Hi friends, welcome back
to our continuing study in
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The Books Of Book.
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We're in the book of
Hebrews, and I am your co-host
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James Rafferty, and
I'm here with Ty Gibson.
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Well, we are looking at
the book of Hebrews James.
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This is an exciting study.
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Because as we learn in
our opening study, which was
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kind of an overview,
of the book of Hebrews.
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Hebrews is a masterpiece of
Holy Spirit inspired literature.
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We want to invite our
friends who are viewing,
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those listening in
on the radio, if you are
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not driving that is.
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Pull up a chair, grab
your Bible and open to Hebrews,
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Chapter 1, as we
launch right into our study.
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We left off with the
theme of something better,
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and we are going to
pick up with this theme
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in Hebrews Chapter 1.
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The whole book of
Hebrews has a number of themes.
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One of the themes is
this theme of better things.
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Right here in Hebrews chapter
1, we introduce ourselves,
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or God introduce
ourselves to Him, I should say.
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We are introduced to God.
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Paul gets right to the
point in Hebrews 1, verse 1,
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"God, who at sundry times,
in divers manners spake in
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time past unto the fathers,
by the Prophets has in these
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last days spoken unto
us by his son, whom he has
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appointed heir of all things and
by whom also he made the worlds"
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God wants to speak with us.
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God has never stopped
wanting to communicate with us.
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I love this.
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The book of Hebrews,
opens with Paul bringing to our
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attention that the
Lord Jesus Christ is
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God's supreme revelation.
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There is a contrast
that drawn here, between
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the Prophets who have
spoke in different ways at
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different times in history.
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That contrast is drawn
between those prophetic
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revelations and Jesus
Christ, who is now the express
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image of God's
person come to earth.
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The manifest glory of God
in all its beauty, is brought
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right up close and
personal in Jesus Christ.
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You know when you look at
relationship Ty, it is very
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important for us to understand
what God is doing here.
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What point He is making here.
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You know when you look at
relationships, you are talking
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about connecting
with people, for example,
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you could connect with
people today by e-mail,
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or by telephone, you can
connect with people by letter.
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There are different
ways we can communicate,
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but up close and personal
makes all the difference.
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God has continued to
communicate with us, and I like
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this because all the way
from the fall, all the way
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from Genesis, we find
that God was a relational God.
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He came to talk with
us in the cool of the day.
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Sin destroyed, that
relationship, not from God's
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perspective, but
from our perspective.
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As God comes in the
cool of the day to talk to
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Adam and Eve,
after they have sinned,
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what are they doing?
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They're hiding,
and we have been hiding
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from God ever since.
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The book of Hebrews is
telling us that even though
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we have been hiding from
God, God has never ceased to
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seek to communicate with us.
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Well friends, we
want to consider that
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in Hebrews Chapter 1.
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Jesus comes to
earth as God in the flesh.
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It's God that were
dealing with, James.
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It's not none other than
the Creator of the universe
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whom we are
encountering, in this apparently
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just a human being,
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this man Jesus from Nazareth.
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Here comes this
person in every way,
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like us, from all appearances.
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Yet we are literally
dealing with God in the flesh.
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I like that in 2 Peter
1, verse 16, Peter uses this
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language that really
helps us to expand what's
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is being said here.
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He says we, speaking of
the apostles and the others at
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at that time.
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He said we were eye
witnesses of His Majesty.
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Isn't that incredible?
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I mean, you can feel
the passion and the urgency
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that comes through.
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This kind of revelation,
I mean think about it.
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We as human beings have
walked and talked with a person
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for 31/2 years, and others
literally grew up with Him
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and had encounters with Him.
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I mean, He was one of
the kids on the block.
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All of a sudden, it
dawns on you, hey, that person,
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we were dealing with
was none other than God.
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and we were eye
witnesses of His Majesty.
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This is important, because
what God is trying to say to us
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basically is, I have always
wanted to be close to you.
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I always wanted you to see Me.
