HEBREWS CHAPTER 1
KJV
WEB
Heb 1,1-14
(66f)
Authority >> Jesus’ authority
>>
His position with the Father >> Jesus has
authority over all things from the Father – This chapter is devoted to glorifying the
person of Jesus Christ and to disclosing how much greater His position is with
the Father than the angels and mankind. Although in Eph 2-6 it says that the
Father has "raised us up with [Christ], and seated us with Him in the
heavenly places," indicating that man has an equal place with Christ in
heaven, being why he calls us brethren (Heb 2-11), yet Jesus is the only one
who deserves to be there. This chapter shows that the Father
is the only person in creation who has more authority than Jesus Christ, who is seated at
His right-hand in the majesty in the heavens and has
equal authority with Him, except that the Father is the final
authority. Jesus has even more authority after He gave His life for
the sins of the world. Since the cross, Jesus’ position has been raised, yet
He is still subject to the Father, suggesting that the Father was elevated
with Him.
(72i)
Authority >> Hierarchy of authority
>>
More Authority The More Responsibility >> Closer
we get to Jesus the more power
(114i) Thy kingdom come
>> Faith >>
Working the grace of God >> Jesus does God’s
work >> All His works are what the Father does
(248e) Priorities
>>
God’ s preeminence >> Jesus is first >>
Jesus has first place in everything – Christ has secured the redemption of man
through the blood of His cross. When Jesus ascended back to heaven, he
regained his position at the right hand of the Father, only in a much higher
place than He left it, because of the grace that the Father poured upon all
mankind through Him. Jesus glorified the
Father as the Father glorified the Son (Jn 17-1); His throne has been
raised in the heavens to a much higher pinnacle than before the cross.
Heb 1,1-13
(44b) Judgment
>>
Satan destroyed >> Complete >>
It is finished >> God has spoken –
This chapter confirms Genesis chapter 1, in the beginning God spoke the universe
into existence. This exonerates His word, showing it to be the power of God. He
didn’t use raw muscle to do it; God doesn’t have bulging arms and legs of
steel like Hercules to retch the universe into existence. The statement in
Genesis chapter 1 when he said, “let there be light,” and there was light,
everything God said came to pass. The light didn’t have a choice to become
light in some other way but became light in the great expanse as God intended
it. When God spoke the words, light came into existence according to the way He
was thinking, and so it is not just the words themselves that reflect the power
of God but the meaning of those words in the mind of Christ. Who is the mind of
Christ but the Holy Spirit? He is the mind of God. So we have the word of God
and the Holy Spirit operating together to create the universe. If God used the
Spirit and the Word to create the universe, then He uses the Spirit and the Word
to do everything, and the act of speaking is how He operated the power of God.
These are things we need to understand for the sake of our own lives,
in that this is how God wants to work through us. He wants us to meditate on His
word until we develop the mind of Christ, and then He wants to reveal His will
to us so we can speak it into existence. God doesn’t care for us to speak fast cars into our lives or a
bigger house or all the other materialism
that the heathen crave. The point is that we are doing His will and not our own,
and that is a big difference between prosperity teachers and the way the Bible
teaches. Consequently, this verse applies, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit
on Moses’ seat. All things therefore whatever they tell you, observe and do,
but don’t do their works; for they say, and don’t do.” They have some
things right but not this one thing: whose will are they trying to fulfill, the
will of God or their own will through the principles of God? They try to use the
levers that God has outlined in the Bible to get what they want, and the most
they accomplish is witchcraft. That’s right, using the principles of God
to achieve their own selfish will is witchcraft, cursing their own lives in the
process.
Heb 1,1-7
(253h) Trinity
>>
Relationship between Father and Son >> Father
and Son glorify each other >> Father and Son
represent each other –
Once Jesus returned to heaven after securing redemption for mankind, He sat down at the right hand in the majesty in the heavens, in
the very seat from which He stood to make purification for sins. Now His
majestic glory has been multiplied exponentially as Christ infinitely
glorified His Father's throne that will continue to increase throughout eternity
as the Father glorifies the Son. His majesty will forever increase, along with
the number of His worshipers. God’s creation is on a steady increase, and as we approach the
boundary
between the finite and the infinite, we will begin to know the greatness of
God.
Heb 1,1-6
(253k) Trinity
>>
Relationship between Father and Son >> Jesus is
subject to the Father >> Jesus is subject to God’s
ability – There are cults that would suggest that Jesus was a created being, but this
verse is in reference to the Father conceiving Jesus in Mary's womb, and
in that way He was the only begotten Son of God. "Begotten" means giving
birth or in this case conceiving. Father/Son is the relationship that God has always had with Jesus even
before the virgin birth; Jesus has always had a
submissive role with the Father, yet He has always had all authority in heaven and on
earth with the Father and He has always exhibiting the character of God.
