Transcription

1 Lesson Four: The Finished Work Intro This morning we are going to deal with another one-verse hymn. o Unlike last week, in this one it is easy to see the layout of the hymn, o these lines have obvious meter in the original language. 1 Many scholars [this verse] to consist of hymnic material o [that is] older than [the book of] Hebrews. 2 Hebrews 1:3 (NKJV) 3 who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, Lyrical Composition So far, all the hymns that we have studied o have started with the Greek word for who, which is a reference to the incarnation. The word has been translated o into the English in a variety of ways, depending on the context. 1 Timothy 3:16, in the New King James Version, o translated the word as God. And in Colossians 1:15 it translated the word as He, o a reference to the incarnation. Here the word is translated as Who. o However, I point it out o because it is the common way o that the New Testament writers o introduced the Hymns into their writing. They were always about Jesus. o They also described him in some way. 1 Sanders book 2 Paul Ellingworth, The Epistle to the Hebrews: A Commentary on the Greek Text, New International Greek Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Carlisle: W.B. 2 Paul Ellingworth, The Epistle to the Hebrews: A Commentary on the Greek Text, New International Greek Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Carlisle: W.B. Eerdmans; Paternoster Press, 1993), Lesson 2: The Mystery Of Godliness 1

2 And they always began with a reference to Him, o usually in the word Who. The layout of the hymn is simple. o It is composed of five lines: Who being the brightness of His glory And the express image of His person, And upholding all things by the word of His power, When He had by Himself purged our sins, Sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. The Message of the Song Who being the brightness of His glory There are 2 key terms here: o brightness and glory. The word brightness speaks of the radiance o that streams forth from a source of light. 3 It is a striking picture, o like the sudden appearance o of a glorious dawn at sunrise. 4 The rays of light pierce every shred of darkness o and completely drive it away. The English translation here, reflection, o gives the impression of another body o reflecting the light, o like for instance, the moon. Did you notice how large and bright the moon was last week (supermoon)? o Here s the thing about the moon though, o and this is where that translation breaks down o and fails to convey the meaning of the word. The moon doesn t have any light of its own. o It simply reflects the light of the sun. The brilliant brightness of the moon o that is seen in the darkness of night o is really just the reflected rays 3 Ray C. Stedman, Hebrews, The IVP New Testament Commentary Series (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1992), Heb 1:1. 4 Donald Guthrie, Hebrews: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 15, Tyndale New Lesson 2: The Mystery Of Godliness 2

3 o of the same sun that lights our world in the day. The thing about a reflection o is that it can be separated from its source. It is, in reality, different from its source. The moon is completely different from the sun o and, in effect, borrows its brightness from the sun. That s where the moon analogy fails us o and where the English word reflection falls short of the intended meaning in the Greek. The word for brightness is better described o as the rays of light that stream forth from the sun. Here s the important point: o you cannot separate the sun from its rays. You cannot o separate the sun s light from the sun itself. 5 Indeed, the light is the very essence of the sun. o Light is, in some sense, what our sun is and what our sun does. The claim here is not that Jesus o was a man who lived and died in Palestine over two-thousand years ago that reflected God s glory. No. You and I reflect god s Glory in that manner, o but not Jesus. The claim here is the same claim of o 1 Timothy 3:16: And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh Jesus was not just a reflection of the glory of God, o he was the very embodiment of that glory. Here s the point, you cannot separate Jesus from God, o indeed he is, as prophets and angels declared, God with us. He is God on location. o This is the same claim as 1 Colossians 1:15: He is the image of the invisible God. He is the seen of the unseen. For all the deer hunters out there, 5 Ray C. Stedman, Hebrews, The IVP New Testament Commentary Series (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1992), Heb 1:1. Lesson 2: The Mystery Of Godliness 3

