Hebrews 1:1-4

[0:00] Hebrews 1, just to read with me in chapter 1, verse 1. Long ago, at many times, and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets.

[0:14] But in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed the heir of all things, through whom He also created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God.

[0:27] He has given 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 much as superior to angels as the name He has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

[0:50] One of my favorite little descriptions of who Jesus is in the whole Bible, and so what we're going to talk about this morning is just the person of Christ, who He is, what He's done.

[1:06] I thought, man, if you have just to talk about one thing, what could you talk about? And I thought we'd just talk about how excellent and glorious Christ is. And so some of you who were here last semester on Thursday night might have heard a variation of this message.

[1:22] I've changed it a little bit, but it was good for me just to reread it and adapt a few things. But many people today are wondering who Jesus really is.

[1:33] Some of you may be, but most of you, I assume, have encountered and experienced Christ in a real way. And during the first century, in 94 A.D., there was a Jewish historian named Josephus, and he was captured by the Romans, and the Romans were coming into Judea and trying to suppress the uprising that happened.

[2:00] It's the same time when the temple was destroyed by Titus. But he was taken back to Rome, and they allowed him to write and to do things there and to kind of represent the Jews in some way.

[2:12] But he wrote, he was a Pharisee, and he helped lead the rebellion before his capture. But this is something he wrote in the histories, he said, about the first century.

[2:26] Now there was almost at this time, there rose a source further in the trouble of one person, Jesus. So he's saying there's a lot of trouble, but this man Jesus caused more trouble.

[2:38] A wise man who performed surprising works, a teacher of men who gladly welcomed strange things. He led away many Jews and also some Gentiles.

[2:49] He was the so-called Christ. When Pilate, acting on information supplied by the chief men around us, condemned him to the cross, those who attached themselves to him at first did not cease, did not cause trouble.

[3:04] And the tribe of Christians, which has taken his name from him, is not extinct to this day, 94 A.D. So a lot of people look at Christ, and they don't really know what he was about and what he was.

[3:17] This is somebody who lived around that time, who actually heard and maybe even saw Jesus in the flesh walking around. He didn't really know who Jesus was.

[3:28] He was the so-called Christ. But he did say he was a wise man. And another translation of this same text said, if it be lawful to call him a man, is something else that Josephus writes.

[3:41] But we, who have been saved and redeemed by Christ, have a completely different relationship as someone who does not. And one man who actually did have an awesome brother of ours, a long time ago in the colonial America, 1700, Jonathan Edwards, he had a sermon called, The Excellency of Christ.

[4:02] And it's a great sermon. You ought to go and look it up and just read it. But it's from Revelation 5 that compares Christ to both the lamb and the lion, and how Christ is lamb-like and lion-like, and how he is so beyond anything like any human could imagine.

[4:23] And his excellencies are so diverse. And I'll just read you a couple of things that he wrote in the sermon. So although he was worthy of all good, he had amazing patience just to endure evil.

[5:00] It says, We admire him because of his sovereign dominion over all the world, but even more because his dominion was clothed with a spirit of obedience and submission.

[5:12] This is really cool. We love the way he stooped the proud scribes with his wisdom. And we love it even more because he could be simple enough to like children and spend time with them.

[5:26] So awesome stuff. Like Christ was unlike anything. He's so diverse, so infinite, that even the greatest among us, the greatest theologians in history, couldn't even tap who he really was.

[5:40] Right? There's so much of him to be had. But yet, at the same time, a child can understand him and know him. The diversity of Jesus. So when we say Jesus Christ, our Lord, like what are we actually saying?

[5:54] This is a great way to even just share Christ with somebody, someone who calls themselves a Christian or a follower of Christ, and ask them, what do you mean by saying that?

[6:06] Jesus is the Hebrew, or from the Hebrew, the Greek form of the Hebrew Joshua. Right? It means to save, designates the Savior. And Christ, the Greek form of Messiah, the one who would save us and deliver us from sin, the one that the anointed one of whom the Spirit would not ever pull away from, that rested on without measure, Scripture says.

[6:31] He's called the Son of Man. From Daniel, right? Where he pictured the Son of Man coming in the clouds of power and great glory. Then, the Lord, meaning the ruler, the sovereign over all things.

[6:46] You know, the Son of God. The third person of the Trinity. You know, three in one. Jesus Christ. So if you look at our text in verse 1, in Hebrews, it says, Long ago, and many times in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets.