Heb 1,1-4
(36k) Gift of God
>>
Inheritance >> Jesus is our inheritance
-- These verses go with verse 14
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Heb 1,1-3
(40i)
Judgment >> Judgment of Christ
>>
God’s word executes judgment by the Spirit
(111g) Thy kingdom come
>> Faith >>
Spirit and the word >> Word and the power
(meaning) of God >> Circumstances cannot evade
the voice of the Spirit – How many times have we heard verse
3 misquoted as: 'The power of His word', instead of the way it was written:
"The word of His power"? If we take these words out of sequence, we can only
expect negative results, and if we misquote His word as a way of thinking, it
proves we don't know the
truth. The Catholic crusades were an example of what happens when we transpose
Scripture to make it say what we want, suggesting that the Bible doesn’t actually have power. People
have killed each other because of the many misinterpretations men have
attributed to it. The power
of God is not intrinsically held within its binding. The power is with God in
heaven, and He gives it to whomever He wishes, but it shouldn't surprise anyone that people
have tried to take it, eliciting
murder and destruction. The Bible
merely testifies of God's power within Himself,
not within the pages of a book. When God speaks to us, He creates things in us. The words written in the Bible cannot change
our life, but
the Holy Spirit can, who works exclusively with the truth, and for this reason
we need to obey the Holy Spirit, becoming students of His word and disciples of prayer,
giving Him room in our lives to work His truth in us. Then we will comprehend
His word, and then we will walk in His power (freedom) and stop misquoting Him.
(212b) Sovereignty
>>
God is infinite >> He is the creator >>
The creation glorifies God >> God created all
things through Christ -- These verses go with verses 8-13. Jesus played a part in the creation, then visited
mankind in the flesh; He died for our sins, rose from the dead and inherited
the
creation from His Father that He helped create. Jesus is not fulfilling His own purpose, but the purpose of
His Father, which proves the Father’s love. It is good to know that
the Father loves us, that the final authority is in total agreement about
Jesus' love for the Church.
(244h) Kingdom of God
>>
The eternal kingdom >> The word of God is
eternal >> The word of God transcends the
creation
(255c) Trinity
>>
Holy Spirit’s relationship between Father and Son >>
God’s word is Spirit >> Jesus is the word of
the Spirit >> Jesus is the manifested word of
God –
Here is the difference between Jesus Christ and us:
we have a soul and a body, meaning we are incomplete without the Holy Spirit, making two spirits
dwell in one body, whereas Jesus’ soul is the Holy Spirit. The
Holy Spirit cannot dwell in Himself, so the difference between us and Christ
is that we are made of body soul and Spirit, whereas Jesus is only body and
Spirit, making the Church the soul of Christ. This suggests that God was
incomplete before He made man, and it partially solves the mystery of the consummation
of the marriage between Christ and His bride in heaven (the Church).
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Heb 1-1,2
(50c) Judgment
>>
God judges the world >> These are the last days
–
Those who will not be joining us in heaven fear the Father more than Jesus for good reason: there is no mercy with the Father apart from His Son. It is the Father who makes them feel most at home in
hell, for they will be away from His terrible presence. When the damned meet the Father (if they meet Him),
His presence will convince them that hell is not such a bad place after all.
It is a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth, but at least it is away from Him. For them, heaven is more hellish than hell. If they
spent any time in heaven, after a while they would complain that they want to live in a world
without God, and so God would give it to them. They would rather be in hell where they will never
have to worry about seeing Him again. That’s how scary the Father is to
the condemned, yet to us who love and adore Him, the Father is more beautiful than the whole of creation.
See also: Hell
(Presence of God is worse than hell to the wicked); 1Pet 1-1,2; 220c
(71i) Authority >>
Ordained by God >>
Jesus is ordained by God
(106h) Thy kingdom come
>> Faith >>
Hearing from God >> Means of hearing from God >>
Through His Son
(110f) Thy kingdom come
>> Faith >>
Spirit and the word >> Spirit speaks through you >> Spirit speaks through Jesus
(150h) Witness
>>
Validity of Jesus Christ >> Works of the Church bear witness of Jesus >> Speak the word of the
Spirit >>
Speaking the words that God speaks
(152g) Witness >>
Validity of the Father >> Witnesses of the
father >> Prophets >>
Jesus was a prophet >> Jesus prophesied to the
world – What is the definition of a prophet? Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob were all prophets, who were the fathers of our faith even to the gentiles. God chose them and spoke
to them the word of God. In every respect, the prophets of our time walk the same
track as Abraham, who is the father of our faith, who heard a voice but saw
no vision, and he needed no interpretation, for where there is interpretation there is opportunity to
misconstrue the message. The reliability of God’s word
lies in the lack of need to interpret in most cases, so the less we interpret the
Bible, the more properly we understand it. This verse reveals that the last
days started at the birth of God’s Son; therefore everything Jesus spoke, He
spoke to the last days. When we speak of the last days we usually think of the
second coming of Christ, but when the Bible speaks of the last days, it refers to the
very last age of man's reign on earth. Every age has lasted 2000 years, and our 2000 years is up,
so we are close to the end. There are prophets in our generation to whom God has
spoken a message that is meant for the Church first and also for the world. God speaks to all His children about the meaning of Scripture, but
the message of the prophets are meant to guide the Church in the way it should
go, and the very first stop is repentance. The true word of the prophets speak of the promises and the rewards of
repentance and
the consequences of disobedience.
