April 6, 2008

Hebrews  1:2b -3
The Preeminence of Christ

Last time if you were here and you were able to stay awake you will recall that we were in a discussion of the superiority of Jesus Christ. We saw that Jesus broke into the natural “box” and opened the way for humanity’s communing with God.

  What he did forms the basis for our faith. We visited two of three segments last time under the main heading of his superiority. The preparation for Christ, remember the Lord spoke in past times in various ways and methods to the forefathers, then we noted the presentation of Christ, when he broke into our realm.

Now we come to the third segment under that main heading which deals with the Preeminence of Jesus Christ. (verses 2b-3)

We see the Holy Spirit here exalting Jesus as the full and final expression of God. He is exalted above any one and any thing. Christ is the end of all, the beginning of all and the middle of all. He is all and in all.

Many people ask who Jesus is. Some say: “A good teacher, healer, a religious fanatic, a fake, a phantom, or a revolutionary.
He is called the highest form of human life with a spark of the divine.

But God says much more than this.  Here the inspired writer gives a sevenfold presentation of Jesus Christ.

First we see Jesus is Heir of all things.
   Christ is shown as having supreme place in all the universe. (Col. 1:16-19 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:   And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.  And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.   For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;    ) By Him and we see in Revelation 4:11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.:) FOR him

Psalm 2: 6 ff Indicates that the Christ will be heir of all. Psalm 89:27 reads that he will be firstborn in rank. First born is not always chronological. Often it has to do with the blessing if inheritance. Jacob, the younger brother was “firstborn” in rank.
It has to do with legal right of an heir.

Romans 11:36 says that everything that is exists for Jesus Christ. This speaks of equality with God, oneness.
To even imagine that a Jewish carpenter executed naked and bleeding like a common criminal on a cross is the King of Kings is beyond natural understanding.

Look at revelation chapter 5.
    God on a throne, has a scroll, the title deed to the earth. For the heir.

Verse 1 - (a Roman will was sealed seven times) no one was found worthy to open these seals (King Arthur sword). But we see Christ was worthy, he took the scroll and in chapter 6 begins 7 years tribulation which is Jesus Christ taking back his inheritance  until we see in Revelation 11:15 the voices in heaven saying loudly, “The Kingdoms of this world are become the Kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever.”

How superior is Christ? The heir of all things (remember Phil. 2) On earth he was poor, yet this Jesus is heir of all things.

Peter said in Acts 2:36 “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.”   

We share in that heir-ship according to Romans 8:16-17, but we are not joint Christs, just heirs.

So Christ is the heir to all things, Second, Christ is the creator.
“By whom also he made the worlds” (dia = agency). Christ is the agent of Creation (John 1:3). Jesus  can create so he is God.

That again establishes Christ’s absolute Superiority over everything.  Material and spiritual. Note he created the worlds, the normal Greek word for world is “Cosmos”.

But the word here is aionos, or ages. Not saying only physical earth was created by Christ, but the concept of time, space, force and matter were made by Jesus Christ.

Jesus is responsible for creating a whole universe of time and space. John 1:3 “ALL THINGS were made by him” All ideas and boundaries of existence are wrapped up in that little boy from the carpenter’s shop.

sir John Eckles, Nobel laureate in neuro - psychology says, “The odds are 400,000 trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion  to one against the right combination to evolve intelligent life on Earth, and that is probably not half right. Now even with those odds Dr. Eckles believes it did occur but could never happen again. Not in any planet anywhere.

If God didn’t create the world we have problems, like  Man, this wondrous creature whose heart pumps 8 million times in  lifetime and pumps enough blood to fill a string of tank cars from Boston to NY.
That man with a brain (50 oz?) that carries memories of a lifetime, and some say he was a cosmic accident who slid from a mass of goo.

But if man is not enough, look up into the universe that Christ has made. IT IS VAST! Our sun will hold 1,200,000 earths and still have room for 4.300,000 moons to be tucked around the edge.

385,000 miles across, 93,000,000 miles away but the next nearest star, Alpha Centuri is 5 times our sun.

Now the moon is only 211,463 miles from us. You could walk there in 27 years. But a ray of light at 186,000 miles per second takes 1 1/2 seconds to get there.
If we went that fast we could be on Mercury in 4 1/2 minutes, because it is only 50,000,000 miles away.
Venus is only 26 million so a 2 minute 18 second trip. 4: 21 to Mars @ 34 million.
It is 35 minutes to Jupiter 367,000,000 miles away. Saturn is 1 hour 11 minutes, 790 million,
Uranus 1 billion 600 million miles and
 Neptune 3 billion. Pluto (now deplaneted) is 2 billion 666 million miles.
Now we aren’t even out of our tiny solar system yet.
The nearest star is 10 times further than the bounds of our solar system, 20 billion miles. The North Star is 400 billion miles away.
BUT that is not far. Betelgeuse is 860 quadrillion miles from us and it’s diameter is larger than the Earth’s orbit.

And you ask where all his came from? Just “POOF?”
Who made all this? It can’t just be an accident. Someone made it and this book says that someone is Jesus Christ.
He can create. So the second excellence of Jesus Christ is his creator-ship. (and wonder of wonders he can create new life in you 2 Cor. 5:17= a new creation)

Third excellent glory of Jesus is that he is the brightness of God’s Glory. The Greek word is “apaugasma”- effulgence sending forth light or radiance, shining brightly from the source of the light.

