Sunday Morning Service 8:30AM- Jesus: The One and Only - Hebrews 1:1-3 - Pastor Ryan

well good morning good to see you guys I'm really glad you're here uh can we go ahead and stand with us get this show on the road father we come before you this morning we just thank you for another day we just thank you for allowing us to be here lord god lord thank you for allowing us to be in your presence to be in your house this morning god we know that apart from you lord we are not worthy to be in your presence lord god it's because of you it's because of what you've done for us lord that we are allowed in your presence lord god that we are declared work worthy and righteous lord god not because of our own work our own works but but because of yours and so lord we just give you praise we give you honor we give you glory this morning

pray these things in your precious name amen lord you guys can go and have a seat if you like i know prayer this morning that we would just come to this realization of how much we truly need you lord god just open our spiritual eyes this morning lord to the truth of your word and to the truth of your goodness and how good you are father and we love you lord and we praise you just stand with me for the last one and all my faithful and all my and so so i will sing sing that again will sing of your goodness oh god love you lord will sing of your goodness oh god will sing of your goodness oh praise the lord gift of grace is jesus my redeemer there is no is my joy my righteousness is freedom my steadfast love is free this time until yet not i

but through god's grace i will sing of your goodness oh god will sing of your goodness oh and father god we just come before you this morning we and we just lift praise to you god for who you are for what you've done for what you are doing in our lives lord it's not i it's but but it's through you lord what everything everything that we're able to do is because of you lord so we give you honor we give you glory we give you praise this morning and now as pastor ryan comes lord god i just pray that you would that you would overflow him lord with your holy spirit put the words in his mouth and give us give us listening ears this morning and a heart to receive it and to do your word let us be doers of your word this morning father god we love you lord

we praise you we give you all the honor and glory all god's people said amen let's uh turn to your neighbor and and say good morning if you could begin to locate your seat grab a bulletin we'll get ready to go over some announcements welcome to calvary church church church church church church church church church church shower chapel i'm glad you joined us this morning a handful of things to uh take note of uh in your bulletins i'm over on the left hand side as always are the things that go on throughout the week there's studies going on almost every night of the week and so find yourself a spot to get plugged into i'm over in the middle section um fellas we have a men's breakfast coming up this saturday

down at the other end of the hallway down the agape room at 8 a.m so come join us for a time of food together and some fellowship a little bit of a bible study And there is a youth group parent meeting coming up Tuesday, January 20th at 7 right here at the church. So Jared just wants to talk to everybody about the things that are coming up this year. So parents of youth kids, take note of that. They should have come home with a note about that, but I also have kids of my own, and I didn't receive that note either.

So that's why we're telling you this right now. So those are the things that are going on. If you would make sure that your mobile device is silenced. And for our responsive reading this morning, we are going to be in Psalm 11. Psalm 11. Looking at the New American Standard for this part of the service so that hopefully we all sound the same. If you need a copy, there should be one in a row around you.

And as you are turning to Psalm 11, if you are able, please stand in the honor of the reading of God's Word. I will read the odd verses if you will follow along with Pastor Allen. And the even verses. Psalm 11. For the choir director, a Psalm of David. In the Lord I take refuge. How can you say to my soul, flee as a bird to your mountain? For behold, the wicked bend the bow.

They make ready their arrow upon the string to shoot in darkness at the upright in heart. If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do? The Lord is in his holy temple. The Lord's throne is in heaven. His eyes behold. His eyelids test the sons of men. The Lord tests the righteous and the wicked. And the one who loves violence, his soul hates. Upon the wicked, he will rain snares.

Fire and brimstone and burning wind will be the portion of their cup. And read verse 7 with me. For the Lord is righteous. He loves righteousness. The upright will behold his face. And so, Father, I thank you that you are the righteous one. And that we can find our refuge. And that we can find our refuge in you. And so, Father, as we approach your word this morning, Lord, we do so with humility, knowing that you are God and we are not.

And, Lord, we do so with a desire to see you more clearly. And so, I ask that by the power of your Holy Spirit, you would reveal yourself to us now this morning in your word. Lord, that we would truly see Jesus high and lifted up. And so, Father, move through this time, we pray. In Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. You may be seated. If you would open up in your Bible.

Hebrews chapter 1. The book of Hebrews chapter 1.

One of my favorite sports movies of all time is a movie called Hoosiers. If you've never watched it, I highly recommend it. Gene Hackman plays a part of a basketball coach that arrives at a small Indiana town to coach their basketball team. It's sort of a redemption story on his part. But when he shows up, the team has some talent. But all they like to do is shoot the ball.

Nobody likes to defend. And when he shows up, he sort of rocks their world. Because he tells them, he says, no one's going to shoot a ball for the first three weeks. We're only going to work on fundamentals. He said, because you've got to get back to the basics and the fundamentals of the game if you want to be able to compete against bigger schools. Well, that's kind of what the book of Hebrews is.

