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Jesus Is The
Messenger Of God (Hebrews 1)
The book of Hebrews de- scribes in detail how Jesus Christ fulfills the promises and prophecies of the Old Testa- ment. The writer of Hebrews is unknown. It has been sug- gested that it could have been Luke, Barnabas, Apollos, Silas, Philip, Pricilla and others. The writer never gives his or her name and appeals to eyewit- nesses of Jesus’ ministry or authority.
God used many ap- proaches to send his messages to people in the Old Testament times. He spoke to Isaiah in vi- sions (Isaiah 6); to Jacob in a dream (Genesis 28:10- 22), and to Abraham and Moses personally (Genesis
18; Exodus 31:18).
Last month’s lessons em- phasized the sovereignty of God. This month’s lessons em- phasize the sovereignty of Jesus.
But what is it that makes Jesus sovereign? The writer of Hebrews gives us two answers to that question in our text.
Jesus Is the Best Message | Hebrews 1:1-4
The writer of Hebrews re- minded Jewish believers of their rich heritage in the Word. God gave his people his message through prophets and prophetesses. A quick perusal through the Old Testament
would display the kaleido- scope of ways that God com- municated with his people—visions, dreams, ob- ject lessons, etc. He did not do this every day, yet it hap- pened at many times.
But there came a special time and way that God gave his message to his people and the world. It was through Jesus. This happened in these last days (a phrase that covers from the time of Jesus’ death to the present moment). The writer of Hebrews gives us eight ways in which Jesus is the best message from God. All eight ways underline Jesus’ sovereignty:
1. Jesus has been ap- pointed (put or placed) heir of all things. Whoever has it all must be sovereign.
2. Jesus is co-creator. Other texts emphasize such (John 1:3; Colossians 1:16).
3. Jesus is the radiance of God’s glory. God’s glory was his shining brilliance and his weighty presence.
4. Jesus is the exact repre- sentation of his being.
5. Jesus sustains all things. Literally, this means he “bears them up.”
6. Jesus provided purifica- tion, which means he cleansed us through what he did on the cross.
7. He sat down. This means his redemptive work was done.
8. He became . . . superior to the angels. The writer goes on to tell us more of what that means in the verses that fol- low. This prologue of Hebrews is full of Jesus. He is the best message and surpasses all other messages from God.
Jesus Is the Best Messenger
| Hebrews 1:5-9
Not only is Jesus the best message from God—he is also the best messenger that God could send. It would seem that some people were caught up in the worship of angels (see also Colossians 2:18). This must have been an important part of their temptation to slip back- ward since it is mentioned first in the epistle.
Angels do occupy an important place in Heaven and in communi- cating the message of Heaven to people on earth.
Hebrews 1:14 refers to angels as ministering spirits sent to those who will inherit salvation. (This can be seen in Acts 8–10.)
Hebrews is the book about better things. Jesus is better than angels, Moses, the law, the priesthood, and the covenant. Angels, at best, are only messengers of Jesus, but Jesus is the best messenger. To underline this point the au- thor clustered several Old Tes- tament passages from the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings (poetry/wisdom books) to emphasize Jesus’ sovereignty over even the an- gels.
The author quoted Psalm 2:7. Then he drew upon 2 Samuel 7:14. From there he alluded to Deuteronomy 32:43. Finally he quoted Psalms 104:4 and 45:6, 7. Some of these are direct quo- tations, some use the Greek translation of the Old Testa- ment, and some are mere allu- sions to make his point.
But the point is that Jesus is not just a messenger of God like an angel. He IS the mes- senger of God, whom angels worship.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2016 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 5-B