The Glory of the Firstborn, part 1 (Hebrews 1, Jeff Kliewer)

Well, it doesn't need to be said that Christmas in this country has been grotesquely commercialized, that it's been turned into a festival of lights and gifts and activity, and for many people the message is forgotten.

In fact, for some the message doesn't matter. The whole idea of Christmas is more about tradition and holiday than it is about the person of Jesus Christ.

Nowhere could that be more clearly seen than in the 1989 hit movie Christmas Vacation with Clark Griswold.

Remember how many lights, even back in 1989 it was completely commercialized. Remember the scene where he brings a tree into his house and the squirrel jumps out at them?

It was already commercialized back then and it hasn't gotten any better. I think it's probably gotten worse since then. But Christmas has become a holiday that's more about us than it is about Jesus.

Some people I know have even stopped celebrating Christmas because they're so concerned about the commercialization.

They don't want to get caught up in it, which I understand, but I don't think that's the right answer. I think for us we go back to the

Word of God and we re -center around the real person, Jesus Christ. The original

Saint Nick, the original Santa Claus, was not about holiday and the outward show.

He was about the Lord Jesus. He was a preacher and he was someone who reached people with the gospel.

But sometimes I think that our inner Santa goes rogue. And rather than doing what

Saint Nick did and what we're called to do at Christmastime, we get distracted too. We forget what

Christmas is all about and so I think it's appropriate each year to return to the subject of Christmas at this time of year because it's not about lights and it's not about candy and gifts and stockings and all of that.

It is about Jesus and specifically it's about this. It's about Jesus coming in the flesh.

The Son of the living God, who is God from all eternity, taking on human flesh. The big word for that is incarnation, incarnation.

The Son of God taking on flesh. Christmas calls us to worship him because he is

God. Now there are many people around the world, the vast majority, that do not worship

Jesus. Yet they'll tip the hat to Jesus. Muhammad said that Jesus is not the

Son of God. In fact, don't say Trinity, desist, it will go better for you and he enforced that by the edge of the sword.

Jehovah Witnesses lowered Jesus from the place of God to a created being that is still worthy of some kind of honor but is not

God himself. Secularists, as we talked about, people who are secular, humanist in their outlook, they celebrate

Christmas, they put up Christmas lights very often but it's not in honor of the Son of God.

But the question comes to us personally, are we about Jesus in his incarnation at Christmas time?

Sometimes we forget to worship him as well. When you open up the Christmas story, the book of Luke has the famous version, right, with the angels that are in the field and the book of Matthew also records the story.

It's striking that there's not a lot said about who this baby is. In fact, listen to the simplicity of Luke 2, 6, and 7.

While they were there, the time came for her to give birth and she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger because there was no place for them in the inn.

From that narrative, you get the idea that Jesus is born but you don't get the full sweeping picture of who it is that was just born.

He was born, put in a manger, wrapped in swaddling clothes. Luke 1, 35 did tell us, as the angel announced, the

Holy Spirit will come upon you, Mary, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the child to be born will be called

Holy, the Son of God. And there is a hint as to who he is. He's more than flesh.

He's born of the woman but not from a man. And therefore, he has no sin nature inherited.

He's different. He, in fact, is the Son of God. But we still don't get the full orb picture of who this is that was born.

Matthew puts it this way, 1st chapter, 24th and 25th verse. When Joseph woke from his sleep, he did as the angel of the

Lord commanded him. He took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son, and he called his name

Jesus. Pretty simple. He's just born. They gave him a name.

Matthew 2, 11, we do have some wise men come, and going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother.

They fell down and worshipped him. So there's some who are bowing in worship to the

Son of God. Then they opened their treasures and they offered him gifts, gold, and frankincense and myrrh.

From the narrative stories, we get a glimpse. We do. We begin to see that this is more than an ordinary boy born and laid in a manger.

But where would you go in the Bible for a full orb picture of the glory of Jesus Christ as revealed when he was born into the world?

Where would you go in the scriptures to see that this baby boy, who is a man, is more than a man.

He is God in the flesh. If you're talking to a Jehovah's Witness, or to a

Mormon, or to a Muslim, or to any secular person who doesn't believe that Jesus is

God, where would you go? This morning we're going to what

I think is the clearest picture of the deity of Christ in the

Bible. And it focuses on the incarnation, when the firstborn is brought into the world.

