Please turn with me to Hebrews chapter 1. I'll be reading from 4 to all the way to 14, even though I'm not gonna be addressing all of it today. This is gonna be part 1 of possibly 3 parts. We want to take our time, really comb through what the author is saying here about Jesus and in his relationship with the angels.

And so today's gonna be the first part. We're gonna be addressing two of the things that he says and then possibly two or three next week. And then if we don't finish, we'll do that the third part. Okay. Starting from verse 4, again reading out of the NASB. "Having become as much better than the angels as he has inherited a more excellent name than they.

For to which of the angels did he ever say, 'You are my son, today I have begotten you.' And again, 'I will be a father to him and he will be a son to me.' And when he again brings the firstborn into the world, he says, 'And let all the angels of God worship him.' And of the angels he says, 'Who makes his angels winds and his ministers a flame of fire?' But of the Son he says, 'Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.

And the righteous scepter is a scepter of his kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness. Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your companions. And you Lord, in the beginning, laid the foundation of the earth and the heavens are the works of your hands.

They will perish but you remain. And they will be... and they all will become old like a garment. And like a mantle you will roll them up. Like a garment they will also be changed. But you are the same. And your years will not come to an end. But to which of the angels has he ever said, 'Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.' Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?

Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we pray that you would bless this time. That you would open our ears, often our hearts. Help us to be obedient to all that you have to teach. That we would not simply be mere hearers, but to be doers of your word. We pray that you would be blessed as we are blessed to be in your presence.

In Jesus name we pray, amen. Okay, I'm gonna ask you a question and I don't want anybody to answer. Just kind of think about it. Okay, which is a more important question? Who is Jesus or who is Jesus to you? Again, don't, don't answer. I just want you to think about it.

Which is a more important question? Who is Jesus or who is Jesus to you? The answer to that question is simple. It's yes. It's both. It's not one or the other. So if you're not careful, you can be a part of a camp where who Jesus is, in object of truth, isn't, doesn't really matter because it only matters what he means to me.

So whether he is the Son of God or whether he's the Messiah, it doesn't matter because this is what he means to me. Now obviously that is completely false. You can't create a God that of your desire and then say, well you know that's what he means to me so it doesn't matter.

That's good for you, it's good for me. It has nothing to do with objective truth. Obviously if you're a member in this church, we don't emphasize that and it is absolutely essential that you know who he is objectively. What is the truth about who Jesus is? But for whatever the reason, if you belong to a church where the Bible is being taught, there has, there's a tendency for us to gravitate toward truth and begin to ignore the subjective truth of what does that mean to you.

So we know who Jesus is. He's the second person of the Trinity. We know that he's the Messiah. We know he's the Savior. We know he is God. But what does that mean to you? The purpose of the book of Hebrews is not to simply get Christology correct. It's not simply so that at the end of the study of the book of Hebrews and say, you know what, you know I spent so much time in understanding who Jesus is and how he fulfilled all the things that God was doing in the Old Testament and I can answer these questions.

The goal of the book of Hebrews is not simply get the Christology right. He says again in chapter 2 verse 1, as he concludes this section, he says, for this reason, because Jesus is greater than the prophets and greater than the angels, for this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard so that we do not drift away from it.

When he says drifting away from it, he's not simply talking about theology. That at one point you believe that he was God and then you kind of drifted and you started saying that he's not God. He's saying because you believe that he is God, what does that mean? What does that look like in your life?

The goal of our study is not simply Christology. It's by understanding his true identity. Again, this is, I would say, Hebrews chapter 1 and 2 in particular, I've probably spent more time in these two texts in evangelism, talking to Jehovah Witnesses and about the Trinity than any other text.

Because to me, and people may disagree with me, and some people may have different opinion, it is the clearest text that teaches about the Trinity, about who Jesus is in his identity, in his relationship with the Father, and to the rest of creation. And so oftentimes I find myself, if I'm talking to Jehovah Witnesses, this is the text I end up going to.

