The glory of Christ in the book of Hebrews — William Skates

The Glory of Christ in Hebrews

I'd like to turn to the book of Hebrews, please. Hebrews chapter 1. Hebrews chapter 1. I want you to notice the references to glory in these readings. Verse 3. Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high.

Now chapter 2 and verse 5. For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak? But one in a certain place testifieth, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him, or the son of man, that thou visitest him?

Thou madest him a little lower than the angels, thou crownest him with glory and honor, and had set him over the works of my hands. Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet, for in that he hath put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him.

But now we see not yet all things put under him, but we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man, every creature.

Verse 10. For it became him for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. Now chapter 3, verse 1.

Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the apostle and high priest of our profession, Christ Jesus, who was faithful to him that appointed him, as also Moses was faithful in all his house.

For this man was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who hath builded the house hath more honor than the house. Verse 6. But Christ as a son over his own house, whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.

Now one more from chapter 13, Hebrews 13, and we'll read at verse 20. Now the God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect, complete, mature, in every good work, to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever.

Amen. Now the Lord will bless to us the reading from his word from the book of Hebrews. Most will know the background to this epistle is the tabernacle in the wilderness, and specifically the day of atonement, Leviticus 16, is before the the writer to the Hebrews.

You remember in Exodus chapter 40, after they had erected the tabernacle, we read that Moses finished the work. Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.

Christ as the Ark: Deity and Humanity

Now when you think of that tabernacle system, we recall that the ark of the covenant was the the focus of that house. It was the focal point. It was the center point, if you will, of that whole arrangement of the the tabernacle, the focus of the house.

Above the ark of the covenant, above the mercy seat, between the two golden cherubim, the Shekinah glory of God dwelt. The glory of the presence, the Shekinah glory, the glory of his presence dwelt between the two cherubim.

Now when we come to the book of Hebrews, chapter 1 where we read, we have the gold of Christ's deity, as it were, covering the ark on the outside and on the inside. In chapter 2, where we read as well, it is the Shittim wood of his humanity that is being emphasized in chapter 2.

So you have the gold, you have the wood, his deity, his humanity, and one glorious person. You'll remember as well from the tabernacle, your studies in the tabernacle, there were three other things in the tabernacle that comprised this, were made up of this composition of wood that was covered with gold.

There were the boards, the boards. Those boards formed the house. They formed the house in its length and in its breadth. They give strength and stability to the house, the tabernacle. And so we've read from chapter 3 in Hebrews, Christ is son over his own house, and he is counted worthy of more glory than Moses, and as much as he who had built the house hath more honor than the house.

We'll come back to that in a moment. So there were the boards, wood and gold. Then we think as well that in that holy place there was the table of showbread, wasn't there? The bread of the faces, and the bread on the table would speak to us of the fellowship of the house, the fellowship of the house.

And the writer to Hebrews has a thought on that as well. Later on in the epistle we'll read, forsaking not the assembling of yourselves together as the manner of some is, chapter 10. We live in a day that was different from the day that I grew up in, and I'm not a spring chicken like a brother Jerry, but I'm quite as long in the tooth as a brother Jerry.

But nevertheless, I do recall that when I was growing up, it was a given. You would be at the assembly meeting unless you were dying on your feet, or on your back, or whatever. You were there. But it seems we have come to a point where it's kind of, oh, if there's nothing else better going on, well, maybe I'll show up.

Maybe I won't. Has the word of God something to say to our hearts? It does. The Lord says in his word, forsaking not the assembling of yourselves together as the manner of some is. We have been brought into a fellowship, the fellowship of the house, that is formed by the gatherings of his people.

It is expressed in the gatherings of his people when we come together in the various aspects of assembly life. I'm not going to stay with that. But then there was a third item as well that was comprised of wood and of gold, and that was the golden altar of incense.

You remember it stood before the veil in the holy place. It was linked with the holy of holies, and it brings before us the thought of the fragrance of the house, of the fragrance of the house. You'll know that the altar of incense was used for the burning of incense, where it went up before God as a sweet savor in the presence of God.

And it speaks of the fragrance of intercession going up before the throne of God. And so when we come to the book of Hebrews, we have that thought as well. By him, therefore, let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, continually.

And we have access to a throne of heavenly grace that we can draw near and find grace to help in our time of need. So we have the focus of the house, the ark, the boards that formed the house, the formation of the house, the fellowship of the house, and we have the thought of the fragrance of, you know, God finds it a fragrant thing.

