Great to have you here today. You're obviously over here for the whole week, and I think maybe a bit longer,
but maybe just tell us a little bit about where you come from and a bit about your family, and I'll ask you something else.
That could take a while. Well, we'll make it short.
Originally, for the first 18 years of my life, I grew up and born and raised in Canada, outside the Toronto area.
So, halfway between Toronto and Niagara Falls.
And then I went down to the U.S., been there since, did my university seminary training there, and presently I'm teaching in Kentucky.
I have a wonderful wife from New York State. People always say she's from New York, and they always confuse that with New York City.
And she says, no, no, it's not New York City. New York State, and then we have five children, from three boys, two girls, 26 to 16.
And you're obviously teaching theology at this stage, and you have a relationship with the Lord Jesus.
Did you grow up in a Christian home, or how did you come to faith?
Yeah, I was raised with parents who were Christians, who loved the Lord.
And even though you are raised in a Christian home, it doesn't make you a Christian.
So, I heard God's word every week, and was taken to our local church, but around 16 years old, the Lord was working in my life,
where by the Spirit, He convicted me that I was a sinner.
I needed the Lord Jesus.
I can't just have my parents' faith.
And people would say, are you a Christian?
Oh, yes, yes, yes.
I'm a Christian.
But I wasn't.
And by God's grace, I came to know the Lord Jesus, turned from my sin, believed in the Lord Jesus Christ at 16 years old.
And that heritage that I had was wonderful, where so much was taught.
And then from there, I felt that the Lord wanted me to serve Him in church and teaching and that kind of work.
And that's where I've gone from there.
So, have you always been involved in teaching theology, or did you do something else?
Yeah.
In between.
I was always, after I was converted at 16, then I'm thinking of what's next in terms of schooling, right?
So, getting out of high school.
I was greatly influenced in my Christian life by reading a man named Francis Schaeffer years ago,
and just trying to think how is I, you know, why is, I'm a Christian, but how do I communicate that to others,
and why do I believe what I believe?
And I knew that I, I had a sense that I wanted to go into Christian ministry.
So, in my university training, I did a science education.
Wasn't sure just how it would all work out.
So, I never really worked in that area, but I was trained to be a teacher.
And then went to seminary, and then, so really my whole life has been either pastoring or teaching after that.
Okay.
Well, we look forward to you communicating to us the truth of God's word.
So, I'm going to pray for Stephen, and then over to you.
Father, we thank you so much for your church worldwide, for the people that you have gathered to yourself,
and we thank you for the gifts that you have given to people.
We thank you for Stephen and his gift to understand your word, to teach, and to communicate.
And yet, Father, we need the help of your Holy Spirit so that it is not just information to our minds,
but that it is truth to our hearts that change us,
and shape our lives to follow you and to walk with you.
So, please help us, and please help Stephen, as he speaks your word to us today.
We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.
Well, it is a great delight to be with you this morning,
and we're going to be reading from the book of Hebrews.
And if you have your Bibles, that will be Hebrews chapter 1.
And if you have a Bible that came in when you came in from the church,
it is page number 1201.
Right? 1201.
The book of Hebrews chapter 1.
It's a great delight to be here.
It's my second time to Ireland.
And always two years ago, and now in between then.
Two years ago, Ross and Joy housed me.
And then Joy's come over to the U.S., and we've seen her in between,
and now back again.
So, I think that's a great opportunity to be back here with them.
And my mother is, on my mother's side, is all Irish in Canada.
Right?
So, she said, as I come to Ireland, she says,
I'll go talk to the homeland.
Right?
So, that's what she said.
So, it's great to be here.
We're going to read Hebrews chapter 1.
We're going to look at the first three verses.
First three verses.
And this is the introduction to this wonderful, wonderful letter that we'll get into.
But we're going to read these first three verses.
And then we'll begin to look at what God has to teach us from this section of Scripture.
God's Word says this.
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, whom He appointed heir of all things,
and through whom He made the universe.
The Son is the radiance of God's glory, the exact representation of His being,
sustaining all things by His powerful Word.
After He had provided purifications for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in Heaven.
We'll leave it there.
