creator. Here it says he's the 200 00:22:40,840 --> 00:22:47,320 brightness of his glory. That is the radiance of God's glory. Radiance means to shine forth. 201 00:22:47,320 --> 00:22:52,600 He is saying that Jesus Christ is the radiance of God's glory. You know there's a difference between 202 00:22:52,600 --> 00:22:59,640 the light of the moon and the light of the sun. The moon reflects light. When the astronauts went 203 00:22:59,640 --> 00:23:04,280 to the moon it was discovered that all the dust they were kicking around was made of, 204 00:23:04,840 --> 00:23:12,360 at least in part, titanium. And titanium is a perfect reflector. It's used on movie screens 205 00:23:12,360 --> 00:23:17,800 at one time and the moon is covered with it. See because the moon does not generate light, 206 00:23:17,800 --> 00:23:25,160 the moon reflects light, but the sun is different. The sun does not reflect light, the sun radiates 207 00:23:25,800 --> 00:23:33,720 light. It is the very essence and the nature of the sun to give forth light. This verse says 208 00:23:33,720 --> 00:23:39,800 that Jesus Christ is the radiance of God's glory. He's not reflecting glory from God the Father. 209 00:23:39,800 --> 00:23:46,280 He is radiating the glory of God. It's coming from him. He's the source. Just like God is the 210 00:23:46,280 --> 00:23:51,240 source and the Holy Spirit is the source. Do you get it? He's the radiance of God's glory. 211 00:23:51,240 --> 00:23:57,000 This means that Jesus Christ is the perfect radiance and reflection of the glory of God. 212 00:23:57,000 --> 00:24:02,200 The apostle Paul was on the road to Damascus. He had made up his mind. He was going to stamp out the 213 00:24:02,200 --> 00:24:08,600 Christian faith. He thought they were a bunch of heretics and a bunch of crazies and the Bible 214 00:24:08,600 --> 00:24:15,800 says about the noon day on that Damascus road that Paul saw, a light it says above the brightness 215 00:24:15,800 --> 00:24:21,880 of the sun. He was smitten into the dust with conviction and he said, who art thou, Lord? 216 00:24:21,880 --> 00:24:30,040 And Jesus said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutes, right? And it says here above the brightness 217 00:24:30,040 --> 00:24:36,360 of the sun. Second Corinthians six says it this way, for God who commanded the light to shine out 218 00:24:36,360 --> 00:24:42,360 of darkness has shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the 219 00:24:43,240 --> 00:24:51,640 face of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the radiance of God's glory. Remember when Jesus went up 220 00:24:51,640 --> 00:24:58,200 onto the Mount of Transfiguration? We talked about it last week and a little bit of his humanity 221 00:24:58,200 --> 00:25:04,120 was pulled back and what does it say? He was transfigured before him. He's the radiance of God's 222 00:25:04,120 --> 00:25:12,440 radiance of God's glory. We're moving quick. Number four, fourth term is image. It says here in the 223 00:25:12,440 --> 00:25:23,720 express image of his person. Jesus is the image of God's person. The term translated here express 224 00:25:23,720 --> 00:25:30,920 image is used only here in the New Testament. In extra biblical literature, it was used for 225 00:25:30,920 --> 00:25:37,320 engraving on wood and etching in a metal, a brand on an animal hide, an impression in the clay, or 226 00:25:37,320 --> 00:25:44,520 a stamped image on coins. Person is a word conveying nature, being, or essence. The sun is the 227 00:25:45,080 --> 00:25:51,160 talking about the sun, S-O-N is the perfect imprint, the exact representation of the nature 228 00:25:51,160 --> 00:25:58,600 and essence of God in time and space. I'm giving you a lot this morning. Can you handle it? Here we go. 229 00:25:58,600 --> 00:26:05,960 In Colossians 1.14 he says, we've already read this, in whom we have redemption through his blood 230 00:26:05,960 --> 00:26:12,440 and the forgiveness of sins, who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature. 