Jesus: God’s Final Word
Hebrews 1:1-4
SICC 6/9/02
One of the most difficult things for a person to endure is separation from someone they love. That difficulty is compounded when, along with the separation, there is a breech in communication as well. If you are apart from someone, and have no communication with that person – you don’t know if they are healthy or happy – it is torturous. When Rebekah and I moved here to Staten Island, one of the things that my parents asked – knowing that we would be separated by a great distance – was that we keep in contact. “Call us once a week,” they said. At the time it seemed like a lot to ask. Call them every week? What are we going to talk about? After doing if for a little while I realized that they didn’t want a long conversation every week. They just wanted us to let them know we were ok. They wanted us to communicate with them. I realized that it makes a difference. We never want to be left without a word from those whom we love. It is good to know that God has never left his people without a word. He has always spoken to His people. They have always known how He is and what he expected from them. He has never left his people without a word.
When Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden. God spoke to them. He would fellowship with them in person. He walked with them. He gave them direct instruction. That didn’t last long though. That fellowship was broken by Adam & Eve’s sin. They were cast out of the garden. God still spoke to them outside of the garden, but it would never be the same. It would not be enough.
Let’s skip ahead to a time when the Hebrews were slaves. For over 400 years they were slaves in Egypt. God heard their cries for mercy though. He spoke to Moses and had Moses lead them out of the bondage of Egypt. He spoke to Moses, giving him the Law, but it wouldn’t be enough.
Many years later they were captives again, this time in Babylonia. Again, after over 400 years God heard their cries and led them back to the promised land. In the midst of all of this He sent His prophets – Isaiah, Jeremiah, Hosea, Daniel, Ezekiel and others. Men called of God, spoken to by God, relaying the message of God to God’s people. The Israelites were never left without a word from God. But it would not be enough. God spoke, but He never said all that he needed to say. There was something lacking.
We continued to lack that something until God spoke his final word. “In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son,” Today God speaks to us through Jesus. There is nothing left to be said. Jesus is God’s final word. The author of the Book of Hebrews lists what qualifies Jesus to be God’s final word. Let’s look at those qualifications. There are seven of them.
First, Jesus will inherit everything. He is the one whom God “appointed him heir of all things.” The Psalms are very important in the Book of Hebrews. Psalm 2 is alluded to several times in Hebrews 1. The second Psalm is a coronation Psalm. It was used in a coronation service where a king was installed over Israel. Some say the Psalm was written in the context of Solomon’s coronation. He took over the kingship when there was a lot of people vying for the throne. They conspired to get their way, but God in Heaven laughed, because his anointed – Solomon – was destined to be king. His anointed one would inherit the Kingdom. Philippians 2 tells us that every person – ruler or ruled – will one day worship the son. The son will inherit all the kingdoms of this world. The writer of Hebrews takes it even a step further. He understands the inheritance to go beyond the things of this life. In chapter 2 that Jesus is the one to whom the Father has subjected “The world to come.”
Let me ask you a question about inheritance. Who receives the inheritance? The one honored by the present owner. Jesus is worthy to be God’s final word because God has chosen him to inherit all things.
Second, Jesus was the agent of creation. Jesus was he “Through whom {God} made the universe.” God, the Father, used Jesus, the Son, to create the universe. God spoke the world into existence with a word. Jesus is that word. Proverbs 8 uses the term “wisdom.” In reference to the agent of creation. Speaking in the first person Wisdom says, “Then I was the craftsman at his side. I was filled with delight day after day, rejoicing always in his presence, rejoicing in his whole world and delighting in mankind.” I believe that Proverbs 8 is finally fulfilled in Jesus. Jesus is God’s wisdom. John’s gospel says that Jesus is the word of God and everything that has been made was made through him. Jesus is uniquely qualified to speak to us because he created us. He knows us from the inside out because he created us.
Third, Jesus is the radiance of the glory of God. We are thinking in terms of the earthly Jesus here. He who lived and ministered in Palestine in the first century was the eternal son of God. In his commentary F. F. Bruce writes “Just as the radiance of the sun reaches this earth, so in Christ the glorious light of God shines into the hearts of men.” Jesus is qualified to speak to us because he comes directly from God the Father.
Jesus is the inheritor of all things. He is the agent of creation. He is the radiance of God’s glory. Fourth, he is also the “exact representation of {God’s} being.” God’s character is completely present in the person of Jesus. The term our author uses here is the same one that was used for an impression made on a coin. The image left on the coin is the exact duplicate of the stamp used to make that image. Every detail on the stamp is also on the coin. God’s character is in Jesus in the same way. We can trust what we learn from Jesus, because everything he says comes from the Father – it is not something he has done on his own.
Fifth, Jesus is “sustaining all things by his powerful word.” Not only is Jesus waiting for his inheritance. He is also holding all things together in the mean time. Everything that we see around us – all of creation is dependent upon Jesus for its sustenance. Jesus is qualified to speak the final word because he is all-powerful.
