Christ Really Is That Awesome

In one paragraph

The pastor preached from Hebrews chapters one and two on the Sunday before Christmas, making a single point: Christ really is that awesome. He came to it from a different angle than the familiar Matthew and Luke accounts, wanting to show the congregation the weight behind the celebration they were already feeling. He opened in Hebrews one by tracing how God has always been reaching toward people,...

Read together

1. John 3:16-17 read by Craig Swink during the Advent candle lighting as the candle of love passage
2. Hebrews 1:1-4 opening text establishing God speaking through his Son, Christ as heir and instrument of creation
3. Philippians 2:5-11 the great Christ hymn read to show Christ humbling himself to take on flesh and being exalted above every name
4. Psalm 2:7 Old Testament proof that God called Christ his Son, begotten today
5. 2 Samuel 7:14 Old Testament proof that God said he would be a father to the Son
6. Deuteronomy 32:43 cited as source for the angels worshipping when God brings the firstborn into the world
7. Psalm 97:7 cited alongside Deuteronomy 32:43 for the angels worshipping the Son
8. Psalm 104 source for the description of angels as spirits and ministers of flame of fire
9. Psalm 45:6-7 proof that God calls the Son's throne eternal and that he is anointed with gladness above his companions
10. Psalm 102 proof that the Lord laid the foundations of the earth and remains unchanged while creation grows old
11. Psalm 110:1 proof that God told the Son to sit at his right hand until enemies are made his footstool, cited as written a thousand years before Christ
12. Psalm 8 what is man that God is mindful of him, used to discuss mankind being made a little lower than angels and crowned with glory and honor
13. Hebrews 2:5-8 passage on the world to come not being subject to angels and mankind being crowned with glory and honor yet not yet having all things under him
14. Hebrews 2:9-18 Christ made like us, tasting death for everyone, destroying the devil and making propitiation as high priest
15. Psalm 22 quoted as Christ declaring God's name to his brothers and sisters in the midst of the assembly
16. Hebrews 2:1-4 warning not to drift away from what has been heard, asking how we shall escape if we neglect so great a salvation
17. Colossians 1 referenced to support the point that all things are held together in Christ

Talk about it

1. The sermon describes God reaching out to people throughout history in various ways before sending His Son. Where have you personally seen or felt God reaching out to you, and how did you respond?
2. Philippians 2 is read describing how Christ 'made himself of no reputation' and took on human flesh. What does it mean to you that God chose to come to us rather than requiring us to reach Him on His own terms?
3. The sermon points to the contrast between what mankind was given in Adam, glory and honor and authority, and how we have handled it. Where do you see that gap most clearly in your own life or in the world around you?
4. The word 'propitiation' comes up as the satisfying of God's wrath on sin through Christ's suffering and death. Does knowing that the full penalty for sin has already been paid change how you think about your own sin day to day? How or how not?
5. The warning in Hebrews 2 is that we must give earnest heed to what we have heard, lest we drift away and treat the story of Christ as just another tradition. What is one thing from this passage that you do not want to let drift past you this Christmas season?