God Has Spoken (Hebrews 1:1-2)

Hebrews 1:1-2 and the Full Revelation of God in Christ

Turn your Bibles to the book of Hebrews, to Hebrews chapter 1. Alright, let's pray before we begin. Our gracious God, if you had not chosen and willed to reveal yourself in the pages of Scripture, through holy men who wrote and spoke and then in the person of Christ, we would be cut off from ever knowing anything about you which would be salvific, any way of understanding your plan of redemption or what you demand of us.

We would be cut off from all knowledge of your holiness and your righteousness and your justice, and we would be cut off from all knowledge of your love for us, your compassion for humanity and what you have done to rescue a people for yourself.

So we are the grateful recipients, the humble recipients of your word and of the truth that we find in the Old Testament and the New Testament and revealed so clearly in Jesus Christ. We thank you for that and we ask that you would open our eyes to the value of this revelation and the glory of the revelation that is in your son, that we may know him and that our hearts may embrace him by faith and that we may love and obey you as a result of that faith.

May you be glorified here through our study. Send your Holy Spirit to be our guide and our teacher, we ask in Christ's name. Amen. Hebrews chapter 1, we're going to read together the first four verses.

God, after he spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways in these last days has spoken to us in his son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the world and he is the radiance of his glory and the exact representation of his nature and upholds all things by the word of his power.

When he had made purification of sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high having become as much better than the angels as he has inherited a more excellent name than they. So we're not even one sentence into the book of Hebrews before the author takes us into the deep end of the theological pool.

Did you notice that? And there's no introductory salutation where he kind of warms us up and says, look, it's good to speak to you, it's good to know you, it's good to write this letter to you, nothing like that.

He just takes us immediately in, before we even hit the first period, we get into an explanation and a manifestation of the majesty of Christ and the glories of his nature and the excellencies and the virtues of Jesus Christ and we have to, in these first four verses, ask questions like who is Jesus and what has he done and what did he come to do and why did he come and what are the results of his coming and is he coming again?

All of those issues are raised in the first four verses. So right away we have to dive off into answering these questions, who is Jesus Christ and what has he done? Because that is what the entire book of Hebrews is all about.

It is all about Jesus Christ, who he is, and what he has done. So in the first four verses, they kind of serve as an introduction to the rest of the book. So the topics that are raised in these first four verses are then explained and expounded upon and expanded upon later on all the way through the book of Hebrews.

So I want you to look at the subjects that you just read over. Now maybe in those first, as we were reading those verses, maybe your eyes kind of read through it and you didn't really stop to ponder and think about all that is contained there, but I just want you to notice the subjects that are raised.

Look in verse one. First of all, we're told that God has spoken. That's the doctrine of revelation. When he has spoken and how he has spoken in the prophets in many portions and in many ways that covers the Old Testament.

In these last days he has spoken to us in his Son. That is the doctrine of incarnation. That God has revealed something in his Son, in Jesus Christ. And what does Hebrews tell us about the Son? He has been appointed the heir of all things.

That means he is to inherit, Jesus Christ is to inherit everything that is the Father's. All of creation, all of the kingdoms, everything that is, he is the heir of all of that. Everything that belongs to the Father is going to be given over to the Son, ultimately.

In a glorious gift to the Son of all things. So he is the heir of everything. Further, not only is he being appointed the heir of all things, it is through Christ that he, that is the Father, made the world, or God made the world.

So he is the creator of all things. He is the heir of all things. He is the creator of all things. He is the radiance of God's glory. He is the manifestation of the glory of God. He is the exact representation of God's nature.

And he upholds all things by the word of his power. He created all things. He is heir to all things. And he upholds and sustains all things. Hebrews is describing the Son. It's describing Christ here.

So that is who he is. Now look what he has done. When he had made purification for sins, that is when he had provided an atonement, and dealt with the sin issue that the Old Testament explained and was intending to deal with and point to, when he had made purification for sins, that is his work on the cross, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.

So he did that work on the cross. He rose again from the dead. He ascended to heaven. He has taken his seat at the right hand of the Majesty on high. And he has become much better than the angels, having inherited a more excellent name than they.