But then verse 4 will become a transition.
So He became.
And then He goes on to compare Him to angels, right?
Well, thinking of what to speak on this morning,
I understand that you're going through the book of 1 Corinthians, 1 Corinthians.
You're at chapter 14.
And I know Johnny will do a great job on that.
So I left that to him.
He says, do you want to handle that passage?
It sometimes gets controversial.
In the church.
And we said, no, no, you'll do a fine job.
So come next week and you'll learn about prophecy in the church and all the spiritual gifts
and those challenging issues that we wrestle with as we apply the Scripture to our lives.
Instead, I wanted to return to something familiar but never, ever too familiar.
And that is the glory of Christ.
And there's many places we can turn.
I'm so pleased to see that Colossians 1 was read this morning.
And that's a wonderful passage.
Colossians 1, 15 through 20.
There's many, many, many key passages in the New Testament that present to us who Jesus is
and all of his glory and splendor and his work.
This passage here is one of those passages.
And it's in a book that I think maybe we say this of every book of the New Testament or the Bible,
but this is one of my most favorite books of the entire Bible.
The book of Hebrews is a precious book to me,
and it speaks so strongly to myself and I think the church today for a couple of reasons.
First is when we think about who this book is written to.
We live 2,000 years from these people.
Yet, if we know something about the audience of the book of Hebrews,
we realize that we have a lot in common with them.
They have a lot of similarities, both good and bad, that we have.
And then the message that the author gives to these Christians in the midst of their life
and the busyness of their life is the glory of Christ.
And for those two reasons, the book of Hebrews is such a precious one to me
because I can identify with these Christians,
and more importantly, I am presented the answer to my problems
in terms of Jesus Christ the Lord.
Now, in terms of these early Christians,
a little bit of speculation on this,
but I think we're on good grounds to say
these are probably Jewish Christians.
Now, why is that?
Well, because so much of the book is devoted
to the Old Testament,
showing that Christ is the fulfillment of the Old Testament.
So it's probably those who've come out of a Jewish background
who are now believers.
They've been believers for probably a generation.
It's probably around the mid-60s in the first century
before the fall of Jerusalem,
which changed everything in the first century
because there's no mention here of the fall.
There's all discussion of the sacrifices and tabernacle,
but there's no mention of the fall of Jerusalem.
So we probably think it's written early on.
We know from the book
that these Christians had walked with the Lord.
They had faced trials and persecution.
Some of them had lost.
You read chapter 10.
Some of them had lost their jobs.
Some of them had lost their homes.
Some of them have been castaways in society.
Yet, so far, they had remained firm.
Yet, they were also facing probably a more serious problem
than just simply pressures from the world.
They were, as this author writes to them,
it seems as if they're facing spiritual compromise.
That's why so much of the book is,
if you know the book of Hebrews,
so much of it is dealing with
the dual themes of encouragement and warning.
It's famous for its warning passages.
The author of Hebrews comes alongside these believers
who have begun well,
who have professed faith in Christ,
who are facing incredible pressures around them.
Pressures to give in and to cave and to compromise.
Yet, he then warns them.
He encourages them with the truth of who Christ is.
But he warns them, don't depart.
Don't go backwards.
Now, that kind of people, I mean, I can identify with.
We can grow up in the church.
We know that the society around us is seemingly changing.
We feel the sense of how difficult it is sometimes
to live as a Christian
who wants to honor the Lord in our lives
in the world around us.
We face pressures from family.
We face pressures from the larger society.
I can identify with these people
who feel persecution and struggles.
And so what is encouraging to say,
you know, what I'm going through in my own life,
they're going through similar things.
Now, obviously, there's differences.
Yet, there's a similarity.
I can see what they're going through.
They can remind me of some of the struggles
that I'm having.
But more than that,
not just simply identification with them,
what's most important is how the author addresses
these struggling Christians.
How does he encourage them to press on?
How does he warn them of the dangers?
Well, what he does,
and of course, this is the entire theme of the book,
is he presents to them the glory of Christ.
He calls them back
to remind them of who they have trusted in,
who it is that has redeemed them,
the Lord and Savior that is the Lord of the universe.
