Welcome to Walking with Jesus, a devotional journey through books of the Bible. From Forest Hill Presbyterian Church, I'm Jason Van Bemmel. Well, we're in day three of Hebrews and we're continuing to look at this masterful prologue, the opening four verses of the book of Hebrews. We've taken a look last time at the suppressing excellence of Jesus. And this time we're going to be taking a look at what this means for us. What does Jesus have that we need? So let's begin by looking again at these great verses. Hebrews chapter 1 verses 1 to 4. Long ago at 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, through whom also 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. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on High, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs." Well, I have to admit something to you. I really have no interest in William and Kate or any of their children. I mean, I do know that the new royal baby's name is Louis, and as a student of history, I think that's a kind of strange name for a member of the British royal family. But I have no interest in this family, or their children, or their lives. Is that because I'm a mean-spirited person? No. I don't have anything against the British royal family. It's just that their life has nothing to do with me. And so it kind of makes me scratch my head when I see their pictures everywhere and the fact that I even know that the new baby's name is Louis. It's got nothing to do with me. Some people feel this way about Jesus. They hear about Jesus and they wonder, what does He really have to do with me? And they might think, yeah, He's a great guy, maybe He is the Son of God, but what does that have to do with my life? Last time we talked about the surpassing greatness of Jesus. We talked about the five ways that He is transcendent in His greatness in a category all by Himself. But what does that have to do with us? What does Jesus have that we need? What does his greatness benefit for us? Well, I see at least three things in these opening verses that show us how Jesus in his greatness directly benefits us. First of all, as God's final word to the world, Jesus brings us God's truth in himself. We all need truth. Our culture is skeptical about truth, and that's understandable because we live in a world of half-baked truths, of political spin, of marketing manipulations, and flat-out lies. But we need the truth. The truth is an anchor. The truth is a compass that directs our lives. So where can we find truth? True truth. Well, we find it in Jesus. We find it in Jesus because he is God's final word to the world. He is the word incarnate. He's the last and the supreme prophet of God. He is truth incarnate, the very truth of God in human form. The second thing we get from Jesus is purification for sins. Jesus has made purification for sins. That's part of what makes him qualified to sit where he sits, at God's right hand, but it's also what we most need. We need purification for sins. We don't need to be told a bunch of feel-good platitudes about what good people we are because we know we're not good. We don't need to be patted on the head and told that we're okay because we know that we're not okay. We're guilty, we're filthy, and we need cleansing. We need real purification and forgiveness, release from our sins, cleansing of our guilt and shame. And Jesus accomplished that when he died in our place on the cross. And third, as the one who sits at God's right hand, Jesus represents us before the Father. Jesus ever lives to make intercession for us, Hebrews will tell us later on. He's sitting on the highest seat of authority in the universe and he's there for us. As our King ruling over us, as our priest praying for us and representing us, from God's right hand, Jesus protects us, prays for us, guides us, provides for us. You know, it should really be encouraging to us to know how supreme Jesus is. But even more so, we should be encouraged because Jesus is so supreme for us. The things he did to be exalted to the right hand of God the Father are things he did for us and for our salvation. And so we can say indeed, thanks be to God for his indescribable gift.