4 o there is the distinct space of time, in the very early morning, where the sun is not visible yet, but its light is already chasing away the darkness. Things begin to turn about 30 minutes before sunrise. o We call it shooting light because you can see well enough to shoot. In the next 30 minutes the world changes dramatically. o It goes from utter darkness, to just a little light to full on daylight, before the sun ever rises above the horizon. Here s the thing, o in that moment, o just a few minutes before the sun becomes physically visible, you don t think of the light around you as anything other than sun light. You can t see the sun yet o but what you are seeing is the rays of light that are shining forth from the sun and they are, in essence, the sun s light. Even this word picture falls short o but, perhaps, it is a better representation of what the song is claiming. Jesus is the essence of God s glory. 6 o He makes that which is invisible, visible. He is not separate from, o or distinctly apart from God, He is the very shining forth of God s Glory. He is the physical expression of God o in a world that has never seen God. Indeed, the word glory o at the end of the first line helps convey the meaning of the phrase. In scripture the word glory corresponds o to the visible glory of God that appeared to Israel. 7 It is a term that is attached to Deity 6 Ray C. Stedman, Hebrews, The IVP New Testament Commentary Series (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1992), Heb 1:1. 7 Robin Johnston and Lee Ann Alexander, eds., Apostolic Study Bible: King James Version: Notes, Standard Edition. (Hazelwood, MO: Word Aflame Press, 2014), Lesson 2: The Mystery Of Godliness 4

5 o and literally represents the visible display of the presence of God in the glory cloud of the Old Testament. 8 The claim here is that the very glory of God o could be seen in Jesus Christ. Once again, this is a claim o that is made elsewhere in scripture: 2 Corinthians 4:6 (NKJV) For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. It was clearly a firm conviction among the early Christians o that in some way the glory of God was seen in a human life. 9 The glory of God is the very essence of God. 10 o God s Glory indicates God s presence. 11 To say that the glory of God o was shining forth in Jesus is to say that ALL of the divine attributes were present in Jesus Christ. 12 He was, indeed, God manifest in the flesh. And the express image of His person, The second line of the song, o repeats the essence of the first. The word used here is the Greek word o for a stamp or a seal. It conveys the idea that a seal, o when it is pressed into hot wax, 8 Kenneth S. Wuest, Wuest s Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: For the English Reader (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997), Heb 1: Donald Guthrie, Hebrews: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 15, Tyndale New 10 Donald Guthrie, Hebrews: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 15, Tyndale New 11 Leon Morris, Hebrews, in The Expositor s Bible Commentary: Hebrews through Revelation, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 12 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1981), R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of the Epistle to the Hebrews and of the Epistle of James (Columbus, OH: Lutheran Book Concern, 1938), Lesson 2: The Mystery Of Godliness 5

6 leaves an impression that is the exact likeness of the stamp. The claim here is that o Jesus is the very image of the essence of God, he bears the impression of his being. 4 The RSV translates the phrase this way: o He bears the very stamp of his nature. The Greek word for person is used here. o and it refers to essence o or that which underlies something, denoting here that Jesus is the precise representation of God s essential being and nature. 13 Here s he important thing to note. o In this verse the incarnation is in view. The One God of the Old Testament o has been manifest in the Flesh. Jesus is the only begotten Son of the Father. And here Father and Son o are referred to as one person, not two. The point of the passage is o that no difference can be made between the person of Jesus and the person of God. 14 They are one and the same! o This is why Jesus could say to Philip, in John 14:9: He that hath seen me hath seen the Father. No more powerful expression of the deity of Jesus o is possible than to say that he is the express image of the very person of God. 15 And upholding all things by the word of His power, 13 Robin Johnston and Lee Ann Alexander, eds., Apostolic Study Bible: King James Version: Notes, Standard Edition. (Hazelwood, MO: Word Aflame Press, 2014), Donald Guthrie, Hebrews: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 15, Tyndale New 15 Ray C. Stedman, Hebrews, The IVP New Testament Commentary Series (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1992), Heb 1:1. Lesson 2: The Mystery Of Godliness 6

