Hebrews
Lesson 16 June 16,
2005
We are in the third verse in Hebrews
1. The context is very
important.
Vs. 1 After God spoke in a variety
of fragments and in various forms in time past to the fathers by means of the
prophets
Vs. 2 He has in these last days
spoken to us by the Son whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom
he also made the ages;
Vs. 3 Who being the radiance of His
glory and the exact image of His person, and Upholding all things by the word
of His power, after he had by himself made purification for our sins, He sat
down at the right hand of the Majesty on High.
The main idea is that He has spoken.
There is finality to it. The fullness of revelation is guaranteed through the
Second Person of the trinity. Then we go into a list of things that
characterize the Son. Seven things are listed. First, He was appointed the
heir. History is moving to a finalization in a particular direction. There is
meaning and purpose and definition to history. Henry Ford said that history was just one damn thing after
another. But history is not just a bunch of random events. The Lord Jesus
Christ is overseeing this. It is moving toward the inheritance that is given to
the Son.
Secondly, He made the ages. He made
the dispensation. He moves things along through the dispensations.
Then there is a shift at the
beginning of verse 3 indicated by the nominative relative pronoun. He is the
radiance of glory. “Upholding” has the idea of moving things along. He moves
all things along by the coming of his power. He is the exact image of God. He
is the same. He is undiminished deity. He has authority over history to move
history along. “He made purification for our sins” refers
to the work on the cross. We have the aorist middle participle of poieo. He sat
down is the verb kathizo.
The last issue is the session of
Christ. That is, He sat down at the right hand of God. We are getting into the
doctrine of the ascension and session. It underlies everything in Hebrews. It
is alluded to in almost every chapter. You could say that it is the foundation
of the writer of Hebrews. He challenges them to hang in there no matter what
the test or temptation is. He challenges them to hang in there because there
are long-term consequences. We are not just living for today. That brings in
the whole arena of eschatology and why it is important to study eschatology. About
28% of the Bible was prophetic when it was revealed. One of every 5 verses is
unfulfilled today. That is significant. If you don’t have a proper
understanding of eschatology you cannot have a personal sense of your eternal
destiny. When you look at the Scripture, you see Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel,
Zephaniah, and Zechariah. All these books talk so much about the day and the things
in the future. They are given to Israel in times of national crisis. It is
given to comfort Israel with the reality that despite the chaos now ultimately
God will fulfill as these promises to you. You may lose everything you have but
God has not lost control. God will fulfill His purpose. Prophecy gives us
comfort and stability in times of crisis. Whenever that time may be, the study
of doctrine of the ascension and session relates to the doctrine of the
kingdom.
When Christ was about to ascend in Acts 1:6 the disciples had a question.
NKJ Acts 1:6 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked
Him, saying, "Lord, will You at this time restore
the kingdom to Israel?" 7 And He said to them, "It is not
for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority.
8 "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come
upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and
Samaria, and to the end of the earth."
The concept of the kingdom is not an
easy subject to fully understand in terms of all the complexities. There are kingdom
parables in Matthew 13. It has some interpretive problems. We need to
understand what is going on in terms of the kingdom today. One of the reasons
that it is so important is that 99% of Christians today think that we are in
some form of kingdom. That changes your understanding of the ministry of the
Holy Spirit and God’s plan for Israel in the future. I sure don’t feel like I
am living in the kingdom. This is the issue. When the disciples asked Christ if
He was going to bring in the kingdom he put them off. That is so crucial
today. What is being taught is
that the kingdom is inaugurated at the first advent rather than postponed. It affects everything. That is why
these are very important terms.
It changes so many things –
the role of the Christian in politics and law, the spiritual life and what the
church is doing in this age. When they ask him if He will bring in the kingdom,
He says no but that they will get the Holy Spirit. There is a connection
between the giving of the sending of the Holy Spirit and the future kingdom. When
he put you together, we will see that the Holy Spirit is today. Something profound today. He prepares us for the future
kingdom.
NKJ Acts 1:9 Now when He had spoken these things, while they
watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. 10 And while they looked steadfastly
toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel,
He took off like a rocket from Cape
Canaveral. The angels appeared.
NKJ Acts 1:11 who also said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand
gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus,
who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw
Him go into heaven."
Why did he come back? We learned that
the kingdom is postponed. So we ask several questions.
We need to know the context of
Hebrews 1. The last thing in verse three is that He sat down at the right hand
of the Majesty. In verse 4, it says he became higher than angels. In the authority of his elevation above the angels in his humanity.
In His deity he always was higher than the angels. He did not lose that when He
became incarnate. He always
upheld everything but in his humanity he had to gain that as the son of
David.