231 00:26:13,640 --> 00:26:17,960 By describing Jesus in this manner, Paul emphasizes that he is both the representation 232 00:26:17,960 --> 00:26:26,360 and the manifestation of God. Thus he is fully God in every way. Jesus is God. In John's Gospel, 233 00:26:26,360 --> 00:26:29,960 Jesus told the disciples that he was the way, the truth, and the life. You guys remember that? 234 00:26:30,680 --> 00:26:36,520 No man comes to the Father, but by me he says, but then he says in verse seven, if you had known me, 235 00:26:38,040 --> 00:26:42,280 let's just read it, verse six, Jesus says unto them, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man 236 00:26:42,280 --> 00:26:49,800 comes to the Father, but by me. If you had known me, you should have known my Father also, and from 237 00:26:49,800 --> 00:26:55,720 henceforth you know him and have seen him. He says in another place, if you've seen me, you've seen 238 00:26:55,720 --> 00:27:06,440 the Father. He is the image of the invisible God, God who had times past, spoke in times past to the 239 00:27:06,440 --> 00:27:15,320 fathers by the prophets, half of these I stayed spoken unto us by his son. Notice the interaction 240 00:27:15,320 --> 00:27:20,360 that happened with Philip after this verse, verse eight, Philip says unto him, Lord show us the Father 241 00:27:20,360 --> 00:27:26,520 and it suffices us. Jesus says unto him, have I been so long with you and you have not known me, 242 00:27:26,520 --> 00:27:33,240 Philip, he that has seen me has seen the Father, and how sayest thou then show us the Father. 243 00:27:34,680 --> 00:27:41,720 Jesus is the express image of the Father. He is the express image of God. He's the air, 244 00:27:41,720 --> 00:27:52,120 he's the creator, he is the radiance, he is the image number four, he's sustainer. He's sustainer. 245 00:27:54,520 --> 00:27:59,640 Let's take a run up to it. Hebrews 1.3, who being the brightness of his glory, that's radiance, 246 00:28:00,280 --> 00:28:05,960 the express image of his person, that's image, and upholding all things by the word of his power, 247 00:28:05,960 --> 00:28:12,840 that's sustainer. Upholding here is an interesting word it means to support or to carry. It implies 248 00:28:12,840 --> 00:28:17,880 stability and it also suggests mobility and movement, support and movement. Now there's a 249 00:28:17,880 --> 00:28:23,960 similar statement back in Colossians, again back to Colossians 1.17, and he is before all things 250 00:28:23,960 --> 00:28:30,440 and by him all things consist or are held together. I read this this week, it's pretty cool. 251 00:28:30,440 --> 00:28:36,760 One of the mysteries in physics is what keeps an atom together. The neutrons in an atom are all 252 00:28:36,760 --> 00:28:42,360 positively charged and so it should tear apart. Physicists don't understand what keeps it all 253 00:28:42,360 --> 00:28:49,400 together. Now I'm no physicist but I know what keeps it all together. By him all things hold 254 00:28:49,400 --> 00:28:57,640 together. He has it all in his hands, he's holding it all together. By him all things consist. 255 00:28:57,640 --> 00:29:03,640 One of these deep days Jesus is taking his hands off and when he does the Bible says this universe 256 00:29:03,640 --> 00:29:11,080 is going to come apart. What happens when atoms come apart? The Bible says that this earth is going 257 00:29:11,080 --> 00:29:17,640 to melt with a fervent heat. Maybe all that takes for that to happen is just for Jesus to let it go. 258 00:29:17,640 --> 00:29:27,160 God is going to reach in and take all the fathers, all the sins out of it and he's going to put 259 00:29:27,160 --> 00:29:34,040 it all back together brand new in a new heaven and a new earth. It'll be so great and so beautiful. 260 00:29:34,040 --> 00:29:39,320 We'll even forget possibly what this one looked like. It says he's upholding, he is supporting 261 00:29:39,320 --> 00:29:45,240 all things. He's holding all things together. What does it say he's doing it? Verse 3, 262 00:29:45,240 --> 00:29:51,480 by the word of his power. Jesus spoke a word and the world came into existence by his word. 263 00:29:51,480 --> 00:29:57,960 Not only did it come into existence, now it's everything is being held together by his word. 264 00:30:00,120 --> 00:30:04,760 The Bible says of him and through him and to him are all things. He started it all, 265 00:30:04,760 --> 00:30:09,880 he sustains it all and when it all gets done Jesus Christ is going to be right there to wrap it up. 266 00:30:09,880 --> 00:30:14,200 And let me tell you this, if the Lord Jesus Christ can do that with creation, whatever 267 00:30:14,200 --> 00:30:18,600 burden you're bearing, whatever problem you brought with you today, don't you think Jesus 268 00:30:18,600 --> 00:30:26,920 can hold you up and support you and carry you through? Jesus is big enough to take care of your 269 00:30:26,920 --> 00:30:34,600 problems if you follow him. You're going to make it. You may not think you are, but if you're born 270 00:30:34,600 --> 00:30:42,040 again, if you're a child of God, God has a plan and a purpose for your life. God has a destiny 271 00:30:42,040 --> 00:30:47,560 for your life. He knows exactly what you're going through right now. You're going to make it, be 272 00:30:47,560 --> 00:30:54,840 encouraged. Seven statements about Christ. He's an heir, he's creator, he's a radiant, he's the image, 273 00:30:54,840 --> 00:31:01,480 he's the sustainer number six, he's the purifier. He's the purifier. Do you see it there in the verse? 