Welcome to another edition of the Weekend Sermon. It is very good to be with you once again to share a message from the Word of the Lord. I hope that everyone is well.
I have a couple of interviews next week for some possible job opportunities, so I am very thankful to the Lord for this. Please continue to pray that the Lord will supply my needs in the areas of health and finances. The cold weather we've been experiencing has really affected my asthma, but I am doing better. I need to find a job pretty soon, and I still need to sell my house. I am trying to remain optimistic. The job report that came out today was quite poor. Many are giving up looking for jobs. Pray for the unemployed.
I would also ask for your continued prayers for the crisis in Syria. Many people are fleeing from the war in that nation, and there is a great refugee problem. Pray for peace in this troubled area of the world.
Starting this week, I would like us to focus each week on praying for a different country of the world that the Word of the Lord might reach the people there. This week, let us pray for Japan. This nation has very few Christians. Also, this is one of the few nations in the world where the number of Evangelical Christians is actually declining. Pray for those who minister in Japan.
Last week, we began a series of messages on how the majesty and glory of Jesus is revealed in the book of Hebrews. I started out by giving a general overview of the book of Hebrews and the questions concerning the authorship of the book.
We began our study by examining the fact that God has revealed Himself to people throughout history. The Lord gave His message to the prophets, and the people turned their backs on God. Now, God has given the world His final message and His full and supreme revelation in Jesus. Jesus is the Word made flesh. Jesus is the message of love the Father has sent to the world. There is nowhere else we can go to for a message of hope and salvation.
By listening to the teaching of Jesus and examining the way He acted, we can determine the pattern that our lives should take. When we see the love Jesus expressed through His death and resurrection, we should be moved to respond to the love that the Lord has for us.
Today, we will look further into the whole idea of how Jesus is the supreme revelation of God. In Hebrews 1:2 it states that Jesus has been appointed heir of all things. This has to do with the Sonship of Jesus. As the Son of God, Jesus is heir to all that belong to the Father. In other words, everything that can be said of the Father can also be said of the Son. As the Father is divine, so is the Son.
Jesus explained this principle to His disciples as part of the Upper Room Discourse. In John 14:7, Jesus says, "If you had known me, you would have known my Father also". Philip does not understand what Jesus is trying to say, so Jesus says in verse 9 and following, "Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father... Believe in me that I am in the Father and the Father in me."
Hebrews 1:3 will make this point even more clearly. It states, "Who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person." In other words, if a person really sees Jesus, they have seen the Father. Jesus and the Father are one.
What does this all mean? It means that Jesus is fully divine. Jesus was not a man who God adopted to be His Son. Jesus was not some man who fully developed a Christ Consciousness. Jesus was God come in human flesh.
All of the attributes that the Father has also belong to Jesus. Just as the Father in Heaven is perfect and holy in every way, so is Jesus the Son.
Now, here is what is so awe inspiring. Jesus is the supreme revelation, because He is the full and complete revelation to the world of God Himself. God is not speaking through someone or something else. God has fully revealed what He is like and how much He loves us in the person of Jesus. The entire message of God is revealed to us in Jesus. How can there be any greater revelation than this. In what better way could God reveal Himself than by coming and bringing the message Himself.
We have just come through the Christmas season. During that time, we talk about Emmanuel. This means God is with us. God became incarnate in the person of Jesus to fully reveal Himself to us. He also became the means of our redemption and justification. That is why Paul can say that God is both just and the justifier at the same time.
Jesus as the Second Person of the Trinity has also always existed. Jesus did not just come into being when He was born on Christmas. Hebrews 1:2 says that through Jesus, "He made the worlds". The Apostle Paul also writes about this in Colossians 1:15-17 that says, "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in Heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist." Hebrews 1:3 says that Jesus, "Upholds all things by the word of His power."
This clearly demonstrates the ultimate and supreme revelation given through Jesus. It also clearly shows the fact that Jesus was not just a mere mortal. Jesus was the pre-existent, eternal God.
Finally, we see what it is that Jesus has accomplished on our behalf, and this will be a major theme throughout the remainder of our study in Hebrews. Jesus purged all of our sins. Jesus suffered and died for us. He bore our sins in His body on the cross. Jesus is the sacrifice for sins that satisfies both the demands of love and justice.
Jesus has completed the work of redemption. This is signified by the statement in Hebrews 1:3 that says, "He sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high." Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father, because Jesus has completed everything that is necessary for our redemption. We cannot add anything of our own works to what Jesus has done.
Jesus is the supreme revelation of how to have a relationship with the Father. People are seeking how that they can have a relationship with God. They want to know how to be free from sin and guilt. Jesus has revealed the way. He is the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Jesus.
If you want to know how to have eternal life, look to Jesus. If you want to know how to live a holy life, look to Jesus. Follow Him and serve Him completely.
If you have never turned you life over to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, I urge you to do it today. Jesus wants to save you. He died and rose again in order that you might have new life in Him.
Those of you who are already followers of Jesus, I urge you to learn more about Him. Read what Jesus has said. Spend time with Him in meditation and prayer. Obey all those things that He has commanded His followers to do.
Next week, we will continue our study in Hebrews. On Wednesday, I will try to post a book review. May God bless. Amen.
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