[7:05] But in these last days, He has spoken to us by His Son. And so throughout the centuries, God has had a prophetic eloquence of communicating with us.

[7:17] And where it says there, many times in many ways, it means many portions in many ways, emphasizes the great diversity of speech in which God has communicated to us. So think about it.

[7:29] In the Old Testament, He communicated to Jacob through an angel. Moses through fire at Sinai, right? Balaam through a donkey. Elijah with a whisper.

[7:41] Such a huge diversity of communication. God could use whatever He wanted to use. And then even by the law, right? The law that came to Moses. The teachings, the warnings, and the exhortation found in the law.

[7:54] So God greatly accommodated us in breaking Himself down so that we could understand Him. Right? Because just the human mind, the human soul is not able to completely take in at one time the fullness of who God is.

[8:11] So He's broken Himself down for us to understand throughout the centuries. And so, it's His loving desire to do that, to break Himself down for us to understand. So He's accommodated us.

[8:24] And as you see in the Old Testament, there's like a progressive revelation of who God is kind of going on. So, more and more we learn about Him. But all that eloquence of the Old Testament was not complete.

[8:38] It remained kind of unfinished. It was fragmented. And it was sufficient a little bit for the time, but it was lacking. And it called for something greater.

[8:48] Right? And as we can see in our text, God has spoken in these last days through His Son. Not... So, that's it.

[9:00] Nothing else. He's spoken to us in His Son. Not... And more prophets. And more creepy ways that people come up with that think that God communicates to them. He's spoken to us in the Son.

[9:13] That means literally in Son. Meaning that the fullness of who God was was communicated by the coming of His Son. He embodies everything that God is.

[9:24] So, if you want to see God, you look to Christ. Jesus is the ultimate medium of communication between us and God. So, as Moses couldn't see God's full glory.

[9:36] Remember that? On Sinai, like I said, Show me your glory. I can't. It'll kill you. I'll show you my backside. Hide you in the cleft of the rock. Moses couldn't see that.

[9:48] But in Jesus, God has accommodated Himself in the ultimate way in communicating to us. The old phrase, In veiled in flesh, the Godhead see.

[9:59] Right? Jesus, our Lord. Turn to John 1. Keep your hand in Hebrews, but turn to John 1. John 1. John 1. Excuse me.

[10:15] God has drawn near to us in the greatest way in Jesus. And even His name, Emmanuel, God with us, implies the same thing. But in John 1, you look at verse 1.

[10:28] In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. There's a description of our Lord.

[10:39] Jump down to verse 14, same chapter. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory. The glory Moses could not see.

[10:50] Right? We have seen His glory. Glory is of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. Look at verse 18. No one has ever seen God.

[11:04] Alright? So, false prophets that have come in the past. Joseph Smith, Muhammad, they all have claimed to have actually seen or encountered this kind of stuff. No man has ever seen God.

[11:16] The only God who is at the Father's side, He has made Him known. So, Jesus came from the Father. He's the only one who came from the Father to make Him known. And that's it. Not and more prophets or anything else.

[11:28] Right? He took on flesh. God became flesh, literally, and walked among us. Right? In the person of Jesus. St. Augustine, he said about this idea of the incarnation, He took to Himself what He was not, while remaining what He was.

[11:49] He continued to be what He is, while appearing to us as we are. Really awesome. Awesome stuff. He took to Himself what He was not, while remaining what He was.

[12:01] He continued to be what He is, while appearing to us as we are. Awesome. So, God has communicated Himself in the ultimate way in Jesus to us.

[12:14] There's not any other way that He could have done it more fully than sending His Son. So, we're going to look at, back in Hebrews, turn back to Hebrews, chapter 1. We're going to look at, we're going to break those few verses down and look at each little phrase that's used here to kind of get a better picture of who Jesus is.

[12:32] So, if you're taking notes, this would be number one. We see that Jesus is the inheritor. The inheritor. Verse 2.

[12:43] All right. Everything in existence will ultimately end up under the control and rule of Christ.

[12:58] So, in addition to inheriting the universe, you think that that's pretty awesome. Like, to inherit the universe, what greater inheritance could Christ have? And He does have a greater inheritance than just the universe.

[13:12] And that inheritance is us. The saints. Right? We are His most treasured possession. He bought us with His blood. Ephesians 1, 18 says this.

[13:24] Having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which you have been called. And here it is. What are the riches of Christ's glorious inheritance in the saints?

