The Superiority of Christ, Part 1

Hero image

Lance Sparks

Series: Hebrews | Service Type: Sunday Morning
The Superiority of Christ, Part 1
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Scripture: Hebrews 1:2-3

Transcript

Thank you, Kristen. It's so good to have you with us today. If you've got your Bible, Hebrews chapter 1. Hebrews chapter 1 verse 2b. That's where we're at. We have spent nine weeks in Hebrews 1.1 and 2a and we have looked at the sufficiency and the supremacy of scripture, helping you understand that Jesus Christ is that final revelation and there is no other need for visions or any other extra biblical revelation because everything is fulfilled in Jesus Christ, our Lord. And so as we move in through Hebrews, we'll begin to understand that Jesus Christ is that all sufficient one.

He is the supreme one. And so we look at the book of Hebrews and we understand that it's written to a church, a group of people, Jewish people.

Some, most are believers. Some are unbelievers. They had been won, uh, to the gospel by apostolic missionaries who had shared Jesus Christ with them. And they live out somewhere outside the land of Israel and they, uh, have a group of believers. And in that group, there are some people that are unbelievers. And so within the book of Hebrews, there are five parenthetical statements directed to the unbeliever to warn them about rejecting this all sufficient Christ, to warn them that if they reject him and don't come to saving faith, they, uh, live in danger of eternal damnation.

And so like any church, it's a group of people that are gathered together. Most are believers, but the scattered throughout, there are tears among the wheat and they need to understand the importance of giving their life to Christ. And so the Hebrews begins by helping us to understand the announcement of the coming Messiah. It's the promise of the coming Messiah. And so he says very clearly, God, after he spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, what did he speak about?

He spoke about the coming of the Messiah. Everything in the old Testament was about anticipation. Everything was about announcement. Everything was about promise. And so everything in the old Testament would foretell the coming of the Messiah. And so when you come to verse two in these last days or in the last of these days, he has spoken to us in his son. So you have the announcement in verse one, you have the arrival in verse two, you have the promise in verse one, you had the presence in verse two, you have that, which was foretold in verse one, and you have that, which is fulfilled in verse number two.

So you have the coming of the Messiah in verse number two, in the last of these days, he has spoken to us explicitly through his son, Jesus Christ.

Now remember, even the writer of Hebrews tells us that the old Testament saints did not understand in its entirety, the promise. Hebrews 11 verse number 39 tells us, and these all having received witness through faith, receive not the promise, God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect. In other words, these old Testament saints did not receive the promise, but that which the prophets spoke of was all about the promise of the Messiah. You see, you got to realize that everything in the old Testament is about anticipation.

Everything in the new Testament is about fulfillment of that anticipation. That's why when the writer of Hebrews speaks to this Jewish congregation, there are some in the congregation that are still holding on to the old covenant promise and had not let go of the old covenant to embrace the new covenant. So he'll address that later on in the book of Hebrews, but you have to realize that that which is promised has now been presented to them in the son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. And that's why he goes into this long description of the authority of the Christ and who he is.

Peter says that this way in first Peter chapter one verse number 10, of which salvation the prophets have inspired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you searching what person or what manner of time the spirit of Christ who was in them did signify when he testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow unto whom it was revealed that not unto themselves, but unto us, they did minister to things which are now reported to you by them that have preached the gospel.

The old Testament wrote about things that were unfulfilled, the old Testament prophets. And even though they did not understand them, they searched diligently to find the answer to the comprehension of the promise that was to come. But now that Christ has come, the fulfillment of the promise, now everything in Christ, all the promises of Christ are yes. All the promises of God are yes in Christ. Second Corinthians 1.20.

So Christ is that final revelation. Everything that was promised is fulfilled in the arrival of the Messiah. And that's what verse one and verse 2a are all about. It's about the announcement. The Messiah is coming. Verse 2a is about the arrival of the Messiah in the last of these days in which God was speaking. He spoke to us in his son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. So you had the arrival. I mean, you had the announcement, you had the arrival, and now you have the authority, the authority of the one who arrived.

