Transcript

Sermon Transcript: The Supremacy of Jesus Christ

2/6/2022 Jeff Schwarzentraub 38 min read

Let's ask Him to speak directly to our hearts today. Will you pray with me? Father in heaven, we just give you glory, honor and praise. And as we start this new chapter at BRAVE Church in the Westminster campus, Lord, would you blow us away? Lord, would you see more and more people from Northwest Denver make their way here, claim Jesus Christ and confess Him as their personal Lord and savior and grow more people in the faith that you send out all over the world? Lord, we just trust you for all you're doing through BRAVE Church on both our campuses now, and we trust you to continue to do a mighty work in and through us. So for all who are gathered here today who desire to hear the Lord, who will believe what He says and will by faith put into practice what He shows you, will you agree with me very loudly this morning by saying the word amen? Amen.

When I was in nursery school, I remember my nursery school teacher asked me, "Jeff, what do you want to be when you grow up?" And I told her very candidly, "I want to be a professional football, basketball and baseball player." And I meant it. And I really thought at the age of four that was a strong possibility, because that's what I liked doing, and that's who I was, and I just assumed that that would just happen for me. As I grew in wisdom, knowledge and stature, I realized that was more of a dream than an actual goal. This last summer I had the privilege of being out in Canton, Ohio and got to see Peyton Manning do his induction for enshrinement into the Hall of Fame, which was super special. And to be there and watch him give his speech and watch a few former professional football players be inducted was really neat, because I've always watched that from a distance.

But after that event was over, I began to look online to say, "How many players have actually made the Hall of Fame?" Would you find it interesting to know that in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, even though of the National Football League is over 100 years old, only 346 guys have been enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame? If you're a baseball player, would you find it interesting to know only 340 baseball players have ever been enshrined into the Hall of Fame? If you're a basketball fan, would you happen to know there's just over 400 who have been enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame? And for you music fans out there, right? For you people that are saying, "I'm into rock and roll. I'm not into sports," only 338 bands or individuals have ever been enshrined in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

I mean, it's an elitist group. It's a short group. And every time someone goes into the Hall of Fame, regardless of position, we start seeing tweets and all these different things on social media, and it says this, "Capital G period, capital O period, capital A period, capital T period." We say the G.O.A.T. The greatest of all time. And then we argue about who it was. Who was the greatest quarterback? Who was the greatest center? Who was the greatest point guard? Who was the greatest third baseman? And we can have arguments about that. But I'm here to tell you on the authority of God's Word, when it comes to Jesus Christ, there is no argument, because He is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords and He is the greatest of all time. Amen?

Amen.

And every time we gather, we're here to give Him worship, because in His hall of fame there's no more inductions. There was one that got appointed. God's one and only Son, Jesus Christ. None of us are up for enshrinement, but Jesus Christ desires for all of us to be able to share in all of His riches in glory. But he's the greatest of all time. I almost entitled this sermon today or this entitled series on the book of Hebrews the G.O.A.T. But in Christian circles, goats aren't good things. Goats are those that are separated from Christ. So I just called this sermon series The Greatest, and I entitled this one today The Supremacy of Jesus Christ, because we want to talk about His greatness and who He is. And as I was getting ready, I was going to do all of chapter one, and I got through three verses and I said, "There's more than enough here for us to chew on."

That we need to understand when we come to church, or we gather as a crowd, or we're intimately studying this person and work of Jesus, we need to understand that there's no one that's ever lived that's like him, nor will there ever be anybody else. He's the greatest of all time. Today, we're starting a new series in the book of Hebrews, and I invite you to turn your Bible there. And as you're turning there, this is an incredible book. I've never had the privilege of preaching through this book. It reads more like a sermon than a letter. We don't know who the author is. We don't know exactly who the intended audience is. And there's all sorts of sermons out there about who the author is. Every single sermon I've heard on this usually takes a half an hour to an hour for them to describe who the author could be only to get to the end of the message and say this, "But I'm just speculating. We have no idea."

So I want to spare you little time today. Some people think that the Apostle Paul wrote this message. Others say, "There's no way. The grammar's not like the Apostle Paul. It was really the Apostle Paul talking to Luke and Luke actually wrote the book of Hebrews, because the Greek is such a high form of Greek and such a clear way of expressing it through language." Other people say, "No, it was Barnabas, the one who encouraged the Apostle Paul." Others say, "It was Apollos," and still others say, "It's different people." And here's what we know. We don't know. And if God wanted us to know, He would've told us. And it's one of those fun things we can do as theologians and we can check it out and we can argue with each other, but one day we're going to know who wrote it.

Here's what we do know. The Holy Spirit wrote this book. And this Holy Spirit is really writing to a group of Jewish converts, people who have been steeped in religious tradition who have now come to know Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and savior. And yet, here's what they've discovered. Walking out with Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and savior is much more difficult than it is to just have a form of religion. It's easier to go through the motions of religion than to actually serve the resurrected Christ. And what they were discovering was is by following Christ, they were wanting to turn back. And here's why, because at about the time that this book was written, Nero was the emperor of Rome, and what He was to Jews in the first century, Hitler was to Jews in the 20th century.