[13:35] See that? So, Paul is praying that we would understand more fully how treasured and how valued we are by Christ as His inheritance. Right? He has heavens and innumerable worlds at His disposal, but we are still His treasured possession.

[13:52] Bought with His own blood. And one day, all the nations will rightfully give Him praise. The nations are His inheritance. Right? Psalm 2. Ask of me and I will make the nations your heritage and the ends of the earth your possession.

[14:08] So, Christ is the inheritor of all things. Not just the universe, but of us. The people that He saved and bought. So, that's the first one, the inheritor. Number two. We see that Christ is the creator.

[14:22] Right? Look at verse 2, the second part. It says, Through whom He created the world. Right? So, if you read the rest of the scriptures, even in Genesis 1, let us create.

[14:36] Let us create. You see this idea that Christ was the agent of creation. He existed before creation. This is why He cannot be just never created being.

[14:48] Turn to Colossians and hold your place in Hebrews again. But turn to Colossians 1. There are just a few places to turn this morning. I don't want to overwhelm you, but it's good to look at stuff. Colossians 1.

[15:03] If Christ created all things and He existed before creation, then He Himself was not created. He existed with God. Just like we read in John just a little while ago.

[15:17] So, He created all things, both visible and invisible. Alright? Look at this. Verse 15 in chapter 1.

[15:31] He, Jesus, is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. And that idea of firstborn just has to do with rank, not the way that some people would think of that.

[15:41] It has to do with rank. Of the highest rank, Jesus. For by Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things were created through Him and for Him.

[16:00] So, stuff exists for Jesus too. For His glory, for His honor. Right? I have a... I think he's my second cousin. I think he is.

[16:12] My dad's side of the family is from Alabama. Before you start hating on Alabama, like, my family doesn't meet any of those stereotypes that people think about. They are farmers.

[16:23] It's like stepping back a couple centuries if you go back to where they are. But they are great people. But among the farmer family over there, there's one guy. I think he's my second cousin.

[16:34] His name's Johnny Frank. And he works in Huntsville at the NASA station. And he's worked there for a long time, actually. And I don't even know what his salary is, but he makes a lot of money.

[16:48] He's working for NASA. But he's also a brother in the Lord. And he always has told me, like, man, the stuff that we look at and the stuff that we talk about, not just the people at the Space Center here, but the astronauts that come in that have actually been there and seen things, like, it's impossible to just believe that this just happened by chance, that there was or had to have been an all-powerful creator who made all this stuff.

[17:16] It's foolish to think otherwise. And even most physicists actually are thinking that way, too. They don't want that to get out to people. But I think this just can't happen by itself.

[17:27] But he would say, like, wow, like, God made all of this. You know, all things visible and invisible he made. Not just me and you and things that we can see, but also angels, demons, the things in the spiritual realm.

[17:43] He created those things in the beginning, right? And he created them good before they were corrupted. So absolutely nothing was made without him. And John 1, verse 3, it says, All things were made through him.

[17:57] And without him was not anything made that was made. He was in the world, and the world was made through him. Yet the world did not know him. That's John 1, 3, and 10.

[18:10] So he created all things, you and me. So, number three under this, back in Hebrews, number three is he is the sustainer of all things.

[18:23] He's the sustainer of all things. So not only is he the creator, he created things, but then he just didn't back away from them and let them run on their own. But he actually is actively upholding these things, like actively involved in every little thing that goes on.

[18:40] Verse 3, first part, it says, He upholds the universe by the word of his power. Right? So he's not just holding dead weight.

[18:50] He is actively involved in what goes on. Right? And what's really cool here, that word, word, that's used here in verse 3, it means like a spoken word, like an active word that's coming out of his mouth.

[19:07] It's not like he spoke it, and now he's not speaking. He is speaking, like right now. The reason that the universe is doing what it's doing and the reason that your heart is beating is because he's speaking.

[19:19] Remember Jesus, man does not live by bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. Right? That's an active tense.

[19:30] God is speaking and keeping us alive, sustaining us and upholding us by the word of his power. Colossians 1, verse 17, says that Christ is before all things, so before anything was made, and in him all things hold together.

[19:48] Right? This was this idea of this old word that I like to use a lot, but you don't hear much anymore in the church, but the word providence, God, God's sovereign governing and involvement of all things in his creation.

[20:01] Everything, from a bird, a sparrow falling, that's what Jesus says, right to the grass growing, to empires, rising and falling, like God is in control of those things.

