 Testing there we go. Thank you brother. All right. Well good to see everybody glad to have you back Bundled up like it's January or something It's always January in the sanctuary. It's nice temperature Just change the thermostat. There you have it Welcome. Well, we're gonna Work through the passage in Scripture tonight Hebrews chapter one if you'll turn with me to Hebrews chapter one I want to continue what we started a couple of weeks ago And last time we looked at this passage. We looked at the incarnation of Christ and Tonight in Hebrews chapter one we want to look tonight and finish this four verse section here on the supremacy of Christ the supremacy of Christ from Hebrews chapter one verses one through four and Here the Bible says God who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets 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 Who being the brightness of his glory and the express image of his person and Upholding all things by the word of his power when he had by himself purged our sins Sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high Having become so much better than the angels as he has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they Let's pray Father in heaven we thank you for this time this evening where we can study your word together or thank you for your word Thank you for this revelation of yourself In Jesus Christ the living word God and just the scriptures are testimonies of him and his work got his Substitutionary atonement his redemption God is his resurrection his ascension his exaltation his intercession Got so grateful to you for Christ and so grateful for this Testimony of his saving work God. Thank you for this time to be able to dig into these Points from your word and I pray God That we would be awed by the Excellency the supremacy the preeminence of Christ and that we might buy your spirit Love him more fervently serve him more fervently Be more fervently grateful for all that he's done for us and God thankful to you for this provision For sin that you've made thank you for this time all this we pray in Christ's name Amen And tonight our sermon titles the supremacy of Christ from Hebrews chapter 1 verses 1 through 4 and as we began this text last Time we gave a little background on the text and the background referring to the audience that the author of Hebrews was writing to And so I wanted to start back with that just to make sure that we Remember that as we get into the text itself this letter was written to Jews Jewish Christians in the dispersion These Jewish Christians had counted the cost to follow Christ and they had paid that cost and they had Been dispersed most of them under great persecution And the author of Hebrews says in chapter 13 that they had set out to follow Christ Outside the camp if you will they were headed outside the camp following Christ Hebrews 8 Chapter 8 verse 13 declares the old covenant obsolete and a clear line was being drawn between everything that they had grown up in in Judaism and now this the newness of Christianity and the Obsolescence of you will of the old covenant and their old way of thinking and that Judaism they had grown up in and their world was becoming Unraveled around them so to speak they were now in the dispersion under great persecution and under that great pressure Under that great persecution and even under their thoughts. They were now reconsidering their commitment to Christ and Reconsidering their commitment to Christ at a time where it was being necessary that they make a clear break with the past They needed to move on from that Judaism that they had grown up in and now move on to follow Christ a clear break was needed And this letter says to these Jewish Christians that in your circumstances Christ is worth it. This letter is designed to say that giving all for Christ even your own life also is Worth it. It is worth to pay whatever price is necessary to follow Christ to have Christ But every reasonable person every reasonable person would come to that same conclusion, right? If they were reasonable, they're gonna come to the same conclusion However, there are many who do not come to that conclusion and to them Christ simply isn't worth it. They'd rather have their sin. They are blinded to their sin They are dead in their sins and trespasses and simply do not believe and they don't give all to follow Christ They don't submit themselves to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and because of their Hard and impenitent hearts. They are simply treasuring up for themselves wrath in the day of wrath and the revelation of the righteous judgment of God But there were other Jewish people at this time who were in within the scope of the intent of this letter They believed also what was claimed about Christ But they feared Making the commitment that was necessary to follow him as Lord in the first place I just didn't seem to think that it was worth it to make that hard decision and follow Christ They decided that the cost they had to pay just was too much and it just wasn't worth it They weren't willing to do what was necessary. This letter is also written to them To say that if you've not yet followed Christ and you believe who Christ is and what Christ has done listen Following Christ is worth it. Whatever price you have to pay follow Christ Example of this in John chapter 12 verse 42 and I heard Jimmy references very text this morning Where the Bible says nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in him many believed In Christ even among the rulers of the people But because of the Pharisees they did not confess him Lest they should be put out of the synagogue for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God They