And you'll see that if you, especially with the Jehovah Witnesses, because we have a very different view of who Jesus is, even though the language sounds the same, that this is the text I usually come to. And you'll find out that their translation is deliberately mistranslated because they can't interpret and understand what he is saying here.

And so I've had many discussions with Jehovah Witnesses in this text. And so I hope that through this study that you'll get a firmer grasp of who Jesus is. But again, the ultimate goal of this study is not so that at the end of it say, "Oh, I can now have a discussion with the Jehovah Witnesses and I can refute false doctrines." Because that is not the goal of the writer.

The goal of the writer is if you know that, if you believe that, and if you can confess that, if you can argue that, then what does that mean to you? Who does Jesus mean to you? Last week we talked about how Jesus is greater than the prophets and all of that was a setup to pay attention.

And so now he begins this week in this text to talk about how Jesus is greater than the angels. And I've already stated that the angels were believed to be the greatest or the highest created beings. So it was God and then the angels. In fact, in Hebrews chapter 2, 9, talking about Jesus's incarnation, he says, "For a little while Jesus was made a little lower than the angels." So it clearly states that even though man was the center of creation in Genesis chapter 1, 2, it says that in God's total plan of creation that we were actually made a little bit lower.

So they were higher than us. When we typically think of angels, you know, we have exaggerated versions of good angels and bad angels, right? And a lot of it, if not most of what I hear about angels, usually come from television or movies. And that's why, you know, again, this is my personal thing, that horror movies are horrible because it gives you bad theology.

It gives you really horrible theology. Because the horror movies, usually the superpower in horror movies is usually Satan. And nobody can do anything. And that's why it's so scary because there's nothing that they can do. And like it or not, even though, no matter how strong you think you are mentally, if you sit in front of that and you're entertained by that, it's gonna affect your theology in your head, at least emotionally.

Again, so that's my opinion. That's not a fact, but you know, like I would encourage you to stay away from it if you can, okay? And I know you can. All right? So most of what we think about angels are usually exaggerated. So you typically, you know, you have angels, the good angels are the white angels with wings, right?

And they can fly and they're benevolent. They're always caring, looking out for you. And that's the angels. And then you have the bad angels who are demonic and they're usually in dark colors. They have horns, right? And they're bad and they're ugly, right? They're either in red, some cape, and so they're ugly.

According to scripture, in their nature, it's the same. So if you were to take a bunch of people who committed crime and maybe straight-A students and you put them in the same line, you're not gonna simply say, "Criminal, not criminal. Criminal, not criminal." Because the only distinction may be their moral nature.

And that's exactly how the Bible describes angels. They, on the surface, probably look exactly the same. And the reason why demonic angels have so much power to lure people into the world is because they're just as attractive. In fact, the greatest and the highest, most attractive angel is Lucifer.

So he doesn't scare us into chasing after the world. He lures us, much like Babylon. But what he's referring to here is not the demons. What he's referring here are the angels who are still in service. In fact, just to understand the context before we even get into what Paul says, we need to know what they understood, what the Jewish community understood about the angels.

They were considered holy, powerful, above human beings. The Bible describes the numbers of angels as myriads of myriads. Now, the term "myriads of myriads" literally just means tens of thousands. Now, tens of thousands doesn't sound like a lot, right? I remember when we were younger, when somebody said, "Oh, he's a millionaire." And that meant a lot.

It's like, "Oh, you know, by the time I'm 30, I'm gonna be a millionaire." Now, if somebody says, "I'm a millionaire," it's like, "What? That's your goal?" Now people say "billionaire" because the devaluing of money and that you have to make a lot more. So tens of thousands, the way they use it, literally means tens of thousands, but the way the Bible uses it as numbers that you can't count.

Like today, if you want to have a high number, you don't just say "million," you say "billions" or "gazillion" or "google." Or if you want to go even beyond that, you say "infinity times infinity." Basically, what that means is you can't count. And so when the Bible says that there are myriads upon myriads of angels, they're numberless.