[20:13] He's not just distant, he is actively involved. He upholds the universe by the word of his power, governing and sustaining all things. So, let that be a comfort to you, right?

[20:26] That he's not away from you right now. If you indeed have Christ, he is going to uphold you and he's going to do what he promised. Right? He can't be thwarted. There's no power outside of him that can overtake him.

[20:40] He has all things under his control. And I had to even believe that this morning, even like in a frustrating situation, but I thought, am I going to believe what I'm talking about? You know, one of those things.

[20:51] And so, God is in control of all things. It demands such worship to understand that, that Christ is in control. Right? So, your heart beating, your lungs taking breath, that's being sustained by the active word of Christ right now.

[21:07] So, he's the sustainer, but he's also, number four, he's the radiator. Not like a car radiator, but a different kind of radiator. Look at verse three, where it says, he is the radiance of the glory of God.

[21:27] Right? I hope that your English translation doesn't use the word reflection. And if it does, just cross it out. It's okay. And put the word radiance instead.

[21:40] Because there's a vast difference. Big difference. One really proves to not be true at all about Jesus. And one proves to be true. How much difference?

[21:51] Well, to reflect and to radiate. A vast difference is much as like, the sun and the moon difference. The sun, excuse me, the moon, has no light of its own.

[22:03] You know that, right? There's no such thing as the light of the moon. It's, it's reflecting the sun's light. Right? The sun, unlike the moon, the sun radiates light. It's the source of light.

[22:15] Right? So, if you're saying that Jesus is just a reflection, you're saying that he really is not, the scripture says, that he is God. That he's not just reflecting the source, but he is a part of the source itself of light.

[22:28] Right? Jesus doesn't reflect it. He is a part of the glory of God. And that's shown even in the transfiguration. Right? Briefly, Peter, James, and John got to see this.

[22:41] Right? To look at the full strength of who he is. In Mark 9, verse 2, it says this, we're not there yet. We will get there. In Mark, after six days, Jesus took with him Peter, James, and John, and they led him up to a high mountain by themselves.

[23:00] And he was transfigured before them. And his clothes became radiant. There's the word. Intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them.

[23:13] Intense moment. I've mentioned this before, but, like, you wonder, if you read that passage in Luke, and you read it here in Mark, it says that, like, they actually fell asleep.

[23:26] And you would think, what a lame time to fall asleep. Like, you're, you're standing there, watching Christ transfigured, and you fall asleep. Um, that's not what happened, really.

[23:38] But when you really read the language there, it kind of gives us impression that they were so overwhelmed with what happened, like, adrenaline, everything, that they literally just, like, lost their strength by being there, probably.

[23:52] They just passed out. Um, so whenever you ask, like, just to, God, show me your faith, show me your glory, like, it's a really intense moment. Most people in Scripture have terrifying experiences when they ask for God to show them His glory.

[24:07] Um, it's not something you just kind of waltz into. It's something that will terrify you. Um, so, he is the radiance of the glory of God. It's the same radiance that blinded Saul, right, on the road to Damascus.

[24:22] And back in the Nicene Creed, uh, 381 A.D., they wrote, God of light, God of God, light of light, very God of very God, Jesus Christ our Lord, right?

[24:35] That's the description of who Jesus is. So, number five, he's the representative. It's a big word. Um, number five, representative.

[24:46] And back in Hebrews, the third part of verse three says that Jesus is the exact imprint of his nature, of God's nature.

[24:58] And this idea of an imprint refers to an image on a coin which perfectly corresponds to the die, right? It's being used, the image of the die. So, Jesus is, in fact, completely the same as the Father.

[25:12] He also, but he also isn't just the same, but he is a representative of the Father. He's the source. John 1, like we said, the Word was God. Not just, um, the Word was, was like a God.

[25:26] It was, the Word was God. Um, Jesus is the representative of all things, especially his people, right? And the Word was with God. Uh, turn back to Colossians.

[25:38] I should have told you to keep your hand there. I apologize. But, there's two more places to turn. This one and one more. but also just hold your place in Hebrews. So, when we see Christ, we see the Father, right?

[25:55] But, he also is a distinct person bound up in the mystery of the Trinity, right? He is, he is God, but he also is a distinct member of the Trinity.

[26:07] Don't look at two verses here. Colossians 1, verse 19. For in Christ, right? All the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.

[26:20] Alright, look at that. Then jump to Colossians 2. Just go down a little bit. Colossians 2, verse 9. It says, For in him, the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily.