(214f) Sovereignty
>>
God controls time >> God’s timing >>
Dispensation of God’s revelations >>
Dispensation of Christ –
Sometimes when we work on problems and hit a brick wall, we have to set it
aside, sleep
on it, and the next day things seem clearer. The same is true with the gospel. Over the centuries nations
have heard the gospel at various times during certain revivals in an upward
winding staircase of increasing insight. For example, the ancient prophets
spoke of a time of restoration, then John the Baptist broke the ground
preaching a gospel of repentance; then Jesus followed after him preaching the
gospel of the kingdom, and the apostles came later, and still others preached
the gospel in greater insight with each revolution. This is how we bring God's
truth to the
world, not all at once but at intervals. First we create the
foundation, and then we build upon it (1Cor 3-6), not as a single effort but
in multiple efforts at different times, giving people a chance to mull over
what they have seen and heard, so when they hear the gospel again, they are
ready to respond.
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Heb 1,3-13
(98f) Thy kingdom come
>>
Endurance (Thorn in the flesh) >> (Faith à
Suffering à Glory of Christ) >>
The cross
Heb 1,3-6
(30h) Gift of God
>>
God is our Father >> God favors you by His grace >> He favors you through His son
– God created the angels and he gave Lucifer the entire creation as
his possession, and he fumbled it. He became arrogant so that the very throne
of God became his Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. God may have told
Lucifer, ‘All the universe is yours,’ as He spoke to Adam “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely” (Gen
2-16,17), ‘but do not transgress My throne,’ or eat the forbidden fruit, “for in the day that you eat from it [or touch
My throne] you will surely die” (Ezekiel 28, 12-19). What did Lucifer do?
He went after God’s throne, just like man ate the bad apple. Then God sent His
Son to be nailed to a cross until dead, and then raised Jesus back to life,
and it says that He took the keys of death and hell from Satan, and the Father
gave Christ
all the power and authority that Lucifer once had, and He will never make
Lucifer’s mistake. God was teaching both man and angel that only He can manage His
own creation, that if He gave this authority to any created being, he would
fumble it just like Lucifer did and as man did. The point that God made was that nobody has the character
or
humility to possess so much power, except Christ, who was never created, but
lives forever in the past and future as a member of the triune godhead. Jesus is the only one whom
God can trust with His creation without filling His heart with pride, who is
both God and brother of man (Heb 2-11). See also: Satan (Angels); Heb 1,4-7; 15k
/ God is committed to proving the
devil wrong;
1Pet 4-15,16; 194e
Heb 1-3,4
(41g) Judgment
>>
Satan destroyed >> Be like Jesus >>
God’s righteousness is His doing –
It doesn't say that Jesus is “greater” than the angels but “better”. God is all-powerful and all-knowing, but He
doesn’t value these things like He values His righteousness. His creation currently lacks
the quality of His righteousness, including man, until He instills it
in us at great cost to Himself. He gave Adam a free will, and he used it to
destroy God's righteousness within himself. To remedy the problem God must instill His righteousness in us as a second tier of His
creation. It is imperative that we have a freewill, otherwise we do not reflect
His image. The more people have in
common, the better they can relate; had God
created us without a free will, we would resemble robots, but we
are more than that. Adam didn't understand what he truly possessed in a free
will, the privilege and authority and accountability of self-determination. Without freewill, we
could not do anything apart from God's will, including eat from the Tree of the
Knowledge of Good
and Evil. With a free will, Adam surmised that just because God told him not to
eat the forbidden fruit didn't mean he couldn’t do it. Now God instilled a freewill
in us without it violating His righteousness by showing us its destructive power
when misappropriated, then recreated us in Christ with that
experiential knowledge. God cannot just tell us about these things; we must be
able to experience sin firsthand before we can truly understand it; then He
will recreate us without the ability to sin, and the result is being made in His
image more than Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Toward the end of the book of Hebrews it
speaks of “righteous men made perfect” (Heb 12-23). See also: Adam (Man is free);
1Jn 3,7-10; 161i
Heb 1-3
(67b) Authority
>>
Jesus is at the right hand of the father >> He is
above all other authorities -- This verse goes with verse 13
(103i) Thy kingdom come
>>
Purifying process >> God purifies His church >>
Jesus goes through God’s purifying process
(112b) Thy kingdom come
>> Faith >> Light >> Jesus’ light overcomes darkness >>
The light of His power
(117d)
Thy kingdom come >> Faith >>
Rest in Jesus (Sabbath) >> Let Jesus do the work >>
Let Him work on your circumstances –
Jesus is much greater than us, having the radiance of the Father, being
only natural for Him to do the will of God even when He lived in a body that
craved sin. For us to take on the will of God without Him
would be asking our flesh to do the opposite of its own nature. Being in
rebellion against God, our sinful flesh will not serve Him, unless we subject
our flesh to Him. We try to do the
will of God and our flesh refuses; there is a
battle of two natures raging within us: the flesh and the Spirit, and we are stuck in
the middle. Jesus is in a position of great power to help us do the will of God,
seated at the right-hand of the majesty in the heavens, who has sent the Holy
Spirit into our hearts. Christ in Spirit form lives within us, and He is also seated at the right-hand of God. The
fact that He is in both places at the same time, at rest in heaven and at work
on earth, suggests that we should learn from Christ and set down our flesh as he is
seated, and just as His Spirit
works in us, so should we stop resisting the Holy Spirit and work with Him.