Imagine that some evil empire arises
in Europe and defeats the English. So we have expatriates that flee England and
form an army. Some one like Prince Harry who was born to the throne enters a
British army and enters as a private. He works his way up the ranks and becomes
a general. He leads the army back to England and frees the homeland. He
achieved by right of birth and by overcoming obstacles and earned. Jesus Christ
does the same thing by analogy. He enters human history as a man and is
elevated over the angels so that in his humanity he is seated at the right hand
of God the Father. He is the son of David and is able to come back and rule the
earth. It ties together a number
of doctrines. That seems to be what the writer of Hebrews had some. By His inheritance he has a more excellent name. That
brings us to the end of the first four verses. Then in verse 5 we have
NKJ Hebrews 1:5 For to
which of the angels did He ever say: "You are My Son, Today I have
begotten You"? And again: "I will be to Him a Father, And He shall be to Me a Son"?
Do you see the connection he makes
here? Now we go back to a number of Old Testament passages. It says that it is
foretold. Then we will extrapolate that to understand the Scripture and its
relationship to the high priesthood of Christ. A high priest does not function
without a priesthood underneath him. He has priests to
serve with Him. That is where we come in. We serve with Christ if we suffered
with Him. So we to all of these thing together. If you
do not have a good dispensational focus here, you will miss what is going on
and end up like all the communicators of Hebrews. You think that every thing
superiority of Jesus. To get to something. At the end of each section of the book
there is a doctrinal development and then an application and a warning to
believers not to give up the ship in terms of your Christian life. He warns
believers not to give up the ship. We are to keep pushing forward. Keep Bible
doctrine number one. All of this is to prepare you to rule as kings and priests
in the millennial kingdom.
NKJ 1 Peter 1:10 Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and
searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, 11 searching what, or what
manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He
testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow
That is talking about Old Testament
prophets. They search all of the
text, every verse. They try to
understand who He is and when he will come.
The prophets understood there was a
two-fold ministry of the Messiah, suffering and glory. In the life of Jesus, if
you will go through the gospels there is a pattern that is found related to the
kingdom. Initially there is an offering of the kingdom to man. He comes
offering the kingdom. The more He
offers it, the more resistance there is from the religious leaders until
finally they come to a crisis and they reject the king. Matt 12. They accused Christ of being
indwelt and controlled by Satan. It was called the blasphemy of the Holy
Spirit. Only the Jews in the time of the Messiah could commit blasphemy of the
Holy Spirit. Judgment came in 70 AD. What Jesus said in the passage
indicates that because they blasphemed the Holy Spirit they will be
judged. Blasphemy of the
Holy Spirit could only occur at the time of the Messiah. There are 6 or 7 other
views. The other view is that it is a rejection of Him as Messiah. Arnold Fruchtenbaum ties it to the history of the nation and the
fifth cycle of discipline of 70 AD. It really fits to the passage. It is
specifically related to judgment of 70 AD. If the kingdom
was offered and the king crucified, what happens to the kingdom? Where did it
go? That is the issue.
NKJ Matthew 3:2 and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is
at hand!"
NKJ Matthew 4:17 From that
time Jesus began to preach and to say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven
is at hand."
NKJ Matthew 10:5 These twelve
Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying: "Do not go into the way of the
Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans. 6 "But go
rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 "And as you
go, preach, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.'
To understand Jesus’ ministry in the
first two and a half years, you have to understand that it is focused on
presenting him as the king.
How do we know it was postponed? To
have a kingdom, you have to have a king. Now the role of the king in the
Messianic Kingdom, to what sonship does this relate
to? The Son of David. Right now he is not on the Davidic throne. Most people
whether in covenant theology or this new progressive dispensationalism
have Him sitting on the Davidic throne in heaven. This changes so much. But it
really that He is at the right hand of God. He does not come as the Son of
David until the end of the time period. So the kingdom postponed. What happened
to it?
1. The postponement of
the kingdom called for a postponement of the glories of the
kingdom. So Israel will not experience all of the glories that God promised in
the Old Testament. It is not yet. What is that about the Holy Spirit does not
happen in the passages on the New Covenant. Jer 31. It
talks about no need for man to teach his neighbor because everyone knows the
Word. There will be no pastors in the millennial kingdom. Everyone will know
doctrine intuitively. Now we have to learn it. Every one will know it in the
millennial kingdom.
NASB John 6:62 “{What} then if you see the Son of
Man ascending to where He was before?
This brings in another sonship title. On the other hand the Son of God emphasizes
his deity. Son of man emphasizes His humanity. That is the idea in the Hebrew
idiom. In the Hebrew there is no of place where it says the son of a fool or a
son of murders. You say that they are a son of that quality. Barnabas, the traveling companion of
Paul on his first missionary journey, means ‘son of encouragement’ because he
encourages. So when Jesus calls Himself the Son of God means that He is God. The
title son of man has significant meaning. It is a term that comes right out of
Daniel 7. It is loaded with all kinds of kingdom meanings for the Jews. When he
says the Son of man it means that emphasis on his humanity that He must ascend
to where He was before the incarnation. The son of man is now being connected o
the eternality of Christ and His pre-incarnate status as the second person of
the trinity.
