The Supremacy of Christ

I have your Bibles with you today. Turn with me if you would to the first chapter of Hebrews.

And we're going to be looking, going to read verse one again, verses one through three. Long ago, many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets. But in these last days, He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed the heir of all things, to whom also He created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God, the exact imprint of His nature. He upholds the universe by the word of His power.

After making purifications for sin, He sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. Bow with me as we go to our Lord in prayer. Heavenly Father, we lift up our sick to you today.

We have many. We pray for Mrs. Abercrombie, Cindy's mom, that you would be with her as she seems to be going down very fast. We ask, Lord, you should have mercy on her. Father, we pray for Jeremy Carriker and Jim Belkin, Rinda Torrance for continued healing. Pray for Dolores Steelwell, who has extensive blockage in the arteries to her heart. Pray for Jan Beecham, who has a knee replacement scheduled for tomorrow. Pray that it would go well. Pray for Nicole Lowes, who will be having heart surgery in just a few weeks. Father, I ask that you be with Tracy Peck's dad, who's suffering with a UTI with a clot in his lung, a fracture in his back.

Be with Brian Peck's mom, who has broken her leg. Father, I ask that you be with Chris Williams, who's struggling with depression. Just be with these all, Lord, and give them peace as well as healing. Heavenly Father, 2,000 years ago, Jesus said, search the Scriptures, for they testify of me. We are taught that every book in the Bible is pointing to Jesus, but Lord, perhaps no other book in the Bible honors Christ as much as the book of Hebrews. Today, in chapters 1, verses 2 and 3, we read of the supremacy of Christ. We see His power. We see His strength and His holiness. We see His mercy, His glory in ways that are hard to imagine. Lord, help us to embrace every word so that we will love Jesus more than we ever had. Make the book of Hebrews drive us to be obedient children, not out of terror, but out of a loving, reverent fear of God. Speak to us through your Word, for it is in the precious and holy name of Jesus that we pray. Amen.

You may be seated. In May of 1882, Charles Spurgeon climbed up into his pulpit and he said, I am here tonight for one reason, and that reason is to preach Jesus Christ and Him crucified. He went on to explain that there is no greater privilege on the face of this earth than a man would have than to preach Jesus.

I wholeheartedly agree with that. And the New Testament agrees with that too. Go back to Acts chapter 5 and Luke is sharing with us about the early Christians that went out into the streets and they were preaching and teaching Jesus. In Acts 8, we are told of Philip going into the city of Samaria and proclaiming Jesus. In that same chapter, Philip climbs up in the chariot with the Ethiopian eunuch and the scripture says that he opened his mouth and preached unto him Jesus. In Acts chapter 9, after Paul's conversion, he wastes no time, but he goes right to the sin of God, proclaiming Jesus. In 1 Corinthians chapter 2, the apostle Paul says, for I know nothing among you than this, that Jesus Christ and Him crucified. In John MacArthur's commentary, he quoted the following.

He says he doesn't know where this came from or who wrote it, but he loved it and so do I. He said, Jesus Christ came from the bosom of the father to the bosom of a woman. He put on humanity that we might put on divinity.

He became son of man that we might become sons of God. He was born contrary to the laws of nature, lived in poverty, was reared in obscurity and only once crossed the boundary of the land in which he was born and that in his childhood. He had no wealth or influence and had neither training nor education in the world schools.

His relatives were inconspicuous and uninfluential. In infancy, he startled a king. In boyhood, he puzzled the learned doctors. In manhood, he ruled the course of nature.

He walked upon the billows and hushed the sea to sleep. He healed the multitudes without medicine and made no charge for his purposes. He never wrote a book and yet all the libraries of the world could not hold the books about him.

He never wrote a song, yet he has furnished the theme for more songs than all songwriters together. He never found that a college and all the schools together cannot boast of as many students as he has. He never practiced medicine and yet he has healed more broken hearts than all the doctors have healed broken bodies.

This Jesus Christ is a star of astronomy, the rock of geology, the lion and the lamb of astrology, the harmonizer of all discords and the healing of all diseases. Throughout history, great men have come and gone yet he lives on. Herod could not kill him. Satan could not seduce him. Death could not destroy him and the grave could not hold him.