(233i) Kingdom of God
>>
Pursuing the kingdom >> Seeking the glory of God >>
Seek His glory without wavering >> Seek His glory
through obedience
(245b) Kingdom of God
>>
Spirit realm imposed on the natural realm >>
Literal manifestations >> Literal manifestation of
Jesus Christ >> Jesus is the manifestation of the
Father
(253a) Jesus
is Equal with the Father
(Key verse)
(253d) Trinity
>>
Relationship between Father and Son >> Jesus is
equal with the Father >> Jesus has all the
internal qualities of the Father >> Jesus is the
exact representation of the Father
– In just one verse he described the power and
glory of Christ like no other verse in the Bible. Nowhere else does it so
explicitly articulate Jesus as the exact representation of the Father. The Bible
speaks extensively about the trinity, still there are deep mysteries about the
Father. Who is He and what is He; with what kind of substance does He use to express
Himself to His creation? The doctrine of the trinity says that all three are one, suggesting
that if we integrate all their traits together, we get
God. Here is one way to see this: the Father has the most authority, yet
Jesus is a greater servant, and the Holy Spirit even more serves Christ. Since the least is greatest in the Kingdom of God, this principle
makes them all equal in glory. The more we serve, the more
authority we receive from the Lord to do our work. This is obviously not something Lucifer
understood. The
members of the trinity are all equal; yet look at the difference
between Jesus and the Holy Spirit; He is a man, while the Holy Spirit does
not even have a body. They are completely unrelated in their essential
characteristics. Therefore, if Christ and the Holy Spirit are so different from
each other, it stands to reason that the Father is equidistant from the
other two in His manner of expression. Jesus came and revealed
Him to us, telling Philip in Jn 14-9, “He who has seen me has seen the
Father,” yet the Father’s composition is an abrupt mystery. It is unlikely
He is physical or spiritual, since Christ and the Holy Spirit have already taken
those expressions. He probably expresses Himself in a way that will forever
remain incomprehensible to us, except for this: He is made of Faith. Most would
say that His essence is power, He spoke the stars in the sky; He didn't fling
them with a mighty right hand, so faith is the basis of His power.
See also: God's substance is faith;
Heb 11,1-40; 99n
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Heb 1,4-7
(15k) Servant >>
Angels >>
Limitations of angels -- These verses go with verse 13. Some
people depict Satan as the brother of Jesus, but that is completely false.
Lucifer was a created angel, the chief of angels, whereas Jesus was not
created but has lived forever in eternity past as the only begotten God in
the bosom of the Father (Jn 1-18). The Father has always had only one Son,
and His name is Jesus. Lucifer had the most power and radiance of any
created being, but it
doesn’t say he had the character of God, and this was His
downfall. Before he fell, Lucifer
received the entire creation as his inheritance, by evidence that it is now under a curse. Our powerful telescopes today can look
light-years into space and see the curse woven throughout the fabric of the
cosmos and observe its uniformity, the fact that it is wearing-out, that over time the entire
universe will burn-out and die. God cursed Lucifer and his inheritance,
depicting the initial glory of Lucifer, referenced in Isaiah 14,11-20,
calling him the bright morning star, which is now a description of Christ (Rev 22-16).
