God Speaking About His Son — Robert Dowie

The Anonymous Authorship and Divine Inspiration of Hebrews

All right, now to begin we're going to give you a little bit of background in relation to the book of Hebrews, and in your notes you'll notice the introduction to the book, and some very, very brief things there in the matter of introduction.

And at the beginning I've said that the person who wrote the book of Hebrews remains anonymous. Now that doesn't mean that you may not have a little bit of secret information in your mind about the fact, well, I think that Paul wrote it, anything like that, and you'll find that there are some people who argue for about three weeks about who wrote the book of Hebrews.

And after they finish, they don't dogmatically know. Now you'll notice in some Bibles it says the epistle of Paul to the Hebrews. That's because that the person, when they were translating, they believed that.

This was the epistle of Paul to Hebrews. And you'll find me making a mistake now and again when I'm speaking to you, and I'll say now Paul says here in Hebrews, it's because of the fact that way down deep in my heart I get the idea he probably wrote it too.

But it doesn't say that in the book, see, it doesn't say that. And I think there's a reason for that because, you see, this book, above any other epistle, is occupied with the greatness of God's Son, isn't it?

And the book is saying God is speaking, God spake. And at the very beginning it says God, who at sundry times in a diverse manner spake. It's God speaking, this is God's Word. So we don't dogmatically know who was the human author of the book of Hebrews.

Now because of the content of it and some things which are said in it, we may make the suggestion that probably Paul did. I don't know dogmatically. And it's interesting, you know, I don't know, sometimes theologians must have a lot of time on their hands, even back years ago, someone wrote a whole volume on who wrote the book of Hebrews.

A whole volume, must have had a lot of time. Because after they've all finished, I don't know either. But I know this, that God wrote it, didn't He? God was behind it. This book is inspired by the Holy Spirit, like every other book in the Bible.

So in this book it is God speaking about the greatness of His Son. That's the book of Hebrews. And so the author, the human author, remains anonymous. Now the second thing we've given you there are the people to whom this epistle is written.

The Hebrew Audience and the Evidence of Persevering Faith

Now this is one I'm going to have to take a little bit of time on with you for this reason. If you were to read commentaries on the book of Hebrews, you would find a variety of ideas as to who these people were.

Now obviously they were Hebrews, right? That's obvious. They were Hebrews. It's also obvious that they were professing Christians. That's obvious in the book. By virtue, in fact, turn to chapter 3 and verse 1.

Turn to Hebrews chapter 3 and verse 1. And in chapter 3, verse 1, it makes it perfectly clear that the writer is addressing these people as professing Christians. It says, Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the apostle and high priest of our profession, who?

Christ Jesus. And so he's addressing them as holy brethren and partakers of the heavenly calling. Now here's where you've got to be careful. Because they are addressed as professing Christians does not mean that every individual among the Hebrews was genuinely saved, not at all.

Now people sometimes make a lot of this for this reason because it says that in chapter 3. Therefore, all of these people were genuinely saved, not at all. Because you see, if I address you tonight on the basis of your profession, you come to this Bible school, this night school, you put down in your sheet that you're a Christian and so on, you know, and you're coming here to study the word of God.

Now I may address you as beloved ones and I may address you as holy brethren and partakers of the heavenly calling, and I may find out in a month's time that someone here is not saved. Right? That's possible.

But I don't know that. And I could warn you of the danger of hearing the word of God and not genuinely heeding it, couldn't I? See? Very much so. And this is where the book of Hebrews, what it does is this fact, it shows that the evidence of what you are is seen in the fact that your faith continues.

The book of Hebrews teaches that. And there was a danger in the book that there were some people who were in danger of having come to the place where they saw the truth. They were enlightened. And you'll get this in chapter 6.

And they had the knowledge of the truth in chapter 10, verse 26. And after seeing all of this, they were in danger of not going on to genuine faith in Christ. They were going to fall away from that point, even though they professed to be saved, see?

And they were dangerous. Now that same chapter, Hebrews chapter 3, let me show you this, that the profession which is mentioned in chapter 1 is being demonstrated by evidence in the same chapter. Now let's look at chapter 3 again and look at verse 6.

Now we're not expounding this chapter at all. I just want to show you that the people who are addressed as professing Christians are being challenged in relation to the evidence of the fact of what they are.