That's how many there are. So nobody knows exactly how many angels were created, but they were created in large numbers to the point where we couldn't count. The Bible says that the angels actually have their own language. In Corinthians, it says it's speaking of tongues of men and of angels.

So they're a community. They're not just random beings just roaming around. The Bible also says that they have emotion. And so scripture describes that when a sinner repents, he says all the angels in heaven rejoices. They are highly organized. The Bible says that there's Archangel Michael, Gabriel, and Lucifer was the highest of the angels before he fell.

So it sounds like the way that the angels are described, like a military. So you have commanding officers, you have the archangel, and you have various angels who are subordinate, following, and so the community of angels is highly organized. In fact, the Jewish community had such high regard for the angels.

Paul says in Colossians 2 18 to watch out for people who lead you into worship of angels. Colossians 2 18, "Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of angels." To say that Jesus is superior to angels is basically saying Jesus is God, because there was nothing between the angels and God.

And so again, some of the things that I'm gonna say this morning is gonna sound a bit technical, but this technicality is very important in understanding Jesus's identity. So again, I say this every once in a while because I'm afraid I'm gonna lose some of you. Okay, so I'm trying to gain some of you to pay a little bit more attention than normal.

Okay, he begins by saying, verse 4, "Having become as much better than the angels, he has inherited a more excellent name, for to which of the sons you are my son, today I have begotten you." So when he says he became and he has begotten, the first thing that someone would ask was, Jesus is clearly a created being.

That's what he says. He was begotten. He became. The typical word for making something out of nothing is the word in Greek, "poieo." So if that's what the author meant, it would have been much more clear for him to use the word "poieos," to make something out of nothing.

But the word he uses here is not "poieo," but "ginomai." And the word "ginomai" basically means that to be transformed from one to another. It's not creation from nothing to something. The theologians call that "ex nihilo," something out of nothing, and only God has the ability to do that.

He's not saying that Jesus was nothing and then he became something, but he was being transformed from one form to another. In 1st Corinthians 4 15, that same word is used this way, "For if you were to have countless tutors in Christ, yet you would not have many fathers.

For in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel." So here he's not saying that the Corinthians didn't exist and all of a sudden they came into existence because of Paul. He's saying that they weren't Christians, they became Christians. Again, Philemon verse 10, "I appeal to you for my child Onesimus, whom I have begotten in my imprisonment." He's not saying that he didn't exist and then he gave birth and all of a sudden he came to being.

Obviously he's saying that he's using the word "begotten" in the same way, that he transformed from one to another. Now I think the best illustration of that is found in Philippians chapter 2 6 through 11, where Jesus humbles himself and then he is exalted and then he he receives a name that is greater than any other.

So Philippians 2 6 through 11, "Who although he existed in form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but he emptied himself." So let me stop right there. So God, Jesus didn't all of a sudden appear out of nowhere in his humanity. He said he was God and he was pre-existent.

But what he emptied himself was the glory. He said he emptied himself of his glory, he took on a form of a servant, being made in likeness of men, being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself becoming obedient to the point of death and even death on a cross.

And for this reason, because he emptied himself, became nothing, for this reason God highly exalted him, bestowed on him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. So we clearly see here that Christ wasn't created.

He was God. He veiled his glory in humanity and he humbled himself. And this humility is permanent. His union, his 100% God, 100% man, is a permanent union where he veils his glory and as a result of what he has done, he says, God the Father exalts him and causes him to be exalted in his name to be honored.

Now all of that may or may not be going over your head, but it is a clear teaching of Jesus's deity. It's a clear teaching that he is equal with God and yet he is also distinct. And I'm going to continue to go forward. So he begins by declaring that and then he goes even further than that and he says, Jesus inherited a better name than the angels.

Now I've already shared that the angels were considered the highest of beings and they were considered so highly that many of them were tempted to worship the angels. In fact, oftentimes you'll see, and I'll mention this later, where you have encounters with the saints of the Old Testament and New Testament and their immediate reaction is to bow down and worship.