The book of Hebrews is getting back to the basics and the fundamentals of faith. The basics and the fundamentals of who Jesus is. I've entitled the. Entire study that we'll go through on the book of Hebrews. But we see Jesus from a verse out of chapter two. But as we approach Hebrews, I want to start off with some introductory statements here. Because Hebrews is one of the more mysterious books in the New Testament.

It's one of the more mysterious books in the Bible. Because there's a certain number of questions that are a little bit unanswered. Typically what we would do when we come to an epistle is I would start off with my typical introduction. Because the epistle would start off with this typical introduction. I would talk to you about the author. And I would talk to you about the recipient.

And I would talk to you about the greeting. The only problem with the book of Hebrews is we don't know who the author is. And there's really not much of a greeting. He just sort of jumps into things. So let's deal with the first issue. Who is the author of the book of Hebrews? That's a fantastic question. I'm really glad that you asked. No one knows. It's kind of fun.

There's been some debate about who the author of the book of Hebrews is. And everybody that has an opinion tells you that theirs is the correct opinion. The only problem is somebody else can tell you why their opinion. His opinion is wrong. I believe it was Clement of Alexandria that said that it was written by Paul. And translated into Hebrew by, or excuse me, into Greek by Luke.

Now, is that the case? I don't know. And every commentator that you read and everyone that you will listen to will tell you the exact same thing. We don't know who the human author of Hebrews was. But God does. And what it has to say is much more important than who wrote it. We know that it was written somewhere in the range of 64 to 68. Because the destruction of the temple hadn't taken place yet.

And whoever the author was knew Timothy really well. So we can somewhat pinpoint a little bit of a date. Indicating that while the greatest persecution of the church hadn't started yet, it was well on its way. And the temple was still around. And that's important because Hebrews carries a great deal of Old Testament and temple references to it. We also know that it was written to the Hebrews.

As a matter of fact, its traditional name was, to the Hebrews, or to the Jews. That's who it was written to. It was written to a believing group of Jewish men and women who had found themselves in a place where they started having some problems. If it really was 64 to 68 A.D., then you're a little over 30 years past the ascension of Jesus into heaven. You're a little over 30 years past the birth of the early church.

And you're a little over 30 years past the Jewish culture beginning to adopt, Christianity, many Jews beginning to adopt Christianity, but many rejecting it. And so there's a lot of issues that had arisen not only within the church, but especially among Hebrew believers. Some of those issues are addressed in this book. Some of the issues that it addresses are the fact that some of them were drifting from the faith.

Some of them were struggling with unbelief. There was a great immaturity among the believers at this point in time. And quite frankly, there was a great fear of a falling away. At the heart of the debate, the greatest danger was leaving the simplicity and the freedom of the gospel and returning to a law of works, leaving the substance for the shadow, the Old Testament being the shadow, Jesus being the substance.

What was the cure? Well, the writer to the Hebrews knew that the one cure for this was to turn their eyes back upon Jesus. And I wrote this out so that I didn't mess it up. So I'm going to read it to you. Today we face the same dangers. We're distracted by the politics of the world. We're distracted by the difficulties of the world. And we are tempted to leave the simplicity and the freedom of the gospel

for something lesser that will ultimately lead to bondage. To leave the substance for the shadow of the lesser things. The cure has not changed. We need to put our eyes back on Jesus to see him for who he truly is. And that's exactly what this book is going to do for us over these next couple of months. Is that we will see Jesus. Because that's what we ultimately need

to become who God has called for us to be. And so the book breaks down like this. Chapters 1 through 10 are the theological aspect of the book. And they will be focused on knowing Jesus. As a matter of fact, the entire theme of the first 10 chapters is that Jesus is better. I almost titled the entire book, Jesus versus everything. But we see Jesus felt like the better thing to do.

I even had a punching fist all ready to go for my artwork that I was going to use, but it felt wrong. So I went with the more, well, I went with that. So the first half of the book, the first 10 chapters of the book are all about knowing Jesus, that Jesus is better. Chapters 10 through 13 are focused on walking with Jesus and how walking by faith is better.

And so what I want to do this morning is we're going to look at these first three verses. And I've simply entitled this morning's message, Jesus, the one and only. And it starts like this. God, after he spoke long ago to the fathers and the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the world.

And he is the radiance of his glory, the exact representation of his nature. And he upholds all things by the word of his power. When he made purification of sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. It's interesting the way that he starts because the writer to the book of, the writer to the Hebrews starts off with one word, God. And it's kind of interesting because

if we were to go all the way back to the beginning of the Bible, Genesis chapter one, verse one, which I have often told you is, in my opinion, the most important verse in the entire Bible, you'll find that it starts the exact same way. In the beginning, God. And both in the book of Hebrews and the book of Genesis, him starting with God tells us something that we need to know about who God is. Because if we are to explore Jesus, the revelation of God to us, then it's important that we understand who God is.

