Jesus' Qualifications for Superiority #2
Part 2
Hebrews 1:1-14
Harry Stoliker
May 28, 2006 EBC
Last week we began to unpack Jesus’ qualifications for supremacy or
superiority. We looked at 4 powerful truths about Jesus from Heb. 1 that
makes him superior to everything else that exists:
- But in these last days he has spoken to us by His Son
- “whom he appointed heir of all thing…”
- “…and through whom he made the universe.”
- “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory.”
The author of Hebrews didn’t think that was enough
so he continued to give us ‘blockbuster statements’ about Jesus that not
only thrill our hearts, fortify our faith, humble our spirits, intrigue
our minds, and win our affections but also effective smash any arguments
that try to say that Jesus isn’t God in the flesh! Let’s continue to work through
this pivotal chapter in the Bible.
Picking up right where we left off last week in Heb. 1:3 – the second phrase
of that verse.
“the exact representation of his being…” ESV “…the exact imprint
of his nature…” “the very stamp” This is the only place in the NT
where this term is used. It means an ‘engraved character’ or the
impression made by a die or a seal. What the author is saying is that
Jesus is the exact correspondence to God in every way with regard
to his very essence or substance! Thus he is the perfect representative
of God. The stress of the Greek word is in the “exactness”
of the copy made by the engraver. There is no flaw, no glitch, no fault, variation
or anomaly in the copy. You can’t distinguish it from the original. Jesus is the
exact representation of what? Of God’s being or essence. The Greek word denotes
the very substance of God.
›ðüóôáóéò - hupostasis - hoop-os'-tas-is: From a compound ›ðü - hupo
A preposition meaning “under” and lóôçìé - his'-tay-mee-
A form of a word meaning to stand. The idea is what stands under a
thing or its essence. So, Jesus is the exact representation of what is at the
center or stands under God the Father, in other words, His essential
being.
This is why Jesus can say in John 14:9 “He who has seen me has seen the Father!”
There is nothing about the Father that isn’t visible in the Son! This
is why Paul can say in 2 Cor. 4:4 “The god of this age has blinded
the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the
glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” And again in Col. 1:15
“He is the image of God…” The Greek word for “image”
here means: “to be essentially and absolutely the perfect expression and representation
of God the Father” (Vine). That is to say: There is nothing God is that Jesus isn’t!
Col. 2:9 “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily
form.” These are the verses that destroy the arguments of false religions
and cults and the Da Vinci Code that says the early church hid the fact
that Jesus was only a man!
“sustaining all things by his powerful word…” This phrase tells us that it
is Jesus that keeps the universe from flying into utter chaos. Astrophysicists
study gravity, intermolecular forces or electrostatic forces
in the atoms and think they understand the cosmic glue that holds
it all together! But it is Jesus who upholds it, sustains it, directs
it and moves it toward its ultimate destination. The Greek word
for “sustaining” means “movement or progress toward an end.”
When it says that Jesus is “sustaining” the universe, it is not the picture
of Atlas holding up the dead weight of the world on his tired shoulders.
The word gives the picture of controlled direction toward a predetermined
destination. The universe isn’t spinning out of control, headed nowhere
in a hurry! The sun comes up each morning because Jesus tells it to. The
seasons rotate by His direct command. The clouds, moon, oceans and animals
all do exactly as He tells them to do, when he tells them to do it. People live and
die according to his sovereign will. What kind of powerful word
does it take to sustain a universe?? That is why he is superior. Col. 1:17
“…in him all things hold together!” Greek word sunistemi,
óõíßóôçìé
means "to stand-together," "to be compacted together,"
"to cohere."
I found an article that speaks about what the scientific community
thinks is holding the Universe together: New phantom particle could be the cold dark
matter that holds universe together:
“Imagine our entire galaxy divided into spaces each about the size of a soccer ball.
Inside each soccer ball, picture one invisible particle so tiny it can pass between
atoms and zip right through solid objects. No one has ever seen one of these phantom
particles. The world's most powerful particle accelerators have no direct evidence
that they exist. But, according to physicist Gordon Kane, these ethereal pinpoints
in space could be the glue that holds the universe together--the mysterious
cold dark matter or "missing mass" which has puzzled cosmologists
for decades.
