Nov. 5, 2017 A More Excellent Name by Conley Owens

This morning I would like for you to think of the greatest person you know. Okay, think of the greatest person you know.

What is it about that person that makes them great? Is it something they just intrinsically are?

Is it something they do? Is it something they did? Is it maybe their relationship with you?

Now I want you to think about Jesus. Okay, what is it that makes Jesus great? Once again, is it something he intrinsically is?

Something he does? Something he did? Is it his relationship with you? Jesus is, of course, very great.

What the author of Hebrews is going to explain here is not only is Jesus intrinsically great, as he has already stated, but he is also manifestly great.

There is a point in time when his greatness was declared to the whole world, and we'll see how it is by the power of the resurrection that Jesus is not only intrinsically great, but manifestly great.

His greatness has been declared. So at the end of this passage it talks about Jesus being superior to the angels, having become as much superior to angels.

Now have you ever thought to yourself, why is it that the author of Hebrews compares Jesus to angels?

If you're like me, for a long time I thought, well, he's trying to tell us about how great Jesus is, and so he picks the greatest kind of being that you could think of, angels, and then says

Jesus is even higher than that. There's some truth to that, but there's a little more that's going on here.

This started out by saying, long ago at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets.

Now he speaks to us, he has spoken to us by his Son. He's talking about Jesus being a greater messenger than the prophets,

Jesus having a greater message, and all the things that have come before, as we've talked about them, we've showed how they are all about Jesus being this better messenger.

If he is the exact imprint, if he is the exact imprint of God's nature, then how perfect is he to reveal who

God is to man? So when he talks about angels, he hasn't moved off of the topic of God being a better messenger, of Jesus being a better messenger.

He's comparing Jesus to the greatest messengers. Now some of you may know this, but many of you may not, that the word angel in Hebrew and Greek, in the

Old Testament and the New Testament, is just the word messenger. It's not like English where we've got two different words.

We talk about angels, or we can talk about messengers. They only have one word. And so there's actually some verses in the

Bible where people aren't sure whether or not it's talking about an angel, an angelic being, or a human messenger.

You know, it talks about the angel to the angel of the church at Ephesus, talks about these things in Revelation.

Some people aren't sure—I haven't looked into it myself—whether this is really talking about an angelic being, or if it's talking about some messenger that represents a church, a human.

So the author of Hebrews is not just saying that here's some great being that you can think of, and Jesus is even better than that.

He's sticking to this topic of Jesus being a greater messenger than all those things that have come before, better than the prophets, better than all these various ways that God has spoken, and now even better than the angels.

Think about some of the messages that angels have brought. Gabriel spoke to Daniel about the end times.

Various angels spoke to John also about the end times. The angel

Gabriel told Mary that Jesus would be born. Some of the best messages have been reserved for angels, but the greatest message was not given to prophets to give or angels to give, but it was

Jesus' to give. And that message is the gospel. That message is the hope of eternal life through Jesus' sacrifice on the cross.

And that gives us a big distinction between Jesus and all the messengers that have come before, including the angels.

Because if you know that phrase, don't shoot me, I'm just the messenger, that's not the case with Jesus.

The Bible calls him the author of the gospel. He's not just the messenger of the gospel, he is the author of it.

This is something that is not impersonal, delivered through him, but this is personal, delivered directly from him, authored by him.

Have you ever received an award from some high figure that wasn't actually involved in giving the award?

And in high school, I got a presidential award for participating in gym class. You know, it had the president's signature stamped on it.

It wasn't, you know, it was delivered to me by some sweaty gym teacher. And so, you know, the next period

I throw the award away because it means nothing to me. But how much more would that mean if it had actually had the president's signature on it and the president himself flown in on Air Force One to hand this to me?

It would mean a lot more to me. And that's what you have in the gospel. You have something that was delivered by Jesus, it was authored by Jesus, and it's not just signed, it's signed in his blood.

And he had you in mind. He's the omniscient God. Jesus had you in mind when he wrote the gospel, when he delivered the gospel.

This is not something that can just be tossed away. And it says that for this gospel, for this great thing that he has done, he sits down at the right hand of the majesty on high.

Now what does that mean? If he sits down at the right hand, it doesn't mean that God has a right hand.

God doesn't even have a left hand. He doesn't have any hands at all. God doesn't have a body.

But the right hand being the dominant hand means that Jesus is in a place of power, and it means that Jesus is in God's special presence.

Now unfortunately, a lot of Christians haven't thought about this, but Jesus, when he died and he rose again, his body didn't later die again.

He didn't later vaporize. He still has a physical body. Where is Jesus right now?

He's in heaven. If you're used to thinking of heaven as some kind of just spiritual, ethereal place where only spirits swell, that's not the case.

There's a physical component to it. Jesus is there, and he's sitting at God's right hand, and it says he sits.

What does it mean that he sits? I don't think it means that he's always sitting and never stands.

You remember in Acts, he comes and visits Paul, right? So this doesn't mean that he has always been literally sitting, but it does let us know that he is resting and that his work is complete.