And that is Hebrews chapter 1. Go there with me. This is a less familiar

Christmas passage. But it says more about the glory of the one who was born than probably any other place in the

New Testament. Please turn there with me so you can see it. We don't know who the author is, but the apostles approve and the church recognizes this as scripture as soon as it's given.

In Hebrews chapter 1 we have the sending of the firstborn, revealing the glory of God that is in the face of Jesus Christ.

In 2 Corinthians 4, we learn that there's a veil that the devil puts over the minds of people that they cannot see the light of the gospel.

But when we with unveiled faces behold his glory, we can see the glory of God in the face of Christ.

This ordinary baby laying in a manger, wrapped in swaddling clothes, is more than an ordinary baby.

He is God in the flesh. This is where we go to discover that. This morning, I have one goal in mind.

And it's not to get you to go and do anything. My goal this morning is that you would behold his glory.

That you would see the glory of the Son of God. That you would appreciate and value and treasure him.

In fact, that your heart would be turned back to worship again. Because our hearts are prone to go astray.

And Christmas is about worshiping Jesus. That's what it's about. The author of Hebrews in this one chapter will say it seven times, again and again and again and again.

And after saying it seven times, he'll turn around and say it seven times more. All in the first chapter of Hebrews.

That the Son of God has come into the world. That he is God in flesh. That he is glorious.

Let's turn now to Hebrews 1. The first three verses have the first seven declarations of the glory of Jesus.

He puts it seven different ways. 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. Whom he appointed the heir of all things. Through whom also he created the world.

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. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high.

We'll stop there. In fact, I think the next verse, even though it continues within the sentence and it's sometimes marked off as part of that first section,

I think that fourth verse is actually a transition into the next thought. But the first three verses are a declaration of the glory of Jesus Christ.

The glory of Christ, the Son. We see that he is himself God in this passage.

But we also see that he's distinct from his father. So herein is part of the revelation of the

Trinity. God exists as one being forever. And yet within that one being there are three persons.

Three persons in one God. Jesus is distinct from the father in this passage.

God speaks and now he speaks by his Son. The Son comes into the world.

But what Jesus does when he comes is not change anything that we were already told. Look at verse two.

In the last days he has spoken to us by his Son. That's in comparison to the first verse where God in many ways and at various times has spoken to us through prophets.

In many ways. You have a prophet like Ezekiel laying on one side for a long period of time and then flipping over and laying on another side.

So that's one way that God spoke to the world. Moses goes on a mountain. God engraves words on a tablet of stone, on two tablets for Moses to bring down.

And so his word is revealed that way. He speaks through angels. His voice audibly comes from heaven in many different ways and in different times.

So that we have 39 books with all of these messages from heaven.

But in these last days he's spoken to us by his Son. The point being the prophets spoke and they declared the will of the

Lord and the word of the Lord. But in a disjointed way and spread out over a long period of time with the coming of Jesus Christ all of those messages from the prophets are integrated and made whole and one in the person of Jesus Christ.

The prophets spoke now in the coming of Jesus when he was born and laid in that manger and God dwelt among us.

Everything came together and everything was shown to fit. And now that revelation of Jesus Christ is made bolder.

It's amplified what God was saying in these various ways over such a long period of time.

Revealing the glory of Christ. Let us make man in our own image. Or Isaiah chapter 6.

Who will go for us? Holy, holy, holy. The thrice holy

God revealed in the Old Testament is now declared with power to be

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In the incarnation we have the declaration that Jesus is

God. The Son of God means he's God in flesh. So look with me now at the fourth verse.

He's been declared Son of God. He's been declared God. Having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

If you look back at the previous verses you see that before there ever were angels he was glorious.

What are the seven things that God says about Jesus Christ? We need to hear these to turn our mind off of ourselves and back on him.

Number one in verse two it says he's appointed the heir of all things.

This morning we need to be reminded that Jesus is the end. He is the one that all of history is moving toward and finds its consummation in.

Jesus is the final revelation from God. He is the one who will be worshipped for all eternity.

When this world fades and goes away Jesus will remain. When everything else is rolled up like a scroll there is

Jesus through whom also he created the world. He's not only the end but he's also the beginning.

He's the alpha and the omega. Verse three he is the radiance of the glory of God.

That word radiance in the Greek is like effulgence, like this luminescence that comes from God.

This beautiful light, this glory, this radiance that shines, this is him.

