Well, this past week I've been reading from an Advent devotional which draws from the Bible book of Hebrews.
And for me, Hebrews is a familiar and precious book of the Bible.
! But I don't think I've really thought too much about how some of the things in that book relate to Christmas and the birth of Jesus.
The book of Hebrews begins in this way.
In the past, God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways.
But in these last days, He has spoken to us by His Son.
There's quite a lot of the Bible's history covered by these words.
The prophets, men who spoke for God, go back as far as the days of Abraham, thousands of years before Jesus was born.
We're reminded here that God has been speaking for a long time.
He spoke to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
And He spoke to and through men like Moses, Samuel, King David, and Elijah.
These words really do invite us to think back over the whole story of God and all that He has said.
And as we do, there is so much.
What would we know about God had He not spoken in many times, at many times and in various ways?
We might deduce from the natural world that the Creator is powerful and wise.
But beyond that, what would we know of Him?
Almost everything we know about God is because He has deliberately spoken to us at many times and in various ways.
It's how we know He is loving and kind.
It's how we know He's just and righteous.
It's how we know that He's compassionate and generous.
It's how we know that He rules over all, even the hearts of men.
Because He has spoken at many times and in various ways.
We know what He requires of us.
We know His commands, which He's given for our benefit.
And we also know His many great, wonderful promises.
The promises He's made to His people through the centuries.
Just think of the entire Old Testament.
God has said quite a lot over the years.
But in these last days, He has spoken to us by His Son.
We get a sense from these words that Jesus is the great climax of God's revelation.
There was all that was said for thousands of years before.
But as Tim Chester, the author of the devotional I was reading, put it,
Jesus is the final word.
It's not as though God never speaks after the arrival of Jesus in various ways.
He does.
But if we think about how God speaks after Jesus' arrival, it all comes back to Jesus.
The apostles are sent by Jesus.
They speak on His behalf.
The Holy Spirit is sent by Jesus.
The great ending to the story of our world, which is told to us in the book of Revelation,
at the end of the Bible, even it has Jesus.
The Lamb has the central figure.
And the throne that He sits on and the city that He brings for His people.
In that book, Jesus says,
I am the Alpha and the Omega.
That's the first and last letter of the Greek alphabet.
The beginning and the end.
Jesus really is the last word.
The final word of God.
He is God's ultimate and greatest revelation.
Jesus said on more than one occasion,
I am the light of the world.
And what does light do?
It illuminates things.
It enables us to see.
It reveals.
To say it another way,
the thousands of years of history in the Old Testament
are in some ways like the dark ages of our world.
But with the coming of Jesus,
God's Son,
the dark ages are forever over.
Light
has dawned
for mankind.
What God did through the prophets
long ago
pales in comparison to this.
This is not just another prophet.
This is God's own Son.
And let's see how this is so different
in the words
that follow.
But in these last days,
He has spoken to us by
His Son,
whom He appointed heir
of all things,
and through whom
also
He made
the universe.
The Son
is the radiance
of God's glory
and the exact representation
of His being,
sustaining all things
by His powerful word.
So what God is doing
through His Son
is different
than what He did
through the prophets
in all kinds of ways.
First,
He tells us
who this
Son of God is.
He is the one
whom God has appointed
heir
of all things.
That alone
we could ponder
a long time.
What does it mean
to be the heir
of all things?
Heir
speaks of inheritance.
We think naturally
of what a person receives
when
a parent dies,
if anything was left
in the estate.
You might wonder
if you will receive
an inheritance
from your parents
when they die,
and if so,
what it will be.
Or,
you might be thinking
even now
of what your kids
will get from you
when you die.
Will there be much
left for them
from your working years
if you die
at an old age?
what is inherited
by the Son of God?
And the answer
He gives
is all things.
Everything.
God has appointed
His Son
heir
of all things.
That's mind-blowing.
Let's think of
some of that,
what that includes.
It includes
everything that
belongs to God.
Everything that there is.
We could start
with a list
of some small stuff.
The stuff of earth.
Land.
All the land.
The houses.
The possessions
of people
who live on the earth.
The treasures
of the earth.
The creatures
of the earth.
Even we.
He made us.
We belong to Him.
All included
in all things.
The earth itself
as a whole
is part of the
all things
that He
is heir of.
The sun.
The moon.
The stars.
The distant
galaxies.
The whole universe.
God has appointed
His Son
to be heir
of all things.
Everything
that there is.
Which means
that God's Son
Jesus
will be
over all.
Ruler
of everything.
Master
of all.
Owner
and King
of all.
the Lord
of the universe
and everything
in it.
