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Dec. 31, 2017 The Regal Son Heb. 1:5-14 Conley Owens (Deacon)
Well, good morning again again. So today we're just going to be looking at one verse, which is Hebrews 1 .5. Hebrews 1 .5, which says,. This morning, I'd like for you to think a little bit about about the importance of good leadership.
A good leader can make or break a team. With a good leader, you can be willing to make sacrifice to tighten your belt for a season. A good head of state could be the difference between civil war and a nation collapsing.
Did you know that over 50 of people who leave their jobs leave to escape their manager? Not other things about the job. Leadership is incredibly important. Think about leadership for a father and his family.
That can be the difference between a family languishing and a family thriving. Well today, the author of Hebrews wants to remind his audience about the leadership they are under—the kingdom of Jesus. And he wants to remind them of this because this people is entertaining—they are entertaining thoughts about returning to Judaism.
They're entertaining thoughts questioning whether or not they want to maintain their commitment to Christ. And he reminds them who it is, who this Christ is that they serve, who this great leader is that they are under.
And he does that by proclaiming that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Now the Son of God, what does that mean? Does it mean that Jesus has the same character as the Father? Does it mean that he is the right of the firstborn?
It means a bunch of different things, but here the focus in this verse is it means that he is a king. And because he is a king, his rulership over your life should shape your identity, should shape your goals, and your hopes, and your dreams, should shape everything about the way you perceive the world.
And it is to that leadership he's calling them to look. He's calling them to look to the kingship of Christ and calling them to have that shape their identity. Let's go ahead and read the first part of this verse.
For to which of the angels did God ever say, You are my Son, today I have begotten you? So if you remember from earlier in Hebrews, the reason that this author is comparing Jesus to the angels is not simply because the angels are high exalted beings, but it's because angels are the great messengers of God in the Bible.
Angels brought news of Jesus's birth. Angels brought messages to Daniel, to a bunch of other people. Angels are these great messengers, and Jesus has brought a new message. He has brought the gospel. Long ago, at many times, and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets.
But in these last days, he has spoken to us by his Son. That Son has brought a new message. He has brought the gospel. So that is why the author is comparing him to the angels. Jesus, this new messenger, not only brings a message that's greater than the angels' message, but he is a higher being than the angels.
He is a higher—he is much higher. And so that should shape the way we think about him. That should shape the way we think about ourselves. So we ask this question, to which of the angels did God ever say, you are my Son?
That's a rhetorical question. The answer is obviously, oh, none of the angels. But think about this for a second. God actually does call the angels sons. And Job, when all the sons of God gather around his throne to hear his counsel, who is that that's coming there?
It's the angels. And it's not just the angels that are called sons of God. The saints, we God's children, are called his sons. So what is it? Why is it that this author can say that God's never called an angel son, but he has said to Jesus, you are my Son?
Well, the answer is in this word, begotten. There is a special way in which Jesus is the only begotten Son of God that speaks to the uniqueness of him as a son. There is a way that he is a son that no one else can lay claim to.
This idea comes up again later in Hebrews, in chapter 11. Isaac, in chapter 11, is called Abraham's only begotten son. Now Abraham had other children. Isaac had an older brother. He had younger brothers too.
But yet, the author of Hebrews finds it fitting to call Isaac the only begotten son of Abraham, because he was the son of promise. There was something special about him that did not apply to any other son of Abraham.
Jesus is the Son of God in a unique way that no one else can lay claim to. So what exactly does it mean that he is begotten? Well, it speaks of him having his origin in the Father. Now that does not mean that Jesus was created.
It does not mean that there was a point in time when he came into existence. But there is some sense in which he finds his origin in, and he comes from the Father. And the same with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit comes from the Father and the Son.
Now if this is not something you've heard taught about before, it is something that's in our confession. And I hope one day I'll get to teach on this in a Sunday school, because it is a topic that I've come to hold very dear.
This idea of Jesus being eternally begotten of the Father. But this is indescribable, incomprehensible relationship that the Father has with the Son. But as I said before, the point of Jesus being the Son of God here in this verse is not that.
It's not many other things that the Son of God can mean. For example, the Son of God can mean that Jesus himself is God, as it says in John. Because of this, they were seeking all the more to stone him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.
So by being the Son of God, Jesus is also equal with the Father. He is himself God. But that is not what the author is getting at right here. Right here, the word Son implies that Jesus is the King. And the way we can tell that is because of these two verses that he quotes.