He is the radiance of the glory of God. The exact imprint of his nature. Here in the flesh we have one walking among us who's an exact representation of the father.

Like a signet ring of a king stamping into wax he is the imprint of the father.

The exact picture of what God is like. He upholds the universe by the word of his power.

He's the one holding everything together, keeping your heart beating, giving your mind attentiveness this morning, holding you here in your seat so you don't run away.

He is the one who upholds the universe. Two more things, after making purification for sins, what does that mean?

He's the one who came as a priest to purify a people for himself. To make purification by dying on the cross and being that sacrifice, not just the priest but the very lamb of sacrifice that takes away sin.

After accomplishing that we're told he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high.

He is enthroned in glory at the very right hand of the father.

So the author of Hebrews reminds us seven times of the glory of Jesus Christ. Proclaims his glory to us and in the fourth verse as Jesus is seated then at the father's right hand having come and humbled himself for a little while lower than the angels now accomplishing the work of purification for sins seated at the right hand of God it is declared in his enthronement that he is greater and his name is more excellent, more excellent than that of the angels.

So in the fourth verse there's a comparison to angels so that we would understand who it is we're dealing with.

Who is this Christ? Who is this king of glory? Compare him to angels and think about it.

Now the Jehovah's Witnesses will compare Jesus to angels and conclude that Jesus is

Michael. That's their teaching. They equate the two.

One is the other. According to the book of Hebrews Jesus is far more excellent than any angel.

He said it seven times. Now he'll say it seven more. Let's read. I want you to notice seven quotations from the

Old Testament. Remember the prophet spoke at various times and in various ways. Here the author will pick out seven examples of prophecy that declares that Jesus is more than a man.

He is the son of God. He's the glorious God in flesh. Verses five and following.

For to which of the angels did God ever say, you are my son. Today I have begotten you.

Or again, I will be to him a father and he shall be to me a son.

And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world he says, let all

God's angels worship him. Of the angels he says, he makes his angels winds and his ministers a flame of fire.

But of the son he says, your throne oh God is forever and ever.

The scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness.

Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions. And you

Lord laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning. And the heavens are the work of your hands.

They will perish but you remain. They will all wear out like a garment. Like a robe you will roll them up.

Like a garment they will be changed but you are the same and your years will have no end.

And to which of the angels has he ever said, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.

Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who will inherit eternal life?

So looking there at verse 14, what is the purpose of an angel? Why are angels created by God?

They're ministering spirits sent to serve those who inherit salvation. They are created beings made to serve people.

Those of us who are particularly being saved. That's the purpose of angels.

But the author in Hebrews is using them for another reason here. Back to verse 4, to compare the glory of Jesus to the splendor of angels.

Now recognize that the power of an angel is overwhelming to a man.

Remember when men would come into the presence of angels? Often they would fall down to worship and the angel would have to say, no, don't worship me.

I'm only a servant of God just like you. Their splendor was amazing. Their power was unmatched by anything human.

One night when God wanted to fight on behalf of his people, back in the

Old Testament he sent out an angel. And that angel killed 185 ,000

Assyrians in one night. He wiped out an army by himself.

This is the power of an angel. And anybody who encountered an angel understood that this was a glorious being.

And yet in verse 4 we're told to consider angels in order to recognize how much greater

Jesus is. And these seven quotations use angels as a measuring stick, as a standard to set our minds on something that's that much greater.

So we do that. We follow along in the text. And you say, well, do we really need to, do we need to hear it seven times?

Do we need to hear seven? Wouldn't one verse do? Brother, wouldn't one be enough? I don't know.

Maybe it is for you. Maybe it is for somebody here. But for me,

I need to hear it seven times. Remember that old song? Prone to wander,

Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love. Take my heart,

Lord, and seal it. Seal it for your courts above. I did find a way to butcher that a little bit too. Guys, our hearts are prone to wander.

And this Christmas, if you would just take a moment right now and think about your own heart, the condition of your soul, are you truly in a worshiping posture this morning?

Is your heart really humble before the King of Kings? Do you really lift him up in your mind's eye right now and consider it?

You need to consider it and you need to consider it seven times this morning. So let's do it, each one quickly.

When we see the background of what these scriptures were saying about God, and then apply that to Jesus and recognize who he is, from this moment on, let nobody ever doubt that Jesus is

God in the flesh. That's the teaching of the scripture. So the first one is a messianic prophecy from Psalm chapter two.

