Understanding Worship

Okay, just for some clarification and reaffirmation.

I am a firm believer in growth. Part and parcel to growth of ANY kind is change. Change typically presents us with new challenges and difficulties.

In the name of our quest to worship God in “Spirit and in truth” it is my purpose and intent as pastor to lead whomever graces this place into a dynamic, discipled relationship with the King. I am perfectly aware of HOW inviting we could make our gatherings. Do you know how well a live band rocking out cool Jesus tunes would go over in here? But I am certain this approach (while immediately inviting) will NOT increase your faith or strength in being His disciples.

The Nature of Worship

So today, at this first gathering in our own location (so to speak) I want to address something that I believe is often misunderstood – worship – then we will get into our verse by verseTGNN’s Bible teaching series—book-by-book, through the lens of fulfillment and spiritual liberty. study of John (or Hebrews). When we worship anything, we recognize it as someone or something that is worthy of honor, allegiance and adoration. It is not about us (at all). It is not about what we like or what we resonate too – worship is not about us – it is all about the thing or being that is being honored. Jesus said that the Father seeks to be worshipped in Spirit and in truth.

We can no more control or invoke the Holy Spirit than we can the wind. The Holy Spirit operates like the wind. We cannot capture Him and make Him present or bring Him forward with amplification or better presentations. That is emotionalism guising itself as spirit, as worship, as God present. No, the Holy Spirit moves according to the mind and will of God. So we invite and wait upon Him to move. The Spirit. Not the emotions or things that work upon them.

So that is the Spirit. Then we have the truth.

Worship in Spirit and Truth

In John 17:17 when Jesus prayed to the Father and He said, speaking about His disciples: “Sanctify them through thy truth, thy word . . . is truth.”

With the Father’s Word being truth – I believe hearing, singing, memorizing and reflecting on it is one of the best ways to worship God in Spirit AND in truth.

(beat)

We are calling this place “the factory” for two reasons. First and foremost it is dedicated to producing disciples of Christ. This does not happen through human attempts or systems but by His Spirit AND the hearing and learning His word. Therefore our focus will always be on His Word.

The formula is biblically simple: By hearing the word, faith is produced (Romans 10). When faith is present, hope abides. And when faith and hope are at work, the potential for a disciple to love as God wants us to love grows commensurately.

We realize how people love music that appeals to the heart and emotions in church. But we are convinced that in and through reading and hearing His word people will grow more legitimately as believers.

Alright, back to verse three, which is really a continuation of verses one and two and speaking of Jesus, says

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;

Proclamations About Our Lord and King

So, in verses 1-2 the writer points out that God has now, in these last days, spoken unto us by His Son, and here in verse three he describes Him with the intention to delineate elements of His very person, His power, His mission, and where He is to this very day.

Let repeat these intentions and cite the parts of verse three that apply:

The writer points out here that God has now, in these last days, spoken unto us by His Son (verse 1-2) and here in verse three he describes Him with the apparent intention to detail some of the essential elements of His make-up (“Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person,”, His power (“and upholding all things by the word of his power”) His mission (“when he had by himself purged our sins” and then where He is to this very day (He “sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high).

Let’s talk about each of these proclamations about our Lord and King.

First, the essential elements of His character or,

Understanding the Nature of Jesus

As the writer says of Him, "Who being the brightness of (God’s) glory, and the express image of (God’s) person," we note that when Jesus was speaking to the Samaritan woman at the well that he said to her:

John 4:24 “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.”

It is essential to a devoted Christian walk to understand – “to know” as much as we can about whom it is we worship. We want to worship Him in Spirit and in Truth. Why?

Essential Knowledge

Jesus said in John 17:3:

John 17:3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

There is something vital, necessary, to knowing God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent when it comes to salvation. The theme is all through scripture. We know Him and He knows us. We are in Him (which implies knowing a person, doesn’t it?) and He is us?

There are times in scripture where Jesus will say to those who have certainly used His name and even done many wonderful works in His name but He will say to them, Depart from me, “I don’t even know who you are.” So knowing God, especially His Son our mediator whom He sent into the world (for to know Him is to know the Father) is essential to possessing life eternal.

Some know Jesus as a mythical fable created by man to help people to get through troubling times. Some know Him as a historical figure, a mystical leader. Some know Him as one of many great prophets. But Jesus said in John 8:24 to the Jews who did not see Him for who He really was:

“for if ye believe not that ‘I am’ ye shall die in your sins.”

The Image of God

Here in the third verse of chapter one of Hebrews (and through much of the rest of the book) the writer does his best to prove to the reader who Jesus was and is, that they might know Him, and not turn to beggarly elements founded in flesh to try and reach God but instead know Him . . . love Him . . . and follow Him. So the correct view he first points out is He is our prophet. Now he points out the exalted rank He has as the Son of God.