The Bible seems to teach that when God created the heavens and the earth, he
initially gave the reins of his creation to Lucifer instead of His Son, just
to show that no one but His Son can be trusted with absolute power. In this
way we could say that Lucifer was brother to Jesus, only figuratively, not
literally. See also: Satan/Angels; Heb 1-4; 67l
/ God cursed the creation through Satan;
Rev 12-4; 26g
Heb 1-4
(67l)
Authority >> Jesus delegates authority
>>
Name of Jesus is above every name –
The book of Hebrews is an amazing book; it says things that challenges us to
believe in a fuller revelation of God’s great generosity. Paul said in Eph
2-6 that the Father “raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly
places in Christ Jesus.” Jesus has inherited
a more excellent name than the angels after earning that position, thus
proving that He deserved to be second in command over God's entire creation,
after fully accomplishing the will of His Father. Jesus resisted the temptation of sin throughout His natural
life in the flesh, literally doing the impossible with just His passion for
righteousness, His love for the Father, and His hope for the Church, proving
for all time that He will remain faithful and rule over His Father's kingdom
selflessly. The
angels are far below Christ, but Christ has raised us up with Him making us
above the angels; this is mind-boggling! Books have been written
about the name of Jesus, called the word of God, whom the Father has placed
above His own name (Psalm 138-2). The Father also holds the prophecies He has
made in the Bible above His own name that they will come to pass or He isn't
God. He has
become much better than the angels through obedience, being willing to suffer
in order to fully accomplish His Father’s will; this is how He inherited
a more excellent name than they. Are we willing to suffer to complete the will
of God? That opportunity was never given to the angels. They were tested but
not like us; they were called to make one decision to either side with God or
side with Lucifer; in contrast, we are called to make dozens of decisions
every day. Every angel had an
opportunity to choose to stay with God or join Lucifer’s rebellion, so they
were tested, but they were not tested with obedience that
involved suffering. Many Christians have suffered the will of God, years of
imprisonment and torture for the name of Jesus, but they will not inherit a
more excellent name than Christ, because Jesus is perfect. Also, Jesus willingly became a man
like us and willingly suffered for our sake clothed in the likeness of sinful flesh, yet
He was without sin; by far this was His greatest miracle.
He suffered for us in obedience to the Father, and He did it in hope of
gaining the Church. We are children of the Father and brothers
and sisters of Christ; we are members of the family of God, bought with the
blood of Christ, according to the Father's will. See also: Satan; Heb 1,10-13;
26k / Angels; Heb 1-5,6;
252a
Heb 1-5,6
(141g) Witness
>>
Validity of Jesus Christ >> Old Testament bears
witness to the new >> It bears witness to Jesus >>
Prophesy about Jesus’ resurrection
(252a) Trinity
>>
You shall put no other gods before Me >> Worship
Jesus (Because He is equal with God) >> Jesus is
worthy of our worship >> Worship Jesus for His
inherent worthiness – God created the angels, so isn’t the word
“begotten” just another word for creating Jesus too? No! Jesus is eternal; He always was and always will
be, and as for the present tense the name the Father gave Himself
to Moses was "I AM." To say Jesus was begotten means He was born.
The Father gave Him a body by mixing Mary’s DNA with His DNA, bringing the
Son of God into the world who came from eternity-past, now incased in human flesh.
Jesus was both capable of sin by the contribution of His imperfect mother, and
given the Holy Spirit for a soul by His
Father. That is, Jesus never had to be born again, for He was originally born with the Holy
Spirit as His soul. God told the angels to worship
Jesus, then in various places in the Bible it says that no one should
worship angels (Col 2-18,19; Rev 19-10; 22-8,9), proves that Jesus is truly divine. If the
angels of God are ordered to worship Him, how much more are we to worship Him?
It says, “I will be a Father to Him and He shall be a Son to Me.” We are
all sons and daughters of God with Christ, but we are different; our soul makes us unique,
just as Jesus’ soul makes Him unique, though He is not unique to the Father. When we are born again, the Holy
Spirit comes to dwell in us and mixes with our spirit to make a new creation. In contrast,
Jesus’
soul is the Holy Spirit, making the Father and Son share the same person. See also: Angels; Heb
1-14; 15b /
Jesus as a boy; Mat 13,53-56; 89i
Heb 1-6
(46j) Judgment
>>
Spiritual warfare >> Demons are subject to
Christ -- This verse goes with verse 13
Heb 1,7-9
(101d) Thy kingdom come
>>
Zeal does not count the cost >> Zeal of God has
consumed me –
Jesus worked hard during His ministry. Occasionally they would retreat to the
mountains to pray, regroup and refuel, otherwise they were hot on another
missionary journey, the disciples scarcely keeping pace with Him. His way with
the people was amazing; it was never repeated. Many have a
way with people, whether they have the gift of gab or seem to always know what
to say and do at any given moment, but Jesus cared for people in a way that no
one else could. He not only miraculously solved problems and healed their
bodies, He devised solutions
that no one else would have considered based on His divine wisdom. The way
He handled the Pharisees and the chief priests, tearing them to ribbons,
making them look like foolish little children, when everybody else was deathly afraid
of them. He challenged their understanding of the Scriptures and their
business of religion, making them look
like they had never read Moses, ripping to shreds each of their perspectives on the
Scriptures and throwing them into the dumpster.
