10 Things Controlling Time Now & Your Eternity
Summary: I never cease to be amazed at the richness of God’s Word. In just the first 3 verses of the Epistle to the Hebrews, we find no fewer than 10 divine revelations that have immense impact upon our lives, both in time and, most importantly, for all eternity.
- Our Text: Hebrews 1:1-3, NIV In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.
1. There IS a God — “In the past God spoke”
The very first verse of the Bible (Genesis 1:1) reads: “In the beginning God created…” At the Creation, God was already there. Prior to His creating the heavens and the earth, God already was. His existence is eternal, looking both backwards and forwards. The Scripture declares, “From everlasting to everlasting you are God” (Psalm 90:2). Multiple Scriptures describe God as eternal, all-powerful, omniscient, omnipresent. He says of Himself, “Do not I fill the heaven and earth?” (Jeremiah 23:24) We serve a God who is absolutely unlimited in all that He is and does.
2. God spoke through His prophets — “In the past God spoke …through the prophets ”
God has historically spoken to the people that He created. He spoke to and about His people Israel in what we know as the Old Testament. Great God-ordained prophets like Samuel, Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, and many others heard God’s word directly from Him. And they communicated God’s message to His people, either directly or by the written word such as the biblical prophetic books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, and others. The takeaway is this: God doesn’t hide from His people. Rather, He speaks to us. In the Old Covenant He did that frequently through His prophets. But look at the very next point…
3. God now speaks through His Son Jesus — “...but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son ”
Now, since the coming of Jesus to earth 20 centuries ago, God has spoken to us at a far higher level. “In the past” it had been through God’s prophets (as in #2 above), but now directly through His divine Son Jesus. Jesus not only directly communicates to us the word of God Almighty, but one of His very names in Scripture is “the Word of God” (Revelation 19:13). John’s Gospel says of Jesus the Son: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… [14] The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:1, 14).
In Matthew 17:1-8 we see Jesus taking Peter, James, and John up into a high mountain. There He was gloriously transfigured before them, shining like the sun (vs. 2). Appearing with Him from heaven were the prophets Moses and Elijah. But even in the presence of those two famous prophets of God, the voice of God from heaven spoke of Jesus and said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” In the Old Covenant God had spoken through prophets like Moses and Elijah. Since Jesus’ first coming and ever since, God speaks to us through His Son Jesus. He is to be the center of our focus, “fixing our eyes on Jesus” (Hebrews 12:2).
4. God has entrusted all to His Son — “whom He appointed heir of all things”
Since Jesus’ death, burial, resurrection, and ascension back to heaven, God the Father has entrusted everything to Jesus. The Father has made the Son “heir of all things” and has made Him “Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:36, KJV). Quite correctly could the resurrected Savior say to His disciples, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” [by God the Father] (Matthew 28:18). This became part of the apostolic preaching. The apostle Peter declared, “You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, announcing the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all” (Acts 10:36).
5. Jesus is Co-Creator with God the Father — “through whom also he made the universe ”
The first verse of the Bible (Genesis 1:1) tells us: “In the beginning God created…” Our verse in Hebrews and several others in Scripture tell us that the preincarnate Son of God was the Co-Creator with God the Father — “through whom [the Son] He [the Father] made the universe.” Other verses similarly attribute creative activity to Jesus: “Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made” (John 1:3); “He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not” (John 1:10, KJV); “…one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things were created” (1 Corinthians 8:6, KJV). Jesus being Co-Creator with the Father is one of many verses proving Christ’s full Deity.
6. The Son Jesus reveals God’s glory — “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory ”
Point 7 below will add to this truth. This portion of vs. 3 specifically says that Jesus the Son is the radiance of the glory of God the Father. The Living Bible says, “God’s Son shines out with God’s glory.” The New Living Translation says, “The Son radiates God’s own glory…”
The glory, the splendor, the magnificence of God came to this earth in the person of His Son Jesus. The apostle John records this: “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). The next portion of vs. 3 (just below) helps us understand how this is so.
