Post by arete on Jun 16, 2014 21:49:18 GMT
Introduction:
Have you ever noticed that if you compare yourself to the right person, you are simply amazing at everything you do? We all like to compare ourselves to someone who doesn’t measure up so that our own abilities, looks, etc. shine in comparison. Have you ever noticed though, that if you compare yourself to the wrong person… you don’t look as good? This morning in Hebrews, the author is going to be doing some comparing. He wants to compare Moses to Jesus. This may seem pretty mild to us, but to Jewish believers this is a pretty tough comparison to chew on. Judaism sees Moses in a very lofty place. The author of Hebrews wants to help his audience understand that no one deserves the glory and honor that Christ alone deserves and to help us see Christ as he truly is…
Context:
The author of Hebrews has been crafting a high and lofty view of who Jesus Christ is. He began his letter stating and restating the superiority of the Son of God in every way and over every created thing. The author has also established the humanity of Christ in his mission and ministry given by God to save sinful men and to make them brothers and sons of God. Last week, the author painted a picture of the majesty of Christ’s salvation. Christ paid the debt of our sin. Christ stooped down to where we are. Christ satisfied God’s wrath on our sin. Christ is our perfect mediator and is in fact our High Priest. The author now lays further proof of the greatness of Jesus by comparing him to Moses. Moses is viewed by Jews as the greatest of men. Perhaps then some Jews thought he might be greater than Jesus. The author lays that concern to rest as we look to Hebrews 3:1-6…
Body – Hebrews 3:1-6 – ESV
Jesus Greater Than Moses
1 Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, 2 who was faithful to him who appointed him, just as Moses also was faithful in all God's house. 3 For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses—as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. 4 (For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.) 5 Now Moses was faithful in all God's house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later, 6 but Christ is faithful over God's house as a son. And we are his house if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.
Consider Jesus vv. 1-2
Therefore…the author keeps building. He is establishing over and over the supremacy of Christ and more recently begun to set the foundation for our understanding that Christ is our high priest. In this section, the author proclaims Christ as superior to Moses.
Christians are holy brother who share a heavenly calling (1a).
1. Holy brothers: The phrase holy brother contains both affection and consecration. Because of Christ, we are adopted into God’s family as sons and are then brothers to one another. This is meant to convey equality for men and women saved by God as in the Roman world, sons had legal rights daughters did not have. So we have legal family status because of Christ. The holiness is God setting us apart for his own use and then because we are God’s we are holy
2. Heavenly calling: The use of “heavenly” in connection with another word is common in this letter. It is used of God’s perfect order (8:5; 9:3) and our future life with God (11:16; 12:22). Paired with calling, we find the author clearly presenting that our salvation is possible because God calls us to himself to be saved in Christ.
As holy brothers, we are called to consider Jesus (1b). Since we have our calling from God and are no longer objects of his wrath, and are in fact objects of his fatherly love – we should ponder, contemplate – really fix our attention on what Jesus has done for us as Savior and all he continues to do as High Priest. Our pondering should drive us to praise and worship to our Lord and Savior. Consider then…
1. Jesus the apostle (1c). He was sent by the Father from heaven to lowly earth. He came with a ministry and a mission and accomplished every last bit of it.
2. Jesus the High Priest (1d.) He has taken on our humanity and is therefore our perfect high priest. He is both the offering and the one who offers the sacrifice for our sin before God. It is in him that we are able to stand before God in blamelessness and righteousness
3. Our confession (1e). “Christ is the center of our confession of faith in the gospel, both in creed and public testimony” (John MacArthur). There is urgency in the way the author writes this. If we truly consider what Christ has done and the salvation that is in him alone – then we could never entertain a thought of rejecting him.
As we consider Jesus, the author compares him to Moses (v. 2).