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I always wanted to be revealed
to you and come close to you,
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but you have changed in the way
that you have responded to Me.
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So, I have had to speak
to you through the Prophets.
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In some way, I have even had
to mask myself, becoming a man,
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becoming a human.
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In some way, I have even had
to mask Myself so that I don't
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give you full disclosure.
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I want you to know that
in spite of that, in spite of
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the way that sin has
affected you, it has never
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affected Me that way.
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Malachi 3 says,
that God has not changed.
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James 1:17 also tells us
that God does not change.
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There is no variables,
variableness must no shadow
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of turning in God.
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So the Bible is
teaching us that God is love.
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In this context, His love
is manifested in an unbroken
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relationship toward us.
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The way He relates
to us has not changed.
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I have spoken to you, I
continue to speak to you,
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and now I come to
speak to you in person.
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Why, what is the point?
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The underlying point Paul
is making here, I love you.
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I want a relationship with you.
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I love that.
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I've learned in my own
personal experience, James,
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as I know you have, that
love, not only God's love
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for us, but we
get a feel for it.
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We see shadows of
it, we get a taste of it
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in our human relationships.
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I have had the privilege
of being married to actually
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one of your fellow
workers and friends.
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My wife Sue, we have been
together since she was 13,
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and I was 14.
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We learned over
the years that love is
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exponential reality.
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In other words, love doesn't
have any bottom, it doesn't
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have any edges, it
doesn't have any cap.
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In other words, God's love
as the zenith, the apex of love,
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is the ultimate
reality of God's character.
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So that we can go on growing
in our relationship with God.
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Growing in our
knowledge of Him, growing in
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our appreciation of Him.
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Even our passion for God
for ever and ever without end,
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with out reaching a plateau.
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I mean, if we as human beings
are capable of always loving,
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more, loving a little bit more
passionately someone that we
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have entered into
a relationship with,
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and we are growing together.
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Loving a little
bit more intelligently.
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Loving a little bit more,
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with all that we
are as a human being.
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And it doesn't
seem to ever stop.
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How much more, this encounter
through Jesus, with God is
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drawing us into a
never-ending, forever deepening
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relationship with Himself.
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Amen, and you know, if
that is not the problem,
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in other words, if
the problem is not from
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God's perspective,
but from our perspective,
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if God is always
wanting to have this everlasting
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deepening relationship
with us, but we are the ones
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that have pulled away from Him.
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Why have we
pulled away from Him?
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And I liked this verse
because it explains to us,
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what is happened
in our relationship.
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Verses found in
Isaiah 59 verse 2.
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It says, context, verse
1, "behold the Lord's hand is
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not shortened that
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he cannot save. neither is his
ear heavy that he cannot hear. "
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In other words,
God is there for us.
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He is there to hear us.
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He wants relationship,
He wants communication.
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But verse 2, "your iniquities
have separated between
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you and your God and your
sins have hid His face from
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you that you will not hear. "
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And I like what we were
talking about earlier Ty,
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because it tells me that
the problem is not with God,
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the problem is with us.
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We are not willing to hear,
we are not willing to listen,
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we're not
willing to communicate.
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Sin has had its effect upon us.
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And that is why in
verse 3, of Hebrews Chapter 1,
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God says I'm going to
take care of sin because sin
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has caused a problem between us.
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It says here in verse 3,
"who being the brightness of His
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glory", talking about Christ,
"the express image of His
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person, and upholding all
things by the word of His power
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when He had by Himself
purged our sins, sat down at the
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right hand of man. "
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I love this.
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By Himself He purged our
sins, why, because sin was
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causing a problem
in the relationship.
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We couldn't deal
with it, He dealt with it.
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Yeah, so clearly in these
first three verses of Hebrews
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Chapter 1, we encounter God
as the ultimate communicator.
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He takes the initiative,
and He comes to us with not
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just a message in words,
but a message in the flesh.
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He comes to this world
clothed in our very humanity and
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becomes God's
alternate expression.