And so in that way, I want to tell you three things that not only does Genesis chapter one, verse one, tell us about God, but something that we need to know about God as we approach the revelation of God in Jesus Christ. Number one, God is eternal. God is eternal. It's one of the things that we learn about God in the book of Genesis. Because in Genesis chapter one, verse one,

it says, in the beginning, God. Or in the beginning, God already existed. And the eternal nature of God is part of what makes him God. It's one of the things that our minds can't wrap themselves, wrap itself around. We can wrap ourselves a little bit around the idea of God in the future, that there is a future eternity, a life that doesn't end, that we struggle to believe

that there was a past eternity. That not only is there no ending, but there is no beginning. That it just, God just always has been. And we go, but that doesn't make sense, so where did God start? And you say, he didn't. He always has been. I don't understand that. I know that's what makes him God. You see, if God was understandable by us, he would no longer be God,

he would be of our own creation. Which is part of what makes him God. Is that he's beyond our understanding. So the first thing that we learn about God is that he is the eternal God. The second thing that I think that's important for us to learn about God is that he is the all-knowing God. I always like to ask kids this when I teach them Genesis 1, verse 1.

I say, who do you think is the smartest guy you've ever been around in your entire life? And people give some ideas. Who do you think the smartest person in the world is? And they'll give their ideas. And I'll say, who do you think the smartest person of all time was? And they'll give their ideas. And I'll say, do you realize God created all of them? That's how we know that he is the all-knowing God.

Because it doesn't matter how smart an individual is, it doesn't matter how wise an individual is, God is still the one who created them and gave them all of their understanding. He is truly the all-knowing God. It tells us in Scripture that the foolishness of God is the greatest wisdom to man. That's how all-knowing God is. The third thing that we learn about God

is that he is all-powerful. That he is all-powerful. I always also love to ask kids this question. I say, who's the strongest person you've ever been around in your entire life? And inevitably, one of them will say me. Not me, me. But they will say it's themselves. And inevitably, somebody will point to whoever can lift the most on their football team. That's usually how it works.

And I'll say, okay, who do you think the strongest person of all time was? And they'll tell me, what do you think the strongest force is? And it's usually something in nature. And I'll say, God created all of those things. God created all of those things because he is the all-powerful God. I think for me, when I think of powerful things, I do think of the force of nature.

And having grown up in Kansas, I always think of the thunderstorm, right? And what thunderstorms are able to do, the power that they are able to have. Do you realize what happened in the state of Kansas over this weekend? We had, I think, tornado warnings somewhere, at least in the Midwest. And we had snowstorms going on in western Kansas. I know there was a basketball game

that was supposed to take place in western Kansas that one of my schools was supposed to take part in and it was canceled. One of my fellow FCA representatives was at a wrestling tournament in Dodge City. And he sent us a picture of the roads he was about to have to drive home on. And he said, I've done some dumb things in my life, but this one may take the cake.

Because weather's just powerful. It has the ability to shut down an entire state because of what takes place. And God created that because he is the all-powerful God. And so as he begins to tell us that God revealed himself first through the prophets and then through Jesus, we need to realize that God needs revealed to us because he's beyond our understanding.

He's beyond our understanding because he's eternal in nature. He's beyond our understanding because he is all-knowing and he is beyond our understanding because he is all-powerful. And yet, God spoke long ago to the fathers and the prophets in many portions and in many ways. Let me tell you something. Let me tell you what he means by that. The unknowable God

made himself knowable to us. And the first way that he did it is he did it by speaking to us. The author of life spoke to us. You know what the first time we read about God speaking is? It's in Genesis 1, verse 3. Genesis 1, verse 1 says, In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Verse 2 says, And the earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep.

The Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And then in verse 3 it says, And then God said, Let there be light. The first voice of God speaking into creation was to create light. And from that moment on, God has been speaking. We're told in the book of Romans that the invisible attributes of God are clearly seen in nature. We can, God speaks to us

through nature. God speaks to us through the things that he has created. I listened to this thing by Louis Giglio one time that the stars in the heavens actually emit a sound that can almost sound like the hallelujah chorus. It's kind of a fascinating thing. You just look up Louis Giglio, the stars speak. It's kind of a fascinating thing that he does on that

because the invisible attributes of God are clearly seen in nature and he is always speaking to us. But God didn't just allow his voice to speak to us through the things of nature and through the order and the power that's in nature. No, God spoke to us. It started off by him having a relationship and speaking to Adam and Eve. But once sin entered, God began to speak in different ways.

Sometimes he would speak audibly to guys like Abraham, but usually what he would do is he would speak through the prophets. God would have holy men that he would choose to be the mouthpiece of God to the people. That's what Moses was to the people of God. That's what Aaron was to the people of God. That's what Samuel was to the people of God. God was always speaking,

but he was always using holy men. You know why? Because the voice of God is powerful and it shakes the cedars. The voice of God is powerful and it moves many waters. And so sometimes it's too much for us to take in. If we were to go back into the book of Exodus, you would find that God spoke to the nation of Israel from Mount Sinai. We oftentimes miss this in the Exodus story,

but when God gave the Ten Commandments to the people, he first spoke to the people. And as God thundered from the mountain, the people said, Moses, you go talk to God. We'll be here. Because they were terrified of this God that was speaking. And so God spoke to Moses and Moses was the mouthpiece to the people. But God was always speaking. And as he spoke through those Old Testament prophets,

it tells us in the New Testament, it tells us in the New American Standard Translation that it was in many portions, in many portions. And what it means by that is God was always speaking, but they were often partial and fragmentary. They were often partial and fragmentary. Because God would give little bits here and he would give little bits there because no one could handle the full revelation at one point in time.

No one could take it all in because it was too much. And so God would speak in these partial ways. Not this last Christmas, but the one before. I took you through a study all the way through the Old Testament where we started in Genesis chapter 3 and you saw that the promise of the Savior built over the years, over the centuries of that revelation of the fact that there was a coming Savior.

We learned that he would crush the head of the serpent. We learned that he would be of the line of Shem. We learned that he would be from the family of Abraham. We learned that he would be from the tribe of Judah. We learned that he would be of the line of David. We learned that he would be both man and God. That he would be human and divine. That he would be born of a virgin.

That he would be born in Israel. That he would be born in Bethlehem. That there would be a forerunner who would go before him. And that he would show up at an exact time that Daniel said from the time that the proclamation goes out for the rebuilding of the temple, you can count this many days and that's when Messiah is going to arrive but it was a progressive revelation of who Jesus was because God in times past spoke through the prophets in many portions in many fragmentary progressive sort of ways and in many ways.

One of the fascinating things about reading the prophets is the different ways that God would speak to them and tell them to speak to the people. One prophet was told to lay on his side. One prophet was told to prophesy naked. One prophet was told to bake his food over dung. One prophet was told to use a towel and bind his hands to show what was going to happen.

But God used all of these different ways because he needed to speak to the people in a way that they could understand. And many times and in various ways in many portions and in various ways God spoke to us through his prophets. And we have that preserved for us in the Old Testament. But the Old Testament always had a point to it. The Old Testament was not an end of itself.

The Old Testament was an arrow pointing us to the coming of the ultimate revelation of God through Jesus Christ. Because notice what it says. 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. His last days has spoken to us in his Son. It's interesting to look at that phrase

in these last days because what it really says in the Greek is in the last of these days. In the last of these days. In other words, the final revelation of God is found in Jesus Christ. The final revelation of God is found in Jesus Christ. In John chapter 1, verses 1 through 4, it says, in the beginning was the Word. And for the Greeks, that phrase the Word,

the Logos, actually meant a verbal representation or the expression of. And it's the expression of God. It says 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. That's because Jesus is that revelation of God. And he spoke to us in the last of these days. And so everything that we know about God

and everything that we are to hold on to is given to us in Jesus Christ. He is the final revelation of who God is. He is the final revelation of everything that we need to know about God. I want to read you a couple of quotes. I think both of them from David Guzik. He might have been quoting somebody else on one of these. It says, Jesus did not just speak the message from the Father,

he is the message from the Father. Jesus speaks not only from God, but as God. If I were to tell you to turn to Revelation chapter 1 verse 1, this is what Revelation chapter 1 verse 1 would say. It says, the revelation or the unveiling of Jesus Christ. The unveiling of Jesus Christ. If we were to jump all the way to the end of the book of Revelation, do you know what it would say?

It would say, the revelation or the unveiling of Jesus Christ. Do you know what it would say? It would say, no one can change the words of this book. No one can add to it and no one can take away from it. If anyone adds to this book or anyone takes away from this book, then the curses of this book will be added to him. Why? Because the book of Revelation is the final revelation

of Jesus Christ. Do you know when the book of Revelation was written? It was written in A.D. 95. It's the last written communication from any of Jesus' apostles for the revelation of Jesus Christ. Therefore, I believe, at that point in time, Scripture was sealed. There was no new revelation given of Jesus, which is why the Spirit told John to write, if anybody adds to the words

of this book or anyone takes away from the words of this book, then these curses shall be added to him. In other words, there's no new revelations coming out. There's no new truth being written. There is only a deeper understanding of the truth of Jesus Christ as revealed in the Gospels, as explained in the Epistles, and as unveiled in the book of Revelation.

Because in the last of these days, he has spoken to us through Jesus. And so as he tells us about this Jesus, there's seven things that he's going to do to describe who Jesus is. Verse two, in these last days, he has spoken to us in his Son, who, number one, he appointed heir of all things. I didn't have him put all this up here. It's in your Bible. I figure you can take those notes right off that.

Number one, he is appointed heir of all things. What does that mean? It means that he is the lawful owner. It means that the universe belongs to him by divine appointment, and he will soon rule over it. That the universe is his by divine appointment, and he will soon rule over it. But do you know what we're told in Scripture is the greatest inheritance that Jesus has?

We are told in the book of Ephesians that the inheritance that Jesus has is you. That the inheritance that Jesus has is me. Because part of our understanding of who Jesus is, Paul praises, that the eyes of our understanding would be enlightened to know not only the hope of his calling, but also the glorious, riches of his inheritance in the saints. There's a wonderful parable that Jesus tells, and it's the parable of the field.

