The Trinity and the Incarnation

[0:00] Thank you. The writer of Hebrews is setting forth the person of Jesus Christ as superior to all of the previous Old Testament institutions and personages that were on the scene.

[0:14] And it is the presentation of Christ as superior in every way. He is a superior priest. He is a superior sacrifice. He is exalted in every way above every individual and institution in all of the Old Testament.

[0:31] And that must have been a very bitter pill for some of the Jews to swallow that first century, because many of them regarded Jesus of Nazareth as a mere man, maybe an extraordinary man, but only a man nonetheless.

[0:48] And yet the scriptures in no uncertain terms make him to be deity. So in connection with the Christmas season, we are exploring briefly, and I emphasize briefly and superficially because I'm not sure that anyone gets to this subject in any real depth, the mystery of the Trinitarian concept of God, the triunity of God.

[1:15] And we worship one God, not three. One God subsisting in three persons. Right away, that is enigmatic language, because we just don't ordinarily talk like that.

[1:30] One being subsisting in three persons. Yet that is precisely how the Godhead is expressed. So we are giving consideration to each member of the triune Godhead.

[1:46] And in our previous study, we looked at the incarnation from the perspective of God, the father. This morning, it will be from the perspective of God, the son.

[1:58] And then, of course, the only one remaining we will undertake next week, the Lord willing. And that is the incarnation from the perspective of the Holy Spirit.

[2:09] So at the outset for today's message, I have some questions for you to contemplate as regards the triune nature. And then we'll look at a few other passages, particularly here in Hebrews.

[2:22] And I will do the best I can to afford some time for Q&A at the conclusion. Here are the questions that I want you to be thinking about as we continue exploring this subject of the triune nature of God.

[2:38] First, if God is the infinite eternal being the Bible insists he is, would not his very nature and constitution qualify for being part of his infinity and transcendence?

[3:02] Now think about that. First, I'm approaching this purely from the standpoint of logic and human reasoning. And I would be the first to admit that human reasoning cannot really be applied to an infinite concept because we just cannot take our minds there.

[3:21] We just have to bail out someplace along the way. But as much as lieth within us, let's try to grasp the logic of this. And let me repeat that. If God, and it is based upon that presupposition, if God is the infinite eternal being, the Bible insists that he is, then would not his very nature and constitution qualify for being part of his infinity and transcendence?

[3:53] Or, put it this way, is it reasonable to say that the infinite eternal being possesses constitutional components and distinctives that transcend human comprehension?

[4:13] Could you not anticipate that?

[4:43] Should we not even anticipate such? Now, in reality, I said the same thing three different times in just a slightly different way each time?

[4:54] Every believer, I'm sure, every believer, I'm sure, would agree that God works in mysterious ways. God operates, does things behind the scene, brings things to pass, superintends over things, accomplishes things that many times to us are just mind-boggling.

[5:18] God does work in mysterious ways. Isn't it only logical, then, that part of the mystery that surrounds God might very well be, and in fact probably is, involved with his very nature and makeup and being?

[5:38] I want to just throw out a wise man opinion for you, and again, let that send up a red flag. But I've often wondered, what are we going to be doing in eternity?

[5:53] And we know it is a timeless situation. But with what are we going to fill our minds? We will have a new perspective, and we will have the mind of Christ, then, in a way that we do not now.

[6:08] And I suggest for your consideration that probably the most dazzling, fascinating, intriguing thing about heaven will be that the infinite God, and how far do you have to go to get into that, further than any of us can go.

[6:31] Infinity is beyond our grasp. But I am persuaded that the infinite God in eternity is going to reveal to us more and more and more about himself.

[6:48] And each revelation will be absolutely dazzling. It will occupy our minds, our hearts, our spirits.

[6:58] Oh, no doubt we will not be doing only that, but that will, I think, again, a wise man opinion, I think that will be the primary thing that we will enjoy in heaven, is knowing more and more and more and more and more and more of this infinite being of God.

[7:22] And I am of the opinion that part of his infinity, part of his mystery, is inherent in his very nature and constitution, part of which is the three-part personage that makes up the one God.

[7:50] If I were going to write a Bible, or if men were to engage in collusion or conspiracy, to write a Bible that they ever expected anyone to believe, one of the first things that I think should be eliminated is the Trinitarian concept.

[8:18] Because as you go through Scripture, Old and New Testament, you are constantly confronted with the deity of the Father.

[8:28] And nobody really seriously challenges that. I mean, that is accepted hands down, that the Father is God. Oh, absolutely, nobody disputes that.