It's sweet to him when his people come together to pray. Even attending a prayer meeting is a statement in itself that we as a people are dependent upon God, and that's fragrant to God. That brings delight to a soul.

So the whole book of Hebrews, as you trace it, that was chapter 13, they're offering the sacrifice of praise. From the beginning right through to the end, the whole book is based upon the gold and the wood.

It is speaking of Christ, and it's always good to focus our hearts and our affections and devotions upon him. So the readings that we've taken then from Hebrews, I want you to think with me of the person of Christ, the glory of his majesty.

We'll think of the glory of his manhood. There's the glory of his mission. There's glory that is more than Moses, and there's the glory of maturity found in his people. So that's the little outline that we have before us.

The Glory of Christ’s Divine Majesty

Chapter 1, who being the brightness of his glory, the express image of his person, who being, that's his absolute timeless existence, the son of God from all eternity, from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.

And he is the brightness of glory, the brilliant radiance of the very glory of God emitted by the sun, the brightness of the very essence of God in his being expressed in his son. He's the express image of his person.

That is the very imprint of the very substance of God's person. The illustration is sometimes given of the gold signet ring and the hot wax. And the gold signet ring is pressed into the hot wax, and it leaves an image which is the exact image that's found on the ring.

It's an illustration. And of course, all illustrations fall short because the wax, for example, is just that. It's wax. It is not gold. It's not the same substance as the signet ring. And so the Lord Jesus, he is the very imprint of the substance of God's person.

This is the one who is actively upholding all things by the word of his power. He's carrying it on the whole universe and all that's in it to God's ultimate purpose. The Lord Jesus Christ is the agent.

He's upholding all things by the word of his power. Oh, the majesty of Christ. And what a wonder it is then to come to these words. When he had by himself purged our sins, made purification for our sins.

It wasn't an angel that God sent, but it was his own dear son who came into this world to do this work of making purification for our sins. It's the keynote of the epistle, by the way. The very keynote of the epistle, and here it is up front.

The first mention of the priestly work of Christ, and it is pointing forward to that great day of atonement when the Lord Jesus, in the metaphor, sprinkled with blood the mercy seat. Now, that was not a literal thing when it came to his work, but it's the value of his death before the throne of God and upon the throne.

The value of his death that makes purification for our sins. And when he had done that, when he had accomplished this work of making purification for sins, we read that he sat down, he took a seat in a formal dignified act.

He had gone up through the heavens and now he sits at the right hand of the majesty on high. He sat down as a king, this one who has expressed the very heart of God as a priest, telling out the heart of God to men.

God has spoken unto us in his son as a prophet, prophet, priest, and king. And he sits down at the right hand of the majesty on high, enthroned in his glory, the glory of his majesty. When we come to chapter 2 now, the language has obviously changed and he has not put in subjection the world to come.

That's the key for what follows. The world to come whereof we speak hasn't been given to angels, but it has rather been given to man. And so we have a quotation. We have a number of quotations here from Psalm number eight.

Christ’s Glory in His True Humanity

Thou madest him a little lower than the angels. Thou crownest him with glory and honor, and it set him over the works of thy hands. Psalm 8 verses 4 through 6 is often viewed as speaking of the role of Adam in God's creation.

When God made man, as we were hearing this morning, put him in that garden, he set him over the works of his hands. And in that way, Adam was crowned with glory and honor. He was given dominion and he was given honor over God's creation.

Then sin comes in. The whole scene is disrupted by the tragedy of sin. But nevertheless, the Hebrew writer will take up that Psalm and use it in a very messianic way. As he talks about the son of man, which in Psalm 8 was likely referring back to Adam, the Hebrew writer understands that now in the context of Christ as speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ.

We see not yet all things but under him, but we see Jesus. Notice his human name, who was made a little lower for little time than the angels, for the suffering of death, that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man crowned with glory and honor.

So manifestly, dominion over creation is not yet his. The thorns still grow along the hedgerow. The farmers still need to put the chemicals and the pesticides and so on on the fields. All things are not yet in subjection, but the process is underway.

That's the point. Because he suffered death and because he was made a little lower than the angels for the very purpose of death, that he might express the grace of God, that he might taste death for everything.

You know, there's far more to the work of Christ in redemption than just the salvation of sinners. Even creation itself will be touched. And the one who has the redemptive right to claim back planet earth and to open the seals of the book is the one who was as a freshly slain lamb.