Nero was known to take Christians and dip them in wax and light them on fire to light the parties at his house. Nero was known to throw them in a ring and put wild animal skins on them and let Christians be eaten alive. To be a Christian at that time actually cost you something. It may have even you your life. And so many people who had turned to Christ were now wondering, "Is it really worth it? Do I want to stay with Christ or do I want to turn back?" Friends, I'm here to tell you today, it's difficult in this generation to walk with Christ too, isn't it? It's a lot easier just to have a form of religion. It's a lot easier to wear a WWJD bracelet and say, "What would Jesus do," rather than actually do what Jesus wants us to do. We have a lot of people in our culture that are telling Christians, "Just be quiet. Just shut up. Don't do what you say you're going to do. Just have a form of religion."

Yet the book of Hebrews is going to tell us there's more to it than that, because Jesus is the greatest. And you're going to see three different roles throughout this book as to who Jesus is. You're going to see prophet, priest and king. Three different roles. Now, in the Bible, a prophet is one who speaks the very oracles of God. A prophet is a man of God who is actually speaking exactly what God says. A priest is one who is ministering to God on behalf of the people. So if a prophet is one who speaks to people on behalf of God, a priest is one who speaks to God on behalf of people. And as a pastor, I do both. I'm growing in my ability to bring the Word of God as a prophet and say, "Thus saith the Lord." I'm growing in my ability to be a priest and pray for you and lead you into the worship of God.

And then there's king, and the king is a ruler. He's giving governance to, he's leading, he's guiding. And what we're going to see in this book is that while all of us have certain roles as an under shepherd or an under profit so to speak, or an under priest so to speak, or an under king so to speak. In other words, we're leading for Jesus, we're me ministering for Jesus, we're speaking for Jesus. None of us are the perfect example of that. What this book is going to point out is Jesus is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords and there is no other. That Jesus Christ is the perfect prophet who gives the Word exactly as He wants it to be. And he's the perfect priest who sacrificed on a cross for your sins and still continues to minister on behalf of you.

He lives to make intercession for you. And so here's the point of the book of Hebrews. Ready? How are you going to respond to this perfect king, this perfect priest and this perfect prophet? If Jesus is the greatest of all time, here's the question: how will you respond? And as we go through this book, there's going to be weeks that you're going through it like, "That's a really hard word. That's super challenging." There's going to be other weeks we go through this book and you're going to say, "That's the most loving passage I've ever seen." There's other times where you're going to go through this book and you say, "That is the most incredible power I've ever seen of anybody," because we're talking about as we go through this entire book that Jesus Christ is and always was and always will be the greatest of all time. Amen?

And so with that, are you ready to get into the Word of God? I encourage you to open your Bible up to Hebrews chapter one. We're going to take a look at the first three verses. Let me read them to you, and then we'll unpack them together. "God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days He has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the Word of His power. When He had made purifications of sin, He sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high."

It's really interesting for me, because every other New Testament letter starts out with the author identifying himself, and who he's writing to, and what the purpose is, and, "Hope y'all are doing well." Not this book. This book jumps right in, and here's what He talks about: God. He wants us to know who God is. He wants us to be clear who he's talking about. And He says, "God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways." When we read about portions, we're talking about many times or in many parts. So when we read through the Old Testament, we see different ways that God talked at different times that God talked. Sometimes God used dreams. Sometimes God used visions. Sometimes God used men that He raised up to speak the Word. And a prophet of God is one who will say exactly what God wants said, even when it's not popular.

Remember the prophet, Jeremiah? He was always complaining. I mean, the guy wept His entire life. He's known as the weeping prophet. And here's why. Because in his generation, every priest of the day was saying this, "Peace, peace. What a time of peace. God is so happy with you." And every time Jeremiah opened his mouth, here's what he said. "There's imminent judgment coming because God's sick and tired of your sin. And you need to repent, but since you're not, God's going to judge you." And he wasn't getting as much traction as the other priests. And he would talk to God and say, "God, what's my problem? I mean, how come I can't say what they say? They're saying different things. They're saying they had a vision and a dream." And here's what God tells Jeremiah. "They may have had a vision, but they didn't get the vision from me. They may have had a dream, but they didn't get the dream from me. I'm telling you, this is what my Word says."

And as time went on, it proved that Jeremiah was the one honest voice in his generation proclaiming the authority of God's Word without apology. That's what a prophet does. God raised up prophets throughout Israel's history. At times when they were close to God, He raised up prophets to tell them, "Good job." Most of the time, He raised up prophets to say, "Hey, return to me and I'll return to you. You've drifted. You've gone far away." The reason God raises up men of God to be prophets today is to tell His church, "Hey, listen to what the Word says." You say, "Well, where's a prophet going to get the Word of God today?" I'm here to tell you, right here in this book. Right here in this book. These 66 books that make up one Bible, that's where the Word of God is complete.

