Christmas Eve Message

As I shared a few weeks ago when
we ducked into the letter to the Hebrews, I have never preached
the book in its entirety, but we’ve dipped into various parts.
This is one of the chapters that we’ve tasted in seasons past. I’ve never, it’s been more than
10 years since I even used this particular verse as a devotional. And so it was refreshing to me
to get back to it. You may be hearing an echo from
me citing this verse several weeks ago when I suggested that
it was one of my favorite sentences. I know that I get accused sometimes
of saying this is my favorite passage, or this is my favorite
chapter, or my favorite psalm, or my favorite book. But this
is one of my favorite sentences in all of scripture. Hebrews chapter 1, if you would
turn if you have your Bibles. Hebrews chapter 1, and we’ll
be just looking at a couple of verses. Part of what made me
choose this years ago is I had read in a Christian magazine
this particular headline. The headline for the article
was don’t allow the Lord to be lost in the busyness of the holiday
season. And I certainly knew what they
meant. I knew what they were suggesting
that sometimes things get so hectic and so crazy that we forget
what this season is really all about. But I had an amusing series
of thoughts. First, I thought of a mall. standard
shopping mall, and of a security booth where a small child had
been taken to sit there for safekeeping until his mother could be found.
I’ve seen this in times past, where a small child would be
taken to the security area, they would page for the mother, the
mother would come, and I pictured, according to this title, The
Lord Jesus Christ, the king of the universe, sitting forlornly
because he was lost. The Lord Jesus Christ doesn’t
get lost. We can lose sight of it. And
if the holiday season and the rat race has driven his focus
from us, it’s we that have lost sight of him, not he of us. So
I selected this passage to try and focus our hearts, our attention
on our Lord Jesus. Hebrews chapter one, just those
opening two verses. God, after he spoke long ago
to the fathers, in the prophets, in many portions, and in many
ways, in these last days has spoken to us in his Son, whom
he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the
world. Sometimes I’ve been criticized
for picking non-Christmas passages, and this would certainly fit
into that category as a typically non-Christmas passage. There’s
no manger in this passage, there’s no star, no wise men, but it
is a Christmas passage because it’s a passage about the giving
of Christ for his God-given purpose. The simple sentence of this passage,
and this is what makes this passage to me so fascinating, is the
dynamic nature of this particular sentence, because it starts the
first word of verse one, God, but the sentence isn’t even completed
until verse two, God has spoken. That’s the simple sentence And
if you think of the people to whom this was written, Jews in
Palestine, probably even in Jerusalem, just prior to A.D. 70, just about
to have everything with regards to Judaism wiped out. This passage
to a people who had not heard from a prophet for 400 years,
this people who had almost lost sight of any verbal association
with God, waiting long years for any kind of revelation from
Him. It’s into this scene that this
unknown writer writes these opening words, God has spoken. And there’s a contrast immediately
in view in this passage. It’s a contrast between two episodes
of revelation from God. The revelation of the totality
of the Hebrew scriptures, the Old Testament, and the revelation
of God’s son as his full and final communication to mankind. The writer’s object is essentially
to put before the readers the previous revelation, the revelation
thus far, to that which is now final, the final revelation of
Christ. The basic thought of this passage,
revelation, is God communicating to his people, communicating
to humanity something that they could not otherwise know. That
is the nature of revelation. No matter how smart, no matter
how wise, no matter how intelligent, no matter how perceptive, no
matter how scientific, mankind cannot discover God. We cannot know the thoughts of
God or the mind of God unless God in his graciousness reveals
himself to us. We can behold nature, and if
we do, we cannot but conclude that there is a being such as
God. Paul says that that’s true of
every person ever born. That they know that God exists
because of what God has revealed to them. But in truth. The testimony of nature is not
enough to give us his name. We don’t know him truly. We can’t
identify his being. We don’t know his character or
nature. We don’t know him. We cannot
know him. until he reveals himself to us
in some tangible way. In order to know God, he must
reveal himself. It’s our most basic need. It’s
our most significant yearning as human beings to know, to really
know this being called God. And without such knowledge, we
remain really quite ignorant. Without divine revelation, we
remain arrogant and self-centered, aimless, purposeless, and hopeless. One pastor said it in these terms,
blessed is he whose self-esteem has been annihilated by the knowledge
of God. God might have left man to plunge
and flounder ever deeper into darkness, the ignorance into
which he wandered by rebellion, against the light that he had.