It's the Lord Jesus right in redemption. So he is now presently crowned with glory and honor. He has accomplished that work and the indication is that because he has been crowned with glory and honor, he is the one who is destined to reign and to rule from the river to the ends of the earth.

The son of man will have universal dominion as a man, a real man, pearly God, but become truly human. The glory of his manhood, sinless and spotless and pure, but the one who is going to reign and rule forever.

Christ’s Mission: Bringing Many Sons to Glory

So we have the gold, the glory of his majesty. We have the wood, the glory of his manhood. Let us notice as well from chapter 2, the glory of his mission. In verse 10, we read that it became him, it was fitting for him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons onto glory to make the captain of their salvation perfect through suffering.

So it was fitting, it was fitting for God the Father to make the captain, the idea is the author, the originator, the leader, the pioneer of salvation perfect. That is filled out as a captain, as the originator, as the author, as the leader, complete and mature, having gone the route himself through death into life to make the captain of their salvation perfect through suffering.

Like Lewis and Clark back in the day, 1804, they explored that route to the west coast. They went up the Missouri River and up into the northwest there and eventually down to the west coast. And so they opened up, as it were, the country for others to follow.

They were pioneers and Jesus is our pioneer. He has opened up for us a new spiritual country. The realm of universal dominion is his, but he has brought human beings, redeemed by his precious blood, in along with him in redemption.

And so the Lord Jesus has come to bring many sons onto glory. Many sons onto glory. You know, we already enjoy something of that in a spiritual sense. We have already today, in that he is bringing us into the presence of God.

Now, spiritually, we can enter the holiest of all, the holiest by the blood of Jesus. Our great high priest has come and we have access to a throne of heavenly grace. But in that coming day, he is literally going to bring many sons brought into the glory of his gracious reign when he'll bring such blessing upon planet earth.

And you and I are linked with him. We shall be forever with the Lord. And I understand that the lamb is in the midst of the city in heaven. And so shall we ever be with the Lord. And so it is the gospel today that is doing that work of fitting the sons of men for that glory.

What a dignified thing it is to be involved in the work of the gospel, to bring a message of saving grace to poor sinners that deserve only the wrath of God and hell and the lake of fire forever. But we carry a message that can deliver them from such a destiny, bring them into the very family of God, into association and relationship with one who's bringing many sons onto glory.

That's the glory of his mission. And he brings us in alongside with them as workers together with God. And so we should be encouraged as we think of that to labor for the master from the dawn till setting sun, the glory of his mission.

And we have a part to play in that. Now when we come over to chapter 3, I want you to notice here the writer makes the point that he is worthy of more glory than Moses. Consider the apostle and high priest of our profession, Jesus Christ, who was faithful to him that appointed him.

And here's the comparison with Moses as Moses was faithful in all his house, in that tabernacle system, right? And in the administration of the nation. So Christ is now over his house, his own house. And he is counted worthy of more glory than Moses in as much as he who has built the house is of more honor than the house.

Christ Greater Than Moses and Lord of the House

So there's a comparison here with Moses. There's also a contrast with Moses. You remember that Moses was the instrument under God that brought the tabernacle and that whole system of approach to God by way of sacrifice and regulation whereby they could experience the very presence of God.

Moses brought them that. There were cursings as well as blessings though in that system. It was not a perfect system. But our Lord Jesus Christ, he has been sent to bring in something that is far better.

My brother was in the book of Galatians today and we're reminded in that epistle that Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law. And because of his redemptive work, he is currently building his church.

It's an ongoing work. But here, you'll notice, he has builded. For you grammarians, it's the orist act of participle. He has builded the house. He has builded the house. What does that mean? Well, we, in our thinking, go back to Exodus 40.

And we find that when Moses finished the tabernacle, then he could not go in. Why? Because of the glory. He finished the work, but he couldn't go in because of the glory. But the Lord Jesus Christ, when he finished the work, he entered into his glory.

And in so doing, he has blazed the trail for his people right into the very presence of God. And the veil is rent and the way into the holiest is now wide open. It's manifested. So that we can come before that throne, we can come to a golden altar of incense.

And by him, therefore, we offer the sacrifice of praise, the fruit of our lips. We give thanks in his name. We offer that sacrifice to God continually. And we can come. What a blessing and privilege it is to that table of showbread, to enjoy fellowship with God as we feed upon Christ in the presence of God, as priests, we enjoy the things of Christ together.