This is a sword drill. You need to have your Bible with you so you can get there quickly. Turn to Psalm chapter two.

We're going to be in seven different scriptures this morning. We won't spend long in any one of them, but I want to give you a little background of what's happening, point out how the author of Hebrews applies that to Jesus, and so direct our hearts to worship him the way we're supposed to.

In Hebrews 1 -5 we're told, to which of the angels did God ever say, you are my son, today

I have begotten you? King David wrote the second Psalm, and he begins by asking the question, why do the nations rage?

So many enemies are turning up their noses against Israel, against the King David when he's just freshly brought into his kingdom, and they want to overthrow him.

But he points out what God said to him in counsel and secret. The Lord said to him in verse seven, you are my son, today

I have begotten you. This Psalm is an enthronement Psalm, where David has received a kingdom and been enthroned on his place to reign and rule over Israel.

But what David writes of himself and what God said to him is only applicable in a near sense in a superficial way.

David begins to speak of himself in this Psalm and he writes of one who is greater than him, the son of David.

This song was always considered by Israel as messianic, pointing not just to David himself but to the coming son of David, who was in fact the son of God.

And we learn now in the New Testament, comparing to angels, God did call angels sons of God.

Remember that? Very often in the Old Testament, the sons of God are referenced.

Some think that Genesis six, the sons of God saw the daughters of men were beautiful. Consider that angels. He used that terminology but in Hebrews 1 .5

we're told God would never say that to an angel in the way he's saying it to his son in Psalm chapter two.

This is a unique sonship. We are sons and daughters of God by adoption through the blood of Christ.

But there is only one son of God eternally reigning with his father and with the

Holy Spirit. A unique sonship asking of me and I will make the nations your heritage, the ends of the earth your possession.

An eternal kingdom given to him and all of these warring nations that are opposed to him, their hearts hate the king of Israel and the

God of Israel. There's a warning given to them in verse 12, 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. This is a call to salvation.

Psalm two is a call to submission, to kiss the king, to recognize and to make the good confession that Jesus himself made in front of Pontius Pilate that he is

Lord. You say that I am. Jesus is

Lord. This is the confession of allegiance no longer to Caesar, no longer to any earthly king to declare

Jesus is Lord. This is the point of Psalm two. Back to Hebrews chapter one.

You want to always keep a marker there in Hebrews one because that's what's driving us to each scripture. We'll keep coming back to that and then we'll launch out to wherever the author is taking us.

The first place we go is Psalm chapter two. I don't know if you would have gone there, but now you know to go there.

Now you know that's a messianic Psalm that declares that Jesus is more than an angel.

The prophet who was speaking long ago was pointing out that the coming Messiah is uniquely

God's son. The second one, I will be to him a father and he shall be to me a son.

The author reiterates again from another point in scripture that this is a unique relationship of father and son, but where does he draw it from?

The answer is second Samuel chapter seven verse 14. Go with me to second

Samuel chapter seven verse 14. The first place we went,

David was newly established as king. His enemies were raging, but now he's been on the throne for a good while and now his enemies are subdued and there's no more threat from any of the surrounding peoples.

He's firmly established as king. So what does he do with that kind of power? What does he do with that place of position?

His heart turns to God and he says, why do I live in a house of cedar, whereas God, you live in a tent, in a tabernacle.

This isn't right. And his heart is turned to God and he talks to Nathan and Nathan says, yes, do what's in your heart to do, to build a house for God.

But then God sends Nathan back to David to say, wait a minute, you are not the one to build it, but your son will.

Solomon will build the temple. And in that exchange with Nathan, God speaking through the prophet, look at chapter seven verse 13 first of all,

David's told he'll have an offspring and in verse 13, he shall build a house for my name and hear this, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.

Bible students, mark that. That's the Davidic covenant. That's where David is promised that unlike Saul, whose reign only lasted for a little while and then he was dethroned, the throne of David is being established forever.

David has the right to the throne forever. His descendant followed by his descendant for all time.

But you say, how is that possible? This world itself is going to be rolled up like a scroll and destroyed.

How can there always be a king to sit? Because there's coming a descendant of David who will himself reign forever and never die.

Having died, he'll rise from the dead with an indestructible life. He will reign forever. The Davidic kingdom is only possible through Jesus Christ.

So Jesus is the son of David. He fulfills us. And in verse 14, we find the quote from Hebrews, I will be to him a father.