Jesus is the very manifestation of God. We cannot see God, only the radiance, and just like the rays or radiance of the sun is of the same nature as the sun, so is the radiance of God of the same nature as God. Never separate from God yet a distinct person.

In John 8:12 Jesus says, “I Am the light of the world.” HE is the glorious light of God shining into us to warm us.

God, in his mercy, beamed his brightness, Jesus, into our lives to turn us from darkness to light so that we too may radiate.

Come to the light, it is shining for thee
Sweetly the light has dawned upon me
Once I was blind but now I can see
The light of the world is Jesus

And we need to shine his light into the moral darkness of this world and let Jesus Christ brighten and warm this world.

The fourth excellent glory of Christ is His being. He is called “the express image of God’s person. The exact image, ike a king’s seal or a coin stamp. This is the image of the sun itself where the brightness was only the rays.  Jesus is God  in substance the exact image of God.

Jesus told doubters in the gospels, “ if you have seen me, you have seen the Father, I and my Father are one.”

Jesus is the personal imprint of God on time and space. So Christ is not only God manifest, he is God in essence. God yet distinct as Christ. Even though he is God, man still refuses him.

The 5th excellence= his administration of all things.
“He upholds, sustains all things by his powerful word..

Everything in the universe is sustained by Jesus Christ, by the word of his power. What if he stopped doing this?  What would happen to gravity, the tides, the sun, stars? We’d be in big trouble quick like. But Christ is the cosmic glue and the reason there is order in the universe, But not only sustaining but bearing toward a goal. It is a dynamic concept here, not static.

Teh key to creation “GOD SAID” and God’s final revelation is JEsus.
What if the earth slowed? We’d freeze and burn alternately.
What if it was on anything but a 23° tilt? = ice age.
What if the moon moved a little out of orbit? Tides would drown the land twice a day. (second time it wouldn’t matter).
What if our atmosphere was thinner? Meteors would bombard us. But Jesus administers, upholds all things by his word.

We do not have time to explore the vast amount of motion in our universe, from quasars ay 9,000,000 mph to galaxies at 400 miles per second, all moving never colliding, but all that is in his grasp as well.

Do you think Paul knew his stuff in Phil 1:6 when he said the one who began is able to finish his work in you?

Moving quickly to the sixth excellent glory of Jesus, His sacrifice.
“By himself he purged our sin” Romans 3:23 says all have sinned and 6:23 says, “the penalty is death” And Christ paid that penalty and did it by himself, alone.

There is wonder in creation, and in sustaining but a greater wonder is his purging the sins of man. Heb. 7L27 He did itm once, and in 10:14 it is once forever. 9:12 says, “not by the blood of calves and goats, but by his own blood ONCE he entered the holy place HAVING OBTAINED eternal redemption for us.

Jesus dealt with the sin problem once for all.God accepted that sacrifice and for all who accept that sacrifice on their behalf sin’s penalty is wiped out.

This is written to Jews to whom Christ was a stumbling block, but there is no apology in tis writing at all, rather the cross is one of the 7n excellencies of Christ...we live by his death.
1 Peter 1:L8 says we were purchased by no corruptible thing but by the precious blood of Jesus as of a lamb without spot or blemish.
 
The Bible teaches that without the shedding of blood is no remission of sin,( the cancellation of a debt, charge, or penalty) but Christ has provided remission by his sacrifice, once for all. Yet some still reject him.

Now we come to the seventh excellent glory of Jesus Christ. We find that after he had purged our sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high.

This glory is the exaltation of Jesus Christ. The majesty on high is JHVH God and the right hand speaks of the place of power and authority.

An O.T. priest never sat down. They were always working, the task was never done. They sacrificed day in and day out, but Jesus, the beloved lamb of God offered once and sat saying for all creation to hear: “It is done.”

What was not accomplished in the O.T. was finished by Jesus Christ. Sitting at the right hand is a sign of honor. According to Philippians 2: 9-11, because of his sacrifice God has given him a name above every name etc.

It is a place of honor. It is also a place of rule 1 Peter 3:22 says he is gone to heaven and is on the right hand of god, angels and authorities and powers being made subject to him.

It is also REST. Heb. 10: 12-13 say he is waiting until his enemies are made his footstool.

But to us the most precious thing is that Romans 8:34 says he is there not just for honor and rule and rest, but to make intercession for us.

Seven excellent glories of Christ. Here is the Holy Spirit’s portrait of Christ seen in all his excellent offices. Prophet: the final spokesman for God. Priest: Atoning and interceding for us. King: controlling, creating, sustaining, and seated on God’s throne.

This is our Lord Jesus Christ, and any man who comes and says that Jesus Christ is less than that is deluded or a total fool. Because God has said that Christ is preeminent in all things.

What does that mean to you?  Only everything. For to receive Jesus Christ as Lord and savior is to enter in to all that he has and all that he is. To reject him, neglect him, is to forfeit all of that and be banished eternally from his presence. There is no third option.

 Today is the day of salvation.