I preached this short message on Hebrews 1:1–4.
Hebrews 1:1–4. “God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, 2 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. 3 And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they.”
This passage is rich and deserves much more than fifteen minutes to accurately handle it, but I would like to fix our attention on just a few thoughts from this passage tonight. I would like to turn our attention to what these verses convey about Jesus Christ as our mediator. While this passage doesn’t mention the word mediator specifically, the concepts are definitely here. Christ is specifically called a mediator four times in the New Testament. First Timothy 2:5 says, “For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” Hebrews 8:6 says, “But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, by as much as He is also the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises.” Hebrews 9:15 says, “For this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant.” And Hebrews 12:24 refers to “Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel.”
So what is a mediator? A mediator is one who stands between two parties, representing each to the other. An illustration of a mediator might be a translator. Another might be one who seeks to reconcile a broken relationship—although we must not think of God here as unloving and unwilling to be reconciled to man. He is the very one who has appointed His Son as mediator so that we might be reconciled to Him. So Christ as mediator is the one who stands between God and man, representing us to God and God to us.
He does this in three offices: Prophet, Priest, and King. As Prophet, He reveals God and His will to us. As Priest, He represents us before God by offering Himself as a sacrifice for our sins and interceding to God on our behalf. As King, He is God’s appointed King who rules and reigns as sovereign over the world, caring especially for His people.
- God has spoken.
- Stop and ponder the wonder of God’s revelation! What if God had not spoken? He was not obligated to speak.
- God has spoken in two primary times, which correspond to our Old and New Testaments.
- God spoke in the Old Testament.
- The old typifies the new and foreshadows it.
- Everything about it is pointing to the future fulfillment in the New Testament.
- The Old Testament is basically preparatory.
- The Old Testament prophets failed and showed the need for a perfect Prophet.
- The Old Testament priests failed and showed the need for a perfect Priest.
- The Old Testament kings failed and showed the need for a perfect King.
- God has spoken in the New Testament.
- It contrasts with the old in that it is full and final and complete.
- There is not a better revelation of God that we are waiting for.
- Jesus has come as the perfect Prophet, Priest, and King.
- Jesus as Prophet reveals God and His will to us.
- God spoke to us by His Son.
- Jesus is the brightness of His glory—the light of the world, the glory of God.
- Jesus is the express image of His person—the image of God. “If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father.”
- Jesus as Priest fully accomplishes atonement for our sins.
- He purged our sins—Hebrews presents it as finished!
- He sat down—a sign of its completion.
- This is the most dominant theme of the book.
- Jesus as King sovereignly rules and reigns over all things.
- He was the agent of creation.
- He is the agent of preservation.
- He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.
Application.
- One of the Christian’s greatest needs is to know God. Jesus as Prophet is the full and perfect revelation of God to man. Let us look to Christ as He reveals God to us in the pages of Scripture. Let us look at (1) who He is (His names and His nature), (2) what He did (His works), and (3) what He said (His words). As the perfect Prophet, Jesus not only brings the message of God to His people, but He Himself is the very message. He is both the messenger and the message. Let us seek to know Him. Let us look to Him preeminently.
- The Christian also needs to be right with God. Jesus as Priest fully and finally dealt with our sin on the cross, and now He continues to intercede for us to God on the basis of that sacrifice. Redemption has been fully and finally accomplished. We can only be right with God through that perfect sacrifice that was made. And we can never be any more right with God by the things that we do. Displaying our works before God as a means of being right with Him is belittling to the all-sufficiency and efficacy of the perfect sacrifice that Christ made for us.
- The Christian also needs (a) the power of God to rule over him and (b) the hope that comes from knowing that the things around him are under God’s control. Jesus as our perfect King has the power to change our hearts. He has the power to sanctify us and help us overcome our sin. He can give us the victory. Let us go to Christ as our King and seek for Him to change us to be more like Him. In addition, Christ as King gives us the confidence that the things that happen around us are not out of control. The Scriptures teach that “His kingdom rules over all.” No person, thing, or event is outside of the realm of Christ’s ruling kingdom. Oh, how the Christian should cease fearing and worrying, and should rest and trust in the power of the great King.
- In short, Jesus as our perfect mediator fully meets every need that we have. We must never look elsewhere to have our needs met. We must turn to Him in everything as our great Prophet, Priest, and King!