The Wonder of the Person of Christ

Transcript

GRM 973
12/17/2006
The Wonder of the Person of Christ
Hebrews 1:1-4
Gil Rugh


We're going to look into Hebrews 1. We're talking about the birth of Christ and I want to focus upon Jesus Christ and His uniqueness, give us again renewed appreciation, continued appreciation through the reminders of scripture of the wonder of the Person of Christ, to contemplate the uniqueness of His Person, that nothing can compare with this event of the coming to earth of the Son of God, His brief life, His death on the cross and resurrection, that all of earth's history from day 1 to the climax of earth's history and on into eternity is focused on these events. And without an appreciation of who Jesus Christ is and the uniqueness of Christ, we miss the most important event in history and, if you will, in eternity.

The book of Hebrews begins by setting the stage for the rest of the book as you might expect. The book of Hebrews is going to be about Jesus Christ and demonstrating that He is superior to everything associated with Judaism and the Mosaic system. One of the key words in the book of Hebrews is the word better. Christ is better than the angels who were used to give revelation regarding the Mosaic law. He'll be better than the Aaronic priesthood, He has a better sacrifice and so on. And to begin this section, begin this book, the writer to the Hebrews unfolds in a very succinct way something of the uniqueness of Christ. That will be unfolded through the rest of the book. The first four verses of Hebrews are all one long sentence in the Greek text, and they are all built around Jesus Christ as the unique revelation of God, His Son, the One in whom the purposes of God center.

Everything we talk about regarding God has to do with the fact that God has revealed Himself and made Himself known. We often make the point, if there is a God and we are to know anything about Him, He is going to have to reveal Himself to us. If there is a God and He chooses to keep Himself secret, then we have to live our lives as though He wasn't there, because there is no way to know anything about Him. But if there is a God, and there is, and He has revealed Himself, and He has, then the most important thing is for us to come to know that revelation and understand it. And that's how the book of Hebrews begins. God, no proof about God, just the reality of it. God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son. No you'll note here, twice it said that God has spoken. God, after He spoke long ago, verse 2, in these last days has spoken in a Son. The fact that God has spoken, He has chosen to make Himself known, He has chosen to reveal His will. And how did He do it? With words. We were created in the image of God, personal beings. We are created with the ability to communicate with one another and with God, and how do we do that? With words, verbally. And when God created us in His image and determined to communicate with us, how did He do it? With words, verbally. God spoke. He did it in past history through Old Testament times and He did it most fully when His Son came to earth.

Now if God has chosen to speak we can assume with good reason that He intends to be understood. He created us to speak, we communicate with one another. Your being here indicates that. You understood that we would meet at a certain time, you got your family together and agreed to leave within a certain reasonable time framework. We communicate with one another. Some of you have appointments for lunch afterwards today. Many of you are planning on being back this evening for the program. All of that is based upon communication, verbal, whether spoken or written. And we understand. It is basic that when God speaks, He intends to be understood. So the fact that God has spoken and we have that word that He has said recorded now in what is called the Bible, we can come to the Bible knowing that God intends us to understand what He says, and we know He does for a variety of reasons. One reason, He says He holds us accountable for understanding and doing what He has said.

I'm saying this because some people come to the Bible and say it is so mysterious and no one can really understand it, and everyone has their own interpretation. Well what does that say about God? He failed. He spoke, but He spoke in such a garbled, unclear way that nobody is sure what He said. No, this is what we call objective revelation, objective truth, propositional truth. These are statements outside of ourselves. The Bible does not depend on what I say about it or my interpretation of it. It stands true. I am measured by the Bible, the Bible is not measured by me.

Now God spoke long ago, to the fathers in the prophets. The fathers were the ancestors of the Jews, this is a book written to the Hebrews, Jewish believers. And the writer says God spoke to our forefathers long ago, using the prophets. In other words, the prophets were His physical mouthpiece and God spoke in them so that they could give His message out. And He communicated to the prophets in a variety of ways over a period of time, over 1000 years. Moses, around 1450 years rounded off B.C., wrote down what we call the first five books of the Bible. God had revealed Himself during that period, now it is written down so everyone has a record of it. He communicated in a variety of ways, sometimes in dreams, sometimes in visions, sometimes with an audible voice, in different settings. Moses confronted Him in the burning bush. God spoke out of the bush, Daniel saw visions in the night. In different ways, over a 1000-year period, God spoke in the prophets to the fathers. The prophets were the mouthpiece to communicate to the Jews, in many portions and in many ways.