1. Moses was faithful in all God’s house (v. 2b). We start first with Moses as the lesser. While he was a mere man and did sin, he was also a faithful man. He faithfully led Israel out of bondage and to the Promised Land. The use of “house” means “household” and refers to the people and not the structure. The same way “church” refers to God’s people and not a building.
2. Jesus was faithful to God and all God appointed to him (v. 2a). Jesus was sinless. He faithfully brought salvation to all God calls to himself & leads them to eternal life on earth and in heaven
Illustration:
Check Your Jesus: From a conservative Christian blog comes a serious of one liners about who Jesus really is:
If the "Jesus" you worship isn't too jazzed about every bit of God's Word, you might want to Check Your Jesus.
If the "Jesus" you worship wants everyone to have his "best life now," you'd better Check Your Jesus.
If the "Jesus" you worship doesn't love the church, you'd better Check Your Jesus.
If the “Jesus” you worship teaches you to stay home from churches that aren't as perfect as you (think you) are, you'd better Check Your Jesus
Application:
Consider who Jesus really is. Jesus is the Son of God sent by The Father from heaven to a sinful world, surrounded by sinful people, to live without sin, to be accused of sin, tried and executed, to shed his blood so that our sins would be paid and to make us who are filthy rebels into chosen sons of God. Consider that…that is the Jesus who saves and we serve.
Counted Worthy vv. 3-4
Jesus deserves more glory than Moses (3a). This is a very bold statement to make to a Jewish person. Moses was and is much respected and even venerated in Judaism. Moses was THE prophet from God in that he was the scribe of God for the Torah (the Law). He was God’s chosen deliverer from Egypt’s bondage. He was instrumental in the creation of the Tabernacle and the establishment of Jewish worship. Yet, Moses pales in comparison to the very Son of God. Jesus is counted worthy of more glory – what that means is that Jesus is established by both his divinity and his humanity as supremely worthy of glory and honor. He alone is both God and perfect, sinless man.
Jesus’ glory is different than the glory of Moses (3b). Jesus’ glory is his own. He is the creator of the world and the household of believers. He is the author and finisher of salvation. Moses is just a man and one of the sinners that required Christ’s blood to save. Moses’ glory is borrowed from God in that God’s glory shone in Moses as God used a faithful man to establish Israel.
The author continues using “house” and household to make his point (4a). Again, the focus is on the people in the house and not the building. God made a nation for himself in Israel. He has made and is making sons for himself through His unique Son Jesus Christ.
Ultimately the house and every other thing belong to God (4b). Verse 4 is parenthetical. It is a brief rabbit trail. The author is very passionate that we always remember that God is the creator and that he owns everything he has made – including you and me.
Illustration:
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. Ephesians 2:19-22
Application:
Christ’s glory is seen in us. As God builds his household through the work of Jesus Christ, we are built into dwelling place suitable for God. So then, will Christ be glorified in us? Yes he will. The real question is, will Christ be glorified in us because we are faithful and he shines through us or because we are faithless and he disciplines us? If we belong to him, he is fashioning us into the house of God. Sometimes being fashioned and made into his image for his purposes can be difficult to bear if we wallow in sin.
Confidence and Hope vv. 5-6
Moses did serve God faithfully (5a). In fact, the word for “servant” here is only ever used of Moses. Moses is in this sense holds the highest position among the servants, but is a servant still.
Moses testified to things that would be spoken (5b). In John 5:46-47, Jesus told the Pharisees that, “For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?” Throughout the books of Moses, there are many promises of the Christ who would come – and now he has indeed come.
But…Jesus is not Moses. He is not a servant. Jesus is the Son (5c). Moses is not belittled here. It is a simple difference between the servant and the son. Jesus is the True Son of God. Moses is not. However, Moses is an adopted son saved by grace just as we are saved by grace.
We are Jesus’ house if…(6). This is not telling us how to be saved, but does mark certain proofs that salvation is genuine.