looked at Christ. They believed Christ. They believe what was said about him They simply love the praise of men more than they love the praise of God They didn't think that it was worth it. They weren't willing to give up all that they had to follow him And they were fearing being put out of the synagogue Listen these folks this audience you and I must see that Jesus Christ is Superior to all else is superior to everything superior to Everything that these Jewish people at the time had left behind in the old covenant many today many today Desire the praise of their wife more than the praise of God. Maybe they desire their current circumstances More than they desire the praise of God they desire that sin that they're not willing to let go of and they don't desire the praise of God They desire the indulgence of riches over the surpassing riches of knowing Jesus Christ our Lord They desire their friends their lifestyle the plans that they have made for their life. We see it all the time Don't we someone who comes? who Their spouse maybe doesn't want them to come to Christ and they turn away from Christ because of their spouse There are circumstances like this all over the place. You remember from scripture the account of the rich young ruler Who because of his wealth turned away from Christ? He was presented With the cost of following Christ the cost of entering into the kingdom and the rich young ruler Turned away. He wasn't willing to give up all that he has as Luke 14 says to be his disciple We need to understand they need to understand that we have nothing Going on nothing going on that is more important than following Christ There's nothing going on in your life What is hindering you if you've not yet submitted to Christ if you've not yet turned from your sin and put your faith in him Leave all now and what the letter to the Hebrews says is that Christ is worth it It's worth it to leave everything you have now if you profess the name of Christ And maybe you've not been serving him as fervently as the Bible would describe Leave all now and follow Christ. It is worth it leave I in Luke chapter 5 Immediately stood up and left his tax office to follow Christ. He left it all behind He walked out the front door to follow Christ What will you leave will you leave it all behind to follow him? It is worth it in Luke chapter 9 verse 59 Christ said to another follow me But this person said Lord let me first go and bury my father and Jesus said to him Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God Christ is worth it another also said Lord I'll follow you But first let me go and bid them farewell who are at my house But Jesus said to him no one having put his hand to the plow and looking back his fit for the kingdom of God There's just nothing in this world, right? There's nothing in this world worth clinging to more than Christ and his cross Nothing Christ says you cannot cling to him and continue to claim cling to the things of this world James chapter 4 verse 4 says that friendship with the world is enmity with God Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God And this letter to the Hebrew says that Christ is worth leaving all behind to follow him It's worth leaving all behind. He is worth whatever price must be paid He is worth selling all to acquire the field in which the treasure is buried He is worth selling all to acquire the costly pearl And this text is to communicate that to you and I now pray fervently You that profess the name of Christ as you live the Christian life pray fervently that the Lord would continuously Open your heart and mind open your eyes to the excellency the preciousness of Christ and pray that you not shrink back to Perdition, but you press forward believing to the saving of your soul And there were three points as we looked at this this passage last time Three points that we looked at we looked at the incarnation first and versus one and two And we saw the pinnacle Christ is the pinnacle of God's revelation to man Now the incarnation is the glorious mountain peak of God's revelation of himself to man Everything before given at various times and his very in his various ways is Pointing toward that pinnacle the pinnacle being Christ, but next in verse 2 We saw the proclamation of that revelation in the incarnation of Christ Christ is supreme and he is superior to all revelation that came before and he is the Proclamation of that revelation of God in Christ everything that came before to the prop to the fathers by the prophets points to him Everything that came after looks back at him all he said and all that he did and Expounds on the significance of his incarnation his perfect life his death, you know His crucifixion his resurrection his ascension it all looks back and expounds on what Christ did and who he is now tonight in The in verses 2 and 3 we see his preeminence We looked at the pinnacle of God's revelation the proclamation that Christ was and is and tonight his preeminence his supremacy I'm not aware of who wrote this but listen to this description of Christ. I really like this Jesus Christ came from the bosom of the father to the bosom of a woman He put on humanity that we might put on divinity He became the son of man that we might become sons of God He was born contrary to the laws of nature lived in poverty was reared in obscurity And only once crossed the boundary of the land in which he was born and that in his childhood He had no wealth or influence and had neither training or education in the world schools His relatives were inconspicuous and uninfluential in infancy He startled a king in boyhood. He puzzled the learned doctors in manhood. He ruled the course of nature He walked upon the billows and hushed the sea to