You see, a man was hunting for treasure, and he went into this field, and he dug up and he found this pearl of great price. When he found it, he was so excited that he buried it again, and he went and he purchased the field so that he could have the treasure. You see, the field is the world, and you are the treasure. You're his inheritance. That's why you should never underestimate

the value and the worth that you have in Christ. Because you are not just some Christian. You are a child of God and an inheritance of the Savior. I've told this story before, but it so resonates in my mind that I want to tell it again. There's a guy that used to be Chuck Smith's associate pastor. He was simply known as Romaine, because I think his first name was like Laverne

or something like that. So he just went by Romaine, which is fair. And Romaine is the short stocky, was the short stocky old drill sergeant, kind of a gruff guy. And he was sort of the enforcer, if you will, for Chuck Smith at one point in time. And I remember when I was in Bible college, he was speaking at a men's conference because it was also a conference center there.

And so we saw him, and it's like, here's this legend that we've heard about in all of Chuck Smith's teaching, because he'd always talk about Romaine. And here's this legend standing there. And we're like, hello, sir. And he said, are you boys a part of the conference? And we said, no, sir, we're just Bible college students. And he looked at us and he said, you listen here.

We were like, he's one of those guys that when he talks, you sort of wet yourself just a little bit because he's just kind of an intimidating guy. He said, you listen here. And so we did. He said, you're never just anything. You're a child of God. And don't ever count yourself as anything. You're anything less than that. That really resonated with me. And it's stuck in my brain ever since.

And that's who you are. You're the inheritance, but he is the heir of all things. Number two, he tells us that through him, the world was made. Through him, the world was made. In other words, Jesus was the agent of creation. We learned this in at least two other places in scripture. So I'm gonna reference John several times. So you might write John one, one through four,

just in the margin of your Bible. That's gonna be an important one for you to keep referencing. John one, one through four. John one, one through four says this. In the beginning was the word. The word was with God. The word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him. And without him was not anything made that was made.

Who spoke the world into existence? The word of God. The word of God is who spoke the world into existence. Jesus was the agent of creation. You might write down another verse. As a matter of fact, you might just write Colossians one in the margin of your Bible there, because all of Colossians one, especially the first about 18 verses, is all about the incomparable Christ.

And once again, focuses us in on everything of who Jesus is. But in Colossians chapter one, verse 16, it says this, all things were made through him and for him. Because he is the agent of creation. He is the creative God, the one with all of the power, the one with all of the ability, the one with all of the strength. Because through him, everything was made.

The third thing that it tells us about him is that he is the radiance of his glory. The radiance of his glory. The word radiance means in reflected brightness, a brightness that shines from a source or a shining forth. In other words, the father is the son. Jesus is the sunbeam. He is the very radiance of who God is. He is the very expression of the greatness of who God is

because he is our physical, our visible representation of the essence of the father, which takes us to number four, he is the exact representation of his nature. He is the exact representation of his nature. The word representation there means reproduction. Reproduction. And this is the idea behind the word reproduction. It means a stamp in clay. A stamp in clay.

Imagine if you will, that if you had, if you had some sort of a coin and all of us did this when we were kids, we used to play with silly putty. I don't know if they still play with silly putty or not now. That's probably way too elementary for the world today. But we used to play with this stuff called silly putty. And you would lay it out on your desk and you could take a coin

and you could press that coin down into that silly putty. And when you pulled that coin back, you could see all the ribs from the edge of the coin and you could see the president's face. And it was an exact reproduction of that coin because it would imprint on there and you could look and you go, that's the coin. Because it was an exact representation of what you had just pushed down into that clay.

That's the idea. That's the idea behind that word, exact representation. He is the exact reproduction. What does he mean by that? Well, in John 1, verse 18, it says this. No one has seen the Father at it. Matter of fact, just turn John 1 with me real quick. We may as well all take this trip together. Go over to John 1. Hold your finger here. Oh, Luke, that's too far.

Go to John 1. I want you to look at verse 18. John 1, 18. It says this. No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten who is in the bosom of the Father has explained him. The only begotten who is in the bosom of the Father has explained him. In other words, if you want to know what God would do in any given situation, you should look and see what Jesus did.

If you want to understand the character of God, then you need to understand the character of Jesus. If you want to understand the expectations of God, then you need to read it. You need to read about Jesus because he is the exact representation. And if that doesn't hold enough weight for you, go over to John 14. And I want you to look at verse 8. For context's sake, let's start in 7.

This is Jesus with his disciples in the upper room. The Last Supper has already taken place. Judas has already left. He's having a conversation with his disciples. It says this in verse 7. If you had known me, you would have known my Father. From now on you know him and have seen him. And Philip said to him, Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.

And Jesus said to him, Have I been so long with you, and yet 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? Because you see, while the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are three distinct individuals, Jesus is the exact representation of the exact reproduction of the imprint of the stamp of the Father.