Why is what he said so important? Why is he so sufficient? Why is he so supreme? Why is he so significant? And so the writer of Hebrews describes for us the Messiah in a beautiful way to help us understand the greatness of who he is. Who is this Messiah? That's the important question. Someone has said these words about Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ came from the bosom of the father to the bosom of a woman. He put on humanity that we might put on divinity. He became son of man that we might become sons of God.

He was born contrary to the laws of nature, lived in poverty, was reared in obscurity, and only once crossed the boundary of the land to which he was born, and that in his childhood. He had no wealth or influence and had neither training nor education in the world's schools. His relatives were inconspicuous and uninfluential. In infancy, he startled a king. In boyhood, he puzzled the learned doctors. In manhood, he ruled the course of nature. He walked upon the billows and hushed the sea to sleep.

He healed the multitudes without medicine and made no charge for his services. He never wrote a book, and yet all the libraries of the world could not hold the books about him. He never wrote a song, yet he has furnished a theme for more songs than all the songwriters together. He never founded a college, yet all the schools together cannot boast of as many students as he has had. He never practiced medicine, yet he has healed more broken hearts than all the doctors have healed broken bodies. This Jesus Christ is a star of astronomy, the rock of geology, the lion in the land of zoology, the harmonizer of all discords, and the healer of all diseases.

Throughout history, great men have come and gone, yet he lives on. Herod could not kill him. Satan could not seduce him. Death could not destroy him, and the grave could not hold him. That, in summation, is Jesus Christ our Lord. And what the Rite of Hebrews does is gives us the theological background behind this coming one who was announced by the prophets of old. Everything about the Bible is about Christ. Everything in the scriptures points us to Christ. We come to church to see Christ. No other reason.

We come to church to worship the King. No other reason. We are here to lift up Christ as sovereign ruler of the universe. There's no other reason to come to church. There's no other reason to worship, because worship is about the King. And the Rite of and the following week on in verse 2b, c, and 3. And finally, we'll move to verse 4 down the road.

It's not going to always take us this long, but it's a great study, as you will soon see. The question always is, who is Jesus? That's always the question. Whenever you talk to somebody, you want to understand their view of Jesus, because that's all that matters. If someone was to ask you, who is Jesus, what would you say? I love when we go to Israel. We go up to the northern part of the land of Israel, to Caesarea Philippi. And up there, there was a time when Christ took his men up there. It's right at the base of Mount Hermon.

And right before the Mount of Transfiguration, Christ would ask his men that famous question, who do men say that I am? Because in Caesarea Philippi, there were all these statues of all these false gods. And as Christ would walk among all these false gods with his men, Christ would ask, who do men say that I am? And they would say, well, some would say you're Elijah. Some would say you're Jeremiah. Some would say you're one of the prophets. In other words, people are saying you're great, but nobody's saying you're God.

See that? Because Elijah, Jeremiah, the prophets were great. Christ says, who do people say that I am?

What is the popular opinion of the Messiah? So they respond, but nobody's saying the Messiah is God. So Christ says, okay, who do you say that I am?

Forget about the popular opinion, because when you stand before Christ, it doesn't make any difference what anybody else says. It only makes a difference what you say. So what's the personal opinion? What do you say? Who do you say that I am? What does Peter say? Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. That statement right there is the statement about the Messiah. Thou art the Messiah of Israel, Hamashiach. You are the Son, the Wios, of the living God. And what did Christ say to Peter? Ah, Peter, flesh and blood did not reveal that unto you.

In other words, no man revealed that to you. Nobody on earth can convince you that I am the Messiah, the Son of the living God. Flesh and blood did not reveal that to you, but my Father who is in heaven is the one who revealed that to you. You see, only God in heaven can reveal to you the identity of Jesus Christ, the Messiah. My job is to preach to you the truth. My job is to give you what the word of the Lord says. But only God himself can bring conviction to your soul and convince you that what you hear is the absolute truth about Jesus Christ, our Lord.