sleep He healed the multitudes without medicine and made no charge for his services He never wrote a book and yet all the libraries of the world could not hold the books about him He never wrote a song yet. He has furnished the theme for more songs than all songwriters together He never found to the college and yet all the schools together cannot boast of as many students as he has He never practiced medicine yet He has healed more broken hearts than all the doctors have healed broken bodies This Jesus Christ is the star of astronomy the rock of geology The lion and the lamb of zoology the harmonizer of all discords the healer of all diseases Throughout history great men have come and gone yet. He lives on Herod could not kill him Satan could not seduce him death could not destroy him and the grave could not hold him That's awesome. I can read that again It's awesome. It's awesome in examining the preeminence of Christ. We see now tonight seven characteristics that exemplify his preeminence that exemplify his Supremacy and these verses begin with the the final revelation of God being expressed in his son Christ came as a man in his incarnation, but he is far more than just a man He is infinitely superior over all creation over all created things Christ is preeminent Interesting, but as we read through these verses This is in Hebrews chapter one here God's testimony of who Christ is this is from God's perspective It's as if God is describing obviously in his word who Jesus Christ is These are marks of his supremacy the first mark is in verse 2 where it says in these last days God has spoken to us by his son whom he has appointed air of all things a mark of Christ's Supremacy is that he is the air of all things if Jesus Christ is the son of God Then he is the air of all things that God possesses and there's a strong connection here between Airship and sonship only members of a family can inherit their father's estate And everything it says here will be brought under his feet under his Sovereign lordship and let's take a look at a couple of texts that describe this turn with me to Colossians chapter one Colossians chapter one Christ is the air of all things as the son of God Colossians chapter one look down beginning in verse 15 Colossians chapter one verse 15 And here the Bible says he is the image of the invisible God The firstborn over all creation for by him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth Visible and invisible whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers all things were created Through him and for him and he is before all things and in him all things consist And he is the head of the body the church who is the beginning the firstborn from the dead that in all things he may have Preeminence turn with me to Revelation chapter 5 Crisis preeminent crisis supreme. He's the air of all things revelation chapter 5 Just another example of this and here it is Christ that is worthy to inherit all things Revelation chapter 5 and verse 1 John says here and I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a Scroll written inside and on the back sealed with seven seals. This is the deed to the earth We'll talk about in a moment verse 2 that I saw strong a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice Who is worthy to open the scroll and to lose its seals and no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able To open the scroll or to look at it And so I wept much John says because no one was found worthy to open and to read the scroll or to look at it But one of the elders said to me do not weep Behold the lion of the tribe of Judah the root of David has prevailed to open the scroll and to lose its Seven seals and I looked and behold in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures and the midst of the elder Stood a lamb as though it had been slain having seven horns and seven eyes Which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth Then he came and he took the scroll out of the right hand of him who sat on the throne Now when he had taken the scroll the four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the lamb each having a Harb and golden bowls full of incense which are the prayers of the saints and they sang a new song saying you Christ are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals for you were slain and you have redeemed us to God by your blood out Of every tribe and tongue and people and nation and have made us kings and priests to our God And we shall reign on the earth And I looked and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne the living creatures and the elders and the number Of them was ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands saying with a loud voice Worthy is the lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing Every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and as such as are in the sea and all that are in them I heard saying blessing and honor and glory and power be to him who sits on the the throne and to the lamb Forever and ever here It's Christ that is worthy to inherit all things Rowan's 11 verse 36 says four of him and through him and to him are all things to whom be glory forever amen So all things that have been created everything that has been created. They were created For Christ Jesus he is God and this is alluding to it's a reference to Psalm chapter 2 Verse 8 and 9 where the bible says ask of me and I will give you the nations for your Inheritance and the ends of the earth for your possession You shall break them with a rod of iron and you shall dash them to pieces like a potter's vessel All things were for christ created by christ through christ and to christ are all things However in thinking about it now