He quotes Psalm 2, and he quotes 2 Samuel 7, which are about two great kings of Judah, the two first kings of Judah, about David and Solomon. He is calling us to think of the Son and to think of this kingship.
And this kingship is something that we should submit ourselves to. If you would be willing to listen to an angel, you know, you see all these pictures of angels coming and delivering messages in the Bible.
People tremble when the angel arrives. Why is that? Is it because the angel is so bright? You know, Revelation describes Jesus as being incredibly bright. What is it that's special about angels? If Jesus is a higher being, we should be far more willing to hear his message, to heed his gospel.
What does it mean to heed the gospel, though? To heed the gospel is to, one, trust in it. To trust that it's true that Jesus Christ came to die, sacrificed himself for sinners so that we who trust in him may have eternal life.
Now there are a lot of implications of that, because if he came to make for himself a people, to die for a group, getting rid of enmity between nations, making it so that we can all gather together even though we come from different backgrounds, that has a lot of implications for us.
For example, pursuing reconciliation. We talked about reconciliation in Sunday school. Now it's easy for us to question whether or not it's worth it. Oh, you know, this feels like a lost cause, this particular relationship.
But if Jesus' kingship, if his gospel implies that that kingdom has a special status, then who are we to second guess God's judgment, to second guess Christ's kingdom and that unity? Instead, we should pursue it all the more.
And if God's gospel, if the gospel of Jesus Christ tells us that all those for whom Christ died, that God cares for, then if we are anxious, if we are anxious about our situation, yet at the same time believe that Jesus has died for us, we are not heeding the gospel.
To heed the gospel would be to trust in Christ and to not feel anxious, because God cares more for us than the birds of the air, the flowers of the field, all of which are provided for. So he begins speaking here of David.
He says, This is a picture of Jesus Christ's son, is to look at David as God's son. I'd like for us to read this passage. It's in Psalm 2. Now, how do I know that this passage is about David? It doesn't actually say it's from David.
Acts 4 tells us that it's from David. And not only that, but it speaks of him being set in Zion. Zion is the city that David conquered and where he established his throne. This refers to the enemies of David setting themselves against him.
However, all their plots are in vain because they will not eventually conquer him. So here being anointed refers to what Samuel did for David, that he anointed him with oil, setting him apart to be king.
So why is it that God laughs at these nations that are raging against him? The answer, because he has set his king. If he has set his king on Zion, that king cannot be thwarted. That king will go forth with the power of God and be able to conquer, as David did.
David conquered all the nations in Canaan. And I will make the nations your heritage, the ends of the earth your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.
Now, therefore, O kings, be wise. Be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the son, lest he be angry and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled.
Blessed are all who take refuge in him. So those who serve David are made safe. Those who oppose him are conquered and destroyed. This is the kind of king that David is. However, while David did conquer the nations of Canaan, he did not conquer all the land.
He didn't stretch to the ends of the earth. That would be hyperbole if applied to David. However, with Jesus, this is fully fulfilled. Jesus has conquered the nations of the earth by bringing them together in the gospel.
Jesus will further conquer them on the last day, on judgment day, when he destroys all his enemies. This is ultimately speaking about Jesus, as the author of Hebrews says, and as it says in Acts 4, and as it says in Acts 13.
This is ultimately, even more so than David, speaking about Jesus. You know this verse, ask of me and I will make the nations your heritage. I don't…. I was…. Excuse me. There is a very popular song that has this line in it.
I don't know if you're familiar with it, but it says, you said asking, I'll give the nations to you. Oh Lord, that's the cry of my heart. And I sang that for a long time, not really knowing what it meant.
And then I realized that this was quoting Psalm 2. And I realized, wait, that offer wasn't to me. That offer is to Jesus. Jesus is the one who is supposed to respond and take the nations. I'm not crushing the world with an iron rod.
This is Jesus. Jesus is the one who conquers the earth. Now that might not be how you're used to thinking of Jesus, or how you're used to thinking of David or angels. Think of David. Is he, you know, some curly-haired, blue-eyed shepherd boy with a sling in his hand?
Is he a mighty warrior conquering many nations? Think about angels. Are they to you? Are they chubby cherubs with harps? Or are they mighty warriors? You know, the name Gabriel, that means something along the lines of warrior of God.
The angels are mighty warriors. Now think of Jesus. See some guy that's long-haired, blue-eyed, timid? That's not the Jesus of the Bible. First of all, Jesus drank wine, and Jesus touched the dead, so he could not be a Nazarite and have long hair.