And then angels stop them. And I'll mention a little bit more later. That's how they regarded the angels. But here the author says he inherited a better name. He was made a little bit lower in his humanity, but as a result he is exalted. He was placed higher than the angels, better than the angels.

Now again, in our culture when we say your name is better than his name, we just mean it sounds better, right? You meet a guy named Dorcas, right? That's the actual name in the Bible. His name is Dorcas and then you meet another guy named Roman, right? I told Roman so many times, I don't know if he's in the room, like he's my, that's my favorite name, okay?

Centurion, Roman, right? So today when we say, you know, Roman, you have a better name than Dorcas. We just mean that it sounds better, right? In context, in culture, you have to understand what they mean by better name. Because we don't use names in that way. It's kind of like if we were to use nicknames to describe that person, like, oh Michael Jordan is the goat, right?

Or he is this type of person, that type of person. Well the name in the Bibles were directly related to their character or God's purpose in their life. We see that with Abram, which means exalted father. He doesn't have a child until his his senior year and then God says, I'm gonna make you a great nation and changes his name to Abraham, which means father of many, multitudes.

Can you imagine Abraham saying like, you know, my name is bad as it is, the exalted father when he's not a father, and then now he's gonna make him go around, introduce himself to his friends and his family and say, I'm father of many, right? But that was clearly linked to God's purpose in his life because God chose Abraham to bear many children and he prophesied that it was going to be numerous and through that many other nations are going to be blessed.

And so his name is directly linked to God's purpose in his life. Isaac, his name literally means laughter, and they named him laughter for two reasons. One, because God said you're gonna have a child and they said at this age? And so in unbelief they laughed. But also they named him laughter because from that unbelief God was gracious and they gave him Isaac and they rejoice.

And so he was named laughter. Again, it points to just by studying their name you can see the redemptive history and what God is doing. Jacob, his name literally means grasper of heel. Can you imagine that? He came out and grasper of heels is like, oh Jacob, right? And that's what he was named all his life to remind him you're the guy who usurped your older brother of his birthright.

Later on as he matures and his faith begins to grow and God blesses his life, he wrestles with God. You know that scene where Jacob is wrestling and as a result of wrestling he said I'm not gonna go until you bless me and he changes his name from Jacob to Israel.

And the name Israel literally means one who wrestles with God. David, David is a man that God hand chooses and he says he's a man who's after my own heart. His name means beloved because that's exactly who he was. God hand-picked him because God favored him. Simon, Jesus changes his name to Peter which means the rock and he confesses who Jesus says.

He says upon this confession, upon this rock I will build my church. So Peter becomes the first leader of the New Testament Church. Apostle Paul, before he starts ministry, he had two names. He had a Hebrew name and he had a Gentile name. He was called Saul and then when he's called into ministry he begins to call himself Paul and then so after Acts chapter 13 we only hear him as Apostle Paul because Acts chapter 13 is when he begins his missionary journeys.

So he begins to use his Gentile name to convey that he's an apostle to the Gentiles. So in the Bible, in the Old Testament and the New Testament, when they talk about name, it has much more significance than what you and I typically think. It is directly linked to their character, God's calling, redemptive history, and their very nature.

So when the Bible says, Philippians 2 10, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow. They're not simply talking about when they hear his name. They're talking about in his essence, in his presence. Every knee will bow. It's not should bow. When they are in the presence of who is essence of who Jesus is, they will bow.

Of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth. That's how high he is exalted. Ephesians 1 21, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion. Again, the emphasis here is all. Not most, not a lot, all rule and all authority and power and dominion.

Every name that is named, not only in the age, but also in the one to come. Again, the question is not, you know, you probably knew God is exalted. Jesus Christ is God. I mean, you believe in the Trinity. I mean, that's taught in our membership class. But to the degree that he is emphasizing and making us sure that we know the details.

There's over 500 different names and titles that are given to Jesus in the Bible, both in the Old and the New Testament. I want to highlight a few to you. Jesus is almighty one, Alpha and Omega. He's the advocate, author and perfect of our faith. He is the final authority.