And so if you want to know what God would do, you should look at Jesus because he is his representation. He is his reproduction. This is important stuff to pay attention to because if we're going to focus our eyes back on Jesus, then we need to focus our eyes back on the glory of Jesus. Go back to Hebrews chapter 1. And so number one, he's the heir of all things.

Number two, he's the creator of all things. Number three, he is the radiance of God's glory. Number four, he is the exact representation of his nature. But number five, he upholds all things by the word of his power. He upholds all things by the word of his power. I would like to spend just a couple of minutes talking about this because I think that this is an important point to be made

in the world that we live in today. He upholds all things by the word of his power. What he means by that is this. He is the sustaining, the guiding, the propelling, and the maintaining force in this world. He both maintains and actively sustains this world. I was reading one commentary, and I'm not much of a science guy. I like science, I'm just not that smart.

But I was reading this one commentary, and he was saying for years we've tried to figure out what holds it all together. That's something that scientists still struggle with, is what really holds it all together? What causes everything to function the way that it does? And the problem is they're looking for the answer in the wrong place. They're looking for the answer in a molecule or in an atom

or something like that, and they're missing the fact that there is a spiritual nature that holds everything together, and his name is Jesus. He's the one that holds it together. And how does he hold it together? He holds it together by the word of his power. The same word that created the heavens and the earth is the same word that is sustaining, the heavens and the earth.

It's the same word that is maintaining the heavens and the earth. And I don't know about you, but that's a really fascinating thought for me. Because I think about the fact that this world spins, and God keeps us spinning at just the right rate so that we all stay on this globe. He keeps us moving at the exact right rate. He makes sure that there's the exact amount of atmosphere here

because if you go up too high, there's not enough oxygen. If you go too far into the ground, there's not enough oxygen. He maintains it exactly as it needs to be. He keeps the sun the exact right distance from the earth because if the sun were any closer to the earth, we would burn up, even though in July it feels like we may be moved a couple of inches closer to the sun.

If it was too far away from the earth, we would freeze. And I bet you all the people in western Kansas right now are going, did he maybe move us a couple of inches away from the sun? But he keeps us in the exact right spot so that we can maintain life on this earth. As I mentioned last week, he is the God who makes sure that your lungs expand and contract at exactly the right rate to make sure that air continues to flow into your body.

He's the one who makes sure that your heart continues to beat. Oh, Ryan, that's a muscle that's just sort of been put into motion. Well, who put it into motion? Jesus put it into motion. And I will tell you right now, from experience, the one thing that keeps air pumping through your lungs and blood pumping through your veins is none other than Jesus himself

because if you've ever been there when someone passes away, you realize there is something so much more spiritual that takes place in that moment, than simply the cessation of breath and the cessation of heartbeat. There is truly God at work because God is not only the author of life, but he is the sustainer of life. Have you ever wondered how the world knows to just keep doing this exact same thing, how springtime always shows up, sometimes a little later than we want, winter always shows up, although probably for most of us in late February, early March, but it always shows up. Why do the seasons continue on the way that they do?

Because God is upholding all things. All of it through the word of his power. And that tells me something that I think that we should pay attention to and I think we should apply to our lives. If God upholds the world through the word of his power, then God upholds your world through the word of his power. You see, too many of us fear, Lord, what's going to happen in the future?

What are we going to do? How is this going to work out? How is this going to happen? And we stress about all of these different things. We worry about how are we going to pay the bills, and we worry about how am I going to maintain my health, and we worry about how am I going to make sure that everything in the world doesn't fall apart any sooner than it's supposed to.

Well, that's not your job. It's not your job to solve all of those problems. Lord, how am I going to know what's going to happen in Iran, in Venezuela? How am I going to know all these things? That's not your job. It's your job to rest in the one who sustains the world by the word of his mouth, who keeps everything flowing exactly the way that it's supposed to.

You can rest in the sovereign God of the heavens and the earth. And I tell you that because I know that there's people that worry. Sometimes I'm one of them. And we stress about things. We stress about this world, and you stress about your home and your family. Meanwhile, what God wants you to do is cast all of your anxieties upon him because he cares for you.

Because the God who created the world and the God who sustains the world is the God of your world. And you can rest in him. So he tells us he's the heir of all things. He's the creator of all things. He's the radiance of God's glory. He's the exact representation of his nature. And he upholds all things by the word of his power. And then number six, I want you to look at verse three again.

He's the radiance. He's the radiance of his glory. The exact representation of his nature. He upholds all things by the word of his power. And when he had made purification of sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. Number six, he is the one who has made purification for sins. He's made purification for sins. Of all of the things that God does,

of all of the glory of God's nature, of all of the majesty, of the power that he has, this is truly the greatest. The fact that he is able to take broken, torn, dead sinners and make them alive and make them clean is truly one of the most powerful things that God is able to do. Truly one of the most powerful things. To see God take stained individuals and make them brand new.

It speaks to the power of his nature. That word, that phrase made purification means to be purged or to be cleansed or to be washed. In the old King James and the new King James it says, and he made purification by himself. That's the idea there. Is that he was the one who did it because no one else could do it. He was the one who did it because no one else could handle that.

