THE SECOND PART: A BIRD’S-EYE VIEW OF THE NEW TESTAMENT
The Epistle of Paul to the Hebrews
Message One—God’s Speaking in the Son
Scripture Reading: Heb. 1:1-2a; Acts 6:7; 12:24; 19:20
I. Our God is the revealed God because He has revealed Himself in His speaking—Heb.1:1-2a: (1998 ST, msg. 2)
A. In the Lord’s recovery today there is the multiplication and abundance of God’s word—Acts 6:7; 12:24; 19:20: (1998 ST, msg. 2)
1. God is speaking day after day and meeting after meeting—Lev. 1:1. (1998 ST, msg. 2)
2. God’s speaking to us proves that we are under His blessing—cf. 1 Sam. 3:1, 10, 21. (1998 ST, msg. 2)
3. The life of the believers hinges totally upon the Lord’s speaking—Heb. 1:3; Matt. 17:5; Rev. 2:7a; S.S. 8:13; Heb. 5:13-14. (1998 ST, msg. 2)
4. The living God imparts and infuses Himself into us by speaking—2 Tim. 3:16-17; Ezek. 37:4-6: (1998 ST, msg. 2)
a. When God speaks, the light shines, bringing us understanding, vision, knowledge, wisdom, and utterance; when God’s word is opened or unfolded to us, it gives us light, shining inwardly over our heart and our spirit to impart wisdom and revelation to us—Psa. 119:105, 130. (FTTA-2010 Fall to 2012 Spring, msg. 41)
b. When God speaks, life is imparted, and this life includes all the divine attributes and human virtues of Christ—John 6:63; 1:1, 4. (1998 ST, msg. 2)
c. When God speaks, power is transmitted, and this is the growing and reproducing power of life—Mark 4:14, 26. (1998 ST, msg. 2)
B. The whole universe came into being by God’s speaking—Rom. 4:17, Heb. 11:3, Psa. 33:9. (1998 ST, msg. 2)
1. The universe has been framed by the word of God—Heb. 11:3. (FTTA-2010 Fall to 2012 Spring, msg. 41)
2. “He spoke, and it was; / He commanded, and it stood”—Psa. 33:9. (FTTA-2010 Fall to 2012 Spring, msg. 41)
3. He “calls the things not being as being”—Rom. 4:17: (FTTA-2010 Fall to 2012 Spring, msg. 41)
a. This is God’s mighty power of creation. (FTTA-2010 Fall to 2012 Spring, msg. 41)
b. As the creating God, He needs no material to work with; He can create something out of nothing simply by speaking. (FTTA-2010 Fall to 2012 Spring, msg. 41)
4. In creation all things came into being through Him as the Word (John 1:1-3); thus, “the invisible things of Him, both His eternal power and divine characteristics, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being perceived by the things made, so that they would be without excuse” (Rom. 1:20). (FTTA-2010 Fall to 2012 Spring, msg. 41)
5. The universe, framed by the word of God, is the manifestation of God’s glory, speaking forth Christ as the true God—Psa. 19:1-2; cf. Acts 14:15-17; 17:23-31: (FTTA-2010 Fall to 2012 Spring, msg. 41)
a. The greatness of the universe manifests the greatness of God. (FTTA-2010 Fall to 2012 Spring, msg. 41)
b. The wonder of the universe manifests how wonderful God is. (FTTA-2010 Fall to 2012 Spring, msg. 41)
c. The brightness of the universe declares that God is a God of light. (FTTA-2010 Fall to 2012 Spring, msg. 41)
d. The beauty of the universe and its beautiful details are manifestations of God’s beauty. (FTTA-2010 Fall to 2012 Spring, msg. 41)
e. The lovingkindness of God is seen by His arrangement and preparation of the universe for mankind and by His provision for man’s every need. (FTTA-2010 Fall to 2012 Spring, msg. 41)