It's true of Solomon. Solomon is a son of David and God is his father.

But David had wandered from God at times and then came back.

And Solomon will wander farther than David. And yet we're told when he commits iniquity,

I will discipline him with the rod of men and with the stripes of the sons of men. Solomon will be brought back through discipline.

And that's how we are as well. Solomon is in view in this prophecy. But it speaks in a far way to the coming

Christ. Prophecies very often have a near fulfillment and a far fulfillment.

As the psalmist in one case or here as Samuel is recording, he has in view

David and Solomon. But there's a far fulfillment that points to Jesus Christ to set our minds.

I will be a father to him and he shall be a son to me. So the second place we go is to the

Davidic covenant. Second Samuel chapter seven. Now let's look at the third one. And again, here's the

Christmas story. When he brings the firstborn into the world, the incarnation, he says, let all

God's angels worship him. Let all

God's angels worship him. This comes from Deuteronomy chapter 32, the 43rd verse.

So turn back to Deuteronomy 32. Here in Hebrews, God is saying through the incarnation that it's right to worship

Jesus. Let the angels worship him. We just talked about what happens when people try to worship angels.

What does the angel do? He throws up a stiff arm and says, no, don't worship me.

Worship God alone. Satan, who's a fallen angel, tried to get

Jesus to worship him. And Jesus' answer was, no, but worship the

Lord your God alone. Time and again, we're told that God alone is worthy of worship.

And yet, the author of Hebrews tells us, let all God's angels worship him.

Now if you want to know that Jesus is God, Deuteronomy 32 is a surefire proof of the fact.

Because if you go back in Deuteronomy and read the context, in the 28th chapter you have blessings and cursings.

In the 29th chapter you have the return when they would wander. But before Moses died, this is what

God said to him. After you go, Moses, the hearts of the people will wander.

They'll stop worshiping the Lord God and they will turn away to other gods. They will worship the false gods of the nations.

And it's very interesting how God dealt with this problem ahead of time. You know what he did? He said,

Moses, write down a song. And this is not the kind of song that you'd want to sing to your kids at night -night.

The song tells the story of Israel being unfaithful and turning away to worship other gods.

And in the song we're told that when the people learn this song and the thing has happened, they've drifted away from God, they will remember the words to that song.

And they'll be convicted. And some will come back to worship the true

God. What I'm trying to tell you is that the whole point of Deuteronomy 32, the song of Moses, is to say that the

Israelites would worship other gods. But there's only one God worthy of worship.

And in that 43rd verse they're told to rejoice and to praise and all God's holy ones, his angels do that.

And the author of Hebrews turns around and applies that song of Moses to Jesus.

The song that says that there's no other God but God, he applies that to Jesus.

It's a proof positive that Jesus is God, God in the flesh.

Because the context of the psalm, the song that Moses was taught, was one of worship of the true

God alone. He follows that up in verse 7. Look at Hebrews chapter 1 verse 7.

Of the angels, he says, he makes his angels winds and his ministers a flame of fire.

That's found in Psalm 104. So turn with me to the fourth verse of Psalm 104.

This psalm begins and ends the same way. And it's what I want you to do with this message, by the way.

Bless the Lord, oh my soul. Oh Lord, my God, you are very great.

In the 35th verse, bless the Lord, oh my soul. Praise the Lord. This is a psalm of praise.

To God for who he is. And the theme that runs through it is that God upholds all things.

And all things look to him. We hear about Leviathan, this great beast of the sea that eats all the food that it can.

And God satisfies his belly. But he looks to God and when his time is up, he dies.

Even Leviathan must look to God. I like the 18th verse, if you look quickly.

The high mountains are for the wild goats. The rocks are a refuge for the rock badgers.

Another word for the rock badger is the coney. It's a little rabbit looking kind of,

I think from the rabbit family. But he's kind of a squirrely looking rabbit guy. And what he does is he hides in the rocks.

Chuck Smith of Calvary Chapel says, the coney knowing his weakness has enough sense to make his home in the rocks.

This guy is defenseless. He's not like Leviathan that nobody can tame.

The book of Job tells us that no one can tame Leviathan with a hook or reel him in. But this little coney is helpless and yet he has enough sense to make his home in the rocks.

God is the rock, over and over again pictured in the Psalms as the one that the righteous run into and they're safe.

He's a fortress in the rocks. Another name for the coney, by the way, is the pika.

