The Final Word ,  Heb. 1:1-14

Intro.:

In the classroom, I occasionally get some responses from students as a criticism of philosophy. They say, "philosophy is so nebulous. There are no concrete answers. There are all kinds of choices to be made, and I am confused." My response is frequently, "An introducton to philosophy must acquaint the student with all the options and I cannot give you a one-sided introduction." The complaint is frequently heard from students who major in science and things are seemingly concrete there.
But even here this is misleading. There seems to be a correct scientific  answer at the moment that can be depended on, but the student of history will remember that we have passed through a number of scientific revolutions. In ancient times the world was conceived by Aristotle and Ptolmey and their ways of viewing things seemed sound and worked. Then in the time of Copernicus another revolution came about. In physics this was followed by Newton and we lived under Newtonian physics until the coming of Einstein. What was then regarded as a very mechanical view of the world has now been modified by the principle of indeterminacy. What comes after Einstein? When will the next revolution take place?

2. In light of this, when one moves outside of scientific areas, one tends to talk of "belief-systems." Our ages has been permeated by a spirit of relativism so that we came to say that what I believe is true for me, and what you believe is true for you. What we desire is that we get alone with one another without clashing.

3. But when it comes to religion the problem is compounded. First, there are many religions. Are they all true? Since they differ in many basic respects--Christian vs. non-Christian, it is logically not possible so conclude that they are all the same. Second, if they are not all true, which one is? Third, can there be finality in religion? This question is a harsh one. It offends. Christianity is one area in which one may be offended because Christian . faith maintains that there is something final about Jesus Christ. Regardless of whether one accepts it as true or not, the Christian claim is that God's final word to man is founded in its consummation in Jesus, the Christ. The Scripture notes that in the past God has spoken to man in many ways, thru different prophets, and at various times, but now--his last and final word to man is in His Son.
 This finality may be seen in three different ways:

I. The Final Word is a Person.

l. People become embarrassed in talking about God. We are reluctant to talk about God personally, for it is difficult to describe what is not known. Thus, we hear people say, "There is something up there watching over us." Or, a man cannot see the glories of heaven and not believe in something,  There are no atheists in foxholes." I have students who want to believe in something but do know want to call it. They are even reluctant to use the word ‘God," and prefer to think of a Cosmic energy, or Cause of all things, or First Cause, or some vague term.

2. My response to this vagueness is: if you are going to believe in this something, how do you come to learn about it? The answer vary from an "I-don’t know." to a bewilderment and shrug of the shoulders. This is a very important point: how do you know about the thing you believe in?

3. This is one of the problems of Transcendental Meditation (TM) and related movements. There is no real revelation involved in such movements. TM believes that all is Being (or God) and I am part of Being, therefore, I am Being, or God. If you want to know what God is like--look within. But this is not a doctrine of revelation, but meditation.

4. In contrast to all of this: Christian faith says, the only real way for a man to know God is for God to reveal himself. I am not God. Only God can reveal God. Our Scripture declares that God has spoken in this last days by a Son.
The Son is a Person. Only Persons speak. First causes are only logical conclusions. Energy does not have a vocabulary. Being that is not person cannot speak. But the remarkable and important point is this: God is Person and He has come personally in the flesh, born of the Virgin Mary, and it is thru him that we know  God.

5.  A Person involves worship, an object or thing or idea does not. Our scripture tells us that even the angels worship him. It does not make sense to worship something that cannot respond. We are committed to ideas and they are powerful, but ideas do not command worship--only respect.

6. A Person knows me but an idea doesn't

7. What’s the latest word from God--his last word: his son.

There is no other point he wants to make. The highest, finest and most important word has already come: Jesus.

II. The Final Word involves his sustaining us     2-3

l. Why is it that we were able to be alive  this morning? Some of you barely made it, but that is  not the point. Why are we able to live? What gives me life day by day? The answer to these questions is found in the phrase in our Scripture: "He reflects the glory of God and bears the very Stamp of his  nature, upholding  the universe by his word of power. There is a common mistake that we frequently make in talking about God. We speak of him as Creator and Saviour, but that is sometimes all we do. The Scripture is very pointed in saying that God is the sustainer of our lives, of the world. He not only called it into being, but it will not continue without
his undergirding power and will.