f. The greatness, wonder, brightness, and beauty of the universe manifest that God is a God of wisdom. (FTTA-2010 Fall to 2012 Spring, msg. 41)
C. In salvation we are saved through His word—John 5:24; Rom. 10:8, 17. (FTTA-2010 Fall to 2012 Spring, msg. 41)
D. It is through His word that His authority with power is exercised—Matt. 8:8-9. (FTTA-2010 Fall to 2012 Spring, msg. 41)
E. It is by His word that His healing power is realized—John 4:50-51. (FTTA-2010 Fall to 2012 Spring, msg. 41)
F. In the Old Testament, God spoke in many portions and in many ways to the fathers in the prophets, in men borne by His Spirit—2 Pet. 1:21. (1998 ST, msg. 2)
G. In the New Testament, God speaks in the Son, in the person of the Son: (1998 ST, msg. 2)
1. This person was firstly individual and then became corporate. (1998 ST, msg. 2)
2. God today speaks in a person, and this person has been increased to be a corporate person, including all the apostles and all the members of this person’s Body—1 Cor. 14:4b, 31. (1998 ST, msg. 2)
E. The essence of the Epistle to the Hebrews is God’s speaking in the Son: (1998 ST, msg. 2)
1. God speaks in the Son, the Son speaks as the Spirit to the churches, and ultimately the Spirit speaks with the church—Rev. 2:7a; 22:17. (1998 ST, msg. 2)
2. It is altogether by this speaking story that God is brought into man and man is-brought into God. (1998 ST, msg. 2)
II. The apostles’ teaching, the unique teaching of God’s New Testament economy, is God’s speaking in the Son-the entire speaking of God in the New Testament concerning the full ministry of Christ in three stages—Acts 2:42; 1 Tim. 1:3-4; 6:3; Heb. 1:1-2a: (1998 ST, msg. 2)
A. First, God spoke in the Son as a man in the four Gospels, revealing the stage of Christ in incarnation—John 14:10; 5:24; 16:12; 10:30: (1998 ST, msg. 2)
1. To bring the infinite God into the finite man—1 Tim. 6:16; Heb. 1:8-12. (1998 ST, msg. 2)
2. To unite and mingle the Triune God with the tripartite man—John 14:10-11; Lev. 2:4-5. (1998 ST, msg. 2)
3. To express in His humanity the bountiful God in His rich attributes through His aromatic virtues—Eph. 3:19; 1 John 1:5. (1998 ST, msg. 2)
4. To accomplish His all-inclusive judicial redemption—Rom. 1:17a; 3:21-26. (1998 ST, msg. 2)
B. Second, God spoke in the Son as the Spirit through the apostles in Acts and the twenty-one Epistles (Romans through Jude), revealing the stage of Christ in inclusion—John 16:12-15; Matt. 28:19-20; Heb. 2:3-4; 2 Pet. 3:15-16; Col. 1:25-27: (1998 ST, msg. 2)
1. To be begotten as God’s firstborn Son—Rom. 1:4; Heb. 1:6. (1998 ST, msg. 2)
2. To become the life-giving Spirit—1 Cor. 15:45b. (1998 ST, msg. 2)
3. To regenerate the believers for His Body—1 Peter. 1:3; 1 Cor. 12:13. (1998 ST, msg. 2)
C. Third, God spoke in the Son as the seven Spirits through the apostle John in Revelation, revealing the stage of Christ in intensification: (1998 ST, msg. 2)
1. To intensify His organic salvation—Rev. 5:6. (1998 ST, msg. 2)
2. To produce the overcomers—Rev. 2—3. (1998 ST, msg. 2)
3. To consummate the New Jerusalem—Rev. 21—22. (1998 ST, msg. 2)
D. The proper ministry is the ministry according to the apostles’ teaching, the teaching of God’s New Testament economy, for the building up of the Body of Christ to consummate the New Jerusalem. (1998 ST, msg. 2)