[26:35] And you have been filled with him, who is the head and rule, head of all, rule and authority. Okay? So, you see these words of all fullness dwelt in Christ.

[26:48] Pleruma. The idea of fullness. It means, at least in the Greek, what this would imply was the sum total of divine power and attributes. The fullness. The sum total of divine attributes dwelled in Christ.

[27:01] And that's used eight times in Colossians. That phrase. That the fullness dwelt in him of God. Right? And so, and that word dwell means to be at home permanently.

[27:12] So he didn't ever lose it. It stayed there. Like he embodied all of who God was at all times. Right? There's, there's not another created thing that could actually say that.

[27:24] No created thing could say what Jesus said. He said, you think that Abraham was great, but I tell you truly before Abraham was, I am. That same name that God used of himself at Sinai.

[27:39] So, that's why they tried to stone him. So, yes, the fullness of deity dwelt in Christ at all times. So he's the representative of God here before us.

[27:50] Number six. Just two more. Number six. He's the purifier. Back in Hebrews. The purifier. Verse three. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high.

[28:09] Right? No. Christ has shown himself to be the priestly purifier. Right? He is our high priest. He represents us before God. So unlike the other priests, Christ offered himself, his own body, right, as a sufficient sacrifice for our sins.

[28:27] And he died. He died. No priestly, no earthly priest could do this. The priesthood of Aaron was lacking. It had so many issues. Right? And God just tolerated it for a short time, pointing to a greater fulfillment when Jesus would come to be the ultimate high priest.

[28:45] And he would, nothing in the Old Testament, even today, right, nothing can cleanse our conscience. A guilty, sinful, broken conscience. So if you're without Christ today, that may be how you feel.

[28:59] And just know there's hope in Christ. Christ can take care of this because of what he has done. Right? We are all filthy and unrighteous before God. Yet Hebrews 9, 14, says this, how much more will the blood of Christ who through the eternal spirit offered himself without blemish to God to purify our conscience from dead works to serve a living God.

[29:25] Right? His blood, his sacrifice, his priesthood can cleanse our conscience. What an awesome gift. Like, I don't think, to a man at least, there is nothing more appealing than just an approving conscience because of what you've done.

[29:43] Right? Because of, excuse me, because of what Christ has done for you. And so, and the Levitical priests, most of you could be aware of this probably, but they were always moving around.

[29:53] There was never no resting. When the time for sacrifices came, stuff got busy. Animals being slaughtered like crazy. Right? Blood dripping everywhere. They never sat down because they always had work to do.

[30:08] But as we read here in Hebrews, back in verse 3, it says that Christ sat down at the majesty on high after making purification. Right? Awesome.

[30:19] He sat down symbolizing that he was finished. That nothing else had to be done. That it was the perfect sacrifice. And he sat down showing that his work was sufficient, decisive, final.

[30:32] He's not going to go do it again. So, whenever, even as believers, I think that all the time, man, I've got to be cleansed again. That's how you think. You wouldn't say that, but like you think, man, I've screwed up again.

[30:44] I've gone back to this or I've done something grievous to the Lord. It's still there. His work was decisive and final. And you can rest in that truth. He sat down at the majesty on high.

[30:57] Then, lastly, number seven, he is the ruler. Christ is the ruler. Verse three.

[31:08] It says, after 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 much more excellent than theirs.

[31:20] Right? So, in Hebrews, a huge theme, huge theme, I won't dare say the only theme, but a huge theme is that Christ is much, much better than what they used to have.

[31:35] So, if you start reading Hebrews, you'll see that he is better than the old covenant. He is better than Aaron's priesthood. He is better than Moses as a deliverer.

[31:45] He is better than the Sabbath they had. All these things. And so, another thing is they all had a big deal with angels. Angels this and angels that. Like, Christ created angels and he has a much more excellent name than them.

[32:00] He rules over them. Right? The last place I wanted you to turn, Psalm 110. Psalm 110. All things are under the authority of the Father, but yet the Father has granted authority to all things for the Son.

[32:22] Right? Christ is the ruler over all things, the authority over all creation. This is a, Psalm 110 is a messianic psalm that talks about Christ, David, King David prophesying, speaking of the Messiah to come.

[32:40] I love this, this psalm. Verse 1. The Lord says to my Lord, or God the Father says to the Son, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.