But love would not allow him to do this. So God spoke. In this passage, we basically
must acknowledge that there are two kinds of revelation, general
and special. General revelation refers to
that which God imparts to every person. As we just acknowledged
a moment ago, This isn’t general revelation that the writer is
talking about here. This is special revelation. Special revelation is God revealing
himself at different periods of time, in different ways, but
it is God reaching out to sinful humanity with the message of
redemption. That is special revelation. God’s special revelation to lost
humanity came in waves, the passage says. And in this particular
passage, we see God’s special revelation that God has spoken
in these two periods of time, divine revelation that complete
his message to humanity. And I just wanna have you look
at this verse for a few moments this evening. Look at the passage
as it says, God has spoken. And that indicates that God is
a God of revelation. God is a God of communication.
And what he announces here in this particular passage is what
I would suggest is the greatest message that God has ever given. The greatest message ever communicated
to humanity is the content of this particular passage. Because
what it gives us is the glorious features of God’s ultimate revelation. First of all, look at the context
of this revelation, the fact that God has spoken. Look at
the context. I already hinted at this after
he spoke. Literally, it says, having spoken. You know that I love the New
American Standard. It’s not that I dislike other
translations, but in particular, the New American Standard just
very carefully translates this particular passage. This statement
here, after he spoke, is a participle, and the New American Standard
captures that. Other translations, not always
the case. The King James says, He spake
and he hath spoken. The ESV says he spoke and he
has spoken, and you can’t really tell by looking at it which is
the prominent, the main verb, and which is the subordinate,
the participle. He spoke after he had spoken. That’s the whole point of the
passage. The whole point of the passage is that God had spoken
at one period of time, having spoken in all these various ways. Now he speaks one final time. This lays the foundation. And
it points to a later speaking when it says, having spoken,
he’s he’s basically setting it up. To finish the sentence, having
spoken, he spoke. And the writer proceeds, as you
can see, to give five explanatory phrases regarding this initial
revelation by God. We know of it as the Old Testament,
but listen to how he describes it. He says that this communication
by God was long ago to the fathers, in the prophets, in many portions,
and in many ways. Consider these just briefly.
Long ago. We know that the Old Testament,
at the point in time in which this was written, was initiated
some 1,500 years prior and yet had fallen silent for the previous
400 years. 1,100 years of sustained, regular
revelation by God and then 400 years of silence. What it points to is not only
the antiquity of God’s revelation of old, but also he captures
this period of silence, the 400 years where no prophet spoke,
where no direct revelation was given by God, no theonomic visions. Secondly, he tells us Who are these recipients of his
initial wave of this special revelation? Look at the passage. God having spoken to the fathers. Why, these messages weren’t even
to the current Jews. These were to their forefathers.
These were to their ancestors, distant ancestors at that. Sometimes
it was by an audible voice. Sometimes it was by a vision.
Thirdly, he tells us who those messengers were of his revelation. God spoke, having spoken in the
prophets. God’s messengers were those who
stood in close relation to him, divinely appointed by him with
a message from him, not a message of their own, not a message necessarily
about predicting the future, but a message divinely given
by God for his people. They were those of whom the Lord
frequently sent with particular messages,
messages of rebuke, messages of judgment, messages of hope,
messages of assurance, These are those who spoke so often
with a thus saith the Lord authority. Look at the fourth little statement
appended there, having spoken or after he spoke in many portions. God’s word didn’t float down
in total. The Pentateuch didn’t come all
at once. The prophets didn’t write all at once. The wisdom
literature wasn’t given in one writing. As one described it,
it was fragmentary and varied. As people needed revelation,
as God’s people needed guidance, God provided it over many, many
centuries. And then finally, look at the
last little clause here. Long ago, God spoke to the fathers
in the prophets in many portions and in many ways. It’s a fascinating
little addition. We tend to think that when God
had something to say, he just pressed send on the fax machine
and the prophet ran to the machine and peeled it off and began articulating
what was written. That’s not what happened. That’s
how we might imagine it in our day and age. God gave messages in many different
ways. Sometimes he would tell prophets
to do the most outlandish things. Name your child this particular
name, not my people. Take this wife, a prostitute, as a testimony against my people.
Sometimes God used those very things as a message to his people. Sometimes he motivated his prophets
to do certain and particular things. Sometimes he gave them
almost enigmatic parable-like statements to make to the people.
Sometimes he had them use very explicit language. God spoke
in dreams. God spoke to them in visions.