He said, "He spoke long ago to the fathers. From the beginning, He's been talking to His creation through prophets. Many different ways, many different portions. But in these last days, He's spoken to us in His Son." So what are the last days? We're in them. When Jesus Christ died on the cross and rose from the dead, the last days begun. We're in the last days. And most of the time, people think about last days as gloom and doom and, "When's judgment coming?" Friends, there is nothing more exciting than living in the last days, because when Jesus Christ comes, He is going to right every single wrong. And for those of you that are eagerly awaiting His return, there'll be no more glorious day than when Jesus Christ comes and steps foot on this earth. Amen?

Amen.

We're living in those days. And as we studied through the book of Revelation, we knew exactly when Jesus is coming. We spelled it out clearly. Soon. That's what the Bible tells us. So we're called to be ready for His return. And in these last days, how is He speaking? Through His Son. God the Father sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to this world so that He could proclaim a message that He couldn't get done through any other prophet, through any other priest, through any other king. He came so that He himself, the second person of the Trinity, Jesus Christ, God in flesh could communicate to us.

So what was His message? That's what the author of the book of Hebrews begins to tell us in these first three verses. That Jesus is the supremacy of everything. Jesus is supreme. I looked up some words in a thesaurus this week. In case you wonder what supreme means or what superior means, here's what it means. It means best, chief, cardinal, crowning, excellent, foremost, highest, incomparable, marvelous, matchless, paramount, sovereign, towering, transcendent, unequaled, unsurpassed, utmost. Those were just a few.

It means this. When it comes to who Jesus Christ is, He doesn't have a peer. There is no one better. There is no God created or imagined that's better. There's no spiritual entity that's better. There's no human being that's better that embodied in the God-man, Jesus Christ, is the greatest of all time. And what I want to do today is take a look at seven attributes that make Him great. Seven attributes that help us understand who He is. And we'll roll through these rather quickly, but I want you to understand as you're going back through this text this week, I want you to think about when you talk about Jesus, when you hear about Jesus Christ and people are like, "I don't know if I believe Him," or, "I think He was a good teacher. I think He was a good man," you'll have seven attributes in your arsenal to say, "Well, you just don't fully understand who He is. I mean, this is who He is and you need to understand His supremacy."

So we're going to talk about what makes Jesus Christ the greatest of all time. And the first is this: the supremacy of Jesus Christ centers on His kingly authority. His kingly authority. Notice what the text says. "In the last days He has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things." He appointed Him as heir of all things. Now, when I say heir, I'm not talking E-R-R-O-R like He made a mistake. I'm talking heir, H-E-I-R. He's inherited everything. Remember when Jesus Christ died on the cross, rose from the dead and commissioned His disciples, what He said? Before He said, "Go unto all the world and make disciples," here's what He said. "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me."

If you're French, moi. He was saying, "In the farthest parts of the universe, all the way down to where you live, I have authority over it all. Down to the smallest molecule, I have authority over it all. I'm the King of Kings. I am the Lord of Lords and there is no other. There's no one that compares." He has a kingly authority. Now, what makes the New Testament so incredible? Jesus Christ promises all of us who know Him that we're going to be co-heirs in all of the riches of His in glory. Now, you think about this. Jesus Christ owns everything, and He has authority over everything, and here's what He says to all of us as believers, "I want you to come share in my inheritance. I'm going to share it all with you. I'm the king, but I'm not holding anything back. I'm going to let you celebrate with me."

How awesome is that? It's His kingly authority. I mean, in Mark chapter 14, verse 62, it's really interesting because when Jesus was before the high priest Caiaphas, he was talking to Him, and Caiaphas kept questioning Him saying, "Are you really the Christ? Are you really the Christ?" And it says that Jesus remains silent. And the priest kept asking Him and said, "Are you the Christ, the blessed one?" And in Mark 14:62, Jesus said these two words. "I am." Remember those words back at the burning bush? It means I am and I always was and I always will be. And here's what He tells him. "I am. And you shall see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of power and coming with the clouds of heaven."

Here's what He's telling the high priest. "You think you're judging me. That's irony, because the next time that you see me, I will be coming to judge the entire universe with all power, including you." And at that point in time, the high priest tore his robe and the crucifixion scene began, because they didn't recognize His kingly authority. Jesus Christ humbled himself, became obedient to death, even death on the cross, but it didn't change the fact that He was and will always be the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. Amen?

Now, we stress out about things because we're human beings. We stress out about who our kids school teachers are. We stress out about who the school board is. We stress about who the mayor is, and who the governor is, and who the president is. I'm here to tell you, Jesus Christ has kingly authority. Regardless of who's in office, and it's important and we should get involved. There's never been a time when someone gets elected to a school board or a presidential office where Jesus has been biting His fingernails and saying, "I didn't see that coming. I'm really nervous now." Here's what He says. "Nothing's changed. I'm still in charge and I'm not sweating it. And as a matter of fact, I'm still the king and I'm still ruling." Isn't that good news today? I mean, we get stressed out about all these things that go on in our life, and Jesus wants us to know that He's got kingly authority.