Called LSPs for lightest supersymmetric partner, they are just one of a new
class of sub-atomic particles predicted by Kane and a handful of other scientists
as part of a new theory in physics called supersymmetry. (I think this isn’t
quite so new anymore.)
Astrophysicists know the total mass our universe must have in order for it
to exist in its current form, but stars, galaxies and other types of known matter
account for less than 10 percent of this amount. According to the theory
of supersymmetry, the combined mass of LSPs scattered throughout the universe produces
the remaining 90 percent.
In a presentation at the American Physical Society (APS) meeting Kane described
recent theoretical developments in supersymmetry, its potential for explaining cold
dark matter and its contribution to a new understanding of the fundamental nature
of all matter, space and time in the universe. "Supersymmetry brings us one
step closer to answering some of the 'why' questions of our universe," Kane
said. "Why does matter exist? What controlled the expansion of the universe
after the Big Bang? The world doesn't have to be such a mysterious place.
With the addition of supersymmetry, the world becomes a place that makes sense
and can be analyzed mathematically." LSPs don’t hold the universe
together, Jesus does!
“…after providing purification for sins” Here we see that his substitutionary
work on the Cross made an actual purification for our sins. This
was a work that no human or angel could do. He was the perfect Lamb of God
that took away the sins of His people. The Father’s Holy Wrath would not have
been appeased with any other sacrifice; it had to be the Perfect Son
of God dying in our place! This is the GOSPEL- that God poured out on Jesus
Christ the punishment we deserved because of our sin against His Holy
Law and Holy Character. We receive forgiveness because Jesus received our
punishment. That is why He is superior and supreme!
Notice an important change in the tense of the verbs from our last phrase.
Jesus is “sustaining” the universe, which is an ongoing, present tense
activity. Here we have the past tense, he provided or made
purification. It is a finished, once for all action. Purification
– speaks of two critical ideas: removal and satisfaction. For our
sins to be ‘purified’ or for us to have been purified of our sins
they would have had to been REMOVED from us. Ps. 103:12 “…as far as
the east is from the west so far has he removed our transgressions from us!”
In the mind of God, the work of Christ removed our sins and their deserved
consequences. Purification also speaks of the idea of SATISFACTION. God was
satisfied with the sacrifice of Christ as a just substitute for the
deserved penalty upon sin. Jesus provided purification! We can not provide
an ounce of self-purification,
self-cleansing, self-penance, or self-justification.Human, man-centered religion
is always an attempt at self-purification. That is the tell-tale sign
of false religion: a denial or minimization of the purifying work of Jesus Christ
and the infiltration of some form of self-purification.
When Jesus died on the Cross he cried out, “It is finished!”
What was finished? This phrase tells us what was finished; it was the providing
of purification for the sins of His people!
…”he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.” This phrase also
points to the completion and non-repetition of the work of Jesus on the Cross.
It points to the resurrection and ascension into heaven of Jesus. If Jesus
is at the right hand of God the Majesty, he had to get there from
the tomb. The right hand of the throne is the place of highest honor and authority.
This is clearly another proof of His deity, for God said he would never share
His glory with another, yet we see Jesus sharing in heaven the glory
of the Majestic God.
Paul says in Phil. 2 that every knee will bow to Him as King.
That proves He is equal to God the Father for God wouldn’t allow that to happen
unless His Son was His equal in essence and glory.
Jesus is ruling the universe as its OWNER-MAKER-KING. Commentators over the
ages have noted that this should not be taken in a ‘crassly literal sense.’
It points to the truth that Jesus is reigning and judging the universe supremely
as a seated King would.
One other thing it doesn’t point to is INACTIVITY. That Jesus is seated doesn’t
mean that he is inactive. We know that he is still very active, in
at least 4 ways. (1) He is busy sustaining the universe by
his powerful word, (2) He is ruling over history and the activities
of men, (3) He is interceding for his people as Heb. 7:25 says,
(4) He is preparing a place for his people as John 14:2 says.
We might say: Jesus can do more seated than anyone else can do running around!
Just before talking about how Jesus compares to the angels, let me
summarize these three… - I just don’t know a good word to describe their
incredible importance to our lives! - amazing verses. They
tell us that Jesus is superior because he is our PROPHET – PRIEST
and KING! He is
THE Prophet of God, THE Priest of God and THE King of God.