So in those first four verses, we go from eternity past, when the Son existed and nothing else did, to the fact that he created all things, that he is the exact representation of the nature of God. He came in this world to make purification for sins, to provide an atonement, to deal with the sin issue.

He rose again from the dead. He ascended to heaven. He sat down at the right hand of God, and he has inherited a more excellent name than they. And he will inherit all things. He will come back, and he will rule, and he will reign.

Now that is the glorious doctrine of the person of Christ from first to last in four verses.

Isn't that magnificent?

You'll be encouraged to know that we're not going to get through all four of those verses today, because that would be to do a very, a travesty of an injustice to this passage, if we were to do that. So today we're just looking at how it is that God has spoken to us.

And here in the first verse and a half, verses one and two, we see that one of the things that the author is telling us is that Jesus himself, Jesus Christ, is the revelation of God in human flesh. He's not just a revelation, another in a series of revelations, a revelation kind of like what was given to Elijah or Moses, but he is the revelation, the incarnation of God in human flesh.

So he's not just another revelation, he's the revelation. So this passage deals with what we know about God and how we know it in the person of Christ. And the intention here by the author is to make a contrast between the Old Testament, the Old Covenant revelation, Genesis through Malachi, and to contrast that with the person of Christ and the glory of what he reveals regarding God.

The Contrast Between the Old Covenant and the Revelation in Christ

Now Hebrews, the entire book of Hebrews is built around these contrasts. You see it in the first chapter, and really the whole argument of Hebrews is intended to show us everything that you might think is good about the Old Covenant, the Old Testament, the old economy.

You might think that it's glorious and perfect and good and doesn't need to be improved upon. There is something that has come that is much better, and it is Jesus. And so all the way through Hebrews, the author contrasts Jesus with what came before him.

And so you see it in chapter one. When it comes to the revelation of God, he spoke in times past through the prophets in various ways and in various means. Revelation was given in the Old Testament, the Old Covenant.

But in these days he has spoken to us in his son. And the intention is that that revelation is better than the Old Testament revelation. Then he contrasts Jesus with the angels. We see that Jesus is better than the angels.

And then the author goes on in the rest of the chapters to contrast him with almost everything that we find in the Old Testament, in the Old Covenant. Jesus is better than Abraham. He's better than Isaac.

He's better than Jacob. He's better than Levi. He's better than Aaron. He's better than Melchizedek. He's better than David. His blood is better than the blood of bulls and goats. The sacrifice that he offers is better than the Old Testament sacrifices.

The priesthood that he occupies is better than the Old Testament priesthood. The intercessory work that he does is better than any intercession that any priest has ever done in the history of the Old Testament from any Old Testament priestly family.

It's better. He is better than the tabernacle. He is better than the temple. His sacrifices are better. His work is better what he did on the cross is better than what the high priest did over the mercy sea on One day of the year in the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement.

It is better than that what he has provided in his salvation and access to God is better than anything The Old Testament could provide all the Old Testament could do was promise those things. It could never provide those things.

So in every way and every level at every point Jesus is better than and you fill in the break blank. Whatever it is doesn't matter what you put in that blank. Jesus is better than that. That's the theme of the book of Hebrews.

He's better than this. He's better than that. He's just better than we're gonna see this contrast over and over and over again. Because these Hebrew Christians were struggling with the persecution that they were enduring.

They were looking back at the Old Covenant the Old Testament think of themselves. I miss the smells and the bells of the tabernacle and the temple and all of the trappings of that. I miss that you mean all I have is Jesus and he's not even here I used to have the priesthood and the vestments and the temple and the veil and the smell of burning flesh and the the blood of bulls and goats and and the incense and the prayers and the the priests and all of that all of the music have it and Now all I have is Jesus and the point of Hebrews is all you need is Jesus because he himself is better than all of those Things so you can kick all of those things to the curb.

Because you have been given the fullness and the finality of what we have in Jesus. That's the argument of the whole book and we see that contrast here in the very beginning in times past God spoke the various means in various ways to the prophets to the fathers and the prophets in these last days.

He has spoken to us in his son. So that takes us to our passage. Let's look again at verses 1 and the first part of verse 2. God after he spoke long go to the fathers and the prophets in Many portions and in many ways in these last days has spoken to us in his son.