That's why in Revelation chapter five, when we studied that book and people were asking, "Well, who's worthy to open the scroll? Who's worthy to take the title deed of this earth? Who's worthy to do this?" In revelation chapter five in verse seven, talking about Jesus it says, "And He came and took the book out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne." "Who's worthy to run the universe?" Jesus said, "I am. I got this. Everything that's about ready to take place on planet earth, I'm in charge of and I'm not sweating it. It's going to happen just the way I wanted it to happen." Isn't that awesome?

That's why Paul said, "When we proclaim Him, we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as bond servants for His sake, we're proclaiming Jesus Christ as Lord." He is the King of Kings. He is the Lord of Lords. It's not enough to say He is a good teacher. It it's not enough to say, "I believe He did some good things." It's not enough just to say, "Well, I know He died on the cross." You have to understand why. He died as king for your sins. He was buried as king. He rose as king. He's never, ever given away any of His authority. He's still the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. Amen? Isn't that good news this morning?

Yes.

That's who our God is. Not only does the supremacy of Jesus Christ center on His kingly authority, but the supremacy of Jesus Christ centers on His spoken creation. It centers on His spoken creation. It says that, "In the last days, He spoke to us in His Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world." How about that? I found it stressful in sixth grade to be in an art class where I had to create things. Where I had to paint, and I had to create structures, and I had to do what the teacher said, and I had to follow the diagram just so I had to something to turn in to appease the teacher and say, "I'm doing my best." I mean, some of my artwork did look like Picasso, so maybe it's better than I thought, but it was stressful. But here's what you can know about God. Here's what you can know about Jesus Christ. He's the creator of all things. Not only were all things created, He's the one who created them all. And everything He made, He said what? "It is good."

I mean, you think about it. Well, how did He do that? Well, the Bible says about 6,000 years ago, He took six days and here's how He created everything. He spoke and it was. Is that a powerful Word or what? That's who our God is. When Jesus Christ speaks, things happen. No word of His is wasted. Every time Jesus Christ talks, He has power that's coming out of His Word. He speaks. Psalm 139 says that each of you is, "Fearfully and wonderfully made. You say, "Well, how did I get here?" Maybe we could go through the G-rated version of conception, but there's way more to it than that. That you got formed in utero by the living God who put you together and fashioned you inside your mother's womb. And He said to you, "You are fearfully and wonderfully made." He created you. He's the one that put the world into creation. All things were created by Him and for him, whether thrones, dominions, rulers, or authorities. Things visible or invisible. Everything you see and everything you don't see, you can know that this King of Kings and Lord of Lords created it all.

Now, we marvel sometimes when a sanctuary is built, a church is built, a skyscraper is built, a new auditorium is built, a new building gets... People are like, "Wow, that's really good." Jesus created everything. And guess what? He didn't have any materials to work with. He created out of nothing. He just spoke and it was. We're talking about a powerful God here. We're talking about one that's unlike any other. There's no one else in the history of the world that's done anything like that. That's why the psalmists say, "The earth is the Lords and all that it contains, for He has founded it upon the seas and He established it upon the water." Psalm 24 versus one and two. He spoke. He still speaks. You say, "Well, how does He speak? I haven't heard Him."

He speaks right through His Word. Nothing that He speaks ever goes against this Word. Do I believe God still speaks visions? He can, yes. Can He still speak through dreams? He can, yes. Can He speak subjectively down in our hearts so we hear? I think He can, yes. But this Word is unchanging. This Word is complete. This is who our Lord and savior is. It's His spoken Word. Every time that the Word of God is opened up, God is speaking if you're willing to hear Him. Every time you read the Bible on your own, God's willing to speak if you listen to Him. Every time you're doing a Bible study in a group, if the Word of God is open, God is speaking. It's His spoken creation. God is still moving and doing mighty things because of His kingly authority and His spoken creation. Let me give you a third.

The supremacy of Jesus Christ centers on His radiant glory. On His radiant glory. Notice verse three. It says, "And He is the radiance of His glory." The radiance of His glory. It's interesting in the gospel of John, where He starts by telling us, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." And we drop down to John 1:14. It says, "And the Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us." Jesus Christ is the second person of the Trinity, has always existed. There's never a time He didn't exist. And He always will exist. There will never be a time He doesn't exist. And he's always been God and He always will. But about 2,000 years ago, this Word, this God who spoke creation into existence put on incarnate flesh, born of the virgin Mary, and came into the world.

And so now God is speaking through the message of His Son. So when we see Jesus, here's what we see. We see God. We see who He is. And notice what we read about this. Not only did the Word of God become flesh and make His dwelling among us, but notice the back half of the verse. "And we saw His glory, glory as the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth." To see Jesus is to see the radiated glory of God. Radiate is like to give light, to give glory. That's why it's no surprise in John 8:12 that Jesus Christ refers to himself as, "I am the light of the world." There is no darkness in him. Why? Because He's always radiating the glory of His father. He's always radiating His own glory. That's who He is. That's what He does.

