September 8, 2024: Sunday School

Order of Service

• Scripture Reading — Hebrews 1:1-4
• Sermon
• Prayer of Closing

---

Sermon Title: The God Who Speaks in These Last Days

Scripture: Hebrews 1:1-2

I. The God Who Speaks — An Astonishing and Significant Reality

A. The overarching theme of Hebrews is to woo readers to Christ and warn against leaving him B. Hebrews opens with striking Greek rhetoric — alliteration and beautiful cadence emphasizing God's speaking C. The predominating idea in verses 1–2 is that God speaks — the word laleō ("to speak") anchors both verses D. God's speaking begins in creation

1. Genesis 1 — God speaks creation into existence out of nothing
2. God converses with Adam, gives commands, and meets the rebels in Genesis 3 with a word of grace
3. Genesis 3:15 — the first promise of a Savior; God speaks to recreate and restore E. That God speaks is astonishing — a transcendent, eternal Creator condescends to make himself knowable to mere creatures F. That God speaks is significant — in a relativistic, pluralistic age, God's word gives us firm ground for truth, goodness, beauty, and the knowledge of his redemptive plan

II. God Spoke Long Ago — Many Times and in Many Ways

A. The phrase "many times and in many ways" describes the variety and richness of Old Testament revelation B. Modes of God's speaking in the Old Testament include:

1. Visions and dreams
2. Theophanies (e.g., the burning bush, Mount Sinai)
3. Angels and messengers
4. The written word through inspired prophets (e.g., Moses)
5. Living parables (e.g., Hosea's marriage, Jeremiah's symbolic acts)
6. Natural events and plagues
7. Historical narrative, prophetic books, Psalms, wisdom literature C. The Old Testament covers thousands of years of God speaking, yet remains fragmentary and incomplete
8. It is sufficient to point toward and prepare us for Christ, but is unfinished in itself
9. Calvin: "It was not a part of the word that Christ brought, but the last closing word"
10. Rick Phillips: "Take any one book of the Old Testament and you will read true divine revelation…but each book is fragmentary and incomplete; the Old Testament expectantly longs for the answer that comes in Jesus Christ"

III. God Has Spoken in These Last Days — By His Son

A. The "last days" begin with the Incarnation and the public ministry of Jesus B. Jesus is called "the Son" in Hebrews 1:2 — he is the second person of the Trinity, very God of very God, eternally begotten of the Father

1. His name is withheld until Hebrews 2:9 — he is introduced here first as the Son
2. Matthew 14:33 — "Truly you are the Son of God" C. Jesus comes as the speaking Son — the Apostle (messenger) of our confession
3. Mark 1:14-15 — Jesus proclaims the gospel of God: "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand"
4. Luke 4:17-19 — Jesus reads from Isaiah 61 in the synagogue, declaring his ministry of proclamation, healing, and liberation
5. Luke 24 — the risen Jesus opens the Scriptures on the road to Emmaus, showing that Moses and the prophets all spoke of him D. The structure of chapters 1–4 frames Jesus as the Word:
6. Hebrews 1:2 — God has spoken by his Son
7. Hebrews 4:12-13 — the living and active word is linked to a person before whom all are naked and exposed
8. Jesus is compared to angels (who delivered God's word, including the law) and to Moses (the first prophet) — and is shown to be superior to both E. The Old Testament offered shadows; Christ is the substance
9. The New Testament does not set aside the Old — both are necessary
10. Christ is the complete, final, and sufficient revelation
11. Calvin: "When you come to Christ you ought not go any further — so we have our last word" F. The word spoken by the Son is a living word addressed to all believers in every age — "to us" is not limited to the original recipients