What a privilege that we have been brought into. And we've been brought into the golden light of his presence to consider his beauty and to have our thoughts and affections enraptured as we consider him.

That's our Lord Jesus Christ has done that. He's brought us into these things. Christ is the son over his house, his own house. Whose house are we? Says the Hebrew writer. And in this dispensation, that's the redeemed are in the church.

He is the son over his own house. Whose house are we? And we read that he is counted worthy of more glory than Moses. And because he has builded the house, he hath more honor than the house. Now, just look at that simply.

What that is teaching us is this, that you and I, as those that are linked with him, we are to bring him honor. We are to give him honor and esteem him. It is his due. He has more honor than the house.

And we form a part of that. So it's not me setting my agenda and going by that. We are a part of his house, and he has more honor than the house. So we should be submissive to his leading. And as we come together in assembly capacity, we come together as house of God.

And in that capacity, in the gatherings of God's people, in God's assembly as house of God, we are to bring honor to him. He's worthy of more honor than the house. We are to bring respect to him. We are to bring reverence to him.

We are to worship him and esteem him and give him his rightful place of dignity and honor in the midst of his gathered people. And that will be reflected in our behavior and the reverence that we show as just at this moment, when the people of God are together.

It affects us in our deportment in every way. So there's glory due to Christ that is more than Moses, and we are responsible as involved with him to bring it to him. That'll lead us on to chapter 13. And we've read here that the God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect, complete you in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever.

Amen. Now, this is my Bible. It has the title over it, the benediction. Well, in this benediction, the writer is desiring God to equip the saints. That's the thought in make you perfect, complete you in every good work, doing his will.

So there's the thought of obedience to him in every good work. That's very practical. And that will lead us on to a depth of maturity, a depth of maturity, make you perfect, mature, complete. At this point, I have to hang my head in shame.

Spiritual Maturity Through Christlikeness

When we think of the lack of growth that there is in our souls, you know, there's so much shallowness about us, brethren and sisters, as assembly Christians, there's a lot of shallowness about us. We need to know what it is to be mature, to delve into the word of God and feed our souls and learn truth from it and practice what we learn and be obedient to it and submissive to it.

And you know what? That will be the way in which we grow. We'll grow in grace. We'll grow in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, not just head knowledge, but even practical knowledge being worked out in our lives from day to day.

It doesn't come overnight. You don't go to a seminary and learn this stuff. It's learned in life. Spiritual maturity, as our brother was reminding us, is learned in experience. No substitute for us. The Lord saved me in 1973.

I'm ashamed at how little I've grown. But here we find that God is doing the equipping. It's good to know that as we desire to do his will, he will equip us for that. Doing every good work, he says, in his will.

And he says, that is well-pleasing in his sight. Well-pleasing. Notice those things. Every good work. The Lord Jesus Christ did that in perfection, didn't he? In his will. The Lord Jesus Christ did that in perfection, didn't he?

That which is well-pleasing in his sight. The Lord Jesus Christ did only that which was well-pleasing in his sight. So what Christian maturity is, then, I learn, is simply to be like Christ. Christ-likeness.

That's the essence of Christianity. And that's what brings God glory. The Lord Jesus Christ could say in his high priestly prayer, John 17, I have glorified thee on the earth, and the degree to which you and I are reflecting the character of Christ in our lives, in our hearts, in the assembly.

So we will bring glory to him in that measure, and only in that measure. To replicate Christ-likeness then brings glory to God. And in doing that, we mature. We bring glory to the God of peace. Glory to the God of peace.

He has brought us into peace with himself, into harmony with himself, into a relationship with himself. Why? That we might grow and be like Christ, and grow and develop in our Christ-likeness. And that brings glory to God, and that will last forever.

Psalm 104, the glory of the Lord shall endure forever. The Lord shall rejoice in all his works. You know, he's doing a work in us, brothers and sisters, that is far more important than what he does through us in our activity.

What he is working in us brings him joy, and it brings him glory, and that glory is forever. What's our part? Our part is to be continually yielding to his working in our lives, and then in our assemblies, to yield to his leading, to yield to his word, to take our cue only from his word.

We're living in a day when assemblies are taking their cue from the evangelical world many times. Let's get back to the book, and only the book, to the law and to the prophets. They speak not by this word, and we don't go that way.

So we trust that these thoughts will be helpful. The glory of his majesty, the glory of his manhood, the glory of his mission, the glory that is more than Moses, and the glory of maturity seen in his people.

The Lord bless his word.