What is the evidence that I am something? All right, here it is. Now look at verse 6. But Christ as a son over his own house, now notice this next part now, whose house are we if? You see that verse, that word?

Now here's what it says, we are his house, if, right? Okay, now what follows the if? What shows that I am his house, that we are his house? If, now notice the next part of the verse, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the what?

The end. Now the confidence is the faith with which you begin the Christian life. And he's saying this, that that faith is something which continues not just for three weeks or for three months or for three years, it continues to the what?

To the end. Now that doesn't mean you can't backslide, not at all. But it does mean this, that there is a confidence of faith which you exercise in Jesus Christ which continues in your life. Otherwise, some of us wouldn't be saved tonight, isn't that right?

If it ended in three weeks, or if it ended in a month, or if it ended in three months. But I'll tell you this, if I were to ask all of you in this class tonight, do you still have the faith that you exercised the night you were converted, what would you answer?

Sure, wouldn't you? Aren't you still related to God through Jesus Christ? All right, now wait a minute, if I were to ask you this, have you always been faithful to Jesus Christ since you got saved? Now you won't be nodding your head this way, you've never been nodding it this way.

Or have you ever become backslidden in heart since you trusted Jesus Christ? You'd have to say sure, certainly. But you see there was something that continued, wasn't there? There was that confidence which brought hope into your life in the beginning and it continues to the what?

To the end. Now that word if is not a conditional word, it's an evidential word. In other words, it's saying this, whose house are we, and we could use the word since, because here's the evidence, this continues to the end.

And to me the evidence of a genuine Christian is this fact, that their faith in Jesus Christ is not something that lasts for a month, it lasts forever. Now this is what you've got to know when you're studying the book of Hebrews, that the writer is seeing among the Hebrews some who were giving evidence of the fact that the faith which they professed to have, they hadn't come to in reality.

But they knew the truth, and they were enlightened, and they saw all of this, and the Holy Spirit had worked in their hearts, and they were brought to the place of repentance. But they were in danger of falling away from that point.

Now we'll get to that when we get into the warnings. When we come to chapter 2, we'll talk about neglecting salvation. When we come to chapter 4, we'll find that the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.

When we come to chapter 6, we'll find people who were enlightened, and he says, if they shall fall away, it's impossible to renew them again unto repentance. Now I know all of you sitting here, that if you've done any discussing about salvation with believers since you were saved, about the fact as to whether you're saved forever, or whether you can lose your salvation, you're all acquainted with Hebrews 6, 4, 5, and 6.

Isn't that right? People have come to you and said, hey, have you read Hebrews 6, 4, 5, and 6? And they'll make you shake in your boots and say, look at that. Look at those people. But here's the thing.

You've got to understand Hebrews chapter 6, 4, 5, and 6, and 7, 8, and 9, and 10, 11, and 12, and 13, 14, but there we are. Good. Good to see you, folks. Could we take some notes with you there? Could one of you get this group of notes for me, please?

Just one. I don't want to walk down there because I'm hung up in a rope here. Okay? Thanks. Congratulations. Can you give those folks some notes there? There we go. Fine. Thank you. But those are chapters which are difficult, or those are verses which are difficult in the book of Hebrews, right?

They're very difficult. Now we're going to handle them, and we'll be doing it in the context where you find them because you'll be going right through. Now this year we will only get, now that's got that out of its system, and for another hour, I hope, the buzzers ring here because they ring in the dorm, and the students are just starting study period, and there'll be perfect quietness after this for the next hour or else.

I'll begin upstairs. Fine. Now, let's get back to this again. So let's get back to the people now. You've got to get this in your mind because you're going to understand the book of Hebrews. You must understand this.

These are Hebrew professing Christians. All right? They found it hard to leave Judaism. They found it hard to leave the temple and leave the priesthood and leave the animal sacrifices and leave the feasts and so on, because God gave them, didn't He?

They found that hard. All of them found that difficult. But there were some who were in danger of turning away from Christ and going back to animal sacrifices, and that was a terrible sin. We'll get to that sin when we study the book.

So we know they're professing Christians. However, the writer to the Hebrews has to set before them, if you're saved, there's the evidence of being saved, isn't there? There's the evidence. And if you don't have the evidence, then you don't have the what?

Salvation. We'll get to that later. So they're professing Christians and they're Hebrews. Now, that's why when you're studying the book of Hebrews, there are times you're going to have to think like a Hebrew.

