This morning I picked up my Chronological One Year Bible and read the first sentence of the book of Hebrews — and I felt like the whole Book shook itself awake and spoke to me.

“In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son.” Hebrews 1:1-2

The voices in the first two thirds of the Book —  the Prophets, Moses, and the Psalms — all speak to one thing: Christ, The Son, who is the final Word from God. “Whom he has appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.” Hebrews 1:2

Heir of All Things

Starting with Genesis 1:1 we begin to glimpse what Jesus possesses as the “heir of all things.”

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”

While nations struggle over who controls islands in the South China Sea, or who may claim the waters in northwest passage above Canada, or even who stakes out territory on the moon – Jesus Christ already possesses all of it. It’s his because he made it, and it exists because right now Jesus is “sustaining all things by his powerful word.” Hebrews 1:3

Without Jesus, the universe would disappear.

The Reason for this Letter

The writer to the Hebrews had one goal in mind: To tell people about the glory of Jesus and the immensity of his mission.

“The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.” Hebrews 1:3

Jesus is God and he has provided cleansing for the sins that condemn mankind. From this point forward the job of the writer to the Hebrews is to explain what he has just stated in Hebrews 1:1-3.

Jesus and the Angels

Until Jesus came, the primary way people glimpsed of the glory of the heavenly realm was through the angels God sent from time to time. They were so awesome and powerful that people were tempted to worship them, but the angels always rejected that and told people to worship God instead. Angels know the difference between themselves and their Master; they have no power or authority except what they are given from God.

“When God brings his firstborn into the world, he says, ‘Let all God’s angels worship him.’ In speaking of the angels he says, ‘He makes his angels spirits, and his servants flames of fire.’” Hebrews 1:6-7

Jesus is not an angel, he is the Son of God and as far above the angels as God.

“So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs. For to which of the angels did God ever say, ‘You are my son; today I have become your Father.’? Or again, ‘I will be his Father, and he will be my Son.’ ” Hebrews 1:5

Sometimes people are confused about angels and think that when a person dies and goes to heaven, they become an angel. Angels and people, however, are a completely unique creations of God. People will be in people in heaven as they have been on earth, and angels will always be angels.

Did God Create Jesus?

It’s important to note that when God says to Jesus, “Today I have become your Father,” he didn’t mean that he created Jesus. The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit have always been God. But when Jesus took on flesh, he became the firstborn of the children in God’s earthly family. Jesus is God who became human so that humans can be made holy and able to partake in the divine nature of God. As Jesus said,

“I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one.” John 17:20-22

God the Father revealed his divine glory in Jesus during his earthly sojourn so that people could see what a completely holy and righteous man looks like and follow in his footsteps. God affirmed who Jesus was “by signs, wonders and various miracles, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.” Hebrews 2:3

We dare not ignore what God has shown us in Jesus because,

“How shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation?” Hebrews 2:3

“We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.” Hebrews 2:1

Jesus the Man

Jesus came to earth to gather children for his Father’s family. Everything God did before Jesus came – even giving people all of creation to steward – failed to win them, so God came down from heaven to live among them and show them who he is.

“You made them a little lower than the angels; you crowned them with glory and honor and put everything under their feet . . . God left nothing that is not subject to them. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to them. But we do see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for a little while.” Hebrews 2:7-9

Jesus shared the whole of human experience so people could identify with him. He touched hurting, sick, and sinful people and wept with them. He got tired, hungry and angry sometimes. He faced temptation, and defeated the devil. He suffered grief, pain and death, and broke the power of the grave.

“Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death – that is the devil – and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death . . . For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God . . . Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.” Hebrews 2:14-18

In Jesus God made himself as approachable to mankind as Almighty God can be. When we see Jesus, we see God.

“Jesus answered, ‘Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.’” John 14:9

“Therefore, holy brothers and sisters . . . fix your thoughts on Jesus.” Hebrews 3:1

Jesus is Greater Than Moses

Through Jesus God has built a house for his family, and Moses was a great servant in that house, but Jesus and his Father are the builders of the house and they own it.

“Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself. For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything.” Hebrews 3:3-4

Moses served in God’s house when he led Israel and delivered the Law to them, but he was only a servant. He knew that his work pointed to something greater than himself. The Law couldn’t be the way to salvation because as soon as the Law was given it revealed that people are lawbreakers. A better way to peace with God was needed, so Jesus came to fulfill the Law and pay its penalties. Then he offered what he had done to lawbreakers and reconciled them to God. His way to peace with God is the only way.

“Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion . . . See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.” Hebrews 3:7-12

Enter His Rest

Peace with God brings rest to the soul and God wants a quiet soul to be the natural state of his children. Sin disturbs our peace but the Lord has the remedy for that: When we confess our sins he forgives us and brings us back to peace — with him and within ourselves.

“Therefore since it still remains for some to enter that rest, and since those who formerly had the good news proclaimed to them did not go in because of their disobedience, God again set a certain day, calling it ‘Today.’ This he did when a long time later he spoke through David . . . ‘Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts’ . . . Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.” Hebrews 4:6-7, 11

God is the God of second chances. People often miss his offer of salvation the first time they hear it. They may hear it many, many times before they are persuaded to receive it.

So God sets a new day for them – and that day is “Today” – it’s always “Today.” As long as people live they have the opportunity to receive salvation through Jesus Christ. We should never give up inviting them to take advantage of God’s offer.

The Living Word

There are many memorable and influential books in the world, but none of them claim to be alive except the Bible. The Amplified Bible puts Hebrews 4:12 this way:

“For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power [making it active, operative, energizing, and effective]; it is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating to the dividing line of the breath of life (soul) and [the immortal] spirit, and of joints and marrow [of the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and sifting and analyzing and judging the very thoughts and purposes of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12 Amplified

The Bible is the only book whose author lives forever and attends every session where his book is read. God is the only author who shows up to explain what he meant by what he wrote every time someone reads it. And the Bible is the only book that actually enables an active, personal relationship between the reader and the author.

God uses the Bible to probe the deepest recesses of peoples’ hearts, revealing their sins and sorrows and applying healing and restoration to them. He uses the Word to create hope and joy. The God of the universe introduces himself in deeper and deeper ways the more we read and that is why it’s such a good idea to read the Bible from cover to cover.

Mine the Word

I have likened serious daily Bible reading to descending into a deep mine and taking a pickaxe to the walls day after day. Bible reading is work, and sometimes it’s tedious work, but many days we emerge from the mine clutching a sparkling diamond, ruby or sapphire.

And we get to keep what we find – forever. As Joshua said to Israel just before died:

“Now I am about to go the way of all the earth. You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the Lord your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed.” Joshua 23:14

The promises of God are the sparkling jewels in the Bible, and as the Apostle Paul says:

“No matter how many promises God has made, they are ‘Yes’ in Christ. And so the ‘Amen’ is spoken by us to the glory of God.” 2 Corinthians 1:20