“Who being the brightness of (God’s) glory, and the express image of (God’s) person.” Most of the ancient commentators believe that the writer is speaking of His Divine dignity before he became incarnate. We know John does this in the first line of his Gospel and his epistles, beginning each with, “In the beginning . . .” and then writing of Jesus or the Word.

The Nature of Christ

Because of the verbiage used I think the writer is speaking of Christ incarnate. Remember, there are passages in scripture that speak to Him as incarnate Man and passages that speak to Him being God before the world was – knowing which passages are speaking of what goes a long way in knowing Him. This is the problem many people of faiths that dismiss His deity to some extent or another have – they read passages that are speaking to His humanity and then extrapolate them out to mean He was not God, or that He was less than God (as Man he certainly was, but as God He was equal).

So, I’m going to teach (I may be wrong – let the Holy Spirit guide and God forgive) that the writer of Hebrew was speaking of God incarnate, Jesus, and says:

“Who being the brightness of (God’s) glory, and the express image of (God’s) person,”

In other words, in His composition of divine characteristics is the “brightness of God’s glory and the express image of God’s person.” Of course (and again, especially in this state) there are those who read, “and the express image of God’s person” and interpret that to mean God too is in a body of flesh, like Christ took upon Himself. If we are going to take this literally, we have to assume then that God the Father is in a body of flesh and bone and Jesus incarnate is an exact replica of His Father on high (the EXPRESS image of God’s person).

The problem with this assumption is multitudinous. First of all, the Greek word (it’s a single word) for the line “the express image” is “charkter” – the character of His person. This is the first and last time this word is found in scripture.

The Express Image of God

In the best sense, the word relates to a stamp of characteristics and not of physical form. We realize this when we look at someone and say, “She’s a real character,” talking about their mannerisms rather than their physical make-up. In the sense of mannerisms, ideals, “character”istics Jesus was and is in the express image of the Father. God is love, Jesus is love in physical form, etc., etc.

Additionally (and we could go on for a long long time proving that the writer was not speaking of Jesus physicality), Jesus Himself said: “God is Spirit.” Paul says in Colossians 1:15 that Jesus is the image of the “invisible God” and throughout scripture this invisible God is likened unto a consuming fire, not a man in a physical form. Contextually, the writer is saying that in past times God . . . (did this and that) but in these last days speaks to us by His (incarnate) Son who (when incarnate) retained (within Him) the brightness of God’s glory and the express character of His divine person.

Christ as the Ultimate Revelation

Remember, the writer is trying to build a case that Christ Jesus is the better alternative to all they have had. And so he wants to firmly establish that Christ is the ultimate conglomeration of all they as Jews had when they related with God in the past. And so he appeals to God’s glory being made incarnate. As devout and now converted Jews they would certainly understand God’s glory. For with it comes not only dazzling light and honor which is beyond this world but it invokes excellence and perfection that only belongs to God.

This word Doxa – the Hebrews knew, and related it to the doxa in heaven. In fact, the splendor and brightness applied to God is synonymously used to describe the glory emanating from the sun and stars (as in 1st Corinthians 15:40 & 41), to the light which Paul saw on the way to Damascus (Acts 22:11), to the shining of Moses' face (2nd Corinthians 3:7), and to the celestial light which surrounds the angels (Revelations 18:1) and to the dazzling splendor or majesty in which God is enthroned (2nd Thessalonians 1:9 and 2nd Peter 1:17 and Revelation 15:8 and 21:11&23).

The Reflected Splendor

And where we read the “brightness” of His (God’s) glory the Greek word is “apaugasma” and this is the ONLY time this word is used in the New Testament. It’s an interesting word because it really means “reflected splendor” or better yet, the light which emanates from a luminous body. What I mean by this is the word relates to the rays or beams of the sun (which reveal its "brightness," and by which the sun is known and NOT the actual sun. We don’t see the sun itself. It is invisible to us. Too bright, too surrounded by what comes from it. But we know the sun in the sky by the rays or beams that constantly flow from it. So the writer likens Christ. From the bosom of the Father he flows like rays of light from an invisible sun we cannot see. In this way, He reveals the Father, the invisible God, who scripture says, “no man has seen at any time.”

Recall also Jesus words in Matthew 11:27: "No man knoweth the Son but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him." If take other scripture, where Jesus is called the Light of the world and the Word, we are able to see and know that as the Word He describes the invisible God, and as the Light He reveals Him. Anyone who has come to know the true and living God has had their mind illuminated by Christ for without this light they remain in the dark, ignorant, and unwilling to discern or comprehend the light when it shines in the dark. So there are some thoughts on this first description of Christ – His personage and from where it came.