In these last days He has spoken to us in His Son. The contrast here is not in the fact that God spoke, because when God speaks, no matter how He chooses to do it, that is an authoritative word. But the fact is, when He speaks in the One who is His Son, that will be the fullest and clearest revelation you could have. Here He will speak in a way that is more clear and more full than He had ever done before. He has done that in these last days. The Jews would understand that. In the Old Testament the prophets told of the coming of the Messiah of Israel. They told that He would come and suffer and die, they told that He would come and reign in glory. They didn't know how that would all work out, but the times of the Messiah are the last days. Now we know that the first coming of Christ at Bethlehem and the Second Coming of Christ in clouds of glory are separated, so far, by about 2000 years. But the last days are the days of Messiah. So the writer to the Hebrews tells these Jews, these last days, these are Messianic days. God has chosen to speak to us in a unique way that He had never spoken before. He has spoken to us in one who is a Son. We have the word His here, His Son, and that's true. But the word His does not appear in the text and it is literally, one who is a Son. In other words, the quality, the kind of revelation is unique. In contrast to prophets you have Son, and this Son is thus the fullest and clearest.

Lest we not understand the importance of this, the writer now goes on to explain and tell us something of the Son and His significance, His uniqueness. Keep in mind, this is God speaking again now, through the writer to the Hebrews, and unfolding greater truth regarding His Son, who was the fullness of the revelation of God. And what he does from the rest of verse 2, down through verse 4 really, he'll give eight truths concerning the Son. We're only going to look at seven of them because the eighth is verse 4, He became as much better than the angels, and that leads in a whole discussion of the superiority of Christ to angels that carries down into chapter 2. But we're not going to be talking about the superiority of Christ to angels. So I want to focus on the seven things that are said about the Son, so that we can come to appreciate Him. And we're going to note in these things, there are things that go beyond our ability to grasp in a full way, but they do communicate to us a truth that we can understand at least somewhat and respond to accordingly.

He has spoken to us in His Son. The first thing he says about this Son is not surprising. He says He is the One that He has appointed heir of all things. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is the heir of all things. God has appointed or designated Him heir of all things. This is not surprising because we would think, well here is His only begotten Son. Naturally, He would be His heir. He is the heir of all things. When he says all things, he means everything, all things, everything included. That will include spirit beings, spirit things, that will include material, physical things, human beings, angelic beings. In other words, all creation will belong to the Son.

Turn back to Psalm 2:7, we'll just break into this psalm. I will surely tell of the decree of the Lord. He said to Me, you are my Son, today I have begotten you. Ask of Me and I will surely give the nations as your inheritance, the very ends of the earth as your possession. Note that. The Son is the one to have all things as His possession. The nations of the earth, they're yours; the very ends of the earth, as far as you can go, they're your possession. So He is the one appointed and designated as the heir.

Come over to Daniel, toward the back of your Old Testament. We're going to Daniel 7. And here God communicates, speaks, to Daniel the prophet in a vision of the night, dreams and visions. Daniel 7:1, in the first year of Belshazzar, king of Babylon, Daniel saw a dream and visions. And what is unfolded for him are the kingdoms of the world, earthly empires that will come on the scene and impact Israel, climaxing with the final form of the earthly world government in the rule of the antichrist, the closing portion of the 7-year tribulation which will end with the return of Christ to earth in clouds of glory. And so verse 9, I kept looking until thrones were set up and the Ancient of Days took His seat, that's describing God the Father. His vesture was white like white snow, the hair of His head like pure wool, His throne was ablaze with flames, its wheels were a burning fire. A river of fire was flowing and coming out from before Him. Thousands of thousands were attending Him, ten thousands upon ten thousands were standing before Him. The court sat, the books were opened. You have judgment followed by verse 13. I kept looking in the night visions and behold with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming. He came up to the Ancient of Days and was presented before Him. And to Him was given dominion, glory and a kingdom, that all the people, nations and men of every language might serve Him. His dominion is everlasting dominion which will not pass away, His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed. Remember the promise of Psalm 2? I'll give you the nations, the ends of the earth for your possession. That has not yet occurred, we're talking about the earthly empires here in chapter 7. They climax with Jesus Christ taking possession of the earth as sovereign ruler.

Come over to the last book of the Bible, Revelation 5. In Revelation 5, John, another prophet, is given a revelation, God speaks to him, and he is enabled to see a scene in heaven. And so in Revelation 5 he sees God the Father sitting on the throne, and He has a book in His hand, a scroll all rolled up, and it is sealed on the ends with seven seals. And the question is asked by an angel in heaven, verse 2, who is worthy to open the book and to break its seals? And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the book or look into it. And John is greatly distressed as he sees this. And then one of the heavenly residents, one of the elders, said to John, verse 5, stop weeping. Behold the lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has overcome so as to open the book and its seven seals. And look at the celebration in heaven. Verse 9, they sang a new song, saying worthy are you to take the book and to break its seals, for you were slain and purchased for God with your blood. men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God, and they will reign upon the earth. Jesus Christ taking possession. Now you'll note in the context, this 7-sealed scroll, and many of you have studied the book of Revelation, we know what's in it because the contents of it are everything from Revelation 6 through the end of Revelation, chapter 22. And it includes God's wrath and judgment being poured out on the earth, the condemning to hell of multitudes, of angels, men and women who have not come to trust in Christ. And you have the ultimate redemption and salvation of those who have believed in Christ, and of the creation with the establishing of a new heavens and a new earth, over which Christ will reign for all eternity. He comes and takes the scroll because it is all His and all under His authority now. And He is qualified because He has provided the redemption. We're going to see this in Hebrews shortly, so that there are a redeemed people and a redeemed creation to endure for eternity.

Come back to Hebrews 1. This is the One we are talking about, the Son. He is the One that God has designated as the heir of everything. There will be nothing inherited outside of Him. We are heirs and co-heirs with Christ, the book of Romans tells us, and that is because of our relationship to Christ and our inheritance comes through Him. But Christ alone is the heir of everything.


Second thing said about the Son in Hebrews is that He is the One through whom God the Father also made the world. Now we've made a turn here, things seem out of order. Here is the Son, He is the heir of all things. We might think, He must have been, then, created and came into being and then He was designated the heir. Well He is the heir of all things, but let me tell you, He is the One who created everything. So here He will inherit everything He has created. That's where it comes to. He is the One through whom also He made the world. The word translated world here is literally the word ages. Christ is the One through whom the ages were made. The ages refer to the period of time and thus everything in them. So everything in the ages down endlessly was brought into existence by God the Father through God the Son, who is the revealer.

Come back to the gospel of John chapter 1. We're going to come back to John again shortly if all goes as planned, so you may want to leave a marker here. John 1, in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, the Word was God. So here Jesus Christ is not called the Son, He is called God, He's called the Word. He is identified as God. And you'll note, in the beginning was the Word. The verb there is an imperfect tense. In the beginning the Word already was. When you get to the beginning, Jesus Christ is already there because He is with God. That's why the book of Micah tells us that the One who will be born at Bethlehem is the One who has dwelt in eternity. He has lived in eternity, He has no beginning, He has no ending. He was there in the beginning. What do you mean, the beginning? Genesis 1:1, in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. That's the beginning as we know it and identify it, that's the beginning of creation as we know it and is revealed. And when you get to that beginning the Word is already there. He was with God, He was God. He was in the beginning with God. Now note verse 3, all things came into being through Him and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. Through Him God made the world, Hebrews says. John 1:3 says, all things came into being through Him, apart from Him nothing has come into being that has come into being. Everything that was created, was created through Christ. There is nothing else. That will include all angelic beings, that includes all human beings, that includes all the universes. Everything came into being through Christ. Amazing. We ought to stand more amazed at this than John did when he wrote it, because he couldn't have any conception of the multitudes of universes that are out there, nor grasp the complexity of life and the marvel of it all with what we have been privileged to come to know. And it all came into existence through Him. Outside of Him, nothing came into existence. Every part of creation was created through Christ.

Jump over to Colossians 1:16. We're just going to pick up this verse. For by Him, or in Him, all things were created. Now note this, in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things have been created through Him and for Him. And read the preceding verses and we will be back here, we're talking about the Son of God, Jesus Christ. All things, and you'll note, whether they are visible things or invisible things, whether you talk about the angels that are present here today but we don't see them, or you talk about people that you see, things you see. Doesn't matter. Things in heaven, in the heavens, and that would include the universes that are out there with their seemingly endless expanse. But they are not endless, because they are created. Everything has been created by Him. And you'll note this, they have been created through Him and for Him. He can be nothing other than God. All things have been created for God and His glory, and all things were created for Christ, because when you honor the Son you honor the Father, Jesus said during His earthly ministry, and that's in John. So He is the sovereign creator of everything.

Come back to Hebrews 1. So we have gone to the end of everything—He is the heir of everything, all things will belong to Him. We've gone to the beginning of everything—He created everything because the Father created through the Son. And we're talking about the different members of the trinity here, the triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit—one God eternally existing in three persons. I don't understand it, but if you can grasp and get your arms completely around the knowledge of God, He has become finite so that you can understand Him with your finite mind. I know the doctrine of the trinity is true, I know that Jesus Christ is God, that the Father is God, that the Holy Spirit is God. I know that together they comprise one God, not three gods. And I know the one God eternally existed in three persons. But I don't understand it. My finite mind doesn't grasp all that entails. Jesus Christ is everything there is to God, He is everything that is necessary for Him to be God, but He is not everything that there is to God, because there is the Father, there is the Holy Spirit. And we're talking about how God the Father works through God the Son. God the Father exercises authority over God the Son, that doesn't mean the Son is less than the Father, less God than the Father. It means they have different roles, there is order within the godhead. I may be under your authority at my job, if I have a job in the secular world, but that doesn't mean I am inferior as a human being because I am under your authority. There is a delegated order established.

All right. So we have looked at the beginning of things, we have looked at the end of things. Third things said, He is the radiance of His glory. The Son is the radiance of His glory, basically the display of His glory, He demonstrates the glory of God. The glory is what He is, the splendor of His person is seen in Christ.

Come back to John 1. Verse 1 tells you that the Word was in the beginning and He created everything. Then you come down to verse 14, and the Word became flesh. The One who was in the beginning with God, the One who was God, the One who created everything, that Word, verse 14, became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. Look at verse 17, for the law was given through Moses. Remember revelation, God spoke through the prophets, Moses being one of them. Grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. There is superior revelation now, it's revealing more of Himself, more fully. No one has seen God at any time, the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him, He has exegeted Him. The fullness of revelation, the fullest revelation that could be given comes in the coming to earth of the Son of God, who is Himself God and reveals God with a fullness and clarity that could not be done in any other way.

Just jot down two references, we won't turn there for time. John 17:5, Jesus prays to the Father in His high priestly prayer shortly before His betrayal and crucifixion and asks that the Father would restore to Him the glory that I had with you before the world was. You know in Isaiah 6, Isaiah was given a revelation. He saw God on His throne in heaven, Isaiah 6, and Isaiah said, I saw the Lord, lofty and exalted, sitting on His throne, the train of His robe filling the temple. And it's a splendid sight, and the seraphim are there and they are crying out, holy, holy, holy. And Isaiah thinks he's a dead man because he has seen a vision of God Himself. You know what the Apostle John says in the gospel of John 12:41? Isaiah had been privileged to see Jesus Christ in His glory before He was born at Bethlehem. He said Isaiah saw Christ in that heavenly scene. So you see something of the glory He had with the Father before the world was, who is enthroned in the splendor of heaven.

Colossians 2:9 says that all the fullness of deity dwelt in Christ in bodily form, in His human body. Now think about that, that baby born at Bethlehem, in that human form, in that human body was all the fullness of deity. All that makes God God was there in a human form. He was completely God and yet completely human. How can I understand that? How can you grasp that with any fullness? You can't, but it's true. God has spoken, He has revealed it, He has made it known.

He is the radiance of His glory. Come back to Hebrews 1. He is the exact representation of His nature, the exact representation. The word used here translated exact representation, a word not used elsewhere in the New Testament, means the impression made by a stamp or a die. So you take that stamp or die and you stamp it and it is exactly what is in the seal that you are stamping with. It is an exact replica, if you will. So He is the exact representation of His nature. The word translated nature, hupostasis, what is His essential being, His essence,what makes Him what He is. Jesus Christ is the exact representation of God, not the human form, that's not what makes Him God, but of the nature that makes God God. Who He is.