and thinking about his incarnation from last time christ gave all of that up Christ gave all of that up to come in the form of a man second chrithians chapter 8 verse 9 says for you know The grace of our lord jesus christ that though he was rich Yet for your sakes he became poor that you through his poverty might become rich He said that the birds of the air have nests and the foxes have holes with the son of man has nowhere to lay his head He was impoverished even buried in a borrowed tomb But he this one who was impoverished and buried in a borrowed tomb Becomes air of all things and if you are in christ, you're a joint air with him. Look at romans chapter 8 romans chapter 8 If you're in christ, you are joint airs with him romans chapter 8 and look down at verse 12 And here paul says therefore brethren We are debtors not to the flesh to live according to the flesh For if you live according to the flesh you will die But if by the spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live For as many as are led by the spirit of god These are the sons of god for you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear But you receive the spirit of adoption by whom we cry out abba father The spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of god And if children then airs airs of god and joint airs with christ If indeed we suffer with him that we may also be glorified together You're in christ You're a joint air with the sun a joint air with christ and christ will inherit everything christ will inherit everything Now think about it for a moment. What kind of application should we take from this? Just the thought of that for a moment Turn yourself turn your focus turn your eyes from this world You are a joint air with christ if you are in christ of all things Have an eternal perspective get your eyes out of the trappings of this world the pleasures of this world the fleeting things of this world Don't lower your sight Into this world lift your eyes to christ who is air of all things and you as a child of the kingdom A joint air with him have an eternal perspective on these things Don't lower your sight toward the difficulties the grief and the conflicts of this life But lift your eyes to the sun who is air of all things and coming back To receive his inheritance and to take us with him If you're a believer you are a part of that inheritance. You are part of his inheritance He will inherit you and take you with him into the kingdom and you will inherit with him He is air of all things and we're a part of that if you're in christ amen It's an awesome awesome thought But secondly in verse two the second supremacy of christ if you will the mark of his preeminence Is that he made the world it says in verse two through whom also he made the worlds So the second supremacy of our lord jesus christ is that christ Is the agent through which god through whom god made the world A worlds here is not the world the word cosmos, you know that word in greek, but it's ionos it's the Not just the world in the physical sense of the world But the ages the ages of time not just the far reaches of space But also the ages of time not just the visible world But all things both visible and invisible the totality of the universe The eons through which the plans and decrees of god are being displayed in other words He created everything time and space he created everything John one once says in the beginning was the word and the word was with god and the word was god He was in the beginning with god and all things were made through him and without him nothing was made that was made And the thought of this is that the lord jesus christ is the creator Of the universe as the stage on which the ages and decrees and work of god Are displayed and all of that are is managed by him the prophets appeared and they spoke at various times The sun however operates the universe throughout all time and as it says later upholds all things By the word of his power and think about that for a moment think about the expanse of the universe The expanse of it is staggering to me the expanse of the universe that christ has created Let me give you a just a thought an idea and this just boggles my mind. These are numbers that I can't comprehend The diameter of our earth is about 8,000 miles just short of 8,000 miles The diameter of our sun is 870,000 miles. That's massive right 870,000 miles the diameter of our sun There is a star and the star's name is beetle juice crazy name for star The diameter of that star is 250 million miles I think about it for a moment the the expanse of our own sun The diameter being 870,000 miles the diameter of this star is 250 million miles in diameter That star is 880 quadrillion miles. That's 880 with 15 zeros behind it 880 quadrillion miles from us 880 quadrillion miles away And it's one of the top 10 most visible stars in the night sky You view it with your naked eye 880 quadrillion miles away Recently there was an explosion. I heard about this on a documentary. I was watching an explosion 7 billion that's billion with a b 7 billion Lightyears away now each light year is about 6 trillion miles Each light year about 6 trillion miles. There was an explosion 7 billion Lightyears away from earth that was so powerful So massive that it was visible to the naked eye on a dark night 7 billion light years away All of this is within the scope of his word and of his power not a single atom out of place Not a single thing happening by accident Nothing out of order all perfectly operating according to the laws of his nature It is awesome Awesome to think about you've ever seen a picture of our earth Set against the picture of our sun and you see how tiny our earth is In comparison to the sun