People with a Jewish background. They were acquainted with many of the scriptures which are used in this book that we're not acquainted with at all. They were acquainted with the tabernacle and with its vessels and with its sacrifices, with its priesthood, all of that.

They knew that. They lived in it. We've got to think that way and put our minds into it. So these are people with a Jewish background. They were people who found it hard to leave Judaism. Do you know what the writer to the Hebrews then has to do?

Christ as Better Than Judaism and the Old Covenant

He has to show that Christ is better than all of Judaism put together. That's what he's going to show in this book. And from the very beginning, that's the argument of the book. Now, let's just move on a little bit here and we'll talk about the period in which it was written.

Now, I said just some time before A .D. 70 for this reason. When the book of Hebrews was written, it was just before the time when the visible evidence of everything that was associated with the Old Covenant, that's the Old Testament, was ready to disappear.

Now, I gave you a verse there, a text, a reference I want you to turn to in Hebrews chapter 8 and verse 13, the last verse of Hebrews chapter 8. And you'll find it in the mind of the writer as he writes this epistle, he sees that all of the things associated with the Old Covenant, the Old Testament, have served their purpose.

And he calls them waxing old and decaying. And he says they're ready to vanish away. Now look at verse 13 there. And before we look at verse 13, let me just explain to you what's in that 8th chapter. In the 8th chapter, the writer has said this, Jesus is the mediator of a better covenant established upon better promises.

And then he gives us the details of that new covenant in contrast with the old. And then he says, now, in that he saith a new covenant, he hath made the first, what? Old. That is, the Old Testament had fulfilled its purpose because that purpose was fulfilled in one person, and that one person was who?

Jesus Christ. All the details, and the types, and the shadows, and the tabernacle, and the temple, and the priesthood, and the sacrifices, all of them, had served their purpose when Jesus came. He fulfilled the whole work, see?

And he says, listen, that which waxes old and decayeth, and all of the visible evidence of that was the temple, wasn't it? That's where they did their worshiping. That's where their priests were. That's where the animal sacrifices were.

That's where the feasts were celebrated. There was the whole evidence, and the Jews found it very difficult to believe that the old covenant was finished, where that temple stood. As a matter of fact, when Jesus died, do you know what happened?

The veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom, and when the writer wrote this epistle, they had gone back, and they must have put the whole thing back together again. Something must have, an accident must have happened, put the veil back together again.

They hadn't seen that Christ had come and opened the way into God's presence, and they were still trying to hold on to the Old Testament with all of its ritual and all of its sacrifices. But in AD 70, that temple was destroyed, and Titus, who was the leader of the Roman army, came into Jerusalem, and Titus told his soldiers, he said, listen, you can touch anything here, but don't touch the temple.

There's a lot of precious things in that temple. They disobeyed his orders. Do you know why? Because Jesus had said, you see this temple? There will not be one stone left on top of another. It's going to come down.

And he prophesied that, and God's word was kept, and the temple fell, and the last visible evidence of the Old Testament sacrificial system disappeared. That's why when the Jews have their feast today, they've got to invent something.

They have to put a substitute on the table for the lamb, don't they? They can't go to Jerusalem and celebrate it because they have nowhere to celebrate. That's why they go to the wailing wall and they weep, don't they?

See, there's nothing there. Why? Because in A .D. 70, it vanished away. And Paul says in Hebrew, or Paul, I'll say it again, the writer says in Hebrews 8, 13, he says, it's ready to, see? It's ready to.

It's ready to vanish away. So this epistle was written just before the temple was destroyed when? Together? A .D. 70. That's the time it was written. Now, the purpose of the epistle. In this book, there are two covenants mentioned, two agreements.

Now, a covenant is an agreement. Now, as we go along, I know I've given you some typewritten notes, but if you want to jot some things down as we go, you can do so in your own notes or on your own paper, and there's a space at the end of those notes there in the last page you can jot things on.

But a covenant is an agreement. That's what a covenant is. A covenant is an agreement. Now, in this book, it speaks about two covenants, the first one and the new one, or the old one and the new one. The old covenant is in the Old Testament and the new covenant is in Christ in the New Testament.

Now, in the book, the purpose is to prove or to show that Christ in the new covenant is better than anyone or anything in the old covenant. That's why you'll find, for instance, the beginning he speaks about God speaking through the prophets, now God speaking in his son, and showing that Christ is better than the angels.