Come back to John 14:7, Jesus said, if you had known Me, you would have known my Father also. Now you'll note there is a distinction between the Son and the Father. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father. Philip said to Him, Lord, show us the Father, it's enough for us. Philip says, that would seal it for me if I could see the Father. Jesus said, Philip, how can you ask such a stupid question and have such a stupid request. Jesus said to him, have I been so long with you and you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father. How can you say, show us the Father? Is Jesus saying, I am the Father? No, He could have said, I am the Father. No, He who has seen Me has seen the Father. He didn't say I am the Father, Philip. What is He saying? I am of the same essence, the same nature, I am God. It's not the human form. It's like human beings, if I can use an analogy and I hate to do it because every analogy collapses, but let me say it this way. If you have seen one human being, you've seen them all. Now that doesn't mean every human being has the same color eyes and that, but what makes you human, that which is essential to being humanity, every human being partakes of it. So in that sense, if you see one human being, you've seen them all, right? Because every human being in essence and nature partakes of humanity and what makes them human is the same for all of us. The other differences are superficial. You don't come up and say, he's not human, he has blonde hair, he has black hair, this one was a male, this one was a female. There are blue eyes, brown eyes. No, that's not what makes you human. There are distinguishing characteristics among human beings, but there are certain things that are part of our essential being as humans. That's the way it is with Christ and the Father. So what do you want to see the Father for? You see it in Me. I am deity, He is deity. Why would you ask to see the Father? He is God, I am God. That's the point. He who has seen Me has seen the Father.

Come back to Colossians 1:13. Verse 12 you have giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints, the saints have an inheritance. Their inheritance is in Christ. The Father has given all things to Christ as His heir, and through Christ we will be heirs. In verse 13, for He rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Who is, we've started a new sentence in English, but it's one long sentence in Greek. Who is, referring back, His beloved Son, who is the image of the invisible God. There is a different word for image, but the same idea—the icon of God. Karactar was the other word in Hebrews. ____________refer to this, we have this ________ representation of God, He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. I say wait a minute, stop, firstborn. That means Jesus Christ was the first of the creation, right? Well we have to look at the context. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation, for in Him all things were created. How can He be a created being when He's the creator of everything? Firstborn doesn't mean being born first, it means preeminent, have the preeminent place and the position of honor. We've looked at that in the Old Testament, it's not always the firstborn who is the firstborn. Sometimes one who wasn't born first is given the rights of the firstborn, so it's a position. It does not have to be associated with the order of birth.

So He is the image of the invisible god, He has priority over all creation because He is the creator. Now He is a human being, but He has priority over all creation because He brought humanity into existence before He was a human being. And He dwells enthroned in glory, He was the sovereign God and He stepped to earth to take to Himself humanity, without ceasing to be deity, without being other than true humanity. He is now the God/Man. That's what we call the theoanthropic union, with the word God and the word man together, theoanthropic—theos and anthropos, God/Man union.

Come back to Hebrews. We're just taking a sampling, each of these areas obviously could involve extended theological study, the richness, the fullness. When I say we can't understand it, we are responsible to understand what has been revealed, but that doesn't mean I understand it all. And that's the way I function in my life in every area, quite frankly. Those of you who know me well know I'm not very technical and don't have very much technical understanding. I use my computer, I don't have the foggiest idea what's going on. Just amazes me, it works. I push the buttons and Robin has instructed me to push this one, not this one, and when I get it fouled up I call him and he corrects it and it works again. And it works. I understand something about computers, I can talk about some things, but my understanding is so limited. But the understanding I have can be correct as far as it goes. Well the understanding I have of God, but I haven't exhausted God in any way. You understand in a hundred billion trillion years we will not have exhausted the knowledge of God. We'll still be growing. We'll never get bored in eternity. God is infinite, we are finite. We will never be able to know everything there is to know, we'll never be able to exhaust the knowledge of God. So we'll never get bored. We say, I've been over this 30 times, isn't there anything else? We just never will be done, so we're responsible to know everything God intends us to know. Deuteronomy 29:29, the revealed things belong to us, the secret things belong to God. So I don't want you to get the misunderstanding that we can't ............. Then why do I bother? Because we are to know what God has revealed. That's why He revealed it and He holds us accountable to know it and to live in light of it.

He is the exact representation of His nature. Fifth, He is upholding all things by the Word of His power. It gets more marvelous. I can say that, I don't know how you compare these things, one more than the other. But as you add to it, the wonder of it grows. He is upholding all things by the Word of His power. That word uphold, that's not a static word like you see the picture of Atlas has the world on his shoulders, he's just standing there going nowhere. Well this word has the idea, it's in participial form, of carrying something along. He is upholding all things as he carries it on and moves it, brings it to its appointed and determined end.