And a lot of people think Pikachu came from that. The pika, the coney, this little rabbit puts his trust in God alone.

And God upholds his life. God sustains him. In Hebrews chapter 1, we're told all the angels are this way.

They look to God. He makes his angels winds, his servants flames of fire.

Angels are glorious and powerful beings. God uses them as messengers to deliver a message like fire and like wind.

And yet we're told in this Psalm that they themselves look to God. And apart from God, they're nothing.

Their flame dies out, their wind blows still. These angels, these glorious beings themselves look to God.

And this, we're told according to Hebrews, is how the angels look to Jesus.

Let all God's angels worship him. Now the eighth verse, but of the son, he says, your throne, oh

God, is forever and ever. The scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.

You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness. Therefore, God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness.

Turn with me to Psalm 45. Okay, a little moment of honesty here.

Who's tired of looking? Who's tired of looking to see

Jesus in the Old Testament? Don't raise your hand.

But that's an indication of our desire, is our mind wandering to what we really want to do. Do you really want to see him again?

Do you really want to see him in the 45th Psalm? Here's what it says in verse 6 and 7.

Your throne, oh God, is forever and ever. The scepter of your kingdom is the scepter of uprightness.

You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness. Therefore, God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.

In verse 6, God there refers to the king. In the near sense, the author of Psalms is speaking about David and showing him to be glorious.

But it doesn't fully fit David in the near sense. There's something prophetic happening here.

Something larger that can only be fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ. This is a psalm of delight from redeemed people who love their king.

Written by the sons of Korah. Who are the sons of Korah? Korah was a rebel in Israel.

When Moses was king and duly appointed to lead the people, Korah rose up and said, why do you think you're above the people?

God's with all of us, just as much as with you. And Moses fell on his face before God.

And he knew that judgment was coming. The next day they gathered at Korah's tent. And Korah spoke out again.

And God consumed him with some kind of earthquake that split the earth open. And Korah fell in and was consumed in a very unusual way.

His children were killed with him, but not all. Because some of the sons of Korah survived to descend from him.

And I tell you this, that when you read those 11 chapters in the book of Psalms written by sons of Korah, there is a passion for the king.

There is a love that matches the heart of a redeemed person.

Look at the first verse of Psalm 45. It's just your heart. My heart overflows with a pleasing theme.

I address my verses to the king. My tongue is like the pen of a ready scribe.

When you come here on Sunday morning, how ready is your tongue? The sons of Korah were delighting that they are part of Israel.

They're redeemed. They're the singers, the Kohathites, the singers in Israel from that Levitical tribe.

Their job is to praise Yahweh in the assembly. And they come with a heart that wants to worship.

And they have David, the killer of Goliath, the conqueror of enemies, seated on the throne.

Look how they lift him up. They call him handsome in verse 2, which I find a little weird. But verse 3 and following, they gird their sword on their thigh, oh mighty one.

You're mighty in splendor and majesty, in your majesty, right out victoriously. They're in love with their king.

They love him. They exalt him. Brother and sister, how much love do you have for your king?

The greater David, the son of David, who not in just a symbolic way can be called

God. He is God in flesh. Our king is named

Jesus. How does your tongue worship him? Does your heart overflow with praise?

Where's the joy of your heart to worship him? The sons of Korah call us to praise our king.

Look at verse 1, my heart overflows with a pleasing theme. That's what

I want this Christmas. I don't want to miss it again, putting up more lights and just focusing on the things we have to do.

I want to spend that time in this psalm. Come back to this psalm again when

I'm alone and let my heart overflow with praise. That's what

Hebrews is calling us to. Let all God's angels worship him. The sons of Korah did it.

Verse 8 and 9, we have two left. We needed to hear it seven times, didn't we?

Cited from Isaiah 61, there's a quote there.

But if you look at verse 10 through 12, this comes from Psalm 102.

You can turn there or you can listen through Hebrews. And you, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning.

And the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain.

They will all wear out like a garment, like a robe you will roll them up, like a garment they will be changed.

But you are the same and your years have no end. Brief context to that psalm, this is a low point for David.

I'm not exactly sure which season of life. Maybe he's being rejected by his own son, Absalom, running for his life.

I'm not sure exactly where it is in his life, but I know he is at the end of his rope.

His life, he feels like it's wasting away. He is hurting in this psalm.

The sons of Korah sing to him when he's in his glory, in the highest moment. But here he's at the depths of life, in the bottom.

