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THE CREATOR and HIS CREATION. Hebrews 1:9-12. 5/7/2023. #3.
9 You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of gladness more than Your companions.” 10 And: “You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands. 11 They will perish, but You remain; And they will all grow old like a garment; 12 Like a cloak You will fold them up, And they will be changed. But You are the same, And Your years will not fail.”
1. Inherent righteousness and worthiness
a. Continued proof of Jesus’s superiority to angels
a1. Jesus always loved righteousness (an inherent quality within his divine nature)
a2. Jesus always hated lawlessness (anything that is contrary to the will and nature of God)
a3. Since many angels fell, pursuing lawlessness, they were not inherently righteous (choosing to follow holiness is different than being inherently holy)
b. God the Father anointed the Son with gladness
a1. Jesus describes the Father as “my God” (John 20:17; I Corinthians 15:28) – as the head of the Godhead, God the Father is superior in position to Jesus, so he is Jesus’s God, as well as ours)
a2. “Messiah” and “Christ” mean anointed one (anointed as creator, savior, judge; king)
a3. Gladness = only Jesus could accomplish creation, salvation, and judgment
c. None of the angels were anointed
2. Beginning and the end of creation
a. For the 3rd time Jesus is presented as the creator of all things (Colossians 1:15-17; John 1:1-3)
a1. He sustains all things
a2. Everything is intricately designed with irreducible complexity (no random chance)
b. Genesis 1:3 everything was perfect at end of creation
c. Genesis 3 after the fall of Adam, creation began to deteriorate (even the ground was cursed)
a1. Romans 8:18-25 all of nature is corrupted and groans, awaiting deliverance (Isaiah 11)
a2. The universe is wearing out
d. II Peter 3:10-13 the entire universe will melt with fervent heat, utterly destroyed
a1. Jesus created all things and will destroy it
a2. Revelation 21 the destruction of the old cursed cosmos will give way to a new perfect one where sin and temptation cannot corrupt
3. The eternal constant
a. Even though the universe is finite, having a beginning and ending, Jesus is the same forever (Hebrews 13:8)
b. The universe = rolled up as a scroll (Revelation 6:12-17)
a1. Revelation 20 Jesus will sit in judgment over all
a2. Everyone will be reconciled in redemption or condemnation (Daniel 12:2)
a3. 1 Cor. 15 Jesus then turns all back to the Father, who will be all and all
c. We depend upon the eternal essence, nature, faithfulness, and promises of the Lord
al. Everything depends on the power and trustworthiness of our Creator and Lord
a2. Because he lives, we will live (John 14:19-20)
d. Everything around us is temporary (our bodies, the earth, the sun, stars, galaxies…)
a1. God is the only permanent reality
a2. He has promised to make believers a permanent reality living with him
e. The truth of the Lord’s eternal faithfulness leads to certain core values that believers should embrace:
a1. ETERNAL HOPE – Jesus will never forsake or leave us and will fulfill all he has promised
a2. CONFIDENCE – no matter what challenges come into our lives, be will carry us through
a3. COMMITMENT – we should dedicate ourselves to worship and serve him eagerly
a4. PRAISE – eternal gratitude is owed Him
Key verse: Revelation 6:12-1712 I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood. 13 And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. 14 Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. 15 And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, 16 and said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! 17 For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”