And by so doing,
he accomplishes the dual task of encouraging them.
He encourages them in the truth of who Christ is.
He encourages them that their faith has not been misplaced,
that their faith is not in vain,
that as the pressures of the world come in upon them,
that they can have confidence
that Christ is who He is.
And at the same time,
that warns them,
given the glory and the wonder
and the excellency of Christ,
if you depart from Him,
danger.
So at the same time,
and often in Scripture,
you have sort of a dual side of the coin.
Encouragement warning,
warning encouragement,
you don't just have one without the other,
and in the center of it
is the presentation of the glory of Christ.
Now the opening verses that we read
present this to us immediately.
The theme of the book of Hebrews is
Christ is better.
Christ is greater than anything you can compare Him to.
And throughout the book,
there's an entire series of contrasts
that the author makes with angels.
That's where he goes in the first couple of chapters.
With Moses,
some of the great leader from the Old Testament.
with covenants,
and kings,
and priests,
and all of that is
comparing,
contrasting Christ to the Old Testament.
And the author argues,
your faith has not been misplaced.
Christ is who He is.
You can have confidence in
your confidence in Him
and what He's accomplished.
And in light of that,
press on.
Now these opening verses
get immediately to that larger truth
that the book of Hebrews is communicating.
The glory of Jesus Christ the Lord.
This is unlike any other letter.
Most letters,
when you read them in the New Testament,
have the author's name.
I, Paul, write to such and such, right?
All of that's missing.
We're not exactly sure who this author is.
He dispenses with any introduction
and immediately goes
to the main point of the book.
And in this,
and in fact,
in the original,
when you have verses 1 to 3,
it's one sentence.
We've broken it down
in terms of our Bibles.
But in one sentence,
that is centered around
the subject and the verb.
And the subject of the verb
of this one sentence
is God spoke.
And then around that,
the author says,
God spoke in the past,
God spoke definitively in Christ.
And in Christ,
he has brought all of his plans
and purposes to pass.
And even more than that,
he has brought about our salvation.
And this then opens the book,
which he then develops and expands.
And everything thereafter in this book
gives us then Christ
as God's spoken word,
final word,
only Savior,
encourages them in this,
at the same time warns them,
don't depart from him.
Keep pressing on.
He who has done a good work
will see it to the end.
You have placed your faith
in the truth
of the Son of God
who has come and who has died.
Your confidence is sure.
And that's what then undergirds
the confidence and encouragement
that he is giving to these people.
Well, we want to look at this,
in some sense,
opening statement of the book
that is just simply developed
throughout the book.
And we'll look at it
in three ways that the sentence,
or at least these three verses,
the one sentence is given to us.
We're going to focus first on
the fact that the author
begins with this statement
that God is the God who speaks.
That's the opening subject of the verb.
God has spoken.
And then we will see
how he moves from the fact
that God has spoken
to God has spoken
definitively and finally
in Christ, in the Son.
And then we will move to
the fact that he says
God has spoken in His Son
and provided a Savior for people.
So those are the three areas
that we want to just look at
as we work through this passage.
God has spoken.
God has spoken in His Son
definitively and finally.
And God has now given us
a Savior for people.
Well, first, the idea of God has spoken.
And that comes through,
as I said,
in terms of the main subject and verb.
In the past, God spoke.
And then he will develop this
in verse 2.
In these last days,
God spoke.
Now, there's going to be a difference
between the past
and what He has now done in Christ.
We'll come to that
in the second area.
But the first area here
is that He lays down
for these people.
And remember who they are, right?
The people are facing
trials and difficulties.
He begins with the statement
that God has spoken.
He's spoken in the past.
He's spoken in the present.
He's spoken definitively in Christ.
And it's a good reminder here
before we move to
what He says about Jesus
to just think a little bit
about this truth
that He lays out for us.
God has spoken.
Right?
Why is that important?
Right?
Well, if I were to ask you a question
sort of coming in
by the side here,
what,
you know,
we live in an age
where there's all kinds of
religions and viewpoints
and this type of thing.
What makes
the God of the Bible
different
than other gods?