Angels were messengers in the Old Testament. Christ was better than Moses. Christ is better than Joshua. Christ is better than Aaron. Christ is better than Levi. Christ is better than all the priests and all the people and all of these great men of the Old Testament, better than Abraham, better than them all.

And anything, all of the sacrifices and so on. And he shows, therefore, that the covenant which is brought in by Jesus Christ through his blood is better than the covenant which was through animal blood in the Old Testament.

So, when you go through this book, I know there are warnings in it, but don't forget the purpose. The purpose of the book of Hebrews is to show that the new covenant in Jesus' blood is better than the old covenant in animal blood.

And that Christ in the new covenant is better than anyone and anything in the old covenant. So that what's happening is, there's a contrast being made between the old covenant and the what? New covenant.

In the old covenant, there are many men, many sacrifices, many rituals, many priests, many things. But in the new covenant, there's only one, and that one is who? Christ. See? Just one. There's only one sacrifice.

There's only one high priest. See? Just one. There's only one mediator between God and men. Christ is being set forth. And so, you have Christ over here in the new, and you have all these others in the old.

You have the angels, and you have the prophets, and you have Moses, and you have Joshua, and you have Aaron, and you have Levi. You have all of the sacrifices, and you have all the vessels of the tabernacle, and all of the rituals, and all of the feasts over here.

You're saying Christ here is better than anything or anyone over here. That's the purpose of this book. And it's stated at the very beginning of the book. Now look at chapter one, just for a moment, the opening verses.

And we'll never get away from this. That at the very beginning of the book, the purpose is revealed. And so, when you're studying a book, you'll find as you look at it, that in it, you'll find the key.

And it is, of course, stated here that in the past, now look at verse one of chapter one, God, who at sundry times and in diverse manners, spake. When? Time past. Now, of course, here's the writer writing this in the early New Testament days, and he says this is time past.

Now, time past refers to the Old Testament period. Now, it says, God, in time past, spake unto the fathers. That's the Jews back in the Old Testament. By the prophets. That's all of those people who spoke for God back then.

So there you have it. There's the Old Testament. What was God doing in the Old Testament? God was speaking unto the fathers by the prophets. It's at sundry times and in diverse manners, right? That's what he was doing.

Now, there's the first thing. Now, here's the contrast. Next verse. Half. The same God who spoke back then, now God half. In these last days. Now, here's the period which is in contrast with time past.

It's these last days. Now, I'll explain what that means when we get to it. And God has spoken in these last days, not at sundry times and in diverse manners. God has spoken by his what? Son. We'll explain what that means when we get to it too.

There's a lot in that. So you have this now. Look at it. Over here, you have God at sundry times and diverse manners in time past speaking by the prophets unto the fathers, right? Over here, you have God speaking just one way and that is by his son.

The purpose of the book of Hebrews is to show how much better his son is than all of this. That's what we'll show you. And if you come out of this class rejoicing in the greatness of Jesus Christ, you'll be, you will spend your time with one.

You see how great he is. How unique he is. How wonderful he is. How effective he is. How perfect he is. How glorious he is. You got to hear with a spring in your step and think that he's my savior. That's great.

That's why you study the book of Hebrews, to see the greatness of Christ and the greatness of his covenant and the greatness of his blood and the greatness of his priesthood, a greatness of it all. That's the purpose of the book of Hebrews.

Apostasy, Enlightenment, and the Warnings in Hebrews

It's stated at the beginning. The warnings are all related to that. Now listen to me carefully. You see, you notice at the end of that little fragment it says there, the warnings in the revealed truth and commit the sin of apostasy.

Now apostasy, if you want to jot a little note on that, just a definition of apostasy, apostasy is deliberately turning away from revealed truth. That's apostasy. Apostasy is deliberately turning away from revealed truth.

So when we're dealing with an apostate in the book of Hebrews, it is not just the person who hears the gospel once and rejects it in ignorance. No, no. We're talking about a person who has heard. He's not ignorant.

We're talking about a person who is enlightened. He sees, he can see the truth. We're talking about a person who has the knowledge of the truth, and you'll find all of these phrases, those words are used.

In Hebrews chapter 2 it says, therefore we ought to give them more earnest heed to the things which we have what? Heard. Hebrews chapter 6, it is impossible for those who are once enlightened. In Hebrews chapter 10 it says, if we sin willfully after we've received the knowledge of the truth.