[8:39] But the same Scriptures reveal time and time and time again that the Son is God. And also that the Spirit is God.

[8:54] And that none of them is one-third God, but each of them is fully God in his own right. And these three personages comprise the one God.

[9:07] If I were going to write a Bible that I expected men to embrace and believe, first thing I would do is go through it and eliminate those references.

[9:19] They're too difficult to buy into. And yet, the Bible doesn't do that. And why is it that the Bible includes these things that are profound and mysterious and simply beyond the ability of the human mind to grasp?

[9:34] Why does the Bible even include them? Because they are true. And we live and serve under a God of truth.

[9:46] So you find unequivocally throughout Scripture, the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Spirit is God. And there is no denying that.

[9:58] So how is it that we do not have three gods? We have one God, and the Scripture insists on the singularity of God. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one.

[10:09] And we pointed out to you in our previous session that the one that God is is a compound unity. And that's what's used there in Deuteronomy 6.4, and it is the same word for one that is used with a marriage relationship.

[10:25] When the twain become one flesh, they do not cease to become two persons. There are still two persons, but there is a oneness in that marriage that is a compound oneness.

[10:39] And that is the same kind of oneness that there is in the Godhead. And our problem, of course, is in wanting to simplify these things that are so profound and bring them down to where we can get our minds around them so that they become reasonable to us.

[10:55] And when it's reasonable and logical to me, then I will accept it. And that's ordinarily the way we think. And, you know, we do that about just about everything. But we've got to remember, when we come to the subject of deity, we're simply, completely out of our league.

[11:15] And we embrace the doctrine of the Trinity unapologetically, not because it makes perfectly good sense to us logically and humanly, but because it is so clearly taught in Scripture.

[11:31] It is a truth that we embrace on the basis of revelation, not on the basis of, oh, it seems perfectly logical to me. Well, there are aspects to it that simply doesn't.

[11:42] And yet, at the same time, when we read that God is love, and that he is characterized by love, and this is the only attribute of his that I know of, that he is described as God is love.

[12:00] Well, before there were any human beings, and before there were any angelic beings, and before there were any beings of any kind ever created, whom did God love?

[12:24] The text doesn't say God was love, or God shall be love. But it's that God is love. If is.

[12:36] Love is a characteristic of his being. For all of the duration of his being, which encompasses all of infinity, he is love.

[12:47] Whom did he love? Before there was anyone to love. It was the members of the triune Godhead that exchanged and interrelated in a perfect love, a perfect unity, a perfect cooperation, a perfect tranquility and peacefulness from all eternity past.

[13:15] Trinity, the Godhead, is love among the members. The Father loves the Son.

[13:28] The Son loves the Spirit. The Spirit loves the Father. It is the ultimate mutual admiration society, and it has existed from eternity past.

[13:40] We just simply cannot conceive of a time when there wasn't anything. There was no matter. I mean, no planets, no stars, no universe, no space, no time, no anything.

[13:56] But there was God. Eternal, infinite, omnipotent being. Amazing. Absolutely amazing.

[14:08] In the Hebrews passage that Gary read for us, I'd like you to turn to that, please, and we will confine our comments to this remarkable book, and it is indeed remarkable, sets forth the superiority of Christ in just about every way.

[14:28] And the very first verse makes the case by saying that God, after he spoke long ago to the fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and others, in many portions, and in many ways, in these last days, has spoken to us in his Son.

[14:53] And I've defined for you before what the Bible means by last days, and just let me run that by you again. The biblical usage of the word the last days, or in the latter days, refers to any period of time from the time of the ministry, death, burial, and resurrection of Christ to the present.

[15:17] We are living in the last days. The Apostle Paul lived in the last days, in that they were on this side of the cross. Martin Luther lived in the last days.

[15:28] We tend to think of the last days as being the last few weeks prior to the coming of Christ. But biblically, the last days are determined by the earthly ministry, life, death, burial, resurrection of Christ.

[15:43] Everything that was before the cross is the former days. Everything after the cross is the latter days. So when Paul wrote to Timothy, in the latter days, or in the last days, perilous times shall come.

[15:58] Men shall be lovers of themselves, boastful, heady, high-minded, traitors, etc. Well, we're living in the last days. Paul lived in those last days. We live in those last days.

[16:08] The next generation, if the Lord doesn't come first, will still be the last days. The last days consists of all of that time from the time Christ was here until the time that it is culminated.

[16:19] In these last days, he has spoken to us in his Son. That's incarnation truth. The writer of Hebrews is saying that God took his ultimate message that he wanted to communicate to mankind and he wrapped his message up in a human body and sent it down here and put it in a manger.