He made purification for our sins. Jesus is not only our creator and sustainor he is also our redeemer. Jesus is worthy of speaking God’s word because he sacrificed himself for our sins.
Now Jesus sits “at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.” That is the place of authority. Jesus sits in authority in heaven.
This is a lot of information. It needs to be summarized. This may help: according to Hebrews 1 Jesus is uniquely qualified to speak to us God’s final word because he is intimately related to both God the father in heaven and the creation here below. Here’s how. His heavenliness is attested to by the fact that he reflects God’s glory and is the exact representation of his character. Now he sits at the right hand of God in heaven. He is there to mediate for us. His earthliness is attested to by the fact that he will inherit the whole earth and its kingdoms; he is the agent of creation, holding everything that he created together even now, and he has made purification for our sins.
This is a lot of information and it may or may not be interesting to you. Chances are, even if you had never really thought about it there is really nothing here that is a surprise. We know that Jesus is God’s final answer. Let’s think about what that means for you and me today though.
When Regis asks “Is that your final answer?” The contestant say “Final Answer.” That means there are no more chances. Up to that point the contestant can say anything he or she wants and it won’t count. Once the final answer is given, there is no more negotiating. Since Jesus is God’s final answer, we must respond to Him. There are no more second opportunities to please God. “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:12 On judgment day there will be no “No but”s. The only question will be “Did you accept the forgiveness available to you through Jesus Christ?” We won’t have the opportunity to say, “No but I was a good person.” “No but I did a lot of good things.” “No but I helped a lot of people. I made a lot of people’s lives better.” It won’t be enough.
Since Jesus is God’s final answer, and God is a God of justice and righteousness, God will bring about righteous judgment through Jesus. We get impatient here because unrighteousness and injustice abounds. There are things that are happening here that just don’t fit in a world that God made. In a world that God made, there should be no killing of unborn babies let alone state-approved and state-protected killing of unborn babies. In a world that God made we shouldn’t be afraid to go anywhere. Everywhere should be safe. In a world that God created there should not be divorce, child abuse, and the general degradation of the family. In a world that God created I should not have to worry about being cheated or robbed. These things don’t fit in a world God made. In light of that I have two choices. I can conclude that God did not make this world – if he did he would have done a better job. On the other hand I can conclude that since God did make this world, He will one day bring it to the point he wants it to be. I don’t have any reason to question God when I realize that God works on his time schedule, not on mine.
Since Jesus is God’s final answer, then I will trust completely in him. I will throw my whole self into him, knowing that by His grace, he will take me as I am and make me what he wants me to be. We are not unlike the world in that there are things in us that do not fit into the picture of a person created by God & saved by Jesus. If I am created by God & am saved by Jesus, then why am I so easily angered. If I am created by God & am saved by Jesus, then why do I so easily hate others. If I am created by God & am saved by Jesus, then I should not be jealous of what other people have. If I am created by God and am saved by Jesus, then I should love His word more, enjoy his people more, desire to pray more, get lost in praise more, devote myself to good works more, and just be a better person. Things should be different because I am created by God and saved by Jesus. How do I deal with the truth? I am not what I should be. I trust in God. Jesus’ final answer. If Jesus is the last word from God and I know that I should be different than I am then I have to trust Jesus to complete his work in me. Paul was confident concerning Christians in Philippi that the God “who began a good work in yo will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” I am not who I want to be. I am certainly not who God wants me to be – except in one aspect. I am trusting in Jesus. My hope, my desire, my need is that my trust in Jesus will increase. I trust him to carry on his work in me to completion so that on that day he returns I will have fewer changes to make to be who he wants me to be than I do now.
Jesus is God’s final answer. What will you do? Ben Patterson, a Christian writer, writes about a mountain climbing experience he had. He was a novice and it got him into trouble. He was stuck on a glacier. The sun was melting the ice, making it very slippery. He was about ten feet from the safety of a rock, but one slip meant a slide down the side of the mountain with nothing to stop him until he reached the valley floor. He was frozen with fear. Finally one of the experienced climbers made their way to him. One of them made footsteps in the glacier leading from the dangerous spot to the rock. It would only take two steps. The instructions were step into the first foothold and immediately swing your other foot into the next foothold. Then he will have gone far enough to be reached by his friend. Sounded good, but there was one last word of instruction that was not so easy to follow. The experienced climber said don’t lean into the mountain. If you do, your feet may fly out from under you and you will fall down the mountain. Instead of leaning into the mountain, lean away from the mountain. For Ben Patterson that was the final answer. Trust the experienced climber and lean away from the mountain. What would he do? He did the only logical thing – he trusted the one who because of his experience knew best.
In your life and in my life, Jesus knows best. He is intimately involved with both heaven and earth. He is God’s final answer. If you want to get from here to there. If you want to be who God desires you to be, then trust Jesus. Jesus is God’s final answer. What will you do?
