Hebrews 1:1-14- Jesus is enough

Hebrews 1:1-14

    Psalm 2

                  Jesus is enough

As human beings, there is something inside of us which just yearns to worship, we naturally want to worship something or someone.

Whether a person would label themselves religious or not, we all worship someone or something, we often worship what we think is excellent, what we aspire to, what we think gives us hope. We worship what impresses us.

For example, take the band Coldplay.

Coldplay had an audience of one quarter of a million people in the cities of India …….a quarter of a million people, who paid lots of money, queued for hours and sang every word, to every song.

Many fans of Coldplay, travel around the world to watch them and listen to them play.

I watched the concert (on YouTube) they did in Sao Paulo, with just a mere 100,000 people, there where fire works, there were lights, it was awesome, it was impressive.

People worship Coldplay, because they are impressive.

Or what about the example of Charlie Kirk.

100,000 people turned up at Charlie Kirk’s memorial service, because many people thought he was impressive. Many important people said really nice things about Charlie Kirk, because he was an impressive man. He was able to debate well and most importantly I am sure he lead many people to Jesus.

Perhaps many people worship Charlie, rather than Jesus though, because they saw that Charlie was an impressive young man.

There is a motto circulating now, which says “I am Charlie Kirk”- people were so impressed by Charlie Kirk that they want to be like him. Many people have bought the T-Shirt, which says – “I am Charlie Kirk”

We humans, tend to worship things or people whom impress us.

Even though we wouldn’t label it worship…… it is.

It is that sense of awe we may have when in the presence of Coldplay, or it is that tug of dedication we may feel to the carry on the legacy of Charlie Kirk- it is all a form of worship.

For the Christian Jews in the first century, i.e, those Jews who has put their faith in their Messiah- Jesus, to whom the letter of the Hebrews was written to (Hebrews is literally the name of Jewish people), you perhaps would have thought they would have been super impressed by their forefathers, like Abraham, Moses and Aaron, and yes they were impressed by these people and yes, it appears they had a tendency to drift over into worship of them……but it is clear from the opening chapter of Hebrews, that at that particular time, at that place, some of them had a leaning towards being impressed by angels.

They had become obsessed not with Cold Play, not with Charlie Kirk, but angels.

Yes, these Jewish Christians were really impressed by angels and rightly so, because, even though I have never knowingly seen an angel, the bible tells us that these creatures are very impressive beings.

Whenever an angel showed up in the scriptures, the first thing they often said was “don’t be afraid’ since they knew that their very presence would bring a sense of awe. They were impressive beings.

When an angel showed up to the apostle John on the Island of Patmos, to reveal to him

revelations, which are now recorded for us in the book of revelation, John saw the angel and bowed to his knees in worship of the angel…..but the angel told him to get up.

And so at the very start of this letter, the writer of Hebrews, wanted his readers, his listeners to know something that is a theme that continues throughout this letter.

He wanted them to know this……

If you think Angels are impressive- yes they are, but Jesus is better.

If you think Moses was impressive- yes he was, but Jesus is better.

If you think the high priest, Aaron was impressive, yes he was, but Jesus is better.

If you think the tabernacle and the temple were impressive- yes they were, but Jesus is better.

Just look at verse 4 with me

Jesus, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs

Don’t get me wrong, Angels are awesome.

During the birth of Jesus angels showed up all the time, to deliver God’s message, from the very presence of God to the person, be it Mary, Jospeh or Zachariah, they were impressive, but Jesus is better.

It tells us in Hebrews 1:14 that angels are sent from God to serve us….Amazing…..just like they served Elisha, just like they served Jesus in the desert.

Angels are awesome, but Jesus is better.

Friends, Jesus is not only better, but Jesus is enough.

This is the message that the writer of Hebrews gets across to us in the first 2 verses.

Jesus is not only better, but Jesus is enough.

And if we come to realise by the grace of God’s Holy Spirit that Jesus is enough, we will stop our silly pursuits of other things which may take our attention because they appear even more impressive than Jesus….just like the angels seemed more impressive….

Look at verses 1 and 2 with me:

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, ² but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 

The writer of Hebrews shows that Jesus is better and Jesus is enough, by comparing two eras of time.

He splits history into two parts.

The first part of history happened before Jesus came to this earth, that is the time he calls long ago. What many of us still call BC- Before Christ.

The second part of history happened after Jesus came to this earth, lived, died and rose again, this time he calls the last days. What many of us call AD- Anno Domini- In the year of our Lord.

Yes back in the first century where the last days, and now, in the twenty first century, we are still in the last days.

The writer tells us that before Jesus came to this earth, God spoke in many times and in many wayscompared to when Jesus came when he spoke at one particular time, when Jesus came to earth and He spoke in one particular way- through Jesus.

He tells us that long ago, God spoke through the prophets to their forefathers, such as Daniel, Ezekiel, David, Jeremiah, Abraham, Moses, to name a few, all very impressive people, but now in these last days, God has spoken through one person, and that is his son- Jesus.

And so if the Jews thought the prophets of old were impressive and they were, since they were the mouth piece of God, and yet Jesus is even better, because he is not just the mouth piece of God, but he is God himself.

Just look how Jesus is described in verse 3

He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.

