Other religions claim some kind of blood sacrifice or offering for redemption, but it is only in Christianity that God himself becomes the sacrifice. The God who created is the God who redeems.
“He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purifications for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.”
- Hebrews 1:3
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Transcript: Hi, welcome to Five Minutes With Pastor Lutzer. So glad that you have joined us again as we continue our study on the attributes of God. And we’re continuing to discuss and to contemplate the omnipotence of God, the power of God. And today, I believe that we are going to be greatly blessed as we see the relationship of this power to salvation.
The passage of Scripture I have in mind is Hebrews chapter one. It’s a marvelous passage of Scripture, and I’m picking it up at verse three. Speaking of Jesus, who is the Creator, it says, “He is the one who created the worlds. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.”
Let’s think about this passage. We all know that God created the worlds. But first of all, we see in this passage a strong affirmation of the divinity of Jesus. Jesus actually is the creator. And the apostle Paul agrees with this in the book of Colossians when it says, “By him were all things created, whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers—all things created by him and for him.” What a strong affirmation that Jesus is God of very God.
But I want to point out that He continues His creative work. Years ago, there were deists who emphasized or believed that God wound up the universe, put certain laws in motion, and He’s no longer connected to the universe. He’s off somewhere doing His own thing, unrelated to what’s happening in the world. This, of course, is heresy. But notice that it says that Jesus upholds the universe by the word of His power.
Now everything that you and I see and touch is made of molecules. But when you ask scientists, what is a molecule, they will say it is a cluster of atoms. And those atoms have protons and neutrons, and they have to have the same number to balance each other in this magnetic power that takes place in the sub-particles. Of course, I don’t understand all this, but the point to be made is this: that moment by moment, Jesus upholds the universe by the word of His power. As a matter of fact, scientists have discussed what would happen if all of these atoms and the protons and the neutrons weren’t working together. Well, the universe could collapse. All of the matter in the universe could concentrate in one place, and life as we know it would come to an end. Isn’t it wonderful?
And by the way, if you look at an atom and you see the diagrams that scientists have drawn, you’ll notice that there are some parallels between it and the planets. There must be a God who did the creation. And of course we know that there was, but here’s the point: He continues the creation.
Now, I want us to concentrate on this, because having said that about Jesus, notice what the text goes on to say: “Having made purification for sins, he sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.” You know, I read that text and I said, “what’s the relationship between Jesus the creator, who upholds all things by the word of His power, and the fact that He purged our sins and sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high?” And then it dawned on me that the omnipotent God who created is the omnipotent God who redeemed us. The Creator became the Redeemer.
Now you’ve heard me say this probably, and you’re probably going to be hearing me say it again sometime because I wanna emphasize it. You can go on the Internet and find out that there are other religions that also demand blood, just like Christianity, as a sacrifice. Yes, that’s true. But please remember this: only in Christianity does God become the sacrifice. God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself. And the point that should lead us to worship today is simply this: that the omnipotent God who created had to be the omnipotent God who redeemed us. And we are redeemed by the Almighty. And the power of God that we are honoring today as we continue our discussion of omnipotence, is the power of God that has been applied to us.
But I’m not finished. Look at that text again—”Having purged our sins.” That’s, I think, the way the King James puts it. Here it is “purification”—having made purification, He sat down on the right hand of the throne of God. When were you redeemed? You say, “I was redeemed when I received Jesus Christ as my Savior, x number of months ago or years ago.” Yeah, I understand that. But according to God, it was already a done deal. When Jesus died, went to heaven, sat down, His work was done. Because in God’s economy, your sins were already purified, purged by the work of Christ. It only took a couple of centuries before it worked out in our personal experience.
Now, I want to ask you another question. Whose sins were purified? Whose sins were purged? The sins of the whole world? Most Christians believe that, well, then why are some people not redeemed? “Well,” you say, “it’s because they didn’t accept the purification.” Alright, I’ll grant you that, but maybe He purged the sins of those whom He knew would believe on Him. Either way, the simple fact is that salvation is a done deal for all who do trust Christ as Savior, and we invite everyone to do that. And for you to know that the table has been laid. The work has been done. And who did it? The God who spoke the worlds into existence and continues them by the word of His power. The God who created is the God who redeems. No wonder we should end up worshiping such a God.
Thank you so much for joining us today. I hope that you join us again, and as for today, go with God.