274 00:31:01,480 --> 00:31:02,600 Do you see it there in the verse? 275 00:31:05,160 --> 00:31:08,520 Who being the brightness of his glory, the express image of his person, upholding all 276 00:31:08,520 --> 00:31:15,800 things by the word of his power, when he had by himself, what's the word? Purged our sins, 277 00:31:16,840 --> 00:31:22,200 sat down with the right hand of the majesty on high. The tense of this verb purged is a tense 278 00:31:22,200 --> 00:31:27,800 that means something that happened at a point in time, something that happened at one point 279 00:31:27,800 --> 00:31:35,400 that never needs to be repeated again. The writer under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit has 280 00:31:35,400 --> 00:31:42,280 carried us now all the way from creation to Calvary. Now he shows us this eternal Christ 281 00:31:42,280 --> 00:31:49,160 who is creator, who is the radiant, who is the image of God. Now we see that he is the redeemer, 282 00:31:49,160 --> 00:31:56,840 the savior by himself, who by himself on Calvary's cross made purification for our sins. 283 00:31:56,840 --> 00:32:05,160 Jesus died on the cross to cleanse us from sin. Jesus Christ died and became the 284 00:32:05,160 --> 00:32:15,160 sacrifice to purge us from our sins. Man, think about that term, our sins. Think about all of 285 00:32:15,160 --> 00:32:27,880 the pain and suffering that has come from our sins. Anybody hear a story in the last month? 286 00:32:27,880 --> 00:32:33,480 I'm not talking about a particular one, but I'm just talking about a story where when you kind of 287 00:32:33,480 --> 00:32:43,080 sifted all down, sin destroyed someone. Have you heard a story like that? We hear it all the time. 288 00:32:43,080 --> 00:32:50,360 Sometimes we just, they come to us in news stories and in articles and in something whispered to us 289 00:32:50,360 --> 00:33:05,400 by our friend. Sin is devastating. God hates it. And he loved you and I so much that he knew that 290 00:33:05,400 --> 00:33:12,600 if he didn't forgive us of our sins, that we could not be with him, that we couldn't be made right 291 00:33:12,600 --> 00:33:19,080 with him, that we would be suffering forever separated from him, the Creator and the sustainer. 292 00:33:23,160 --> 00:33:32,680 But he also is so holy that he couldn't let that sin go. And so what he did was he sacrificed himself. 293 00:33:34,280 --> 00:33:40,120 He purged our sins by becoming the wrath bearing sacrifice on the cross. 294 00:33:40,120 --> 00:33:54,840 Who killed Jesus? I did. And so did you. Why did he die so that our sins could be purged, so that we could be clean? 295 00:34:00,680 --> 00:34:05,800 Whatever those sins were, whatsoever those sins are, that you've committed those sins, 296 00:34:05,800 --> 00:34:11,160 that you are committing right now, Jesus Christ died for when he died on the cross. 297 00:34:11,160 --> 00:34:19,880 It says here that he by himself, it was just him up there on that cross. He by himself paid the price. 298 00:34:20,520 --> 00:34:29,080 He made purification. The Bible says in 1 John 1 7, the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. 299 00:34:29,080 --> 00:34:39,480 In Revelation 1 5, it says, under him who loved us and washed us once and forever from our sin in his own blood. 300 00:34:39,480 --> 00:34:50,840 Ours were the sins, his was the blood. He purged us and made purification by himself for our sins. 301 00:34:50,840 --> 00:34:58,840 He's the heir. He's creator. He's radiance. He's image. He's sustainer. He's purifier. 302 00:34:59,960 --> 00:35:06,760 Here's one of my favorite ones. Last one. Number seven, he's seated. He's seated. 303 00:35:10,760 --> 00:35:15,560 Who being the brightness of his glory, the express image of his person and upholding all things by the word of his power. 304 00:35:15,560 --> 00:35:21,880 When he had by himself purged our sins, when he completed that work of salvation, 305 00:35:21,880 --> 00:35:28,280 nothing more to be done to pay for our sins. He sat down. 306 00:35:30,280 --> 00:35:35,240 He sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high. 307 00:35:37,240 --> 00:35:41,240 In the Old Testament, the tabernacle had seven articles of furniture. 308 00:35:41,240 --> 00:35:51,560 And in that tabernacle, the priests were, among other things, basically butchers. 