 All right, so we're looking tonight at the incarnation of Christ the incarnation of Christ from Hebrews chapter 1 Verses 1 through 4 here, and I want to give you some background on the text before we get into it a little bit The letter to Hebrews and we look at the background of this and the background of this has import importance for us And looking at this text and looking at the incarnation this text this letter was written to Jewish Christians in the dispersion Christians who had left home left family left jobs and were Put out if you will outcasts of society be they became too many the dregs of society And this was to those Jewish Christians who had been persecuted oppressed in this way and it was written in that period if you will between Pentecost and The destruction of the temple in 80 70 These were Jews who had become Christians and because of their commitment to Christ because of confessing Christ as Lord Because of their baptism they were under great persecution as I said, they had given up everything for Christ They had given up jobs. They'd given up family. They'd given up Inheritances given up friends given up houses given up lands They had been put out of their families and you think about all that was given up for Christ They gave up all to follow Christ They had been kicked out of the synagogues were no longer allowed in the synagogues and as a Jew at this time The synagogue was the center of your worship life the center of the way that you served God Was everything to them and they would have been outcasts of society now make no mistake about it You consider counting the cost to follow Christ the cost to them was visible and it was evident It was extremely high and they gave it they paid the cost They saw that they counted the cost to follow Christ and they paid that cost today Often many come to Christ without counting the cost There to them not a cost to be considered and many times it's a way that the gospel the gospel has preached to them They don't consider the fact that there is a cost to following Christ. They simply following Christ means Whispering a prayer that will change your eternity It means going down front at a service and then just continuing in services for a while as you feel like it when you have Opportunity but there is no real cost to your life and I want to ask you in light of this based on who this text is Written to what is it costing you to follow Christ when you came to Christ when you counted the cost What did you determine that that cost would be the Bible says that all who desire to live godly in this present age Will suffer persecution did you consider there would be persecution associated with following Christ? And if you didn't consider there'd be persecution for following Christ, and you're not being persecuted now. Why not? Are you following Christ? Are you doing what Christ commands? Are you being put in a situation where there is a cost and what does that cost to you? Are you compromising? Here they left all because they were uncompromising they didn't compromise to follow Christ They left all to follow Christ. What have you left to follow Christ? Have you left that life that you once lived? If you haven't fully left that life that you once lived for yourself, and you've not compromised to follow Christ You've not counted the cost Here these Jewish Christians they counted the cost and this letter says letter to the Hebrew says to these Jewish Christians that no matter what the cost Christ is worth it for you here who are following Christ Would you say amen to that that Christ is worth it? Amen, and you wouldn't let anything stand in the way of following Christ You're willingly every Christian willingly for sakes all to follow him They make that commitment in their mind in their heart that they would leave all to follow Christ That's not the only Audience that this letter was written to there were other Jews that were within the scope of the intent of this letter and Those Jews who were Jews they believed what was claimed about Christ They believed that Christ was a Messiah they believed that Christ was the Son of God But they feared making the commitment to follow him as Lord because of the cost Maybe they saw the price that was paid by their kinsmen who sacrificed all to follow Christ and they said to themselves I don't want to do that. The cost is just too high. I don't want to give up my job I don't want to give up my family. I don't want to give up my spouse I don't want to give up my financial security I don't want to give up what they gave up and it's just a fearful thing now We see that time and time again Don't we when you're witnessing someone someone comes and they're Considering whether or not to give their lives to Christ to submit themselves to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and yet They have a wife right and the wife isn't willing to come alongside and to them They say to themselves listen following Christ isn't worth my isn't worth my marriage Or maybe they turned down they'd have to turn down a job offer making good money And they say to themselves, you know what following Christ just isn't worth giving up this opportunity for and People count the cost, but they fear making the commitment to follow him as Lord because in their minds the cost is too high They understand the cost and they see the effects of paying that cost But then they decided themselves that the cost just isn't worth it This letter is also written to them and that may be some of you here tonight. You think to yourself It's just too much of a cost. It's just too much many. I remember when I first came to