Why should I read Hebrews 1?

The opening chapter is wondrous but why is it so important for us today?

What we know about the rest of this letter is that there are several warnings. The Pastor is concerned that these Christians may either drift from their commitment to Christ or abandon their faith altogether. Here are some examples: 2:1-4 “We must pay more careful attention …”    4:12-13 “Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.”    6:4-8 ” It is impossible … if they fall away … they are crucifying the Son of God all over again”    10:26-31 “It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”    12:25-29 “If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven?” 

The Pastor wrote these things not because their faith wasn’t real but because their suffering and persecution was very real.

For far less reasons people have abandoned their church communities and walked also from God. If their prayers are not answered the way they wanted they have given up. But this persecution was real and painful and there was more to come. It begged the question, was becoming a Christian a mistake? Had they done the right thing? If they hadn’t made their commitment to Christ then they would not be facing this suffering.

2024 is here. And for many around the world they are facing similar problems to the first century believers. Difficult days are here and ahead. Whether in Europe, the Middle East or northern Africa, Christians are struggling for their faith or trying to survive under evil regimes.

2024 is here. And I also think of friends who are battling cancer and other illnesses where miracles are needed. Friends needing breakthroughs. Each one have circumstances that may raise doubts like, ‘was it worth it?’

Hebrews 1 shouts many declarations with a response to that question, “YES it still is!”

The Pastor uses 5 statements that reveal the position and the power of the Son.

He is the heir of all things; through whom also he made the universe; He is the radiance of God’s glory; He is the exact representation of his being; He sustains all things by his powerful word.

The Pastor then uses 2 statements that reveal how the Son left his position to come to earth to walk where we are walking, in suffering and difficulty. The Pastor writes, ’He provided purification for sins’ and yet that humiliation of doing so is then followed by exaltation, ‘He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven’.

For those today who are humiliated in their body of suffering or in their situation that has become a mountain over them here is the pattern of the Son that the Pastor lays out. Because He went this way so will you and YOU will be exalted!

That’s the message.

Oh and one more thing, whether or not you are seeing many examples of angelic worship today (it still exists and if you are not aware then you are certainly seeing false worship), the message is also this: do not allow anyone or anything to distract you from the position and the power of the Son.

The Son is better, greater, superior and He is supreme than whatever you are hearing or seeing.

That is why we read Hebrews 1.

And now let’s move into the next chapter …