Do you notice how many prepositional phrases there are in those first two verses. There's a lot of them. Some of you know what prepositional phrases are. The rest of you went to public school.

No, I'm just kidding.

If you strip away all of the prepositional phrases out of those first two verses you're left with a subject and a verb look at the prepositional phrases. After he spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions in many ways in these last days.

To us in his son. What are you left with three words? God has spoken. God has spoken. Now for us as Christians that determines everything that is determinative ultimately as Christians we come back to that reality.

It is a self-evident reality. If anything exists God has to have created it. If God has created it. He has created communicative beings and then God has spoken. This is the self-evident truth. We embrace this as the reality as a feature of the reality in which we live.

We believe that God has spoken as Christians and all of the battles going on in our culture and our nation all come down to. This who says who is the authority? Right if truth exists outside of us. Then something someone else is an authority regarding those issues if God has spoken on issue that settles it doesn't matter what our culture says.

What our president says what the Supreme Court determines if God has spoken on something than that and that alone settles the issue. And for? Christians that is enough. If truth is inside of us if it is a feature of how I feel or what I think or what our culture determines or however I reason about what I think is right and wrong and what is true and what is not true if it's inside of us.

Then there is no really such that any such thing as any kind of external standard of truth. That means I can determine what gender I am today. It might be different tomorrow. I can determine what marriage is.

I can determine what right is. I can determine whatever is convenient. Whatever is right and wrong for me, whatever I want to do because I determine those things, but if truth is external to me. Then truth must be revealed to me.

There are certain things about truth that I can understand and I can discern without them being revealed to me. I can know from creation without God revealing this specifically in Scripture that a God exists.

But he has to reveal himself to me and in that revelation We establish the truth is something that is external to us. That means the truth is true. Regardless of how I feel about it regardless of how I think about it or whether or not I agree with it.

Because truth is outside of me truth is true and truth would be true even if I never existed. Because it is not subject dependent. So we say that God has spoken and that for Christians is Final determiner for all things and the author assumes that his readers would understand that and embrace that and accept it.

Which you'll notice he doesn't argue that God has spoken. He doesn't try to plead the case. He doesn't try to make the case that God is a speaking God and a communicating God because he's writing to Jewish Christians Christians who embraced and understood and had come out of the Old Testament.

They they know their Old Testament. They know their Old Testament scriptures and what it teaches they assumed and believed that God was a speaking God. So now the author of Hebrews is going to show them that that revelation which you have embraced and loved and all you all of your Lives that revelation.

It's not that it's not inspired. It's not in error, but it is not as good as What we have in Jesus Christ. It is inferior to the revelation in Jesus Christ and look at what that means and why we say that as we walk through this Passage so that's the contrast for today.

We're contrasting the revelation in Jesus Christ with the revelation provided to the prophets in the days of old. In order to make that contrast the author makes four little sub contrasts and this is going to be our outline for today.

There are four features of these kinds of revelation that are contrasted in the passage first. There is a contrast of time. You'll notice he talks about long ago and then in these last days. Second there is a contrast of recipients.

One revelation was given to the fathers. The other revelation is given to us. Third there is a contrast of persons. One revelation was communicated through the prophets. The other revelation is communicated in a son and fourth.

There is a contrast of means in many portions and in many ways. Contrasted to and the author doesn't fill this in we'll have to fill this in ourselves. Contrasted with the completeness and the perfection of the revelation in Jesus Christ.

So those are the four contrasts. First, we'll look at the contrast of time, but long ago versus the last days. So in the beginning of the verse The author says God after he spoke long ago to the fathers.

Look at verse 2 in these last days has spoken to us in the Sun. Now for the author of Hebrews. The revelation of the Old Testament was a long time ago. Because it had been until Christ appeared it had been 400 years since the last Old Testament Revelation.

Malachi closes out the Old Testament canon and Malachi and a couple of prophets that were somewhat contemporary to him. He lived just after the time or in the time of Nehemiah. Malachi closes out the Old Testament revelation and expectation of the Messiah.

And then there was a silence of 400 years. When God did not speak there were books that were written the nation went on that the religious life of the nation Went on and flourished and things happened those 400 years.