In all of those chapters you have the fact that the person heard, they saw, they knew, and they fell away. That's apostasy. Get it? It is not a person coming to a gospel meeting and hearing me preach the gospel and going out in darkness, and they haven't really heard, and they're not enlightened yet.

And they could come for weeks and months and even years and remain in ignorance and then get saved. As long as they're in ignorance. But you know what you're going to learn in the book of Hebrews? That when a person is no longer in ignorance, when a person is completely enlightened, and when a person hears and they don't heed, they've had it.

That's what we need to warn people about, you know. You realize that outside this building tonight there are thousands of people who are trying to make a convenience of God. They go to church every week and listen, never get saved.

You know what they think? They think, I can get saved when I please. That's what they think. And the sad thing is that even some Christians will tell them that. Sure, you can get saved any time you want.

That's not true. That is not true. Do you know when you got saved? You got saved when you were enlightened, isn't that right? That's when you got saved. You got saved when you heard. You got saved when you knew.

And the Holy Spirit brought you, didn't he, to the place where you really accepted Christ. As long as a person's in ignorance, they're a candidate for God's salvation. But when they deliberately harden their neck and they deliberately turn their back on the truth, and like these Jews were going back to animal blood and trample underfoot the blood of Christ and do despite to the Spirit of grace, that's not backsliding, friend.

You know that? That's what? That's apostasy. That's different. As we go along, I'm going to explain to you the difference between a backslider and an apostate, which is very important for you to understand.

But get that in your heart. See, he's saying this, the warnings relate to that. Apostasy. Now let me show you just the verse here. I mentioned a moment ago that people who get saved get saved because preceding their enlightenment they were still in ignorance.

Okay? They were still in ignorance. There was hope for them. Now turn to 1 Timothy chapter 1, 1 Timothy and the first chapter. Now in this chapter, Paul gives his testimony, and he talks about the fact of the Lord calling them into the ministry and giving them that wonderful blessing of teaching and preaching the Word of God.

Now in 1 Timothy chapter 1, now look at verse 12. 1 Timothy 1. Now Paul here is testifying to the grace of God in his life and what the Lord has done for him. And he says, and I thank Christ Jesus our Lord.

Thank the Lord. Why? Who hath enabled me. Why? For that he, in that he, for they counted me faithful putting me into the ministry. He says, I thank the Lord that he gave me the enabling to be in the ministry.

What a blessing. Will you think of what I was before? Every one of us that's run the ministry look that way, don't we? We say, I thank the Lord that he's enabled me to be in the ministry. When I think of what I was before, I'll say it.

I've got to pinch myself to know what I'm here teaching. It's crazy. Thank the Lord for that. Why do you thank the Lord that way? Notice what it says next. Verse 13, he says, who was before a what? Blasphemer and a persecutor and injurious.

That means he says, I injured Christians. I even delivered them to be put to death. Did all of that. But listen, but I obtained mercy. Listen, after he injured Christians, after he persecuted Christians, after he turned his back on the gospel for all of those years and so forth, after he was a blasphemer, he was against the way of salvation.

He says, I obtained mercy. Here's the reason for the next part. Because, and notice now, because I did it what? Ignorantly and in unbelief. You should underline that in your Bible. Because you see, he's saying this.

Here's the reason. After all that I did, blasphemed, I persecuted, I injured, I was against Christ. He says, I got mercy. You know why? I did it in ignorance and in unbelief. That's the reason. So you see, in the book of Hebrews, he's talking about people who are no longer in ignorance.

They're no longer that way. In the book of Hebrews, it's always those who have heard, those unto whom the gospel is preached in such a way that the message is indelibly clear in their conscience and in their hearts.

We get that in chapter 4. It's the people who have been enlightened through the ministry of the Holy Spirit who gives the light. It's the people who have the knowledge of the truth. And in each case, he's talking about neglecting it, not being mixed with faith, falling away, sinning willfully.

See, all those are warnings. And all of the warnings relate to the same sin, same sin. And they're all related to the New Testament message. You see, he says, here's the Old Testament message. Now, here's how much better the New Testament message is.

Now, if you get the knowledge of the truth of this New Testament message, which is Christ and see his greatness and his perfect salvation, and then you deliberately, willfully turn away from that and go back to animal sacrifices, you have had it.

