Welcome to the Westminster Pulpit, an extension of the worship ministry at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Please contact us for permission before reproducing this message in any format, and may this sermon nurture your life in a meaningful way as we proclaim our Savior. Here is Dr. Michael Rogers, Pastor Emeritus. Good evening, everyone. I'm pleased to look out and see many faces I recognize and many I don't recognize as well. Bless all of you. Certainly we've had many opportunities, not just hundreds, but as I think about it, it would number in the thousands of times that I've been in the pulpit of this church. And now I sit almost in the very back row most of the time. And that's a good place to be. I'm reading from two texts that I was actually assigned to preach on. They're not texts I chose, and yet I am absolutely delighted for them, for both of them. One is from 2 Corinthians, just a single verse, a magnificent verse from Paul in 2 Corinthians 4-6, where we read, for God who said, let light shine out of darkness, as shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. And then also a short passage from the book of Hebrews. If someone comes up and tells you they have the authoritative answer on who wrote Hebrews, the world's waiting to know. It's one of the great books that we do not know. We believe it belongs in scripture. We believe it was from someone that was in the early Apostolic Age. But I'm not going to start giving you the names of all the possibilities. We don't know. My Bible says at the beginning, this letter, whose author is unknown, probably wrote between AD 60 and 70. That's what we know. Listen to Hebrews chapter one, one, two, three. Long ago, and many times, and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days, he has spoken to us by his son. whom he appointed the heir of all things and through whom he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. Father, let the words of my mouth and the thoughts of every heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer. My son Benjamin, my youngest son, is a computer software development manager for the Microsoft Corporation based in Seattle, Washington. But Ben lives here in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He visits Seattle only a few times a year. And like many of you, I'm sure, he needs not leave a home office to give direction to other programmers solving various problems in cyberspace and figuring out how to program information for different corporations. He works together with people and interacts thoroughly with other programmers around the United States many of whom, if not most of whom, he'll never see or not necessarily even talk to on the telephone. But he works in tandem with them to solve problems in the computer world, a world where my son is fluent and I am lost, truly. The first passage that I was assigned to deal with tonight, 2 Corinthians 4, 6, has Paul declaring that God, our creator, causes the same great and glorious light that he brought to dawn in Genesis chapter one to shine in the person and work of Jesus, the divine son. And then in the second passage, I read in just the third verse there, Hebrews one, three, We hear from this unknown author of Hebrews that Jesus, the divine son of God, uniquely shares in the father's work that was done in Genesis when he brought the creation into being, and that Christ, the son of God, actually upholds and binds together the physical universe that God, the father of lights, first created. If that's not working in tandem, I don't know what is. God, the father and God, the son, joining in a magnificent work of creation and now speaking and holding together that which was made long ago. We ask the question because these passages both speak about the identity and character and work of God, God the Father and God the Son. Another passage I might mention would be John chapter 14, where the apostle Philip said to Jesus one day, here's a nice little request, show us the Father and that will be enough for us. I always chuckle. When I read that, that would be enough. Show us God and we'd be satisfied. He didn't want much, did he? Show us the father. But then in that same chapter, John 14 verse 19, Jesus is heard answering Philip's inquiry by saying, anyone who has seen me has seen the father. And so there's this identity of father and son working together in a mysterious way, doing a work that's far beyond anything my son does on computers to bring his grace and power and glory to the sight of people in this poor, torn world of ours. There's an old hymn that has a first stanza. I didn't get to Frank. I might have suggested we sing this one, but it's all right. The hymn says, immortal, invisible, God only wise, in light, inaccessible, hid from our eyes, most blessed, most glorious, the ancient of days, almighty, victorious, thy great name we praise. And many would say, well, if God is true to that hymn and that he's immortal and invisible, then what are you going to have to say for the next 25 minutes or so? You surely can't say anything that the hymn writer didn't know when he said God was immortal and invisible. Well, I say to you that tonight, the planning of our two texts that I was given and that I've read for you, ask us to believe that faith by faith in the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ, we are opened a window to actually see the God of the universe, the great creator of all things, God the father. And we're being told in these texts that he is not only the creator, but that father and son do a work together to not only create the world long ago, but to save our souls and bring glory to themselves through that salvation made visible in Christ. A parallel