I agree with John MacArthur. That's good stuff there. And that's the calling of every pastor, to preach Jesus Christ and him crucified. That's the message of the entire book of Hebrews, to preach Jesus Christ. And folks we can say without doubt, without hesitation, without reservation, Jesus Christ is supreme and it's our responsibility to preach and teach Jesus. Now last week we looked at the first verse and in that first verse the scripture says that in the last days, that is the church age, not just the very last days, but the church age from the first coming of Christ to the second coming of Christ, God has spoken to us by his son. We saw last week every book in the Bible is pointing us to Jesus Christ. In fact Jesus said to the Pharisees, search the scriptures for they testify of me. And you might remember from last week we saw the two disciples on the Emmaus road and all of a sudden Jesus appears to them. It's resurrection morning.

They don't know who it is. They don't know that this is actually Jesus, but they begin to talk to him and they begin to tell him about the rumors that had been going around that some women had seen the resurrected Christ. What did Jesus do? He began to open up the scriptures to him and he went from Genesis all the way through Malachi, all the way through the Old Testament showing them that every single book in the Bible is pointing us to Jesus Christ. In Luke chapter 24 verse 25 through 27, the scripture says this, Then Jesus said to them, O foolish ones and slow of heart, to believe in all that the prophets have spoken. Ought not the Christ have suffered these things and to enter into his glory? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.

They finally got to their house. They had a meal together and the scripture says that as Jesus was breaking the bread that they recognized him in the breaking of the bread. As soon as they recognized him and saw that it was Jesus, Jesus vanished from their sight. And they looked at each other and they said, did our hearts not burn within us when he opened to us the scripture? Folks, it's very interesting what we see here.

It's kind of a double meaning thing. For their physical blinders came off and they saw that this person was really Jesus Christ. But their spiritual blinders came off as well and they realized that every book that they had in their Bible, which is the Old Testament, from Genesis to Malachi, was pointing them right to Jesus. In Hebrews 1, 2 and 3, we're given a very powerful description of who Jesus is and I want to share five points with you this morning. Number one, he is called the heir of all things. Look at me in verse 2, the first part. But in these last days, he has spoken to us by his son, whom he appointed the heir of all things. Several of the psalms prophesied this.

In Psalm 2, verses 6 through 7, it says this, yet I have set my king on my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree. The Lord has said to me, you are my son, the day I have begotten you. Ask of me and I will give you the nations for your inheritance and the ends of the earth for your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron.

You shall dash them to pieces like a potter's vessel. God says that Jesus is his son. His son is his heir. The heir of what? The heir of all things.

What does that mean? That means everything belongs to Christ. All the nations.

I think of communist China now and I think of communist North Korea. They are atheistic. They don't believe in God. They think that they own those nations.

They think that they belong to them. And they persecute the Christians that are there. And those Christians suffer and many of them are martyred for their faith. Well, let me tell you, the day is coming when those dictators will bow before the owner of all things. The heir of all things, they will bow before him. And with hearts seething, with anger and fear of Christ and with terror and with sadness, they will be ushered in to an eternal hell.

Well, there will be no escape. And the Christians whom they persecuted will celebrate the fact that they can worship face to face with the heir of all things. Psalm 89 verse 27, the psalmist said, also I will make him my firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth.

When we in America think of firstborn, we think of the chronology of age or we think of the birth order. That's not what God's talking about here. Folks, Jesus did not get his start in the little manger in Bethlehem. Jesus is the eternal God. He has been here forever and he will be here forever. When Jesus is called or referred to here as the firstborn, it has to do with legal rights and authority.

The firstborn sons in Israel were to inherit a double portion of the father's blessing. But the firstborn of God is going to inherit it and will inherit it and already has inherited everything. Colossians 1 16 says, for by him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible with whether thrones or dominions or powers or principalities. He created all things. All things were created by him and they were created for him. Then in Revelation 5 we see it and I love this passage.

Let me give you a few things to ponder as I read through that passage. The scroll in his hand is the deed to this earth. It has seven seals on that scroll and that's what the Roman Empire used to do when they'd seal it up. They'd seal it with seven seals. What this meant was that nobody could open that seal. They could not break the seals open and get into the scroll. This was a testament.