2. George Truett, when he was pastor of the First Baptist Church in Dallas, used to so out further west to preach to the cowboys. A great group of people had gathered and Truett preached to about a thousand on the text: "Ye are bought with a price;
therefore, glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God‘s. That morning Truett preached on the importance of making Christ the absolute Master of life. When the service was done, one of the cattlemen locked his arm in Truett’s and said:"If you are willing, we will go for a walk. I have something to say to you." And up the long mountain canyon they took a walk, more than a mile away from many camps. He said not a word as they were  going but his chest rose and fell like some seething furnace. It was evident that he had something serious to say, and Truett waited for him to break the silence. When they were about a mile away, the rancher stopped and said,"I want you to pray a dedicatory prayer for me." "What do
you wish to dedicate?" The rancher responded, "I never knew until today that I am responsible for my very property to Jesus. I have not been a Christian long, and I have not heard much about Him, and I do not know much about what He expects of
me. I never knew until you preached today that all these thousand of cattle, even hoof of them, that they belong to Christ, and I am simply His administrator, His trustee, his steward Never until today did I know that. And I never knew until
today that these 25 miles and more of spreading ranch lands that I have said were mine, are not mine at all, But his. Now, I want you to bow down here and tell Him for me that I will take my place; I will accept my stewardship  I will be his administrator on His estate."Truett did so. I think that experience points up a very important fact in our lives. We are inclined to say, I built the life, I made the money, I became a success, I am brilliant, I am worthy, and so on. But we can only
say the word ”I" because God gives us to breathe, the flow of blood in our veins, and the life we claim as our own. God sustains, the life he has given to us, and for this reason, the conclusion is reached in 2:1   “...that we ought to pay the closer
attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.

III. The Final Word came as redeemer...v.3. _
1.When Maharishi Yogi Mahesh wrote his book on Transcendental Meditation he advocated a way of meditation that means  future incarnations are dependent upon yourself now. When Buddha appeared in the 6th century B.C. he taught a simple way of life designed to enable man to escape the cycle of rebirth. When Confucius appeared in the 6th cent. B.C. he taught a simple ethical position of living in harmony with the universe presuming that if life after death meant anything at all
he was up to man to achieve. Neither of these men were anything other than men. There is a stumbling block in the good news for some  people--that stumbling block is that God has come as Redeemer. The Good news of the gospel is the news of God's forgiveness in Jesus Christ. Make no mistake about it, God did something we could not do--deliver us from our sins. Deliverance from sin means there is forgiveness
and God’s help in overcoming. That is a redeemer.

3. Look at an example of what God did in the life of one person. Rita Warren  attends the First Southern Baptist Church of Beverly Hills. She is 29 born of Chicago parents in Chicago. Rita had plenty  of what she wanted: clothes, money love and attention. After graduating from UCLA with honors in English and a 3 month trip to Europe she became editor of a national teen-age girls magazine. She bought a new car, got a Beverly Hills Apartment and had friends, dates, and a goodtime. She was not a rebel in society, she was not involved in promiscuity, and  knew that she would marry, raise a family and have the home that a young girl dreamed about. But still there was a void. She questioned the existence of God, and had concluded that life is frustrating, often ironic, and one can succeed in the game as long as we keep our
sense of humor and don't get carried away with the lack of love and meaning around us. There was no room in her mind for a God who could love her and make her life more whole. Rita had a roommate who was a Christian and she confided in her that a void possessed her life. The roommate gave her an answer: Jesus Christ. But how could she believe in Jesus as a Jew. She began to study the Old Testament and ealized that being a cultural Jew was quite different from believing in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. She said, "I had just never thought about a spiritual being who had created this universe and everything in it--including me. I began to realize
that if there weren't a God and a purpose in life in God, than life was nothing more than a sarcastic, futile, frustrating episode. The existentialists would be right.

Rita went on to study the New Testament and the claims of Jesus, a Jew who claimed to be God himself. She marveled at the testimonies of men who had traveled and lived with Jesus for three years and had written down the strangest chronicle
of a life, death, and resurrection ever recorded. I read of his desire to give life to men--life more abundant than anything we can conceive or  get by our own efforts.
She "discovered insights into her own nature that she had never intentionally disclosed to another human being--selfishness, greed, concept. All] these traits that I had noticed in my own personality and tried to conceal from the outside world were
spoken of in the Bible...It was a frightening  experience to have myself so thoroughly dissected by one whom I had never met. It was as if he knew me, had always known the secret workings of my mind, had always been watching me although I had never known he was there. For over a year she wrestled with this God she had suddenly become aware of. Then, He won. She had never prayed before, but she knelt in prayer and told God that  He would have her life...I asked him to make that life work better-both internally and externally than I had been able to do. I told him I would give him a chance to prove himself. That was all God needed ....

4. The final word is a word of redemption. All that God wants is a chance to prove himself.

Conclusion:
l. God has spoken in the past. The last word to us is his Son, our Creator, and who wants to be our redeemer. Will you give God a chance?

8-18-74