What has Jesus done? God’s agent of creation
Hebrews 1:2b and 3b
Creation controversies
Down through the centuries the topic of creation has been fraught with controversy. Amongst Christians, perhaps almost as much as amongst anyone else.
Are we talking about creation occurring over six literal twenty-four hour days? Days as we experience days. Or are those ‘first day’, ‘second day’, ‘third day’ references in Genesis 1 to be understood more figuratively. As periods of time rather than strictly twenty-four hours? Are we part of the ‘young earth’ camp or the ‘old earth’ camp? Do we entertain the possibility of theistic evolution? Are we card-carrying members of groups such as ‘Creation Ministries’? Or do we prefer to steer well clear of them?
This whole area of creation. It’s become a maelstrom of controversy. But what I find fascinating about it all. Fascinating and, at the same time, disturbing. Is that Jesus somehow seems to end up exiting stage left in the midst of all the discussion. His name doesn’t seem to get dropped into the conversation all that much. Which is kinda strange. And as I said, disturbing. Given the role that the Bible tells us that he plays in it all. Jesus. He seems to become lost in some cosmic black hole.
All of which, I think, is a problem. Because whenever Jesus moves from the centre of any topic or discussion. Of any issue. It can only be to the detriment of our view of Jesus. And therefore to the detriment of our own personal lives as well.
We’ve just started this short series on the person and work of Jesus. We’re spending this month of August here at Engadine Cong looking at who Jesus is and what he’s done. Fixing our eyes on Jesus. We’re bunkering down mostly in the first four verses of the book of Hebrews. And last week we saw that in terms of who Jesus is, he is God’s final word. “In the past God spoke to our forefathers at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son”. Jesus in relation to revelation. And we turn now this morning to focus on one aspect of what he’s done. And it’s Jesus in relation to creation. We see Jesus, as God’s Son, presented to us. Here in Hebrews 1 and in other parts of the New Testament. As God’s agent of creation.
You see, for all of the talk and all of the discussion concerning creation. For all the pros and cons that get presented in the creation debates. Could it be that we might be missing. Or, perhaps even worse. Deliberating avoiding. A very important and far-reaching implication for our lives that flows from this truth about Jesus? I’ll leave you to answer that question for yourself in light of what we see and read and hear this morning. But let me pray now and then we’ll read from the book of Hebrews. Let’s talk to God …
“Our God, we praise you that you are a speaking God. But we also know that we’re not always good at listening. And so we ask for your help this morning to clearly see what Jesus has done. So that we might have a more accurate and truthful understanding of him. Yes. But, even more so, that we might live our lives in the wonderful light of the truth revealed to us about Jesus. And we pray in his name, Amen.
The heir
Well, let me read from Hebrews Chapter 1 again. And our main area of focus this morning will be on the second half of verse 2 and the middle of verse 3. Hebrews 1 verse 1 …
“In the past God spoke to our forefathers at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son”. And here comes our focus for this morning. “… his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. [PAUSE] The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being”. That’s for next week. Hope you can come back for it. But for today. Middle of verse 3. “… sustaining all things by his powerful word”.
The first description we see here is actually more of a statement about who Jesus is than what he’s done. Middle of verse 2. That Jesus. He is the God-appointed “heir of all things”.
If you’ve read through the Gospels you may be familiar with a parable that Jesus told in Matthew, Mark and Luke. The parable of the tenants. Where a man planted a vineyard and rented it to some farmers and then went away for a long time. Harvest time came and the man sent a servant to the tenants so that they’d give him some of the fruit from his vineyard. But the tenants, they beat the servant and sent him away empty-handed. The owner. He sends a second servant. And another. But the tenants. They beat and wound and throw out those servants too. Then the owner says, ‘I will send my son, whom I love. Perhaps they will respect him’. But when the tenants see the son they say, ‘This is the heir. Let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours’. And they throw him out of the vineyard and kill him.
Jesus. He tells the story to communicate who he is. He is the son in the story. God’s Son. The heir. Who has come after a long line of God’s servants. The prophets. Who’ve been treated shamefully. He also tells the parable to communicate the importance of how we respond to who he is. In the end there is judgement from the owner because of the inappropriateness of the response to his son.
There is a sense, of course, in which, being the Son, it’s natural for Jesus to be understood as the heir. In the ancient world that’s how it worked. The firstborn son was the one in line to receive the inheritance. For Jesus, it’s part of what comes with being God’s Son. But here the author of Hebrews speaks of Jesus being appointed as such. Not that that makes him lesser in any way. In fact, quite the opposite. Because this is an appointment that God himself has made.
And notice what the Son. What Jesus. Is heir of. What he’s in line to receive. To inherit. You or I might’ve received in the past. Or stand in line to receive at some point in the future. Thousands of dollars perhaps. Property of some kind or other. In March last year researchers found that between the years 2002 and 2012, 1.8 million Australians inherited some money at least once. With the average amount of each inheritance being to the tune of $79 000. Not bad. But look what’s said here of Jesus. “… whom he appointed heir of all things”. As one author, Raymond Brown, puts it … “… the Lord Jesus will inherit not only this earth but the entire universe. The Son obviously comes into a rich inheritance”. Jesus, as the Son, is the “heir of all things”.
