Heir of All Things (Heb 1:2a)

Posted on by
Reply

Heb 1:2b …whom he appointed heir of all things…

Many have asked the question: Who is Jesus? This question can be addressed from many different angles. Some look at His life and see Him as the perfect example. Some look at his death and see Him as the perfect sacrifice. The author of Hebrews opens up his letter by showing us that Jesus is the perfect revelation. He then begins to describe why Jesus is the perfect revelation in Heb 1:2-4. He denotes seven different reasons with seven descriptions. The first is that He was appointed the “heir of all things.” The verb “appointed” (ἔθηκεν) is somewhat unexpected in this context. We would simply presume that the Son would be heir. This may infer an emphasis on the activity of the divine will. God determined that the Son be His heir. But what does it mean for Jesus to be the heir? First of all, because He is the Son, He is naturally the heir of all that His Father possesses. Since the Father owns everything, Jesus also owns everything, since He is the only unique Son.  The term “heir” (κληρονόμον), however, does not refer to entering into possession through the death of the Father. In the NT the word and its cognates are  used in the sense of “get possession of” without referring to any specific way of appropriating the property. In other words, the word points simply to lawful possession, without indicating in what way that possession is secured. “Heir of all things,” then, is a title of dignity and shows that Christ has the supreme place in all the universe. His exaltation to the highest place in heaven after His sacrificial work on earth was done did not mark some new dignity but his reentry to His rightful place.

Now note that Jesus is the heir of “all things.” This would refer to all things “visible and invisible,” all things tangible and intangible, all things, material and spiritual, all things natural and supernatural, all things concrete and abstract, all things intellectual, philosophical, ideological, mathematical, and theological. Thus, no matter what exists, it belongs to Christ. There is no realm where Christ does not touch or possess. All things point to Christ. This means that all we do, we should do to the glory of Christ (1 Cor 6:20; 10:31). If you are an engineer or scientist, do your work to the glory of Christ. If you are a teacher or student, teach and study to the glory of Christ. If you are in finance or business, your deals and transactions should glorify Christ. Christ being heir of all things affects us in every part of our life. Whether we are at work or at home what we do should glorify Him. We should consciously and deliberately point every area of our life to Christ.

The Trust Factor

Posted on by
Reply

The Bible tells us to trust in God, to place our faith in Him, to depend and rely on Him; but what does that mean exactly, and how do we evidence trust in our life? Trust is a verb of perception. It does not refer to a concrete action; it is a verb of sense or volition. The concept of trust is not tangible, thus one must rely on perception to fully conceptualize its meaning.

The Bible, especially the Psalms, is replete with commands to trust in God. David often talks about waiting on the Lord, depending on God, and hoping in God’s loving kindness (hesed; dRsRj). The issue of trust is essential to the Christian faith because it validates that the believer has made God his hope. Trust is evidence that we believe in God’s goodness. One of the Hebrew words for trust is batach (jAfD;b) which means “to put confidence in.” It emphasizes the feeling of safety and security (TWOT, pp. 101-02). Another Hebrew word that connotes trust is aman (NAmDa), but it has a broader sense. It denotes certainty, to have faith in (as in the case of Abraham believing in God in Gen 15:6)). In English, trust and faith overlap in meaning. When we say we trust someone, we mean that we have faith and belief in the individual to do what he promises.

Every relationship requires trust in order to grow. The moment that trust begins to erode, the relationship will start to crumble. When doubt sets in, so do anxiety and fear. No wonder Jesus tells us not to be afraid. Because, when we place our trust in Him, we will not be affected by doubt, anxiety, or fear. He says, “Do not be afraid for I am with you…” (Isa 41:10). Trust is essential in our daily walk with the Lord. We must trust Him with our spouse, our children, our finances, our health, our jobs—everything! We need Him in every phase of our life, and we must trust that He knows what is best for us. Learning to trust God takes time. It does not happen overnight.