this church and I looked at All that we do you know all that it meant to follow him as Lord I looked how at how serious the brothers and sisters were and I thought to myself and do I Am I willing do I have what it takes to follow the Lord with that kind of commitment? It makes you think and it should the Bible says for you to count the cost Do I have that kind of commitment? Can I do what it takes to follow the Lord? Is it worth it this letter is written to them to say to these Jewish people that fear making that commitment It's written to say Christ is worth it It is exhorting them challenging them commanding them to stay with Christ to give all to follow Christ Because it's worth it remember when I was coming to the Lord when the Lord saved me just before the Lord saved me He's working on my heart, and I'm considering and if I have to become a Christian. I Don't want to leave this or that or the other thing which was all sin to me. I wasn't willing to give it up I thought to myself and if I really follow Christ earnestly, he's gonna make me some missionary You know and I don't want to be a missionary and in my heart at the time. It's right I didn't want to give I don't want to pay that cost because the Lord hadn't yet given me new life in Christ The Lord hadn't yet changed my heart But what the Lord is gracious enough to do in salvation is that when he changes your heart when he gives you a new heart In Christ those things that you were once claimed to now become nothing But dung to you and you would gladly give them up and you view Christ as worth it Beforehand it's just the cost is too high, but when the Lord changes your heart There's nothing that will stand between you and Christ not wives not children not houses not lands in that what the scripture says Nothing stands between you and Christ and the cost is worth it And it's worth it because the Lord changes your heart to value it Christ becomes precious Christ becomes exceedingly worth it That's because the Lord changes your heart This letter was written to those who were fearful of going back Those who were fearful of even beginning to follow Christ in the first place and this letter is written to all those Jews All those Jews that needed to believe that Jesus Christ was a fulfillment of every promise of God Every promise of God given in the Old Testament every promise of God to them all of that was fulfilled in Jesus Christ and in no other and they need to be assured of that truth You need to understand that every promise of scripture every promise of God your eternal soul is Depended upon you understanding that Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of God's promises to save you if you'll repent and believe in the gospel All of it is fulfilled in Christ if you're gonna be in heaven one day It's gonna be because of Christ if you're gonna have redemption forgiveness of your sin It's not just because you deserve forgiveness. You don't deserve anything It's because of Christ because of the grace of God in Christ Jesus our Lord He is the fulfillment of all the Old Testament promises He is the son of David who would be a king and a priest forever and all the promises of God are yes And amen in him Anything about it now to these people that this letter was written to everything that they knew Everything about their world was about to come crashing down around them It was just a few short years before Jerusalem would be sacked in 8070 the temple would be destroyed The city would be destroyed everything that they had trusted in would be torn down not one stone laid upon another So their worlds were about to be shaken They would not have the earthly temple any longer the earthly priesthood would go away the earthly Sacrifices would go away. Everything would come to a screeching halt They would lose the earthly temple But what this letter says is that these precious brothers and sisters in Christ these Jewish Christians would in place of an earthly temple Have a house made without hands eternal heavens a Blessing in Christ that they could have never ever experienced before him all that that they trusted in was going away But they had Christ and Christ is worth it They wouldn't have the sacrificial system that they could rely on any longer in a strange way They came to rely on that system for recovering for their sin They didn't have that any longer after 8070, but they had once for all the sacrifice of Christ They no longer had the holy of holies access to God in the temple by which the priest would enter in one time a year to make Atonement for the people that would be gone away But the Lord Christ who is crucified tore the veil into they had direct access to the father behind the veil through Christ They had entry they had access to God the father himself Behind the veil by the blood of the lamb in this if you think about this the new Covenant in Christ and all those promises that came with Christ are far better far superior to the old covenant Everything about Christ is supreme everything about Christ is superior everything about Christ is preeminent Here he is superior to Everything we don't have need for Old Testament types any longer We don't have need for Old Testament shadows in that sense any longer They all point to Christ and Christ is the fulfillment of them all We have exchanged types and shadows for the reality the fulfillment of those types and shadows in Christ Jesus Christ here to these Jewish Christians Is superior to everything they had left behind in the old covenant When they came to Christ Jesus Christ became preeminent became superior became supreme Over everything they left