and then now place our sun In comparison to the giants that are in our universe and that just the scope of the the expanse of our universe It is staggering Staggering to me and christ created all that and he upholds it by the word of his power I mean it is absolutely. It's awesome. It's awesome The thirdly in verse three christ then also Is said to be the brightness of god's glory the brightness of god's glory Verse three who being the brightness of his glory that who being there points to christ as pre-existent always being He was always with god. He was always god He has always been in existence as god. He has no beginning no end christ has always been But it says he is the brightness Of his glory that word brightness means the the effulgence of his glory the the radiance Of god's glory the radiance of his life christ is the the shininess Of the beams of god's glory Therefore he is also eternal. No light Is without its lightness Without its shining without its glory without its radiance So as long as god has been christ has been he's eternal. He had no beginning has no end He has always been there with god and therefore christ is eternal The sun S u n is never seen without its radiance And nor the father is ever seen without the sun s o n jesus then in this sense being the brightness of his glory Expresses the glory of god to us So god's glory then Is what we see god's glory is what we see when we look at christ No one has seen god the bible says and no one ever will however jesus said that if you've seen him You've seen the father because jesus is the Exact representation of his nature and the radiance the brightness of god's glory He here it is is the glory of god Glory of god being manifested in the perfection of the sun john 114 says we saw his glory Glory as of the only begotten from the father paul wrote Of the light of the knowledge of the glory of god in the face of christ Christ is the brightness of god's glory the sun is never without its brightness And yet the brightness is not the sun s u n right it is distinct The sun is never without its brightness and yet the brightness is distinct from the sun neither is god the father The same person as god the sun They are distinct and yet both god at the same time jesus christ Radiates the light of god into our lives that we might not live in darkness He is the radiance of god's glory We then are to radiate the light of christ into a dark and dying world We are to radiate christ in that sense. We are to radiate god's glory with our lives And without the sun of god, there's only darkness John chapter 3 verse 19 says the light has come into the world and men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light. Let's his deeds should be exposed But he who does the truth comes to the light that his deeds may be clearly seen that they've been done in god And again second chrithians chapter 4 verse 6 for it is god Who commanded light to shine out of darkness who has shown in our hearts To give the light of the knowledge of the glory of god in the face of jesus christ So jesus christ then is the perfect visible expression of the reality of god Perfect visible expression of the reality of god Like this little poem the sun s un of god In glory beams too bright for us to scan But we can face the light that streams for the mild son of man And we can see the glory of god in the face of christ jesus That christ is the brightness of god's glory the perfection of god's expression God never without his brightness. He is the radiance of god's glory However in addition to reflecting the father's glory His deity Jesus christ is truly god in his own purpose. He is the express Image point four of his person. He is the express image of his person In that sense, he is the exact representation of his nature. This word for express image here is Karak taste Means it's used that word is used for a die that is for stamping impressions on coins. They had a die And would stamp an impression on a coin using that die. It came to be known for the impression itself Here that is veiled in flesh, but in 2nd Corinthians chapter 3 verse 18 says but we all with unveiled face Beholding as in a mirror the glory of the lord are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory Just as by the spirit of the lord Here this express image of his person means of his substantial essence Of his substantial essence essence the real And actual rather than that which just merely seems to be the sun is not merely Like the father. He is of the same essence of the father He has the distinctive or distinguishing features of god the distinguishing features of deity in that christ possesses The very essence of godi You have to really do some verbal linguistic Gymnastics here to avoid the meaning of what this is saying Jesus christ is god and it would take Exegetical gymnastics to get away from that truth here If you don't if you do any exegesis, you're gonna have to proactively avoid the truth to come to any other conclusion It's not that he is merely like the father He has in himself all of the distinguishing characteristics of godhead of deity He is very essence the very essence of god That means that he is god in the flesh But point five in these supremacies of christ Is the upholds all things by the word of his power Again here more cosmic rule by christ upholding all things by the word of his power cosmic sovereignty here in verse two We looked at his pre-existent work. He made the worlds right point three Points to his current and his ongoing work It's by his power that he currently sustains all things that are in existence in Colossians chapter one In verse 17 the bible says and he is before all things and in him All things consist or all things hold