It's what we have here. And it could not be opened until the death of the one who detested her. Now, who is the one that has the power to open this seal?

Only one. Out of all the world, through all times, only one could open that scroll. And who was that? The Lord Jesus Christ. Revelation 5 1 through 8. And I saw in the right hand of him who sat on a throne a scroll written inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals. Then I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose its seals. And no one in heaven on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look at it. So I wept much because no one was found worthy to open and read the scroll or to look at it.

But one of the elders said to me, do not weep. Behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals. And I looked and behold, the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures and in the midst of the elders to the lamb as though he had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. Then he came and took the scroll out of the right hand of him who sat on the throne. Now, when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty four elders fell down before the lamb, each having a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song saying, you are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you are slain and have redeemed us to God by your blood. The writer of Hebrews did not have access to the book of Revelation.

Well, why not? Well, the book of Revelation had not been written yet. John would not write the book of Revelation for thirty more years. It's very interesting that the writer of Hebrews and the writer of the book of Revelation are saying the exact same thing. Jesus is the heir of all things.

In Peter's sermon at Pentecost, Peter said to his Jewish audience, therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God hath made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified. Satan tried every means he could to try to prevent Jesus from receiving the inheritance. He tempted him in the wilderness over and over and over again. He continued to tempt him, but Jesus would have none of it. And he said to Jesus, Jesus, you just bow before me and I will give you all the kingdoms of this world.

And Jesus said, it is written, you shall worship the Lord thy God in him alone, thou shalt serve. Folks, Satan could not deal with that. Satan hated that. And so he came to realize that he was not going to be able to tempt Jesus.

And so the next thing and the only thing he could do was to see if he could kill him. And so he indwelt Judas Iscariot and Judas Iscariot betrayed him. He spoke through false witnesses and he stirred up the religious leaders. He intimidated Pontius Pilate, did everything that he could to send Jesus to the cross. And when Jesus went to the cross and he died on that cross, Satan and his minions cheered. They loved it. And then they laughed at his suffering. Then we have 1 Corinthians chapter 2 verse 8. It says, if the princes of this world just knew what they were doing, they would never have crucified the Lord of glory.

Let me share something with you that I think is absolutely glorious. What about us? What about Jesus' bride? What about the church? What about us? Romans 8 16 through 17 teaches us that we are joint heirs with Christ.

And what does that mean? That means that we are going to possess with Jesus all that he possesses. Wow. Without sin, without selfishness, we are going to be joint heirs with Christ. I didn't say joint Christ. I didn't say joint lords. I said joint heirs.

All right, point 2. Jesus is not only the heir of all things, but he is also the creator. Look at the second part of verse 2.

To whom also he created the world. I want to give you a few verses here. The first verses of the Gospel of John are a prologue that tells us all about this, but it's very interesting. You go back and you study the four Gospels, and you'll see that Matthew, Mark, and Luke wrote their Gospels to different audiences, and they had a different theme. Matthew wrote his Gospel primarily to the Jews and presented Jesus Christ as a perfect king. Mark wrote his Gospel primarily to the Romans, presented Jesus as the perfect servant. Luke wrote his Gospel primarily to the Gentiles, and he presented Jesus as the perfect man. But John wrote his Gospel to Christians everywhere and to unbelievers and presented Jesus as God. In the prologue, when you read that, the first few verses of the Gospel of John sounds a whole lot like the book of Genesis.

How did he say it? In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that was made. How many things were made by him?

All things. Everything came about by the command of his Word. In Colossians 1 16, Paul said it this way, For by him all things were created that are in heaven and in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions or powers or principalities. All things were created by him and for him. Romans 11 36. For of him and through him and to him are all things, to whom be glory forever.

Amen. The writer of Hebrews says that Jesus created the world. Now the Greek word for world there is cosmos, and it means the earth now. That's what it means. That's not the word that's used in this verse. The word that's used is aeons, and that word is a whole lot bigger. It has to do not just with now.

