Monthly Archives: October 2009

Hebrews 2:1-4 (ESV) – Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. [2] For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, [3] how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, [4] while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.

The author of this Letter wants to make sure that those he is writing do not forsake Jesus and go back to Judaism. Because Christ is better. He tells them to pay attention to what they have heard. If we do not want to drift away we better hang on to Jesus.

What did they hear? They heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ. What was preached to them? The Scriptures. What Scriptures? The only Scriptures that they had at the time – the Old Testament.

The very Scriptures that their opponents use to discredit the Gospel are about Christ Himself. If they truly pay attention to what they have heard they will not abandon Christ. They will embrace Him as the one who is portrayed throughout the whole Old Testament. The author of this Letter goes on to demonstrate again and again that the whole Old Covenant economy is about Christ. If we truly pay attention to the Old Testament Scriptures we will not surrender up Jesus. We will cling to Him all the more.

If you do not see Jesus in your reading of the Old Testament; if you do not recognize the Gospel of grace through faith in the Messiah, then you are not reading your Old Testament properly. This whole Book, Old and New Testaments, is about Jesus Christ. Read your Old Testament through the grid of Jesus Christ. You must.

To not see Christ in the Old Testament is to miss the whole point for which the it was written. It is to miss the point of why the things that we see happening in the Old Testament stories, actually happened. It is to read a book and not know what the plot line is. And the plot line is so good, so magnificent, that to read the Book wrongly is to rob ourselves of immense blessings, and that is not what God wants for us.

God has given us a record of His work to rescue mankind from the consequences of the fall in the Garden of Eden. The Rescuer is Christ and God starts telling us of Him in the very beginning of the Book. It is marvelous to read what God has done and is doing to bring His people, Jew and Gentile, back to Himself.

Read your Bible today, find Christ there and worship Him.

Hebrews 1:5-13 (ESV)

For to which of the angels did God ever say,

“You are my Son,

today I have begotten you”?

Or again,

“I will be to him a father,

and he shall be to me a son”?

[6] And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says,

“Let all God’s angels worship him.”

[7] Of the angels he says,

“He makes his angels winds,

and his ministers a flame of fire.”

[8] But of the Son he says,

“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever,

the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.

[9] You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;

therefore God, your God, has anointed you

with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.”

[10] And,

“You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning,

and the heavens are the work of your hands;

[11] they will perish, but you remain;

they will all wear out like a garment,

[12] like a robe you will roll them up,

like a garment they will be changed.

But you are the same,

and your years will have no end.”

[13] And to which of the angels has he ever said,

“Sit at my right hand

until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”?

The writer to the Hebrew believers is pointing out how it is that we know that Jesus is better than angels. He does this by using the Old Testament to demonstrate that what God says about the Son is far superior than what He says about angels.

Here are the truths that God, in the Old Testament Scriptures attributes to Christ: 1) You are my Son, 2) Today I have begotten you, 3) Let the angels worship Him, 4)His throne is eternal, 5) He rules His kingdom with a sceptre of righteousness, 6) God calls Him God, 7) He loves righteousness and hates wickedness, 8 ) He laid the foundations of the earth in the beginning, 9) the heavens are the work of His hands, 10)He is unchanging, 11) He is eternal, 12) He sits at the right hand of God in sovereign power, 13) God has made His enemies His footstool.

He does not one of those things for angels and calls none of the angels by these designations and says none of these things about them.

The Son of God is unique. He is not a unique creation. He is the unique eternal, equal with God, Son of God. To leave Christ for any other thing is the height of folly. It would be to give up gold to get lead. He is the greatest treasure and God has lavished Him on us. He died for us. He died for us. See, in this Letter, who Christ is and see what He has done for us and come away amazed and enthralled and broken and humbled and obedient. And come away with a zeal for others to know the great Saviour that grace has enabled you to know.

What a privilege is ours to be called the brothers of Christ (2:11). It is all the more amazing when we see just who it is that we are related to. Soli deo gloria!

Hebrews 1:5

For to which of the angels did God ever say,

“You are my Son,

today I have begotten you”?

Or again,

“I will be to him a father,

and he shall be to me a son”?

God cannot lie. All that He says is true. It is right and it is irrefutable. After the writer to the Hebrews says the marvelous things that he says about Christ in verses 2-4 he goes on to prove it by asking “For to which of the angels did God ever say…?” In other words, what He quotes next is what God has said. And what he quotes are two texts out of the Old Testament. The writer is telling us that the texts he quotes are God speaking. This is a powerful affirmation of the inspiration of the Old Testament.

To deny the qualities that are attributed to Jesus in verses 2-4 is to deny the truthfulness of God or to deny that He actually said what He is quoted as saying in the Old Testament. We either believe all that these verses say about Jesus or we charge God with lying or deny that the Old Testament is the truth of God. For the believer in Jesus these are simply not options. The Old Testament is the Word of God and it is divinely inspired and we can trust it because of who is speaking – God.

Note also that the writer is maintaining that the phrase “You are my Son, today I have begotten you” is proof that Jesus is greater than angels. Many who reject the eternal uncreated divinity of the Son of God often say that “begotten” refers to some form of creation. There was a time when the Son of God was not and God “begot” Him, they say. But this verse will not allow that conclusion.

