Exposition of the Book of Hebrews Part 1.
The book of Hebrews is shrouded in a bit of mystery as to who its author is. As Bible Believers we obviously would say that its author is Christ, but as to who penned this letter we do not know as it was not signed. That is not to say the people do not have opinions on it. Usually this work gets ascribed to the Apostle Paul, and some ascribe it to Apollos. The content of the letter shows a very skilled understanding of the old testament but from a new enlightened position having understood the gospel of the New Testament. I personally ascribe this work to Paul, so I may say Paul said this or that later on, but do know that it is not certain who wrote it, but I have no doubt as to its authority and authenticity based on content.
If we are to sum up the book of Hebrews in a simple pregnant sentence, and a job that would be for Hebrews covers a great many topics, that sentence must include the preeminence of Christ. This is absolutely central to the authors main point. It is not Christ alone, however that is the focus, but what Christ has preformed and accomplished. The first portion of Hebrews lays out that not only is Christ above everything, the New is not really different from the Old, but it is better. The New Covenant is better than the Old Covenant; Christ is better than the fathers and the prophets, the Melchizedek priesthood is better than the Levitical priesthood; the sacrifice of Christ was better than the sacrifice of lambs; and faith is better than works. The New Testament is better that and supersedes the Old testament because Christ is fulfillment of the promise.
Hebrews 1 KJV
1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
3 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 on the right hand of the Majesty on high:
4 Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.
There is so much crammed into this one sentence that it requires a paced reading to follow the train of thought. It starts with this idea that God spoke in times past through men. These were in various different ways. God spoke through plagues, wars, prophets, his own voice at times, and once the voice of a donkey. The thus saith the Lord statements in the Old Testament, the “burden” from the Lord that many of the prophets had, or even the dreams that some of the patriarchs had are all examples of how God did speak. Now – at the time of this writing shortly after the time of Christs resurrection – God has spoken through his own Son, Jesus Christ.
It is the authors point that the new messenger is vastly different and better than the old way that God spoke to us. This is highlighted by noting that Christ is his Son, the heir of all the world, the creator of the world, the brightness of his glory, [and the very express image of (God) his person . He is also better because of his ability to “uphold all things” by the very word of his power and the power of his Word. He is also better because because of what he did; he did not just speak for God but he preformed the Words of God and was the very Word of God.
His Appointment -God appointed Christ to be the heir of the entire World. The whole earth, you and I belong to Christ. That makes Christ superior to everything he owns.
His Person – Christ is Superior to all that came before him because he is the express image of God. We know that Jesus is God, but in a way Christ is the image of God and the brightness of his glory. He is the glory of God and the visible part of God.
His Power – The Power that Christ has makes him superior to everything else. He holds together the entire world by the Word of his power.
His Purpose – Christ is superior to everything before him because he his purpose is superior to all the prophets – they were all pointing to Christ. John the Baptist said “This is he [Jesus] of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me. Jesus was before all and is preferred before all. His purpose was ultimately to bring Glory to God by becoming to purge our sins, which he has done completely.
His Position – Jesus is at a superior position than all others being at the right hand of the Majesty on high. He is located in heaven, at the highest point possible making him superior to all for he is over all.
His Preeminence – All of this goes to the main point of the entire book of Hebrews, Christ is superior because he is to be preeminent. He is above all, Over all, all powerful, all knowing, and bringing glory to God in all that he does, and as God he is bringing to himself all of that Glory as being the one who has purged us from all sin.
S. T.
Acts 20:24
"But none of these things move me..."