[16:43] And God's message grew up before man possessing a body that was capable of dying. and that was what it was all about.

[16:55] In these last days, he's spoken to us in his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the world. Now, wait a minute. Here we're back to this confusing thing again.

[17:08] Genesis 1 opens within the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. What is this saying? through whom he made the world.

[17:20] And Colossians says that he is before all things and by him all things consist. And John 1 tells us that in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.

[17:34] All things were made by him, the Logos, the Word. And without him was nothing made that was made. What is that? That is clearly the creational activity of the Son.

[17:48] And we read further in Genesis 1-2, And the Spirit of God brooded upon the face of the waters. What is that?

[18:00] That is the Holy Spirit of God active in creation. All members of the Godhead cooperating and active in all of the great events of earth history starting with creation and even in redemption.

[18:18] Christ offered himself without spot to God. But God handed him over. God offered the Son.

[18:30] And through whom was he offered? He was offered through the Eternal Spirit. All of them. and all active in the resurrection.

[18:43] Jesus said, No man takes my life from me. I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it up again.

[18:54] He raised himself from the dead. But the scriptures also say he was raised by the power of the Father. And he was also raised by the power of the Holy Spirit.

[19:08] You cannot divorce any member of the Trinity from the activity that involves humanity. They are all operative. They are all cooperating. They are all co-equal.

[19:19] They are all co-involved. And they are all God. Amazing. Just amazing. He goes on and says in verse 3 that this Son is the radiance or the effulgence of His glory, that is the Father's glory, and the exact representation of His nature.

[19:42] He is not saying He is close. He is near. No. He is the exact representation of the Father. That is what enabled Jesus to say, He has seen me.

[19:57] has seen the Father. Remarkable. He upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.

[20:18] And later in Hebrews chapter 5 and chapter 7, the writer of Hebrews is going to talk about Christ being in high priest after the order of Melchizedek.

[20:31] Another strange being surfacing in Genesis 14, and he just seems to pop up on the scene out of nowhere. And we know that he was called the priest of the Most High God.

[20:46] He was also called the King of Salem, which was just another name for ancient Jerusalem. you can see the similarity between the names, the ending of the name of Salem and Jerusalem.

[21:00] And he was after the order of Melchizedek, and we were talking to some folks this morning about this, that Christ was prophet, priest, and king, but he was ineligible to be a priest after the order of Levi because he wasn't from the tribe of Levi, and Levi was the priestly tribe.

[21:19] No doubt about it. And Hebrews tells us that it is evident that our Lord sprang or rose or was born out of the tribe of Judah, not Levi.

[21:30] He wasn't qualified to be a Levitical priest. So how was he going to be a priest? Well, he was a priest after the order of Melchizedek. Who was he? He was a priest of the Most High God that surfaced prior to the arrival of Moses on the scene, through whom God gave the Ten Commandments and the law and all of the mosaic things that accompanied it, including the priesthood and all the rest of it.

[21:57] Melchizedek was on the scene long before Levi ever came along. Wow. So that's where he gets his priesthood. Jesus is prophet, priest, and king.

[22:11] All three offices were vested in him. And all through scripture you will realize that these three offices are never vested in any other single person.

[22:22] And for good reason. Because you cannot trust people with that much power. Do you realize that this is the very basis upon which our government here in the United States of America is established?

[22:35] Do you realize this is why we have an executive branch, a legislative branch, and a judicial branch? We have Congress that makes the laws.

[22:46] We have the Supreme Court that interprets the laws. We have the executive office that enforces the laws. And the reason we have these three governmental bodies is because of the wisdom of our founding fathers.

[23:01] And do you know what these founding fathers knew? They knew people. They knew the nature of humanity.

[23:14] They knew that man could not be trusted with too much power. So we have what is known as the separation of powers.

[23:28] Because when too much power and authority is vested in one person, he is tempted to abuse it.

[23:38] that's what tyrants are. They are abusers of power. And we see this all throughout the world, all throughout human history.

[23:51] Dictators rise to power and they abuse their power. Eventually the people sometimes get fed up with all of the abuse and they overthrow the dictator.

[24:02] They overthrow. You have a regime change and sometimes that which replaces it is just as bad or worse than what was there before. I remember when Fulgencio Batista was a dictator in Cuba, ran everything with an iron hand.

[24:22] The government was just so corrupt, I mean, it was terrible. So this handsome young man came on the scene, caught the imagination of the Cuban people, dashing, handsome, full of all kinds of wonderful ideas and revolutionary ideas to overthrow the power, and he succeeded.

