This transcript was generated by whisper.ai.

Welcome to day two of week one of our look at the book of Hebrews. We're going
to get into the first couple of verses today and we're going to see in this that
the book of Hebrews starts very strong. It doesn't start with salutations or
greetings, it just goes straight to the truth.

And as it goes straight to the truth, what we're going to be looking at together
is some of the best Greek writing in the New Testament. It is beautifully, it is
powerfully written. If you think about English literature and English novels and
some of the best writing, the best openings that you see in some of these novels
like Dickens, it was the best of times, it was the worst of times, or Moby Dick,
call me Ishmael, some of these famous lines that we have in our minds, this
opening to the book of Hebrews is as powerful, more powerful than that, because
it has affected not just one type of literature, not just a few generations, but
2,000 years of followers of Christ.

So what does it say? What does the scripture have to say to us? Hebrews chapter
one verses one and two, "In the past, God spoke to our forefathers through the
prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days, he has
spoken to us by his son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom
he made the universe.

" These are verses, these first two verses that talk to us about how God speaks
to us and they talk to us from the very beginning of the book of Hebrews about
the truth about Jesus. How does God speak to us? When you think about how God
speaks to us, three important words about how God communicates his truth into
our lives are the words revelation, inspiration, and illumination.

Revelation is how God speaks, inspiration is how God's words get written down
for us to read. It requires people to write them down. And illumination is how
we hear what God speaks through the power of the Holy Spirit.

The focus of these verses, especially verse one, is on revelation. How does God
speak? The only way that we know God speaks is because he chooses to reveal
himself.

We don't accidentally stumble across God speaking to us. We don't figure it out
for ourselves. The only way we know is he reveals himself.

And in these few verses, we get the whole of history. In the past, and now in
these last days, revelation, how does God speak? In the past, he spoke through
the prophets.

So as you think about this through the Old Testament, Moses wrote down the first
five books of the Old Testament, the Pentateuch, the record of what God had
done. God spoke through the prophet Moses. David and Solomon, the kings heard
from God and they wrote it down in songs and in words of wisdom.

And so we have the book of Psalms, we have the book of Proverbs. And Isaiah and
Jeremiah, they heard from God, the prophets, and then they told the people. And
it was written down for us to read.

They spoke to us, I love this phrase, at many times and in various ways. Just
think of the ways in the Old Testament that God revealed himself. Through a
creation, through a flood, through a voice to Abraham in the wilderness, through
a burning bush to Moses, through a powerful angel that appeared to Joshua,
through a Passover, through a Red Sea.

God revealed himself through a pillar of fire and of cloud. He revealed himself
through commandments chiseled into rock, through the songs of a king, through
the wisdom poems of the son of that king, through the obedience of Isaiah and
Jeremiah and Ezekiel, through the warnings of Obadiah and Micah and Hosea,
through a fish that swallowed a man, and through a man that survived a lion's
den. Through this and so much more, God revealed himself in the Old Testament.

He showed us who he is. But in these first two verses of the book of Hebrews,
the writer of Hebrews says, you add all that up and it pales in comparison to
two words. God revealed himself in all these ways in the past, but now how has
he revealed himself?

Two words, his son. I can say that in one word, Jesus. He's revealed himself in
Jesus.

We're going to hear a lot about Jesus as the greater revelation of God
throughout this book. And it starts right here in verse two, the truth about
Jesus. These first couple of verses, we get how God speaks to us and we get the
truth about Jesus.

And when he talks about this truth about Jesus, he starts so strong. He starts
with something that reaches all the way forward into eternity and all the way
back to creation. Through whom he made the universe and whom he appointed heir
of all things.

Going all the way back to creation, through whom he made the universe. Who is
Jesus? He's the creator.

Reach back to the beginning. He's the creator, not of God, but of creation.
Jesus is there at the center because he is the creator.

As you read through the scripture, if you want to do an extensive study of this
sometime, you'll find that all three persons of the Godhead, Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit, are involved in creation, are said to be creator. The Spirit in
Genesis 1 and 2, the Father here in Hebrews 1 and 2, we're told, the Son here
and also in Colossians 1, 15 to 16, you can see this throughout the scripture.
God is the creator.

And we're told here that Jesus is at the center of that moment of creation as
God. He is the creator of all. He is also the heir of all.

He is the one who is going to inherit everything. He's appointed heir. This is
really a summing up of what we talked about earlier when we looked at how God
revealed himself through the whole Old Testament.

Through the entire Old Testament, the question was, who would be the heir of
God's promise? Who would be the one who would be the heir of the family of the
blessing of God? From Abraham, that blessing passed to Isaac.

From Isaac, it passed to Jacob, and it passed all the way down to Jesus. But it
doesn't have to pass on from Jesus because Jesus was the promise. He was what
everything was heading towards.

When you reach forward all the way to the end, this promise that had come to
Jesus from all the way from the beginning from the Old Testament, this promise
is that Jesus will be there still at the center. He is the heir of all things.
It is all created by him, but it is also all created for him.

Think about this personally for just a minute because when the Bible talks about
Jesus being the heir of all things, the inheritor of all things, it puts it in
terms that relate to you and I. The Bible says that we're brothers and sisters
of Jesus Christ, and we will also inherit with him. Because Jesus will inherit
everything, that means he can make good on all of God's promises in your life.

The one who inherits everything, everything, he's the one who has all the
resources. And the Bible has told us very clearly how he intends to use those
resources. I don't know if you've ever thought of getting a great inheritance or
maybe you're a person who has gotten a great inheritance.

I don't know how you decided to use those resources that God put into your hand,
whether you recognized it was God or not. But we do know how Jesus is going to
use the resources. As God, he intends to use all those resources to bless those
who have trusted in his promises.

That's God's intention. He's not only the heir of all, he is the one who is
going to bless all for all eternity. When you think about this truth that Jesus
was there at creation at the center, he will be there in all eternity as the
heir of everything.

It's all by him, it's all for him. There's two truths that grow out of what
we've looked at today. When you also look at this truth of revelation and who he
is, beginning with that truth, when you read the Bible, look for Jesus.

Whatever book you're reading in the Bible, look for Jesus because it's all
pointing to Jesus. When you read a scripture, it's not always discussing Jesus,
but in one sense it's always about him because it's always heading towards him.
Jesus is at the center of God's word, at the center of God's revelation.

God reveals himself in his Son. And everything we're going to find out in the
Old Testament that God put into place was actually pointing to his Son, pointing
to how he was going to reveal himself in his Son someday. So when you read the
scriptures, look for Jesus.

That's the most refreshing way to read the scriptures. And then when you look at
your life, remember to put Jesus at the center. Jesus was there at the center at
the beginning.

He will be there at the center for all of eternity. So that means that it is his
rightful place in my life today. Now as obvious as that might seem, I don't
always do it.

I put myself, my plans, my desires, my feelings at the center of my life. Let me
just say to you, it can be very challenging because we all get caught up in
ourselves. It can be challenging to let go of yourself.

It can be very challenging, but it can also be incredibly freeing to say, "I am
not the center of the universe. Jesus is at the center of the universe. " There
is a freedom that comes in that that's almost beyond explanation.

So in that sense of the freedom that God wants to give us, let's pray for that
today. Would you pray with me? And you might say those simple words to God,
"God, Father, I just admit it right now, what's so abundantly clear.

I am not at the center of the universe, so help me to stop thinking like I am.
And I admit what is also abundantly clear. Jesus is at the center of the
universe, so help me to start acting like he is.

Pray this in your name, Jesus. Amen. Tomorrow, we're going to see some more
truth about who Jesus really is and the difference that makes in your life every
day.

Amen.