“Long ago,
at many times and many ways,
God spoke to our fathers by the prophets,
but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son”
Hebrews is about the glory of Jesus’ life maturing within us as we journey through our fleshly wilderness. Old Testament pictures of God’s relationship with Israel are images of wearing flesh without growing in grace and truth. Grace is “so much better” than law.
For while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved in his life.
How marvelous is this life when it is His Life in us. Jesus used the term “born again” and this is exactly what happens. God reconciled us back to Himself through the death of His Son Jesus. Hebrews is about Jesus, the Son of God. The message comes out of heaven itself into the form of human flesh. God has reconciled us back to Himself, saving us out of our sinful flesh by the resurrection life of Jesus. He places in us His Life, and joins us into Himself when we say “yes.” Christ is in us and we are in Christ!
Last GN we saw that Jewish believers were “drifting away” from the principle of faith Jesus taught, slipping into the comfort of their cultural law. Our printed scripture was not yet assembled and much of it is not yet written when this letter is sent to these Hebrew believers. Even Paul’s early letters were not likely available to these early followers of “The Way.” John had not yet written either his gospel or his letters.
The members of The Way were suffering persecution. Jewish sects were teaching differing gospels questioning the coming reign of Jesus as messiah King.
The opening statement of Hebrews sets the record straight. God had spoken in the past through Abraham and the prophets but now the truth is made clear. Jesus was God’s Son and He declares Himself to be the Way, the Truth and Life itself!
This was why He died! If Jesus was, who He said He was, the Jewish system of law and authority was history! Jesus was a direct threat to the established power structure and they had to put Him to death. Knowing this, Jesus submitted to their authority so that He could deliver us from this foolish sinfulness.
Jesus was abrupt with the Pharisees and told them directly to their faces they were of the their father, the devil. Our God of Love hates liars and pride, that haughty look in a persons eyes. He abhors a heart devising wickedness and feet that hastes to do evil. God is severe, He is not the soft loving heart who forgives all sin regardless of a heart condition. God hates distorting the truth and causing discord among believers. He paid sin’s price, our price. We are redeemed and He requires righteousness, holiness and truth. Failure to come to terms with God’s standard of light and righteousness results in eternal darkness and judgment. Fearing God is the beginning of wisdom.
Jesus Himself fulfills all requirements of Jewish law, providing a much better covenant than ceremonies and functions of law under Moses. All Old Testament requirements of law are fulfilled in the person of Jesus. He is the door we enter becoming children of God and joint heirs with Christ Jesus. He IS the Apostle and High Priest of our salvation.
How fitting we are writing this message between thanksgiving and Christmas. This is exactly what is the focus of Hebrews. It is turning our eyes away from our things, being thankful, and turning our eyes into the One whom produces a resurrection life because of His reconciliatory death for us.
Hebrews is about the person of Jesus Himself. Jesus is sent to earth by the Father to pave the way for the Holy Spirit to abide within the believer’s soul so that the believer can be instructed by God’s Spirit concerning the person of Jesus.
So, as we ponder truth in this letter to the Hebrews, believers, prayerfully submit to the Holy Spirit within your own self and listen with Spiritual ears what our loving Father wants to teach concerning His beloved Son and our Savior.
“Jesus is the truth. We believe in Him – not merely in his words. He himself is Doctor and Doctrine, Revealer and Revelation, the Illuminator and the Light of Men. He is exalted in every word of truth, because he is its sum and substance … Sermons are valuable in proportion as they speak of him and point to him. A Christless gospel is no gospel and a Christless discourse is the cause of merriment to devils.” -Charles Spurgeon
We are turning to the first three verses of Hebrews 1, although, right now we are just looking at the first verse and half of the second. These three verses summarize the whole letter. We are not spending this much time on each verse because it would be too easy to be bogged down into the detail of all that is contained in this full, rich letter. But we will drill down at this starting point and prayerfully find living water refreshing our souls.
“Long ago, at many times and in many ways God spoke …”, this is the opening statement of this letter and what we are considering. We could spend some time looking at the many times and ways God spoke to man and mankind. He speaks by revealing Himself in Truth so that we can penetrate His image and know who He is understanding His person.
The way God speaks to us reveals His sovereignty and authority. It gives us a persona of who He is. The opening words of Genesis introduces us to His power. He spoke and there was Light. This is God’s introduction to us of Himself speaking; “And God said, ”Let there be light.” This is the first record in the bible of God speaking.
This is a fitting opening to our introduction of God. Light is the medium of God’s expression to us! He uses Light as an identity to reveal His character. We have in creation itself the separation of light from darkness. We find this theme in God’s identity running throughout scripture.