NKJ John 16:28 "I came forth from the Father and have come into
the world. Again, I leave the world and go to the Father."
This is news to the disciples that
He is leaving. It is to your advantage that he goes away.
NKJ John 16:7 "Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your
advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to
you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.
There is our connection in the
spiritual life of the Church Age.
The church age believer will be able
to do something in the appeal trial that no one else could do. That is why the angelic officer is
given an evaluation of each church. This whole thing gives you a new
appreciation of what is going on in your life. It is something that he is doing
in each of our lives to prepare us for that future destiny. A couple of
principles underlie this. The Jews are earthly people with an earthly destiny and
an earthly purpose. But the church is a heavenly people with a heavenly destiny
and a heavenly purpose. This means there is a different basis for living the
spiritual life to day than in the Old Testament. It is supernatural life that
demands a supernatural means of execution. The Christian life is impossible
without the Holy Spirit. You can only do it in the filling of the Holy Spirit. If
you are not there, you are trying to do it on your own in the old sin nature. You
are being prepared now or that future wedding feast. Hold that thought.
That future wedding feast challenges
the heavenly purpose related to being the bride of Christ. A bride is a helper.
The wife is the assistant, the one who helps him in fulfilling his God given
destiny. Our role with the church is that we are being prepared as a helpmate
to the Lord Jesus Christ in the future kingdom when we will co-reign and
co-rule with Him.
Why the ascension?
NKJ 1 Peter 3:22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of
God, angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to Him.
Poreuomai means to go on a journey. The aorist passive participle indicates a
physical thing. He is not “beamed” up. He moved physically through the heavens.
He is seated in some spot in His humanity. He is finite and always will be in
His humanity..
NKJ Hebrews 4:14 Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has
passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession [the doctrine that we
believe].
We see in that verse the
connection.
NKJ Hebrews 4:15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize
with our weaknesses, but was in all points
tempted as we are, yet without
sin.
There is a connection there between
His testing and sanctification with preparation for the cross and being seated
at the right hand of God.
NKJ Ephesians 1:20 which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the
dead and seated Him at His right hand
in the heavenly places, 21 far
above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is
named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. 22 And
He put all things under His feet, and
gave Him to be head over all things to the church,
That is where the Apostle Paul
really shines through in the New Testament. He talks about the church and the
relationship of Christ as the head of the church and the head of the church as
the bride of Christ. Paul never develops the doctrine of the priesthood of
Christ. It is the writer of Hebrews that unpacks that doctrine. This presumes a
certain understanding because you are united with Christ in positional truth
and in the baptism of the Holy Spirit at the instant of salvation. That means
that you have a direct connection to the one at the helm of the universe.
In his humanity, he is in authority
over man kind and lower than the angels.
Now we come to Ephesians 4:7.
NKJ Ephesians 4:7 But to each one of us grace was given according to the
measure of Christ's gift. 8 Therefore He says: "When He
ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave
gifts to men."
Psalm 68:18 is
quoted. He talks about the ark being taken to the top of the temple mount as a
picture of God’s ascending over the enemies of Israel. This takes place in I
Sam 6 just after David defeated the Jebusites in II
Sam 5. II Sam 7 talks about the Davidic Covenant. It all falls together. It is
so tremendous when you can get to the point that the threads are al tied
together. The ark is taken to Mt. Zion as a symbol of God’s victory over the
enemies of Israel. Paul takes the whole thing, His ascension on high, His
ascension to Mt. Zion. It is the distribution of gifts from his victory.
NKJ Ephesians 4:9 (Now this, "He ascended" -- what does it
mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10
He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens,
that He might fill all things.)
NKJ Ephesians 4:11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors
and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of
ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,
Apostles and prophets were limited
to the first century. Evangelists were given to the church for a purpose that
is described in verse 12. Pastors and evangelists are like football coaches.
They equip the team. The evangelist equips the team. He is not the one who
witnesses and gets all the unbelievers saved. Americans have been in a lie that
evangelists do the evangelism. Everyone follows that all the way down to Billy
Graham. But that is not what the Scripture says here. It is saying that the
gift is to equip the member of the body of Christ to be effective in
witnessing. It is our job as people who do not have the gift of evangelism to
learn to do it effectively. Then the gift of pastor teacher is given.
Evangelists should be under the authority of a pastor. Most do not know enough
to stay out of trouble. As serve one another. The whole body interacts. That is
why there are so many passages about “one another.” We encourage one another.
We pray for one another. It says admonish one another. We are to teach one
another. We are to encourage one another. We are to love one another. We are
one big happy family. Well, we ought to be.
NKJ Ephesians 4:13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the
knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of
the fullness of Christ
To a mature man, to pleroma, the
fullness of Christ is related to being fully Christ like
8.
Once the church
is complete and has completed its mission, then the Messiah will return in
victory and establish the Jewish millennial kingdom.
So there is a training ground going on so that we will be prepared. That gives us an overview. Next time we will get into the Old Testament. These things hang in the background of Hebrews l.