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Indian Mission Trip December 2011 from Covenant BP Church on Vimeo.

Read the full report

Indian Mission Trip June 2011 from Covenant BP Church on Vimeo.

Video of mission trip to Covenant BPCI church in Bangalore

After declaring the superiority of the Son and the finality of the revelation which came through Him, the author of Hebrews demonstrates Christ’s superiority to angels.

Why the author of Hebrews mentions Christ’s superiority to angels? Christ’s superiority to the prophets is well understood because the prophets spoke of Christ and Christ, in His incarnation, came as the supreme revelation of God. Finally, when He ascended to heaven, He was exalted as His original glory was restored. Then suddenly the author talks about Christ’s superiority to angels because angels too are in heaven, and some might think that Christ is not God, but is one of the angels.

Moreover, in the first century world, pagans and Christians alike accorded great significance and power to angels. God created angels higher than men as we were told in Psalm 8:5 (Hebrews 2:7) and they excel in power and strength. They involved in important assignments of God. For example, they were at Mt Sinai when God gave the Commandments to Moses (2:2; Acts 7:53; Gal 3:19). Angels are regarded as dazzling creatures, and they appeared in power and glory (Matt 28:2-4) and from Scripture we are told that some even worshipped angels (Col 2:18).

But after all these things, the author makes the point clear that angels are created beings and they are ministering spirits (1:14). Christ’s excellence is far exceeding than the angels.

The author now quotes a series of Old Testament passages to show the excellency of Christ over angels.

1. Jesus Has a More Excellent Name (vv 4-5)

We are told in verse 4 that Jesus ‘being made’ better than the angels. The word here is ‘genomenos’ the participle verb from ‘ginomai’ means ‘to become’ or ‘having come to be.’ It is the same verb used of His incarnation in John 1:14.

In Hebrews 2:9 we are told that Jesus was made a little lower than the angels, and which was only for the suffering of death. Like we, men, are made little lower than the angels (2:7), so too Jesus, in His humanity, was made little lower than the angels. By becoming human, Christ condescended to a position lower than the angels, but He has been exalted through His death, resurrection, and ascension to a position higher than the angels (Hebrews 1: 3).

Not only by virtue of His death, resurrection, and ascension that Jesus is better than angels, secondly, in verse 4, the author further mentions that Jesus by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than angels.

Jesus inherited a name which is above every name, and what is His name— the Son of God. Interestingly, the words ‘inheritance obtained’ are one word in Greek, ‘kleronomeo’ and in the Perfect tense, meaning, ‘to have inherited,’ or ‘to be an heir’ and it takes us back to verse 2 where the author already mentioned that the Son has been appointed heir of all things, where also the same word is used.

We need to understand here clearly that Jesus’ sonship was not something that He was given by the Father, or something that He gained because of His obedience, but it has been His state and status which belongs to Him by virtue of being an heir. This takes us to the doctrine of the eternal sonship of Christ. The name Son distinguishes from the Father, and First Person and the Second Person in the eternal Trinity.

To substantiate this, in verse 5, the author now quotes Ps 2:7 and 2 Sam 7:14, which proves the eternal sonship of Christ (see also Isaiah 9:6; Dan 3:25; Pro 30:4).

2. Jesus Is Worshipped by the Angles (v 6)

We are told here that the angels worshipped the Son. This is a quotation from Deut 32:43, which in the LXX translation says, “Heavens, rejoice with Him, let the sons of God pay Him homage.” This is another important assertion proving the greatness of the Son.

Now the Son is mentioned here as the “first begotten’ or ‘first born.’ The word here is prototokos, meaning ‘firstborn’, different from ‘monogenes’ meaning ‘only begotten.’ The word firstborn is used in the Bible as a title as one f rank, and honor, for the firstborn receives the inheritance and the special blessing. Christ is the firstborn of all creation (Col 1:15, 18), which does not mean that Christ is the first person whom God created; but Paul mentions this in Col 1 to say that Christ is earlier than, as well as preeminent in, all creation, as explained in the following verse (Col 1:16).

Angels worshipped Him. Angels worship Him throughout of His existence. Isaiah saw this as mentioned in Isaiah 6:1-9. Luke records it as happened at the birth of Lord Jesus Christ (Luke 2:10-14). John saw this in heaven as recorded in Rev 5. And Matthew says this will happen again when the Lord returns in glory (Matt 24:30-31; 25:31).

Conclusion

What should be our response to this God? Psalm 2:11-12 gives us the answer: Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.

The Book of Hebrews is a book of the preeminence of Christ. The word ‘preeminence’
means ‘supremacy, primacy, incomparable.’ This means Christ is the Supreme; Christ
is the Greatest. Christ is the greatest Prophet, Priest, and King.

The author, whom I believe is the Apostle Paul, wrote this letter to the ‘Hebrews’, who
are the Jews. Paul wrote especially to the Jewish Christians who were in danger of
returning to the old Judaism, the old system of keeping the Mosaic Law and other
related things, due to facing persecution for their Christian faith (10:32).

To them, the author wanted to remind that there is no system greater than the Lord
Jesus Christ; there is no person greater than the Lord Jesus Christ. That is the
preeminence of Christ.

Knowing who Jesus is will make a great difference for our lives and the way that
we perceive things for our lives. In Mark 8 Jesus asked His disciples this pertinent
question, “Whom do men say that I am?” They answered, John the Baptist, but some
say Elijah, and others, one of the prophets. Then Jesus again asked them, “But whom
say ye that I am?” Peter said, “Thou art the Christ.” This is the greatest question that
we all need to answer. And our answer should not be our opinion but the truth and it
must be according to what God has revealed about His Son in the Holy Word of God.

Hebrews 1:1-4 gives us a glimpse of the theme the preeminence of Christ. This is the
introduction where the author introduces his theme of Christ’s supreme work as the
Prophet, Priest, and King.

1. Jesus, the Ultimate Divine Revelation (vv 1-2a)

The author begins by saying how revelation was in the Old Testament and how it was
ultimately fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ. God spoke. God is the subject of this long
sentence, and He spoke and revealed through the prophets of the Old and later in
the New, through His Son. Bible is what God has spoken; it is God’s inspired Word (2
Tim 3:16). Although, there involved different times, recipients, methods, and agency,
there is a strong continuity of progressive revelation, because God is the one who has
chosen to speak through all these channels.

The revelation in the Old Testament was ‘at sundry times’ (means ‘in many portions’)
and ‘in divers manners’ (or many ways). The Old Testament revelation was
progressive revelation.

God spoke in the past (palai) and the word here means ‘of old’ rather than
simply ‘formerly.’ The revelation the writer is speaking of is no novelty, but has its
roots deep in the past. He is not referring to what God does continually but to what He
did in days of old, in the time of ‘our forefathers.’ The big question we need to ask is:
Does God speak in the same manner today? The answer is found in verse 2 and Rev
22:18-19; Deut 4:2; 12:32. In verse 2 the author says Jesus is the ultimate revelation
of God. All the progressive revelations finally culminated in the Lord Jesus Christ. In
the 66 books of the Bible we have the full revelation of God. Once the New Testament
canon was completed and accepted as the complete Word of God, all that God wanted
to reveal about His redemptive plan and His plan for the Church was complete (1
Cor 13:8-10). What the Church needs today is the faithful expounding of the Word of
God, already revealed in the Bible. This also a form of prophecy, which we normally
call ‘forth-telling.’

Jesus is the complete and perfect revealer of the Father and the truth of God. The
Apostle John says in his gospel, And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us,
and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth (John 1:14), and again in John 14:8-10, Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us
the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you,

and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father;
and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the
Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself:
but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.

The messianic expectations fulfilled in Him. Throughout the OT there was this
expectation. The OT prophets foretold the coming of the Messiah, and in the NT,
before the birth of Christ actually took place, people waited in great anticipation of the
coming Messiah (eg. Simeon and Anna at the birth of the Lord (Luke 2:25-38),

From now on, the author of Hebrews explains a sevenfold excellencies of Christ:

2. He is the Ultimate Heir of God (v 2b)

The author uses the word “appointed” and it does not mean that Christ is inferior
to the Father but perhaps a stress on the divine active will for the Son. Psalm 2:7-
8 proves the eternal generation of God the Son, as the psalmist mentions about the
coming Messiah, I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my
Son; this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for
thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. This does
not mean that God the Father created God the Son, but as the confessions of the
old state, the Son is eternally generated from the Father, and the Son Himself is God
(John 10:30).