But God was silent in terms of speaking through prophets or visions or or any spokesman from him. So we call it the 400 silent years and then Christ arrived. So now for the author of Hebrews is writing in roughly 60 ad that seems like a long time ago.

It's 400 years ago since God last spoke, but he when he talks about long ago. He is not describing something that is old in that sense. He's not describing something that is old in terms of its chronology.

He is describing something that belongs to a period epic of time. That's what he means by long ago and you can contrast this with the phrase the last days in these last days. This is the contrast long ago versus in these last days now.

That's sort of a messianic term that the prophets used and it was translated out of the Septuagint. The Septuagint uses that very language to to translate some of the Old Testament Prophetic references to the Christ coming and the time of the messianic era.

We look at the term last days and we sometimes think of that Sliver of time that exists just prior to the coming of Christ. Just prior to the second coming those months or years or maybe a decade and every generation.

Swears that we are living in that sliver of time, right? We look at how things are going. We say man, it's got it.

I mean.

Lord has to wrap this up soon and I mean soon because this it can't get any worse than this and yet it always seems To get worse than this and so we all think that we're living in that sliver of time.

But by last days, that's because then we look at our watch and we say but it's been 2 ,000 years Since the author of this used the term last days. And so what does last days mean? I mean if he used it 1950 years ago, then what in the world does last days mean?

Last days is a way of referring to the age in which The Messiah would come and the messianic work would be accomplished. Okay, so like when Jeremiah describes those days that were to come in Jeremiah 33 Here's what he says regarding the coming of the Messiah behold days are coming declares the Lord when I will fulfill the good word which I have spoken concerning the house of Israel and the House of Judah in those days and at that time I will cause a righteous branch of David to spring forth that's a messianic prophecy and He shall execute justice and righteousness on the earth in those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will dwell in safety and this is the name by which she will be called.

The Lord is our righteousness. So in that passage of Jeremiah speaking of the time of the Messiah and in that sense we do live in the last days. We have been living in the last days for 2 ,000 years because we live in that epoch of history that is Initiated by the coming of the Messiah and that will be culminated by his return.

We live in those last days. So when someone says to me, do you think we're living in the last days? I say it depends on what you mean by that if by that you mean that sliver of time that right prior to the second Coming of Christ we might be.

I don't know that for sure because I don't have an I don't have any kind of a Timeline on that. I don't know the timing of those events. But if by last days you mean the messianic era initiated by his first coming and concluded by his second coming then yes I believe that we live in those last days.

I believe that those are the days in which we live and we have always lived in those last days. So the author here is doing what Hebrews does often what the author does in Hebrews often. He is saying that what was old or what what has been that belonged to the former era long ago.

That is passing away and something new has come that has superseded it and replaced it. And we see this all the way through Hebrews the old priesthood. It has passed away a new priesthood has been established Jesus Christ.

Is that high priest the old sacrifices those belong to a former epoch a new sacrifice has been offered? Which is perfect and it is full and it is final and no other sacrifice needs to be offered. So the old way of doing things the tabernacle the temple that has gone away something new has come and it has replaced it.

So that's the contrast that's made all the way through Hebrews something that belonged to a former age has been replaced by something that is new. That is what the author is saying here. He is not saying that what has that the revelation in Jesus is better because it is newer.

He is saying that the revelation in Jesus is better because it's better. Not because it's newer because if the author was simply looking back and saying looks been 400 years since God last spoke. So maybe five six seven hundred years since we had kind of a bunch of revelation given.

That's when God was speaking way back then but now the revelation that we have is newer and so it's fresher. It's better if that's what the author was saying. Then what would that say about the revelation that we have in the New Testament, which is now?

1 ,900 years old. Right if revelation has an expiration date on it if truth spoils with age. Then we've got an issue because we're further removed from the giving of the revelation in Jesus Christ. That Hebrews was from the giving of the revelation in the Old Testament.

So he's not saying that what is new is better because it's newer. He's saying that what is new is better because it is better. It is it is a different kind of revelation which he has describes he describes here later on.