He's the bread of life, beloved son of God, bridegroom, chief cornerstone, deliverer, faithful and true, good shepherd, great high priest. He's the head of the church. He's a holy servant. He's a great I am. He's Emmanuel, judge, king of kings, lamb of God, light of the world, lion of the tribe of Judah, Lord of all, mediator, Messiah, mighty one, redeemer.

He's the rock, Savior, son of man, son of the Most High, creator, resurrection and the life, the good shepherd, the way and the truth, the word, the true vine, wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. We can hear all of these things as separate titles, but again, if you hear this as a Jew who understood what these title means, every single one of these things are a clear description of who he is, his nature and what he does.

And he is saying, when he says he is above the angels, see there is nothing above the angels but God. And that's why this passage is so clear about Jesus' identity. He's not creating God, the Son and the angels. You're gonna see that the Bible clearly teaches that God the Father and Jesus and the Holy Spirit, and I'm not gonna get into the Holy Spirit today, but the Holy Spirit are the same.

He's not creating a space between God and the angels. And that's why the second thing that he says, once he establishes that Jesus is above all that, he's above the angels, he has a name given above all the rest of creation. Second thing he says, the angels worship Jesus and not the other way around.

Verse 6, "And let all the angels of God worship him." In every instance where the angels are in service and men realize that these powerful holy creatures are in their presence, their natural inclination is to worship. Because that's who we are. Whenever we're in the presence of something magnificent, we tend to worship.

That may be you may go to some beautiful place and you're just awed. You didn't sing songs like, you know, "Grand Canyon, you're so beautiful." You may not have written poems, but in your heart there was a sense of reverence. You might have seen a fantastic game or somebody, you know, had the dunk contest yesterday and it's like, "Whoa!" Natural reaction is reverence.

We're in the presence of something much more magnificent than you and I. So when we see men of the Bible, men and women of the Bible, in the presence of these creatures, of these angels, their natural inclination was to bow down and worship because we were created to worship.

Not to be worshipped, but to worship. We see in Revelation chapter 19, 10. A great angel is guiding John through and he's showing all the different revelations and things that are happening at the end. And John couldn't help himself but to be awed. And this is what it says, Revelation 19, 10, "Then I fell at his feet to worship him, the angel, but he said to me, the angel, 'Do not do that.

I am a fellow servant of yours and your brethren who hold the testimony of Jesus and worship God. For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.'" All of a sudden he, he stops him and he puts a brake on it. He's like, "Stop that!" Because he would get into trouble.

If the angel just sat there and allowed him to worship him, he might have felt good. But he said, "Do not do that because that's a breaking of the first and most important commandment. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. You are to worship no other gods but me." So it might have felt good for the angels and that was the problem with Lucifer.

Lucifer fell because he wanted that glory that was going to God. And he is fighting all through his existence to touch some of that glory. And do you think that the angels are not aware of that? You think this angel who sees John before him, he doesn't just say, "Hey, you know, thanks for your compliment." He says, "No, stop.

Do not do that. I am like you. I'm just a servant." Again in Revelation chapter 22 verse 8 through 9, "I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed me these things.

But he said to me, 'Do not do that. I am a fellow servant of yours and of your brethren, the prophets and those who heed the words of the book. Worship God.'" It would be blasphemy for the angel to stand there and allow that worship to happen. See, but it naturally tells us that the angels were highly regarded, that the natural reaction of man in the presence of something so much more magnificent than him was to bow down and worship.

And to the author of Hebrew to say that Jesus is greater than the angels, basically in essence he was saying that Jesus is God. He's not a God. He's not a form of God. He's not a presentation of God. But he is God himself. Because there is nothing in between.

And I want to show you a passage in John chapter 5, 22 to 23 that makes that crystal clear. I remember, again I shared this years ago, but you know, years ago when I was on campus, you know, when I was a youth pastor and took a bunch of our students out there to share the gospel, you know, I was I think a first or second year Bible student at Biola.