And His glory is incredible. That's why sometimes we don't have a true picture of Him. That's why I love teaching through the book of Revelation. I just want to read you in Revelation chapter one, this passage that we studied last year. Because for most of us, we think of Jesus, meek and mild with maybe a sheep on His shoulder or hugging a young kid or something like that. But think about who this Jesus is. Yes, He humbled himself during His earthly ministry. But when He ascended into heaven in His full glory, He's coming back in His full glory. And get this picture from the book of Revelation in chapter one versus 12 through 17. He says this. John says, "Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me. And having turned, I saw seven golden lampstands."

Those golden lampstands were representative of the church. "And in the middle of the lampstands, I saw one like a Son of man." That's Jesus. "Clothed in a robe reaching to the feet and girded across His chest with a golden sash. His head and His hair were white like white wool, like snow, and His eyes were like a flame of fire. His feet were like burnished bronze when it has been made to glow in a furnace. And His voice was like the sound of many waters. In His right hand He held seven stars, and out of His mouth came as sharp, two-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in His strength." Now, can you imagine what it'd be like to see that Jesus? You want to know what John did when He saw that Jesus? I mean, we have all sorts of songs about what it's going to be like. And we don't know, because Jesus Christ is the only one that's died and come back from the dead, right?

So we don't know exactly what it's going to be like. So we write songs about it. Will I worship him? Will I fall? What will it be like in heaven? You want to know what the Apostle John did when He saw this? It says this, "When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man." When He saw the glory of Christ, it was like [voom 00:26:45]. I don't know what it's going to be like when we see the glory of God, when He presents us with exceedingly great joy before His father in heaven, but I get the picture that when John saw Him, He fell down like a dead man. When every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, it's not going to be because He makes us. It's because of His glory and the weight of His glory. We won't be able to stand.

I mean, we're probably down on the ground going, "Hallelujah. I don't even know what else to say, because you're incredible and you're the greatest of all time." But He wants us to recognize that now. His glory. There's no one else that shares His glory. And here's why that's important. Because for many of us, we grew up wanting to be glorified by others, wanting to be worshiped by others. Sometimes at the workplace, sometimes in sports, sometimes with our talents and ability. Can I just tell you this? There's no human being that was ever made to be worshiped other than Jesus Christ. And if you live a life where you think that you're the one worthy of worship, it doesn't work well. Exhibit A, Hollywood. Exhibit B, Las Vegas. Exhibit C, everyone else that you know that tries to live for the worship of other people. You weren't created to be worshiped. You were created to worship.

That's why worship is paramount to a believer growing in Christ. It's what we'll do for all eternity. There's something inside of us that desires to worship. And if we don't center our worship on the Lord, Jesus Christ, we'll find someone else or something else to worship and it won't be satisfying. So you can make commercials, or you can go on a vacation and you can tell people these were words from your little pictures and tweets that you have, "Oh, this is the life." It's not. It's just a fun vacation. Jesus Christ is the life. And apart from Jesus, there is no life. Amen?

And He wants you to know that He's worth giving glory to, because you're never more alive than when you understand that He has kingly authority. And He spoke the world into existence. He created everything through His Word, and He exhibits the radiant glory of God. And here's why that's so important. The Holy Spirit, spirit. God the Father, spirit. You won't see the Holy Spirit in heaven. You won't see the Father in heaven. You know who you'll see? The Son of God, Jesus Christ, manifesting and radiating the glory of God for all eternity. That's why we worship Jesus. That's why we worship Him as the second person of the Trinity. Father, Son and Holy Spirit make up the Godhead, but Jesus Christ is unlike anyone else. Fully God, fully man, worthy of all of our honor and praise because He and He alone is glorious. Amen?

Amen.

Let me give you a fourth attribute. You hanging with me?

Yeah.

Good stuff. Amen?

Amen.

The supremacy of Jesus Christ also centers on His perfect image. His perfect image. Look at what it says. It says, "He's the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature." Exact representation. It's the idea of taking a die or a cast and pounding something down so you get exact representation of what you're looking for. When you see Jesus Christ, you know exactly who God is. When you study Jesus Christ, you know exactly how God would respond. When you study Jesus Christ, you know exactly what God would say. That's why studying the person of Jesus is so incredible. How would God handle people that don't like him? How would God handle people that don't treat you right? How would God handle people that aren't churchgoers? How would God handle religious pride?

All of those things are seen in the person of Jesus as He emanates incredible love and then responds with perfect wisdom and perfect insight. He's the perfect image. He's the perfect image of the Father. Many of us here are worried about our image. Some of you who are younger teenagers, you worry about acne. You got to clean your face. You got to have the right ointments and oils. Some of us who are older, we got different kinds of ointments and oils we're trying to rub on to keep the wrinkles off. We're always worried about our image and how we're going to present, and no matter what you do to make yourself more presentable, it's never perfect. Jesus Christ every single time is perfect. And I'm not just talking about Him in the flesh and what He looked like. I'm talking about His character and who He is.

