God Has Spoken by His Son
Hebrews 1:1-14
God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son. [Hebrews 1:1-2]
In these “last days” since the First Advent, God has spoken by His Son. We must therefore make sure we go to Jesus to hear God, not to a prophet or any other person; the primacy is Jesus. It is not that God doesn’t speak through men and women but the priority is Jesus and His Word. We must go to Jesus.
As we begin our study of this powerful Hebrews Epistle you will find the word “better” appears often. Jesus is “so much better than the angels” [1:4]; He brings a better hope [7:19] and a better covenant [7:22]; He has obtained a more excellent ministry [8:6]; He is “Mediator of a better covenant which was established on better promises” [8:6]; He is a better sacrifice [9:23]; He provides a better heavenly possession [10:34]; a better heavenly homeland [11:16]; and a better resurrection [11:35]. In Christ we have better promises [11:39-40]. In summary, everything is better in Jesus. This is a fundamental theme of the Epistle. It is a handbook on spiritual maturity.
The great complaint of all who have the care of souls is the lack of whole-heartedness, of steadfastness, of perseverance and progress in the Christian life. Many, of whom one cannot but hope that they are true Christians, come to a standstill, and do not advance beyond the rudiments of Christian life and practice. And many more do not even remain stationary, but turn back to a life of worldliness, of formality, of indifference. And the question is continually being asked, What is the want in our religion that, in so many cases, it gives no power to stand, to advance, to press on unto perfection? And what is the teaching that is needed to give that health and vigor to the Christin life that, through all adverse circumstances, it may be able to hold fast the beginning firm to the end.
The teaching of the Epistle is the divine answer to these questions. In every possible way it sets before us the truth that it is only the full and perfect knowledge of what Christ is and does for us that can bring us to a full and perfect Christian life. The knowledge of Christ Jesus that we need for conversion does not suffice for growth, for progress, for sanctification, for maturity. Just as there are two dispensations, the Old Testament and the New, and the saints of the Old, with all their faith and fear of God, could not obtain the more perfect life of the New, so with the two stages in the Christian life of which the Epistle speaks. Those who, through sloth, remain babes in Christ, and do not press on to maturity, are ever in danger of hardening their heart, of coming short and falling away. [Andrew Murray, The Holiest of All]