That was shameful. Only the Nazarites had long hair. On top of that, Revelation describes him as fire-eyed. So he is a fearsome individual. He is a mighty conqueror who crushes nations. This is how we are to be thinking about Jesus.
Now if we think about him as our king in that light, what should that do for us? Well, who are Jesus's enemies? The enemies that Jesus conquered are sin and death. By dying on the cross, being risen again, he conquered death.
When it says, why do the nations rage in the people's plot in vain? Acts 4 says that's talking about the crucifixion. The nations raging against Jesus is the crucifixion. It says, I will tell of the decree.
The Lord said to me, you are my son. Today I have begotten you. Acts 13 says that that verse speaks of the resurrection. Verse 1 speaks of the crucifixion. Verse 7 speaks of the resurrection. Jesus was raised again.
He defeated sin. He defeated death. Now what does that mean for us who are in his kingdom? We are to likewise pursue the same conquest. So that means that we are to likewise pursue defeating sin. We are to fight sin in our lives.
We are to mortify it. We are to resist temptation. Now these are things that should be not loathsome tasks to us as we often see them. We think of resisting sin. That's a loathsome task. But this should be as exhilarating as battle.
And if you think that battle doesn't sound fun, battle sounds scary, well, imagine if you have a king leading you, crushing all the enemies in your path, then there should be no fear. Then victory is guaranteed.
Now victory in the kingdom of God doesn't always look like what you imagine it to look like. But Jesus has assured us that those who serve him are ultimately victorious, that we'll be led on to eternal life.
If we pursue peace, if we pursue the holiness, without which, without which no one will see the Lord, as it says in Hebrews 12 .14. If we continue on in Hebrews, the author does just stop with this picture of David as king.
He continues on to talk about Solomon as king. Or again, I will be a father and he shall be to me a son. That is in 2 Samuel 7, which you had all read to you. And in this passage, if I can just summarize what it was that occurred, David comes to Nathan, asks if he can build a house for God.
Nathan tells him yes. God intervenes and said, no, it's not you that's supposed to build the house, my house. It is Solomon, your son, who is supposed to build my house. Now this is important. This is a big deal because the house of God, it represents God's presence.
The house of God implies peace. It implies prosperity. And indeed, Solomon brought about the temple. He built the temple. He brought the peace of God to the land. He brought prosperity to the land. The Bible talks about how wealthy Israel was in the days of Solomon.
It says that he was so wealthy that gold in the land was more common than stone, and silver was more common than cedar. Now I can't imagine there being more gold than stone, or going outside and seeing more silver than trees.
But, you know, despite the hyperbole, he was incredibly wealthy. This is the picture that the Bible paints of Solomon's wealth. Solomon was so wealthy that all his eating utensils, all his goblets, were made of gold.
Now I don't imagine that gold is actually very good for eating because it bends very easily. I imagine silver is better. But this is a statement about just how rich he was. Napoleon III, who is the son of Napoleon Bonaparte, Napoleon III, to show off how rich he was, he would eat with aluminum because aluminum was more rare than gold, and he had too much gold for that to really mean anything.
So he ate with aluminum. Likewise, Solomon, all his stuff is gold. This is how wealthy and rich he is. And the Old Testament frequently talks about the wealth of Solomon, even long after his time, that is what the prophets wished to recapture.
You know, there will be a time when that wealth will be restored. But just like David, you know, doesn't quite conquer the ends of the earth in Psalm 2, Solomon doesn't quite fit this description exactly.
Solomon, while he builds a temple, the temple is destroyed. It's rebuilt and destroyed again on a permanent basis. On top of that, Solomon's throne doesn't last forever. His throne ends, well, he dies, of course, and then the king of Judah, there ends up being no more king of Judah after Babylon comes and takes away the people.
So this is—Solomon's fulfillment of this passage is very limited. Ultimately, this refers to the final son of David, the final son of Solomon. This refers to Jesus. John 2 says that Jesus says that if the temple is destroyed, he would build it up again in three days.
And it explains that he was talking about the temple of his body. It is through his humanity, through his body, that he establishes God's presence on earth. And in 1 Corinthians says that we are also temples of God, because what Jesus has done is he has given us his Holy Spirit, so that in us God dwells.
We can have the peace of God. We can have the prosperity of God. Now, we don't fully enjoy a physical prosperity like Solomon had, but we may one day. And right now, we can enjoy peace and spiritual prosperity.