Jesus is the radiance of the Glory of God.

Just like the rays from the sun cannot be detached, but they are one of the same, Jesus is the radiance of God, they are the same.

Jesus is the exact imprint of God.

Just like a coin had the imprint of the exact image of Caesar upon it, Jesus is the exact image of God.

Jesus upholds the universe by the word of his power.

Just as God spoke in the beginning and created the universe, Jesus also speaks and sustains the universe.

Jesus said to his disciples, that if they had seen the son, they had also seen the father- Jesus and His father are one.

Wow, what are the implications for us today.

1.        Jesus is the final word from God, because He is God

This is crucial for us to believe, why?

Because there is nothing else that God needs to reveal to us.

In these last days, God has revealed to us exactly who he is.

And so the prophet Mohammed is not the final revelation of God

The prophet Joseph Smith is not the final revelation of God

There is no so-called apostle that is still come and reveal us something else we need to know about God.

These so-called apostles may look impressive, but they don’t have any extra information we need to hear about God, why? Because in these last days, God has spoken to us through His Son- Jesus- and Jesus is enough!

If God in the flesh isn’t enough to impress you, you should ask God that you will know Jesus more, as you read his word as you pray.

2.        God speaks and so should we.

In the old days, God spoke through the prophets, in these last days, God speaks through his son- Jesus. It is clear from Genesis chapter 1, that God is a God who speaks, and when he speaks he reveals something about himself.

Now, the bible is all for living a Holy life, living a life according to God’s ways, because as we live a holy life, we will be witnessing to those around us and yet………..yet….we also need to speak about the God we worship.

Otherwise people won’t know, it is Jesus whom we worship.

A Muslim, a Buddhist can all live lives that look respectful and loving, and yet we don’t worship the same God.

God didn’t leave us guessing of whom he is, but he showed us, he communicated to us. What a wonderful gift, that the God of the universe would make himself known to us and therefore, we should communicate that same God with others.

Jesus, God’s son, God who came to earth in the flesh, lived 33 years of a perfect life on this earth, was nailed to the cross to take the penalty for our sins, was dead for 3 days, before he rose again. After rising from the dead, he hung around for 40 days before ascending to heaven, from where one day he will return to gather his people.

This is who the God of this universe is, we need to communicate that with others, let us not leave people guessing, let us tell them, so they can have a chance to accept or reject Him.

3.        We must read the Old Testament through the lens of the New Testament

Clearly the God of the Old Testament is the God of the New Testament. The same God who spoke through his prophets in the days of Old, is the same God who spoke through His Son Jesus in these last days. However, because Jesus is the final revelation of God and He is the one whom all the Old Testament scriptures were pointing towards, we must read the Old Testament through the lens of the New Testament.

If we don’t read the Old Testament in light of the New Testament, we might as well go to the synagogue and learn from our Rabbi friends, since they don’t believe that Jesus is the last word from God.

If we didn’t read the OT in light of the NT, we would building walls between Jews and gentiles which Jesus knocked down.

The whole letter of Hebrews is a case of where we read the OT in light of the NT.

We are going to look at many of these examples in the coming weeks, but let me just point out one obvious one from Hebrews 4:14 it says this:

Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the son of God, let us hold fast to our confession

The NT, the letter of Hebrews tells us that Jesus is out great high priest, it tells us that Jesus as our high priest entered the heavenly tabernacle, the real tabernacle and offered himself as the perfect sacrifice and through his sacrifice all our sins have been dealt with through that one sacrifice.

Now, if we didn’t have the letter of Hebrews, if we didn’t have the NT, if Jesus had not revealed himself in these last days, we would still be following the sacricficial law laid out for us in Leviticus, where year after the year the high priest would go into the shadow tabernacle, the earthly tabernacle and make a sacrifice for the people. If we didn’t read Leviticus in light of Hebrews, we would still be going to a man made structure, to a man made altar, to a human priest and offering our animal sacrifices…….but we don’t…..Jesus came and had the final say.

4.        We must be so impressed with Jesus, that all other things pale into insignificance

Friends, it is so easy for us to become more impressed with the instruments that God uses rather than God, that we fail to be impressed with Jesus.

The bronze snake in the desert was a great example of this.

When the Israelites were in the desert, God sent snakes to bite his people as punishment for their rebellion. And yet in God’s kindness he made a way for his people to be saved if they were bitten by a snake.

God instructed Moses to make a bronzed snake on a pole and if the people who were bitten looked up to the bronze snake, they would be saved. They wouldn’t die.

God used the bronze snake as a reminder that they needed to look to him if they wanted to be saved…but guess what, the people were so impressed with the bronzed snake that they started worshipping the bronze snake instead.

Let us ask God that we don’t fall into this trap.

I could start to worship my 5 year plan, it’s impressive- it’s not- I haven’t got one.

We could worship our methods, our buildings, we could start worshipping our church leaders…..how tragic

5.        God speaks to you (personally)

Finally, I just want you to know what a hugely privileged time you live in.

We live in these last days, where God has already shown himself to the world and has spoken to us by his word.

God doesn’t just select a few special people to talk to, like He did in the days of old through the prophets, but he speaks to you, through his word- it is right there.

All you need.

Just open your bibles, read and let God speak to you.

Let us pray.