I would hope you understand the identity of the Messiah. I would hope you would understand who Jesus Christ is. Because in understanding who he is, you can then understand why he did what he did. And so it all begins with the identity of the Messiah. And that's where the writer of Hebrews begins. He begins with the announcement about the coming Messiah. The Father spoke. Then he gives you the arrival of the Messiah. He came in the last of these days. He spoke to us through his Son. And now let me give you the authority of that Messiah.

Why he is the supreme one. Why he is the all-sufficient one. Because he is the one we are to worship. Verses one to three set the tone for the entire book. If you miss verses one to three, you're going to miss everything else we're going to say. So make sure you get verses one to three down pat. Make sure you understand who the Messiah is. Make sure you understand that everything in the Old Testament was an announcement, a promise about the coming Messiah. When he came, he arrived, he was here in present form.

He presented himself as king. Why did he do that? Because he is the supreme, all-authoritative one. And how do you know he is? This is what the writer of Hebrews says. He says, whom he appointed heir of all things. That's to be. Hebrews 1 to be. That's as far as we're going to go today. Whom he appointed heir of all things. In other words, Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And the Father has granted him the possession of all things. That's why he is supreme. That's why he is sufficient. That's why he is the all-authoritative, sovereign king of the universe.

Simply because his Father has given him everything. Now listen. The writer of Colossians, which is Paul, says in Colossians 1.16 that all things were created by Christ and for Christ. All things were created by Christ and for Christ. Listen to Psalm 2. Psalm 2, a messianic psalm. God the Father is speaking. He says this, verse 6, yet I have set my king upon my holy hill Zion. I will declare the decree the Lord has set unto me. Thou art my son. This day have I begotten thee. Speaking of two things, because it refers to two things in the book of Hebrews.

The incarnation and the resurrection for both are put together. Today I have begotten thee. Ask of me and I shall give thee the nations for thy inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron. Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. The psalmist indicated that God would have a son that would become heir of all that he possessed and that son is Jesus Christ. Now listen very carefully because the psalmist in Psalm 89 says this about the Messiah.

He says, I will make him my firstborn higher than the kings of the earth. God the Father says, I will make the Messiah my firstborn higher than all the kings of the earth. You must understand the term firstborn because it's used in the book of Colossians. Colossians chapter 1 verse number 15. He, Christ, is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. It says in verse 18, he is also the head of the body of the church and he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead. You must be able to understand the firstborn.

What does that mean? In fact, let me give it to you this way. Whenever you talk to somebody who is a Jehovah's Witness or a Mormon or anybody who's of another cult, you must be able to define three specific things about the Messiah. You must understand and define firstborn. You must understand and define only begotten. And you must be able to define and defend the word son. Okay? If you have those three down, you can defend the faith without problems. But you must understand those three words, firstborn, only begotten, and son.

The psalmist said in Psalm 89, I will make the Messiah my firstborn, the ruler of the kings of the earth. What does it mean to be the firstborn? It's the word prototokos. It can refer to chronological order. But in Jewish context, it does not. It always refers to the son of preeminence. Let me show you how it's used in scripture.

This is very important. In Exodus chapter 4, verse number 22, Israel by God is called my son, my firstborn. In the Greek Septuagint, my prototokos. So Israel is called the firstborn of the nations. Let me ask you a question.

Is Israel the first nation born? Answer, no. There were many nations before Israel. But God says, I will make Israel my firstborn, my son, my firstborn, the firstborn of all the nations, the preeminent one above all the nations.

Why? Because they are the nation of choice. Nation of choice. Remember, Joseph had two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. Manasseh the firstborn, Ephraim the secondborn. So in Genesis 48, he brings Manasseh and Ephraim to his father Israel to be blessed. He puts Manasseh on his right, Israel's right, Ephraim on his left. So that Manasseh, the firstborn son, chronologically would receive the blessing. But when he comes to bring his sons, Israel crosses his hands and blesses Ephraim, making Ephraim the firstborn and not Manasseh, making Ephraim the son of prominence and not Manasseh.