It's impossible to renew you again onto what? Repentance. You see? Now, I'm saying all of that to you before we start the book. For this reason, when we get to those difficult portions now, see, then we've got this background.

That's why I'm explaining all of this. When we get to those difficult portions, we'll see what it actually says. And you don't have to be worried about the fact that you say, well, now, doesn't it say we in chapter 2?

Yes, it does. And we'll talk about that when we get to it. So I'm not going to try and avoid any difficult issues in the book. We'll face them all head on with the scriptures and see the context of what it says.

Who are these people where it says we and when it says they and all of that, we'll get to that. But you must understand this. The purpose of the book of Hebrews is not just to warn people who are in danger of apostasy.

It's to fill the hearts of believers with the greatness of Christ. He's better. Now, the key word of the book is better. That's the key word, and you've got that in your notes there. The key word is better, better, better, better.

You'll find it mentioned in chapter 1 where it says that Christ is so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. Now, that's just by way of introduction.

And I want you to, while we're at that point, take this assignment for the next class. Now, next week there will not be a class, next Monday night. Next Monday night is Thanksgiving, Canadian Thanksgiving.

So, we're taking a vacation, not the day school, night school. Day school is full of classes. But next Monday night there will not be classes in night school, but the week after that they'll continue.

There'll be nine classes this semester altogether. But for the next class, I want you to do an assignment for me, okay? And the assignment is this. I want you to read through the book of Hebrews twice, okay?

Read through the whole book twice. Now, in that way, you'll get the whole flow of the letter. This is a letter. When it was written, there were no chapter divisions. There were no verse divisions. It was a letter.

It's the letter to the Hebrews. That's what the word epistle means. And then I want you to do this. That as you read the book, I don't want you to use a concordance. I usually say that to our own class because you see, that's the first thing that jumps to your mind.

If I say, now, many times when you find the word better in the book of Hebrews, you can find it easy. Just get a concordance and look it up. That's easy. But I want you to find them when you're reading them.

I want you to write out on a sheet of paper, as you read through the book, I want you to write out on a sheet of paper every verse with the word better in it, okay? Write out every verse with the word better in it.

And you're going to see that all the way through the book, you have better, better, better, better, better, better from start to finish. And when you're finished, you'll come to this conclusion. Something or someone must be better.

That's why it's repeated. And so that's what you're going to do. So, read through the book twice and write down all the verses and put the reference beside it. Put the reference in. Write out the verse completely, okay, the verse with the better in it.

And then turn it in two weeks from tonight. That'll be one assignment that you'll have. And then we'll go on from that in the exposition of the book. Now, that's by way of introduction. Now, I'm going to go into the exposition.

God Speaking in Hebrews Chapter 1

We're going to start tonight in Hebrews chapter 1, and we just have a short time here tonight. But in Hebrews chapter 1 and verse 1, exposition wise, the key in chapter 1 is the fact that God is speaking.

On your notes there, you notice I've put a title there on the chapter, which is God speaking, God speaking. And that's in chapter 1. And that's very obvious all the way through chapter 1. And when you're reading this epistle, and you're studying any book in the Bible, look for repetition of phrases, or what's the key thing in a chapter.

And you'll notice as you go down this chapter, God at sundry times and diverse manners speak. Verse 2, hath in these last days spoken, you see. And verse 5, unto which the angel said he at any time. And again, it says, of the angels he saith, verse 7.

But unto the Son he saith. God is speaking all the way through this chapter. Now, there are four ways in which God is speaking in chapter 1. Number 1, and we have a time for you there in your notes, God speaking about His Son.

Now, that's verse 1. God is speaking about His Son. Now, that's the Old Testament. Then God speaking in His Son. That's verses 2, 3, and 4, where it says, God in these last days has spoken unto us by His Son.

God is speaking in His Son. Then God speaking for His Son. That's found in verses 5 through 7, where it says, He said, thou art my Son this day, have I begotten thee? Why did God raise Christ from the dead?

Why did He say, I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son? Well, it's like this. That's why I've used this phrase. If I have my Son here, He's mine by birth. But if my Son has been rejected by men, and I want to vindicate Him, and I want men to know this, then I'll say to the universe, or I'll say to men, listen, I will be to Him a father, and He shall be to me a son.

In other words, I'm going to act in that capacity. You're going to see it. He's speaking for Him. Do you know why? Because man spoke against Him, didn't he? We don't want Him. God says, I'll raise Him from the dead.