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Jesus is Better than Everything!
Let’s Focus on Jesus: God perfectly revealed to us
Jesus became Human, Now Raised above All
Our Destiny as his Brothers & Sisters
Hebrews: Be strong in our faith!
“find strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us” [6:18]
“hold firmly to our confidence and the hope we take pride in.” [3:6]
“let us hold unwaveringly to the hope that we confess, for the one who made the promise is trustworthy.” [10:23]
Jesus is so superior to everything else and it’s by catching a vision of him that we can
“run the race.” [12:1]
and enter into a destiny that fills us with awe. [12:29]
The best antidote to the pressures of the world is to be on fire for Jesus!
Hebrews 1
Long ago God spoke to our ancestors by the prophets at different times and in different ways,
but in these last days he has spoken to us in a son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he created the world.
The Son is
the radiance of his glory
and the representation of his essence
and he sustains all things by his powerful word,
and so when he had accomplished cleansing for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.
Jesus is Better than Everything!
Let’s Focus on Jesus: God perfectly revealed to us
Jesus became Human, Now Raised above All
Our Destiny as his Brothers & Sisters
Hebrews 2
but we see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while,
now crowned with glory and honor
because he suffered death,
so that by God’s grace he would experience death on behalf of all.
Hebrews 1 cont’d
Thus he became positioned so much higher than the angels as he has inherited a name superior to theirs
So, Jesus is God in full glory, so he begins to compare him:
The angels are a marker for a level of glory. Jesus is much better in every way:
[v.3] Exact representation of the Father
[v.3] Creator / Sustainer (by his speaking)
[v.3] Now at the right hand of all power
[v.4] and therefore Jesus is far higher than the angels
Hebrews 2 – Warning
For this reason, we must pay attention all the more to what we have heard, so that we will not drift away.…
how will we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?
Jesus is Better than Everything!
Let’s Focus on Jesus: God perfectly revealed to us
Jesus became Human, Now Raised above All
Our Destiny as his Brothers & Sisters
Hebrews 2
but we see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while,
now crowned with glory and honor
because he suffered death,
so that by God’s grace he would experience death on behalf of all.
For it was fitting for him, for whom and through whom all things exist,
in bringing many sons and daughter to glory,
to make the pioneer of their salvation complete through sufferings.
…and so he is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters
Hebrews 2 cont’d
Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, he likewise shared in their humanity, so that through death he could destroy the one who holds the power of death (that is, the devil)
and set free those who were held in slavery all their lives by their fear of death.…
Therefore he had to be made like his brothers and sisters in every respect, so that he could become a merciful and faithful high priest in things relating to God, to make atonement for the sins of the people.
For since he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted.
Destiny: Our destiny is to be with Christ in glory
Heb 12:28 —we will receive a kingdom
Our destiny is to be rule with Jesus, to rule over angels,
Rev 3:21 —one of the most striking: “I will grant him to sit on my throne as I sat down with my Father on his throne”
1. New Revelation through Jesus
God has spoken to us in an entirely new, and infinitely superior way, through Jesus.
Jesus is not just a spiritual being, like the angels, but God the Son
So if it was serious to ignore God speaking in the past, how much more serious is it now!
2. New Destiny in Jesus
Jesus fulfills God’s original destiny for humanity, being raised higher than the angels
As his brothers & sisters we share his destiny
He is not ashamed of us, but trusts us
This puts into perspective the “shaming” society gives us
Two arguments in Hebrews:
negative: If you stop following Jesus, there isn’t anything else
Positive: What you have in Jesus is so much better than what you might lose