You remember that when God created the earth in the space of six days, he then rests.

Jesus was on the cross for a space of six hours making a new creation. At the end of those six hours, he's exalted to the right hand of the majesty on high, the right hand of God.

Jesus is exalted above all things, and he rests. His work is done. His new creation, it is finished.

And he sits on a throne. This means that he has authority. You know, a king has a big throne so he can look over his whole court, and typically, king will have some castle on top of a mountain so that he can look over his whole kingdom.

Where is Jesus' throne? It's in heaven. He looks over not just his kingdom, but all the kingdoms of the earth because he reigns over all of them.

This is a high place of authority. Now I think, I think that a lot of times in our minds we have this backwards.

We feel like, well, if Jesus were just like his ministry on the earth, sitting right here in front of us ministering to us as he did to the disciples,

I would have more obligation to believe him and to trust his word because he's right here in front of me telling me these things.

And, you know, and if he's outside the door, if he's a mile away,

I have less and less obligation to listen to what he says. And, whoa, if he's that far away, man,

I really don't have to listen to him. But the fact that he is in heaven on a throne, exalted, having been resurrected from the dead means his authority is more manifest.

His authority has been declared. You have a greater obligation to love this truth, to trust it, to believe this gospel that we can have, that we have a hope of eternal life through Jesus' sacrifice on the cross.

It's a very good thing. It says, as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

Many verses, well, several verses in the Bible talk about Jesus having the name above all names.

Now, I think that, well, usually when it talks about Jesus' name, it's talking about his authority or his reputation, but I think sometimes it has a particular name in mind, and I think this is one of those times.

And if you look at the next verse, it says, I think the name that it has in mind here is the title,

Son of God. That title shows that Jesus has authority.

He is a prince who has ascended to his throne. He is over this entire inheritance, the whole earth that he inherits.

I think the idea here is that he has this title of the

Son of God, and once again, just like being on a throne, this shows authority.

To give you another illustration, if you have some disease and someone who has a lot of medical knowledge tells you you need to go get surgery or do something difficult, you might have somewhat of an excuse for not listening to if they don't have a license, if they don't have an

MD. Without that title, it's just not as clear that you need to listen to them, even though you really should.

If a doctor does have the title, you really don't have any excuse for not taking the necessary steps to cure your disease.

Jesus has always had authority, but he's declared to be the Son of God by the resurrection.

There's a special manifestness to this authority that makes it especially important that we listen to it now that he has been declared to be the

Son of God. Now you may be thinking to yourself, well, isn't

Jesus always the Son of God? Yes, he is always the Son of God. The Bible said that God sent his

Son into the world. If he sent his Son into the world, that means that him being the Son precedes being sent.

Jesus is eternally the Son of God, and there are few people who would deny this. There's the occasional confused evangelical, or there is, if you've ever heard of oneness

Pentecostalism—not Pentecostalism in general, but oneness Pentecostalism—they deny that Jesus is eternally the

Son of God. They say instead that he just became the

Son at the incarnation. However, Jesus is eternally the

Son of God. However, there's a time when this truth became more manifest, and that was at the resurrection.

That was when he was raised to be seated at the right hand of the majesty on high. If this is a new concept to you, this is when

Jesus was declared to be the Son of God, I have a few verses to show you.

You know, Gabriel told Mary she would have the Son of God, so he's sort of declared to be the

Son of God there. The Father declares out of heaven at the baptism, at Jesus' baptism, that he's the

Son of God. He's declared there. The disciples, starting with Peter, acknowledge that Jesus is the

Son of God. He's declared to be the Son of God, but there is a special way that the resurrection vindicates

Jesus as the Son of God. Let's look at some of those passages.

The first one I want to show you is Ephesians 2, 20 and 21. Built on the foundation of the—excuse me, 1, 20 and 21—that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead—okay, so talking about the resurrection—and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, above every name that is named.

Okay, so here you have the name above all names at the time of the resurrection.

It's being declared through the resurrection. Now, this verse isn't the clearest one that I have. These next two are going to be.

But still, you see this connection between the name above all names and the resurrection. In Romans 1, excuse me,

Romans 1, 4 says, "...and was declared to be the

Son of God in power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by his resurrection from the dead,

Jesus Christ our Lord." So there you have a really clear statement. He's declared to be the Son of God by the resurrection.

Now one more, Acts 13. Acts 13, starting in verse 32, says, "...and

we bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers, this he has fulfilled to us, their children, by raising

Jesus, as also it is written in the second psalm, you are my

Son, today I have begotten you." So if you read that psalm, psalm two, and wondered to yourself, today

I've begotten you, what day is that? Well, Paul tells us in Acts. That is speaking of the resurrection, that it's that day that God declares

Jesus to be the Son. Do you know why Jesus was crucified in human terms?

The charge against him was blasphemy for claiming to be the Son of God. His resurrection was vindication that he was wrongly charged and that he actually is the

Son of God. There's a special way that he's declared to be the Son of God at the resurrection.