behind that's true of Christians today Everything of everything you left behind all of that Paul counted as rubbish, right so that he could gain Christ Everything that you left behind is counted as nothing is counted as worthless compared to Christ Compared to the excellencies of knowing him And here is superior to everything they left behind in the old covenant So that is meant the purpose of this is meant to beg the question Why would he's asking the Hebrews at this point in time the audience of this letter, but he asks you the same question Why would you ever want to go back? You think about the Christian life, and I've talked to many I know you have two counseling a brother or sister struggling having difficulty and Getting to the point considering throwing in the towel Can you ever throw in the towel? Is there anything that would cause you to go back to all that which is so inferior, right so Ridiculously unworthy Compared to the excellencies of knowing Christ you would never go back Why wouldn't you want to follow Christ? That's the question that he asked the lost person today those that feared making the commitment The letter to the Hebrews is written to ask the question to beg the question. Why wouldn't you want to follow Christ? Knowing that all the promises of God are yes, and amen in him that everything is fulfilled in him He is superior to everything about you Everything about this life everything about this world all Pails in comparison to the excellencies of knowing Christ our lord, right? Why wouldn't you want to follow him? Why wouldn't you give up everything you have? Why wouldn't you leave everything behind to follow him with all your heart soul mind and strength? There just simply is no other choice and it's the letter to the Hebrews that makes that abundantly clear. There is no Comparison there's no better choice. There's no better direction and no one better to follow Nothing better to do, but then give your life a living sacrifice and it's interesting here But in thinking about even who the letter is written to We see now the incarnation of christ throughout the bible from Different perspectives and in a different perspective here to the letter to the Hebrews Think about it in the gospels. We see a a historic perspective on the incarnation We see a lot about the birth of christ the details around his birth Mary and joseph him being born of a virgin we see Zachariah, don't we in the Forewarner of christ elizabeth and john the baptist coming We see the historic perspective of jesus christ being born and him being laid in a manger And we see the angels and we see the messengers and we see the star And we see herids sending the soldiers to kill all those under the age of two all these Historical details about the birth of christ, but not much about christ himself yet in the gospels. We get a historical perspective We see the miraculous virgin birth We see mary and joseph naming him jesus because he would save his people from their sins Even in john the gospel of john we get a little bit more of a glimpse of a theological perspective But still not yet about the the monumental mountainous facts the implications of the incarnation of christ In other places in the old testament, even you get the perspective of what the incarnation meant prophetically And you get prophecy after prophecy after prophecy about the incarnation of christ the messiah But here in the letter to the hebris there's there's more here and in this letter to the hebris you get god's perspective The divine perspective the divine commentary if you will on the incarnation and you get to see More of the mountain if you will that is the incarnation the incarnation is the mount everest Really beginning of who christ is and what christ has done And you get in hebrus here beginning this mountain view of the incarnation of christ Especially here in the first two verses that we're going to look at tonight And this mountain view this mountain view of the incarnation of christ should promote you to worship Shouldn't promote you to love the lord your god with all your heart soul mind and strength Should promote you to say yes, my entire life is worth it Every sacrifice that i can make is only a reasonable Act of worship as it says in romans chapter 12 That everything i am should be given to all that he is And this is this mount everest is the surpassing Greatness of the lord jesus christ and it should promote these jewish brothers and sisters in hebrus It should promote them to say yeah, i made the right decision I made the right decision it should promote you if you're not submitting yourself to christ A humble understanding of the letter to the hebrus should promote promote you to say up to this point I've made the wrong decision. I need to follow christ to the christian It should motivate you provoke you to follow christ to your death to make your life a living sacrifice And that is just reasonable considering how god reveals who christ is here in this letter And so we want to begin with verse one and we want to start climbing mount everest here and looking at christ and the Superior supremacy the pinnacle that is jesus christ and at verse one first point on your notes This is the pinnacle of christ We're climbing the pinnacle we're climbing them out everest in verse one Looking at the pinnacle the excellency of who christ is looking at the excellency of his incarnation So we're going to climb to the climb to the pinnacle beginning in verse one where the bible says god Who at various times and in various ways spoke in time passed to the fathers by the prophets now This is in verse one God