I thought I was pretty far ahead in the trust factor until some unexpected circumstances arose which I could neither control nor prevent. I began to ask myself the “what ifs.” This was dangerous because in asking the “what ifs,” I became fretful and anxious. The peace of God left my heart and I became worrisome. The word “if” is a conditional conjunction that depends on something else to happen. When we imbibe the “ifs” we immediately ascertain doubt. When we wonder if God is going to provide what we need, we inject doubt into our heart. This saddens God’s heart because we hold Him suspect. It is as if we are not sure He is reliable. Satan rejoices when we “wonder” whether God will come through for us. Indeed He will! He is not a God who lies and deceives (Num 23:19). Satan is the ultimate deceiver and we must resist him with undeterred faith in Christ.

The devil wants us to doubt God’s goodness (cf. Gen 3:1). The whisperer seeks only to create mistrust in your heart. We cannot allow our circumstances to sway our trust in the Divine. God is big and powerful, so much so that He knows our needs before we utter them. He knows them before they even manifested themselves to you. The omniscient One is aware of all that concerns us and He beckons us to trust in Him. Never doubt God’s goodness. He is always on time and His way is always best. Our best assessment is done in hindsight; the Divine uses foresight. Let us trust Him together regardless of what comes our way.

The Burden of Prayer (Neh 1:1-11)

Posted on by
Reply

I. The Character of Nehemiah (v.1)

  • A. Nehemiah had three positions.
  1. Cupbearer
  2. Builder
  3. Governor
  • B. The name “Nehemiah” means “the comfort of Yahweh” or        “Yahweh has comforted.”
  1. Nehemiah was a man of responsibility. That he served as the king’s cupbearer (1:11-2:1) can only mean that he had proven himself trustworthy over a long period.
  2. Nehemiah was a man of vision. The walls of Jerusalem had been in ruins for 141 years when Nehemiah learned of an abortive attempt to rebuild them (Ezra 4:23). He had a great vision of who God was and what he could do through his servants.
  3. Nehemiah was a man of prayer. His first resort was to prayer (Neh 1:5-11). He prayed spontaneously even in the presence of the king (2:4-5).
  4. Nehemiah was a man of action and of cooperation. He would explain what needed to be done (2:16-17) and inspire others to join him (2:18). He knew how to organize the rebuilding work (ch. 3). In spite of opposition the people responded so enthusiastically that they mended the wall in less than two months (6:15). He inspired the people with his own example (5:14-18). Nehemiah, a layman, was able to cooperate with his contemporary Ezra, the scribe and priest, in spite of the fact that these two leaders were of entirely different temperaments. In reaction to the problem of mixed marriages, Ezra plucked out his own hair (Ezra 9:3), whereas Nehemiah plucked out the hair of the offenders (Neh 13:25)!
  5. Nehemiah was a man of compassion. He renounced his own privileges (Neh 5:18) and denounced the wealthy who had exploited their poorer brothers (5:8). He did this because of his reverence for God (5:9, 15).
  6. Nehemiah was a man who triumphed over opposition. His opponents used every ruse to intimidate him. They started with ridicule (2:19; 4:2-3). They attempted slander (6:5-7). Hired prophets gave him misleading advice (6:10-14). Nehemiah responded with prayer (4:4), with redoubled efforts (v.6), with vigilance (v.9), and with trust in God (v.14).
  7. Nehemiah was a man with right motivation. Although he justified his ministry, his primary motive was not to be judged aright by others or to be remembered by posterity. The last words of Nehemiah—“Remember me with favor, O my God” (13:31)—recapitulate a frequently repeated theme (5:19; 13:14, 22, 29). His motive throughout his ministry was to please and serve his divine Sovereign. His only reward would be God’s approbation.
  8. Nehemiah brought comfort to his people.
  • C. Nehemiah was from a prominent family
  1. “Hacaliah” is contracted from “wait for Yahweh” (cf. Zeph 3:8).
  2. The reference to his paternal sepulchers in Jerusalem (2:3, 5) may mean that Nehemiah came from a prominent family.

II. The Concern of Nehemiah (v. 1-3)

  • A. The Time
  1. Kislev: Nov-Dec
  2. the twentieth year: of Artaxerxes I (464-424 BC): 445 BC
  • B. The Place
  1. The city: Susa
  2. The building: the palace, residence of the king

“Susa” was the major city of Elam, the area of southwestern Iran. Susa was located in a fertile alluvial plain 150 miles north of the Persian Gulf. In the Achaemenid period it served as a winter palace for the kings (Kislev = Nov.-Dec.), but the area became intolerably hot during the summer months. It was the site of the story of Esther. Ezra 4:9-10 refers to the men of Susa who were deported to Samaria. At Susa, Artaxerxes I received the embassy of Callias (449 B.C.) that ended Greek-Persian hostilitie.