1. We hold fast to our confidence. We must grip tightly and truly possess joyous certainty that Jesus Christ has paid it all. This does not mean there will be no dark moments of doubt, but that genuine faith grasps that confidence tightly like a life preserver or a safety line.
2. We hold fast to our boasting in our hope. The word “boast” is not prideful bragging of one’s self. It means that we have received something worth telling others about. We have certain hope of eternal life in the finished work of Jesus Christ. This hope is a hallmark of saving faith.
Illustration:
Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, & since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience & our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. (Hebrews 10:19-23)
Application:
Our confidence and hope are in Christ… not ourselves. Even as we hold fast, he has us in his hands. Our confidence is in his total faithfulness. Our hope is the certain reality that Jesus has bought us with his blood and is growing us in Christ-likeness and will bring us home to heaven. Our confidence can never be in our abilities because we fail and at times are faithless.
So What?
Consider Christ. Meditate on him. Fill your mind with the wonder of him. Think hard on who he is and what he has done to save you. Pray to him. Pray that he makes you faithful. Pray for guidance in becoming more and more like him every day. Check Your Jesus and make sure he is the Jesus of Scripture
Cooperate in Christ’s glory. He saved you to the glory of himself and to the glory of the Father. Pray that he reveal whatever darkness there is in you so that you can be fashioned into the hose and temple of God faster and in faithfulness and not in discipline.
Be confident in Christ’s salvation. He is the faithful Son of God who obeyed the Father and came to earth to pay sin’s debt and satisfy the wrath of God. He saved you from sin’s penalty and has removed you from sin. Your eternal fate is decided in Christ. When you fail – be confident and be hopeful because the Christ who saved you from the penalty of sin is the same Christ who forgives you and is at work saving you from the power of sin.
Compare yourself then to Christ. If you want a real idea of how great you are, compare yourself to him and not to other fallen, sinful men. Pray that such a comparison keep you lowly in heart; humble before God and ever prayerful for his guidance and grace as he makes you into who you are meant to be in Jesus Christ.
Benediction
Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.
(Jude 1:24-25 ESV)
Have you ever noticed that if you compare yourself to the right person, you are simply amazing at everything you do? We all like to compare ourselves to someone who doesn’t measure up so that our own abilities, looks, etc. shine in comparison. Have you ever noticed though, that if you compare yourself to the wrong person… you don’t look as good? This morning in Hebrews, the author is going to be doing some comparing. He wants to compare Moses to Jesus. This may seem pretty mild to us, but to Jewish believers this is a pretty tough comparison to chew on. Judaism sees Moses in a very lofty place. The author of Hebrews wants to help his audience understand that no one deserves the glory and honor that Christ alone deserves and to help us see Christ as he truly is…
Context:
The author of Hebrews has been crafting a high and lofty view of who Jesus Christ is. He began his letter stating and restating the superiority of the Son of God in every way and over every created thing. The author has also established the humanity of Christ in his mission and ministry given by God to save sinful men and to make them brothers and sons of God. Last week, the author painted a picture of the majesty of Christ’s salvation. Christ paid the debt of our sin. Christ stooped down to where we are. Christ satisfied God’s wrath on our sin. Christ is our perfect mediator and is in fact our High Priest. The author now lays further proof of the greatness of Jesus by comparing him to Moses. Moses is viewed by Jews as the greatest of men. Perhaps then some Jews thought he might be greater than Jesus. The author lays that concern to rest as we look to Hebrews 3:1-6…
Body – Hebrews 3:1-6 – ESV
Jesus Greater Than Moses
1 Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, 2 who was faithful to him who appointed him, just as Moses also was faithful in all God's house. 3 For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses—as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. 4 (For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.) 5 Now Moses was faithful in all God's house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later, 6 but Christ is faithful over God's house as a son. And we are his house if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.
Consider Jesus vv. 1-2
Therefore…the author keeps building. He is establishing over and over the supremacy of Christ and more recently begun to set the foundation for our understanding that Christ is our high priest. In this section, the author proclaims Christ as superior to Moses.
