Read Hebrews 1:1-4. What is the central idea of these verses?

In the original Greek, Hebrews 1:1-4 is only one sentence, and it has been argued that it is the most beautiful in all the New Testament from the point of view of its rhetorical artistry. Its main assertion is that God has spoken to us through His Son, Jesus.

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For the Jews in the first century A.D., the word of God had not been heard for a long time. The last revelation to be expressed in the Written Word of God had come through the prophet Malachi and the ministries of Ezra and Nehemiah four centuries before. But now, through Jesus, God was speaking to them again.

God’s revelation through Jesus, however, was superior to the revelation that God had made through the prophets because Jesus is a greater means of revelation. He is God Himself, who created the heaven and the earth and rules the universe. For Paul, the deity of Christ is never in question. It’s all but assumed.

Also, for Paul, the Old Testament was the Word of God. The same God who spoke in the past continues to speak in the present. The Old Testament communicated a true knowledge of God’s will.

However, it was possible to understand its fuller meaning only when the Son arrived on earth. In the author’s mind, the Father’s revelation in the Son provided the key to understanding the true breadth of the Old Testament, just like the picture on the box of a jigsaw puzzle provides the key to finding the correct place for every one of its pieces. Jesus brought so much of the Old Testament to light.

Meanwhile, Jesus came to be our Representative and our Savior. He would take our place in the fight and defeat the serpent. Similarly, in Hebrews, Jesus is the “pioneer” or “captain” and “forerunner” of believers (Hebrews 2:10, Hebrews 6:20). He fights for us and represents us. This also means that what God did for Jesus, our Representative, the Father also wants to do for us. He who exalted Jesus at His right hand also wants us to sit with Jesus on His throne (Revelation 3:21). God’s message to us in Jesus includes not only what Jesus said but also what the Father did through Him and to Him, all for our temporal and eternal benefit.

<–Sunday Tuesday–>

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The first paragraph of Hebrews reveals that Paul believed he was living in “the last days.” Scripture employs two expressions about the future that have different meanings. The prophets used the expression “last days” or “latter days” to talk about the future in general (Deuteronomy 4:30-31; Jeremiah 23:20). The prophet Daniel used a second expression, “the time of the end,” to talk more specifically about the last days of earth’s history (Daniel 8:17, Daniel 12:4).

Read Numbers 24:14-19 and Isaiah 2:2-3. What did God promise He would do for His people in the “latter days”?

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Several Old Testament prophets announced that in the “latter days” God would raise up a King who would destroy the enemies of His people (Numbers 24:14-19) and who would attract the nations to Israel (Isaiah 2:2-3). Paul says that these promises were fulfilled in Jesus. He defeated Satan and, through the proclamation of the Gospel, is attracting all the nations to Himself (Colossians 2:15, John 12:32). In this sense, then, “the last days” have begun because Jesus has fulfilled God’s promises.

Our spiritual fathers died in faith. They saw and greeted the promises from “afar,” but did not receive them. We, on the other hand, have seen their fulfillment in Jesus.

Let’s think for a moment about God’s promises and Jesus. The Father promised that He would resurrect His children (1 Thessalonians 4:15-16). The wonderful news is that He initiated the resurrection of His children with the resurrection of Jesus (1 Corinthians 15:20, Matthew 27:51-53). The Father also promised a new creation (Isaiah 65:17). He has begun to fulfill that promise by creating a new spiritual life in us (2 Corinthians 5:17, Galatians 6:15). He promised that He would establish His final kingdom (Daniel 2:44). He inaugurated that kingdom by delivering us from the power of Satan and installing Jesus as our ruler (Matthew 12:28-30, Luke 10:18-20). This is only the beginning, however. What the Father began to do in Jesus’ first coming, He will bring to completion at the second.

<–Sabbath Monday–>

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/sunday-in-last-days/

Support for the mission activities of the Seventh-day Adventist church has always been part of the Sabbath School program. This video is Mission Spotlight for this week.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPqzqGbn_xA&w=560&h=315]

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/mission-spotlight-for-january-8/

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Sabbath Afternoon,

Read for This Week’s Study: Isaiah 2:2-3; Hebrews 1:1–4; Exodus 24:16-17; Isaiah 44:24; Hebrews 1:10; Luke 1:31-32; Hebrews 1:5.

Memory Text: “But in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being” (Hebrews 1:2-3,  NIV).

Right after Adam and Eve sinned, God promised them a “seed,” a Son who would deliver them from the enemy, recover the inheritance that had been lost, and fulfill the purpose for which they had been created (Genesis 3:15). This Son would both represent and redeem them by taking their place and, ultimately, by destroying the serpent.

“When Adam and Eve first heard the promise, they looked for its speedy fulfillment. They joyfully welcomed their first-born son, hoping that he might be the Deliverer. But the fulfillment of the promise tarried.” — Ellen G. White,  The Desire of Ages, p. 31. The promise was later confirmed to Abraham. God swore to him that he would have a “seed,” a Son through whom all the nations of the earth would be blessed (Genesis 22:16-18, Galatians 3:16). And God did the same with David. He promised David that his descendant would be installed by God as His own Son and would be established as a righteous ruler over all the kings of the earth (2 Samuel 7:12-14, Psalm 89:27-29). What neither Adam and Eve, Abraham, or David probably never imagined, however, was that their Redeemer Son would be God Himself.

Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, January 15.

Sunday–>

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Miraculous Rock

By Andrew McChesney

A miracle rock stopped the pickup truck of Bounprany Vannady, who was serving as president of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Laos.

Image © Pacific Press

It was just an ordinary creek. Any car could pass through its shallow waters easily. No car was known to have ever gotten stuck there. But the pickup truck decided to stop just as it entered the creek. It simply stopped.

Bounprany and two young pastors traveling with him found a rock blocking the way, but it seemed to be too small to stop the vehicle. Just to make sure, they moved the rock and tried to restart the vehicle. It refused to start. They hailed down a passing car and tried to jumpstart the battery, but the pickup truck still refused to start.

Since it was getting dark, Bounprany walked over to the nearest village. Several villagers came back to the pickup truck to help, but they couldn’t get it to start. The village chief invited Bounprany to spend the night in his house, while the young pastors stayed with the pickup truck.

“What are you doing in our area?” the village chief asked.

Bounprany explained that he was taking some sporting equipment to the next village. He was hoping to establish a connection with that village.

As he listened, the village chief sensed that Bounprany was a Christian, and he announced that he was a Christian. He pulled out a Voice of Prophecy correspondence school certificate issued by the Seventh-day Adventist Church of Laos several years earlier. He said he had reached out to a former church leader for support several years earlier but had been dismissed, so now he and about 200 other villagers were worshiping Jesus on their own. He asked Bounprany to teach him and the villagers about the seventh-day Sabbath.

It was at the moment that Bounprany realized that an angel must have stopped the pickup truck. It was like Balaam’s donkey who refused to go farther because it saw an angel of the Lord. This car must have seen an angel of the Lord standing in front of it in the creek, so it decided to stop.

The next morning, the pickup truck started at the first turn of the key.

Thank you for your Sabbath School mission offering that will help spread the gospel to the people of Laos and the other countries of the Southern Asia-Pacific Division. Part of this quarter’s Thirteenth Sabbath Offering will help open an elementary school in Laos.

Produced by the General Conference Office of Adventist Mission. Find more mission stories at adventistmission[dot]org

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