passage we could mention would be 1 Peter 1.8. Peter exclaims there, though you have not seen him, that is Christ, you love him. Even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy. Well, first of all, I want to show you that Hebrews 1.3 teaches us that Jesus Christ displays his father's divine glory as the exact representation of the being of God. This relationship between Christ the son and God the father is compared here to radiant beams of sunlight that we feel on this earth. A huge S-U-N, which we're told is a vast furnace of nuclear energy. I think I remember the number 43 million miles away. Ultraviolet rays that send their energy to sizzle your skin a little bit if you stay out in the sun too long at the beach. It's amazing if you want to study the sun and the earth and their relationship. I remember a science teacher insisting to my class many years ago that if our planet was 1,000 miles further out from the sun or 1,000 miles closer to the sun, we'd be in big trouble both ways. Either we would freeze or we would roast. But we couldn't live in a symbiotic relationship to the sun that we do with exactly 43 million miles. Jesus Christ as a man of history, we're told was like a bursting forth of a great lamp for the world. John 1.14 says this, we have seen his glory, glory of the only begotten come from the father full of grace and truth. The very divine excellency of God is displayed in Christ the Son. Now that doesn't mean Jesus had a literal halo around his head as many artists have wanted to portray him. It also doesn't mean, you know, we're not too far away from Christmas and I'm sure you all got one or more Christmas cards with a Bethlehem manger scene of the infant and his mother and Joseph standing by. And there was like a spotlight shining right down on the manger where Jesus the infant lay. Well, I don't think there was a spotlight shining on Jesus. Artists use that means because it's the only way they have to try to show us the inexpressible greatness and glory of the one who lay there in that manger. But there's more to this than just a shining light or a visible halo. In fact, you need to be reminded that Jesus as a child of Mary, not the child of Joseph, but the child of Mary, the virgin mother. was grew up to be a carpenter, a tecton in the Greek, which is, I think, gives us the word technology. And really, Joseph was probably more than just a carpenter. He was more or less a builder of builder's trades. He built houses for people, surely. He built furniture. He built carts and tools and rakes and things that people had to use and taught his son, Jesus, to do those ordinary things using ordinary tools. Now, on one hand, you can say that Jesus, who was a carpenter in Nazareth, was physiologically, physically ordinary in his similarity to other human beings. I assume he had the requisite number of fingers and toes. And in a crowd of Israelite boys, maybe they played something like soccer. I don't know. In my family, if you're a boy, you play soccer, not baseball. I am the baseball generation. who has never won that argument with my sons. But Jesus was physically ordinary, if you will, as a real man. But at the same time, he was something that no one else even came close to being, because we have to speak of his being born of a virgin. And speak of miracles of power that he brought about and undeniable healings and teachings that had people saying, why never, never, ever did a man speak the way this man does. This was glory, the ways in which he was unique. And that was glory, of course, of a different kind when he went obedient to his father, to a cross. there to suffer and die and shed his blood after a tortuous treatment at the hands of guilty men. The sum of all the wonders in the life of Jesus summing up a thing called glory. I don't do movie reviews in sermons, but if you could, I'm sure some of you have seen a movie called Glory. It's not a movie to show your children. But that's because of horrible battle scenes. And it's a movie about a true story of a African-American Union Army organized unit that at first was allowed to do nothing in the Civil War but build campsites and clean up after things. They weren't allowed to go out and fight. But then they were. and their white officer insisted that his men be allowed to show their courage and their bravery. And they did win some very great glory as they fought on the Union Army side. You know, I could spend a long time talking just about what the subject of glory is. But what Paul seems to say here in 2 Corinthians, 4.6 is that the glory that Jesus bore wasn't necessarily a visible thing, but it was likened to the splendor of God shining light out of darkness. The same thing that Genesis 1 says when God said the greatest of his commands, I guess, let there be light. And there was light and the light shone in the darkness and the darkness did not comprehend it. Same way, 2 Corinthians 4, 6 has here, God who said, let light shine out of darkness has shined in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. Wow. That one verse, memorize it, 2 Corinthians 4, 6. Should be on everybody's memory verse list, I think. And then our text in Hebrews 1, 3, compares Christ and his divine glory to a coin or a piece of metal stamped by an engraver's die. You know, if we have your coin saver, I'm not one who knows that much about these things, but I know that I do have a cigar box at home that has some different coins that have come to me over the years. I have some Eisenhower dollar coins. I have quite a few. Don't come and raid my house, please. But but if you come in my dresser drawer, there's a cigar box. And it does it doesn't have cigars in it, but it does have quite a few sakajouya