Heb 1-7
(104d) Thy kingdom come
>>
Purifying process >> Purified by fire >>
Purified through the fiery anointing
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Heb 1,8-14
(141c) Witness
>>
Validity of Jesus Christ >> Old Testament bears
witness to the new >> It bears witness to Jesus >>
Prophesy about Jesus’ ministry >> Jesus as the
Son of God –
This prophecy was taken from various places in the book of Psalms (Psalm 45-6,7;102,25-27;110-1).
How important is it that we believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that
the Father sent Him? It is the very center
of the gospel and the power of God to forgive sin! For someone else to die
for the sins of the world would be useless
in establishing a Great High Priest to intercede for the people, since no one
but the Son of God has access to the Father, though now we too have access to
Him through Christ. The fact
that He was a miracle worker was incidental; the only reason He performed
miracles was to get people’s attention and to help them believe in Him.
There were many prophets in the Old Testament; some performed miracles, such
as Moses and Elijah, but most did not. They came armed with the word of God
only, and it had the power to convince people that their word was from God and
that they were His prophets, but they did not come from heaven. Jesus is the
only person who came from heaven, who existed before His natural birth, who
had always been with the Father. Jesus is an eternal being, having no
beginning or end.
Heb 1,8-13
(36g)
Gift >> God opens His home to us >>
Inheritance >> We heirs through faith
(41a) Judgment
>>
God glorifies Himself as the judge of all
(212b) Sovereignty
>>
God is infinite >> He is the creator >>
The creation glorifies God >> God created all
things through Christ -- These verses go with verses 1-3
(253ed) Trinity >>
Relationship between Father and Son >> Jesus is
equal with the Father >> Jesus has all the
internal qualities of the Father >> Jesus is God of the Old Testament
–
The Father called Jesus God, so
if He called Jesus God, then He must be God.
(253g) Trinity
>>
Relationship between Father and Son >> Father
and Son glorify each other >> Holy Spirit honors
the Son through the Father >> Father glorifies
Himself as He glorifies His Son
Heb 1,8-12
(243l) Kingdom of God
>>
The eternal kingdom >> There shall be no end to
his increase >> He shall reign forever and ever
Heb 1-8,9
(40l)
Judgment >> God is glorified >>
God defends His righteousness through judgment – Jesus' throne will last forever and ever, and His
“scepter of righteousness is the scepter of His kingdom,” meaning that He
will righteously judge the nations. If anyone disagrees with Him, God will judge
him, suggesting that no one has an excuse for misunderstanding the Bible, and
that everyone has a perfect opportunity to know Him and
understand His ways.
God loves righteousness and will rule His creation
through this most important attribute, and it will make for an everlasting
kingdom. Without
righteousness, his kingdom would crumble like all the kingdoms of man. Righteousness is the
preservative of his kingdom, as Jesus said in Mat 5-13, “You are the salt of
the earth [preservative]...” If God values righteousness this much, then how
much should we value it? To the degree that we have loved and practiced
righteousness is the degree that God will honor us when we enter
His kingdom.
Heb 1-9
(113i) Thy kingdom come
>> Faith >> The anointing >> Anoint with oil
(125f) Thy kingdom come
>>
Manifestations of faith >> Joy >>
Joy is the result of partaking the Holy Spirit >>
Joy is the result of receiving from God –
Jn 3-34 says, “He whom God has sent speaks the words of God; for He gives
the Spirit without measure.” The mystery of Christ was the fact that He was
the Son of God and that He was without sin, and for this reason His anointing
was unsearchable. The anointing is described as the oil
of gladness, so a person who has an anointing will show it through joy even
through difficult circumstances. Jesus received His
measureless
anointing not just because He was the Son of God, but also because He loved
righteousness and hated lawlessness. The
love of righteousness and hatred of lawlessness is how we too receive an anointing; it is how we
maintain and develop it for the purpose of performing acts of righteousness
for His namesake. God knows that without the anointing we are not very interested
in righteousness. Paul said in Rom 7-18, “I know that nothing good dwells in
me, that is, in my flesh.” Any good work that we perform apart from the
anointing we must do in the flesh, but sinful flesh is not interested in
righteousness, for there is nothing good in us other than the Spirit of God.
(127l) Thy kingdom come
>>
Manifestations of faith >> Goodness >>
Rewards for doing good >> Honor is the reward
for doing good
(194g) Die to self (Process of substitution)
>>
Turn from sin to God >> Hate evil >>
Victory over sin >> Hate evil by loving good –
The indwelling Holy Spirit and the anointing are two different things, though
they have one origin. The indwelling Holy Spirit is the seed of our salvation
that is expected to grow into an anointing, leading us to become one with Him.
Every Christian has the indwelling Holy Spirit, but if he is disobedient, his
anointing is stunted, and he has little to offer the body of Christ, but the one who loves righteousness and
hates lawlessness seeks to do the works of God through an anointing
that is building in him and increasing to bear fruit for God. Jesus is the physical embodiment of the Holy Spirit, but we too often obey
the flesh, committing sin. The ministry of the Holy Spirit leads us away from
this and toward
a new way of life, giving us new desires for righteousness, and with that
comes hatred for sin. When we obey these God-given desires, we are able to
cultivate an anointing that enables us to produce the fruit of His kingdom.