That's the contrast of the time now. Look at the contrast of recipients first. He says that there was an Old Testament contrast given to the an Old Testament revelation given to the fathers. That revelation was given through men like Moses and and Jeremiah and Ezekiel and Daniel and the minor prophets David and Solomon others who wrote scripture that revelation was given to those who were these these people's fathers their Forbearers as it were the Jewish Saints of old that revelation was given to them now.

We have a revelation that has been given to us now in these last days in these messes in this messianic age Christ has appeared and this revelation has been given to us. Now. Here's the important thing to catch in this phrase.

You and I we are the us. In this passage we are the us. This revelation in Jesus Christ has been given to us. It is upon us that the end of the ages has come. We are the ones who have benefited from and received the revelation that is in Jesus Christ.

So we are the us in this passage. We we have something that Old Testament prophets never had. We have a full understanding of what God's plan of redemption Entails from first to last. The Old Testament prophets never had that all they had was pieces of the puzzle.

And some of them had big pieces. Some of them had smaller pieces and they tried to fit these pieces together. But they didn't understand how it all fits together. This is why Peter says in first Peter chapter 1 verse 10 as to the salvation the salvation that you and I enjoy and that We are partakers of as to this salvation the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries.

Seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories. To follow it was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves.

But you in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preach the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from Heaven things into which angels long to look. So the Old Testament prophets they predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that were to follow and all they could do is kind Of scratch their head.

Because they would read their Old Testament and they would say we see that the Messiah Is a descendant of David and yet David calls him Lord. He's supposed to come in humility and he is supposed to come in great glory.

He is supposed to suffer and die and he is supposed to rule the nation's. How do you put all that together? How do you put those pieces of the puzzle together? They didn't have any way of doing that. They didn't have any way of knowing that and so they would scratch their heads and they didn't understand who it was.

Or at the timing of these events were that they could all be describing the same person this Messiah. But then in Jesus, what do we see? We see the one who has fulfilled all of that and hindsight is 2020 and we look back on it.

We say oh, yeah, of course, he comes in humility. He is the descendant of David. He suffers and dies as God's servant. He's rises again. He ascends the right hand of the father. Then he comes back in great glory to rule the nations now.

It all makes sense to us. But the Old Testament prophets didn't have that all they had were the pieces of it. And so we have something that they never had upon us you and I has come the end of the ages.

We get this perfect revelation you ever you ever stop and consider how blessed you are to have the right-hand side of your Bible that new covenant that New Testament and how much we wouldn't know if God had not revealed in the person of Christ the fullness of his nature and the glories and the Excellencies of his person we wouldn't know that.

So that's the second contrast the contrast of the recipients. Some of you some of you may object and say well, hold on a second Jim I've never been a first-hand recipient of the revelation of God and I've never seen Jesus neither had the recipients of this letter.

Do you remember chapter 2 the author says the gospel was first preached by the Lord and it was confirmed to us by those who heard Him they were second-hand Recipients of this truth in the same way that you and I are second-hand recipients of this truth.

But God in his grace has written down so that we might know it years later. What was revealed in the person of Christ. Both Matthew and John were eyewitnesses? Mark wrote for Peter who was also an eyewitness.

Luke wrote for Paul who also saw the Lord. So we have in the Gospels the clear revelation of exactly who Jesus Christ is. We don't need to walk with him and to talk with him personally in order to understand and to know what is true.

Because he has written it down and the rest of the New Testament Explains him and all of the implications of them. So we are the recipients of this new revelation in Jesus Christ. So the contrast of time long ago versus last days the contrast of recipients to the fathers versus to us.

The third contrast is the contrast of persons the prophets versus the Son. So verse 1 says that God spoke long ago to the in the prophets in many portions and in many ways in these last days He has spoken to us in his son.

So the prophets contrasted with the Son. The pro it is appropriate and right for us to refer to all of the Old Testament as prophetic revelation because even though not all of the genre is prophetic genre all of the Old Testament anticipates and looks forward to something that is yet future and The Prophet was not just an individual who spoke and foretold the future.

He also spoke forth to uptelling the Word of God. So these were men who declared the Word of God. So it is appropriate to speak of Moses as a prophet and Joshua and David and all of the authors of the Old Testament.

Whatever book it is that they wrote it is appropriate to speak of these men as holding a prophetic office in the sense that they Foretold and wrote down and forth told the Word of God to people that gave in scripture rated the Word of God to people.

