“CHRIST, OUR GREAT GOD AND CREATOR” (Heb 1:10-12)
August 6, 2000
Int. Paul uses his 7th and final argument that Jesus is greater than the Angels.
1. THE SON IS THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE.
A. CONSIDER THAT HE EXISTED BEFORE THE UNIVERSE.
1. (Heb 1:10) "And[1], Thou[2], Lord[3], in[4] the beginning[5] hast laid[6] the foundation[7] of the earth; and[8] the[9] heavens[10] are the works[11] of thine hands:"
2. (Psa 102:25-27) "Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands. {26} They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed: {27} But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end." These two verses are quoted in (Heb 1:10-12)
3. "AND": The opening “and” shows that the apostle is continuing to advance proof of the proposition laid down in (Vr. 4). (This is quoted from (Ps. 102:25-27)
4. "THOU": Clark says: "This is an address to the Son as the Creator, see ver. 2;)
a. He is the same Lord of (Vr. 9)
b. He is superior to the Angels in that He created the earth and the heavens. "All things were made by Him and without Him was not anything made that was made."
5. Barnes' notes says this phrase "Thou Lord" " is connected with (Heb 1:8). "Unto the Son he saith”,
"All hail the powr of Jesus name!
Let angels prostate fall;
Bring forth the royal diadem,
And crown Him Lord of all.
Bring forth the royal diadem,
And crown Him Lord of all."
6. "LORD": A. W. P. says:
a. "This proof of Christ’s excellency is taken from a work peculiar to God, creation. The argument may be stated thus:
b. The Creator is more excellent than creatures; Christ is the Creator, angels are creatures;
c. Therefore Christ is more excellent than angels.
d. That Christ is Creator is here proved; that angels are creatures, has been shown in (verse 7).
e. This verse also completes the answer to a question which (Vr. 4) may have raised in the minds of some, namely, what is the more excellent name which the Mediator has obtained?
f. The reply is “Son” (verse 5), “God” (Vr. 8), “Lord” (Vr. 10)."
7. A. W. P. writes: "And” ‘Thou, Lord’.
a. Before His incarnation, David, by the Spirit, called Him “Lord”.
1. (Mat 22:43) "He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying,"
b. At His birth, the angels called Him as Christ “ the Lord” ( Luke 2:11).
c. During His earthly ministry the disciples owned Him as “Lord “
1. (John 13:13) "Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am."
d. So, too, is He often referred to in the Epistles (Rom 1:3) "Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our “Lord”, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh;"
.
f. But here, it is none other than the Father Himself who directly addresses as Lord that suffering Man, as He lay on His face in the Garden, sweating as it were great drops of blood.
g. Thus every believer should say of Him, “My Lord”, and my God (John 20:28), and worship Him as such."
B. CONSIDER HIS CREATING THE UNIVERSE.
1. "IN": IN THE BEGINNING HAST LAID THE FOUNDATION OF THE EARTH AND THE HEAVENS-----
2. Barnes says: "No one, on reading the (Psalm 102), ever would doubt that it referred to God; and, if the apostle meant to apply it to the Lord Jesus, it proves most conclusively that he is divine."
3. "BEGINNING": He was “pro panton” ---before all things, and by him all things consist.
4. He was not only above all things in condition, but before all things in existence; and therefore must be God, and self-existent.
a. (Col 1:17) "And he is before all things, and by him all things consist."
5. Pulpit C. says: "As the artist must have existed before the picture which he painted, and the architect before the edifice which he designed, so the Son existed before the universe which he made."
a. (Micah 5:2) "His goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting."
6. "LAID": (Psa 33:6) "By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth."
7. "FOUNDATION": See (Ps 102:25-27); Heb 11:3,10). Hast laid the foundation of the earth.
8. A. W. P. says: "We have been deeply impressed with the fact that God has some good reason for referring in His Word to the foundation and foundations of the earth or world more than twenty-five times."
9. "AND": “And the heavens art the works of thine hands.”
a. Barnes says: "This must demonstrate the Lord Jesus to be divine. He that made the vast heavens must be God. No creature could perform a work like that;..."
10. "THE":
a. John McArthur on (Vr. 10-11) says: "The Son who created the universe (John 1:1,3),
1. One day He will destroy the heavens and earth that He created. 2 Pet. 3:10.12; Rev. 6:14),
2. But He remains unchanged. Immutability is yet another characteristic of the divine essence.
b. Gill says: "There are more heavens than one; there are the “airy heavens”, and the “starry heavens”, and the “heaven of heavens,” the third heaven; and they were created in the beginning, as the earth was, (Gen 1:1)
1. These heavens are the immediate work of Christ; they were made by himself, not by the means of angels, who were not in being till these were made..."
11. "HEAVENS": See "They" in (Vr. 11)
12. O. M. Mitchel said: "We have passed from planet to planet, from sun to sun, from system to system. We have reached beyond the limits of this mighty solar cluster with which we are allied. We have found other island universers sweeping through space. The great unfinished problem still remains: Whence came this universe? Have all these stars which glitter in the heavens been shining from all eternity? Has our globe been rolling round the sun for ceaseless ages? Whence came this magnificent architeture, whose architraves rise in splendor before us in every direction? Is it all the work of chance? I answer No! It is not the work of chance! Who shall reveal to us the true cosmography of the universe by which we are surrounded? It is the work of an Omnipotent Architect. Around us and above us rise sun and system, cluster and universe. And I doubt not that, in every region of this vast empire of God, hymns of praise and anthems of glory are rising by Omnipotence alone across immensity and through eternity."