By the Word of His power. He is the sovereign God, it is the power of God. I mean, think about it, He upholds everything by the Word of His power. I mean, He didn't just create it, He's not just going to inherit it. How do we know? You see programs on and they talk about the potential of an asteroid hitting our planet some day in the future. We need to be doing some things now and set up some plans and maybe with some nuclear things we'd be prepared to shatter that asteroid so it won't destroy......... Fine, go ahead, but I've read the last chapter. It isn't going to be an asteroid. Now I'm not against taking precautions, but everything that is done is in the plan of God who is upholding all things. You know this world just can't dissolve in nuclear holocaust. How can you be so sure? Look at the Middle East. Yes, look at it, and you know what? He's upholding all things by the word of His power. It's going exactly according to plan. I stop and think about this. The billions of people in the world, and there is not one person in the remotest part of China or anywhere else that He isn't sovereignly using and working according to His plan so that everything done moves accordingly. I say, how am I supposed to even start to get my arms around this? You know, it's like go hug Nebraska. Well what do you mean? I can't hug the state, it's far beyond me. And then you say, hug the United States. I can't get my arms around it. How am I supposed to get my finite pea nut of a brain that can't even understand a computer, and understand God. I don't even know how the electricity works when I flip the switch. I'm afraid to take the wallplate off for fear I'll get electrocuted. What do I know? But I still turn on the lights. I mean, how am I to understand this God who upholds all things, that baby born at Bethlehem. And here is the baby crying and has to be cared for, is going to grow in knowledge and understanding, is going to learn by the things He suffers, as Hebrews 2 will say, and He is the One who is upholding all things by the Word of His power. It's like the psalmist, such things are too wonderful for me. We'd say they blow your mind. There just is no
way to comprehend it with any fullness, but I can comprehend enough of it to be in amazement and awe of this God. He is upholding all things by the Word of His power.

The sixth characteristic of Him mentioned here, He made purification of sins. We switch here to emphasize something that has occurred in the past. He made purification of sins. This One that we've been talking about, the One who is a Son, the One who is the heir of all things, the One who is the radiance of His glory, you know all these things. He made purification of sin. This is crucial to all we're talking about. He would be who He is regardless, but here is where the focal point of His coming to earth, of His being heir of everything. Everything belonged to Him by right of creation. We've read on a number of occasions different passages, for example in Isaiah, where God declares He's the creator. And so it all is His by virtue of that fact, He's the creator. But here now we enter into something unique and special that necessitated the Son of God to step from the throne of glory and be born at Bethlehem. The creation had been permeated by sin, corrupted by sin, had come under the condemnation of a holy God because of sin, that sin brought about by the rebellion of the human race. But it infects all of creation, the whold creation groans in anticipation of the unveiling of the sons of God. But there would be no unveiling of the sons of God if there had been no crucifixion to pay the penalty for sin so that we could be purified, cleansed. So for redemption of fallen creation to occur, the Son of God had to be born at Bethlehem, so He could go to the cross as the God/Man and pay the penalty for sin, so there could be redemption. He made purification of sin.

Come back to Revelation 5:9, as the angelic host celebrates the fact that the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, the descendant of David, the One who has overcome can take the book and break the seals, and remember as the seals are broken we move through judgment. And ultimately it will climax with a new heavens and a new earth. Verse 9, you are worthy to take the book and break its seals. Why? For you were slain, you purchased for God with your blood those from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. And they will be the kingdom and priests. It took the death of Christ to bring salvation, to bring redemption. Christ didn't have to come to earth, you know what would have happened? The same thing that happened to angels who sinned. They are cursed to hell forever, there is no redemption for Lucifer, the devil. There is no redemption for angels who followed him in their rebellion. They will be cast into hell that has been prepared for the devil and his angels. You know what would have happened to everyone of us if Christ hadn't come to earth? We would have been cast into hell. Those who don't believe in Christ are going to be sentenced to hell, depart from Me, cursed ones, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels, Jesus will say, according to Matthew 25. So He is the Redeemer, that's why He could take the scroll in Revelation 5 and open it. Because without His work there would be no one to open the scroll because there would be no redemption. The whole creation wouldn't be groaning in anticipation of the unveiling of the sons of God. There would be no sons of God, there would be no cleansing. There would be only destruction. He made purification of sins. Make no mistake why Jesus Christ was born at Bethlehem—we need a Savior. Sin has corrupted the human race, it has corrupted God's creation, and that human race, that creation is now under the wrath of God. The penalty for sin is death, and Jesus Christ comes to earth to make purification of sins.

For time let's look at the next point and then we'll look at a few verses that tie these together. When He made purification of sins He sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. The right hand, the place of honor and glory. Remember Psalm 2? Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. That's the ______. He hasn't taken possession of that, He hasn't unfolded the scroll, started to break the seals of Revelation 5 yet. That's a yet future event. So He is now seated at the right hand of His Father, He is in the position of honor and glory. He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, death on the cross, Philippians 2. Therefore God has highly exalted Him and given Him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. He who honors the Son, honors the Father, they are inseparable in that sense.

He sat down, the work is done, He sat. We'll look at Hebrews 9 and 10, but first turn over to Hebrews 10:10, by this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. It took the sacrifice of a human being, but one who is more than a human being, for you see His death must pay the penalty for more than just a human being. If He were a perfect man, a righteous man, a sinless man, He could die in the place of one sinful human being. But where does that leave the rest of us? It's because He was the God/Man that His death has infinite effect and can provide for salvation for all. That salvation is given to those who believe in Him. Look at Hebrews 10:11, we've been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Every priest stands daily ministering. You ought to underline that word stands, because Jesus Christ is seated. He sat down, but every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices which can never take away sin. The blood of bulls and goats can't take away the sin of human beings, but He having offered one sacrifice for sin for all time, sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time onward until His enemies be made a footstool for His feet, Psalm 110:1. The promise of God yet future, has not happened, we're not in the kingdom, Christ is not ruling. Read Hebrews. He is seated at the right hand awaiting that time. His work is done, the sacrifice for sins is complete. There is no other sacrifice.

So jump down to Hebrews 10:26, since we're here we'll just stay with this. For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries. There is only one sacrifice for sins. Anyone who persistently refuses to accept that sacrifice through faith is doomed to eternal destruction. Revelation 14 says, they will experience the wrath of God mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger. No mercy mixed in, but full wrath. I mean, think about it. To redeem, purify sinful human beings, His Son through whom He created everything, for whom everything was created, had to leave the throne of glory, where He received the worship of angels constantly. The One who is holy, holy, holy, He had to come to earth, be born into the human race, and then go to the cross and bear our sins in His body as the sacrifice, paying the penalty for our sins, so that you and I by God's grace could place our faith in Him and be purified. There is no salvation anywhere else, in anyone else.

It is sad beyond measure that there are people today who think they are going to be saved because they were baptized, because they go to church, because they are trying hard to be good people, trying hard to be good Protestants, good Catholics, good Buddhists, good Hindus, good whatever. There is none good, no not one, none righteous. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. I know, none of us are perfect, but you don't know how serious sin is. Sin is so serious an offense against the holiness and righteousness of God that only His Son could intervene and pay the penalty in such a way that would prevent you from having to spend eternity in hell paying the penalty. That's it. Only two things. Sin is not something light that could be passed over. Sin is not something that can be taken care of by your saying, I'm sorry. Sin is not something that can be taken care of by coming and partaking of communion. Sin necessitated the death of Christ, and the way the death of Christ is applied to you personally so that you are purified, cleansed, forgiven, is when you recognize that you are a sinner, believe what God says is true, believe that His Son suffered and died on the cross to pay the penalty for your sin. Lord, I have no hope, I'm guilty, I'm justly condemned. My sin doesn't seem so bad when I compare myself to other people, but when I am compared against your holiness and your righteousness, I am without hope in the world. I am doomed. Lord, my only hope, I'm casting myself, I believe what you've said, I believe Christ died for me, I believe there is no hope, there is no one else, there is nothing else. I'm placing my full confidence, my only confidence in Him. That's what brings salvation. That's why salvation is called a free gift. It's a little bit redundant. A gift is free, but something free is a gift. But the Bible calls it the free gift of life God gives to all who believe in Him.

We're celebrating the birth of Christ, let's put it into context. This is an awesome, overwhelming event, that is the Son of God, the creator of everything who has come to be the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. And one day He will come to rule and reign.

Let's pray together. Thank you, Lord, for your Son, Jesus Christ. Thank you that you have spoken and we are privileged to read what you have said by your grace to understand and believe it, and now to live in light of it. Lord, may this truth concerning your Son thrill each of our hearts and minds. And Father for any who may be here who have not yet received the free gift of life through faith in Him, may this be a day of salvation for them as they turn from their sin and place their faith in the One who loved them and died for them. We pray in His name, amen.