speaking and it's describing the way that he spoke This is looking back here to the old testament god speaking in the old testament And here he is speaking to the fathers the fathers here are just the ancestors of the jewish people You have these jewish brothers and sisters this letter it was written to their ancestors were the fathers all those Who had gone before and god is speaking to all those jewish ancestors who had gone before he's speaking Through them through the means to them through the means of the prophets And he says in many ways and at various times all of this represents the old testament scripture Okay, this means in the law He spoke to them by means of the prophets in the law in the writings and in the prophets We see that depicted in the new testament the law exodus and deuteronomy and leviticus the writings right wisdom literature the psalms and the proverbs and ecclesiastes and then in um the law The writings and the prophets and isaia and jeremiah and ezekiel This is in the law and the writings in the prophets literally different modes Different genres different means literally they're segments. That's what that word means segments Sometimes it was by direct revelation Sometimes it was by a dream We have him speaking through visions have him speaking through a burning bush, right? We have god speaking in different modes different johnny's of various ways and at various times Sometimes it was god's audible voice, which is awesome, right? Think about the omnipotent god And the restraint that god must have used To express his word in audible voice to the people of israel gather around mount sinai You know if you just think about that for a moment god's voice so powerful He could crush this universe with a word and yet he spoke to them audibly and it scared them Moses it says was afraid And the people don't let god speak to us anymore. Moses you speak to us for god God's audible voice. Uh, it was through Inspiration through the prompting of the holy spirit and the mind and the hearts of the prophets Sometimes it was written god's revelation written in his own finger right on tablets of stone He spoke through stories through accounts through history telling historical accounts through parables Sometimes through types sometimes through symbols sometimes through ceremonies God spoke through poetry through wisdom literature Some he spoke through prophecy through history through didactic teaching Some through narrative some through law and it was all From god, which means no error. It means inspired in errant infallible It was the completely without error word of almighty god and in that sense it was Exactly as god intended to communicate everything about the old testament scriptures was exactly The way god intended to reveal himself to man in the bible It was all perfect second timothy chapter three verse 16 says that all Scripture given by inspiration of god it's breathed out by god and it's profitable for doctrine for reproof for correction For instruction in righteousness that the man of god may be complete thoroughly equipped for every good work Listen to this from second peter chapter one Says here in verse 19 and so we have this prophetic word Confirmed which you do well to heed as the light that shines in a dark place until the day dawns And the morning star rises in your hearts Knowing this first that no prophecy of scripture is of any private interpretation For prophecy never came by the will of man But holy men of god spoke as they were moved by the holy spirit So god revealed himself as fully as he intended to and in every way that he intended to perfectly as he intended to Through the prophets to the fathers in old testament in various times and in various ways In the past this is direct revelation from god and we we need this revelation of himself, right? We need the revelation of god that we have they needed the old testament scriptures here And we have this revelation in order that we might be save we'll talk about it in a moment But we have the revelation of god don't we in creation Then we see the revelation of god in nature romans 1 verse 19 says what may be known of god Is manifest in them for god has shown it to them for since the creation of the world his invisible attributes are clearly seen Being understood by the things that are made even his eternal power and godhead So that they are without excuse and turn with me for another example of that Let's just look at this in context at psalm 1 psalm 19 psalm 19 We can learn much from god's revelation of himself In nature we can look at god's creation And think to ourselves wow god is all wise Unimaginably intelligent right we can look at creation all that has been created the expanse of the universe is mind-boggling It's just unimaginable and we can look at that and say that god is everywhere at all times We can look at how all of that is is sustained and all that works not an atom out of place And we can say that god is all powerful that god can sustain all of that We can look at his creation and look at how creative god is how Imaginative that god is we can look at just the varieties of all that god has created It is astounding we can know much about god from creation in psalm 19 Beginning in verse 1 illustrates this for us verse 1 it says the heavens declare the glory of god The firmament shows his handiwork day and today utter speech night on tonight reveals knowledge There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard this revelation of god is everywhere Their line has gone out gone out through all the earth their words to the end of the world In them he has set a