It's the son of choice, the prototokos. It can refer chronologically to your firstborn son, but the one who receives the prototokos, the firstborn inheritance, is the son of choice. It does not mean he was the first one created because we know that Jesus was not created because he created what?

All things. We also know that he is the eternal one. Isaiah 9 verse number 6 tells us he's from everlasting to everlasting, so therefore only the eternal one can create an eternity, therefore he is uncreated. So he can't be the firstborn one created. So what does prototokos mean? It means the son of preeminence, the son of choice. The other word, only begotten. We call that the monogonace or the monogonace, the only begotten son. Some will say that Jesus is the only begotten son of the father, meaning that he was begotten by the father, that he was born of the father.

But what does monogonace mean? Monogonace does not refer, like prototokos, to chronology. It refers specifically to the son of choice, and that is specifically defined in the book of Hebrews, the 11th chapter, Hebrews chapter 11, verse number 17, when it says, By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promise was offering up his only begotten son, Isaac. So let me ask you a question.

Was Isaac the only begotten son of his father? Answer, yes and no. He was the only begotten when it comes to the son of choice, but remember there was Ishmael who was born first, right?

But Isaac was the son of promise. Isaac was the monogonace. He would receive the inheritance. You see, you need to understand these words. So you have prototokos, which is firstborn, which means son of preeminence, son of rank, son of position. You have monogonace, only begotten, which deals with the son of choice, the son of prominence. And then you have the word son, S-O-N, which when used of Christ is wios, H-U-I-O-S, wios, which is very important because Jesus is the son of God. What does that mean, the son of God?

It simply means this, that Jesus is equal in nature to God. Well, how do you get that other word son? Because the word wios never refers to origin, never. It only refers to position and rank. It refers to equality in rank. So therefore, Jesus being called the son of God is equal in nature to God because he is the wios of God. He is never called, listen, Jesus is never called the little born one of God, the brifos of God, which is the child born in the womb. He's never called the technon of God, that is a toddler child, never.

He's only called the wios of God. Now I know I'm getting theological, I know I'm getting technical here, but you need to understand this if you're going to defend the faith to those who come to you and say that Jesus was a created being. He's not because he's the eternal God of the universe. And the writer of Hebrews is telling us from the outset that he is the firstborn. Therefore, he is the son of God. Therefore, he is the only begotten of God. Therefore, he is the heir of all that God possesses.

He is the rightful heir because he is the son of choice. He's the rightful heir because he's the son of promise. He is the rightful heir because he is equal in nature to God, because he created all things, because all things are for him. See that? That's why he is the supreme one. That's why he's the all authoritative one. That's why we worship him as our king. That's why it's so important to understand the scriptures. That's why we tell you great grammar, great theology, bad grammar, bad theology.

If you understand the grammar, you understand the theology. If you understand the theology, you defend the faith. Those who come to you say, I didn't know that. And you say, well, you should know that because you know the truth about who Jesus Christ is. So when Peter says in Caesarea Philippi, thou art the Christ, Hamashiach, the son, the Wios, equal in nature to the living God. Peter says you are the Messiah and the Messiah is equal in nature to the living God. You are God in the flesh. So Peter's saying, that's why Christ said flesh and blood did not reveal that to you.

Only my father who is in heaven did. That's why in second Corinthians four, Satan puts out all of his efforts to blind the eye, the unbeliever from believing in the deity of Christ.

If you believe that Jesus Christ is God in the flesh, the son of the living God, equal in nature to the God, the father, you had been revealed that by the father in heaven, not on your own. Nobody comes to that conclusion on their own. Christ is the rightful heir of all that the father possesses because he is the prototokos, the firstborn. He is the only begotten son of the father, the monogamous. He is the son of God. He is the Wios, the one who was equal in nature to God. You need to understand that.

So if he is the rightful heir to all that he possesses, when does he possess it? Revelation chapter five. Listen to this. John says, I saw on the right hand of him who sat on the throne, a book written inside and on the back sealed up with seven seals. God, the father's on the throne. God, the father has a scroll and in Roman times, they would take a scroll. He would roll it, seal it, roll it again, seal it, roll it again, seal it, roll it again, roll it again, seal it, roll it again, seal it, roll it again, roll it again, seal it.

So it could not be broken. And John says, I saw a book written, a scroll inside and on the back sealed up with seven seals. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice who is worthy to open the book and to break its seals. And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the book or look into it. Then I began to weep greatly because no one was found worthy to open the book or to look into it. What is the book? What is the scroll? The scroll is a title deed to the earth.

That's what it is. And God, the father holds a title deed to the earth because he's in charge. And one of the elders said to me, stop weeping. Behold, the lion is from the tribe of Judah. That's the Messiah. The root of David has overcome. He is the victorious warrior. He is the Nakao. We talked about that last week. He is the victorious warrior. He is the one who overcome. So as to open the book and it's seven seals, there's only one worthy to open the book. That's the son of promise. That is the only begotten son, the first born of the father.

And I saw between the throne with the four living creatures and the elders, the lamb standing as a slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God set out into all the earth. And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him who sat on the throne. And when he had taken the book, the four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the lamb, each one holding a harp and golden bowls of full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song saying, worthy are you to take the book and to break it seals for you were slain and purchased for God with your blood.

Men, men, sorry, from every tribe and tongue and people and nation, you have made them to be a kingdom and priest to our God and they will reign upon the earth. And it goes and talks about how the angels exalt the land. So the son takes the land that looks like he was slain because he was. He takes the book and he begins to break the seals. If you know anything about the book of travel, book of revelation, revelation six opens to us the first seal and the book of revelation consists of the seven seals.

All right. The seven seals that will be broken upon the earth as each part of the scroll is unfolded. And then when you come to the seventh seal being broken, you have seven trumpets of sound in succession and seven bowls that are poured out in succession in a matter of weeks, maybe even a matter of months, maybe probably a matter of days at the end of the tribulation. So when you come to revelation chapter 11, you're truly at the end of the book of revelation, revelation 11. First number 15, then the seventh angel sounded and there were loud voices in heaven saying the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ and he will reign forever and never.

And the 24 elders who sit on the throne from before God fell on their faces and worshiped God saying, we give you thanks the Lord, God, the almighty who are and who were because you have taken your great power and have begun to reign all before this. It was the God who was and is and is to come, but now it's the God who was and is no longer is that the God who is to come? Why? Because now he's come. Now he's here. He's taken the scroll. He's broken the seven seals. The seventh seal breaks and the trumpets blow.

The bowls are poured and the king reigns over the earth because he has the title deed to the earth. That's what happens. You see, he is the rightful heir to all, all that he created. And the father has given him all of it to a son and the price he paid. Oh, the price he paid. Second Corinthians eight verse number nine.

Oh, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. How that he was rich. Yet for your sakes, he became poor that you through his poverty might be rich. Why is that important? Because as Christ begins to take back that which is rightfully his as the firstborn son, the only begotten of the father, the Bible says these words, book of Romans eight chapter 16th verse, the spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God and of children heirs also heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ.

In other words, what Christ possesses, we possess because we are joint heirs with Christ. We are fellow heirs with Christ. One of the promises given the book of revelation to the overcomer is that I will grant you the opportunity to sit on my father's throne with me. That's just powerful. That's powerful. And here is Jesus Christ our Lord. Here is the writer of Hebrews describing to us this Messiah, this one who has arrived that was announced in the old Testament. And now he is what he said. He was the all authoritative one because he is the rightful heir to possess everything that the father has.

The wealth of his possessions is amazing. In the book of Matthew, there's a parable that describes this that was given by Christ on Wednesday of passion week. He died on Friday. And it says verse 33 of Matthew 21, listen to another parable. Now remember he's speaking to the Jewish leaders of Israel because they are gathered all around him on the Temple Mount. There was a landowner landowner's God who planted a vineyard. That's the Jewish nation and put a wall around it and dug a wine press in it and built a tower.

Did everything to make it the perfect place and rented it out to vine growers. Vine growers are the Jewish leaders. And he went on a journey. When the harvest time approached, he sent his slaves, old Testament prophets to the vine growers to receive his produce. The vine growers took his slaves and beat one killed another and stoned a third.

Again, he sent another group of slaves, another old Testament prophets larger than the first. And they did the same thing to them. But afterwards he sent a son, Christ the Messiah. He sent a son to them saying they will respect my son. But when the vine growers, the religious leaders saw the son, they said among themselves, this is the heir who has come, the rightful heir, right? He is the heir to come. Let us kill him and we will seize his inheritance. This is the rightful heir. Let's kill him and we'll receive his inheritance.

So he took him, threw him out of the vineyard and they killed him. They crucified their Messiah. Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vine growers? Now this is so important because if you're with us in our study of Matt Luke, we covered this parable. This is very important. Christ asked a question because the religious leaders know exactly what's taking place. He's speaking to them. They are the vine growers. The vineyard is Israel. They know. They're putting two and two together.

Now listen very carefully to what the religious leaders say to the parable that indicts the religious leaders of Israel. They said to him he will bring those wretches to a wretched end and he will rent out the vineyard to other vine growers who will pay him the proceeds at the proper seasons. That's a religious leader speaking. They're going to take, he's going to take those wretched vine growers. He's going to give them what they deserve. He's going to take that precious possession. He's going to give it to others.

Others meaning Gentiles. Others meaning the church. They had no idea what they were saying. They indicted themselves and they didn't even know it. So Jesus says, did you never read in the scriptures?

I love it when Jesus says that. You ever read this? Then you read it. What did you think? What have you been doing your whole life? You're Jewish leaders. You never read this? You should know. Psalm 118. Messianic Psalm. Did you ever not ever read this? Then you put two and two together. Then you know one plus one is two. Two plus two is four. How simple can it possibly be? The stone which is built is rejected. Crucifixion. This became the chief cornerstone. Why? The resurrection. This came about from the Lord and it's marvelous in our eyes.

That's Psalm 118. Verse number 22 and verse number 23. Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you. It will be. And given to a people producing fruit of it. He's going to give it to the church. And he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces. But on whomever it falls, it will be scattered. It will scatter him like dust. Wow. When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard this, they understood that he was speaking about them. And when they sought to seize him, they feared the people because they considered him to be a prophet.

They knew Jesus was speaking to them. They knew. Because he was. He had not even been crucified yet, but he was a stone to build was rejected. And because they rejected him, he became the chief cornerstone through his resurrection. Whoever falls in that stone will be put to dust. Who's ever crushed by that stone, will die in eternal damnation. That's why it's important to understand who Jesus is. You can't reject the son. And that's why throughout the book of Hebrews, there are those five parenthetical statements all given to those who are in danger of rejecting Christ again.

Because he's going to make sure you understand everything about the Messiah at the outset of his letter. You must understand who he is. Because once you understand who he is, you're accountable to what you've heard. If you reject him, you're in danger of eternal damnation. But if you receive him, if you embrace him for who he is, then you've understood the deity of Christ. You've understood the promise that was presented to you in the son. And you've understood how preeminent that promise is because that is the son of the living God.

The heir of all that God possesses. Let me pray with you. Father, we thank you for today. For truly Lord, it is great to be in the house of the Lord. It is great to study the word of the Lord. It is great to be able to understand the beauty of your word. Where we gather together to open the word of God, which is the revelation of Christ. There is nothing greater than studying the person and work of Jesus Christ, our Lord. We are so richly blessed. And now we come to partake of a table that symbolizes the beauty of your sacrifice.

May we always partake with great gratitude. In Jesus' name. Amen.