Right?
Well,
there's a lot of things
that can be said there.
First thing that comes to mind
immediately
is the God of the Bible
is a triune God.
That's unlike anything else
and of course
tied to the doctrine of the Trinity
is the uniqueness
of the Lord Jesus,
the Son of God.
But another truth
that makes
God unique
than all of the gods
out there
is that God
who is the triune God
has spoken.
It's important to remember
in a couple of ways
in our day.
Right?
When we go to the opening
chapters of Genesis,
the universe came into existence
by God's spoken word.
Right?
That opening verse
of chapter 1 of Genesis.
In the beginning,
God created
the heavens and the earth.
God said,
boom,
there's the universe.
God's speech
is also found
in His
telling us
who He is.
So He not only
creates universes
by His speech,
He also makes Himself
known to us.
Now,
this seems basic,
elementary,
Christian thought
and what the Bible teaches.
Why is this important?
Why was it important
for these Christians
to know this?
Well,
in their own personal lives,
they are facing trials
and difficulties
and persecution.
How do you face?
some of these Christians
eventually
were put on light poles
and burned to death.
How do you encourage people
to go to death
for their convictions?
How do you encourage people
to stand firm
in the midst
of life's difficulties?
How do you give confidence
to people
when they face
and all of us face
in our just everyday lives
life and death circumstances,
news of cancer,
news of difficulties?
How do you encourage
people to remain firm?
Well,
Scripture will come back
to the fact
that the only way
we can encourage people
is that we have to give them
a true
word
from God.
We can't just give people
nice thoughts.
We can't just
read poetry to them.
We can't just say
think pleasant thoughts,
everything will be good.
Well,
it doesn't work that way.
We need to have
a sure
word
from God.
We need to know
that God is real,
that His promises
are sure,
that what I have
banked my life upon
in faith and confidence
is really true
even in the midst
of
martyrdom,
even in the midst
of suffering,
even in the midst
of trials and difficulty.
And that's why
I think this author
begins with
God has spoken.
What He has said
is sure.
Now,
He's going to
move quite quickly
to these Christians
to say,
God has spoken
definitively in Christ
and your faith
in Him.
But He,
before He even
gets there,
He reminds them
and He reminds us
that our only hope
in life
and in death
and any confidence
and certainty
we can have
of our present
and the future
is that God
has not remained silent,
that God
has spoken to us
a sure word
that we can
build our lives on it,
that we can have
confidence in it,
that we can trust
His word more
than anything else.
And that's why
I think this author
begins in the way
that he does.
One other area
where I think
this is important
as well,
as we wrestle
with our society
around us,
our society
that can be
characterized
in a number of ways,
but I think
a fair way
of characterizing it
as we live
in the Western world,
this type of thing,
is it's a very
pluralistic society
in the sense
of mentality,
mindset.
Everywhere around us
is the viewpoint
that everyone's view
is acceptable.
We see that
in religious viewpoints.
Various religions
have their own way
to talk about God
and to know God
and Christians
are one way
and Muslims
are another
and Buddhists
are another
and all of this mindset.
It's important
to realize
that the answer
to that
is not just
adopting that mentality
but realizing
that the only way
we can know
that we are right
versus someone else
is that God
has spoken to us.
That God
who exists,
the God
who knows all things
has made
Himself known.
And that's precisely
what Scripture says.
Often Christians
are presented
as bigots
or as narrow-minded
because they say
we believe the truth.
We have to always
remind people
that we didn't
make this up.
We didn't say
I want you to believe
this because
I think it's true
and I don't care
what you think.
No, we are saying
we are saying
these things
because God
who has made
all things,
who knows all things,
who rules
over all things
has now made
His plan
known to us.
It's on that basis
that we can then say
this is a sure word.
This is a word
not only for your life
but it's a word
of truth.
It's a word
that we can govern
all of our lives
in light of.
These Christians
needed to know
that in the first century.
We in the 21st century
need to know
the same thing as well.
Now of course
the fact that God
has spoken
also entails
that we hear His word.
That we don't just
carry it around
but we're readers
of that word.