tabernacle for the sun which is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber And rejoices like a strong man to run its race It's rising from one end of the heaven and its circuit to the other end and there is nothing Hidden from its heat in all of this we see the wonder who is god We can see that god is gracious In providing for how everything is its needs are met We can see how god is merciful and gracious in how our needs are met How he takes care of us there's much that we can know from god about From about god from creation But that revelation of itself of himself isn't enough We don't have enough revelation of who god is through creation We can understand something of god, but we cannot be saved without a more personal Understanding of him we need to know And we need it needs to be revealed to us from scripture from the word of god himself That we are depraved that we are sinners and we are separated from god in our fall Listen the bible says that natural man That doesn't does not understand the things of god because they are spiritually discerned We need god then to open our minds open our hearts open our our understanding We need god then to speak to us in that personal way We need him to reveal himself to us There is much that we cannot know Apart from god being gracious to us in revealing himself and i love that in paul's sermon in acts 14 God telling the pagans that god did not leave us without a witness of himself and in that god did good And he provided this witness in various ways and in many times in times past to the fathers by the prophets He spoke and revealed himself to us Now god also said about this revelation that he did this in time past at this point in time when this letter was written Getting close to 500 years Since the last time that a prophet had spoken 500 years this during this time the apocrypha was written the apocrypha is not god speaking That's not inspired literature. It's not written by god It had been almost 500 years since a prophet had spoken Um, it had been a while since they had god's revelation of himself to them But all of this all of this revelation in time past at that point 500 years That christ is the pinnacle of all of that revelation Everything that god had revealed in times past in many ways various ways various times Through the prophets to the fathers all of that was pointing to christ Everything about that was pointing to christ All that god had revealed was pointing to the pinnacle the top of mount everest the pinnacle of his Redemptive history, which is christ He is the one in all of that revelation That is pointed to and so whether you begin in genesis genesis chapter three with the first mention of the gospel there Genesis chapter three the reverse of the curse and how the serpent's head would be crushed All of that points to christ when you get to abraham and isek on mount mariah very it's amazing with that Picturing the sacrifice of christ taking place many things on the same mountain That was just outside jerusalem that later would be outside the city where christ may have been crucified The mountain mount mariah the sacrificial system Christ is pictured in all of the feast days christ is pictured in all of the healings Christ is pictured in the the ultimate judgment of unbelievers in the day of judgment spoken of by the prophets He is the promised king And jesus said on the road to Emmaus speaking to disciples after his ascension In luke 24 27 he says in beginning at moses and all the prophets He expounded to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself Jesus christ was the pinnacle of god's old testament revelation He is the supreme revelation of all of that old testament literature And he is the point of all that old testament literature However to those at that time if you think about it now this revelation of god in the old testament was incomplete fragmentary each writer Each prophet got bits and pieces this prophet got some this prophet got another this prophet got more all of it was fragmentary and it was all shadowy full of incomplete thoughts or incomplete prophecies it wasn't Clearly fully and completely revealed to them It was incomplete and so we learned that the revelation of god In the scripture his revelation of himself is progressive And we have scripture that begins in old testament begins in genesis and works from genesis to malachi in a progressive way Gradually gradually gradually revealing more of who christ is and who god is And what would be done our redemption in christ more and more and more revelation as time goes by It begins incomplete And progresses to that which is completely complete It begins with that which is partial that which is shadowy that which is sometimes dim To that which is in fullness of brightness full view right something that is clear something that is fulfilled Oftentimes this is the case that they were looking at fragmentary pictures And peter said in first peter chapter one beginning in verse 10 and following He says of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully who prophesied of the grace that would come to you Searching what or what manner of time the spirit of christ who is in them was indicating when he Refined beforehand the sufferings of christ and the glories that would follow to them It was revealed that not to themselves But to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you Through those who have preached the gospel to you by the holy spirit sent from heaven These things which angels desire to look into And so it was fragmentary. It was dim. It was still shadow still type But now that brings us then to