together. Okay Now over here this word for upholds the word for upholds there. It's not a static word It's a dynamic word in other words. It's it's not as if christ is like atlas It was sort of holding up the weight of the world on his shoulders It's not static just standing there holding that weight. It is dynamic It carries the sense that christ is the active governor of all things that he currently and consistently and ongoing Manages all things guiding all things and guiding all things toward their eventual Consummation All of this is done. It says by the word of his power and again in all this it points to his deity This very thing points to his pre-existence and now also it points to his omnipotence All things by the word of his omnipotent power This is he is the one who created everything and now governs everything and it's all governed by his omnipotence by his Being all powerful. Okay, if you think consider the expanse of our universe the expanse of creation And the fact that christ governs all of that christ is omnipotent christ is omnipotent Point six christ is the one Who purged our sin back in hebrus chapter one bible says here Through whom also he made the worlds who being the brightness of his glory and the express image of his person And upholding all things by the word of his power when he had by himself Purged our sins. He sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high Christ is the one who purged our sins now this here is speaking of the high priestly work of christ And this high priestly work of christ is discussed throughout hebrus The shedding of blood In the old testament sacrificial system was necessary to pronounce a person ritually clean The shedding of blood was necessary without the shedding of blood. There can be no remission To be declared cleansed from sin cleansed from guilt Was the result of the high priest's work on the day of atonement Where the high priest went into the holy of holies one day per year to make atonement for the people To be declared cleansed from sin took that work and you can find that in leviticus chapter 16 On the cross Jesus christ made atonement for sin And made provision for the removal of guilt by the shedding of his own blood He shed his own blood on calvary and there thereby became the perfect Sacrifice of himself for sin. He became the perfect sacrifice and in that Sin for those that would place their faith and trust in christ and turn from their sin That jesus christ made atonement for them A purged here in reference to a single act in the past A single definitive act not a repeated act as in the mass where Christ as the victim is called down over and over and over again to be resacrificed This is purged in the sense that christ here did this work in a single act in the past It is done. It is finished And this contrasts the work of christ With the repeated sacrifices that were necessary in the old testament under the sacrificial system You know, it's interesting in the temple There were no chairs We're no chairs in the temple because the temple priests were always at work Constantly at work. They never sat down They were always at work That was because of the always necessary Atonement needed for sin. There was always work to be done because of constant sin And here this cleansing done by christ this purging of our sins took place all at once in reference to a single act That cleansing that purging of sin is appropriated By a person through faith and repentance That you appropriate the sacrifice of christ By turning from your sin And placing your faith and reliance and trust in christ alone to save you from sin You drop your sinful life. You drop your sin and you turn and you trust christ alone You can't do anything yourself to appropriate that That sacrifice of christ Other than to trust in christ alone And turn from your sin as a fruit of that faith as a fruit of being born again You must repent and believe in the gospel The cleansing of christ is appropriated by faith and by repentance faith Being a reception Of that gift of salvation that gift of purging if there were anything that you had to do to acquire it It would be a works based salvation and salvation in scripture is not by works It is a reception of all the promises of god in christ jesus is a reception of his appropriation or his provision for sin A reception of all that christ is and all that is christ has done to save sinners from sin It's a reception of this purging a reception of christ's finished work And then to turn from sin to turn from living for yourself and to live wholeheartedly for christ It's appropriated by faith and repentance But lastly in point seven the seventh supremacy of christ if you will is that christ then sat down At the right hand of the majesty on high This is speaking of the exaltation Of the high priest prophet and king jesus christ Psalm 110 verse one says the lord said to my lord Sit at my right hand till i make your enemies your footstool. This is a formal act Signifying a completed work. There's two significant points from this One that christ has completed Completed totally the work of purification as we said the priests in the old testament were always standing There's always work to be done their work was never finished because they never completely fully and finally dealt with sin Christ here however is seen as sitting down. He sat down Sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high But two the second significant point here is this points to christ's position of highest honor The right hand to the king was the position of highest honor It was a position of great distinction and here christ sitting down at the right hand of the majesty on high Signifies god's exaltation of him his approval