(224g) Kingdom of God
>>
Illustrating the kingdom >> Description of
heaven >> The joyful kingdom >>
Rejoicing in heaven –
It says that Jesus was more joyful than any of His companions; that is, He wasn’t
gloomy. Joy is like a tracer bullet in a machine gun to help the operator see
where he is shooting, so when we see joy, we know all the other fruits of the
Spirit are available. Joy is one of the nine fruits of the Spirit, described in Galatians chapter five.
Virtually every denomination of Christianity knows about Gal
5-22,23, but does every denomination know that Heb 1-9
is talking about the anointing? If we said,
‘Jesus was anointed,’ everybody would give the amen, but when we say
that Christians are anointed, people become sullen, as though we
said a bad word. The very name “Christ” means anointed one, meaning “Christians”
are anointed ones! Walking in the Spirit
refers to the anointing that
God has given us as born-again believers in Jesus, which is a manifestation of
the indwelling Holy Spirit that expresses the fruits of the Spirit: “love,
joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness,
self-control.” Just mention anointing to some pastors, and we run the risk of getting kicked out of
their churches. They have decided not to believe in
the anointing though the Bible teaches it. The
anointing is the center of Christianity, yet most Christians today have rejected it.
Perhaps they have heard too many prosperity teachers on Television and seen too many
Charismatic preachers trying to
operate the anointing by the flesh, wandering from the fruits of the
Spirit and fumbling the gospel. The Evangelicals and Baptists stand back and
criticize saying in a self-righteous tone, ‘We are not getting involved
in that,’ as though they were better than those who are spiritually abusive, but in fact they are just as
abusive. At least the Pentecostals and Charismatics are trying, but the
Evangelicals and Baptists have given up the anointing to the devil, for who
else would ask them to forsake these things? See also: Anointing
(Pentecost); 1Pet 1-3,4; 13f
/ Evangelicals and Baptists;
Jd-3,4; 7a
KJV
WEB
/ Navigation Bar
Heb 1,10-13
(26k)
Sin >> Consequences of sin >>
Curse >> Deeds that return to the doer >>
God’s blessings are a curse if you don’t walk in them – Lucifer viewed his position as steward
over the creation with contempt, and so God cursed it, which is the cause of randomness and chaos
predominating over the creation. The creation, not just this world but the
entire universe, is cursed, being once the inheritance of Lucifer. The entire
universe wasn’t enough for him, so he threw it all away for a zero-chance of
subverting God’s throne. He jealously sought the position of Christ—what he
planed to do with the Father is unclear. He wanted to be the final authority,
and he wanted it enough to risk everything, figuring if he couldn’t have it
all, he didn’t want any of it. He made his move against the throne of God in
His very presence, so there was no safety net of repentance available to him.
That is a good thing for us, for in our present condition we sin against God
apart from his literal presence affording us a safety net of repentance. We
can thank Satan inadvertently for that, since it was his sin that caused the
present condition of the universe, and now God is using those negative
circumstances for good by creating man from the dust of the cursed earth in the midst of
chaos. Then He made a clearing in the midst of the curse and put a garden
there and ushered man into it, but soon he went the way of Lucifer, committing
sin in
full knowledge and proving that sinful man would also usurp God's throne if the
opportunity presented itself. Sin ultimately establishes the reprobate mind, turning its victim's
heart to stone. See also: Satan; Heb 1-14; Key verse
Heb 1,10-12
(170f) Works of the devil
>>
Manifestations of the devil >> Outward
appearance >> Temporary >>
Whatever is temporary will perish
(205a) Salvation
>>
Salvation is based on God’s promises >>
According to promise >> God never changes
(224c)
Kingdom of God >> Illustrating the kingdom >>
Description of heaven >> Describing the kingdom
after he makes all things new >> Description of
the new creation – God will outlast His
creation with the intention of destroying it and establishing a new one in its place. He will make all things
new building a new universe in place of the old one the Bible says,
“in which righteousness dwells,” but God Himself will never grow old or become obsolete or
need replacement. When He makes the new creation, it will remain forever and ever. This age of testing
man, when finished will be the end of sin, and He will bring His people
into paradise, called the New Jerusalem, which will eventually span the entire universe,
after man is found faithful and prepared to receive a kingdom that cannot be
shaken. God has already recreated in us a spirit who cannot sin, and He will
clothe our spirit with a new body that cannot sin, exactly reflecting our
spirit, so that our body is subject to our spirit, which we know our current
circumstance is just the opposite; our inner man is subject to failing flesh.