You know, Jesus said that if you served him, you could store up riches and treasures for yourself in heaven. That is what we can have in Jesus. You know, a lot of people pick their leaders and vote for presidents based on what they're going to give them.
You know, am I going to get money from this particular social program? Is he going to lower taxes in my particular bracket? Is he going to make the stock market do well for the particular stocks that I've invested in?
This is how a lot of people—what makes them care about their leaders. Jesus brings prosperity for everyone in his kingdom. He is a great king. Now, if you are not focused on Jesus as king and on the kind of things that he offers, being the temple and making us temples, bringing God's presence, his prosperity, and his peace to earth, what are you going to be thinking about?
You're going to be thinking about material things in this life that are temporary and go away. You're going to be thinking about, you know, maybe it's affection that you want or various things that you crave and desire.
But these things are going to pass away. Ultimately, you won't be able to enjoy something that's true and lasting. But if you think about Jesus as your king, if you have in mind the goals of his kingdom, you'll be able to enjoy the lasting treasures of heaven.
So these two passages come together in Hebrews to give us a full picture, a full picture of Jesus as king. David is only half a picture. Solomon is only half a picture. You may be used to thinking of Jesus like David because he is often called the son of David.
He's never really called the son of Solomon. But David is just a partial picture. Do you know why it was that David wasn't allowed to build the temple? David wasn't allowed to build the temple. Second Samuel doesn't tell us this, but First Chronicles, when it repeats this same passage, it includes a little more detail in the conversation.
God says to David that you've shed too much blood. Now a lot of people take that to say, oh, it was because Uriah. Because David killed Uriah, you know, David was too guilty and he just couldn't enjoy this.
It doesn't seem to me that that's what God is talking about at all. God has made him a conquering king, and that is repeated throughout this chapter, just how much of a conquering king he is. And that's actually why he wants to build the temple, because God has blessed him with all this conquest.
And God will not let him because of all that conquest. Not because the conquest was bad. It was given to him by God. But because to allow David in his final years to build the temple would paint a lopsided picture of who Jesus is, who the ultimate son of God is.
Instead, if we picture David and Solomon as king, as the son of God, we get a full picture. We get the military victory. We get the peace and prosperity. Look at some of these passages. Second Samuel 7 .1 says, Now when the king lived in his house, and the Lord had given him rest from all his surrounding enemies, the king said to Nathan the prophet, see now I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells in a tent.
So God gives him rest from his surrounding enemies. So this is a response to the victory that he has, is now he wants to build a house for God. And then verse 9 and 10. Now this is God acknowledging David's desire.
You know, because I have done these things for you, because I've given you conquest, I will make for you a great name like the name of the great ones of the earth. And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, speaking ultimately of planting them by means of establishing themselves through the temple.
Do you see what these passages are saying? There's two parts of this kingdom. Step one, war. Step two, peace. Step one, military conquest. Step two, prosperity. Step one, David. Step two, Solomon. This is the whole big picture of Jesus as king.
And the author of Hebrews brings those two together to show us that Jesus as the son of God is pictured in those two kings. And frequently in the Old Testament, this doesn't happen just in Hebrews, but frequently David and Solomon are spoken of together as being almost as if it were a single reign.
Of course, it's two different kings. It's two different reigns. But the prophets after the time of David, after the kingdom goes into decline, they're constantly talking about how this kingdom, this kingdom of David, this kingdom of Solomon will be restored.
The victory of David, the peace and prosperity of Solomon, these are the things that we can have through Jesus as king. Now the prophets prophesied looking for that to be restored, but we have that already restored in Jesus who has conquered for us, in Jesus who has given us the peace and prosperity that we need.
There's one more thing that connects these passages to other than just two kings, two kings of Judah, two people who are called the sons of God. What we also have is the rod. Did you notice that? It said that Solomon said in verse 14, I will be with him a father, and he shall be to me a son.
When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men. Now, how could we say that Jesus was disciplined with the rod of men? Jesus never required discipline.
He was never sinful, never needed to be disciplined. However, he was struck with the rod. He was treated as one who had sinned. On the cross, he was struck with the rod. God struck him to pay for our sins.
It is through that, through that crucifixion, that Jesus defeated his enemies, defeated sin and death. So that rod from Psalm 2, that rod from Psalm 2 where he crushes the nations like you would crush a clay pot with iron, that is brought about by him being crushed with a rod.
You see that connection between the rods? This is how Jesus brings about his kingdom. We can have all these treasures if we think of Christ as our king, if we serve him. He has brought about our salvation by paying the ultimate price, the ultimate price being his life.