He has that name above all names. Isaiah 26, 13 says, "...O

Lord our God, other lords besides you have ruled over us, but your name alone we bring to remembrance."

Okay, if only God's name is brought to be brought to remembrance, and Jesus has the name above all names, where does that leave

Jesus? He is divine. He commands divine authority.

Jesus is God. He is not his Father, but he shares that one essence with the

Father. He commands authority, and it's an authority to be listened to. This message that he's delivered, it is a wonderful truth.

It is a great hope, but it comes with an obligation to heed it. And is that what you're thinking in your heart when you hear the gospel?

Do you feel that obligation, the depth of that obligation to be anxious for nothing because Jesus has already conquered sin and death?

Do you feel the depth of that obligation to love your brothers and sisters because Jesus has died for them?

Do you feel the depth of that obligation? One more illustration in a similar vein.

If you were driving along the road, and either you park somewhere or you do something that a sign was supposed to tell you not to do, and there wasn't a sign there, you'll probably get off with a minimal fine.

However, if there are signs there, there's no excuse. No excuse for disobeying the signs, and the judge will unlikely have any mercy on you.

While in the Old Testament, in the Old Testament, people were obligated to hear God's message of salvation, and when they heard it, excuse me, once they've heard

God's message of salvation, they were obligated to believe, to trust in that hope.

And during Jesus' ministry, people were obligated to trust in his words and to embrace that hope.

But the signs over time are getting more and more frequent until after the resurrection, when Jesus has been declared to be the

Son of God, it's like there's a street sign every few centimeters telling you what exactly it is that you must do to be saved.

This is a great hope, but it comes with a great obligation. Back in Hebrews 1, it says, after making purification for sins.

So this is, this is the gospel, this is what Jesus has done, and God raises him from the dead after it.

Jesus has made purification for sins. Sin is any sort of rebellion against God, any lack of holiness.

You know, God is in heaven. God is holy. He's surrounded by thousands of holy ones. That's another word for angels.

And he is accompanied by his Holy Son who sits at his right hand. There's no room for sin in heaven.

There's no room for it. It must be purified. But what hope do we have for purification of sins?

In the Old Testament, animals were sacrificed to symbolize sin being removed, but it couldn't accomplish that.

Jesus is the sacrifice that purifies sin, and having dealt with that, we have hope of eternal life.

And this is something he has done, and now, as I've said, he sits on the throne. His work is complete.

It is not 99 % done. It is 100 % done. And that is a great and wonderful truth.

And you, who sit here, are in a very privileged position, not because you get to hear me, but because you get to hear the gospel.

If the whole world were sitting in a stadium, if the whole world were sitting in a stadium, all of humanity that's ever existed, you know, those who have never heard the gospel, they'd be sitting up in the nosebleeds, unable to really tell what's going on.

People in the Old Testament who might hear of some promised messiah, they're sitting somewhere down the middle.

You're right up front. You've got front row tickets to see God's glory. You must love and cherish this special position you're in.

You must love and cherish this truth of the gospel. And while I've talked so much about obligation, this is not something that we should be—this is not something that we should not be happy and excited about.

There's another word I'm looking for. Sorry. We shouldn't be angry at God that he has placed this obligation on us, because it's not like the alternative is no obligation.

The alternative is that there's no hope for salvation. The alternative is to not have that obligation.

The alternative is to not have any hope. This is a great truth, a wonderful thing.

And for those who have never trusted in this truth, who have never hoped in it, the only way you can have eternal life, the only way that you can be with God in his presence and continue living beyond your death in this world is through faith in Jesus Christ, in this gospel that he has delivered.

Jesus has been raised. He has been declared. He is manifestly great.

He is the Son of God. And you must bow to him. You must love him.

And this is a great promise. This is a great hope. Now if you already have trusted in Jesus Christ, then of course, as someone who sits in the front row seeing

God's glory, you are not done. As you dwell in this truth, you are to love it more.

You are to cherish it more. And remember the questions I asked at the beginning.

Is it something intrinsic about Jesus that makes him great? Is it something he did that make him great? Is it something about his relationship with you?

All these things are kind of true. All these things are definitely true. But if you are inclined to think that Jesus is great, he's great of something he is, he's great of something he's done, and that's sort of divorced from me, but I need to respond to that, you're missing it.

Because why is it that God has raised him from the dead and that all the world sees not just his greatness, but his manifest greatness, that he has been declared to be the

Son of God? This didn't just happen. It happened because he saved you.

His greatness, his manifest greatness as the Son of God is because of you.

Your identity is wrapped up, intertwined with his manifest greatness, and his manifest greatness is intertwined with your identity.

This is something so personal and so deep to who you are as a Christian who has been redeemed by Christ.

You must love who Jesus is. You must love the Son of God. Let's pray.

Dear Heavenly Father, I thank you for your word. I thank you for your Son and for you raising him from the dead.

I pray that the depth of what this should mean to us would weigh on our hearts, and I pray that we would cherish these truths.