It has to do with all ages. So he goes back in eternity with Christ, and he points out the things that Christ has created, not just this little earth that we're on, but all the galaxies, all the universes, all the stars, everything that Jesus has created is included there. Cosmos, the world is big, but boy, aeons is huge and it's all inclusive. That's what Jesus created. Stephen Hawking, which is a brilliant scientist, very far from what we would call a gospel theologian, I don't think he's even a Christian, but he wrote a kind of a synopsis on the size of the universe.

Let me read you what he said. Stephen Hawking said in his best-selling A Brief History of Time that our galaxy is an average-sized spiral galaxy that looks to other galaxies like a swirl and a pest pastry roll, and that is over 100,000 light years across, about 600 trillion miles. He says, we know that our galaxy is only one of some 100,000 million that can be seen using modern telescopes, each galaxy itself containing some 100,000 million stars. It is commonly held at the average distance between these 100,000 million galaxies, each 600 trillion miles across, and containing 100,000 million stars is 3 million light years. On top of that, the work of Edwin Hubble, based on the Doppler Effect, has shown that all the red spectrum galaxies are moving away from us and that nearly all are red. Thus, the universe is constantly expanding.

Some estimates say that the most distant galaxy is 8 billion light years away and racing away at 200 million miles an hour. I don't know if you've been to the Creation Museum or not. I would encourage you with all my heart to go. When I went, it thrilled my soul, it excited my heart, and it just deeply broadened my vision of who Jesus Christ is, especially as our Creator. I remember when the Ryan's came back from visiting the Creation Museum, Pam said to me, I have never felt so little and Jesus has never appeared so big. And I thought that's what a study of Jesus as the Creator, that's what it ought to do to us. It ought to let us know that He is greater, more magnificent, more powerful than we ever could imagine. This is the bottom line. When you think of the largeness of Jesus' creation, trillions of stars, millions of galaxies, also remember that Jesus created the smallest speck of dust as well as the smallest atom. As R.C.

Sproul used to say, there's not one maverick molecule in this universe and he was exactly right. All were created by Jesus and all are under his sovereign command and listen carefully. This same Creator, who's so vast, who's so great, who's so powerful, went to the cross of Calvary and died for us.

For what purpose? In order that we might have life and that we might have it abundantly. Folks, listen to what the writer of Hebrews is telling us. Jesus Christ, the one who died for His people, is the one who created the world, the galaxy, all the galaxies.

Oh and yeah, by the way, created me and you too. Point three, His radiance and His being. Look at verse three, the first part. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature. Some of the translations say that Jesus is the reflection of God's glory.

It's a bad translation. He's not the reflection of God's glory. He is the radiance of God's glory. In other words, the brightness, the radiance of the glory of God emanates from Jesus. Now we look at the sun. The sun is the one that does the radiating. The sun brings forth brightness and brings forth heat and brings forth light. And what does the moon do? The moon does not radiate.

It doesn't bring forth any of that. It just reflects. Folks, Jesus doesn't reflect. Jesus radiates.

When Jesus went up onto the Mount of Transfiguration with the three disciples, Peter, James, and John, was transfigured before them, He began to just become sparkling, dazzling white before them. And they looked at Him and guess what they knew? They knew that this was coming from His being.

He was not reflecting anything. This was coming from Himself. Then the Scripture says Jesus is the exact imprint of His nature. When coins were made, they would take a mold of a coin. They'd pour the silver down into it.

Then they let it harden. And when they pulled it out, it would have that exact image on it. Well, this illustration kind of breaks down when we're talking about Jesus and God the Father, because with coins, there was one before another. But with God, there was not one before another. They both go all the way into eternity.

They had no beginning, and they will have no end. Jesus is not a copy of God the Father. He is the perfect representation of God the Father.

Once again, in the prologue of the Gospel of John, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Folks, God the Father and Jesus are the same in substance and in essence, but they are different in function and in office. God the Father and God the Son are fully and completely God. This is bound up in the mystery of the Trinity. I think a great verse for this is Colossians 2.9, where the Scripture says, For in Him, that is Jesus, for in Him is all the fullness of deity in bodily form.

Alright, point four is his administration, second part of verse three. And he upholds the universe by the word of his power. A few months ago, I was describing Jesus, moments ago, I was describing Jesus as the creator of all things.