Christians are holy brother who share a heavenly calling (1a).
1. Holy brothers: The phrase holy brother contains both affection and consecration. Because of Christ, we are adopted into God’s family as sons and are then brothers to one another. This is meant to convey equality for men and women saved by God as in the Roman world, sons had legal rights daughters did not have. So we have legal family status because of Christ. The holiness is God setting us apart for his own use and then because we are God’s we are holy
2. Heavenly calling: The use of “heavenly” in connection with another word is common in this letter. It is used of God’s perfect order (8:5; 9:3) and our future life with God (11:16; 12:22). Paired with calling, we find the author clearly presenting that our salvation is possible because God calls us to himself to be saved in Christ.
As holy brothers, we are called to consider Jesus (1b). Since we have our calling from God and are no longer objects of his wrath, and are in fact objects of his fatherly love – we should ponder, contemplate – really fix our attention on what Jesus has done for us as Savior and all he continues to do as High Priest. Our pondering should drive us to praise and worship to our Lord and Savior. Consider then…
1. Jesus the apostle (1c). He was sent by the Father from heaven to lowly earth. He came with a ministry and a mission and accomplished every last bit of it.
2. Jesus the High Priest (1d.) He has taken on our humanity and is therefore our perfect high priest. He is both the offering and the one who offers the sacrifice for our sin before God. It is in him that we are able to stand before God in blamelessness and righteousness
3. Our confession (1e). “Christ is the center of our confession of faith in the gospel, both in creed and public testimony” (John MacArthur). There is urgency in the way the author writes this. If we truly consider what Christ has done and the salvation that is in him alone – then we could never entertain a thought of rejecting him.
As we consider Jesus, the author compares him to Moses (v. 2).
1. Moses was faithful in all God’s house (v. 2b). We start first with Moses as the lesser. While he was a mere man and did sin, he was also a faithful man. He faithfully led Israel out of bondage and to the Promised Land. The use of “house” means “household” and refers to the people and not the structure. The same way “church” refers to God’s people and not a building.
2. Jesus was faithful to God and all God appointed to him (v. 2a). Jesus was sinless. He faithfully brought salvation to all God calls to himself & leads them to eternal life on earth and in heaven
Illustration:
Check Your Jesus: From a conservative Christian blog comes a serious of one liners about who Jesus really is:
If the "Jesus" you worship isn't too jazzed about every bit of God's Word, you might want to Check Your Jesus.
If the "Jesus" you worship wants everyone to have his "best life now," you'd better Check Your Jesus.
If the "Jesus" you worship doesn't love the church, you'd better Check Your Jesus.
If the “Jesus” you worship teaches you to stay home from churches that aren't as perfect as you (think you) are, you'd better Check Your Jesus
Application:
Consider who Jesus really is. Jesus is the Son of God sent by The Father from heaven to a sinful world, surrounded by sinful people, to live without sin, to be accused of sin, tried and executed, to shed his blood so that our sins would be paid and to make us who are filthy rebels into chosen sons of God. Consider that…that is the Jesus who saves and we serve.
Counted Worthy vv. 3-4
Jesus deserves more glory than Moses (3a). This is a very bold statement to make to a Jewish person. Moses was and is much respected and even venerated in Judaism. Moses was THE prophet from God in that he was the scribe of God for the Torah (the Law). He was God’s chosen deliverer from Egypt’s bondage. He was instrumental in the creation of the Tabernacle and the establishment of Jewish worship. Yet, Moses pales in comparison to the very Son of God. Jesus is counted worthy of more glory – what that means is that Jesus is established by both his divinity and his humanity as supremely worthy of glory and honor. He alone is both God and perfect, sinless man.
Jesus’ glory is different than the glory of Moses (3b). Jesus’ glory is his own. He is the creator of the world and the household of believers. He is the author and finisher of salvation. Moses is just a man and one of the sinners that required Christ’s blood to save. Moses’ glory is borrowed from God in that God’s glory shone in Moses as God used a faithful man to establish Israel.
The author continues using “house” and household to make his point (4a). Again, the focus is on the people in the house and not the building. God made a nation for himself in Israel. He has made and is making sons for himself through His unique Son Jesus Christ.
Ultimately the house and every other thing belong to God (4b). Verse 4 is parenthetical. It is a brief rabbit trail. The author is very passionate that we always remember that God is the creator and that he owns everything he has made – including you and me.
Illustration:
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. Ephesians 2:19-22
Application:
Christ’s glory is seen in us. As God builds his household through the work of Jesus Christ, we are built into dwelling place suitable for God. So then, will Christ be glorified in us? Yes he will. The real question is, will Christ be glorified in us because we are faithful and he shines through us or because we are faithless and he disciplines us? If we belong to him, he is fashioning us into the house of God. Sometimes being fashioned and made into his image for his purposes can be difficult to bear if we wallow in sin.
Confidence and Hope vv. 5-6
Moses did serve God faithfully (5a). In fact, the word for “servant” here is only ever used of Moses. Moses is in this sense holds the highest position among the servants, but is a servant still.
Moses testified to things that would be spoken (5b). In John 5:46-47, Jesus told the Pharisees that, “For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?” Throughout the books of Moses, there are many promises of the Christ who would come – and now he has indeed come.
But…Jesus is not Moses. He is not a servant. Jesus is the Son (5c). Moses is not belittled here. It is a simple difference between the servant and the son. Jesus is the True Son of God. Moses is not. However, Moses is an adopted son saved by grace just as we are saved by grace.
We are Jesus’ house if…(6). This is not telling us how to be saved, but does mark certain proofs that salvation is genuine.
1. We hold fast to our confidence. We must grip tightly and truly possess joyous certainty that Jesus Christ has paid it all. This does not mean there will be no dark moments of doubt, but that genuine faith grasps that confidence tightly like a life preserver or a safety line.
2. We hold fast to our boasting in our hope. The word “boast” is not prideful bragging of one’s self. It means that we have received something worth telling others about. We have certain hope of eternal life in the finished work of Jesus Christ. This hope is a hallmark of saving faith.
Illustration:
Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, & since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience & our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. (Hebrews 10:19-23)
Application:
Our confidence and hope are in Christ… not ourselves. Even as we hold fast, he has us in his hands. Our confidence is in his total faithfulness. Our hope is the certain reality that Jesus has bought us with his blood and is growing us in Christ-likeness and will bring us home to heaven. Our confidence can never be in our abilities because we fail and at times are faithless.
So What?
Consider Christ. Meditate on him. Fill your mind with the wonder of him. Think hard on who he is and what he has done to save you. Pray to him. Pray that he makes you faithful. Pray for guidance in becoming more and more like him every day. Check Your Jesus and make sure he is the Jesus of Scripture
Cooperate in Christ’s glory. He saved you to the glory of himself and to the glory of the Father. Pray that he reveal whatever darkness there is in you so that you can be fashioned into the hose and temple of God faster and in faithfulness and not in discipline.
Be confident in Christ’s salvation. He is the faithful Son of God who obeyed the Father and came to earth to pay sin’s debt and satisfy the wrath of God. He saved you from sin’s penalty and has removed you from sin. Your eternal fate is decided in Christ. When you fail – be confident and be hopeful because the Christ who saved you from the penalty of sin is the same Christ who forgives you and is at work saving you from the power of sin.
Compare yourself then to Christ. If you want a real idea of how great you are, compare yourself to him and not to other fallen, sinful men. Pray that such a comparison keep you lowly in heart; humble before God and ever prayerful for his guidance and grace as he makes you into who you are meant to be in Jesus Christ.
Benediction
Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.
(Jude 1:24-25 ESV)