We will have been refined like gold though the testing and
hardship of an ancient creation that reflects the attributes of its
steward – Satan. God is even now in the process of making His enemies a
footstool for His feet. This footstool is hell. God is in the process of demonstrating to His creation that righteousness
triumphs over evil. Step by step, moment by moment, day by day, God is crushing
all the enemies of righteousness, until one day He will prove to all creation
that not only is He right, but that
unrighteousness is intrinsically wrong. God wants to prove for all time that
sin (seeking our own destiny apart from God) is destructive and that He can create and sustain a kingdom
that will last forever. This in not merely an opinion. God could create a
paradise for the damned instead of hell; He could create white beaches along a
blue sea spotted with palm trees, and the residents would turn it into hell
just like they are doing to the earth today. Given enough time this planet
will turn into a living hell, until it no longer can sustain life. This is
what sin does, it destroys, but God by His righteousness
builds and creates things.
(244g) Kingdom of God
>>
The eternal kingdom >> The word of God is
eternal >> The word of God will outlast the
creation
Heb 1-10
(115h) Thy kingdom come
>> Faith >>
Working the grace of God >> Laying on of hands >>
Bestowing the Holy Spirit
Heb 1-12
(190f) Die to self (Process of substitution)
>>
Separation from the old man >> Circumcision >>
Undressing >> Dismantling the outer tabernacle
Heb 1-13
(15k) Servant >>
Angels >>
Limitations of angels
– This verse goes with verses 4-7
(22n)
Sin >> Pride comes before a fall
(39ia)
Judgment >> Jesus defeated death >> Jesus defeated Satan’s
authority >> The demons are subject to Christ
(46j) Judgment
>>
Spiritual warfare >> Demons are subject to
Christ -- This verse goes with verse 6
(48n) Judgment
>>
Jesus’ enemies are destroyed >> Enemies of
His glory –
Everything is about God, not about us; He created us for His purpose and
glory; He has not created us for ourselves; this is something the world
refuses to acknowledge. Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit because they
developed the attitude from Satan that God created them for themselves and
not for Himself. Worldly people want everything to be all about them and
refuse to give glory to God.
(67b) Authority
>>
Jesus is at the right hand of the father >> He
is above all other authorities -- This verse goes with verse 3
KJV
WEB
/ Navigation Bar
Heb 1-14
(15b) Angels (Key
verse)
– Angels play a crucial role in fulfilling
God’s eternal plan. Whenever His
purpose is in transition or is threatened by an opposing power, He sends angels to ensure
its preservation. There
is an important question we should attempt to answer: what is the difference
between man and angels? Some might suggest that angels have wings and people
don't, but we don’t know that angels have wings, and if they did, it
wouldn’t sufficiently answer the question. Once we get to heaven, we will probably be able to write a
bulleted list of differences, but for now the only thing Scripture elucidates
as the fundamental difference between man and angel is the
scuffle they had with God. Lucifer and His cohorts attempted to
physically capture God’s throne and somehow do away with Him and become God
in His place (as though the devil knew anything about being God). In contrast, Adam
was told not to eat of a certain tree in the garden, but he did it anyway. Both
angel and man rebelled against God and are sent to a common hell, indicating
that their rebellion does not distinguish them. Angels are servants of
God’s kingdom whose only purpose is to carry out orders, while man was made to represent God to the
creation and was made to create worlds. In
eternity, after the Millennium, God will create a new heavens and
a new earth, and He will create a new Adam and Eve and command them to be
fruitful and multiply, and as they fill the universe with people, God will
put us in charge of them to
teach them the ways of God, and He will give us the angels to accompany us, who will
act as the strength of our authority, and we will rule God’s creation with
gentleness and humility. See also: Satan; Heb 1,3-6; 30h
/ Angels; 15c
/ New heavens and a new earth (We will teach the new creation right from wrong);
Mat 25,14-23; 102c; Angels different
from man; Rev 1-5; 37h
(15c)
Servant >> Ministering spirits >>
Angels give help in time of need – The role of angels is
as a servant in contrast
to man’s role of stewardship. The reason man has a higher place than the
angels is due to the greater reward of faith we acquired while serving God
apart from His literal presence. Angels are ministering
spirits. At the end of Hebrews the writer says we could possibly have seen angels and not known it in
this life. They are at work among us. Someday when
we get to heaven, we will finally meet some of the angels who have rendered
service to us in some of our greatest times of need. Perhaps our lives were
spared and we didn’t know how. Some day we may realize that those quirky, random events in
our favor that we call fate may have derived from the hand of angels. Other
people suffer greatly, who apparently need an angel ministering to them in their affliction. Someday
we will discover the true impact of angels in this life. We will meet
the ones who helped us; perhaps we are forming bonds with them even now that
will last forever. See also: Angels; Heb 1,3-6; 30h
(36k) Gift of God
>>
Inheritance >> Jesus is our inheritance
-- This verse goes with verses 1-4
(235k) Kingdom of God
>>
Pursuing the kingdom >> Invest in the kingdom >>
All things are for your sake >> We are fighting
for you >> Our effort is for your sake
See
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