We're obeyers
of that word.
The author is going
to encourage them
with that as well.
Follow God's word.
Know God's word.
Study God's word
so that is then
part of our life.
God has spoken.
That then means
be hearers
and doers of it.
So that's the first area
that He begins
as He gives to them
this opening letter
speaking to these Christians
in all of their
difficulties and trials.
God has spoken.
But of course
the point of
God's speech here
is to move quickly
to Jesus Christ.
He reminds them
and this is probably
if they're Jewish Christians
they know of God's speech
from the Old Testament.
They may even be
tempted to go back
to that Old Testament
and maybe compromise
their commitment to Christ.
So the author
quickly moves
to this second area.
God has not only spoken
but He's spoken
decisively
and finally
in Jesus the Christ.
Now that's
the point of
verse 1 and 2
a comparison
and contrast
that's going on
and you probably
noticed that
as we began
to read this.
In the past
and then in verse 2
in the last days.
Obviously there's
a contrast here.
In the past
God spoke.
In the last days
God spoke.
But then He goes on
to say
in the past
He spoke to our
forefathers
through the prophets.
In the last days
He's spoken
by Son.
In the past
He's spoken
in many times
and in various ways.
But verse 2
implicitly
if not explicitly
here is
in speaking
in the Son
it's not various
and diverse
in many ways.
There's completion
to it.
There's these
comparison and
contrasting
that He has here.
You can see it
first in the sense
of whom God
has spoken to
and through.
Right?
In the past
referring to the
Old Testament era
He spoke to
the prophets.
Moses
and Isaiah
and Jeremiah
and all the
Old Testament prophets.
Those prophets
spoke God's
word truly.
Yet
this phrase
here many times
and in various
ways
not only speaks
of repetition
but it speaks
of
you know
the book of Hebrews
speaks a lot
about repetition
and repetition
conveys notions
of incompleteness.
that's the two
ideas.
It's many times
but it's also
fragmentary
or incomplete.
It's not
fully given.
The Old Testament
is true
and reliable
and authoritative
but it's not
the complete
fullness
of God's plan.
That's the point
that He's getting
at here
with the contrast
with but.
God spoke
through the prophets
many times
diverse ways
but in
these last
days
what's
last days
referring to.
Well last days
is an Old Testament
term.
Last days
is a term
that comes
from the
prophets
of the Old
Testament
that as they
looked to
the future
they looked
for God
to bring
His great
salvation plan
to pass
in the future
the last days.
Well the author
of Hebrews
is saying
those days
that the
prophets
looked forward
to
are now
here.
Those days
that the
prophets
longed for
have arrived.
How have
they arrived?
They've arrived
in the
Son.
They've arrived
in the Lord
Jesus Christ.
What is He
saying here?
Well He's
reminding
these Christians
that God's
spoken word
has come
to completion.
Finality.
in Christ
the prophets
look forward.
Christ has
now come.
In Christ
all of God's
plans and
purposes have
come to
pass.
In Christ
all of God's
redemptive
work is now
complete.
In Christ
all of God's
revelation
from the
past which
is true
and authoritative
has now
reached its
end point.
That's the
emphasis here.
And it's
quite a statement
right?
Now how would
this encourage
these Christians
right?
Well they
place their
faith in
Christ.
They may
be now
in light
of trials
and persecution
wondering is
this a good
place to put
my faith?
And the
author of
Hebrews is
coming back
and saying
yes.
You will
find only
God's
finality of
his revelation
and finality
of his plan
and finality
of his truth
in one place
alone.
The prophets
deliberately
and purposely
were looking
forward.
Christ now
is the one
who's brought
it to
pass.
And then
the author
develops this
throughout the
book, right?
In the Old
Testament you
had priests
and sacrifices.
They have
now all
reached their
finality in
the great
priest, the
great sacrifice.
Moses was a
great leader but
he has been
eclipsed by
the coming of
Christ who
has now
fulfilled all
that Moses
anticipated and
so on and so
on and so on.
And this is
how the
greatness and
glory of
Christ is
presented.
Now if we
really understand
what he is
claiming here,
and this is
quite a claim,
right?