the point that literally all of that old testament proclamation All of that old testament revelation was pointing to jesus christ the messiah Jesus christ is at the pinnacle of mount everest when jesus christ was Came to earth in his incarnation Then the proclamation point two on your notes the proclamation of christ begins the proclamation here in hebrus comes in verse two Where the bible says that christ a god has in these last days spoken to us by his son Whom he has appointed heir of all things through whom also he made the worlds Here in verse two is where everything that was shadowy everything that was incomplete is now made complete The pinnacle Of the incarnation of christ is reached in the proclamation of christ by god when god sent christ into the world as a man In the incarnation we reached the pinnacle and that pinnacle is the proclamation the revelation of god In christ jesus and in christ that revelation is complete. It's made complete Everything then looks at christ and then begins to examine the significance of his coming His incarnation It's then right in the monumental wisdom of god That this incarnation that all that christ did his Virgin birth his perfect righteous life His sinless life his death his substitutionary atonement his crucifixion his resurrection His ascension his intercession his return Everything that christ is and all that christ has done is then examined in the new testament revelation of god to us By the new testament authors Examined according to scripture here and it's an explanation of all that he was all that he is all that he did and all that he Does it's everything that christ is and so he brews here beginning in verse one doesn't debate this issue It just assumes it It affirms that christ in his incarnation is the fullness of god's revelation to man And god says this is my beloved son and whom i'm well pleased listen to him We have that revelation the old testament revelation all pointing to christ But now in christ's incarnation god presents his revelation complete But it doesn't end there it doesn't end with the gospel presentation of the birth of christ and the life of christ Then you have the new testament authors in the epistles and the letters Looking back on the life of christ who christ is and what he's done And those new testament authors then begin to unpack and expound upon everything that that meant They begin to examine from every angle from every perspective All that the life of christ entailed and all that that affirms and all that it is And so here it becomes crystal clear from the fragments of the old testament Now in the new we get the complete picture christ revealed god fully to man By being fully god and coming as man The bible says here in hebru's chapter one that this happened in these last days and these last days he's spoken to us Spoken to us by his son these last days are the days of christ. This is the messianic age That's the age that we're in when the bible says it's these last days It's in these last days this word has been spoken one commentator said this He said to noah god revealed the quarter of the world population to which messiah would belong To abraham god revealed the nation of messiah to jacob god revealed the tribe of messiah To david and isiah god revealed the family of messiah to mica the town to daniel the time To malachi the forerunner to jonah god gave a graphic illustration of the resurrection of the messiah But each knew only a part but when christ came he was the whole Amen, and we have the whole now given clearly In scripture of christ and you see in christ in the revelation of god in christ in the incarnation all Of the attributes and the deity of the godhead bodily all that we need to know of god We can see in christ jesus we can see god's wisdom In the mind of christ and just the amazing the economy of words and how christ Refuted rebuked the Pharisees and in the teachings of christ and in the sermon on the mount the wisdom of god The power of god we see in christ in healing the leper and healing the blind and Healing the paralytic in doing miracles and controlling the weather We see the power of god. We see the omniscience of god. We see the compassion of god We see the love of god the mercy of god the justice of god We see all that in christ because christ is god And he is god's fullest revelation of himself on the planet He is god's full and complete revelation in all of this then christ is supreme He is superior to all that came before he is everything that needs to be said Everything that needs to be revealed is christ And at this time We need to see god. We look at jesus christ All that we must know all that we must understand we can know and understand in god's revelation of himself in christ jesus our lord And we can see clearly in christ our depravity When you look at christ and who christ is and how christ lived You can see your own wicked depraved heart right your own wicked depraved mind your own wicked depraved conscience Your own wicked depraved life We see in christ and in the life of christ and in the death of christ and who christ is we see the awful weight of sin god Sweating in christ great drops of blood in the garden And christ suffering on the cross for sinners. We see in christ jesus how god feels about sin And the hatred of god certainly the hatred that god has for sin Is revealed in christ jesus and the the awful penalty that was paid And we see the necessity in christ of a perfect substitute We see in christ jesus our great need of grace and mercy And it's this christ that is declared to us It is this christ that in his incarnation because