How does
Jesus get
this crazy
inheritance?
Well it says
that God
appointed Him
heir.
It's God
Himself
who made
the decision
that He
would receive it.
And God
can do that
because everything
in the universe
belongs to Him.
and so He
can give it
to His Son.
There was
nothing like this
happening with
the prophets
of the Old Testament
times.
This is what
makes the Son
of God
the ultimate
and the greatest.
God has
appointed Him
to inherit
all things.
Lying there
in the manger
in Bethlehem
was not just
the Messiah
but God's
heir.
The one
God will make
Lord
of the universe.
And with this
He's just getting
started.
Just in case
we didn't know
the author
of Hebrews
reminds us
that it was
through His Son
that God
made the universe
in the first
place
and through
whom also
He made
the universe.
This is one
of the great
mysteries of our
faith.
God made
the universe
through His
Son
before Jesus
was born
in Bethlehem.
How can that
be?
We wonder.
Well passages
like these
in the Bible
remind us
that the Son
of God
existed long
before
Jesus was
born.
The birth
of God's
Son
wasn't the
beginning
of His
Son.
As the
Apostle John
wrote,
He became
flesh
and dwelt
among us.
The Son
of God
already
existed
and He
simply took
on human
flesh
at a moment
in time.
the Divine
Son
was united
with
humanity.
He became
one of us.
The Eternal
Son of God
became a
true Son
of Man.
It wasn't
just God's
heir to all
things lying
there in the
manger.
This is difficult
to grasp but
it was the
One who
Himself
made all
things lying
there in
the manger.
The Creator
of the
universe
in a
feeding
trough.
And again
the author
of Hebrews
is just
getting started.
Listen to
what more
he has to
say about
the Son
of God.
Verse 3
The Son
is the
radiance
of God's
glory
and the
exact
representation
of His
being
sustaining
all things
by His
powerful
Word.
Wow.
Here's the
ultimate
contrast between
the prophets
of old
and the
Son of
God.
They were
men,
mere men
speaking on
God's
behalf but
the Son
of God
is Himself
the radiance
of God's
glory and
the exact
representation
of His
being.
These are
deep words
the radiance
of God's
glory.
We know
that God
is glorious.
His glory
is in
the devotional
I was
reading
Tim Chester
referred to
it as
His
perfections.
His glory
is His
perfections.
It's the
things about
God,
the things
about His
character
that are
good,
beautiful,
powerful,
praiseworthy.
Who He is
glorious.
And so
what does
it mean
that the
Son is
the radiance
of His
glory?
Well,
radiance
is what
shines
forth.
It's the
light that's
cast by
the flame.
It's the
rays of
the sun,
what we
see from
the light.
And so
Jesus is
the visible
shining forth
of God's
glory.
to say
it another
way,
what is
glorious
about God
is truly
visible in
Christ Jesus,
His Son.
God's glory
is on display
in and
through
Jesus.
This is
why I'm
eager as a
pastor to
spend years
of the life
of our
church and
of my
life preaching
through the
Gospels.
The glory
of God
can be
seen in
the person
of Jesus
Christ.
He is
the
radiance
of God's
glory.
Not only
that, but
He's the
exact
representation
of God's
being.
This is
quite a
thing.
Sometimes we
might be
tempted to
think that
Jesus is
somehow just
a shadow
of who
God is.
A dim
reflection.
But no,
the very
glory of
God is
on display
in and
through
Jesus.
And there
is nothing
misrepresented.
He perfectly
images to
us the
Father.
We may
speak of
Jesus'
human flesh
veiling
His glory.
Or we
may speak of
the Son of
God temporarily
laying some
measure of
His glory
aside to
come down
and save
us.
But in
all this,
the perfections
of God
were and
still are
perfectly
represented
in Jesus.
This is why
Jesus could
say, if
you've seen
me, you've
seen the
Father.
This is how
He could
say, I
and the
Father are
one.
Get to
know Jesus
and you
get to
know God.
He is the
exact
representation of
God's being.
What Jesus
lacked in
glory while
He walked
the earth,
we will see
someday when
He returns
as the
exalted
heir of
all things.
This is one
reason why
the birth of
Jesus is so
worth celebrating.
Not just
the Messiah,
not just
the heir,
not just
the Creator,
but the
fullest,
most visible
revealing of
God to us
has come
with the
birth of
this baby
boy.
The
radiance of
God's glory
and the
exact
representation
of His
being lay
there in
the manger.
Things the
prophets could
never convey
to us
there in
the manger.
water.
If all
that wasn't
enough
wonder to
behold,
the author
of Hebrews
reminds us
that the
Son is
the one
who is
right now
sustaining
all things
by His
powerful
Word.
Again,
this is
truly
mind-blowing.
We can't
even fathom
how He
does this.
Yes,
He is
man,
one of
us,
but He
is also
divine.
He is
also
God.
He is
right now
doing what
God alone
does.
He's
holding the
universe
together
by His
powerful
Word.
When I
look around
at the
world that
we live
in,
and I'm
talking about
the natural
world,
what I see
is amazing
complexity
and
astonishing
order.
The way
the weather
changes,
somewhat
predictably
according to
certain patterns,
and yet often
we can't
predict it.
There's a
balance,
there's an
order to
the weather
which keeps
our whole
world from
freezing to
death,
or from
being scorched
to death.
There's the
rain cycle.
cycle.
I'm not
even well
versed enough
in it to
explain it
well, but
you've probably
heard something
like that
before.
All of
these things
work together
to sustain
life.
Break some
of these
systems and
cycles and
many living
things on
the planet
would die.
Then there's
the complexity
of life
itself.
Consider
the numerous
systems at
work just
in the
human body.
systems which
give us
sight,
voice,
touch,
and feel,
hearing.
It's
amazing.
I can't
even
comprehend
how a
pump can
circulate
blood to
all the
cells in
my body
continuously
bringing them
the oxygen
they need
to sustain
that cellular
life in
each
different
kind of
cell in
each
different
organ in
my body.
The pump
is controlled
by the
brain.
And the
brain is
sustained
by the
pump.
By the
blood flowing
to it from
the pump.
Who keeps
these things
from falling
apart in a
day or
two?
The answer
is Jesus,
the Son of
God.
He sustains
all things
by his
powerful
word.
It was
the
sustainer
of all
things
who lay
there
in the
manger
in
Bethlehem.
One more
line here.
The author
of Hebrews
still in
verse 3
says,
Finally, we
hear something
about our
redemption.
And
surprisingly,
maybe,
it's not even
the main
point.
Jesus,
the Son of
God,
provided
purification
for our
sins.
This is
what Jesus
accomplished
by his
death on
the cross.
He
provided a
way for
us to
be made
clean and
pure of
that guilt
that we
have because
of the
sins that
we've
committed.
An
amazing gift
of grace,
and the
author of
Hebrews will
return to
talk about
that a
lot later
on in
this letter.
But his
main point
here is
actually in
the last
line.
And it's
what Jesus
did after
he had
provided
purification
for sins.
After he
had provided
purification
for sins,
he sat
down at
the right
hand of
the majesty
in heaven.
Jesus
took his
seat on
the throne
at the
right hand
of God.
Right now,
Jesus is
sitting on
heaven's
throne
with his
father.
The one
to be
heir of
all things
has reached
the highest
position of
authority
that there
is.
The son's
birth in
Bethlehem is
something worthy
of celebration.
We should
look back to
the manger
with joy
and I
hope we
do this
Christmas.
But far
greater than
that is
where Jesus
is now
and what
that means
for all
of us.
We should
look up
to heaven's
throne
where the
one who
was born
now sits
as heir
of all
things
and lord
of the
universe.
He rules
now.
And in
the fullness
of time
his rule
will break
forth the
fullness of
it upon
our world.
He will
come again
and he
will fulfill
the rest of
God's good
promises to
us.
Christmas
points us
ahead.
And so
as we head
into our
celebrations
again this
year,
I just
want to
encourage us
to fix
our eyes
on Jesus,
the Christ
of Christmas.
Let's
celebrate
him,
the final
word of
God to
us,
the heir
of all
things,
the maker
and sustainer
of all
things,
the radiance
of God's
glory,
the one
who provided
purification
for our
sins,
and the
one who
now sits
on heaven's
throne.
It's his
birth that
we celebrate.
Let's pray.
Lord Jesus,
as Christmas
draws near,
we ask that
we wouldn't
be caught
up in
the things
that so
often and
easily distract
us at this
time of year.
We ask that
we wouldn't
be drawn
into the
emptiness of
our world's
celebration
celebration of
what they
now call
the holiday.
we want to
fix our
eyes on you,
Jesus.
Help us
do that.
Thank you
that you
are all
these things.
We give you
praise for
that.
We can
barely fathom
these things.
God,
we ask for
your help
to share
this good
news about
who you
are to
others this
Christmas.
Put that
news on our
lips.
Give us
courage.
Give us
boldness to
share.
Help us to
be watching
and waiting
for those
opportunities to
speak of you.
we love
you and we
pray these
things in
your name.
Amen.