All of God's
revelation has
come in Christ.
All of the
truth of God
is now found
in him.
All of God's
plans and
purposes are
centered in
one individual
alone.
You have to
say to yourself,
man, that's a
lot for one
individual to
carry, isn't
it?
How is that
possible?
Our world
stumbles over
this.
How can
one man
be the
one who
is the
truth of
God?
How can
one man
be the
one who
is the
savior of
the world?
How is
that possible?
Well, the
author makes
it very clear
how it's
very possible.
He goes
on then to
give you
reasons why
God's
revelation has
come to
finality in
Christ.
And there
you have a
description
here that
we can just
simply run
through quickly
which describes
then this
son, this
Lord Jesus
Christ who
has come, the
word made
flesh.
How is he
described?
Well, just
look in
verse 2.
He is
heir of
all things.
Why is
Christ the
definitive truth
of God?
Well, he
owns everything.
He's the
heir of all
things.
He's not
only heir because
he's been the
eternal son of
God, but also
by his very
coming he
has accomplished
a work.
He has won
back.
He is
redeemed as
Colossians 1
speaks about
him reconciling
all things.
I mean, he
has done a
work which
he now owns
the universe.
He owned
it from the
beginning and
he owns it as
a result of
his work.
He knows
all things,
owns all
things.
He's heir.
Well, that
gives you
reasons why
he indeed
is the
truth.
And then it
goes back
even to
the creation.
We saw
this in
Colossians 1.
We see it
here.
He's heir of
all things
through whom
he made
the universe.
The
through picks
up the
relationship to
God, the
Father.
This is
triune, but
it's the
Father through
the agency of
the Son.
The Son who
is eternal is
the one who's
the agent of
creation.
So he's heir of
all things and
through him,
Father through
Son by
Spirit,
created this
universe.
John 1
will say the
same thing
as well.
So you
say, well,
why should
we bank
our life
on him?
Why should
he, we
think that
he is the
fulfillment of
the prophets?
Well, he's
the creator of
the universe,
right?
He is the
heir of all
things.
And then, of
course, in
verse 3, if
you skip down
sort of halfway
through the
verse, you
combine creation
with ruling
over the
universe,
right?
So he
says he
sustains all
things,
by his
powerful
word.
So again,
you have
here the
triune God
in and
through God
the Son.
That's who
the Lord
Jesus is,
God the
Son.
Through him
creation is
made.
Through him
he sustains
all things
by a word.
So the
word creates
the universe
and the
word sustains
you.
Now,
I spend a
lot of
time just
thinking about
the rise
of technology
of being
able to
know something
about the
vastness
of this
universe.
It's huge,
right?
And then
think of
the developments,
you know,
not too long
ago of
micron,
microscopes,
and all that
we can go
down to
the smallest
of the
cell and
we now
know that
it is
complex and
designed and
ordered and
all.
And you
think,
this world,
this creation
is phenomenal.
It's amazing.
It's designed
and ordered
and purposed
in our
bodies.
And then
you think
of the
one who
is the
one who
brought that
into being,
the triune
God through
the sun.
The one
who sustains
every single
element of
the universe
is through
this sun.
And then
we say,
why should
we think
that in
him the
truth of
God is
found
completely?
Why is
he the
final revelation?
Why is
he better
than Moses
and prophets
and priests
and kings
of the
Old Testament?
Who
he is?
Who
he is?
He's
God,
the sun.
And then
verse 3,
we skipped
the first
part of
this.
This emphasizes
the same
point.
Here's a
verse that,
I mean,
all these
references here
speak of
the deity
of the
sun.
But this
one here,
he's the
radiance
of God's
glory.
So all
that the
father is,
he is.
He radiates
the very
glory of
God.
And then
you have
this phrase
here,
he is the
exact
representation
of
God's
being.
There's
no other
way,
and this
is the
way the
church
throughout
history
has sought
to think
through these
passages.
If they
ask the
question,
who is
this
son?
Who
is this
Lord
Jesus
Christ?
They
have to
conclude
with one
voice from
this
passage
and many
others,
he is
God
the
son.
He
is
God
the
son
who
became
flesh.
John
1,
14,
the
word
became
flesh.
This
isn't
just
a
man.
He
is
a
man.
He
took
on
our
humanity.
But
he
is
God.
He
is
God
the
son
from
eternity.
Creator,
sustainer,
heir,
the
one who
is the
radiance
of the
father.
Jesus
can
say
in
John
14,
if
you've
seen
the
father,
you've
seen
me.
Not
that
they're
the
same
person,
but
by his
very
work and
you
have
this
powerful
statement.
Now,
again,
why is
the
author
beginning
with
this
to
these
Christians?
Well,
they're
in
danger
of
maybe
denying
this.
Or
they're
in
danger
of
compromise.
And
they're
in
danger
of
standing
still
in
their
Christian
lives.
And
what
does
the
author
do?
He
says,
wait a
second,
I
know
you're
facing
difficulties,
but
realize
the
one
you
put
your
confidence
in
will
see
you
flagpole.
He
is the
Lord of
the
universe.
There's
an
eternity
before
you.
He
will
come
again.
I
mean,
all
of
that
is
what's
encouraging
them
to
live
in
this
life
with
confidence
and
trust
in
him
and
in
him
alone.
You
have
all
of
that
grounding,
this
glory
of
Christ
to
give
them
incentive
to
press
on,
give
them
incentive
to
live
their
life
even
when
the
world
around
them
is
encouraging
them
to
not
live
that
life
or
it's
crashing
around
them.
And
then
he
finishes
with
one
last
point
here
and
we'll
wrap
it
here
with
this
last
phrase
and
he
develops
this
through
the
entire
book.
This
is
just
the
opening
statement.
God
has spoken
definitively
in
his
Son.
Why?
Because
of
who
he
is.
Heir,
creator,
sustainer,
radiance of
God's
glory,
exact
representation
of
being.
But
then
he
moves
in
verse
3
to
then
shift
which
of
course
assumes
that
this
Son
who
is
creator
and
sustainer
has
now
come
to
this
world.
He
has
become
flesh.
He
has
become
man.
Why
does
he
assume
that?
Because
he
was
able
to
provide
purifications
for
sins.
That
happened
in
history.
He
was
able
to
come
to
this
world.
He
was
able
to
live.
He
was
able
to
die.
And
in
his
death
he
brought
all
of
the
Old
Testament
types
and
shadows
to
their
fulfillment.
He
brought
everything
to
pass.
This
is a
priestly
picture
here.
He
provided
purifications
for
sins.
All
of
that
set
in
the
context
of
the
Old
Testament
where
a
priest
would
have
to
offer
something
on
behalf
of
the
people.
God
who
is
holy
and
we
as
sinners
we
have
sinned
against
God
ultimately
in
the
Bible
God
is
going
to
have
to
provide
someone
to
stand
for
us
in
order
to
meet
his
demand.
In
the
Old
Testament
it
was
pictured
in
terms
of
animals
but
you
read
the
Old
Testament
that's
never
going
to
be
enough.
Ultimately
all
of
that
has
to
come
in
the
final
sacrifice
the
giving
of
his
son
who
is
not
just
a
man
who
does
this
for
us
the
son
who
becomes
man
in
order
to
stand
in
our
behalf
to
meet
our
need
to
stand
in
our
place
to
pay
for
our
sin
and
notice
what
he
says
here
and
again
this
is
in
contrast
to
the
Old
Testament
he
sat
down
right
Old
Testament
priests
never
sat
down
they
were
constantly
working
but
this
one
sat
down
and
he
sat
down
at
the
right
hand
picture
of
power
it's
a
picture
of
authority
it's
a
picture
of
completion
it's
a
picture
of
a
redeemer
think
of
this
in
terms
of
the
Lord
Jesus
as
we
pull
this
together
here
where
the
Lord
Jesus
as
the
son
in
this
son
we
have
the
finality
of
God's
truth
no
other
word
can
be
trusted
fully
other
than
what
he
himself
gives
and
all
that
he
has
made
known
of
himself
but we
also
have
not
just
truth
found
in
him
we
have
a
redeemer
found
in
him
you
and I
need
to know
truth
from
God
but we
also
need
to have
salvation
from
our
sin
before
God
and
in
Christ
this
one
who
has
come
God's
own
son
we
have
both
the
truth
of
God
and
we
have
the
redemption
of
God
we
have
the
forgiveness
of
sins
and
we
have
everything
that
we
can
count
on
him
his
word
is
true
he
is
greater
than
any
prophet
he
is
greater
than
any
priest
and
ultimately
he's
presented
here
as
the
king
it's
been a
common
way
of
looking
at
who
Jesus
is
our
great
prophet
priest
and
king
well
that's
right
here
isn't
it
and
everything
centers
in
him
so
that
what
would
these
Christians
what
should
have
they
have
heard
from
this
author
speaking
to
them
encouragement
right
you've
started
well
keep
looking
to
him
keep
running
the
race
also
warning
if
I
take
my
eyes
off
of
him
and
wander
away
from
him
there's
a
warning
in
chapter
two
that
picks
up
this
if
I
wander
away
then of
course
there's
no hope
for us
because
there's
no salvation
outside
this
redeemer
why would
that be
the case
well look
who he
is
nobody
can
is like
this
person
no one
can
save
us
no one
can
meet
our
need
no
human
being
can
do
this
other
than
him
so
that
if
I
wander
from
him
there's
no
salvation
outside
of
him
but
in
him
the
encouragement
then is
everything's
found
in
him
if
you
want
to
know
what's
really
true
go
to
him
if
you
want
to
know
that
your
sins
are
forgiven
you
stand
right
before
God
now
and
forever
more
go
to
him
he
meets
our
every
need
and
he's
presenting
to
these
Christians
as
he's
presenting
to
us
right
same
message
that
they
have
we
have
the
Lord
Jesus
Christ
is
the
most
important
person
in
all
the
universe
he's
central
to
he
must
be
central
he's
central
to
God's
plans
and
purposes
he
must
now
be
central
to
our
lives
right
it's
not
enough
to
simply
say
I
believe
in
Jesus
right
mentioned
even
in
my
Christian
testimony
right
I
mean
I
used
to
be
that
way
on
my
own
being
raised
in
a
Christian
setting
a
Christian
background
Christian
home
oh yeah
I
believe
in
Jesus
not
enough
to
just
sort
of
have
that
generalized
faith
no
we
must
personally
commit
ourselves
to
him
we
must
know
him
we
must
walk
with
him
we
must
take
his
word
and
put
into
practice
he
is
this
glorious
redeemer
and
glorious
king
and
he
demands
rightly
and
nothing
less
than
our
very
lives
so
this
week
as
we
go
into
our
workplaces
as
we
rub
shoulders
with
people
right
we
are
to
go
with
our
faith
firmly
placed
in
him
that
we
are
to
go
to
say
I
want
to
please
him
in
all
things
I
want
to
no
matter
whether
people
laugh
at
me
or
I'm
persecuted
or
they
think
I'm
nuts
I'm
living
for
him
he
is
the
truth
of
God
he's
the
salvation
of
God
and
we
then
from
now
and
forevermore
seek
to
please
him
and
glorify
him
and
indeed
if
we
sometimes
somebody
may be
here
that
does
not
know
him
right
hopefully
we
have
to
emphasize
and
you
see
that
there
can
be
no
truth
and
salvation
apart
from
him
given
who
he
is
this
savior
cannot
be
treated
lightly
he
has
to
be
treated
with
utter
seriousness
and
we
then
have
to
say
I
want
to
know
him
and
place
my
faith
and
confidence
in
him
that's
what
the
author
of
Hebrews
is
calling
these
first
Christians
to
and
he
calls
us
to
the
same
calling
the
same
message
the
same
command
believe
in
the
Lord
Jesus
trust
in
him
in
him
is
everything
and
we
now
can
have
confidence
now
and
forever
more
well
let's
pray
and
commit
that
to
our
lives
heavenly
father
we
thank
you
for
this
passage
of
scripture
we
thank
you
that
it
reminds
us
of
our
great
and
glorious