am090708 - GOD SPEAKS IN PERSON

GOD SPEAKS IN PERSON!

If I were to say to you that Sarah Palin, the Republican candidate for Vice President, will be speaking on national TV this evening many of you would give some attention to listening to her speak. If I were to say that Sarah Palin is going to be speaking next Sunday at the Armory, you would more prone to hear her in person than on cable TV.  Why, because she is speaking in person.

Wow, what would it be like to hear God speak in person, not through a prophet but in person! God not only spoke through the prophets but in person to the people of the first century. Since God is omnipresent and eternal His words recorded in the Bible are God-breathed, recorded correctly; therefore, reading the Bible is the same as hearing His voice.

Our text from God’s Word this morning is located in Hebrews 1. By the way, why is the Book of Hebrews called by that name?  It is addressed to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It was addressed to them probably in 68 a.d. just prior to the totally destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman army in 70 a.d.

     These ancient people had accepted that God had spoken to their      fathers by the prophets but the author makes the point that God      has spoken in person to them in Christ Jesus. Christ was superior   to angels, Moses, prophets, and the apostles. God made a personal      appearance and spoke in person for some three years.

All that is ever needed to have faith in God and all that is needed to know how to please God has been communicated to us by God Himself!

This morning let’s take careful note that God speaks in person! Christ is superior to all prophets and all gods. Mohammad, self-proclaimed prophet of Allah, but he never claimed to be Allah in the flesh. The Koran does not say that Allah spoke in Mohammad.

Hebrews 1:1-2
1 God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, 2 in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, …

Observations:

     1. God Has the Last Word

          ‘in these last days’ Jews understood that these days would arrive          with the coming of the Messiah so the last days began   when                Christ came at His birth-the first advent.

          Man for centuries has distinguished history by denoting an event      either occurring in  b.c. or a.d. (year of our Lord); now we begin to         observe the designation b.c.e. and c.e. which are non-   religious           terms to replace the religious ones. Modern man doesn’t want to       acknowledge the God of history-knowing the end from the                    beginning.

          So how did God speak prior to Christ’s birth?

     2. God’s Word Incomplete In Old Testament

          ‘God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers (Jews) in the                      prophets in many portions and in many ways’.

          We should understand that God did not speak 24/7, rather He           spoke to the fathers (to the Jewish fathers in the prophets). The             prophets spoke the very words of God as the Spirit gave them               utterance.

          How did God speak to the fathers in the prophets?

          ‘in many portions’ it was not given all at one time. It was                         progressive revelation- some given through Moses, Joshua,                  Samuel, Daniel, Ezekiel, and Jeremiah.

          ‘in many ways’  simply God spoke a variety of ways like ‘history’,           law, prophecy, prose, poetry, etc.

     3. God’s Word Is Complete In New Testament

          ‘God spoke to us in His Son’

          In the Old Testament, God spoke but in the prophets, when the               prophets spoke they spoke God’s words.

          In contrast, in these last days (since Christ’s first advent) God               spoke in Son! God became flesh and spoke His final word in His        Son, who is God Himself (Deity-Jehovah Witnesses make a major       mistake by not      understanding how the Jews understand ‘the Son’;         it’s not how we understand the concept of a son but had the                   Semitic people understood the concept of ‘Son’. - Messiah).

          My sister Betty is seven years older than me, so many times my       Dad would tell her what chores I was to have done before he               came home. I often questioned if my sister didn’t add some of her        chores to my list and then attached Dad’s name to it-using his               authority.  But, there were those times my Dad spoke in person to       me and it was complete – no questions.  If someone comes to            you and says, “God told me to tell you this…”, please feel                        comfortable and assured that is okay to say to them, “God has                already spoken in person to me and you have nothing to say from         God to me.”

     God in Jesus spoke the last word for all faith and behavior! The             Old Testament is fulfilled in the New Testament. We have the             complete revelation of God to man.

Challenge: