Today we're reading Hebrews chapter
1, but please note, the schedule I put together for reading through
the New Testament does not go consecutively through the New
Testament books as they appear in your Bible. Instead, it moves
around so that there's some variety in our readings. So that's why
we're not starting Mark today, even though we finished Matthew
yesterday. Again, we're reading Hebrews chapter 1. On many past
occasions and in many different ways, God spoke to our fathers
through the prophets. But in these last days, He has
spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things
and through whom He made the universe. The Son is the radiance
of God's glory and the exact representation of His nature,
upholding all things by His powerful Word. After he had provided purification
for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on
high. So he became as far superior to the angels, as the name he
has inherited is excellent beyond theirs. For to which of the angels
did God ever say, You are my son, today I have become your
father. Or again, I will be his father,
and he will be my son. And again, when God brings his
firstborn into the world, he says, Let all God's angels worship
him. Now about the angels, he says,
he makes his angels' winds, his servants' flames of fire. But
about the sun, he says, your throne, O God, endures forever
and ever, and justice is the scepter of your kingdom. You
have loved righteousness and hated wickedness. Therefore God,
your God, has anointed you above your companions with the oil
of joy. And, in the beginning, O Lord,
you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the
work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain. They will all wear out like a
garment. You will roll them up like a
robe, like a garment they will be changed, but you remain the
same, and your years will never end. Yet to which of the angels
did God ever say, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies
a footstool for your feet? Are not the angels ministering
spirits sent to serve those who will inherit eternal salvation? And this is God's word. One of
the challenges to our faith comes in the form of pluralism. The
idea that every religion leads to the one and only God. Jesus
said, however, no one comes to the Father except through me
in John 14 6. So we believe that Christianity
is the exclusive way to God. That's not a popular idea, as
you know. Even Christians sometimes have
speculated that God might save people outside the realm of Christianity,
in nations or tribes where there is no Christian witness. Hebrews
1 provides some important information that explains why pluralism is
wrong. It is true that God has spoken
throughout human history in various ways, as verse 1 puts it. The
writer of Hebrews, though, wants us to know that in these last
days, He has spoken to us by His Son. He said that in, wrote
that in verse 2. Christ, the Son of God, is uniquely
qualified to reveal God to us because He is, according to verse
3, the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation
of His being, being God Himself. Jesus could reveal God to us
as no other person or angel ever could, and we saw that in verses
5 through 14. Furthermore, Christ has provided
purifications for sins, according to verse 3, something that no
other man, religion, revelation, or spirit being can do. It is
impossible, then, for any other religion to save someone or to
reveal God to anyone because there is only one God and Christ
is the only one capable of revealing Him and reconciling us with Him. Despite the pressures we feel
from pluralism in our world, We must maintain our conviction
that Christ is the only way to God. If we give up or just get
careless about this truth, it will weaken every conviction
we have as Christians and kill our motivation to spread the
gospel message. So don't be seduced by the lies
of pluralism. There is only one God, and there
is only one way to Him, through Jesus Christ, His Son, who gave
Himself, dying for our sins, so that we might be saved. Praise
God for that reality today, and hold fast to it for all of your
life. May God bless you and give you
a great day, and we'll see you next time.