Hebrews 1:1-4
1 God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; 3 who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.
Popular misconceptions say that we need God to speak to us in a thunderous voice from the clouds, or in some mystical personal experience. While it’s true that God has spoken to His people in these ways in the past, we are naïve to limit the God and Creator of all things visible and invisible to man’s assumptions about how God should work. God the Father made all things through His Son, Jesus Christ, who is the very incarnation of His glorious Words, and He has seen fit to speak to us by the same incarnate Word now.
You don’t have to climb mountains or depend on emotional states to substantiate God as speaking to you. He has given you His Word, which stands ready and preserved in print and also lives and breathes as it is taught and preached. You need not go any farther than a faithful translation of the Scriptures or the voice of a faithful pastor to hear God speak His wisdom and mercy to you. And, if that’s not simple enough, He has also given you the very name of Jesus Christ as a comfort to you!
In His name you are told that God will save His people from their sins (the very meaning of “Jesus”), and this Jesus is the Holy One anointed to be both your King and our Savior (the very meaning of “Christ”). Furthermore, the name of Jesus, the Christ, should also bring to your minds His crucifixion, which is the culmination of all the Scriptures and is celebrated at each Lord’s Supper. How blessed to be so focused on the One who is your great treasure, sent by God, just for you!
Let us pray: Stir up Your power, O Lord, and come, that by Your protection we may be rescued from the threatening perils of our sins and saved by Your mighty deliverance; for You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen
