The Superiority of Christ, Part 2

Yeah, if you have your Bible turn me to the book of Hebrews Hebrews chapter 1 verses 1 to 3 Hebrews 1 verses 1 To 3 we are looking at the sufficiency and the supremacy of Christ Jesus Our Lord and as we look at it We begin to understand that the Bible is very clear when it gives us an announcement about the coming of the King and then it tells us about the arrival of that King and The authority that that King has The Bible is very clear when the Old Testament was all about the anticipation of the coming of the Messiah The New Testament is about the presentation of the Messiah and his subsequent Exaltation because he accomplished the work his father gave him to do the Old Testament was about promise the New Testament was about Presentation and now it's all about the preeminence of Jesus Christ our Lord This is how Hebrews 1 1 2 3 explains it It says God after he spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways about what Everything was about the arrival of the Messiah Everything was about the anticipation of the Messiah Everything was about the preparation for the arrival of the Messiah.

That's everything in the Old Testament. That's what the prophets spoke of They God would God would use them the prophets to speak to the fathers concerning the things about the arrival of the Messiah and Then it says the verse number two in these last days are in the last days in which God was speaking He has spoken to us in his son that is the arrival of Messiah the presentation of the Messiah everything that the Old Testament prophets said now has come true in the arrival of the Messiah and then it says Whom he appointed heir of all things Through whom also he made the world and he is the radiance of his glory and the exact representation of his nature And upholds all things by the word of his power When he had made purification of sins he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high this one That was announced in the Old Testament that arrived in the New Testament is Now the all-authoritative one because of who he is and what he's accomplished in the first three verses give us a summation of the entire book of Hebrews So to understand the book itself you must grasp the first three verses Because they explained to us this one this all-sufficient one who is supreme Who rules over all it is to be worshipped?

with purity of heart And so we began talking to you last week about this one who is preeminent This one who was all authoritative And why is he that way number one because of the wealth of his possessions?

he is the heir of all things God appointed his son to be the heir of all things as though last week We talked to you about how this heir this son is Equal in nature with the father how this son who is called the firstborn the Protocos is the firstborn because he is the legal right to the inheritance Not because he was the first one ever born and then we talked to you about how he was the only begotten the monogamous He is the son of choice Therefore he is the rightful heir to the throne of God not only did he create all things he possesses all things He is the supreme one the sufficient one because of the wealth of his Possessions and he will inherit all that we looked at Revelation 5 and Revelation 11 to show you at the time that the Sun inherits all things that not only he created both mere material and immaterial but the time in which he Takes possession of them in Revelation chapter 11 that was last week So we see him as the one who was all authoritative because of the wealth of his possessions Number two we see him as authoritative because of the wonder of his providence And this is where we left off last week.

Not only is he appointed heir of all things But he is also the one through whom also he made the world He made the world. This is the wonder of his providence Why because the Bible says in John 1 verse number 3 all things were made by him and without him was not anything made That was made in other words The Sun is the creator if the Sun is God and God is a creator the Sun himself is that creator You see none of us in the room has the ability to create We can be a little creative every once in a while, but none of us can create Because if you could create you would create yourself right now the car of your choice But you can't do that You would create the house That's perfect for you But you can't do that better than that.

You would create a tree that could actually grow money So when your children ask for money you can say yeah Go out and take a 20 spot off of the left the left leaf there and and be on your way But none of us can create a money tree Because we are not God only God can create man cannot Create we can make some things we can come up with some good ideas But we can't create God creates out of nothing He created everything out of absolutely nothing That's what makes him so amazing This is the wonder of his providence And the unique thing about this is that not only did he create everything that is material He creates everything that is immaterial.

He creates not just that which we can see he creates that which we cannot see Because the Bible tells us these words that he made the world That is not the word cosmos That's the word I own us which means the ages He didn't just create the earth He created the universe in fact, he is the creator of time space Action Force and matter In other words in the beginning time God force Created action the heavens space and the earth matter That one verse tells you right there Genesis 1 1 That God is a creator of all things He's the author of all things And so this is the wonder of his providence because how did he do all this?

Well, the Bible tells us in Psalm 33 these words by the word of the Lord that heavens were made And by the breath of his mouth all their hosts he gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap He lays at the deep sin storehouses That all the earth fear the Lord and all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him for he spoke and it was done He commanded and it stood fast That's just amazing No Created man can do that only God can Then it says the Lord nullifies the counsel of the nations He frustrates the plans of the people's the counsel of the Lord stands forever The plans of his heart from generation to generation and blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord the people whom he has chosen For his own inheritance in other words.

God is who he is because he is the creator of the ages Meaning that everything dealing with time space force matter In action is all about him in other words God Is so involved in everything that he has created That we as men we as women are Automatically subject to him This is the wonder of his providence Why because we wonder at what God does sometimes I? Love to to share with people And now I'm out of this When they ask this question Why did God allow that to happen Why did God do that? Where was God when?

You ever been in that situation? Because Israel was in that situation And they asked that question And it says in the book of Isaiah the 40th chapter these words It says verse 25 to whom then will you liken to me that I would be as equal says the Holy One Lift up your eyes on high and see who has created these stars The one who leads forth their hosts by number. He calls them all by name the millions upon billions of stars He calls them all by name Because he has created them all Because of the greatness of his might and the strength of his power not one of them is missing and then he says Why do you say Oh Jacob and assert?

Oh Israel my way is hidden from the Lord and the justice do me escapes the notice of my God What could ever bring you to say that?

Your way Escapes the notice of your God if God knows the billions of stars that are in the universe because he created them He's given them all a name How can you possibly even come to the conclusion?

that your way escapes his notice That somehow he has missed what has happened to you or what is going on in your life or in your family How can you come to that conclusion?

This is this Do you not know have you not heard That The everlasting God the Lord the creator of the ends of the earth Not only did he talk to us about the everlasting perpetual presence of our God he's always been there Not only does he talk about the perennial power of the God who made the stars? He actually talks to you about the perfect plan of the one who's always there and Has the power to do what he does He has a perfect plan because he is the creator He is the originator of your situation He originated it Because he's the creator See we think of God as creator when it comes to the earth the material we think of God as creator when he comes to maybe the universe, but we don't think of God as the creator when it comes to the the events and circumstances of my life So when the Bible says in Amos chapter 3 verse number 6 When there is the disaster in the city Says the Lord did I not cause it?

So when there are floods in Louisiana when we go there for eight days of hope to help dry out people's homes or when there are tornadoes in Tuscaloosa, Alabama Do we not say when there's a disaster in the city It's the Lord who caused this Why can't we say that Because people don't want to see God that way They want to view him a different way This must be the devil's work Well, not according to Amos 3 6. It's not and by the way, the devil can't do anything unless he asks permission from God anyway So the Lord says in Isaiah 45 verse number 7 that he is the creator of calamity Wow You see he's a creator of all things He's a creator of calamity He's not the creator of sin Man sins man rebels against God He is a perfect god in him is no sin.

He cannot create that which is evil. He can even behold evil But we must see him as the creator This is the wonder of his providence This is why he is the supreme god of the universe because he is As the bible states very clearly in hebrews chapter 1 the one who made The ages He is the one who made time space Matter force and action He created all that and how it all comes together In your life and in my life That's why we worship him that's why we bow before him So we see the the worthiness The worthiness I'm, sorry the wealth of his possessions and the wonder of his providence and the third is the worthiness of his of his person Says That he is the radiance of his glory In the exact representation of his nature This is the worthiness of his person.

This is why he's supreme This is why he's the all-sufficient god Why because he is the radiance the shining forth Up our gosma is a word that means to send forth He is the sending forth of the beauty of god He is the radiance of his glory He is the brightness of his glory When you look at the sun the sun and the rays That stem forth from the sun The brightness of the sun the warmth that the sun gives off The bible tells us these words In john 1 verse number 18 No one can see god at any time Why?

First timothy 6 tells us that he dwells in unapproachable light Moses wanted to see god's glory and god said to moses.

You can't see me and live if you see me. I have to kill you Because I dwell in unapproachable light But I will pass by you and let you see my my afterglow And you can look upon my afterglow, but you can't look upon me in my full essence because you will be consumed So no man can see god and live No one has seen god at any time So god sent forth his son who is the radiance of his glory the brightness of his beauty That you might behold the wonder The wonder of god and so the bible says Very clearly in john 8 12.

Christ says I am the light of the world I am the light that shines in a dark world So so god would send forth his son he would send forth the brightness of his beauty The brightness of his glory So people would understand who god is And so the bible says in second corinthians chapter 4 verse number 6 God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness has shown in our hearts to give The light of the knowledge of the glory of god in the face of jesus christ And yet the bible also says in second corinthians 4 verse number 4 that the god of this age has blinded the minds of Those who believe not lest the light of the glorious gospel of christ Who is the image of god should shine unto them?

So we talked about this last week that that satan's whole objective is to blind your mind So you can't see the glorious light of the gospel because once you see it you will believe So satan wants to blind you from understanding that jesus christ is god in the flesh The unique thing about that is that We as children of god become partakers of the divine nature. Now.

We are children of the light Ephesians 5 8 We are the light of the world matthew 5 verse number 14 And so we now are the ones who shine forth the the glory of of christ And we are the ones who walk into a room and light up the room We are the one who who turn turn the light on in our school We we turn the light on in in our workplace because we are the light of the world and therefore we because of Our partaking of god's divine divine nature who is light himself Shine in a world of darkness But the worthiness of his person is not just seen in the radiance of his glory but in the representation of his nature He is the exact Representation reproduction Of his nature.

That's what hebrews 1 says so christ Was not just god manifest in light He is god in substance Because he is the exact replica the exact reproduction Of god himself Jesus christ is not the father But jesus christ is god The father is not jesus christ, but the father is god The spirit is not the son but the spirit is god see And so christ who is god Because he is the exact replica the exact representation of god Says in colossians 1 15 that christ is the image of the invisible god He is the precise copy of the invisible god No one can see god at any time So god took on flesh became man so we could understand and see who god really is the light of the world Colossians 1 verse number 19 says it pleased the father that in him christ should all the fullness dwell What fullness the fullness of the godhead?

Dwells in christ according to colossians 2 verse number 9. This is the worthiness of his person So we celebrate christ for who he is Because he is so worthy we celebrate christ because of the the the wonder the wonder of his providence and the wealth of his possessions He is the heir of all things He is the one who made The world the ages And he is the one who is the radiance of his glory and the representation and reproduction of his nature That's why we worship this king And then it says that he The lord god upholds all things by the word of his power So not only is he supreme because of the wealth of his possessions Not only is he supreme Because of the wonder of his providence And not only is he supreme because of the worthiness of his person but because of the word of his power the word Of his power he upholds all things he maintains all things he sustains all things simply by a word Can you imagine that Everything in the world everything in the universe is held together Because the lord god has spoken a word In fact, the bible says in colossians 1 17 By him all things consist Or all things are held together.

All things are put together. All things are kept together The things of the world could not be kept together if it's not for the word of christ One author said these words Consider what would happen If things changed If the sun Since the sun has a surface temperature of 12 000 degrees fahrenheit If it were any closer to earth, we'd burn If it were any further we'd freeze Our globe is tilted on an exact angle of 23 degrees which enables us to have four seasons If it weren't tilted Vapors from the ocean would move north and south eventually piling up monstrous continents of ice If the moon did not remain a specific distance from the earth the ocean tide would completely inundate the land twice a day Although you wouldn't experience it.

Did you get that? Yeah If the oceans inundated the earth twice a day, you'd be dead in the first time Oh, yeah, see Around lunchtime, it'll all sink in for you Okay If the ocean floor Merely slipped a few feet deeper the carbon dioxide and oxygen balance in the earth's atmosphere Would be completely upset and no vegetable or animal life could exist on the earth If our atmosphere suddenly thinned out The meteor meteors that now harmlessly burn up when they hit our atmosphere would constantly Bombard us In other words, that's just a simple statement of saying that that god is is holding all things together Just think of the law of gravity If that did not exist We'd be in a whole heap of trouble But the law exact gravity exists Simply because of god God is the author of all things And so he upholds everything By the word of his power The stars are where they are the universe is where it is It is as monstrous as it is The eternal kingdom of god exists outside the realm Of the created universe You see it's just unfathomable to understand how god upholds all things by a simple word of his power But you know what because of that we know That he can uphold our lives By the word of his power the lord said through the penalty apostle paul That he who began a good work in you will complete it until the day of christ How do we know he's going to do that?

Because of the word which he has spoken And the word of his power to sustain us And to cause us to come into his presence blamelessly Jude believed that when jude said in jude 24 and 25 unto him was able to keep you from Falling and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy to the only wise god and savior be glory and majesty dominion and power both now and forever You see the the word of his power Helps us understand The power of the word you hold in your hands To accomplish a great work So this is why the writer of hebrews begins the way he does This one that was announced by the prophets of old Has now arrived And in the last days in which god spoke He spoke to us through his son So upon this promise that was given Is a presentation of this son And this son who was presented to you is the absolute preeminent creator and maker of the universe He is the all-sufficient one Because he is the heir to all things that the father promises He is the firstborn of all creation he has the wealth of all possessions And on top of that He is the one who made everything Not just that which is material but that which is spiritual that which is immaterial So much so that everything focuses around his providential working Because he's in charge of everything So not just because the wealth of his possessions but because of the wonder of his providence to accomplish all things for his glory And the worthiness of his person is expressed in the fact that he is the radiance of his glory He is the the the brightness of his beauty And he is the Representation of his nature the reproduction of his nature He is not just god Manifested he is god in substance.

He is god in the flesh That's why he is worthy to be worshiped he is worthy to be praised On top of that He upholds all things by the word of his power so the very fact that the word of his power Accomplishes everything he wants it to accomplish He is the supreme sufficient god of the universe But beyond all that is the work of his purging The work of his purging he says these words He says When he had made purification of sins When he made purification of sins, well, when did he do that when he died on calvary's cross?

This is the work of his purging Because this allows him To take his creation That has fallen into sin And recreate individuals In his image Who will worship him In the beauty of his holiness forever So the work of his purging the ability to Cleanse us from all of our sin And the supernatural ability to recreate us in his image The work that christ accomplished on calvary's cross the work of redemption Is far greater than the work of creation Because it was god Who came to earth? That's why there was an announcement in verse one about the sun And that's why the announcement was all about the promise What was the promise?

There was a son who was going to come there was the messiah who's going to come that's going to purge you from your sins That's going to wipe away all of your sins cleanse you from all unrighteousness So when he came In the last of these days he spoke to us in his son Jesus christ because he is the fulfillment of the prophecy. He's the fulfillment of the promise he came to die He came to purge you from all your sins That's why the bible says these words Christ who needeth not daily as those high priests who offer up sacrifices first for his own sins and then for the people's For this he did once When he offered up himself first peter tells us in chapter one you know That you were not redeemed with corruptible things like silver and gold from your Vain manner of life received by tradition from your fathers But with the precious blood of christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot First john 1 7 says we have fellowship with one another and the blood of jesus christ's son cleanses us from all sin You see everything about the arrival of the messiah was his coming to earth to die in your place To die as a substitute To take your place so that you would not have to be condemned by god almighty But that he would pay the price for your sin So that you could virtually be cleansed from all of your sin both in the past in the present and in the future That's why we confess our sins because he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all Unrighteousness, this is the work of his purging when christ was on the cross.