The writer is saying that God has never said “today I have begotten you” to an angel. If “begotten” means created, then He could certainly say it to angels. He could say it about everything He created. But this phrase is unique to the Son of God. Angels were created. The Son of God is begotten and it is a trait that places Him far above all the created order. The verse does not say “first begotten”. John 3:16 is clear that Jesus is the only begotten.

We serve an eternal Saviour. He is the eternally begotten, uncreated, Son of God who fits all that is said about Him in verses 2-4 and more. Such a Saviour is worthy of all our worship and service. The whole Letter to the Hebrews will prove it to be so in unmistakable ways. What a Saviour.

If you are not following Jesus Christ, you have settled for less than the best. You have out your hope in something that is guaranteed to fail. Only God can save you from sin. And only Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God who indeed is God, is able to accomplish it. He is here for you. He will not turn away any who truly come to Him in repentance and faith. Why would you settle for anything else?

Hedbrews 1:1-4

1Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 3He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

In these opening verses of the Letter to the Hebrews the writer of tells us some astounding things about Jesus that confirm that it is better that God now speaks to us through His Son than through mere prophets. Jesus is, in these first four verses: 1) the Son of God, 2) heir of all things, 3) Creator of the world, 4) the radiance of the glory of God, 5) the exact imprint of the nature of God; 6) He upholds the universe by the word of His power; 7) He made purification for sin; 8 ) He is seated at the right hand of the majesty on high; 9) He is far superior to angels; 10) He has inherited a Name far above that of angels.

These are truths about Jesus in very short form that take us to heights that are stunningly great. The writer says a very great deal in a very small space. The true believer who reads these first four verses with his eyes open and his heart receptive to the work of the Spirit to exalt Christ, cannot but be taken with the Saviour who has his allegiance.

This brief opening to this letter makes the child of God want to know more, meditate on the greatness of his Saviour, worship, pray and proclaim. And that is the point.

Are you enduring things in your life that cause you to doubt your salvation? Are there things going on right now that make you want to quit trying? Does the religiously pluralistic world in which we live make you wonder about the unique claims of the Christian faith? The Letter to the Hebrews addresses such things by showing us the wonders of the Saviour we serve. It shows that Jesus is the only sufficient Saviour and it shows us His powerful work on our behalf even when things have gone south on us. Look to a marvelous saviour. Look to Christ and see, in this Letter, just how magnificent He truly is and find your rest in Him.

Do you not know Jesus Christ? Read this Letter and find a Saviour who is greater than all other things and inventions for getting right with God. Pray to truly meet the Saviour who is presented in this Letter. God shows you, in the Book of Hebrews, that which is far superior than anything or anyone else. And He is offered to you for your forgiveness, salvation and fellowship with Him.

Happy Thanksgiving. The history books tell us that Thanksgiving Day in Canada can be traced all the way back to the explorer Martin Frobisher who celebrated a thanksgiving for safety in a perilous journey. For a while it was held in connection with Remembrance Day but was transferred to October so that the holidays wouldn’t be confused. In 1957 it became an official holiday to express:

“Thanksgiving to Almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed … to be observed on the 2nd Monday in October…”

There it is. By an act of Parliament Canada sets aside the second Monday of October to give thanksgiving to almighty God. The holiday stays. The reason for its existence gets forgotten. But it is more than a reason for a holiday that is forgotten. God is left behind. People want the holiday. Most of them are genuinely thankful for the good things that they have. And make no mistake. In this country there is plenty to be thankful for.  But there is also a God to be thankful to. Thia is what gets left out of Thanksgiving. People will talk about what they are thankful for but we hardly hear it mentioned in public, on radio, television or in print – who we are to thank. Believers are anxious to celebrate Thanksgiving because they are anxious to let others know what God has done for them. We are thankful to God.

We are thankful to God because:

1) Every good and perfect gift comes from Him (James 1:18).

2) Without Him we can do nothing (John 15:5).

3) We are created with the purpose of giving God praise. To be less than thankful is to deny our purpose and that is never a healthy thing.

4) We are called to not forget all His benefits (Psalm 103:2).

5) God is good and full of mercy (Psalm118:1-4)

6) He has made us partakers of the inheritance of the saints (Colossians 1:12).

Thankfulness will mark the real Christian. Anyone who has come to Christ by grace through faith cannot but have a thankful heart that demonstrates itself in thankful living. An ungrateful attitude is an unchristian attitude and comes from those who do not know Christ.

Thankfulness will mark the real believer all the time. And we are glad for the opportunity to mark one day aside to  thank God for His multiple blessings. But if we are truly thankful for all that God has given us let us show it in rich generosity. God has been generous to us so that we will have something to share with those who have less. Let us do good to all especially those of the household of faith.

We will not be like those who are quiet about who they are thankful to. We will be thankful and we must be anxious for others to know that it is God who is responsible for all the good things that we have.

Truly thankful hearts will want others to know about a great gift. If we who are believers are really grateful to God for all He has done for us we will not keep quiet about it. Let us show our gratitude this Thanksgiving by directing our words of thanks upward to the One who deserves to be thanked. Tell someone about a great generous God who not only has given a bountiful harvest but brings a harvest of righteousness to all who call upon Him.