"What
a conqueror!--a conqueror who controls humanity at will, and wins to himself
not only one nation, but the whole human race. What a marvel! He attaches to
himself the human soul with all its energies. And how? By a miracle which
surpasses all others. He claims the love of men--that is to say, the most
difficult thing in the world to obtain; that which the wisest of men cannot
froce from his truest friend, that which no father can compel from his
children, no wife from her husband, no brother from his brother--the heart. He
claims it ; he requires it absolutely and undividedly, and he obtains it
instantly.
Alexander, Caesar, Hannibal, Louis XIV strove in vain to secure this. They conquered the world, yet they had not a single friend, or at all events, they have none any more. Christ speaks, however, and from that moment all generations belong to him; and they are joined to him much more closely than by any ties of blood and by a much more intimate, sacred and powerful communion. He kindles the flame of love which causes one's self-love to die, and triumphs over every other love. Why should we not recognize in this miracle of love the eternal Word which created the world? The other founders of religions had not the least conception of this mystic love which forms the essence of Christianity.
I have filled multitudes with such passionate devotion that they went to death for me. But God forbid that I should compare the enthusiasm of my soldiers with Christian love. They are as unlike as their causes. In my case, my presence was always necessary, the electric effect of my glance, my voice, my words, to kindle fire in their hearts. And I certainly posses personally the secret of that magic power of taking by storm the sentiments of men; but I was not able to communicate that power to anyone. None of my generals ever learned it from me or found it out. Moreover, I myself do not possess the secret of perpetuating my name and a love for me in their hearts for ever, and to work miracles in them without material means.
Now that I languish here at St Helena, chained upon this rock, who fights, who conquers empires for me? Who still even thinks of me? Who interests himself for me in Europe? Who has remained true to me? That is the fate of all great men. It was the fate of Alexander and Caesar, as it is my own. We are forgotten, and the names of the mightiest conquerors and most illustrious emperors are soon only the subject of a schoolboy's tasks. Our exploits come under the rod of a pedantic schoolmaster, who praises or condemns us as he likes.
What an abyss exists between my profound misery and the eternal reign of Christ, who is preached, loved, and worshipped, and live on throughout the entire world. Is this to die? Is it not rather to live eternally? The death of Christ! It is the death of a God." (Quoted in Hilarin Felder, Christ and the Critics, vol. 2, pp. 216-17)
Alexander, Caesar, Hannibal, Louis XIV strove in vain to secure this. They conquered the world, yet they had not a single friend, or at all events, they have none any more. Christ speaks, however, and from that moment all generations belong to him; and they are joined to him much more closely than by any ties of blood and by a much more intimate, sacred and powerful communion. He kindles the flame of love which causes one's self-love to die, and triumphs over every other love. Why should we not recognize in this miracle of love the eternal Word which created the world? The other founders of religions had not the least conception of this mystic love which forms the essence of Christianity.
I have filled multitudes with such passionate devotion that they went to death for me. But God forbid that I should compare the enthusiasm of my soldiers with Christian love. They are as unlike as their causes. In my case, my presence was always necessary, the electric effect of my glance, my voice, my words, to kindle fire in their hearts. And I certainly posses personally the secret of that magic power of taking by storm the sentiments of men; but I was not able to communicate that power to anyone. None of my generals ever learned it from me or found it out. Moreover, I myself do not possess the secret of perpetuating my name and a love for me in their hearts for ever, and to work miracles in them without material means.
Now that I languish here at St Helena, chained upon this rock, who fights, who conquers empires for me? Who still even thinks of me? Who interests himself for me in Europe? Who has remained true to me? That is the fate of all great men. It was the fate of Alexander and Caesar, as it is my own. We are forgotten, and the names of the mightiest conquerors and most illustrious emperors are soon only the subject of a schoolboy's tasks. Our exploits come under the rod of a pedantic schoolmaster, who praises or condemns us as he likes.
What an abyss exists between my profound misery and the eternal reign of Christ, who is preached, loved, and worshipped, and live on throughout the entire world. Is this to die? Is it not rather to live eternally? The death of Christ! It is the death of a God." (Quoted in Hilarin Felder, Christ and the Critics, vol. 2, pp. 216-17)
It is not my
intent to prove these to be the actual words of Napoleon. Nor is it my intent to claim him as “one of
us” and so enjoy any glory by association with him. It is my intent to use this quote to begin
lifting our thoughts upward and think more highly of the Lord Jesus Christ. Our intent in this short series is just
that: to elevate our view of
Christ. And here in the supposed words
of Napoleon we find a fitting springboard into the first few verses in the
letter to the Hebrews. For the last 2
sermons we’ve been looking at the 7 qualities of Jesus Christ that make Him
superior. He is: 1) God’s Son, 2) Heir, 3) Creator, 4) the Radiance
of God’s Glory, 5) and Sustainer. Today
we are finishing our look and seeing #6 and #7.