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I like what it says in
one favorite book of mine,
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that Jesus was God's
thoughts made audible.
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God's heart put on display,
made visible, God with flesh on,
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up close and
personal, as we have said here.
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And Jesus, when He came to
this world in Hebrews Chapter 1.
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There are a number of ways,
James, in which it is pointed
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out that it is God we
are dealing with here.
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This is extremely profound
to realize in, Chapter 1,
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verse 2, where it says
that this person that we are
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encountering that purged
our sins by Himself was the
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One who made the worlds.
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So this is the that Creator of
the Universe, the One who made
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everything in a
sense becomes made.
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He becomes a part of His
own creation, and He is the only
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One that is qualified to
purge our sins by Himself.
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And there it is emphasis
here, He did this by Himself.
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He did it without human
participation, and He did it,
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we're told in verse 4,
without angelic participation.
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Jesus is better than the angels.
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Angels in verse 4 could not
occupy a redemptive position.
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Later on in Chapter 1, verse
14, it's clear that they are
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ministering spirits,
but they are not redeemer's.
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There is no way that
angels can enter into the
00:10:11.21\00:10:13.93
actual saving of our souls.
00:10:13.96\00:10:16.99
God does that by Himself.
00:10:17.02\00:10:20.04
And I like this, because
it leads into another aspect,
00:10:20.07\00:10:23.17
another question that
comes up often in the Bible,
00:10:23.20\00:10:26.04
especially in relation to
the Old Testament, and that is
00:10:26.07\00:10:27.92
Why did God require all
these sacrifices for sin?
00:10:27.95\00:10:31.97
Why did God require the
death of all these animals
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or death itself.
00:10:34.60\00:10:35.86
That is a question that
is brought up many times.
00:10:35.89\00:10:37.65
And the answer to that question
is very simple and based in
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the Old Testament as
well as the New Testament.
00:10:42.33\00:10:43.90
And the answer is
this, God did not require
00:10:43.93\00:10:46.83
sacrifices for sin.
00:10:46.86\00:10:48.97
God did not require
animals to die for sin.
00:10:49.00\00:10:50.95
Sin required that.
00:10:50.98\00:10:52.66
Sin leads to death and all
those sacrifices were God's
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way of trying to help us
to understand that one truth.
00:10:57.42\00:10:59.87
The wages of sin is death.
00:10:59.90\00:11:01.89
This is what sin does.
00:11:01.92\00:11:03.16
God is trying to
communicate that to us
00:11:03.19\00:11:06.10
the reality of what sin
does, because He has, in
00:11:06.13\00:11:08.89
the context of sin
stepped in and stopped us from
00:11:08.92\00:11:12.02
experiencing that consequence.
00:11:12.05\00:11:14.56
This is a loaded
term here, James.
00:11:14.59\00:11:17.08
When it says that He by
Himself purged our sins.
00:11:17.11\00:11:20.52
Because when we fast-forward
and will get there in greater
00:11:20.55\00:11:23.30
detail, but will we
fast forward to Chapter 9,
00:11:23.33\00:11:25.90
verse 26 of Hebrews.
00:11:25.93\00:11:27.95
It says that Jesus appeared
once at the end of the ages
00:11:27.98\00:11:30.99
to put away sin.
00:11:31.02\00:11:32.24
Similar to this
phrase purge sin,
00:11:32.27\00:11:34.12
by the sacrifice of Himself.
00:11:34.15\00:11:36.78
It's God coming to this
world and making the sacrifice,
00:11:36.81\00:11:40.99
not requiring the sacrifice.
00:11:41.02\00:11:43.28
I mean, I guess there's a sense
in which He is requiring that
00:11:43.31\00:11:45.78
in and of Himself, but He knows
that we can't in any way make
00:11:45.81\00:11:50.51
a sufficient
sacrifice for our sins.
00:11:50.54\00:11:53.95
It is as if God is saying
to us, it's your sin that has
00:11:53.98\00:11:58.23
caused suffering and death
to Me, because I have willingly
00:11:58.26\00:12:01.01
subjected Myself to be
your Redeemer and your Savior.
00:12:01.04\00:12:05.77
Because this is not
something you can achieve.
00:12:05.80\00:12:08.04
You can't fulfill this.
00:12:08.07\00:12:09.47
Exactly, in fact, Isaiah
Chapter 1, verses 11 and 12.
00:12:09.50\00:12:12.45
This is God talking to us.
00:12:12.48\00:12:13.88
We are asking Him
why did He want all these
00:12:13.91\00:12:16.54
these sacrifices for sin?
00:12:16.57\00:12:17.54
Why was He wanting all
these animals to be killed?
00:12:17.55\00:12:20.31
This is God talking to
us, this is God asking us
00:12:20.34\00:12:22.33
the same question?
00:12:22.36\00:12:23.51
Isaiah 1 verse 11. "To
what purpose is the multitude of
00:12:23.54\00:12:27.31
your sacrifices
unto me? saith the LORD:
00:12:27.34\00:12:29.39
I am full of the burnt
offerings of rams, and the fat
00:12:29.42\00:12:31.92
of fed beasts; and I delight
not in the blood of bullocks,
00:12:31.95\00:12:34.70
or of lambs, or of he
goats. When ye come to appear
00:12:34.73\00:12:37.38
before me, who hath
required this at your hand,
00:12:37.41\00:12:39.42
to tread my courts?
don't bring it to Me anymore. "
00:12:39.45\00:12:42.14
This is God speaking back to us.
00:12:42.17\00:12:43.94
This is God talking to us.
00:12:43.97\00:12:45.06
This is God communicating to us.
00:12:45.09\00:12:46.26
I am not interested
in all those sacrifices.
00:12:46.29\00:12:48.77
Sin required that
and sin leads to death.
00:12:48.80\00:12:52.29
Sins reward is death and
death is an enemy of God.
00:12:52.33\00:12:56.59
1 Corinthians 15, Paul tells
us clearly there, death is the
00:12:56.62\00:12:59.07
last enemy that
God will destroy.
00:12:59.10\00:13:00.52
So why is God
allowing this system be set up
00:13:00.55\00:13:03.18
in the first place?
00:13:03.21\00:13:04.18
Because He wants to
instruct us and teach us
00:13:04.19\00:13:05.86
what sin does.
00:13:05.89\00:13:06.86
Yeah that's right, it
is a fascinating thing,
00:13:06.87\00:13:08.53
that when we look at
Scripture, the prophets and the
00:13:08.56\00:13:13.34
Apostles are bringing
out this powerful insight.
00:13:13.37\00:13:15.93
For example in 2 Corinthians
5:19 we have these words.
00:13:15.96\00:13:20.32
"God was in Christ reconciling
the world to Himself. "
00:13:20.35\00:13:26.02
So, what we are witnessing
in Jesus Christ, what we are
00:13:26.05\00:13:29.88
witnessing at the cross.
00:13:29.91\00:13:31.58
Specifically, this
monumental self-sacrifice.
00:13:31.61\00:13:35.69
We are witnessing the
God of the Universe making
00:13:35.72\00:13:40.52
this self-sacrifice.
00:13:40.55\00:13:41.84
God's love is on
display with unprecedented glory
00:13:41.87\00:13:46.18
at the cross of Jesus Christ.
00:13:46.21\00:13:47.82
And this is the
theme of something better,
00:13:47.85\00:13:49.78
this is the focus
of the book of Hebrews.
00:13:49.81\00:13:52.19
It opens right up
here in Hebrews Chapter 1.
00:13:52.22\00:13:54.91
It introduces to us a personal
God, who has personally taken
00:13:54.94\00:13:58.17
responsibility for our sins
and we're to continue with this
00:13:58.20\00:14:01.01
same theme in just one moment.
00:14:01.04\00:14:02.04
So don't go away
we'll be right back.
00:14:02.07\00:14:03.27