If that doesn't knock the biscuits off your table, nothing will. But when I say from my heart that Jesus is Lord, part of what I'm saying is that Jesus is the creator. And this verse tells us that not only did he create everything, but he also upholds it. What does that mean? That means he sustains it. That means he controls it. Jesus made the physical laws for our universe and for all of his creation. If those physical laws were able to vary, then folks, we would be in a miserable mess. John MacArthur said this about the administration of this universe by Jesus.

I thought it was tremendous. He said, Consider, for example, what instant destruction would happen if the earth's rotation slowed down just a little. The sun had a surface temperature of 12,000 degrees Fahrenheit. If it were any closer to us, we would burn up. If it were any farther away, we would freeze.

Our globe is tilted on an exact angle of 23 degrees, providing us with four seasons. If it were not so tilted, vapors in the oceans would move north and south and develop into monstrous currents, continents of ice. If the moon did not retain its exact distance from the earth, the ocean tides would inundate the land completely twice a day. After the first flooding, of course, the others would not matter as far as we would be concerned. If the ocean floors were merely a few feet deeper than they are, the carbon dioxide and oxygen balance of the earth's atmosphere would be completely upset, and no animal or plant life could exist. If the atmosphere did not remain at its present density, but thinned out even a little, many of the meteors, which now harmlessly burn up when they hit the atmosphere, would constantly bombard us.

We would have to live underground or in meteor-proof buildings. How does the universe stay in this kind of fantastically delicate balance? Jesus Christ sustains and monitors all its movements and inner workings. Christ, the preeminent power, maintains it all. Things do not happen in our universe by accident. They do not happen that way in the beginning.

They are not going to happen that way in the end, and they are not happening that way now. Jesus Christ is sustaining the universe. He is himself the principle of cohesion. He is not like the deist watchmaker creator who made the world, set it in motion, and is not bothered with its sense. The universe is a cosmos instead of chaos, an ordered and reliable system instead of an erratic and unpredictable muddle, only because Jesus Christ upholds it. Point five is his sacrifice and exaltation.

Look to me at verse three, the last part. And after making purifications for sin, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. How is purification from sin possible? It's not just possible, it's sure.

It's not just probable, it is absolutely certain. Jesus Christ was the only person who ever lived, who lived perfectly without sin. And because of that, he is the only one that could ever become our substitute, die in our place, and suffer the payment of sin against us.

Not only did Jesus die to purchase our salvation, but he was raised from the dead to break the power of death. Where is he now? He is right now seated at the right hand of God the Father as this verse says, at the right hand of his majesty on high. So how should we take that? What are we going to do with this glorious truth? What's the heart of the writer of Hebrews as he is sharing these truths with us?

I want to close this message with a plea. Despite what atheistic, communistic dictators think, despite what corrupt American politicians might think, despite corruption, perversion, and wokeness, Jesus is sovereignly upholding his universe. No sin, no corruption, no atheistic denial of God is going to somehow slip by his all-seeing eye.

It's not going to happen. It will all be judged and all that sin will be absolutely paid for. If you're a believer, if you have genuinely repented of your sins, genuinely trusted Christ as your Lord and your Savior, if you are walking with Jesus and you genuinely know him, then I want you to know your sin is paid for. It has already been judged by the blood of Christ. If you're not, then you're going to pay for that sin yourself and how do you pay for it?

You will pay for it in an eternal hell where you will be in that hell forever and ever and ever, never knowing anything else but pain and anguish and suffering. In the light of that truth, my plea to any unbeliever in this church building today is this, run to Christ. Run to Christ. Turn from your sin and repent and trust Jesus Christ and him alone as your Savior. If you're not sure about your salvation, you need somebody to talk to, I'm here.

Will Ferris is here today and there are elders here in our church that would love to talk with you. Don't leave this building today without knowing for sure that you belong to Christ and Christ belongs to you. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we have just been reminded that Jesus Christ is Lord. He is God. He is the heir of all things. He is the creator and sustainer of his creation. He has purchased his children out of the slave market of sin through his shed blood and death. Lord, wake us up. Lead us to a love and devotion to Jesus that we have not ever known. It's in Jesus' precious and holy name that I pray. Amen.