And I was sharing the gospel and this professor at UCI saw me witnessing. And he went out of his way to come track me down and he said, "I can't believe you guys are still doing this." And then he just started going off. And so I was standing there and I had about four or five other students with me.

And he just kind of tore into me. The Bible never says that Jesus never claimed to be God. You guys, you know, first century started saying this and now you're repeating this lie. Look at the Bible. And then he started quoting scripture. He started quoting the creek. And I was like, "Oh my gosh, I'm getting rocked." Right?

And one of the students that was with me, that's exactly what he said. After that professor was done, he walked away and he said, "Dude, you got rocked." You know, so I said, "You know, I better find out." So I went back to my professor and I basically jotted down all these questions that came up and I asked him.

They were very simple answers to all of it. He was twisting certain passages to say what he wanted to say. Since then, obviously, you know, I've studied the scriptures and it's, you know, the passage that he looked at and other passages and it is crystal clear what Jesus says.

And I think one of the clearest passages what Jesus says of himself is found in this passage, in my opinion. John chapter 5, 22 to 23. Listen to what he says. This is a small portion of a larger context of Jesus declaring to be God himself. Verse 22, "For not even the Father judges anyone, but he has given all judgment to the Son." Let me stop right there.

Did you just hear what he said? He didn't simply say, "Me and God are equal." He didn't simply just say that. I mean, he says that in all these other places. He says, "Even the Father does not judge, but I do." Think about that. To even say that you're near God, they would have stoned you for that.

To enter into the Holy of Holies and you're not a high priest, they would have stoned you for that. How dare you show that kind of irreverence for God? Jesus said out of his own mouth, "Even the Father does not judge, but I do." I mean, you can't go beyond that.

Jesus did not simply say he was a God, or he's below God, he's a son of God. He says he does things that even the Father does not do. He is co-equal with God. He is the second person of the Trinity. And then he explains, "So that all will honor the Son, even as they honor the Father." The angels were trembling because John bowed down to worship.

They said, "Stop that. Don't do that. Don't get me in trouble. I'm just like you." But Jesus says, "I do what even the Father does not do in order to be what? To be honored." It's another way of saying to be worshiped like the Father. How can anybody read that and say Jesus did not say that he's God?

Jesus is clearly declaring his deity. All throughout scripture, he's saying he is God, he is God, he is God, he is God. He's not a God. He's not a form of God. He's not a presentation of God. But he is God himself. Now, let me stop right here and declare what is obvious, because you all know that.

Most of you already confessed that and you believe that. But the problem with whatever theology that is so fundamental to our faith, and we hear it often enough, it becomes mundane. Take a step back and think about that. The God who created your inner being walked among us. He was here.

He tasted our food. He struggled the same struggle that we struggle. He took on human flesh and then he was crucified. All in order to be a sympathetic high priest, to be a perfect mediator between God and us. That's what we celebrate. That's what we sing about when we talk about the Trinity.

The whole purpose of creation is that everything was made by him, everything is held together because of him, and everything is ultimately for him. Revelation chapter 5, 11 through 14, it gives us a glimpse of heaven. John sees this vision, and this is what he sees in heaven. "Then I looked and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, and the living creatures, and the elders, and the numbers of them was myriads upon myriads, thousands upon thousands, saying with a loud voice, 'Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.'" Who are the angels worshiping?

Jesus. Who are the elders worshiping? Jesus. The Lamb of God. Jesus is not standing on the side declaring glory to the Father. He is the object of their worship. "Thirteen, and every created thing which is in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea and all things in them, I heard saying, 'To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever.' And the four living creatures kept saying, 'Amen,' and the elders fell down and worshipped." Jesus is not a god.

He's not simply a presentation of God. He is God himself. And the Bible repeatedly over and over says again, "This God loved us. This God walked among us. This God counts the hairs on our head and he cares." Believing this is what changes us. When we are in the presence of this glory that we could not get to, we could not simply make up our mind, "You know what?

I'm going to go to go Holy of Holies. I'm going to have a conversation with this God because I need his help." We couldn't do that. And because we couldn't go to him, Scripture says, "He veiled his glory and came to us." That's what the Trinity is. He didn't simply send his messenger.