#6: Jesus Christ is
superior because He is the exact representation of God’s Being (v3)
Something we hopped over last week was
Jesus Christ is superior because He is the exact representation of God’s
being. Notice verse 3 with me again, “The
Son is the radiance of God and the exact representation of His being.” The KJV says Jesus is “the express image of God’s person”. The word “representation” in the NIV
translates the Greek word, “character”, which as you probably would guess is
where we get our English word “character”.
“Character” referred
to the impression made by a die or a stamp on a seal. In the case of a seal for
instance, the particular design that was on the seal would be reproduced in the
wax as the seal was pressed into it. The
wax would then bear the image of the seal and have all the same features as the
seal. This word “character” became an
idiom in the Greek language that referred to a person’s features – like
personality and character traits. (Wuest
37-38)
So when Hebrews 1:3 says that Jesus is the exact representation of
God’s being” it means that “Jesus is the perfect, personal imprint of God in
time and space.” (MacArthur 16). It
means all the features of God are seen in His Son, Jesus Christ.
And this is the repeated teaching of the NT. Repeatedly we read that Jesus perfectly
represents who God is because He is God imprinted in human flesh. Colossians 1:15 says, “He is the image of the invisible
God…” Colossians 2:9 says “For
in Christ all the fullness of Deity lives in bodily form.” Second Corinthians 4:4 says, that Jesus
Christ “is the image of God”. It
was Jesus Himself who declared as much when He plainly told Philip in John
14:9, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.” William MacDonald says in his commentary, “the Lord Jesus is the exact image of God’s
essential being. This cannot, of course,
refer to physical likeness because God is, in essence, a Spirit. It means that in every conceivable way Christ
exactly represents the Father. No closer
resemblance could be possible. The Son,
being God, reveals to man by His words and ways exactly what God is like.” (MacDonald 2158)
Application: God wants us to know Him and what He is
like. That’s why He sent Someone to be
His exact representative, to be the perfect imprint in human flesh of who He is. He doesn’t want us in the dark, speculating
and making up what He is like in our imaginations. He wants us to see Him for all that He is and
to know Him. That is why Jesus came - so
you could know Him. Jesus Christ alone
is God in the flesh, and He alone is the total and perfect revelation of God to
mankind. To you. If you want to go to God go to Jesus
Christ. See Jesus, and you’ll see God. That is reason number 6 why He is superior.
#7: Jesus Christ is
superior because He is the Savior (v3)
Reason
number 7 that Jesus is Superior is that He is the Savior. Notice verse 3 when it says “After
He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the
Majesty in heaven.” Here we
learn that Salvation has to do with getting purified from our sins.
First of all we
have the Effect of sin: our impurity.
When it says, “He provided purification for sins…” it is clearly
implying that sin has a defiling effect.
Isaiah 64:6 says, “All of us have become like one who is
unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags.” Proverbs 20:9 says, “Who can say ‘I have kept my heart
pure; I am clean and without sin.’?”
Romans 3:23 says, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory
of God.” We can protest and say
we are clean and without sin but 1 John 1:7 says, “If we say we are without sin we
are a liar and the truth is not in us.”
Furthermore, you can be very religious and be stained badly with
sin. Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for all
their ceremonial hand washing but while being impure inside “Woe
to you teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish but
inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blinde Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish
and then the outside will be clean too.
Woe to you teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitwashed tombs which look beautiful
on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything
unclean. In the same way on the outside
you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy
and wickedness.” In Mark 7:20-22
He said it is the evil in our hearts that makes us unclean.
As descendants of
Adam we are adulterated– mixed with
impurities. God’s eyes see us as dirty,
filthy, stained and defiled. We can’t
run away from this. We must face it
because this is the reason the Son of God came:
to deal with our sin problem (Matthew 1:21). If we aren’t looking to Jesus to cleanse us
from our sins then what are we looking to Him for? We see here the fact of our impurity because
of our sin.
#2: He is Effective. Jesus Christ has effectively made
purification for your sin. Notice the
past tense language, “After he had provided
purification for sins…” This
means that purification for our sins is finished, done, and complete. He did it with one sacrifice, Hebrews 7:27
says, “He sacrificed for their sins once for all when He offered
Himself.” Hebrews 9:26 and 28
say “But
now He has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by
the sacrifice of Himself. Christ was sacrificed
once to take away the sins of many people.” Hebrews 10:10 says, “we have been made holy through
the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”
What Jesus did can’t
be added to or taken away. You can’t
“help” Jesus in purifying you. The
Eucharist as practiced by certain churches adds to the finished work of Christ
because it is seen as a continuation of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. Purgatory adds to the work Jesus did because
it says we have to suffer for our sins to be purified. Penance adds to the finished work of Christ because
it is religious works that make up for our sins.
While penance is
a sacrament of the Catholic Church it is informally practiced by many
non-Catholics who have a guilty conscience and so try really hard to be a good
person hoping to “purify” themselves, or at least cover over their guilty
conscience. It doesn’t work. It’s ineffective. Only Jesus can effectively purify you from
your sins. Only He can purify your
heart. Only He can purify your conscience. Only He can purify you. If you believe in Jesus Christ to purify you
from your sins then He purifies your conscience. If you don’t have a pure conscience you need
to go back to Him confessing your sin and He will purify you. Hebrews 9:14 says, “How much more, then, will the
blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself unblemished to
God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve
the living God!” And then in
10:1-2, “The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming – not the
realities themselves. For this reason it
can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make
perfect those who draw near to worship.
If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed
once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins.”
A guilty
conscience causes us to offer God sacrifices for our sins rather than accept
the sacrifice Jesus made for us. A
guilty conscience usually means all our service is an attempt to appease our
conscience, not God. A guilty conscience
robs us of reverence, awe, hope, and trust in God.
So here is the
question: Have you truly looked to the
sacrifice that Jesus has made for you? Listen
to Hebrews 10:18, “Where [sins] have been forgiven
there is no longer any sacrifice for sin.” Is your service to God a sacrifice for your
sins? Or is it a sacrifice of
thankfulness? Is your service to God an
expression of your gratitude or your guilt?
You
must go to Jesus to be purified. He can
effectively purify your sins and make you clean. Look to Him and believe in Him He said in
John 15:3, “You are clean because of the word I have spoken to you.”
#3: He is Exalted. Hebrews 1:3, “He sat down at the right hand of
the Majesty in heaven.” Hebrews
10:12 says, “But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sin, He
sat down at the right hand of God.”
Jesus Christ pleased God with the sacrifice of Himself and so God Lifted
Him up from the grave and seated Him at His right hand.
First of all this
is proof that God accepts the payment Jesus made for sins. That’s why it says Jesus “sat down”. Hebrews 10:11 says that “day after day every priest stands
and performs his religious duties…”
Their work was never done. But
Jesus put an end to sin with one sacrifice and sat down. His work is finished and God approves of the
work He did to purify from sins.
Secondly, Jesus
returned to His divine glory at His Father’s side. He was with the Father before the world began
in glory and in humble condescension He came to this earth. When His work was complete, He left
humbleness behind and is exalted in His rightful glory.
Thirdly, the
right hand is the seat of power and honor.
Sat down. Compared to the priests
whose sacrifices did not end sin, Jesus sat down as His single sacrifice put sin
to an end.
#4: He is Exclusive – There is no other
way to be purified from your sins, Only Jesus can purify you. Sin entered through Adam but it exits through
Christ. No one else can purify you. The 8-fold path of Buddhism, the 5 pillars of
Islam, meditation and silence, are all ineffective to purify your sins. So is your own penance. If you are living with a guilty conscience
there is only one way to have your guilt removed: look to the One who made purification for
your sins. Jesus did it. “And by that will, we have been made holy
through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Day after day every priest stands and
performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices,
which can never take away sins. But when
this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down
at the right hand of God. Since that
time He waits for His enemies to be made a footstool, because by one
sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.” (Heb. 10:10-14)
Application
#1: For Christians, Purity is necessary
for Usefulness. 2 Timothy 2:20-21;
3:16-17; Hebrews 9:14
Application
#2: Put your faith in Jesus Christ
to purify you from your sins.
Comments
Post a Comment