becomes god's revelation of himself To a lost and dying world that needs to be saved and needs a savior And that is that christ which is declared to us. Look at first john first john We see this christ preached and this full complete revelation of god given So that sinners might be saved The first john and look at chapter one Here that which was from the beginning Which we have heard which we have seen with our eyes which we have looked upon and our hands have handled Concerning the word of life the life was manifested and we have seen and bear witness and declare to you That eternal life which was with the father and was manifested to us That which we have seen and heard we declare to you that you also may have fellowship with us And truly our fellowship is with the father and with his son Jesus christ and these things we write to you that your joy may be full We declare christ as god's perfect and complete revelation We preach christ as all that one needs to know and understand in order to be saved That your life might be changed that you might come to a saving knowledge of jesus christ Verse five he goes on to say this is the message Which we have heard from him and declare to you that god is light And in him is no darkness at all and we see that in the revelation of jesus christ his son If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness We lie and do not practice the truth But if we walk in the light as he is in the light We have fellowship with one another and the blood of jesus christ his son cleanses us from all iniquity If we say that we have no sin We deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us if we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness If we say that we have not sinned we make him a liar and his word is not in us All of this is in the revelation of jesus christ in the incarnation of christ. This is god's revelation of himself All revelation before christ is incomplete But in god's great grace and in god's mercy in christ coming in a form of man Taking on the form of a bond servant stepping out of glory and living as a man on this earth among us We have the full revelation of god That is the incarnation to us today when we look at the incarnation We have the full revelation of god to us in christ jesus and it is perfect And it is complete and it is all that we need It goes on in chapter in hebrus chapter one And we'll look at this next time we get an opportunity God here spoke in various times and in various ways spoken time pass to the fathers by the prophets Hasn't these last days spoken to us by his son in sending christ and his incarnation Whom he has appointed heir of all things through whom also he made the worlds as we look at this next time there is then now a seven point Explanation a seven point description here of the preeminence of christ then In his incarnation not only is god's revelation of himself too sinful man complete But then we have a description here of all the ways that christ is Preeminent he's the heir of all things He made the world. He is the radiance of god's glory. He is the exact representation of his nature He upholds all things by the word of his power He is the one who made purification of sins and he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high And that is the summation the summary if you will Of the incarnation and all that follows the incarnation and all that that entails the weight And significance of the coming of christ god's complete and full revelation of himself So you think about this this is who we are to submit to This is who we are to follow When you come to christ as lord, this is whom you are submitting to as lord and submitting to him as lord Means submitting to him as heir of all things creator of the world the radiance of god's glory the exact representation of his nature Upholding all things by the word of his power He's the one who made purification for your sins and now he sits at the right hand of the majesty on high As a summary of god's revelation of himself too sinful man He is all of this he is the pinnacle and set me let me ask you Like those hebrou christians Understanding this christ in his incarnation the fullness of god's revelation of himself to man And looking at who christ is and what he's done who the significance of what he's done and who he is Is it worth it? Is it worth it? Is he worth giving up all that you have to be his disciple? If we Question that Or if you second guess that means you have no understanding of god's revelation of himself to you as revealed in christ As revealed in the incarnation means we have a dull or an incomplete or a lack of understanding relative to these things And often as scripture says The natural man cannot understand the things of god because they are spiritually discerned And we are dead in our sins and trespasses apart from christ We need god to reveal christ to us if you're outside of christ If you're not living as a christian you've not ever submitted yourself to christ You've not ever turned from your sin and placed your faith and trust and reliance and christ alone to save you Then you need god to reveal himself to you in christ jesus his complete revelation of himself You need god to reveal christ to you and in christ we see our sin We see our depravity. We see our need. We see our need for a substitute We see god's justice and we see god's grace and we see his mercy and we see his love We see god's wrath and we see god's judgment It is all declared in christ And this is what it means to submit to the lordship of jesus christ to call upon him for salvation Is to understand all that he is As