7 Once again, this hymn makes the same claim o that the hymn in Colossians made: All things consist in Him. He holds everything that is, together. o The oceans are held in their beds. The rivers run down into the sea. o The heavenly bodies are held in their orbits. 16 All of this is accomplished by the power of His word. The word of God is used by John o as the very representation of Jesus, in John 1:1 & 3: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. This hymn takes that claim a step further, o in the same way as the Word created, the Word sustains. 17 The amazing stability of the universe around us o is witness to the power [that stands] behind it. 18 The Greek word used here for upholding o has a deeper meaning than just sustaining or supporting, it conveys the idea of carrying along or bearing it towards a goal 19 o it has movement o as an inherent part of its meaning. 20 In other words, God did not just create the universe o then leave it to run according to its own devices. He set things in motion, o through his creative word, 16 Kenneth S. Wuest, Wuest s Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: For the English Reader (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997), Heb 1: Donald Guthrie, Hebrews: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 15, Tyndale New 18 Donald Guthrie, Hebrews: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 15, Tyndale New 19 Leon Morris, Hebrews, in The Expositor s Bible Commentary: Hebrews through Revelation, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 12 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1981), Kenneth S. Wuest, Wuest s Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: For the English Reader (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997), Heb 1:2 3. Lesson 2: The Mystery Of Godliness 7

8 and continues to hold things in motion, moving them towards his desired end, o by the same creative word. The Universe was created by the word of God o and is sustained by his word. Think about that for a minute. o We can set our clocks o and establish our calendars, on the basis of the consistency of the movement of the universe. That movement is sustained by God. o Again, this is another claim to deity. Once again, Jesus is equated to God, o not as a subordinate, but as the very expression of His sustaining power. The Greek word here, for power, o is the word dynamis, o it is the root from which we get the word dynamite and, though it may be translated in a variety of ways, in this instance, dynamite is a pretty fair representation. 21 This is the raw power of God. o This is the power that is expressed in his word and that was on location in the incarnation. This power is the reason why o he could speak to the sick and they were healed, o why dead lived again and the lame leaped for Joy. It was this power that made blind eyes to see o and deaf ears to hear. The very creative power of God o was on location in Jesus Christ. When He had by Himself purged our sins, This is the poetic turn of the song. o This is where the defining contrast is introduced. After telling us that Jesus is the mighty God o who sustains the universe by his own power, 21 Leon Morris, Hebrews, in The Expositor s Bible Commentary: Hebrews through Revelation, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 12 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1981), Lesson 2: The Mystery Of Godliness 8

9 he now turns to the real reason for the incarnation. The incarnation is not as much o about the sustaining of the universe as it is about the redeeming of fallen humanity. This is the contrast, o creation rests on his power but our redemption rests on his weakness and humility. This claim centers on the image of God on the cross, o in brokenness, weakness, and humility. We rush from the image of the grandeur of the God o who sustains the worlds by the power of his word, to the savior who submitted himself to the agony of the cross. This is the purpose. o This is the reason for the incarnation. God came to redeem the lost! The word used here for purging o was most often used for purification or the ritual washing away of uncleanness in the Old Testament. 22 One scholar described it this way: o Purification for sins [was] an agelong religious quest. Wherever there [was] any sense of sin, o [on the part of humanity] there [was] generally a strong desire to be cleansed from it. Throughout history, Men tried various systems o to obtain such purification. The problem was that those systems all o [began] with man and [relied] on his own strength of will. Notorious among such systems o current in the time of Jesus was that of the Pharisees who generally made good works and self-effort the measure of religious devotion. However, in the culture of the First Century, 22 Leon Morris, Hebrews, in The Expositor s Bible Commentary: Hebrews through Revelation, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 12 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1981), Lesson 2: The Mystery Of Godliness 9