[32:55] The Lord sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your enemies. Your people will offer themselves freely on the day of your power in holy garments and from the wound of the morning the dew of your youth will be yours.

[33:13] An awesome prophecy, right? That Christ will rule and his people will offer themselves freely. You know, why did you come here today? Did you come here because you had to or because you wanted to?

[33:27] Did you offer yourself freely today? Most of us who have come to know Christ, we want to not do anything out of duty. We want to because we love him and we're thankful, right?

[33:38] We offer ourselves freely. So when Christ returns, it says that his people will be ready. They'll like gladly offer themselves when he returns. John Calvin said of this text here in Psalm 110, awesome phrase here, listen to this, from this text we learn that however numerous those enemies may be who conspire against the Son of God and they attempt the subversion of his kingdom, all will be brought unavailing for they shall never prevail against God's immutable purpose but on the contrary, they shall by the greatness of his power be laid prostrate at Christ's feet.

[34:21] Isn't that awesome? Like nothing can stop this. Yes, I'm so happy. Like nothing, no power can stand against Christ, right? Remember King Herod?

[34:33] He tried to do so many things to thwart the work of Christ. Both Herods did. Do you remember in Acts 12 that he was singing or conducting some kind of poem and they began to applaud him and they said, the voice of a God and not a man.

[34:51] And what happened? Herod was struck down right there on the spot and he was eaten by worms, like right in their sight. The same guy who stood in judgment of Jesus. Right? Who spat on the glory of Christ.

[35:04] He was eaten by worms. It says he breathed his last. Right? No ruler can stand against Christ. Some of you probably may not know this, but in history there was a Roman soldier named Julian and he took it, his personal, made it his personal mission to help persecute and exterminate Christians.

[35:24] He made, he basically challenged Christ, like, I will basically blot out your name. But he was wounded severely, morally wounded and was dying.

[35:35] He took some of his blood and he threw it up to Heather and he said, you have conquered, oh you Galilean. That's like what he said, like Christ ruled over him. Right? So, you don't want to stand in opposition to this king.

[35:50] This king is powerful, you can't resist him, but he also is good and he'll call you to himself and he'll save you. Right? The omnipotent power of Christ, the work on the cross was for our everlasting good as believers.

[36:07] One last little quote by my John Calvin on that passage in Psalm 110. He says, however much the world may rage against Christ, it will never be able to hurl him from the right hand of the Father.

[36:24] Moreover, as he does not reign on his own account, but for our salvation, we may rest assured that we will be protected and preserved from all ills under the guardianship of this invincible king.

[36:38] Isn't that awesome? We are protected by this king forever. So, just in conclusion, like, I've looked at, I've probably been a believer since I was 18, I'm 31 now, probably, that range of time.

[36:59] And as I've grown in my faith, Christ has gotten bigger to me, he has gotten more glorious to me, and I hope that that's the same for you. The more and more I see my sin, the greater Christ looks.

[37:14] That's a mark of true maturity as a believer, the more and more you'll see of your sin, not the less you'll see of it. But then it helps you kind of like forget about yourself and take heart in who Christ is.

[37:26] But as we grow in our faith, as children grow, as you grow, adults, older adults, students, like you're going to hopefully have an enlarged view of who Christ is.

[37:38] And in C.S. Lewis's Prince Caspian, the Chronicles of Narnia, it kind of depicts a cool picture of a growing idea, a growing view of who Christ is throughout those stories.

[37:50] And in Prince Caspian, young Lucy, on her quest, she saw the lion, Aslan, who represents Christ in the story, and she ran to him in the moonlight, right, and she burst of emotion, just laid hold of him, buried her face in his mane.

[38:08] And I'll just read you this little section here. She says, Aslan, dear Aslan, sobbed Lucy, at last, the great beast, rolled over on his side, so that Lucy fell, half sitting, half lying, between his front paws.

[38:25] He bent forward and just touched her nose with his tongue. His warm breath became all around her. She gazed up into the large, wise face.

[38:36] He said, welcome, child. Aslan, Lucy said, you're bigger. That is because you were older, little one, he answered.

[38:48] not because you are. I am not, Aslan said, but every year you grow, you will find me bigger. Pretty cool.

[38:59] So, expanding souls encounter and expanding Christ, right? Like, as we grow in our faith, Christ will seem more and more glorious, more bigger to us. Like, there's enough of him to go around for eternity, right?

[39:13] That's what we're going be doing. Pretty awesome. Right? So let's just pray together. Let's Let's