revealed by god in his word. He is god in the flesh and this is jesus christ. This should Stagger your mind Jesus christ made the worlds he made you It's also jesus christ that will be your judge one day if you don't follow him in repentant faith It should cause us to drop to our face in worship. Amen It should make us odd At the thought of who christ is and what christ is done and all of this in christ is the pinnacle of god's revelation to man Will you follow him? There are those in the christian life this letter to the hebrus. There are those that it's written to that We're fearful They were on the precipice of throwing in the towel saying it's not worth it When you come to difficulty when you come to trial When you battle and battle a battle against sin And it just appears to you Like you can't go another step Think on christ Think on all that christ is all that god has done in christ all that god has fulfilled in christ all that god has revealed in christ Worship christ and you'll back away from that precipice It is worth it. You can't throw in the towel. There is no other option. Christ is supreme Christ is preeminent. He's superior to everything that you have left behind And there is nothing that you've left behind for christ that is worth going back to Is worth forsaking christ for But to the other audience those that They see what it cost They see what they have to give up And that very thing that they cherish that very thing that they love they know they have to give up in counting the cost This letter is also written to them And this understanding of who christ is this revelation of god this revelation of himself to sinful sinful man Should provoke you to say it is worth it This is the lord of the universe. He made all things made the world He is the radiance of god's glory. He is the exact representation of his nature upholds all things by the word of his power He's the only one who can make purification for your sins. He is the one sitting at the right hand of the father in the majesty on high This is christ And this is god's revelation of himself and you must look on christ and say it is worth it No matter how much i have to give up no matter what i must do You can't be as the rich young ruler and turn away and go away sorrowful because you had much that you wanted to cling to Christ is worth giving up all to be his disciples. So where are you tonight? or you have maybe that weak feeble spirit that is Tempted to turn away from the living god with an evil heart of unbelief Or maybe you are that one who hasn't come to christ and you're clinging to the fleeting Wicked soon to be burned up trappings of this world And you just haven't come to an understanding of who christ is or what christ is done Pray to the lord what open your heart open your mind open your eyes open your ears to understand who christ is That you would see more of yourself And then that you would see more of christ and god in this revelation of christ to you can save your soul If you'll turn from your sin Turn from your life And that you will live the rest of your days by faith in christ for him Who made you and gave himself for you amen amen. Let's pray father in heaven god. Thank you for The revelation of yourself to us in christ jesus our lord it is staggering And god we're just in awe of you And we worship you and we praise you and god we know that Even our attempts to the word in our own flesh are feeble to Understand and to grasp all there is to know of you all there is to know of christ and the Significance and the impact that should have on our lives The impact that should have on our eternity and god we just thank you lord that you have revealed yourself to us Through your word god. We thank you that has come through the work of your spirit that We're not left to ourselves god to understand these things because Outside of christ, we're dead in our sins and trespasses and we can't discern these things My god, you've been so gracious so merciful to us and that Sending christ and that revelation of yourself to us that then god by your spirit you cause us to see God you bring blind eyes to see the excellencies of christ You bring deaf ears to hear of the wonders of christ the glories of christ the redemption the salvation of christ And god, we thank you for that. I thank you that you've made us alive in christ that you've brought us from death to life And I pray god if there's anyone here that hasn't Repented of their sins and there's still Enraptured by their own iniquity raptured by the fleeting pleasures of this world Now that you would break their heart over who they are God that you would break their heart over who christ is and what christ has done for sinners That you would save them god for your glory To the christian here god who struggles To the christian here who goes through trial difficulty, it's all of us at one point or another God, would you be merciful to us in revealing the Excellencies of who christ is when we're in that that time In that position By your spirit through your word that we would see the glories of our risen lord and that we would cry out With christians throughout the ages who have given their lives and we would say he's worth it This christian life is worth it that worshiping christ for all eternity is worth it And we take great joy. It's a great blessing great privilege to Give all and service to our lord and to give all to follow him and to be his disciple I say thank you for this time of worship and thank you for this passage of scripture And thank you for your revelation of yourself to us. Thank you for christ It's in his name we pray amen