If you will of what the incarnate christ had accomplished on the cross and it further signifies its completion And that christ sat down next to god The majesty on high is just the greatness the greatness of god the greatness of christ He is christ is now Our high priest our prophet our king Who sits at the right hand of the father making intercession for us So christ making intercession prophet priest and king And he is our high priest now interceding for us at the father's right hand Now remember for a moment as we think about Hebrews that this is god's commentary on who christ is and what he has done And so what do you think then? This letter was written to the Hebrews to tell them that listen following christ is worth it because of all Because of who christ in is and all that christ has done Is it worth it to follow christ? Is it worth it? bible says in john chapter one that he came to his own And his own rejected him in other words they rejected him as air of all things They rejected him as maker of the worlds maker of the ages They rejected him as the brightness of god's glory the expressed image of god's person They rejected him as fully god and fully man who upholds all things by his omnipotence They rejected him as the only one who can purge your sin and guilt They rejected him as being worthy of being seated at the right hand of the majesty on high To make intercession for god's people his own rejected him So the question comes will you reject him? Will you reject him you can reject him in two ways One the person who is never submitted to his lordship who has never turned from sin to christ in faith Rejects the savior Rejects him as lord rejects him as savior of their own life They've never come to christ through repentant faith and thereby that's a way that you reject god's messiah God's anointed You reject him by living life for yourself By valuing and cherishing and relishing your sin More than the savior relishing living life for yourself More than living for the purpose for which god created you which is serving and worshiping him bringing glory to him forever You reject christ in that way, but as a christian someone who names the name of christ You can reject the reality of this in your own life by rejecting Serving him in the way that he is worthy to be served He is worthy to be loved with all heart soul mind and strength He's worthy to be served with all heart soul mind and strength. He's worthy to rule and reign over us in every air of our life He is these things. He is the air of all things. He created the heavens created the ages He is the brightness of god's glory the express image of god's person fully god fully man Will you reject him by continuing to cling to your sin even though you claim the name of christ Even now christ is seated at the right hand of the father An advocate for you if you sin if you will confess your sins He is faithful and just to forgive you of your sin and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness Christ makes intercession for us with the father Will you reject him with your life by continuing in this pattern of sin Continue in your in your rebellious rebellious against him continue in your apathy and your indifference. It's hard. It's difficult, you know We can easily fall into a pattern of forgetting who we serve Not focusing on who christ is and what he has done But it's passages like this that just bring that to remembrance and we need to be meditating on those passages Memorizing those passages and thinking on them because they tell us who christ is just thinking about the glory of christ The excellency of christ the preeminence of christ the supremacy of christ should compel us to serve him more faithfully to serve him more fervently We need to know him Will you have him as your prophet your priest and your king? Is christ worth it and christians say amen, right? We want to serve him and christ then Is worthy to be proclaimed Christ was god's proclamation of his glory to the nations christ was god's revelation of himself to a world that needs a savior And just as christ is the brightness of god's glory We are to radiate the glory of god in christ by preaching the gospel to a lost and dark world We're to be preaching christ so that others may come to christ and be saved And he is worth it. Is he worth your efforts in evangelism? Is he worth being preached to the nations? Yes, because god is worth his being glorified Showing his glory in the face of lost sinners who have been redeemed and we should be preaching the gospel. Is he worth it? Yes, let's pray Father in heaven, thank you for this time. Thank you for this passage of scripture I'm grateful to you lord for Just the opportunity to meditate on who christ is what christ has done God just your commentary of him We are so grateful god for his work So grateful lord that christ came the form of a bond servant the form of a man lived In the dirt of this world To redeem sinful people. Thank you for the provision that you've made for sin Thank you that in christ and we can have our sin sinful stains removed and or that We can have our guilt removed and to receive forgiveness and cleansing The thank you lord for this great reality and now lord. I pray that by your spirit god you would Reveal to us more and more and more as we study the scriptures more and more and more over time Just the excellencies the preeminence the supremacy of christ our lord We might be that much more grateful that much more fervent in our service of him that much more Fervently worshiping him For your glory and for the exaltation of christ and For your everlasting praise and worship and thank you lord for this time. Thank you for this passage And thank you for christ in jesus name