Welcome to Waymaker Church! We are so excited to have you join us today! We exist to Encounter, Live for, and Advance the Kingdom of God!

This morning, we are beginning a four-part series on the book of Hebrews entitled Verified: Called to Christ. The writer of Hebrews is speaking to Jewish Christians who were facing persecution and imprisonment because of their association with Jesus causing some to abandon the faith.

The writer of Hebrews had two primary goals. First, he elevates Jesus as superior to anyone and anything else in order to show that he is worthy of total trust and devotion. Second, he challenges these believers to remain faithful to Jesus despite persecution.

These two primary goals ring true to each of us today. We live in a world that continues to be hostile towards Jesus. Many face persecution throughout the world. Some are rejected by peers or family, many face the threat of violence, and some even face martyrdom and death.

Many nations are hostile to the gospel. People are imprisoned for their faith in places like China, Iran, Nigeria, North Korea, Eritrea, Burma, Syria, and Pakistan. In Eritrea, there are currently about 1,000 Christians indefinitely detained who have not been officially charged with anything.

What I love most about the book of Hebrews is that it reminds us that Jesus is superior to anything we will ever encounter in this world, and that in the midst of suffering or hardship we have compassionate savior who will help us.

Faith in Christ is not a gamble. It is an anchor that will hold through every season of your life.

1. God speaks to humanity.
a. In Eden, he walked with them in the cool of the day.
b. Before the great flood, God spoke with Noah. Genesis 6.
c. God spoke to Joseph in Dreams. Genesis 37.
d. He spoke to Moses from a burning bush. Ex. 3, and then as a friend through the wilderness and Mount Sinai Ex. 19-20.
e. He gave wisdom through Solomon in Proverbs.
f. He gave direction, revelation, and instruction through the Prophets.
g. Then the ultimate. He gave us His Son Jesus Christ, who is the word made flesh John 1:14.

It is important to understand that if God spoke and revealed himself to people in times past, he continues to do so today.

This is why faith in Christ is not a gamble. The character, attributes, and promises of God remain constant from generation to generation.
Isaiah 40:8 says, “The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.”

Isaiah 55:11 “So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.”

This truth provides comfort and assurance to believers, especially during times of change, uncertainty, and hardship.

In every season, God continues to speak to us through the Word. As we gain familiarity and understanding of the word, the Holy Spirit expounds on it to guide, encourage, and reveal truth, bringing understanding.

John 14:26 “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.”

God also uses other people through the process of discipleship. He has given Apostles, Prophets, Evangelist, Pastors, and Teachers for the perfecting of the saints (Ephesians 4:11) .

The second point I wanted to emphasize out of the text:

2. The excellency of Christ.

a. God has not only spoken to humanity, but He has revealed Himself to humanity through the person of Christ. Jesus is the express image of his person (the exact replica) and the brightness of His glory (the outward visible representation of the glory and honor of God).

John 1:14 “And the Word became 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.” Colossians 1:15 “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.”

b. He is the appointed heir of all things. He is the creator who made the worlds, and He upholds all things by the word of His power, having supreme dominion over all things. He is now seated at the right hand of Majesty on high. All of creation and the angelic realm are subject to Him.

c. What amazes and humbles me is that God made a way for us through Christ by purging our sins. We were owed nothing, and yet he chose to show mercy. God in the person of Jesus stepped out of the eternal realm and became a man. He lived in the same form as his creation. Philippians 2:8 “And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.”

Do you realize that Jesus could have spared himself? In Matthew 26:53, as Jesus is being arrested in the garden of Gethsemane, he says, “Or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels?”

Christ’s humble submission to death on the cross is an inescapable representation of His love for you and I. He was committed to our freedom and forgiveness.

He has position, authority, power, dominion, and right through his death and resurrection. He is worthy of all worship and devotion. He lived and died to set us free from the chains of the wicked one.

This truth gives context to the final passage I want to share with you today.

Through Christ we have received salvation, access to the presence of God, exceedingly great and precious promises, and ultimately the hope of eternal life.

In understanding this, we are instructed and even, to some degree, warned to give careful attention to the things we have heard, lest we drift away. Drifting speaks of a gradual or slow descent back to unbelief.

Unbelief enters our lives as time in the word diminishes. Romans 10:17 says, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” If we give careful attention to the word of God, we will be a people rich in faith and well pleasing to God (Hebrews 11:6).

My prayer today is that we be a people who diligently pursue the word of the Lord, and that the result would be a faithful, faith-filled people.