  • C. The Report
  1. Hanani was a close relative, perhaps a brother of Nehemiah.
  2. Brings a report with other men from Judah about the Jewish remnant.
  • a. Descendants of those who survived the Babylonian exile
  • b. They returned to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple.

.     3. The people are vulnerable to attack and subject to ridicule.
.     4. The walls and gates of Jerusalem are broken and burned.
The lack of a city wall meant that the people were defenseless against their enemies. Kenyon (Digging Up , p. 170) notes: “The effect on Jerusalem was much more disastrous and far-reaching than merely to render the city defenseless…. The whole system of terraces down the (eastern) slope, dependent on retaining walls buttressed in turn by the fill of the next lower terrace, was ultimately dependent on the town wall at the base, forming the lowest and most substantial of the retaining walls.”

Most scholars, however, do not believe that Nehemiah’s distress was caused by the condition of walls torn down 140 years before his time but rather by the episode of Ezra 4:7-23. According to this passage Jews had attempted to rebuild the walls earlier, in the reign of Artaxerxes I. But after the protest of Rehum and Shimshai, the king ordered the Jews to desist. There was considerable suspicion of such attempts because of the revolt of Megabyzus.

III. The Cry of Nehemiah (vv. 4-11)

  • A. Nehemiah’s Response (v.4).
  1. His physical response
  • a. He sat down
  • b. He wept: external expression of grief
  • c. He mourned: internal expression of grief

. 2. His spiritual response

  • a. He fasted: external

. i. Denotes urgency.
. ii. Denotes desperation.

  • b. He prayed: external and internal:

. i. Denotes dependence
. ii. Denotes a personal relationship with God.
. iii. Denotes his submission to God
. 3. Implications

  • a. He clearly recognized the needs
  • b. He was personally concerned for the need.
  • c. He had compassion.
  • B. Nehemiah’s Prayer (vv. 5-11)
  1. He went to God with the problem (vv. 4-5).
  2. He praised God: Adoration (vv. 5-6a)
  • a. For God’s Sovereignty
  • b. For His Greatness
  • c. For His Transcendence and Holiness
  • d. For His Loyal Love

. i. His faithfulness to His covenant
. ii. Toward those who love an obey Him

  • e. For His Attentiveness

. i. Nehemiah trusts that God listens.
. ii. Nehemiah trusts that God sees his predicament.
. iii. Nehemiah humbles himself before God.
. iv. Nehemiah submits to God.
. v. Nehemiah is persistent before God.
. vi. Nehemiah puts other before himself.
. 3. He confessed his part in the problem: Confession (vv. 6b-7).

  • a. God was faithful
  • b. His people had been unfaithful.
  • c. He confesses the sins of the nation beginning with himself and his family.

. i. They had been wicked.
. ii. They have been disobedient.
. iii. They had broken the covenant that God had given Moses for Israel.
. 4. He claimed the promise, the basis of his petition (vv. 8-9).

  • a. He asks God to remember His covenant.
  • b. Discipline and exile for disobedience.
  • c. Reconciliation and return for repentance.

. i. He retrieves them from the farthest corner of the heavens.
. ii. God’s hand of judgment is never longer than his hand of mercy.
. iii. Jerusalem is the place where God’s name and glory dwell.

  • d. God’s people are still His greatest investment (v. 10)

. i. His servants
. ii. His people
. iii. His redemption
. iv. His power
. v. Hi actions
. 5. He bought his petition before God: Petition (v.11)

  • a. He requests again that God listen to him.
  • b. He is in a concert of prayer with others.
  • c. They all delight to fear and worship God.

. 6. He was available to meet the need himself (v.11).

  • a. He asks for success now and in the future.
  • b. He asks for compassion in the presence of the king.
  • c. He was the king’s cupbearer.

. i. He would have been well-trained in court etiquette (cf. Dan 1:4-5).
. ii. He was probably a handsome individual (cf. Dan 1:4, 13, 15; Jos. Antiq. XVI, 230 [viii.1]).
. iii. He would certainly know how to select the wines to set before the king.

A proverb in the Babylonian Talmud (Baba Qamma  92b) states: “The wine belongs to the master but credit for it is due to his cupbearer.”
. iv. He would have to be a convivial companion, willing to lend an ear at all times.
. v. He would have great influence as one with the closest access to the king, able to determine who was able see his master.
. vi. Above all Nehemiah had to be one who enjoyed the unreserved confidence of the king.

The great need for trustworthy court attendants is underscored by the intrigues endemic to the Achaemenid court. Xerxes, father of Artaxerxes I, was killed in his own bedchamber by Artabanus, a courtier.
IV. Applications

  • A. Prayer makes me wait.
  • B. Prayer clears my vision.
  • C. Prayer quiets my heart.
  • D. Prayer activates my faith.

Articles List

Posted on by
Reply

Christmas Sermons

A Righteous Response to Christmas (Matt 1:18-25)

Wise and Foolish Responses to Christmas (Matt 2:1-12)

Sermon Notes on James

THE CHRISTIAN’S GUARD AGAINST PARTIALITY, PT 2 (JAS 2:5-7)

Faith and Saving Faith (Jas 2:14)

Faith and Works (Jas 2:14)

THE USELESSNESS OF AN UNPRODUCTIVE FAITH (Jas 2:14-19)

THE FAITH OF ABRAHAM (JAS 2:20-24)

TAMING THE TONGUE, PT 3 (JAS 3:9-12)

Doing Right When You’ve Been Done Wrong (Jas 5:7-12)

RIGHTEOUS RESPONSES (JAS 5:13-18)

PRAYER: JAMES’ WAY (JAS 5:12-18)

Knowing God as Deliverer

Posted on by
Reply

Have you ever been in a situation in which you felt trapped? What did you do? Did you panic, worry, cry out for help…? I often imagine how people who die at the hand of attackers must feel when they were cornered without anyone to help them. My heart wrenches in pain when I hear of young people whose lives are stolen from them by brutal men. Think of the students at Virginia Tech who died at the hands of a nutcase. Imagine how 19-year-old Briana Dennison must have panicked when the-still-at large rapist opened the door of the home in which she was sleeping, snatched her off the couch, and carried her off into the blackness of night. Her body was found a little over a week ago. I followed the outcome of that story as if I knew Briana. While I have never met her, my heart was touched by the injustice she endured and I long to see justice brought to her killer. These stories are morose but they are real, and we live in a world in which human life has lost its sacredness. Many are callous to the pain of human suffering, but there are still people, people like you and me, whose hearts God has touched and who allow ourselves to feel for others.
I have felt much sadness lately as I hear painful stories from people I love. My dear friend who lives in Boston has lost five family members in the space of seven months. Imagine that. The final blow came when her older sister who had been like a mother to her, was found hanging from a tree. I spoke with her recently and I could hear the pain in her voice. I felt helpless and I felt stupid for feeling uncomfortable. When the people we love hurt, we often feel uneasy because we may not know what to say or how to say what we want to say. We’re afraid that our words might come out wrong and cause unintended pain. As a result we clog up and we talk with them in “Bibleze.” Quoting the promises of Scripture is most needful but it must be done with wisdom and care. There are times when people just want you to listen and empathize.

I have empathized with several friends this year because they are in difficult financial straits and their futures seem bleak at best. My dear aunt’s life seemed to hang in the balance before she had to undergo over sixteen hours of surgery. I was scared for her. I was on pins and needles and I was anxious. I pursued God on her behalf, and I while I knew that God heard me, and the many others who called out to Him for her, I was still anxious. There are times when God decides to take good Christians home. We don’t understand it, but it happens. It doesn’t mean that they did not trust God. My friend, Jovan-Justine was a brilliant young woman who became ill and died in the prime of her life. She went to Dallas Seminary and received a Masters in Theology after completing a Ph.D. a few years earlier. She was brilliant and loved the Lord, but she died of cancer. What am I saying? Things happen that we do not understand, and we must encourage those around us the best we can while maintaining a vision of God as Deliverer.

Whether tragedy hits your life or the life of someone you know and love, God is and always will be a mighty deliverer. When you get a picture of God as deliver it changes how you view your circumstances. When you call to God He hears you. When your circumstances are beyond your ability to handle, He cares. God is a God of ability. He is a God of purpose and power. He is mighty and He is strong. His strength is not always evident in the way we expect Him to exude strength, but make no mistake—God is not wishy-washy or incapable. He is not blind and He is not deaf. He cares about you and He knows what you need before you even realize that you have that need. He knows those whose hearts are completely His.

Because we are His, we must not become consumed with anxiety over the economic uncertainly that currently pervades our nation. We live in difficult times and the cost of living has gone up. Health care costs, property taxes, food and gas prices have all increased beyond the wages we bring home. But even so, God is taking care of you and will continue to do so. Every time I talk with someone on the phone and acknowledge that “things are hard,” the Holy Spirit whispers, “but I am taking care of you.” That is the truth. I too have considered the uncertain possibilities and at different times have become downcast. I remember the question David posed to himself, and I become encouraged. “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? Hope thou in God.” God is our hope. Our hope cannot and should not be in what we have stashed away in the bank, our health insurance benefits, our assets, or our family. The truth is that we came into this world naked and broke and God has blessed us immensely. We must trust Him regardless of what our situation shows us. God is a deliverer. He delivered you from the grasp of sin and He has ordered your steps when you had no awareness of His hand in your life. Is not God faithful? Is He not good. If you knows how to care for the wild birds that fly above your head each day, then surely He will care for you and me. We must swim against the tide of anxiety and fear, and take courage because our God is an awesome God and He reigns from heaven above with justice and strength. God is your deliver and He will keep you stable and secure in the midst of any storm. Call on Him and He will answer. May He bless your heart today.

To download the Microsoft Word file, click below.

Knowing God as Deliverer

God’s Communication (Heb 1:1-2a)

Posted on by
Reply

Heb. 1:1 After God spoke long ago in various portions and in various ways to our ancestors through the prophets, 2 in these last days he has spoken to us in a son,

God has always been communicating with us. He has done so over long periods of time. He spoke face to face to Adam. He revealed himself to Abraham, Moses, and the prophets. In the Old Testament, His revelation came in piecemeal, a bit at a time. It came in various ways: through dreams, through visions, through theophanic manifestations, through miracles, signs, and wonders, through an audible voice, and through a still small voice. For over 2000 years, God had spoke to people in a variety of times and ways. But now he has spoken in one unique and supreme way—through His Son. This revelation did not come piecemeal; it came at one time. It did not have various manifestations, but one manifestation—God in human flesh (John 1:14). The prepositional phrase, “in a son” (ἐν υἱῷ), is not indefinite, meaning one so out of many sons, but qualitative. Nouns in prepositional phrases are rarely indefinite. Also, the context emphasizes the quality of the revelation of the last days. As the Net Bible says:

The Greek puts an emphasis on the quality of God’s final revelation. As such, it is more than an indefinite notion (“a son”) though less than a definite one (“the son”), for this final revelation is not just through any son of God, nor is the emphasis specifically on the person himself. Rather, the focus here is on the nature of the vehicle of God’s revelation: He is no mere spokesman (or prophet) for God, nor is he merely a heavenly messenger (or angel); instead, this final revelation comes through one who is intimately acquainted with the heavenly Father in a way that only a family member could be. There is, however, no exact equivalent in English (“in son” is hardly good English style).

No longer is God’s revelation through dreams, visions, or even simply and audible voice, but now it is through the manifestation of God in human flesh. The one most like God is God’s Son. No one can reveal God in the same way that the Son can. So Jesus is superior to the prophets. He is God’s supreme revelation. He is God’s best. God’s efforts to communicate with us are not minimal or mediocre. They are not simply adequate. He communicated with us in the best way possible, progressively perhaps, but ultimately He sent His Son as spokesman, savior, and sacrifice, as prophet, priest, and potentate.

Do you really appreciate the extent that God has gone to reveal Himself to you? As you read the book of Hebrews meditate on all the ways that Jesus Christ is superior.