Christmas Series: The One Worthy of Worship

Welcome to Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell, pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. All of mankind worships.

We're all captivated and defined by something or someone. The question is not whether or not we will worship, but what the object of our worship will be. In today's message, Pastor Rich lays out four reasons that Jesus is the only one who is worthy of our worship. He is the one worthy of our full surrender and devotion.

Let's listen to this message from the book of Hebrews chapter 1. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again.

This charge I have received from my Father. Wow. A man in history said those words. You can't be a mere man and say these things, unless it's true. And it is.

And history bears that out. So this is the death that he died. This is the resurrection. Now he is sovereign over life and death. He went to the cross willingly. He was not a victim.

Are you with me on this? Jesus did not die the death of a victim. He willingly laid his life down. Now yes, there were very wicked acts that men committed, but all of their wickedness played right into the sovereign providence of God for the Son of God to lay down his life. And then reason why this psalm is a messianic psalm about the resurrection of Jesus, we find in Romans chapter 1 verse 4, and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of Holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord. The Son of God declared with power to be the Son of God.

How? By the resurrection from the dead. Today I have begotten you, why did the second person of the Trinity set aside his glory and majesty and power and come to earth in the form of a baby and born in human form and grow up, why did he do that? Number one, so he could live a perfect life. Number two, so he could be nailed to a cross.

Number three, so he could rise again. And in all of that, he represents you and me, because we can't do that. He represents us. So he perfectly represents us before the Father, and he perfectly represents the Father to us.

And that's what we talked about the last two Sundays. He perfectly represents the Father to us. So that's the necessity of the resurrection.

And then after he rose again, why is it so meaningful for us? He's talking with Mary. He says, Mary, don't cling to me.

He says, go tell my brothers. He says, I am ascending to my Father and your Father. Isn't that powerful? I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God. Do you see what he does for us there?

That's amazing. So we can live a newness of life because of the resurrection as a reality. That is a powerful truth for us. So that's why another reason, the second reason why Jesus is worthy of our worship, the resurrection, and all that that means and all that entails. Thirdly, his relation to the Father. Jesus is worthy of our worship because of his relation because of his relation to the Father. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature. And he upholds the universe by the word of his power.

After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high, having become much superior to the angels. And he says, verse six, and again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, let the angels of God worship him. When he brings the firstborn into the world, the Son of God, when the scriptures refer to the Son of God, it is referring to the incarnational state of the second person of the Trinity. And Jesus, when he was on the earth, he referred to the first person of the Trinity as my Father. And remember when he taught us to pray, he said, our Father who is in heaven. You see, the people of his day were not used to referring to God as Father.

That's way too familiar. You cannot be that familiar with an infinite, supreme, sovereign being. But Jesus said, through me you can.

Through me you can. He's my Father, and he's our Father. And he came to do his will, and he came under his authority. Jesus said this clearly to the people, listening to him in his day. Jesus did not come to do his own will. And whatever he did, he did under his Father's authority. So he learned obedience, even obedience to the death on a cross.

And it started out, when he refers to my Father, it started out very early in Luke's Gospel. Remember Jesus was 12 years old. They go to Jerusalem. The families, they're headed back from Jerusalem. And all of a sudden, Mary and Joseph find out that Jesus isn't in the crowd.

And they're at wit's end. They're looking for him. They go back to Jerusalem, and they find him in the temple, answering and asking questions of the scribes and the Pharisees. Jesus, what are you doing?

What was his answer? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house? I must be in my Father's house. Look at John chapter 8 verse 19. They said to him, they said to him, therefore, where is your Father? Jesus answered, you know neither me nor my Father.

If you knew me, you would know my Father also. John 8, 58. Jesus said, before Abraham was, I am. They said, he's talking about being before Abraham.

He says, you're not even 40 years old yet. How can you be talking about being before Abraham, longing to see your day? And he said, before Abraham was, I am. What did they do when he said that?

They picked up stones to stone him. Why? Because they knew exactly what he meant. You don't just say that. That's a God title.

You can't use that. That's why they picked up stones to stone him. But it was true. Before Abraham was, I am. He also said in 14, 6, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through me.

Very exclusive words, aren't they? That's why the gospel is offensive to many today because of its exclusivity. No one comes to the Father but through me. But he says, look in John chapter 16, it's up on the screen, John 16, verse 28. I came from the Father and I have come into the world and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father.

I came from the Father. And then speaking of John, let's turn there in the scriptures. Turn to chapter 17, John 17. Here are the words of Jesus as he is speaking to his Father. This is in the garden, the night of his betrayal, the night before he would die on the cross for you and me.

Let's look at the first five verses here. Father, the hour has come, glorify your Son, that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

You can't have just have one or the other, it's got to be both. I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. Jesus is worthy to be worshiped because of his relationship with the Father. He is God. He is God. He is God who came to us. He is God who gave himself for us.

That's grace. He judged sin and overcame death by taking the penalty of sin upon himself. But he overcame that and overcame death.

Why did he do that? To reconcile us to God. That's the plan from eternity. So he is God with us. And because he is God with us, he is God with us. And because he has done what he has done, we can draw near to God. And the invitation stands to you this morning.

Draw near to God. Because you can in Christ. The last reason from the text this morning why Jesus is worthy of our worship is, number four, his preeminent status.

His preeminent status. Look again at verse six. When he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, let the angels of God worship him. Focus on the word firstborn here. Firstborn, the way it's used, it is a title for a position of honor and inheritance. A position of honor and inheritance. And we find that what Paul says in Philippians chapter two, that after Jesus had become obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross, therefore God also has, what, highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every other name.

And the writer of Hebrews says it well. He sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. Sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. And what is he doing there for us? He's interceding for us. And the father sees us seated right there with him. It is the highest position. Christ has the highest position and he has become the center of reality. He is the center of reality. Thanks for joining us here at Delight in Grace. You've been listening to Rich Powell, the lead pastor at Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. The Delight in Grace mission is to help you know that God designed you to realize your highest good and your deepest satisfaction in him, the one who is infinitely good. We hope you'll join us again on weekdays at 10 a.m.