Then, speaking of Jesus, he writes about His power, saying: “and upholding all things by the word of his power.” Another way to say this is “And He upholds all things by his powerful word or command.” The phrase "word of his power" is a Hebraism or Jewish idiom and means his “efficient command.” When you think about it, there isn’t a better description of the divinity of Christ the Son of God than this. What it means is He, Jesus, upholds or sustains all things. Do you realize what this means?

John says

Jesus, the Creator and Sustainer

That Jesus created all things…all things. And now the writer of Hebrews says that Jesus, by the Word of His power, or by His powerful command, commands and upholds ALL THINGS. Not just wine from water or many fish from a few. Not just calming the storms, not just walking on seas where He upheld Himself over the elements. He upholds the rocks, mountains, seas, animals, men, the orbit of the earth, the cycles of the galaxy, and the ever-expanding universe. How can anyone ever do this who is not God? And He does this by his word – by the command of His mouth. All things were made by Him, this incarnate God, and all things are upheld by His power.

The Sacrifice and Purification

And then the writer describes His sacrifice, saying “And when he had by himself purged our sins.” I’ve always been intrigued by those words, “and when he had BY HIMSELF purged our sins.” We could come up with all kinds of conjecture about the meaning of this – for instance, we know that on the cross, He cried (as Man) My God, My God why have you forsaken me…” but I don’t think that is what this is talking about specifically.

The reason is context. Remember the writer is writing to Hebrews – Hebrews who were tempted to return to the Law and rites. So I think the writer is pointing out that “when he had by himself purged our sins,” he was saying that He did this marvelous act of love not by the blood of bulls and lambs, but by his own blood, by His own sacrifice for a world He not only created as God but a world He upheld by the power of His word. The word purged here is better said as expiated, which means "having made purification for our sins." By what? His blood. Whose blood? God’s blood. Pulsing through a perfect man, a man who because of love for the invisible Father on high and for all of us visible sinners below He who upholds all things held Himself to a cross to save any and all who would receive it.

1st John 1:7 tells us in part, saying: "The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sinMissing the mark of faith and love—no punishment, just lost growth or peace.." Do you receive it? Do you believe it? That the great I Am came to earth, leaving the glory He had with the Father before the earth was, do you believe He cleansed the world He created and upholds by His power by shedding His own blood?

The High Priest on High

To the Hebrew reading this letter, the writer seems to be saying that because God did all of this there is no need for any more animals, any more temples, any more priesthoods, just like there is not a need (anymore) for prophets like unto Moses. And then, to bring it all back around full circle, he explains where Jesus is today, saying that He “sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high."

We are really going to get into this fact because the writer goes into proving (in chapter seven) how Jesus has ascended to heaven and has become our high priest on high, similar to the singular high priest of old, but…better. So the ambition, in these first three verses was not only to show He is God, nor that He paid the price of sin by the shedding of His own blood, but that He continues on, sitting on high on the right hand of Majesty (which we will soon learn is in part, to serve as our high priest – which to the Hebrew reader reaffirms there is no need any longer for ANY other).

The Right Hand of Majesty

Now a little about this phrase, “and sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.” Remember we said that there are scriptures that speak of Jesus deity and there are passages that speak to His divinity? Well, there are also passages that speak to both. And this line is one of them. First of all, who ascended and sat down on the right hand of Majesty on high? Jesus the man. That is how He is sitting. He has a resurrected body. And the notion of Him sitting refers to the fact that His work, the work, is done. See, the singular high priest working in the temple never sat, because the work and obligations, and demands were never done. So when the writer…

Jesus on the Right Hand of God's Majesty

(who later points out that Jesus is our ONLY high priest who completed all the work once and for all) states that He sits on the right hand of Majesty He is speaking of Jesus the Man. But sitting on the right hand of Majesty is a position or place that is also reserved ONLY for God – so the passage is speaking to both essentials of Jesus Christ’s make-up – He is 100% man and 100% God.

The writer is not alone in this description that Jesus went and sat on the right hand of God. There are eight New Testament references of this phrase. Now listen, as a means to support the pre-incarnate unity Jesus had with the Father in spirit-fire, it is noteworthy that NOWHERE in the Old Testament is this line used. If, before coming to this world, Jesus was a separate and distinct personage from the Father and if the Father is in a literal Body of flesh and bone then there certainly would have been a right hand of God to stand or sit by then. But the phrase is never used!

New Testament References

In the New Testament it is used eight times. And in some of these usages we learn of what our Lord, and King, and Savior is doing there on the right hand of Majesty. I want to point out that the phrase right hand of God is idiomatic (or a Hebraism) that describes as much a place of power and position as it does a physical locality. In fact sometimes, the meaning probably has nothing to do with physical location.

Being on “the right hand” (or “the right hand man” of someone) means the person or being is in a position of power, one to act on behalf of the one they are on “the right hand of.” If I said I have a nephew who is the right hand man of the biggest mobster in New Jersey, you would get an idea of his person, his influence, and the things to which he is privy. To be on the right hand of God is a Hebraism to say Jesus, having overcome sin and deathSeparation from God—now overcome. Physical death remains, but it no longer separates us from life with God. as man, has now, in a body of flesh and bone, assumed the glory He had with the Father before the world was – a glory no man has ever had.

Mark 16:19, concurring with Hebrews 1:3, says the same essential thing and does not reveal anything new. And Luke adds in Act 2:33 that He is “by the right hand of God exalted,” Colossians 3:1 and Hebrews 10:12 use the same idiom, and state he is sitting on the right hand of God today. But we also know He is there making intercession for us.

Jesus as the Mediator

Romans 8:34 says

“Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.”

We know that one of the main titles or names for Satan is the “accuser of the brethren.” (That’s in Revelation 12:10) And we know from the account in Job that Satan, a fallen angel who comes in all darkness to keep and lead all from God, that he has access to the throne of God where it seems he makes visits to accuse believers.

I cannot help but believe that what Satan uses as His basis for accusation against us is God’s standard of perfection, embodied in the Law and from which all of men and women – believers and not – miss the mark, or sin. And so Satan comes and accuses believers of failing to meet God’s expectations.

“Just look at the thoughts of Brother Jones down there God! He doesn’t love you with all of his heart and mind!”

“Just listen to the mean words falling from the mouth of Sister (blank). With that same mouth she claims to love you, God! Ha.”

Paul says that sitting on the right hand of God is our King, who, having taken on flesh and blood UNDERSTANDS the human experience, He understands the wiles of Satan.

Jesus as King and Mediator

Understands that the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. And knowing all things is able to say, “Father, brother Jones . . . sister blanketty blank has a heart that believes on me . . . and they want to overcome their flesh.” And the Father says to Satan, “you don’t get that one. He’s mine.”

But Peter gives us some additional insight, saying in 1st Peter 3:22, “Who (meaning Jesus) is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him.” So we know that there, in the bosom of the Father (amidst the power and glory and light and fire of God), Jesus our King sits and that He has angels, authorities, and powers made subject to Him. We must remember that He is now there in a body of flesh, His incarnate body with Him. And as our mediator – having become Man and then ascending as Man-God back to the Father, He has been given all authority and power. Whoa. What a King. What a King who has the back of all who are His, of all who believe in and on Him, His being, His shed blood, His resurrection.

Finally, we have an extremely touching picture of our King on high. Throughout the New Testament, He is pictured sitting on the right hand of power or of God. But we have an exception. At the first martyrdom in the New Testament, when Stephen was stoned to death. After sharing the whole story of the coming of the Messiah, the Jewish leaders were so incensed with Stephen they picked up stones and killed him on the spot. This is how Luke records it in Acts 7:

Stephen's Vision of Christ

Ac 7:54 ¶ When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth. 55 But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, 56 And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. 57 Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, 58 And cast him out of the city, and stoned him.

As our intercessor and mediator and our high priest, He sits on the right hand of God, but friends, we have scriptural evidence that when those who are suffering for His name's sake, our Lord and King STANDS. Our God and King stands. Let’s pray.

So there it is. After singing these next passages put to song, we will then take a few minutes and converse with our God through silent prayer.

When we come back, I am going to present to you all names of people who need prayer among us (if you aren’t aware we have a clipboard list available for you place a name which we’ll pray over as a group) . . . then we’ll get into our verse by verse teaching. So now . . . the Word in Song.

Worship and Prayer

WORSHIP CORPORATE PRAYER TIME

Okay, last week we read through Hebrews 1:1-2 which says:

Hebrews 1:1 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

We remember that the writer of Hebrews was addressing Jews who had converted to Christianity but apparently were tempted to revert back to elements of the Law, or to the way they and their forefathers had grown accustomed to worshipping God. And last week we saw that the writer acknowledged the fact that in the past God spoke to their forefathers by prophets, but in these last days He has spoken unto the world by and through His Son. And we gave a whole bunch of different names the Bible gives to describe the Son, pointing out that with a revelation such as Him there was no need today for living prophets like unto Moses. So . . . let’s stand and read our text for today – Hebrews 1 verses 3-

Hebrews 1:3 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; 4

Superiority of the Son

Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.

Declaration of Sonship

5 For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?

Worship of the Firstborn

6 And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him.