Now, imagine if you bought a car and you spent twice as much as what it was worth, and then the previous owner still, you know, comes by occasionally to take it for a drive. Probably make you a little upset.
This is what goes on when Jesus has paid the ultimate price for our lives, and we only want to give him partially our life. We need to think of him as king so that we can be guided and directed by him.
And not only that, this is not just for his sake so that he can get what he deserves. This is for our sake too. How can we enjoy peace and prosperity if we're focused on those things that are ultimately in vain?
How can we enjoy victory if we're focused on vain pursuits? How can we have life when we don't think of the only one who gives life? Jesus. We must think of him as king. We can have great prosperity. You know, the poorest person on earth, if they turn to Jesus, if they worship him, they have more riches than the richest person.
They have a mountain of gold. You see in cartoons Scrooge McDuck swimming through gold. That's what you can be like if you, if you are thinking of Jesus as king, if you can acknowledge that reality. Now, it's not just, as I've said, it's not just that we should serve Jesus because that's the right thing to do or because this is good for him.
This is also something that's wonderful for us. This passage in 2 Samuel, it speaks of an identity that we have through the salvation that we are given. Look at verses 23 and 24. All who is like your people Israel, the one nation on earth whom God went to redeem by his people, making himself a name and doing for them great and awesome things by driving out before your people, you redeem for yourself from Egypt, a nation and its God, its gods.
And you establish for yourself your people Israel to be your people forever. And you, oh Lord, became their God. This is what David says in response to God's promise that he will indeed bring about the temple through his son.
David's response is to recount the history of how they have come about to be a people. They have come about to be a people through salvation. Now this might be kind of surprising to you, but did you realize that Jesus was not always king?
Jesus was not always king because he did not always have a kingdom. Just like here, God did not always have a people. He had to establish a people through salvation and then they became his people that can worship and serve him.
Jesus became a king by establishing a kingdom by setting its borders through salvation. Now, if you have been saved, you are a part of that kingdom, which means there is a border around you. That should give you an identity, an identity that is not just an individual identity, being one who's saved by God, but you are part of a collective identity as well.
We are together, those of us who have trusted in Christ to be forgiven of our sins, we are part of a kingdom. We must pursue that kingdom together. And think about what that can do for us in terms of unity, in terms of pursuing reconciliation.
If this kingdom, if these borders are what matters to our king, how much more we would pursue that reconciliation that I spoke of earlier? How much more we would fight sin? How much more we would resist temptation?
Think about how much more that can unify us if we have many different kings in our lives, if I'm led by some person over here, or I'm led by myself, my own desires, I'm going to be bumping heads with you constantly.
But if we are all serving the same leader, if we are all following the same king, then we're all on the same page. We can really restore a unity that was broken by the fall. You know, some people are really good at this.
It's like they exude a glue that keeps them together with other people. It maintains the unity of the church. And other people are like Teflon, very divisive, not necessarily attached. If you want to be a gluey person, if you want to be connected to other people, if you want to be connected to the kingdom and preserve the unity that Christ died for, then you need to be thinking of him as king.
That will cause you to pursue unity, to be that gluey kind of person. So if you are here today, and you have never trusted in Jesus Christ as your Savior, then you cannot benefit from these things that I've spoken about.
You cannot enjoy the victory that Christ leads us into. You cannot enjoy the peace and prosperity that he grants us as a result of that victory. You cannot enjoy any of those things. And worse than that, if you are not for him, he says you are against him, you're setting yourself up as an enemy.
And you saw what Psalm 2 says about the enemies of God, crushed like iron crushes a clay jar. But if you turn to him, if you have faith, you can enjoy all these things, and you can have peace with God.
You can enjoy eternal prosperity. And if you already do trust in Christ, then you should rejoice in it all the more. And you should think about him as your king. Not thinking about your own wants and desires, but thinking about him.
And by doing that, all the more you can enjoy the blessings that he has to offer. Because more than the best boss, more than the best head of state, Jesus is a great, great leader who can lead us into all victory and all greatness.
He is our great regal king. He is our King Jesus. Amen. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for sending your son. We thank you that he died for our sins. I pray that you would lead us to think of him as our king, that that would shape and guide our lives, that we would recognize our true identity in him and cast off any identity that we find elsewhere.
Pray that you would give us the goals and pursuits that we ought to have. I pray that you would bless us in the rest of our fellowship this morning. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen.