So all of the Old Testament is prophetic because even back in Genesis chapter 3 verse 15 God promised that the seed of the woman would come and he would crush the serpents head and the serpent would bruise his heel and then everything after that everything in the Old Testament looks forward to and anticipates something that was going to come and Fulfill all of that and so everything anticipates that one event.

It is all looking forward to that. So it is all prophetic. So the Old Testament was what was spoken through the prophets those men in these last days. God has spoken to us in his son. Now the Old Testament were men the World Testament writers were men who were called by God Gifted by God carried along by the Holy Spirit and used as his instruments to write down scripture.

We affirm all of that God inspired the Old Testament books. Through those men of God who wrote and spoke exactly what God told them and they were instruments of inscripturation. They were holy. They were righteous.

They were good and godly men. They were not the Son. As holy as they were and as much as we might revere them they were not the Son and so there is a qualitative difference Between the Old Testament prophets and the revelation that we have in the Son.

And what's interesting is when the author of Hebrews says in these last days. He has spoken to us in his son. In in Greek, it's it doesn't come out quite as awkward in English in Greek. It's a little awkward because there's no article there.

So it doesn't say he's spoken to us in a son or he's spoken to us in the son. It has spoken to us in son. There's no article that sounds awkward, doesn't it? It has to be and it has to be intentionally left out by the author.

Because it is a it is an awkward construction in the language to say that in these last days God has spoken to us in son. But the absence of that article is intended to highlight the nature of the communication.

It came through prophets. The new one came in son. See the prophets have a certain relationship to God. But what does that say about the relationship of the son? It's far greater. It is far more intimate.

And so this communication that we have now in son is a Communication and revelation that is entirely different in its nature and its quality in its clarity and its power. Than that which was given in the prophets.

What was in the prophets was different than what is given in the son by virtue of the different relationship to give you kind Of an image of this if I were to ask Lanny if I were to say Lanny I need you to go to so-and-so and tell them all about me now Lanny would be able to go and say a few things About me.

But if I were to say to Shepley or to Taryn or to one of my children other children. If I were to say I would like you to go to so-and-so and tell them all about me. Who would give the clearer explanation of who I am and what I am about?

Lanny as close as we are as good friends. We are or my child. My child would be able to do that on a much higher level. So it is with the son because in Christ he is not just one who is more closely related to the father.

He is one who shares the very nature and essence of the father. This is the doctrine of the Trinity in these last days. God has spoken to us not in one who is distantly related to him. But God has spoken to us in son the one who shares with him the father the very nature and the essence and the substance of Divinity he is different in person, but he is the same in essence or substance.

And so the communication the revelation is greater because in Christ We have the very nature of God walking among us and this is this is what John says at the beginning of his gospel in The beginning that is before time began was the Word and this is his his title for Christ.

He was the Word the Word was with God the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God all things are made through him without him. Nothing has been made that has come into existence. That is what Hebrews chapter 1 2 and 3 says he made all things and then John says the Word was made flesh and dwelt among Us and we beheld his glory as the only begotten of the father full of grace and truth.

We saw the glory of God in the face of Christ because there is no better revelation Of who God is and what God has done than the person of Christ. It does not get any clearer than that. It doesn't get any better than that.

There's nothing else to say after that. It's the Zenith that is the climax. It is the best it is the height of the revelation that God could give. He could not speak any more clearly through any Old Testament Prophet there's nothing he can do other than to walk among us.

To have the Sun dwell among us so that we may see the glory and the nature of God. Walking among us in human flesh. That is that is the best revelation We could be given and that is the author's argument.

The Old Testament was through prophets and in these times son. We see the Sun in him. Colossians 2 9 says dwells all the fullness of God in bodily form. We have in Christ Everything that is divine in nature.

We have it walking among us in humanity and then we have it recorded for us right here in Scripture. By holy men who wrote it down so that we might know it and that we who did not live 2 ,000 years ago Might see it with our own eyes in the pages of Scripture in these last days.

He has spoken to us in Sun the fourth contrast the contrast of means. The contrast in time and in persons and now in means this is the fourth one. The end of verse 1 says he spoke in many portions and in many ways and in the original Greek.