The Lord is my light and salvation, we recognize immediately Psalm 27, but it is just another reference fragrancing the bloom of truth in the New Testament like Psalm 104:1&2, You are clothed with splendor and majesty, covering yourself with light as with a garment. But in Psalm 36:9 we “see” our Lord tying light to life itself, “For with you is the fountain of life, in your light we see light.” We find this in the New Testament where we are not only lights, not to be hidden, but qualified to share the inheritance of the saints IN light! He has taken us out of the kingdom of darkness, staking us down into the kingdom of Jesus His Son.
Moses fearful of the task of leading the Israelites through the desert into the promised land, pleaded with God that He go with Him. Moses was speaking to God daily in the tent but Moses pleaded for God’s presence and asked to see His glory. But God told Moses no man can see the glory of His face and live but he would show him His backside from a cleft in the mountain.
A similar thing happened with Elijah. We find Elijah probably on the same mountain but he had just run away from Jezebel after killing her priests and calling fire down from heaven to consume his offering. In his isolation, Elijah broke from dependence upon his God, and left town! God did not share the glory of His presence by light with Elijah! Rather, wind that broke mountain rocks into pieces, an earthquake followed a fire, but God was not in the wind, earthquake or fire. God was a small voice saying, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
“Long ago, at many times and many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son”
Moses was working with God in a covenant relationship. He spends 40 days and nights with God on the mountain and God wrote the Ten Commandments on the stones Moses prepared. God shares His glory with Moses, visibly allowing him to see the light from His Backside. Meanwhile we find Elijah hiding in a cave even though God was with him in his retreat from Jezebel, providing shade and feeding him on the way. But God reveals to Elijah, not the light of His glory, but wind, earthquake and fire, because God is righteous, faithful and loving. God is Light! Light requires us to see the darkness so that we can shun it! Our training, in these bodies of flesh, is to see the light, making the right choices while being nurtured in mercy and grace. God rewards the right choices and judges the wrong choices.
The Old Testament is partial. It provides looks at God’s character and establishes the works of the law so that we can measure our inadequacy and see our need for a righteous king to rule over us. When our King arrived on this earthly scene, His people rejected Him. This was God’s only Son declaring truth about God.
On one of His last trips, Jesus traveled with His disciples north of Bethsaida to Caesera Philipi. This is the region of Mt. Hermon and the Greek-Roman worship area for the god Pan. This area of debauchery, was considered by many, the home of evil. Mark Twain is said to have visited this area in 1867.
At the base of a table like mountain, at least 1000ft. high, is a cave entrance leading to a sudden bottomless pit which contains deep, deep water. This was considered the home of evil spirits. Both Rome and Greece built temples here.
Jesus uses this very long trip to teach his disciples about what is going to happen. Mark puts it this way, “And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days raise again.”
When they arrive at this Mt. Hermon location, Jesus took with Him only Peter, James and John to this elevated table top mountain located over this evil place. He led them high upon the mountain, by themselves, and transfigured before them.
His clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah and Moses and they were talking with Jesus.
-Mark 9:4
The scriptures says Peter, James and John were “terrified” and a cloud came over them with a voice that said: “This is my beloved Son, listen to him.” They looked around and no one was there except themselves and Jesus. Jesus, appearing as light, is announced by God as His Son!
This must have been in the mind of John when he wrote: “In him is life and the life is the light of men.” When Jesus became flesh he brought the light of God into flesh. This has become God’s way of describing His life in us after we receive it by faith. We have become the lights of the world. Jesus said, “I am the light of the world, whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” This connects us back into Psalm 36:9 which we quoted above: “For with you is the fountain of life, in your light we see light.” Paul put it this way, “Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true) … for anything that is exposed by the light becomes visible …”
Jesus is God’s final authority. Everything made exists because of Jesus the Son, “All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made,” “In Him was life and the life was the light of men.” Jesus is God’s final word to man and it is expressed in His logos word.
“Long ago, at many times and many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son”
When Jesus was transfigured on the mountain above the evil of the world, God declared Jesus as His Son, “Listen to Him.” Jesus stood above the evil of the cave and became whiter than snow. His light has become our life so that in his physical absence His Light still shines in His Body, us!
Lets just conclude with this focus on light and life from one of the men who actually stood on the mount of transfiguration and saw Jesus with Moses and Elijah. Listen in your heart as you read this from the pen of the Apostle John:
“That which was from the beginning, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life – the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us – that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you may have fellowship with us, and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with His son Jesus Christ. … this is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is do darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.”
“but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” –John 20:31.