dollar coins. I'm sure most of you have seen those in recent years. I think they're still current. I believe you can still walk into a store and give them a sakajouya dollar and you'll get a dollar's worth of goods for it. It's a beautiful coin. having on it the imprint of the Shoshone Indian girl who guided Lewis and Clark. And the author here is saying, just as the die that stamps a soft piece of metal with a portrait or a saying or some image, maybe a building or something else, bears that exact image, so does Christ bear the image. of his father. Colossians 2 9 contributes to this subject when it says, in him, in Christ was all the fullness of the Godhead dwelling in human form. Another way to summarize it would be to say this, that when the invisible God chose to become as visible as he could possibly be for our ability to read it, He chose the likeness of Jesus Christ for the die that he would stamp in human flesh. If this sermon had a title printed for you, the title of the sermon would be The Human Face of God. And I say to you tonight, I don't know a lot of you folks, it's an unusual experience for me now these days when I speak to you a couple of times a year, to realize how many of you I don't know, almost as many as those I do know. I used to look at an eight o'clock congregation and a, what, 11 o'clock? Can't even remember what time the church was. 11 o'clock congregation and I knew 90% of you. That's not the way it is anymore. But I want to say to you, not knowing that much about you, except the fact that you're here on a Wednesday night tells me you're probably not a pursuant of Buddhism or Hinduism or something else. And you probably consider yourself to be a Christian. And I hope you are. But I want to say to you that if you believe anything less than the fact that Jesus of Nazareth, born of a woman, born with the glorious purpose of God, is anything less than the Christ of God, then you are not a Christian. I'm sorry, I don't care what church you belong to. If Christ is not the center of the God that you worship, you just aren't on base with the Christian faith. The Nicene Creed, we say, sometimes states in it that unforgettable phrase that he was begotten of his father before all worlds, before Genesis 1. God of God, light of light, very God of very God. That's how theologians say things, and that was one of their better statements coming out of church history. Well, secondly, our text describes a work that Christ has been doing continually since the beginning of time. He is, we're being told now, especially in Hebrews 1-3, the tie that binds the universe together. The exact words of Hebrews 1-3 is, he sustains all things by his powerful words. Now, we have a very popular religion abroad in the world today. I don't know how we would take a census to find out exactly how many people there are that would have to be classified as a deist. D-E-I-S-T. Deist. You say, well, I never heard of that religion. Well, folks, it's really populous. There are literally millions of deists in the world today. Millions in the United States, I'm sure. You say, well, what is a deist? Well, a deist is willing to be religious in the sense that he would say, well, I look at the world, I look at nature and all the beauty and complicated things, and I say, well, there's gotta be some kind of a mind behind all this, so I'll concede that somebody or something, more likely they would say thing than person, something is the first cause of creation. Something started all this. and designed all this. But then the deist says, after the first cause getting things going, this person, if it was a person or force, whatever it was, took the universe and packed it up in a package of natural laws and principles of physics, chemistry, geology, hydrology, meteorology, and all kinds of things, and said, he just turned it loose. for all those natural principles to run it all. They get the most ridiculous when they call it mother nature. I call it the divine watchmaker. You know, you wind up a watch and I have a grandfather clock at home and it has to have weights lifted once a week or it will stop. Well, they say, There was surely some kind of a divine watchmaker that that put all the world in place. No, no explanation for how in the world that was done. But then, you know, they just let the watch wind on and govern itself. That's that's really a deist code or creed. Well, the Bible says, no, there was a person, the powerful God who with apparently the involvement of Christ, his son, beginning of John, you know, that great verse in the beginning was the word, the word was with God and the word was God, that Christ was the power who governs and binds together the earth and all that is in it. Hebrews 1.3 says it here, Christ, the son of God upholds. all that exists. Colossians 1 17 says in him all things hold together so much so that there isn't a single rogue molecule in the created universe that's running astray or exerting its own will to sustain itself. Christ is the CEO, chief executive officer of creation. And we see this so evidently spread before us. Jesus made sure in his life that he gave evidence to this being true in the miracles that he did. Waves and winds obeyed him. Disease fled from his prayers. Demons shrieked and ran to hide when Jesus got near. And the dead were resuscitated at his command. He is the upholder. who binds together the great things that God has made, miracles, disease, fleeing from him, and so on. What many call laws of nature are the laws of Christ. He holds these things in a delicate and powerful balance. On this point, one of the great theologians of history, John Owen, a Puritan man, Owen summarized, he wrote seven volumes, a seven volume commentary on Hebrew, so he's probably not the theologian that most people are going to dip in for a little evening devotion. but you would be richly rewarded if you chose to read him. John Owen wrote this, our Lord Jesus Christ, he said, has the whole weight of creation upon his hand. It would not subsist for a moment, nor could anything in it act regularly according to its appointed end without the continual support, guidance, influence, and disposal of the Son of God. And then he went on to say, the things of this creation can no more support themselves than they could at first make themselves out of nothing. And Owen continued to say, to fancy some providence in God acting without his continued energetic operation or a wisdom from him without constant care, inspection and oversight of the works of his hands is to erect an idol of our own imagination. Thank you, Mr. Theologian. for such great words. Well, thirdly, then, tonight, and for a last point, we conclude that Christ is indeed the human face of God, a radiant, glorious face who volunteered to go and die on a Roman cross to pay the holy penalty for human sin. for all human beings who by faith will lay claim to that sacrifice of his as payment in full for their debt of sin. He's a glorious and singular savior. And so here, this third proposition, Hebrews 1, 3, ends this by teaching that Christ Jesus became the only priest who ever sat down. You say, what in the world is that? Well, we read here, after he had provided purification for sins, his work on the cross, that is, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty in heaven. This compares the world-shaking splendor of God bringing salvation through Christ to the work of making the universe out of nothing. The same God did both, is what these texts are saying to us tonight. Hebrews 1.3 is speaking of the function of Christ as a priest, the greatest priest before God. Now, just let me pry the lid off what he's saying here. Did you realize that there were no chairs in the sanctuaries of Old Testament Israel? No benches along the sidewall for the priest to sit down if he got tired? No sofas? Why was that? Well, I would give you the answer that I think is biblical, that it would be insulting for a human priest to sit down in God's holy presence. No man can take a casual pause before God or take a nap in the temple of God. And the standing posture of a priest was because his work was never done. He had to come year after year, month after month, and go through the same sacrifices because people of Israel were sinning and sinning and sinning and needed sacrifices and sacrifices and sacrifices without end to assuage an unending river of guilt before God. But when Jesus completed his work on Calvary as God's greatest priest of all time, It can be said of him alone, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. You see, kings sit. A king has a throne. A sacred seat on which he is supposed to rule while his subjects stand or kneel. And sitting further conveys the idea of a task that has been settled and finished. You sit down to rest when the task is done. So no human priest could ever do that. The only priest with a right to sit down at the throne of God is Jesus the Son. So in conclusion, let me just ask what all this means to you. Have you, have you come to know Jesus Christ as your Lord, as the priest who sat down on your behalf before God? Have you come to realize that for all your unworthiness and guilt that you might feel about things you've done in your life, God's human face is revealed to you in the face of his son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And if you haven't already done so, your greatest need in this life is to bow before him and to surrender sacred worship to this man of earth who showed us God's human face. How does the fact that Christ, we're told, holds together the natural universe? You say, well, Pastor, this all sounds grand and theological stuff, but how does it affect me tomorrow morning when I'm discouraged and I feel that my life is falling apart? And I say back to you, does it not guarantee that he who began his good work in you, the work that fueled creation, will bring in completion in you everything that he planned to do from the day you were conceived and came into this world and way beyond. He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion in the final day of Christ. In the day when people use Jesus' name throughout their lifetimes as a curse, fall on their faces, and before him and say, oh, my Lord and my God. So if we ask the question, what is God like? We answer by saying Jesus Christ is God, made known in history, showing us in his human face the glory of all God's work on behalf of those who believe in him. The entirely unique person and position of Jesus Christ reveals to us everything we need to know or can know in this life about who God is. And at the end of the day, isn't that more than enough? Thanks be to God. Father. We don't look for an experience of ecstasy, the like of which we probably will have when we see our Savior face to face. But we do ask for a life of steady trust, a life of honor set apart for this one who does your work beside you and with you. Thank you for the light of the knowledge of the glory of God. in the face of Jesus Christ. May He get our praise and our obedience. In His name we pray, amen. The Westminster Pulpit is courtesy of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. You are welcome to worship with us on Sunday mornings at 8 or 11 a.m. To learn more or have questions about the gift of salvation through Christ Jesus our Savior, contact us at westpca.com. Thank you, and may Christ be glorified through this ministry, the Westminster Pulpit.