Hebrews 1:1-14
January 12, 2025
preached by Pastor Ryan Bouton
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Time of Reflection Quotations

“A more certain way to attack religion is by favor, by the comforts of life, by the hope of wealth; not by what reminds one of it, but by what makes one forget it; not by what makes one indignant, but by what makes men lukewarm, when other passions act on our souls, and those which religion inspires are silent. In the matter of changing religion, State favors are stronger than penalties.”

~ The Spirit of the Laws, Baron de Montesquieu (1689-1755), a French judge, historian, and political philosopher

“What—or rather Who was it that was needed for such grace and such recall as we required? Who, save the Word of God Himself, Who also in the beginning had made all things out of nothing? His part it was, and His alone, both to bring again the corruptible to incorruption and to maintain for the Father His consistency of character with all. For He alone, being Word of the Father and above all, was in consequence both able to recreate all, and worthy to suffer on behalf of all and to be an ambassador for all with the Father.”

~ On the Incarnation by Athanasius (c. 296-373), a Christian theologian and defender of Trinitarianism against Arianism

“Whenever he looked straight at them [the angels] they appeared to be rushing towards him with enormous speed: whenever his eyes took in their surroundings he realised that they were stationary. This may have been due in part to the fact that their long and sparkling hair stood out straight behind them as if in a great wind. But if there were a wind it was not made of air, for no petal of the flowers was shaken. They were not standing quite vertically in relation to the floor of the valley: but to Ransom it appeared (as it had appeared to me on Earth when I saw one) that the eldils were vertical. It was the valley — it was the whole world of Perelandra — which was aslant. He remembered the words of Oyarsa [an angel] long ago in Mars, ‘I am not here in the same way that you are here.’ It was borne in upon him that the creatures were really moving, though not moving in relation to him. This planet which inevitably seemed to him while he was in it an unmoving world — the world, in fact — was to them a thing moving through the heavens. In relation to their own celestial frame of reference they were rushing forward to keep abreast of the mountain valley. Had they stood still, they would have flashed past him too quickly for him to see, doubly dropped behind by the planet’s spin on its own axis and by its onward march around the Sun.”

~ Perelandra by C.S. Lewis

Sermon Passage

Hebrews 1:1-14 (ESV)

¹ Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, ² 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. ³ 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, ⁴ having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.
⁵ 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”?
⁶ And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says,
“Let all God’s angels worship him.”
⁷ In speaking of the angels he says,
“He makes his angels spirits,
and his servants flames of fire.”
⁸ But about the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever;
a scepter of justice will be the scepter
of your kingdom.
⁹ You have loved righteousness
and hated wickedness;
therefore God, your God,
has set you above your companions
by anointing you with the oil of joy.”
¹⁰ He also says,
“In the beginning, Lord,
you laid the foundations of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of your hands.
¹¹ They will perish, but you remain;
they will all wear out like a garment.
¹² 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.”
¹³ To which of the angels did God ever say,
“Sit at my right hand
until I make your enemies
a footstool for your feet”?
¹⁴ Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?