No one was ever the prophet-priest-king. We need a prophet – to know
exactly what God’s will is; a priest – to offer the ONLY acceptable sacrifice
for our sins (which Jesus himself became, so he is the priest and the sacrifice!);
a king – a sovereign ruler over our lives and our destinies! He is our ALL
– IN – ALL! His offices, as they are called, the roles he functions
in on behalf of his people, all reflect His supremacy and deity!
We should give him unending praise for all of this!!!!!
The rest of Chapter One 1:5-14 talks about Angels and how they compare to
Jesus Christ. Why is this given so much space? Because at the time of this
letter there was a teaching that in the final days certain angelic
beings would be superior to the Messiah. It was a contemporary issue of their
day, a hot topic. There was a community of messianic Jews that had
dropped out of society and lived in the Dead Sea area known as Qumran.
They were called the Essenes. Some of their writings included the doctrine
of the worship of angels. The apostle Paul mentions this issue in Col. 2:18
“Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels,
going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind…”
The author uses 7 OT quotes to prove the Jesus has inherited a ‘better’ name
than the angels. This shows that the recipients of the epistle were Hebrew
Christians who knew and believed the OT pointed to the coming messiah. He gives
no less than 11 reasons Jesus is superior to angels.
What a great 7/11!
1.No angel was ever the Son of God (V. 5) Jesus was unique and had
a qualitatively unique relationship with God the Father.
2.Jesus is called the ‘firstborn’ – which carries the idea of precedence,
highest honor and dignity. (V.6).
3.All the angels were to worship Him as they worshiped God There is no hesitation
to assign to Jesus what the OT assigns to Yahweh! One author called this
“the innermost bond between the two testaments…the kingdom of Jehovah and the kingdom
of Christ are one.” (V.6)
4.Angels are just servants of God (V.7) – their essential nature
is not divine
5.Jesus is designated as God whose throne will last forever (V.8) – Again
Jesus is addressed as God! Ps. 45:6 “Your throne, O God, will last forever…”
speaks of everlasting sovereignty!
6.God has set Jesus above all heavenly and earthly beings (V.9) – “above your
companions…” Jesus is “anointed” by God, he is the CHRIST – the Anointed
One.
7.The universe is the work of Jesus hands (V.10) – Again Jesus is given credit
for what Yahweh of the OT is said to have done! Ps. 102:25-26 talks about
Jehovah God!
8.The eternality and immutability of Jesus makes him superior (V.11-12)-
He never changes! (Heb. 13:8)
9.No angel is sitting at God’s powerful right hand (V.13) – position
of ultimate authority
10.God is not working on behalf of any angel to conquer its enemies (V.13)
11.Angels are ministering spirits not the Sovereign God (V.14)
What’s the Summary and Application of all this: Here is what I want you to hear:
A Superior Prophet has spoken for God and revealed God to us. His
name is Jesus Christ!
He has called us to radical discipleship on the Calvary Road
– the road of self-denial and death.
We dare not ignore what He is saying. To do that is to waste our lives
on meaningless and trivial things. We want to live exactly the way
the Superior Prophet told us to live.
We face the challenge of working this out in a culture that thinks the Calvary
Road is ridiculous and unnecessary. They would rather us walk with them
down the Luxury Road with them.
They would rather us tone it down and not say that Jesus demands total commitment
and Lordship of his people.
My question for you to take home is this: Will you take Hebrews Chapter 1
with you to work or to school this week and let it affect the way you live
your life, the way you relate to people, the way you value all you have,
the way you spend your money and time, the way you think about your worth,
the way you treat your family, and think about your future?
Another way of saying it is: How will you let the truth about the superiority
of Jesus Christ transform you into a more radical disciple in this culture at this
time in history?
How do you know if this is happening in your life? Perhaps a simply way is
to ask this question:
What do you really enjoy thinking about when your mind isn’t concentrating
on a project at work or school? Where your mind naturally drifts to is what
you really love. Examine yourself this week and see if you can tell
where your mind drifts to when you have a few free moments of free-thought.
It may tell you if you really believe in the supremacy and superiority of
Jesus Christ or not.
My prayer is that you will see ever so clearer the pounding theme of the book of
Hebrews, and that it will make a significant change in your life this year!
We know that Paul loved the supremacy of Jesus! He told Christians: “If you
have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated
at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things
that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
When Christ, who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”
Col. 3:1-3 Is this how you live from day to day?
Let's pray.
H.