10 o the idea that sins could be purified without [great human] effort was foreign. Certainly the idea that Jesus Christ could purify sins o was regarded as incredible. 23 Yet this is the claim that the song makes, o Jesus Christ, by himself, purged our sins. Not by anything that we did, o but by his own power, through his manifest weakness, he redeemed us from sin. What we could not do for ourselves, o what centuries of men and women were unable to do for themselves, o Jesus, by himself, accomplished the purification of our lives, he purged us from sin! The song places the whole act in the past tense. o The song writer is looking back to the cross and hearing the words of Jesus, it is finished. The sin issue is settled. o A way has been made. Redemption has been purchased. Here s the key: o There is only one solution for sin, and it is found at the cross of Jesus. 24 The Cross was God s final answer to the sin problem, o the means of demolishing the barrier between God and humanity. 25 That work is finished. o Redemption is complete. However, in order to bring your life o under the umbrella of that redemptive power, you must appropriate that redemption into your life through faith. 23 Donald Guthrie, Hebrews: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 15, Tyndale New 24 Ray C. Stedman, Hebrews, The IVP New Testament Commentary Series (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1992), Heb 1:1. 25 Robin Johnston and Lee Ann Alexander, eds., Apostolic Study Bible: King James Version: Notes, Standard Edition. (Hazelwood, MO: Word Aflame Press, 2014), Lesson 2: The Mystery Of Godliness 10

11 Faith that believes in the redemption of Jesus Christ o is faith that is obedient to the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is faith that repents, o faith that is baptized, in the name of Jesus, and faith that receives the baptism of the Holy Ghost. Jesus sacrifice is final, once for all, o however, in order to appropriate that into your life you must obey the gospel of Jesus Christ. Sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. Now for the song s final claim about Jesus: o When redemption was finished, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. First of all, this expresses the finality o of the act of redemption. When the sacrifice was finished, o when the offering was complete, Jesus Christ sat down. This is figurative language o and it stands in contrast to the High Priest of the Old Testament o who never sat down, in the tabernacle, because his work there was never finished. 26 Sitting down is a way of conveying completion. o The work of Jesus at the cross is complete. 27 Where did he sit down? o The scripture says that he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. First lets look at the phrase Majesty on high. o This phrase is a particularly respectful way of speaking of God. 28 He sat down at the right hand of God. o Now lets talk about what we know. 26 Kenneth S. Wuest, Wuest s Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: For the English Reader (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997), Heb 1: James Girdwood and Peter Verkruyse, Hebrews, The College Press NIV Commentary (Joplin, MO: College Press, 1997), Heb 1: Donald Guthrie, Hebrews: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 15, Tyndale New Lesson 2: The Mystery Of Godliness 11

12 First of all we know that God is a Spirit o and Spirits don t have a physical body, which is why no man has seen God at any time. However, Jesus has revealed God. o In the incarnation God made himself a body. So God doesn t have a right hand so to speak, o outside of the incarnation. What then does this mean? o The term right hand often serves in Scripture as a metaphor for power and authority. 29 This is not a statement of position, o as if there were two in heaven and one stands to the right of the other. Indeed, this song has already confirmed o that the person of Jesus o and the person of God are one and the same, there s only one person. Besides, God is omnipresent, o he is everywhere all the time, it is impossible to stand on his right side. To say that Jesus stands at the right hand of God o is to say that he occupies the supreme position of exaltation. 30 He is the power and authority of God. o Paul [expresses] the same thought in different language o by saying that [Jesus] Christ has ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things (Eph. 4:10), o that God has highly exalted him, and bestowed on him the name which is above every name (Phil. 2:9) Robin Johnston and Lee Ann Alexander, eds., Apostolic Study Bible: King James Version: Notes, Standard Edition. (Hazelwood, MO: Word Aflame Press, 2014), Robin Johnston and Lee Ann Alexander, eds., Apostolic Study Bible: King James Version: Notes, Standard Edition. (Hazelwood, MO: Word Aflame Press, 2014), F. F. Bruce, The Epistle to the Hebrews, Rev. ed., The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1990), Lesson 2: The Mystery Of Godliness 12

13 CLOSE This line is an echo of the previous line. o The work of Calvary is finished. Jesus has sat down. Nothing else remains to be done o for the redemption of sins. Redemption is complete. All that remains is for the lost to hear o and respond to the good news, the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are his ambassadors. o It is our job to take this message to a lost world. (Like the lepers who found food in the Syrian camp.) Lesson 2: The Mystery Of Godliness 13