Herein is the deity of Christ proved. As He is the Son of God, the very God Himself,
whatever the Father posses, He is the heir to that. Jesus posses all things.

3. He is the Great Creator (v 2c)

The word that is used here for ‘world’ is not ‘cosmos’, but ‘aionos’ (‘age’). This means
not just the material world that we see with our own eyes, but all that are therein is
created by the Son.

4. He is the Glorious Lord (v 3a)

The Son is the radiance of God’s glory. The brightness of God is seen in Christ. This
glory was manifested in His human existence, which was innately His as one of the
Persons of the Godhead. The glory is the full manifestation of the divine attributes
and essence. Christ had that glory even before the world existed (John 17:5). Isaiah
saw that preincarnate glory (Isaiah 6:1-8; John 12:41). Further, on the Mount of
Transfiguration, the three Apostles saw Christ’s deity displayed as the glory of His
divine person shone right through His natural body (Matt 17:1-13; 2 Peter 1:16-18).

5. He is the Express Image of God (v 3b)

The Son is the exact image of God (the word here is ‘charakter’, a very unusual word,
only used here in NT). It means ‘impression,’ or ‘stamp.’ It refers to an engraved
character or impress made by a die or a seal. He is the exact representation of God,
and of the divine essence. In Colossians 2:9 the Apostle Paul says, In him dwelleth all
the fulness of the Godhead bodily.

6. He is the Mighty Governor (v 3c)

The Son is the sustainer (pheron) which has a meaning of ‘carrying along.’ This means
Christ is not only the Creator of the Universe, He also sustains it (Col 1:17). Christ

controls all things, and He does so with the power of His word.

7. He is our Savior (v 3d)

He purged our sins. This is the heart of the matter for the author here. Four aspects of
Christ’s redemptive work are enumerated here. First, it was an exclusive work. He did
it ‘by Himself.’ He was the Kinsman Redeemer as there was no other who could die
for mankind. He alone satisfied the righteous demands of God for sin. Second, Christ
achieved a sacrificial work of cleansing. The verb katharismon literally means ‘having
purged’ has an idea of a thorough moral cleansing. Third, Christ finished this
task completely. The aorist participle poiesamenos, ‘having made’ shows that He
completed His redemptive work once and for all. When Christ died on the Cross, He
triumphantly exclaimed: “it is finished” (John 19:30). And Fourth, Christ cleansed men
from their sins.

8. He is the exalted King (v 3e)

Christ, having completed the work of redemption, ascended to heaven, and seated at
the right hand of God. The action of seating demonstrated the finality of redemptive
work, the historical verification of His resurrection and ascension, His exalted position
as head of the church (Eph 1:20-23), and His equality with the Father (Ps 110:1).

Conclusion

We have a Christ as our Saviour who is far above than anybody else. We need to
come to Him and acknowledge His supremacy and accept Him as the Lord of our
lives. There is no other God like Him, there is no other Saviour like Him, and there is
no other Friend like Him.

Introduction

Today is one of the glorious days of the Christian calendar. The resurrection of Christ gives us the reason to understand that our faith is a reasonable faith.

The Apostle Paul says, And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins (1 Corinthians 15:14, 17). And Paul does not stop there, but continues by saying in verse 57, But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

How does this victory possible? The resurrection of Christ assures us that God is able to quicken the dead (Rom 4:17). Abraham believed in a God who is able to give life to a dead person, a person dead in sin is able to find new life in Christ Jesus.

Today we will consider the original account of the resurrection story, recorded in Luke 24 and ponder three thoughts:

1. The Resurrected Christ and a Perplexed Mind (vv 1-5, 11-12)

Our first point deals with the condition of the mind of the ladies mentioned in 23:55-56 (cf v 10) who came to nurse the body of the Lord Jesus Christ on the first day of the week.

To begin with, we need to appreciate their enthusiasm, their love and devotion for their Master: They were just waiting for the Sabbath to be over as they were unable to do the task of nursing the body on Saturday as it was being the day of Sabbath. As soon as the Sabbath was past and the darkness of the night was about to give way to the coming day, the ladies assembled together as set out for the tomb, carrying the spices with which they proposed to anoint the body of their Lord. It was really very early in the morning that they ventured out. It was probably no earlier than 5 A M. Matthew says that it was beginning to dawn (28:1), and Mark says that they arrived at the tomb as the sun was rising (16:2).