In Isaiah chapter 53, the great passage talking about how Jesus was bruised for our transgressions, and how He went to a cross and died on the cross for everything, it says in Isaiah chapter 52, the second half of verse two, it says this about him, "He had no stately, former majesty that we should look upon Him, nor appearance that we should be attracted to him. He was despised and forsaken of men." There was nothing that when Jesus came out like, "Man, those are really handsome eyes. Look at those chiseled shoulders. Man, what a six pack He had. Man, that guy's something." There was nothing about His physical appearance where people were saying, "Awesome. God." Nothing like that, right? But imminently inside of Him, the character represents the exact character of our Father and who our Father is. When Jesus was talking to His disciples on the night He was betrayed, and He said this in John 14:6, "I am the way the truth, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

Here's what Philip said. "Show us the Father. That'll be enough. We need to see your dad. We'll be good." Jesus says, "Philip, don't you know me after you've been with me this long? If you've seen me, you've seen my Father. Why are you saying, 'Show us the Father'? I and my Father are one." You see Jesus, you see the Father. You know exactly what He's like, because He's the exact representation of the Father. You can study Muhammad, you can study Confucius, you can study Buddha, you can study all that. They're not an exact representation of anybody. They're human beings who lived. If you study Jesus Christ, you see the God-man, and he's the exact representation of the Father that we love so much. Amen? That's who He is. In Colossians 2:9 it says, "In Him, the full deity of God dwells." He's the exact representation of God.

When you think about what does perfect wisdom look like, perfect knowledge look like, perfect truth, perfect grace, perfect kindness, perfect forgiveness? Every good quality is personified in the person of Jesus Christ. When we sing songs about His goodness is running after me. It's running after me from Psalm 23. Who's running after you? Jesus. There's nothing wrong with Him. People that reject Jesus just don't have a perfect picture of Jesus. If you knew who Jesus was, you wouldn't run from Him. You'd run toward Him. He's perfect in every way. He's perfectly represented about the God that you were designed to serve. And He loves you with an unconditional love. Isn't that great news? That's who our God is. He has the perfect image. The supremacy of Jesus Christ also centers on His powerful Word. On His powerful Word. Now we talked about His spoken creation, that He created everything, but let's talk about this powerful Word as well. It says, "And He upholds all things by the Word of His power."

The Word of His power is the powerful Word. Not only does God create everything, he sustains everything. Not only did God create the universe, he holds it all together. For those of you who love science, even if you study science, scientists are always trying to figure out what is that thing that we can't describe, that matter that we don't see that kind of just kind of holds it all together? We don't know what that is. You ready for the answer? It's Jesus Christ. Amen? And He's worthy of all your honor and praise. I mean, when we read through Colossians chapter one about what he's done, Colossians 1:15 talking about Jesus saying, "He, Jesus, is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, both in the heavens and on the earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things have been created through Him and for Him." He created all things. It's a spoken creation.

But notice the next verse. Colossians 1:17. "He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together." We don't even think about that. You ever wonder why your heart stays right here and doesn't float off into space? You ever wonder why your lungs continue to go in and out and breathe and don't just vaporize? You ever wonder why your blood runs through your veins and you never question it? Because Jesus Christ is holding it all the together. He's sustaining all things. He's not only powerful enough through His Word to create everything, He's powerful enough to hold it all together. If Jesus Christ ever said, "I'm just done being God," the world would vaporize. I mean, that's how powerful He is. And yet, we don't give Him the glory and praise that He deserves, because we don't even take time to think about the fact that He's holding all things together.

And then we stress out and are anxious about all the things that we think He's not doing. Friends, if He created everything with the Word of His mouth, and in His power, He holds all things together, what in the world are you stressed about? The Bible says, "Do not worry." Some of you worry all the time. Some of you are single here today and worried that you're not going to be married. And some of you are married and you're worried that you got married. And some of you are anxious that you don't have kids. And some of you are anxious that you have them. And some of you are anxious that you don't have a job. And some of you are anxious because you have to go to that job tomorrow. And we think like, "How is God going to help me with all these things?" I'm telling you, God isn't worried about it. He's not sweating. As a matter of fact, he's designed an individual curriculum for you so that you would know that He's more powerful than any circumstance you're in.

And not only is He able to take you through it, not only is He able to get you out of it, but He's using it to build your character so that you reflect Him in the same way that Jesus Christ is the exact representation of God. Do you know what God's design in your life is? It's to conform you to the image of Christ. The reason we have challenges, the reason we have troubles, the reason we have problems on this side of heaven is by design so that God can use those to grow you in His likeness. So don't worry. You say, "But Jeff, I have problems." You always will have problems on this side of heaven. I mean, I find that in my life, I'm 51 years old now, there's been times where the world has come together and I've had those moments where I have zero problems.

