Lord’s Day, Vol. 1 No. 3

Acknowledging Jesus Christ –
The Source and Sustainer of all Life (Hebrews 1:1-3)

Introduction

Jesus Christ entered human history in the fullness of time, born of a virgin – the seed of a woman (Gen. 3:15). The seed of man is tainted with the curse of sin. The curse of sin, the Bible tells us, is death. Death is the greatest impasse for mankind. Man is born to die. None can escape. Ten out of ten die. But for the Christian, we are born-again to live forever more. When a Christian dies, the Bible says, he is asleep. One day, when Christ returns, he will awake again! Every Lord’s Day, when we come for worship, Christians rekindle the hope of eternal life in our hearts!

Only one Man born in the great ages of man past and future is without sin, conceived of the Holy Spirit, in the womb of the virgin named Mary (Matt. 1:20). There are 3 pertinent truths concerning our Lord Jesus Christ we can gleaned from Hebrews 1:1-3:

1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, 2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; 3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high. (Hebrews 1:1-3)

(1) Jesus is Creator

– “… by whom also he made the worlds” (v2b)

Jesus Christ is God. He is fully man and yet fully God. He was right there when this universe was created. In fact, it was by Him that this universe was created.

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made…14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. (John 1:1-3, 14)

When God created the universe, the earth was the focus. When God created the earth, man was the focus. He was created last of all, after God created the plants, land, celestial bodies, sea creatures, birds and animals. Marvel at the wisdom of God in creation. God made a most habitable place before He made man. Man was special because only man, out of all of God’s creation, is created in the image of God.

The Bible tells us:1:26a And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them…And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. (Genesis 1:26a, 27, 2:7)

God addressed Himself as “us” in Genesis 1:26a. One God in Three Persons, God the Father, God the Son – Jesus Christ and God the Holy Spirit. God the Father is Spirit. God the Holy Spirit is also Spirit. We cannot see the Father or the Holy Spirit. But one day, we can see Jesus Christ because the Bible tells us He is “the express image of his person” or the exact image or representation of God.

(2) Jesus is Sustainer of all Life

– “… and upholding all things by the word of his power…” (v3b)

Jesus Christ upholds all things by the word of His power. He is the Sustainer of all life, including yours and mine. Jesus demonstrated it while He was on earth. In Luke 5:5, Jesus bade Simon Peter to go back to sea again after Peter, an experienced fisherman, failed to catch any fish having spent all night out at sea – Luke 5:5 “And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net.” And look at what happened – Luke 5:6 “And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake.”

The word of Jesus Christ has power. He commanded the fishes to swim into the net at that moment whereas for the whole night, He commanded fishes not to swim into the net of Peter. Realize that your livelihood comes from Jesus Christ. Even your very life comes from Him. When we acknowledge this truth, we will come to Jesus Christ to seek His blessing and help.

(3) Jesus is Saviour

– “when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.” (v3c)

Jesus’s mission on earth was to live a sinless life and to die as a sacrifice, on the cross, to take away the curse of sin and death. Jesus was fully God to represent God and He was fully man to represent man. The mediator between God and man, to reconcile sinful man to a holy God – “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” (1 Timothy 2:5).

Jesus demonstrated that He is God because He had power over to heal the sick, to cleanse the leper, to give sight to the blind, to let the deaf hear again, to let the lame walk. He had power to calm the storm. He had power over nature and He had power over evil spirits.

Jesus shed His blood on the cross to wash away our sins. Jesus died and three days later rose from the dead, conquering death for us. The resurrection is victory over death. When Christ arose from the dead, death has lost its sting. As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive (1 Cor. 15:22)! Jesus says, “Because I live, ye shall live also.” (John 14:19) As the old saying teaches, “He came to pay a debt He didn’t owe because we owed a debt we couldn’t pay.” (Anonymous)

Conclusion

If you are not a child of God, you may ask, “How can I be saved?” The Bible tells you, “9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”(Romans 10:9-10) Now is the accepted time, today is the day of salvation.

If you are a child of God, may your faith in Jesus Christ be strengthened to know that He is indeed Creator, Sustainer and Saviour! Amen.

Yours lovingly
Pr Lek Aik Wee