7. Jesus perfectly reveals the Father to us — “The Son is…the exact representation of His being”
This truth is so important that I want us to see it in several translations, to make it fully clear:
- • “The Son is … the exact representation and perfect imprint of His [Father’s] essence” (Amplified).
• “He is … the exact imprint of his nature” (ESV).- • “The Son is as God is in every way” (NLV).
- • “The Son expresses the very character of God” (NLT).
- • “He … bears the very stamp of his nature” (RSV).
Do you want to know what God the Father is like? Look at His Son! Jesus is “the exact representation of His being.” When the disciple Philip asked Jesus to “show us the Father,” Jesus replied, “Don’t you know me, Philip? … Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:8-9). Christ said of Himself, “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30). He did not say that He was the Father, but rather that He was and is one with the Father. If we look at Jesus, we see “the exact representation … the perfect imprint … the stamp of [God the Father’s] nature” in every way.
8. Jesus holds the creation together — “sustaining all things by His powerful word”
In point 5 above, we saw Jesus Christ, the “Word of God” in His preincarnate state, as the Co-Creator with God the Father. This verse gives us the truth that logically follows: the Creator who put the universe together is the same Creator who sustains and upholds that universe by His powerful word. One translation (NIRV) says that Jesus “holds all things together.” Think of a nuclear explosion that comes from just a small amount of created matter. Just imagine the destructive chaos if Jesus ceased to hold together and sustain all the created matter in our world and the entire universe! Thankfully, He does sustain it all and is fully able to continue to do so right up to the “Blessed Hope,” His Second Coming.
9. Jesus is God’s Solution for our sins — “[He] provided purification for sins ”
This is the essence of the saving Gospel — “Christ crucified” on the cross for our sins.
In my opinion, the Bible’s best definition of the Gospel is in 1 Corinthians 15:2-4: “By this gospel you are saved … [3] "that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.” In His death, burial, and glorious resurrection, the Savior Jesus Christ took on Himself the guilt of our sins. He became the one and only perfect sacrifice that could pay the price to redeem us from our fallen, sinful state and bring us into a saving relationship with God the Father. The one who repents and believes in Jesus (Acts 20:21) can be assured that "the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin" (1 John 1:7).
What a beautiful gift to us: Jesus Christ “died for all” (2 Corinthians 5:15) and rose again as our victorious Redeemer/Savior. As the only One capable of redeeming us back to God, He is also the only way to God the Father — “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). If you haven’t come to God for salvation and eternal life, you can do that right now, through Jesus Christ. The late, respected evangelist Billy Graham has a short, excellent aid to being saved at this webpage.
10. Jesus is seated at God’s right hand today — “He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven”
Where is the Lord Jesus Christ right now? He’s seated at the right hand of God the Father in heaven. And He will remain there until the end of the Church Age and the time for His promised Second Coming to earth for His people — “For he must remain in heaven until the time for the final restoration of all things, as God promised long ago through his holy prophets” (Acts 3:21, NLT). And while our Lord Jesus is in heaven, seated at the Father’s right hand, we who are born-again believers have full access to Him and the throne of grace — “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Hebrews 4:14-16).
In Sum:
• There is an Almighty God
• God spoke in the past through His prophets
• Now, since Jesus’ 1st coming, God speaks through His Son
• God has made Jesus heir of all things
• Jesus is the Co-Creator of the universe
• Jesus the Son reveals God’s glory
• The Son is the exact representation of God’s being
• Jesus holds the creation together and sustains it
• Jesus purifies us from our sins; He is the only Savior
• Today He is seated at God the Father’s right hand in heaven, interceding for us! (Romans 8:34; Hebrews 7:25)
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If you'd like to learn more about our remarkable Savior, you might enjoy our sermon on 'Jesus, the Amazing Son of God'
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