Health is good, finances are good, kids are great, my relationship with my wife is fantastic, everything in the church is fine and everybody on staff is happy. But after that 10 seconds passes, I take a deep breath again and then there's some other stuff that comes up, just like in your life. And I used to be bothered by that. I used to be concerned about that. And the older I get and the longer I walk with the Lord, I realize, "Lord, it's your powerful Word that's sustaining me." Psalm chapter 19 verses seven through 11 talk about His incredible powerful Word. John chapter five, Jesus is talking to the religious leaders of the day and say, "Hey, you diligently study the scriptures because you think that in them you have life, but these are the very scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life."

Jesus Christ is the embodiment of every Word you read on the page of scripture. From the beginning of creation until the end of culmination, all the way from Genesis through Revelation, it's about Jesus. It's about who He is. He's got the whole world in His hands. So you don't need to sweat or worry. He's got you in His hands too. And He loves you with an unconditional love, and He wants you to know that. Not only can He speak His Word to create, but through His powerful Word, He can sustain all things. That's why Jesus says in Luke 9:26, "For whoever is ashamed of me and my Words, I'll be ashamed of Him when I come." You don't need to be ashamed of the Words of Jesus. They're the Words of God.

Be excited for them. Be proud of them. Receive them by faith. Put them into practice when He shows you what they are. That's why I think the Word of God is so powerful. That's why I would say it to every preacher around the world. Take 2 Timothy 4:2 seriously and preach the Word. It's hard for me as a preacher to see how many churches there are today that don't open the Bible. Like, "What are you blabbering about?" If you're not preaching the Word of God, you have nothing that's sustaining you. You have nothing of power. You have nothing that can change people. But the Word of God can change anybody in a moment. Amen? That's why Jesus is different than any other leader who's ever lived, because He spoke everything into creation, and by His powerful Word He sustains everything.

Then I'll give you a sixth one. The supremacy of Jesus Christ centers on His sacrificial atonement. His sacrificial atonement. This may be paramount. This may be the foundation for every other one. Notice what He says here. It says, "When He had made purification for sins," when He had done that, it means it's complete. You say, "Well, why do you need to make purification for sin?" Because you're impure and I'm impure. The Bible says, "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." So what did Jesus Christ do? He came to die for the sins of the world. He came so that you who were impure could be pure. He came so that you who were a sinner could be set free from your sin. He came so that you who were steeped in inequity who couldn't get to God, He would come and get you. 1 John 4:10 says, "This is love: Not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son is a propitiation or an atoning sacrifice for our sin."

God the Father loved us so much that He sent Jesus Christ to be the savior of the world. John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world so much that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him when not perish but have eternal life." Friends, He is the life. He is exactly what you're looking for. He's exactly what every person is looking for. Every man, every woman, every boy, every girl regardless of geography, socioeconomic background, any place that you grew up, who your parents were, you are only going to be satisfied when you recognize that what you've been searching for all along is that God who loved you so much, who died on the cross for your sins and rose from the dead so that you could have life with God. Amen? Can we give God praise for that?

Which means this: the purification for sins is not just a mental awareness of it or knowing, "Yeah, I heard that in church growing up. I've kind of always believed that." That's not enough. It's when are you going to appropriate that by faith? When was the time that you personally in your life said, "I'm done living for myself and my glory. I'm done living for my ways. I'm done saying, 'I hope when I die my good outweighs my bad, and I'm ready right now to receive Jesus Christ as the Lord of my life'"? That's the question. When did that happen for you? Because none of us were born doing that. All of us were born with our own agenda. All of us were born with our own ideas. All of us were born about, "Yeah. I mean, if God can make me feel good, if God can do great things for me, maybe I'll accept him."

That's not salvation. Salvation is recognizing, "I can't get to God on my own, and I'm done trying and I want all of God in me. I want to confess Him as my personal Lord and savior." Acts 16 verse 31 says, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved." Not believe that Jesus died and rose. The devil believes Jesus died and rose. But to believe that Jesus Christ is Lord. He's your king. He's your prophet. He's your priest who acted on your behalf and shed His blood on a cross for all the sins of the world. As we talk about that as we go through the book of Hebrews, you're going to see it spelled out clearly that God loved you so much, that He was willing to splatter the blood of His own Son on a cross on the earth so that you wouldn't ever have to pay for your sin.

God paid it for you through His Son. And when He had made the purification for sins, 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, "God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God." God took all of the sin of the world and inequity of the world and put it on Jesus and punished sin thoroughly, so that anyone who through repentance and faith trusted Him could have life with God. 1 Peter 3:18 says, "For Christ died once for all, the righteous, for the unrighteous to bring you to God." Priests had to stand every day and bring sacrifices every single day. Jesus, one time and for all, as the great high priest laid down His life so that sacrifices will be done away with. By believing on the sacrifice of Jesus, you can be thoroughly cleansed from your sin.

So here's my question: when did Jesus become the Lord of your life? There's no other one who claimed to be God that can take your sins away. Only Jesus. You say, "Pastor Jeff, you're telling me Jesus and Jesus only can get me into heaven?" 100% yes. "You mean I have to believe by faith that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.? Yes. Peter said in Acts chapter two in the first sermon, "This one you crucified is now both Lord and Christ." Is He the Lord of your life? He's the Lord of the universe, but that doesn't mean that everybody that just says, "Okay, I guess he's Lord," is saved. When did you by faith place your faith in Jesus? He's Supreme. He's unlike any other.