309 00:35:54,120 --> 00:35:59,240 I mean, if you were to watch what they actually did, they were taking animals, 310 00:36:00,120 --> 00:36:06,120 slaying animals, slaying their blood, sacrificing them all day long. 311 00:36:06,120 --> 00:36:13,400 And the reason they had to do that is because the blood had to atone for sin. 312 00:36:13,960 --> 00:36:16,440 And they had all these things they had to do to atone for their own sin as priests. 313 00:36:16,440 --> 00:36:18,120 We're going to talk about this more in the book of Hebrews. 314 00:36:18,760 --> 00:36:21,880 They had things they had to do to atone for their own sins so that then they could 315 00:36:21,880 --> 00:36:27,480 represent the people to atone for the people's sins. And of course, you know that we don't ever stop sinning. 316 00:36:28,600 --> 00:36:33,320 So once you do the sacrifice of the sheep or the goat or the turtle dove or whatever, 317 00:36:33,320 --> 00:36:37,480 they have to keep sacrificing. And then because that doesn't work for the next day or the next 318 00:36:37,480 --> 00:36:41,240 day, they just have to keep sacrificing and sacrificing. And as a result of the tabernacle, 319 00:36:41,800 --> 00:36:45,640 all the different furniture that's there to worship God with, to do that with, 320 00:36:46,520 --> 00:36:52,120 there's no place to sit down because the work of redemption, the work of purging the sin by 321 00:36:52,120 --> 00:36:56,600 the sacrifice of an animal had to keep happening over and over and over again. 322 00:36:59,640 --> 00:37:03,000 There are seven articles of furniture, but there was one article of furniture you 323 00:37:03,000 --> 00:37:07,320 would not find in it. And that was a chair. No place to sit down. 324 00:37:09,800 --> 00:37:15,000 In Hebrews 10, verse 11 and 13, it tells us why. It says, 325 00:37:15,000 --> 00:37:21,720 in every priest stands daily, ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices which 326 00:37:21,720 --> 00:37:29,320 can never take away sins. Then it says this, but this man Jesus after he had offered one sacrifice 327 00:37:29,320 --> 00:37:40,360 for sins forever. Not multiple sacrifices day after day after day after day. It was one sacrifice 328 00:37:40,360 --> 00:37:48,120 for all sins forever. What does it say he did? He sat down on the right hand of God. 329 00:37:48,920 --> 00:37:49,960 You know what that means? 330 00:37:52,760 --> 00:37:57,080 The blood that was needed to pay for your sin has already been spilled. 331 00:37:57,080 --> 00:38:01,240 And if you know Christ as your savior, there is now therefore no condemnation to those who are in 332 00:38:01,240 --> 00:38:08,520 Christ Jesus. There doesn't have to be another sacrifice for sin. All there has to be is a 333 00:38:08,520 --> 00:38:15,800 recognition of Jesus' sacrifice for sin. Why? Because he's not just any old guy. He's not 334 00:38:15,800 --> 00:38:25,880 just another being. He's the heir of all things. He's the creator. He's the radiance of God's 335 00:38:25,880 --> 00:38:33,240 glory. He is the express image of the person of God. To see him is to see the Father. He is the 336 00:38:33,240 --> 00:38:39,800 sustainer of the universe. Not only did he make it, he sustains it. He purified our sins. And when 337 00:38:39,800 --> 00:38:56,760 he had done that once for all, he sat down. He ever lives to make intercession for us. Jesus is 338 00:38:56,760 --> 00:39:03,400 the glory. Jesus is in the glory at the right hand of the Father. He came all the way from the bosom 339 00:39:03,400 --> 00:39:09,000 of the Father to the bosom of a mother. In infancy, he startled the king. In boyhood, he confounded 340 00:39:09,000 --> 00:39:15,720 the scholars. In manhood, he ruled nature. On the cross, he conquered sin and the tomb and the 341 00:39:15,720 --> 00:39:22,840 resurrection. He conquered death. He's the Lord of history. He's the God of eternity. Jesus is 342 00:39:23,480 --> 00:39:32,520 greater. And now he sits down on the right hand of the Father. So the issue today is this. What are 343 00:39:32,520 --> 00:39:43,480 you going to do with Jesus? Is he the Lord of your life? Has there been a time in your life where you 344 00:39:43,480 --> 00:39:53,000 recognized your own sin and recognize what Jesus did and put your faith and trust in him? There is 345 00:39:53,000 --> 00:40:04,760 no other name under heaven given among men whereby ye must be saved. Jesus is greater. Would you 346 00:40:04,760 --> 00:40:19,720 bow your heads and close your eyes with me this morning? How many of you say, Pastor Ben, there 347 00:40:19,720 --> 00:40:25,720 was a time in my life where I understood who Jesus was.