He said it is finished What was finished everything that was foretold? Everything in the old testament that was forecasted had now come to fruition On calvary's cross so we could say it's done. It's finished the work of redemption Has been accomplished man's sins can be purged can be cleansed because I the final sacrifice Have presented myself for the sins of the world The work of his purging That's why he's all sufficient That's why he's the supreme one And then lastly because of the way of his preeminence The way of his preeminence It says he sat down at the right hand of the majesty On high This is the way of his preeminence this is his exaltation He died He was buried He rose again the third day And 40 days later he ascended into glory To sit down at the right hand of god the father The right hand is a place of honor the place of authority the place of rulership And As high priest we will see this as we go through the book of hebrews unlike any earthly priest That's why his priesthood is greater than aaron's is greater than Melchizedek's because this priest sat down no priest ever sat down in the holy of holies There were no chairs in the holy of holies because priests would always have to make sacrifices Their day was filled with offering up sacrifices first for their own sins and then for the sins of the people And because there were so many people and so many sins they had no time to sit down But this high priest offered up himself who knew no sin And then once he offered him up himself and purged your sins He sat down because there was no further work to accomplish his was the ultimate and final sacrifice And this is the way of preeminence now.

He is exalted to the highest place To sit down at the right hand of god the father This is the king This is the one we worship the supreme ruler of the universe We need to understand this in order to grasp the next 13 chapters or the rest of the book of hebrews We need to be able to digest completely and fully Who this messiah is? Because we will reference back to these verses As we go through the book of hebrews To show you why christ is so preeminent Why is he preeminent over all prophets? preeminent over all angels that he himself created preeminent over all priests and the priesthood Why when he came he ushered in the new covenant, right?

Which is better than the old covenant It wasn't that the old covenant was bad It's just that it never went far enough. It wasn't good enough But it always foreshadowed the new covenant And christ was the fulfillment of the new covenant And we'll spend chapters seven eight and nine explaining how christ is a fulfillment of the old covenant Because he is the new covenant embodied and why it's better than the old covenant But as he sat down At the right hand of god the father both the book of romans and the book of hebrews tell us That now he lives To make intercession for you and me Wow Someone asked me the other day Why is it you don't ask people to pray for you My answer Because I have a high priest who intercedes on my behalf Daily That doesn't mean you can't pray for me, please do I'm just saying I have a high priest that intercedes for me daily.

He is my advocate He is my advocate as first john chapter two verse number one says And think about that Here is the god of the universe Who cares specifically about every detail of your life We're not like the deists not like thomas jefferson and ben franklin and George washington those men who believed that that that god would wind up the universe and then didn't let it go You know, they just let it go that was their view of the eternal god We believe that god not only created the universe but he is intricately involved in every aspect of the universe opposing all things by the word of his power Concerned about every detail of your life Everything that happens from from this day forward and and all the days before this He is intricately involved in every aspect of your life every decision that you make every place that you go Every every purchase that you make every decision that you that you make every choice you choose God is concerned god is involved with god is always ever present That's the god we serve That's the god we worship And that's the god we're going to explore For the next however long it takes through the book of hebrews.

Let me pray with you Father we thank you for today Truly lord. It is a great day It's a great day to worship you as the king So much to cover in these verses that that we just barely scratch the surface But but as we go through this wonderful book We are able to understand more of your great character And we will bow more in submission to you than ever before Because we will see the radiant beauty of god shining daily As we explore this book Everything dealing with your supremacy your sufficiency And lord, I pray for everyone who is here that lord your word would touch their hearts You uphold all things by the word of your power You created the universe by speaking a word and you've given us the breath of god in book form That we might study it together and realize the all-consuming immutable power Of a magnificent god May the power of your word That we read and meditate upon every day so encompass our lives That none of us can ever remain the same again Once we open the word of god We pray this in jesus name.

Amen