His role in creating
Well, the author of Hebrews then moves from thoughts of the future. Jesus as heir. His inheritance. To the past. And Jesus’ past role right back at the very beginning. And, of course, as we’ll see, the two are very much related. As James Moffatt puts it, “… what the Son was to possess he had been instrumental in making”. It’s only fitting that Jesus should be the heir of all things given what he see here of his role in creating.
So, let’s turn now to Jesus’ role in creating. This incredible aspect of what he has done that we have communicated to us in these verses. Verse 2 again … “… whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe”.
Wow! This is the viewpoint. The stance. Of the New Testament. In terms of Jesus and his relation to creation. His role in creating. He is God’s agent of creation. It’s what we also see communicated to us at the beginning of John’s Gospel. As John seems to deliberately echo the first book of the Bible. Genesis. He describes God’s Son, Jesus, as “the Word” and writes. John Chapter 1 verse 1 …
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made”. And then a bit later on, in verse 10 … “He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognise him”.
In words that we’ll come back to later today and next week as well, Paul writes of Jesus in Colossians 1 …
“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities: all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together”.
Likewise, in 1 Corinthians Chapter 8. Paul. In the context of talking about food sacrificed to idols. Says this …
“So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world and that there is no God but one. For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many ‘gods’ and many ‘lords’), yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live”.
This is a truly remarkable thing to be said. A stunning claim to be made. Of this one who walked the dusty streets of Palestine in the 1st century. Jesus, he entered the very time and space that he’d previously been instrumental in making.
We sing the song, ‘Jerusalem’, here on occasions. It expresses it this way … “See the King who made the sun, and the moon and shining stars, let the soldiers hold and nail him down, so that he could save them”.
A bit older but expressing the same truth. Graham Kendrick’s, ‘The servant king’ … “Come see his hands and his feet, the scars that speak of sacrifice; Hands that flung stars into space, to cruel nails surrendered”.
Here is the one “through whom he”. That is, God. “… made the universe”. Jesus, as God’s son, is God’s agent of creation.
Just this past week it was brought to my attention that a new planet has just been discovered. You might’ve read or heard about it. It was featured on Nine News earlier in the week. Apparently it’s the first object of its kind to be discovered using a radio telescope. And so. Using this telescope. They found this planet just drifting alone through space. 20 light years away from Earth. Twelve times the size of Jupiter. And with a magnetic field that’s 200 times stronger than Jupiter.
Have a listen to what one of the astronomers at Arizona State University said about it. She said, “This object is right at the boundary between a planet and a brown dwarf, or ‘failed star’, and is giving us some surprises. They [as in the surprises] can potentially help us understand magnetic processes on both stars and planets”.
But, of course, there are no surprises here. This is no new discovery for the Son. For Jesus. He put that planet there in the first place. He could tell us exactly whether we should categorise it as a planet or a brown dwarf, failed star, whatever. Jesus. He doesn’t need any help understanding celestial magnetic processes. He’s the one who put them in place from the beginning. Because he’s the one “through whom he” – God – “made the universe”. Jesus, he is God’s agent of creation.
His role in sustaining
And nor is that all. When it comes to the Son. Jesus. And what he has done. You see, he doesn’t just. As if what we’ve just seen and thought about isn’t enough. He doesn’t just have a role in creating. He also has a role in sustaining that creation. Have a look at the work that he continues to do. His role in sustaining. Back in Hebrews Chapter 1. Verse 3 …
“The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word”.
You see, at different times throughout history. And unfortunately all of us can slip into thinking this way at times. It’s been common to think of God and his role in terms of creation. As God being like a clock-maker type figure. That he kind of wound the thing up but then set it on its way. For the world to run on its own. And God. Apart from intervening by performing some miracle or other now and then. He’s stepped back and is removed from what he’s created. The technical term for this way of thinking is Deism. Having a deistic. That is, this clock-maker. View of God.
Problem being that it’s not at all the picture that the Bible gives us. Because here is the Son. Jesus. The one, as we’ve been told, through whom God made the universe. Here described as, “sustaining all things by his powerful word”.
In the passage from Colossians that we read just earlier, Paul puts it this way. Colossians 1 verse 17. “… in him”. That is, in Jesus. “… all things hold together”.
I hated science at school. Give me English, or Geography, or History any day. But even I’ll admit that at least some basic understanding of science helps us to appreciate what’s being said here. The reason Jupiter and Mars and Saturn and whatever this new planet’s called are located exactly where they are. The reason the stars shine in their precise positions each and every night. The reason we experience the sun coming up every morning. The reason we know winter is going to slide into spring and then summer and then autumn and back to winter again. The reason gravity is maintained. The reason whales head up our coastline each winter to give birth. The reason two million wildebeest make their annual journey from the plains of the Serengeti in Tanzania to the grasslands of the Masai Mara in Kenya. In what’s called Africa’s Great Migration. The reason you are taking that breath. And then that one. And that one. All this and more is because the Son, Jesus, is “sustaining all things by his powerful word”. His role in creating. His role in sustaining.
“By him and for him”
All of which leaves us with a very significant and very personal implication. It’s so obvious and yet we can tend to forget it, or want to ignore it, or we willingly dismiss it. As Paul puts it in Colossians 1:16 … “all things were created by him and for him”. And we are part of the ‘all’! We are part of the universe that was made. Created. Through God’s Son, Jesus. As Hebrews 1 tells us. We are part of the ‘all things’ that he’s sustaining by his powerful word. We are created and sustained. By him and for him.
You see, you get rid of this doctrine. This idea. This teaching. Of creation. Of God as Creator. You knock that out. You end up making it very difficult for yourself to rightly understand sin. Because if there’s no Creator then you’re not answerable to anyone. You just start and end with yourself. And if you start going askew on your doctrine. Your understanding. Your idea. Of sin. It makes it very difficult for you to understand judgement. That because you are a creature who has rebelled against a good and generous Maker it’s only right and to be expected that you stand under his judgement. And if you can’t understand sin and judgement, you’re in a world of trouble trying to understand who Jesus is and what he’s done. And on it goes.
But these verses in Hebrews. And the other ones we’ve looked at this morning from elsewhere in the New Testament. They tell us that we were created by someone. And therefore we are made for someone. His name is Jesus. The Son that is spoken of here. And if we continue to buck against that. If we persist in not acknowledging that. Not recognising his rightful rule over our lives. Stubbornly refusing to see that we were made for a greater end than just ourselves. We not only ought to expect his judgement to fall on us without protection in the end. But we will also never discover the joyful, wonderful, purpose for which we’ve been made.
Jesus. He is the heir who has come, and yet we have not treated him as we ought. When the Creator entered his creation we did not recognise him. More than that, we rejected him. We made a grab for something that was not meant to be ours. We are tenants who have acted like owners. And so we ought to turn back to our true Owner. The one who made us. And give thanks that, when he did come, out of sheer love and grace, he let the soldiers hold and nail him down so that he could save them. And us. That he surrendered those hands that had flung stars into space to cruel nails in sacrifice. Because that’s what it took to restore relationship between Creator and creature.
But I know for many of us here you have been brought to see and understand reality in that way. That, yes, I have been made by him and for him. It makes such a tremendous difference, doesn’t it? It really does, you know. Though sometimes you might forget it. There is joy and wonder in being brought to understand that we have been made by him and for him. Have a listen to how Raymond Brown helps us to see this …
He writes, “Surely a Christ whose hands had shaped the universe and summoned the galaxy of stars into being could hold these Jewish Christians in days of testing and guide their steps through times of adversity. If the chaos before creation could be overcome, surely he could control their destiny and provide their immediate needs”. Don’t you need to hear that and be reminded of that? In whatever testing or times of adversity you’re going through at the moment. Whatever your concerns for your destiny are. Whatever your immediate needs are. If this is who God’s Son Jesus is. And what he’s done. Then that is what that truth means for you and for me.
Or how about this quote. Raymond Brown again …
“It is important for the writer to emphasise that Christ’s word is powerful and able to do what he determines. He speaks in the universe and what he commands is done. He has spoken in their hearts and what he demands can most certainly be accomplished whatever opposition and persecution they may encounter. In the strong hands of such a Christ they are eternally secure. Possibly our vision of Christ is limited”. Is yours? Is mine? “We are in danger”, Brown goes on, “of confining him to our restricted experience or limited knowledge. We need a vision of Christ with these immense cosmic dimensions, a Christ who transcends all our noblest thoughts about him and all our best experience of him. These first-century readers would be less likely to turn from him in adversity if they had looked to him in adoration. The opening sentences of the letter are designed to bring them and us to our knees; only then can we hope to stand firmly on our feet”.
Have these verses served to enlarge your vision of Christ this morning? Have they thrilled you towards adoration? Have they driven you to your knees? How about we express that now as I pray and then we’ll have some reflection time on our own. Let’s talk to God …
Our great God we praise you now for your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. The one you have appointed heir of all things. The one through whom you made the universe and the one who sustains all things by his powerful word. Help us to see that we. Each one of us. Have been made by him and for him. Please plant these truths deep in our hearts and minds so that we might have a greater and more accurate view of Jesus, and so that we can live each day more in the wonderful light of who he is and what he’s done, Amen.
Well, before we sing again, we’re going to take a moment to further reflect on these truths for ourselves. And, just for the sake of the recording, I’ll read the questions out for us …
If we have been made “by him and for him”, what is something that you need to repent of (that is, change your mind about) this morning?
If we have been made “by him and for him”, what comfort does that bring you in what you’re going through in life at the moment?
I’ll give you a couple of minutes to think over those questions and then we’ll sing again.
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