13. "WORKS": John Newton said: "There is a sig-nature of wisdom and power impressed upon the works of God, which evidently distinguishes them from the feeble imitations of men. Not only the splendor of the sun, but the glimmering light of the glow worm proclaims His Glory."
II. THE SON WILL BE THE RENOVATOR OF THIS UNIVERSE.
A. THIS WORLD SHALL BE DESTROYED BY FIRE.
1. (Heb 1:11) "They[1] shall perish[2]; but thou[3] remainest[4]; and they[5] all shall[6] wax old as doth a garment[7];"
2. "THEY": “The visible heavens” of (Vr. 10)
a. Clark says: "They shall perish. Permanently fixed as they seem to be, a time shall come when they shall be dissolved.”
1. (2 Pet 3:10-12) "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. {11} Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, {12} Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?"
B. THIS WORLD SHALL "PERISH": (2 Pet 3:10-13)
1. The apostle John, in prophetic vision, saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away (Revelation 21:1).
a. But Christ remaineth. He is the same yesterday, and today, and forever. (Heb 13:8)
2. "THOU": The "Lord" of (Vr.10)."Thou Remainest" (Heb 13:8)
a. Messiahs kingdom shall survive the final shaking of the creation.
1. (Heb 12:26-28) "Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. {27} And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. {28} Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:"
C. GOD’S SON SHALL REMAIN.... " THOU REMAINEST":
1. Homiletic C. says: "On every Mohammedan tombstone the inscription begins with the words, "He remains." This applies to God, and gives sweet comfort to the bereaved. Friends may die, fortunes may fly, but our Lord endures--He remains."
a. Christ is immutable. (Heb 13:8) Thus the Father testifies of him, "Thou remainest, thy years shall not fail."
2. A. W. P. says: "Mans sickle went over the field of corn and He was cut off in the midst of His days: when He was barely half of the three score years and ten (Psalm 90:10). And what was Heavens response to this anguished cry of the Savior? The remainder of the Psalm records Gods answer: Thy years are throughout all generations. Of old hast Thou laid the foundation of the earth. And the heavens are the work of Thy hands. They shall perish, but Thou shalt endure, yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt Thou change them, and they shall be changed: But Thou art the same, and Thy years shall have no end (verses 24-27)."
3. "THEY": This world is mutable, all created nature is so; (Vr. 11, 12)
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4. "SHALL": Shall wax old as doth a garment.
a. Clark says: "As a garment by long using becomes unfit to be longer used, so shall all visible things; they shall wear old, and wear out; and hence the necessity of their being renewed. It is remarkable that our word “world” is a contraction of wear old; a term by which our ancestors expressed the sentiment contained in this verse.
b. "GARMENT": J. F. & B. says: "a garment.” (Isa 51:6) "Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner: but my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished."
III. CONSIDER THE MANNER IN WHICH HE WILL BRING HIS JUDGMENT UPON THIS WORLD.
A. NOTICE THE DIVINE DESCRIPTION. (Vr. 12)
1. (Heb 1:12) "And as a vesture[1] shalt thou fold[2] them up, and they shall be changed[3]: but thou art the same[4], and thy years shall not fail[5]."
2. "VESTURE":
a. (Psa 33:6) "By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth."
Ill. A. W. P. says: "By the same word shall they be folded up."
3. "FOLD": ...the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll.. (Isaiah 34:4). Thou shall fold them up.
a. A. W. P. says: "This intimates Christ’s absolute control over all creation. He is the Potter, we are but the clay, to be molded as He will. Our Lord Jesus Christ, being true God, is the Most High and supreme Sovereign over all, and He doeth all."
b. (Psalm 83:18). says: “....that man may know that Thou, whose name is Jehovah, art the Most High over all the earth”
4. "CHANGED": And they shall be changed.
a. Clark says "Not destroyed ultimately, or annihilated. They shall be changed and renewed."
b. J. F. & B. says: --changed "as one lays aside a garment to put on another."
c. Gray & Adams says: "As a mantle is folded up to be put away when a fresh one is about to be put on."
5. "BUT THOU ART THE SAME": See (Heb 13:8)
a. A. W. P. says: "For nineteen hundred years since the Cross, men have been born, have lived, and then died. Statesmen, emperors, kings have appeared on the scene and then passed away. But there is one glorious Man who spans the centuries, who in His own humanity bridges those nineteen hundred years. He has not died, nor even grown old; He is the same yesterday, and today, and forever! ---
1. (Isa 46:4) "And even to your old age I am he; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you: I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you."
2. (Mal 3:6) "For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed."
b. With our Lord, there "is no variableness or shadow of turning." (James 1:17).
6. "FAIL": “ shall not fail”
a. J. F. & B. says: "Hebrew= “shall not end.”
b. Israel, in the Babylonian captivity, in the hundred second Psalm, casts her hopes of deliverance on Messiah, the unchanging covenant God of Israel."
CONCLUSION: How immeasurable greater, then, is the Son than the angels?"