And the point of this psalm over and over again is to say, when my life is shaky, when everything is being undermined, when

I have no control left, there is a God, my

God, who is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He's unchanging.

He's unmoved. He's glorious all the time and he's not shaken by the circumstances of life.

God says in the incarnation that Jesus is God. He is Emmanuel, God with us.

This could never be said of angels. But notice, the author of Hebrews, go back to chapter one with me, notice, when you read

Psalm 102, there is no denying that the entire psalm is directed to Yahweh, God.

And yet here, the author of Hebrews directs it to Jesus.

That brothers and sisters, is conclusive proof that Jesus is God. If you ever have a conversation with someone who denies it and yet claims to believe the

Bible because many of these people who follow, you know, Jehovah's Witness and Mormons and all these different religions, many of them claim to believe the

Bible. Now, make note of this verse. Because God applies to Jesus Christ a psalm that is written of God and that could only describe

God. What does it say of him? You laid the foundation. You are the creator. He's saying again what he said in verse two.

The heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish but you remain. You're the alpha, the omega, beginning, the end, unchanging.

You uphold all things. Everything else will be rolled up like a robe but you are the same and your years will never end.

Lastly, the author of Hebrews goes to one that is very common.

Maybe many of us would go there. Psalm 110, the most quoted

Old Testament passage in the New Testament. The one that Jesus used to stump the

Pharisees who came to him questioning. He would say, the

Lord says to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies footstool for your feet.

Who is David talking about? He calls him Lord. How is he his son? Psalm 110 is applied to Jesus.

Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. Next year,

I can guarantee you this. I will preach Psalm 110 because I love this psalm.

It's got the priesthood of Christ in verse 4. But just noticing the first few words, the

Lord says to my Lord, Adonai.

The Lord is Yahweh, the tetragrammaton. Whenever you see the four capital letters where L -O -R -D is in capitals, that is the translator's way of showing you this is

Y -H -W -H, Yahweh, the formal name of God without the vowel points because they would never pronounce his name.

The Lord says to my Lord, Jesus is

God. And we were told this in various ways before he came. Now we see that applied, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.

David is no longer talking about his kingdom, him alone, but the son of David who would sit at the father's right hand.

Are not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?

The author of Hebrews has used angels to compare. These are only created beings, winds, flames that depend on God, but Jesus is so much greater far above.

There was a preacher in Philadelphia last century whose name was Barnhouse. Anybody have heard of Donald Barnhouse, a few of you have?

He speculated, this is in closing by the way, he speculated what a city would look like if Satan had free reign, unrestrained.

Some people say that's what Philadelphia is. But here's how he pictured it.

He said all the bars would be closed, all pornography banished, the pristine streets would be filled with tidy pedestrians who smiled at each other, there would be no swearing, the children would say yes sir and no ma 'am, and the churches would be full every

Sunday morning where Christ is not preached.

The message this morning is simply to remind you of this,

Christmas is about Christ, it's to lift him up, it's to be reminded that he came, he lived among us but he was so much more than a prophet, so much more than an ordinary man, so much more than a miracle worker.

He came to purify us from our sins and then be seated at the right hand of his father.

Christmas is for the preaching of Christ. If you had everything else in this world but you didn't have him, that would be hell.

And heaven without Jesus is hell. Even if you have a paradise around you where everything feels right and looks good and you get your life in order perfectly, you get all your ducks in a row, but you miss

Christ, guess what, you missed it, you missed it all. Let all

God's angels worship him, let all God's children worship him. This message from Hebrews is for all of us no matter where you are.

Hey, somebody here, you might be a raging nation, you have not yet kissed the son, you've not sworn your allegiance to him, you've not come to him for mercy, but you rage against this message that Jesus is the only way.

If you're a raging nation, kiss the son lest he be angry with you. He is a shelter to all who take refuge in him.

Psalm 2 tells you that. You may be a son of Korah this morning, delighting in your savior.

Worship him if that's you, with joy. You might be at the bottom like David was, where his whole life had been turned upside down and you're hurting.

You know what you do at that time? Worship the rock that is stronger than you. Run to the tower and find refuge in him.

It's all about him. The song of Moses. It's all about him.

Everything points to him. He's the final answer. He's the conclusion of it all. Every prophecy that was ever spoken at various times in various ways, it's all complete in him.

And so this morning, turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in his wonderful face and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace.