Perseverance

Christian Perseverance.....alsfjlasjflasfjasldjfasldfkjljlsjfalsjfsadlfjaslfj

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God Speaks | Hebrews 1:1-4 | 1/12/2020

• Into to the book
  • Authorship
  • Content
    • Nature of Jesus and God, Jesus’s supremacy above the angels, dangers of neglecting our faith and spiritual immaturity, New covenant relationship, passing of the old sacrifices of the Law, definition of faith and the great hall of the heroes of faith, endurance in the Christian walk, and Godly discipline.
• Overview
  • Hebrews makes it clear how much better we are with Jesus Christ having fulfilled the prophecies of the Old Testament.
  • At the same time, he didn’t want to dispel the importance of the OT Scriptures because they are so critically important.
    • He was speaking to Jewish Christians who KNEW their OT.
    • In fact, as we read through Hebrews, we see that the OT is repeated on numerous occasions.
  • He wanted to show that the new chapter in life with the new Covenant under Jesus that it was a continuation and not a replacement, that Jesus fulfilled the old.
  • He does this by starting off right away speaking to how God has spoken to man in different ways.
  • In the beginning God spoke to man directly through prophets, and then in the other verses in 2-4 he speaks that God has now chosen to speak to us through his Son Jesus.
  • He is making it clear that Jesus Christ isn’t a “new God” but in fact the same that he has chosen to communicate with us in a different way.
• Read Hebrews 1:1-4
• The God who speaks | Hebrews 1:1
  • Read Hebrews 1:1
  • God speaks
    • The first sentence of Hebrews 1:1 is by far one of the most significant in all of Scripture in that it answers one of humanities great questions.
      • If God spoke, then what does this imply?
        • That He is alive that He made is presence known.
    • The unbelievers in the world say that God does not exist, because if He did then He would make himself known.
      • In what way do unbelievers demand proof of God’s existence?
      • The world demands physical evidence, God should physically appear and prove His existence.
    • The unbelievers and skeptics in the world however overlook the fact that God does exist, and He has made himself known to humanity.
      • That God has spoken, and He continues to do so within the hearts of all believers.
      • Their problem is that they look for God in all the wrong places.
        • They want a movie version of a God.
        • They don’t want once that speaks through people or who came to earth in the form of a mere man who healed people.
        • Superhero mentality.

People think God should be like a superhero.

God stayed invisible (has not revealed Himself physically) in His actions.

Then in the NT we see God came to Earth as a man, but His superpowers were healing? Walking on water? Raising the dead?

• • • • That’s not what the worlds vision of what a God should be or look like and therein lies the problem.
        - Humanity (who thinks they are the most intelligent beings in existence) desires proof according to their terms from a God that is infinitely beyond comprehension.
        - God chose to speak with us and to dwell in the world in His way not our way.
        - Who are we to say how God should speak and reveal himself?
        • God has spoken to mankind in HIS way which is not the way man would have expected.
        • If God speaks, the how does He speak to you today?
    • God seeks
      • When we think of the relationship between humanity and God, we often think that it solely consists of us seeking Him.
        • We see that when we search for God in Scriptures, when we seek God in church or when we call out to Him in our prayers.
          • This of course is true, and Scripture speaks directly to this.
          • Jeremiah 29:12-13

“You will call to Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.”

• • • • • Acts 17:27

“He did this so they might seek God, and perhaps they might reach out and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us.”

• • • However, we must also not forget that prior to us being able to seek God and find Him, that in the beginning it was God who sought us.
      - John 6:44
      - “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
      - Luke 19:10
      - “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost.”
      - This is evident when we look at Scripture as a whole.
      - God created the world in which we live, God created mankind, God spoke to Adam and Eve, God spoke to His prophets, God came into the world as Jesus Christ to interact directly with man to reach out to him, Jesus Christ died on the cross for man. In all this God is reaching out to man first.
      - 1 John 4:19

“We love because He first loved us.”

• • • • • Jeremiah 1:5

“I chose you before I formed you in the womb; I set you apart before you were born. I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

• • • • • Psalms 139:16

“Your eyes saw me when I was formless; all my days were written in Your book and planned before a single one of them began.”

• • • • While man does seek God, it would not even be possible if it wasn’t that God first sought us.
        - God seeks us, and God speaks to us. But we MUST LISTEN if we desire to find Him.
        - John 6:45b

“…Everyone who has listened to and learned from the Father comes to Me”

• • • • • The unbelievers and skeptics primary roadblock for not believing in God’s existence is that they simply do not listen.
          • Contrary to the world’s perspective, God is not hard to find.
            • God is not hiding in heaven buried in a deep maze which requires a special treasure map to find Him.

God has made the path very straight, but the gate is narrow.

The gate is narrow because man makes it that way.

• • • In what ways does God actively seek us today?
    • In the Old Testament God chose to speak through the prophets.
      • “Long ago” is reference to the Old Testament. During this time God used prophets to communicate with us.
        • The prophets were God’s chosen people that he would confide His Word and His will into that would then share the revelation with others.
        • The prophets didn’t choose themselves, God did, much like he calls people today.
      • When God communicated with the prophets it wasn’t always the same way.
        • He came to some in visions, dreams and others in clouds and in direct communication.
          • Numbers 12:4-8
          • God new Moses face to face

Deuteronomy 34:10

“No prophet has arisen again in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face.”

• • • • While his methods may have been different, he was still and is still God, the same God the only God.
        - God used the prophets to record His Scripture which was His instruction to us.
        - Romans 15:4

For whatever was written in the past was written for our instruction, so that we may have hope through endurance and through the encouragement from the Scriptures.

• • • What is different about how God communicated with mankind in the Old Testament as opposed to today?
• God now speaks to us through Jesus Christ | Hebrews 1:2a
  • Read Hebrews 1:2a
  • The last days are the days of Christ and the time in which we live in.
  • No more are the prophets but instead God has chosen to speak to us by His Son who is Jesus Christ.
  • And the New Testament that we have today is the record of what Jesus spoke while he was here on earth.
  • God has divinely inspired the Scripture to record exactly what we need to know.
  • Jesus came to fulfill the Old Testament, not to replace it.
    • Matthew 5:17
      • “Don’t assume that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.”
    • Jesus was far superior over the Prophets because he was the fulfillment of what had been foretold to the prophets of old about the coming Messiah.
  • God speaks to us through Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit who lives within our hearts.
    • While Jesus is no longer here physically, because of Christ’s sacrifice upon the cross we can know have a better relationship with God.
    • That voice of God that you hear is the Spirit.
    • No longer do we need to go to a priest or a man of God, but all can know God.
      • Jeremiah 31:33b-34
    • We now receive God’s Holy Spirit when we become a Christian. When we have true saving faith.
      • Acts 2:38
        • “Repent,” Peter said to them, “and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
    • This is the way in which we know have a relationship with God it is through His spirit that lives within each one of us. How lucky we are to have this, but unfortunately how often it is that we neglect His presence within us.
  • How would you describe your interaction with the Holy Spirit? How would you explain this very real relationship with others? That God speaks to you and lives within you.
  • Do Christians neglect His presence living within them? Is it possible for someone to stifle the Spirit?
• God speaks to us through His creation
  • Not only does God speak to us in prayer and reading His Scriptures, but He shows us His existence through His creation.
    • You cannot ignore or disregard the evidence that is so obvious.
  • Psalms 19:1-2
    • “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky proclaims the work of His hands. Day after day they pour out speech; night after night they communicate knowledge.”
  • Romans 1:19-20
    • “since what can be known about God is evident among them, because God has shown it to them. For His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being understood through what He has made. As a result, people are without excuse.”
  • Where in creation do you see God? Why do the unbelievers and skeptics turn a blind eye to this truth?
• Jesus is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact expression of His nature | Hebrews 1:3
  • Read Hebrews 1:3
  • This passage gives us a very clear picture of the relationship between Jesus and God.
  • The trinity relationship is clearly seen.
  • What do you think of when reading this passage that Jesus is the radiance of God’s glory?
  • Radiance/brightness of God’s glory
    • The use of the word radiance tells us that Jesus is not just a mere reflection of God, but instead He radiates the Glory of God from within Him because He is God.
    • The word radiance or brightness literally means “to send forth light”.
      • Jesus is the manifestation of God to us and everything that He did was to spread the light of God into a world filled with darkness.
      • John 8:12
        • “Then Jesus spoke to them again: “I am the light of the world. Anyone who follows Me will never walk in the darkness but will have the light of life.”
      • With everything that Jesus said and did was radiating the glory of God.
    • Christians likewise having God’s Holy Spirit living within us are also called to radiate that same light.
      • This is where obedience in Christians comes into play. Our salvation is not just for our benefit, we are to use our relationship to spread the Gospel and the light of God to all others.
      • When a Christian is being obedient to God, that Christian is radiating the glory of God into a dark and sinful world.
      • By the obedience of the Christian we can show others what it means to be a Christian and that there is a true light in the world.
      • Matthew 5:14-16
      • Philippians 2:12-15
      • How do you feel knowing that we have a responsibility to radiate the Glory of God into the world?
  • Exact expression/representation of God’s nature
    • Jesus Christ is the exact expression of the nature of God because He is God.
    • Jesus is not creation He is part of the Trinity with the Father and Spirit.
      • John 14:8-9
        • “Lord,” said Philip, “show us the Father, and that’s enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been among you all this time without your knowing Me, Philip? The one who has seen Me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?”
      • Colossians 1:15
        • “He is the image of the invisible God.”
    • If you want to know what God is like, if you want to know His attributes you only have to look to Jesus because He is the image of the invisible God.