God spoke to them with an audible voice. God spoke to them with
impulses. God spoke to them via angels,
in parables, in plain language, in narratives, in prophecy, in
conversations, in poetry. God spoke in various ways. And
so as we look at this greatest message ever given, the first
glorious feature that we have to acknowledge is the context
of this new and final revelation. The context of that revelation
is that God had already spoken. But what is the moment What is
the great moment of this new revelation? It says it right
there in the text at the beginning of verse two. In these last days,
he has spoken. This is the time of the new revelation. And the word now, or the sentence,
literally would go like this. God, having spoken in these last
days, has spoken. 400 years of silence since the
writing of the last Old Testament book. Paul says in Galatians,
he describes it this way, when the fullness of time came, God
sent forth His Son. It was time. In these last days,
it was time. Having laid the foundation for
revealing his plan of salvation by speaking into existence the
Old Testament, God was now speaking again in these last days in one
final message. There’s a third thing to acknowledge
in this greatest message ever given. The glorious feature of
God’s ultimate revelation is not only the context and the
moment, but thirdly, the recipients of this revelation. Look at verse
two, how simple this is. In these last days, he has spoken
to us. And that would include all of
his New Testament church. Not just those Jews residing
in Jerusalem who opened this letter and read this good news
for the first time, but on down to our day. By this, the author of Hebrews
initially includes himself with the audience. What an astounding
thing. He says God is speaking to us. God has given us his final revelation. Jewish Christians. But us certainly
refers to all who subsequently hear the gospel message of the
Lord Jesus Christ, including you and I. We too are the recipients
of this new revelation. John Brown. commentator on this
great letter said this. The statement is equally true
in reference to all in every succeeding age to whom the word
of this salvation comes. God, in the completed revelation
of his will, respecting the salvation of souls through Jesus Christ,
is still speaking to all who have the opportunity of reading
the New Testament or hearing the gospel. It’s to you. It’s
to you. The fourth final feature is perhaps
the most wonderful feature of all. When you think of the greatest
message ever given and you look at the ultimate features of this
message, this revelation, the context and the moment and the
recipients, the fourth feature is the person of this revelation Look at the passage just one
last time. God, after he spoke long ago
to the fathers and the prophets in many portions and in many
ways, in these last days, has spoken to us in his son. Whereas in times past, God used
prophets to write scripture, in these last days, he has spoken
to us by using his son. This is the incarnation of Jesus
Christ coming as God in human form. Up to this point, God’s
revelation was communicated through God-ordained prophets, but now
God’s final revelation is not only given by his son, his son
is the final revelation. This message was so crucial,
so important, So earth shaking that God could not entrust it
to any other than his son. Nor does this message need to
be diversified. In many portions and in many
ways. Here now is one final message
in one final forum. It’s the messenger himself, the
Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is not only the
messenger, he is the means of the message, he’s the messenger,
and he is the message itself. The prophets were just messengers.
Jesus Christ is the message. John calls him the word, and
he is God’s final word to humanity. The message of the gospel, the
message of salvation is a message about our Lord Jesus Christ. It’s about God sending him for
our sake, to pay our sin. Just as the revelation to the
prophets resulted ultimately in the Old Testament, so also
the revelation of Jesus Christ, God’s final word to humanity.
The messenger, the means, and the message of the new and final
revelation ultimately resulted in the New Testament. The New
Testament is the message of Jesus Christ. God has spoken. In times past, he used his prophets.
In these last days, he spoke through his son. You know that as this passage
continues to unfold, as this book really begins to open up,
it’s an articulation of all that Jesus Christ is. The first 10
chapters of this great epistle are essentially a statement of
how Christ is better. Christ is a better revelation,
as we’ve just heard. Christ is better than the angels.
Christ has a better ministry than any Old Testament priesthood. Christ is better than the Old
Testament priesthood itself. Christ offers a better atonement. Christ has a better covenant. Christ offers a better sacrifice. Christ is the final word to humanity. There is no other. There is no
other currently, there is no other way of salvation, there
never has been, and the truth is there never will be. That’s
the truth of this passage. God has spoken. Would you humble yourself before
him? Our merciful God, We do humble ourselves in your
glorious presence. And Lord, we thank you and praise
you for that rich, full foundation laid for us throughout the Old
Testament, the revelation of which was your doing. You wanted us to see all of those
things. You wanted us to hear those messages. You wanted us to see that great
plan of redemption. You wanted us to see the wretchedness
of humanity. You wanted us to see all of those
things. Because all of those things.
Lay the foundation. For your final message. The Jesus
Christ is. your final revelation to humanity. There is no other way that we
must repent of our sin and place our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. That is the greatest message
that mankind has ever received. As our hymns articulate, Veiled
in flesh, the Godhead see. Hail the incarnate deity. Pleased
as man with men to dwell. Jesus. Our Emmanuel. Lord God, we thank you. And praise
you. For your final word to us. And
I pray that every heart in this room. Would consider. the Lord Jesus Christ. If we
placed our faith in Him, how zealous are we to make Him
known? How eager are we to proclaim
this final revelation? If we do not know Him, there
is no other way. There are no alternatives. There
is no message pending whereby we might discover some alternate
approach to heaven, some new way of living. Jesus Christ is the only way.
God has spoken. We pray these things in Jesus’
name, amen.