Jesus was the only one who was able to truly make purification for sins. I think sometimes in this culture we don't always understand what the forgiveness that Jesus brings to us actually means. And I know that because of some political things that have taken place over the last few years. So there was this thing that came out at one point in time during the last presidency where they were going to forgive all student loan debt.

I don't know if that ever ended up happening or not. I don't have student loan debt. I don't know if that happened or not. But they were going to forgive student loan debt. And as usual, everything broke on political lines. Everybody on the conservative side said, you can't do that. Everybody on the left said, don't you understand the gospel? And they tried to use the idea of forgiving student loan debt

as if it was the gospel. Like don't you understand that that's what the gospel is? The gospel is you owe a debt you can't pay and God forgave it. And it's like, yeah, but you're not understanding the forgiveness that Jesus actually offers. You see, the idea of the forgiveness that you're looking at with the forgiving of student loan debt is we're pretending it never happened.

Now, this is the gospel. If in that moment, Joe Biden had said, I have an incredible amount of wealth. Who knows how he got it? I have an incredible amount of wealth. People owe X amount of dollars. I will from my own bank account pay off their debt so that it can be forgiven. That's the gospel. You see, we owed a debt we couldn't pay because we were stained through sin.

Stained through sin because of our nature and our sin nature, but stained through sin because through our sin nature, we continue to live out our sin nature and the things that we did. And so Jesus said, they owe a debt that's gonna cost them their life. I can't just pretend it didn't happen because I am a just God, but because I am a loving God, I will take off the robes of glory and I will put on the robe of humility and I will come down and I myself will pay the debt that they owe so that anyone who believes can be purged and made clean. That's the gospel.

The first one is just some happy grandfather with Werther's Originals in his pockets waiting to say, come on, son, it's gonna be okay. Let's first pretend that didn't happen. That's not the gospel. The gospel is that you owe to debt. And so Jesus paid the debt for you. And now you can be forgiven. You know what the word forgiven means? It means to lift off of,

to lift off of. In other words, he carried the load of our debt and to do so, he lifted it off of us, which is what we're told in the book of Colossians that he put on him, that he bore in his own body on the tree all of the sins. All of the sins of humanity. So I want you to understand what the gospel really is. That it's not just God being some happy grandfather

who's gonna pretend you never sinned. It's God being just and placing your guilt upon his son who purged our sins, who purified us and cleansed us for our sins. But not only do I want you to have the logical understanding of what the gospel is, but I want you to have the heart understanding of what the gospel truly is. I want you to have the heart understanding of what Jesus did for us because he did it all himself.

For me, my greatest understanding of the gospel came in my understanding of the book of Leviticus, which is why I always love the book of Leviticus even though everybody hates it. There's all these memes going around right now about me being excited about my Bible reading journey and it shows a large football player coming up behind a small running back and it says the book of Leviticus, right? Because nobody likes to read the book of Leviticus. But for me, it was the most powerful book in my life and my understanding of the gospel.

You know why? Because Leviticus chapter 16 teaches us about one specific sacrifice and it's called the day of atonement. You've heard me share on it before, but I'm going to do it again. Because this is the day of atonement. On the day of atonement, they would choose two goats. One would be the sacrificial goat, the other one would be the scapegoat. So the first thing that they would do

with the sacrificial goat is they would do exactly what it said. They would sacrifice this goat. They would cut its throat. They would take some of its blood and they would sprinkle it on the Ark of the Covenant in the most holy place, what's called the mercy seat, which is what we're told in the book of Hebrews. Jesus is for us. Our mercy seat. That would cover the people's sins

for another year. It would atone, which means covering, kofar, covering. It would cover their sins for another year. But then what they would do is, they would take this scapegoat, the one who drew the long straw, if you will, and the high priest would do something very interesting. He would take his hands and he would place it on the head of the scapegoat.

And he would confess all of the sins of the nation for that year. Can you imagine how long that took? And then on Friday, right? Like he would confess all of the sins of the nation for the year over the head of this scapegoat. And then they would take the scapegoat outside of town, and they would release it. And it would picture the fact that that scapegoat would carry their sins away

for another year. Jesus fulfilled both of those. Have you ever paid attention to what Jesus did with his cross? Where did Jesus carry his cross? He carried his cross outside of town. Outside of Jerusalem. And he carried the cross almost just like that scapegoat. You see, when I read about the Day of Atonement and it really made sense to me, I had just watched The Passion of the Christ.

It had just come out in movies. It had just come out in theaters. And I was shocked as I watched The Passion of the Christ. But then I read about the Day of Atonement and I was just like, that's what Jesus did! Because you see, Jesus fulfilled both of those. He was the blood sacrifice who went into the most holy place. I'm getting ahead of myself in the book of Hebrews here,

but whatever, we'll cover it again. Who went into the most holy place and sprinkled not the blood of a bull or a goat, but his own precious blood on the mercy seat and offered not atonement for us, and then he carried his cross outside of the city, showing the fact that he carried our sins away not just for a year, but for all time. So that anyone who comes to Jesus is purged and completely cleaned from sin. So whatever you're holding onto from your past, whatever you're holding onto that you did wrong last week, you need to let go of it.