The women who came to the sepulcher were very pious. They brought spices to the tomb as we would bring flowers. They forgot what the Lord told them before His crucifixion and death that He would be resurrected from the dead. Jesus had foretold His resurrection in many instances (Luke 9:22; 18:32-33).

However, when the women saw the stone was rolled away and could not find the body of the Lord in the grave, they were much perplexed (v 4); they were afraid (v 5).

The word ‘perplexed’ (‘apporeo’) literally means ‘to be at a loss.’ And the word in v 5 further explain their condition as the word ‘afraid’ literally means ‘frightened’ (‘emphobos’). The reason being the seen they saw over their was completely unexpected. The condition of Peter was also not different as recorded in verse 12 and the word used there is ‘wondering’ not implying any idea of belief or unbelief.

Actually there were enough evidences for them to believe the bodily resurrection of the Savior as we read in v 12 (cf John 20:6-8). These women, as well as others later, actually entered into the tomb and saw two features which proved to them the miraculous nature of Christ’s bodily resurrection from the dead: (1) the body was gone; and (2) the grave clothes that had encircled the body were still intact. It must have looked like an empty mummy shell. The resurrected body of Christ had passed through the cloth wrappings, leaving them undisturbed. That was what convinced Peter and others of the truth of the resurrection (John 20:6-8).

But their initial reaction was perplexity. This is the condition of many of us when we face the thick of the problems in life.

But the comforting thought this morning is that God would not leave us in our perplexity and frightening state of mind as we read in verse 5, then the angels replied, Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen.

This is the reality of many people today. When we have a resurrected Christ, many are still seeking Him among the dead, Christianity becoming a mere formalism!

Who is Christ to us? Is He a resurrected Savior or a dead Christ?

What is the truth of the matter? He is not here, but is risen. He lives, He reigns in the hearts of Christians, and He is the head of the Church. He is active. His presence and power are available to His children.

2. The Resurrected Christ and the Fulfilled Word (vv 6-7)

In verse 6 the angel said, the Lord was risen from the dead. The verb is in the aorist tense (from ‘egeiro’) and hence stands as a historical fact.

The resurrection of Christ is a great proof that the Words of our God are true Words.

The fact of Resurrection is a fulfillment of what the prophets and Jesus Himself foretold (Luke 24:25-27).

The fact of resurrection proves that we have God who is trustworthy.

This gives us a great hope for the future. If Christ was resurrected, it guarantees our own resurrection. We too will be raised from the dead to live with Christ forever. This is the great truth of the Apostle Paul in 1 Cor 15. Read vv 20-26, 42-44, 53-57. (Read also John 11:25-26).

3. The Resurrected Christ and a Witnessing Christian (vv 8-10)

Verse 8 says, “they remembered His words” (same word is used in v 6 as well). The word here is mimneskomai, meaning ‘to recall information from memory, but without necessarily the implication that person has actually forgotten.’ It means ‘recall, to think about again.’ The same word is used in 1 Thess 2:9 (to remember Paul’s labor for the Thessalonians) and Heb 13:7 (to remember former leaders who ministered), and most importantly in 2 Peter 3:2, where the idea is ‘mindful.’ And the word here is in the passive meaning, the external help they received in being reminded of the things of the past.

Every Christian and the Church as a whole has a mandate to be mindful of the things happened for our salvation, revealed in God’s holy Word and fulfilled so accurately.

Verse 9 mentions two important verbs conveying the actions followed: (1) ‘huppostrepho,’ meaning ‘to return’ and (2) ‘appanggello,’ meaning ‘to declare, to announce.’

Though initially perplexed and feared, but now when they knew the truth, no more in doubt and fear, but remembered the words of Jesus which He had foretold, and are ready to witness to those who haven’t heard the truth. Same is the action plan for us.

The resurrection of Christ gives us enormous power to testify the greatness, goodness, and mercies of our God.

The example of the Apostles => Acts 4:33

Conclusion

What does the resurrection of Christ mean to us?

Let us seek the Living Christ. The example of Thomas (John 20:27-28).