Now as we walked through these, I mean, I'm amazed. That's why we only did these first three verses. But think about the supremacy of Jesus Christ. It centers on His kingly authority, His spoken creation, His radiant glory, His perfect image, His powerful Word, His sacrificial atonement. And this is this last one. His majestic greatness. His majestic greatness. There's no one like Him. It says, "When He had made purifications of sin, He sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high." God the Father reserved a place for Him right at His powerful right hand. And what did He do? He sat down. Why'd He sit down? Because He completed His work. He did everything the Father asked Him to do. He lived perfectly in every way. Jesus never had a day where He wanted to a do-over.

I find that almost on every day, even the days I wake up and present myself to the Lord and say, "Lord, I'm yours today. Use me any way you want. Let me be a vessel of love for you," that even on days like that, which is hopefully every day, I still find several things in my life I wish I could have a do-over for. Anybody else have that? I mean, even on your best day like, "I wish I had that conversation over. I wish I've handled that a little different. I wish I would've..." Jesus never had a day where He was asking His dad for a do-over. Every day He handled every situation perfectly every single time. Isn't that awesome?

Yeah.

And when He had finished and had died on the cross and committed himself into His Father's hands and He had rose from the dead and He ascended into heaven, God the Father said, "Now, you're done. Sit here." But you know something about His exultation? Jesus Christ never changed who He was just because He went to heaven. All these same things are still true about Him. Now, if we ever see people that have been inducted into the Hall of Fame, maybe we'll see a rock and roll band. They'll play a special going away tour again for the 70th time or something like.

Or maybe we'll see a sports figure at a game wave at people at halftime. But they completed their work and they're done. When Jesus Christ competed His work, he's still doing everything He always did. He's never changed. I mean, and what we're going to read in this book is everything that He's still doing for us. He's still being exalted. That's why we bring Him worship. He's still being honored. That's why we bring Him praise. He still has authority. That's why we submit to Him. He still has power. That's why we give Him our allegiance. And He's still living to make intercession for us. That's why we live by faith.

I mean, Jesus Christ is still doing everything He does. And even though He sat down, it didn't mean His work was done. It was metaphorical that He completed His work, because remember in Acts chapter seven when Stephen was being stoned and He looked up? And what happened? Jesus stood up from being seated to welcome Stephen home. And Stephen says, "I see the Lord." Why? Because Jesus Christ will welcome home all who have believed in Him by faith. That's what He longs to do. I mean, Jesus still has a ministry. He's praying for each and every one of you. He still loves you. He hasn't changed that. He's still the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. He hasn't changed that. He's still speaking through His Word today. He hasn't changed that. I mean, even with His feet up, he's accomplishing more than anyone, anywhere, at any time on the planet.

I mean, He's worthy of all of our glory, honor and praise. That's who He is. And friends, I got good news for you. This one that we're talking about that's still doing His work, He's coming back soon. Jesus Christ is coming back soon. So who you are and what you're doing needs to respond to Him accordingly, because for many of us, we think we have just incredible amounts of time until He gets back. We don't know. We don't know. But what difference does it make? Because for many of you, if there was a musician or a professional athlete or somebody that you admired or looked up to you that contacted you on the phone today and said, "Hey, I want to get together with you," you'd be like, "Can you believe who called me? Can you believe they want to spend time with me?"

I've been telling you for the last 50 minutes who's greater than anyone who's ever lived who says, "I want a relationship with you." How are you going to respond? What are you going to do? Because today is the day of salvation for some of you, regardless of where you are. And for others, it's a reminder of the greatness of our Lord and God, Jesus Christ. Amen? Amen. Let's give God some praise today. I want to close us here by praying. When we're done, we're going to show a baptism video. And then an Englewood, Pastor Justin will come up. Here, Pastor Justin will come up. We got a couple testimonies that we're going to share. And then we're going to celebrate that God is still alive doing a work. Amen? That He's still alive in people's hearts. But let me pray for all of you. Father in heaven, we just give you praise, glory and honor. Thank you for us getting the privilege of seeing how you see your Son. And thank you Lord, for the privilege of proclaiming His greatness, that Jesus Christ is indeed the greatest of all time.

If you're here today and He's not the Lord of your life, here's how you can pray. Lord Jesus, I know that I'm a sinner, but I believe you died for all my sin and that you rose from the dead. And right now, I confess you as my personal Lord and savior. Come into my life. Lord, I give you all my known sin, and Lord, I want to take all of your righteousness in life. Lord, for everyone who prayed that, I pray you would fill them afresh with your Holy Spirit right now and do a work. And Lord, for those of us who already know you, Lord, give us a picture all week long about how great and majestic you are. And Lord, for all you're doing, we give you glory, honor and praise in the mighty and matchless name of Jesus. and all God's people said, Amen. Amen.