He didn't send a servant. He didn't send his angels. He came off of his throne and came to us. The angels, the elders, the four living creatures, everything in heaven and on earth, forever and ever and ever, said, "We'll be worshipping Jesus, the Lamb of God." The Bible has many different words, especially in the New Testament, to describe the word "worship." The three of them are the most prominent.

The first one is the word "serv" — "le truo." So oftentimes, you'll see in some of your translations that the priest went in and they worshiped God, and a lot of times that word in the Greek is "le truo." So the word "le truo," it means to physically serve.

So we use that word in our churches to say, "Throwing out trash can could be an act of worship to God." Babysitting, teaching, giving, all of that we do for the purpose of building up his kingdom is an act of worship. It's not investing. It's worship. So that's the word "le truo." The second word is "sabomai." It means to have reverence.

So you know that you can sit here with no reverence. You can regurgitate words and go through the action, but there's no sense of reverence toward God. But the second word for worship is internal, something going on internally, reverence. But the most prominent word, majority of the words in the New Testament that is translated for worship is "proskuneo." And the word "proskuneo" literally means to fall down and worship.

Literally, it means to go toward to kiss somebody's feet. The word "feet" is not there, but that's just assumed. It's to bow down, go toward to kiss. In other words, you are so enamored, you are so awed that it causes you to be prostrated. And so in our generation, when we think of worship, we think of Sunday morning, we think of service, maybe even a reverence in our heart and spirit and in truth.

But the idea of being prostrated before the Almighty God has been lost, or we're beginning to lose it. Everything has become casual. We've become so concerned about getting more people into the church that we've made God into a lesser God. The scripture describes Him when they're in the presence of His glory every single time, not because they were discipled, not because they were taught, not because of years of training, but simply in the presence of this God, they prostrate themselves in surrender.

That's why in our culture, when people like, let's say, again, at dunk contest, somebody does a great job and we act out, it's like, "Oh, we're not worthy, we're not worthy." Even the secular world understands when they're in the presence of something spectacular that they surrender, and that is the act of worship, is to surrender.

So a man who has not surrendered, no matter how reverent you feel in your heart, no matter how much activity that you are engaged in, until you see and you're in the presence of the glory of who He is, and it causes us to be prostrated and go toward Him to kiss His feet in adoration, because that's how the Bible has described worship.

You know you can come to church every single Sunday and learn all the right things and say the right things, and you know when your heart is far from God, because proskuneo causes us to surrender. The goal of the study of the book of Hebrews is not simply Christology.

It's to get us to proskuneo. It's to get us to see the glory of who He is, that everything else in this world becomes rubbish. Those of you who've tasted the goodness of God, those of you who've seen even a glimpse of His glory, this world is ruined for you.

It's ruined for you. And that's why there's so much turmoil in your heart, because nothing that you are tapping into from this world ever comes any close to what you have already experienced in Christ. And so even through trials and tribulation, why you keep coming. All my life I've only tasted sizzler's steak.

I had Ruth Chris one day. I never ordered sizzler's steak again, because it just wouldn't do it. If you've ever tasted the goodness of God, the world is ruined for you. You can make the money, you can gain the fame, you can gain the adoration, you can gain the friendship, but it will never come close to the glory of Christ.

So the goal of the author of Hebrews is not simply to get them to get the right theology. It's so that in revealing the majesty of Christ, that they would join the angels in worshiping the Son. And that's my prayer. That's my prayer as we start the book of Hebrews, that each one of these things that we see about Christ will cause you to see a greater and greater glimpse of who He is, which will lead us to surrender our lives.

Let's take our time to pray as we again invite our worship team to come up. So I ask you again, take some time to pray for Elder Philip as he will be having surgery, but at the same time, not just for today, ask the Lord to soften your heart and let the Word of God truly bear fruit in your heart, and that we may see a greater, greater glimpse of Christ through all of it.

Let's take some time to pray as our worship team leads us.