Because Jesus took it away. And you have been cleansed. And you have been made brand new. I think if I could get people in the church to understand one thing besides the fact that once you've been made brand new, live like you're brand new, if I could get you to understand that you have been made brand new in Christ, then I think you would start to treat yourself that way.

That if you could understand that you have been made brand new in Christ, then you would start to live that way. But too many of us think we carried our old stains into who we are now. We carried who we were in the past into who we are now. And so we keep living like we're in the past. Oh, I'm still an alcoholic. No, you're not. You've been set free. I'm still a porn addict.

No, you're not. You've been set free. I still carry the guilt of what I did in those past relationships. No, you don't. Jesus doesn't remember it. So you stop holding onto it. Because you've been made clean. You know why? Because you treat a brand new pickup truck way different than you treat an old one. Right? That's all there is to it. You're brand new. Because Jesus,

the one and only, cleansed you of sin. Number seven. Not only did he make purification for sin, but when he had made purification for sin, number seven, he sat down at the right hand of the Father. He sat down at the right hand of the Father. Two things that are really, really important about that to pay attention to. Number one, it speaks to us of the majesty

and the glory and the honor that Jesus has. Because the right hand is the seat of power. That's why, remember what Jesus' disciples were always wanting to know? Lord, who's going to sit at your right hand in the kingdom? You know why they wanted that? Because that was the seat of power. Jesus is at the right hand of the Father. And so he has the majesty, he has the honor,

and he has the glory of being seated at the right hand of the Father. The second thing that that means is this. What's Jesus doing currently? He is seated. Not only is it the position of majesty, honor, and glory, but it's the position of rest. Because he has ceased from all of his works. I want you to notice where Jesus is not right now. He is not still on the cross.

It's important for us to pay attention to. Jesus is not still on the cross. This is not a perpetual sacrifice. This is a sacrifice that was made one time for all. And he is now seated at the right hand of the Father. There is only one time in the New Testament that we see Jesus standing next to the Father. And you know when that was? When the very first martyr happened.

When Stephen was martyred, he said, I see Jesus standing at the right hand of the Father. Why? Because that's his boy. He's welcoming him home. That's the only time you see Jesus standing. Other than that, Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father. Because it is a finished work. Because the work of redemption is finished. Brothers and sisters, that is

Jesus, the one and only. I'd like to invite the worship team to come on up. This entire book of Hebrews is not only going to be looking at Jesus, but it's about learning to rest in Jesus. And that's my greatest desire for us as a body of Christ is that we would learn to rest in who we are in Jesus. And so, I just want to challenge you to something. They're about to close us

in one last song. And as they sing this last song, I want you to think about something. I want you to ask God to begin to do a work in your heart. To do a work in your heart of turning your eyes truly on Jesus in your life. To reveal to you the areas where you're getting distracted. To reveal to you the areas where you feel like you still have to earn. To reveal

to you the areas of immaturity in your life. The areas of falling away in your life. The areas where you are drifting in your life. And that in those areas, He would put your eyes back on Jesus. That you would begin to see Jesus high and lifted up. That you would begin to see Jesus as one and only. And that you would find your answer. And that you would find your rest

in Him. For some of you, that may mean you've got to come to Jesus for the very first time. You need to come to Jesus for salvation. And that's as simple as this. There's no magic words you've got to say. There's just simply the declaration of, Lord, I need a Savior. I need my sins cleansed. Would you do that for me today? And in that moment, it tells us that you're made brand new.

In that moment that you ask, it tells us, all who call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. And for those of us that are saved, it's as simple as saying, Lord, I need you to do a work in my heart, because I need you to change me. I need you to be in the forefront again. And I need to rest in you again. And so, let's all stand. I want to pray for us. And then we'll close with this last song.

Father, we come before you. And I thank you for the time that we've had in your word this morning. Lord, I lift up each person that's in this room, and each person that's watching online. And Lord, I know that there is always one great need that we have. And that is to see Jesus. And so, Lord, whether it's someone who is needing, Lord, to cry out to you for the very first time

for salvation, to have their sins cleansed so that they can know this great God who has created them for this purpose, or Lord, whether it's laying aside the distractions, the unbelief, the works, to rest in the finished work of Jesus. Whatever work needs to be done in our hearts this morning, Lord, I pray that you would do it. And I ask that you would move it by the power of your Holy Spirit. In Jesus' name.

Amen. Be blessed. I've come before you this morning. And Lord, we run to you. Lord, again, fix us. You're the only one that can fix what's going on in our lives, Lord. You're the only one that can fix what's wrong in our hearts, Lord. And so, Lord, we come before you. Just continue to work. Father, we love you and we praise you in your precious and holy name. Amen.

You guys have a wonderful week. Lord bless you.