Summer Scripture Series: Jesus is Better
This week, we began our Summer Scripture series, where Pastor Robbie and others will going through the Book of Hebrews verse by verse to bring out their immediate meaning. This process of ‘exegesis’ is important to bring out the originally intended meaning of the author to their original audience!
If you were not able to make it to our Gathering this past Sunday, know that we have recorded all of our recent sermons and they are available on our Facebook page; every Sunday evening they are live-streamed and archived starting at 7 pm!
Pastor Robbie begins by introducing our series saying, ‘In both of our first two Summers, we did a book study where we took 12 weeks or so and walked verse by verse through a book of the Bible and we called it the Summer Scripture Series. The first year 1 Peter, last year was actually two books; Colossians and the short letter to Philemon. It is one of my favorite series that we do at Legacy City because I feel like I am a teacher at heart. I mean, sometimes you all bring the preacher out of me, but I really do just love teaching on the Word and principles of God. So, back by popular demand, we are going to spend the next 12-14 weeks walking straight through the book of Hebrews!’
I really do love to study straight through books of the Bible because they are God's direct and perfectly communicated truths, we’re reading this line by line and phrase by phrase, we have no choice but to be impacted by his Word. His text is so rich and it makes such an impact when we read it in its entirety. Expository teaching is what this is called, or some might call it exegetical teaching, it’s where I work through the text verse by verse - and this is truly my favorite way to teach, because, here’s the thing, it's a lot easier to pick one or two verses, it's a lot easier to pick a topic and talk about what we think about those various things, it's a lot more difficult but more fruitful I believe to study this way - and I say that having just led you through several topical teaching series. I believe, of course, there is a place for both, and both are beneficial. But I pray that it will be fruitful for you and for our church as we study the book of Hebrews together. Some weeks, we will simply read the text and stop to talk about it, some weeks, God may show me a few points to pull out of the text!
“1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days, he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.”
He’s starting us off and taking us all the way back - long ago. You know church, the gospel narrative didn’t start during the age of the Roman Empire, it started long ago in the narratives of the Old Testament. In fact, the account of God’s saving work in Jesus Christ begins at the very beginning of creation. Likewise, Jesus and his work on the cross was not the first time that God intervened in our history. While that was clearly the most significant, God has been active in setting the stage for Christ’s incarnation since the beginning of time and he has specifically been active through speaking.
So now, let’s talk Jesus. Because in the next two verses, we see 7 things facets of Christ explode before us. These verses are so theologically rich. I’m going to give you the seven and then we’ll touch on them briefly. In these two verses, Jesus is noted as being an heir (or an inheritor), creator, sustainer, radiator, representor, Purifier, and Ruler.
This is our God, this is our Savior! Created all things, holds all things together, Rules over all, loves, pursues, prays for you and me. Jesus is better than anything else you can imagine. He is better than that bad relationship you’re still in. He’s better than that addiction that you say you want out of but you really don’t. He’s better than the retail therapy that’s putting you further and further into debt. Jesus is better!
SOME KEY TAKE-AWAYS
Summer Scripture Series: Jesus is Better - In the face of a world that embraced s culture contrary to the work of Jesus’ ministry, the author of Hebrews assures us that no matter what we have experienced, Jesus is Superior!
Main Scripture Passages - Hebrews 1:1-4; Eph. 1:18; Col. 1:17
Jesus was Apart of Creation - Jesus was not simply a man that was born of earth, but was with the Father, eternally existing and was apart of Creation in the beginning.
Jesus is the Radiance of the Glory of God - Jesus radiates who God is in the fullness of His Image - He is an exact imprint of His nature!
Jesus Sits At the Right Hand of the Father - Jesus is the Son of Man, the Suffering Servant who has purified the sins of mankind before the Father - no one matches His honor and glory, so much so that He dwells with the Father, interceding on our behalf!
If this topic piques your interest or if you would enjoy listening to this sermon in more depth, check out Legacy City’s Podcast, available here, or on Spotify and Itunes.
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Join us next Sunday as we continue to meet at the Premiere Cinema 10 at 10 am!
We hope that you and your family are well, and know that You Are Loved!