Jesus the Eternal (January 7, 2007) Hebrews 1:1-14
Hebrews 1:1-14 Jesus the Eternal
When you want to find out when and where a person was born, you can look up the birth certificate. In my country, you can go to any court office and get a copy of my birth certificate. Here in Germany, you can go to any local court office to get a copy of the birth certificate. You can also look this information up in a family book.
The first chapter of Hebrews is essentially the birth certificate of Jesus Christ. The writer of the book of Hebrews wants us to know how perfect, great, and unique Jesus Christ is above anyone else in history. The writer wants us to choose Jesus Christ because Jesus is superior to any other choice we have to follow. In the time the book was written, there were people a person could follow. These included: Moses, Aaron, and angels. Today, there are many ideas that you and I can follow. There are many leaders whom we can say we shall place our allegience. There are many people we can say: I will follow only you. Hebrews chapter 1 was written to prove that Jesus is superior to any other person, object, philosophy or idea that we may want to follow. As a result, he begins by writing Jesus's heavenly birth certificate.
There are five parts to the birth certificate record of Jesus Christ.
FIVE PARTS OF THE BIRTH CERTIFICATE OF JESUS CHRIST
THE LEGAL PARENT OF JESUS CHRIST (1:1-2)
There is only one legal parent of Jesus Christ. That parent is God. While God the Father and God the Son are co-equal, there is still a distinction in function. The Father still gave everything to His Son. We see this in the early verses of Hebrews 1:
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; (Hebrews 1:1-2 NKJV)
Unlike a physical birth certificate, the book of Hebrews begins with the legal parent of Jesus Christ first. The very first word in Hebrews is God. God is the Father of Jesus, and He is the Father of us when we accept His Son.
GENDER (1:3)
There is no gender when it comes to Jesus Christ. However, gender defines more than just sexual orientation. The gender of a person is also the way that a person reflects the birthparents. When a son or daughter is born from two parents, there will be physical similarities, as well as characteristics that they share. Jesus reflects God's image in humanity.
who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person... (Hebrews 1:3 NKJV)
This Son perfectly mirrors God, and is stamped with God's nature... (Hebrews 1:3 MSG)
The nature of the parents will be physically mirrored in the children. Jesus mirrors God the Father completely. If you want to see what God looks like, look at Jesus Christ His Son.
THE NAME OF JESUS AT BIRTH (1:4-10)
After naming the legal parent, the baby is given a name. In this case, Jesus is not a baby, but a Son. Jesus is given an excellent name. His name is better than any other name that has been given - better than Moses or Aaron - because Jesus is God.
Jesus is God. He is not an angel. In comparison, angel are created and they have no names. They are just heavenly servants. No one bows down to the name of an angel. But to the name of Jesus, everyone will bow down.
having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. 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"? But when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says: "Let all the angels of God worship Him." And of the angels He says: "Who makes His angels spirits And His ministers a flame of fire." But to the Son He says: "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of gladness more than Your companions." And: "You, LORD, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands. (Hebrews 1:4-10 NKJV)
The whole point of quoting these Old Testament Scriptures is to prove that Jesus is the name of whom we will all worship. Because Jesus is the Son of God, Jesus deserves our worship. Paul said it differently in Philippians 2:
Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9-11 NKJV)
THE BIRTHPLACE OF JESUS CHRIST (1:8)
Where is Jesus? Where is His birthplace? Notice what God says about Jesus and where He lives:
But to the Son He says: "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. (Hebrews 1:8 NKJV)
The place of Jesus's "birth" is Heaven. He may have been physically born in Bethlehem, but He has existed for eternity in a place called Heaven. Heaven is where God lives. Jesus lives theres too. The birthplace of Jesus is with God. The center of Jesus's power and authority is in Heaven. It is an eternal kingdom. The power and authority of Jesus was there with Him in eternity. Jesus has a name that people will worship. Jesus has a place where He will be worshiped.
THE BIRTHDATE OF JESUS CHRIST (1:2, 11-12)
And in essence, the birthdate of Jesus Christ is eternity. Jesus may have entered Earth as a baby at Christmas, but He existed long before that day two thousand years ago. He has existed before this world began. The birthdate of Jesus is eternity past.
Jesus is the Source of Eternity (1:12)
Jesus is Eternal because He is the source of eternity.
Even they will perish, but you remain forever. They will wear out like old clothing. You will roll them up like an old coat. They will fade away like old clothing. But you are always the same; you will never grow old." (Hebrews 1:11-12 NLT)
In ages past you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. Even they will perish, but you remain forever; they will wear out like old clothing. You will change them like a garment, and they will fade away. But you are always the same; your years never end. (Psalms 102:25-27 NLT)
The writer of Hebrews is quoting a verse from the Psalms. The Psalm describes the fact that in "ages past" Christ laid down the foundation of the earth. Hebrews also quotes the fact that Jesus is always the same. Jesus never ages. That is because eternity comes from Jesus - who is eternal. Jesus was not born from a time in the past. Instead, Jesus created the chronological world - time, and then created the physical world earth.
CONCLUSION
So who are you going to follow this year? Who will you place your allegience? Consider the unique Person of Jesus Christ.