[24:44] Got enough troops behind him and they expelled Fulgencio Batista from rule and reign in Cuba.

[24:56] And then as a glorious conqueror, dashing young hero, he came to the United States of America America. And we fated him with a ticker tape parade.

[25:12] We were so proud of what he had accomplished in overthrowing that regime. And there he was, a young, dashing Fidel Castro riding down Fifth Avenue in a ticker tape parade as thousands of America cheered him and enjoyed his revolution.

[25:32] revolution. Because we were born out of revolution too. But little did we know that he was a card carrying communist and that he would subject the people to a different kind of dictatorship.

[25:48] It would be another communist experiment where, of course, everybody's equal, only some are more equal than others. And that's what you have and that's what you still have there.

[25:59] So you can't have too much power vested in one. And who has had all the power in Cuba? Fidel. Fidel. First person ever to arrive on the scene that can be entrusted with all of the power without abusing it will be Jesus Christ.

[26:19] And he will be prophet, priest, and king. All titles rolled into one person, and we won't have to worry about him abusing it.

[26:30] And in the role of priest, he's already done something that no priest has ever done. You know, in the tabernacle, all of the items of furniture there that were instituted by the law of Moses, they have the table of show bread, they have the candelabra of the menorah, they have the Ark of the Covenant and the mercy seat, and the other items of furniture.

[26:58] But there's one thing that is really lacking in the tabernacle. There's no chairs. No place for the priest to sit down. And you know why that was?

[27:10] It was deliberately omitted. Because under the Mosaic law, the priest's job was never done. Year after year after year, he would have to go in and repeat the same process, confessing his own sins, and then the sins of the people, and then sprinkling the blood on the mercy seat, and laying hands on the scapegoat, and sending it out in the wilderness.

[27:33] He had to do that all the time, year after year after year. It was never finished. But we are told in this text right here, and it's a beautiful concept, in the end of verse three, when he had made purification for sins, Jesus sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high.

[27:54] How could he do that? It's very simple. You know how. When he said, it is finished, his work was done. He was entitled to sit down.

[28:06] Job over. Job completed. Fascinating. Sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high, having become as much better than the angels, as he has inherited a more excellent name than they.

[28:21] And then the writer says, now, I just want to ask you a question. You know how exalted angels are, how powerful angels are, how majestic angels are.

[28:33] They are incredible beings. But let me ask you something. To which of the angels did the father ever say, thou art my son, today I have begotten thee?

[28:49] none of them. To which of the angels did he ever say, I will be a father to him and he shall be a son to me? To none of them.

[29:00] And when he again brings the firstborn into the world, and this firstborn, some try to twist this and make it mean that Jesus didn't have an existence before this, and he was the firstborn.

[29:14] Some actually believe that Jesus Christ was God's first creation, creation. Christ is uncreated, and the firstborn doesn't mean that he didn't have a beginning until he was born.

[29:29] He didn't have a humanity until he was born in Bethlehem, but even so, the firstborn is a title designating rank and superiority.

[29:42] It means position, privileged position. for instance, when the twins were born, of Abraham and Sarah begat Isaac, and Isaac begat Esau and Jacob, and when those twin boys were born, who was the first born?

[30:11] Esau was, remember? Jacob was born probably minutes later. So, which one ends up with the rank firstborn?

[30:25] It wasn't the firstborn. It was the secondborn. Well, then how can you call the secondborn the firstborn? It is his rank, his position.

[30:37] The secondborn outranks the firstborn, because he was the one who was the child of blessing, and the father of blessing. So, it is as if Esau, who was by birth physically the original, the firstborn, he was demoted.

[30:56] Jacob was promoted, and that too was on the basis of grace. And when he again brings the firstborn into the world, he says, and let all the angels of God worship him.

[31:11] And of the angels, he says, who makes his angels winds and his ministers a flame of fire, but of the throne, he says, this is remarkable, and this is a quote from the Old Testament.

[31:23] And by the way, these passages just drive the rabbis, the Hebrew scholars, up the wall, because they can't put a handle on this. And the only handle you can put on this is to attribute it to the one to whom it was intended to be attributed, the person of Christ.

[31:39] But to the average Jewish scholar it is unthinkable that this is talking about Jesus of Nazareth. Well then, of whom is it speaking? They don't know.

[31:53] Of the Son, he says, who says? The Father says, thy throne, O God, is forever and ever. Who's calling who God?

[32:06] The Father is calling the Son God. How can that be? Because it is. Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever, and the righteous scepter is the scepter of his kingdom.

[32:22] Thou hast loved righteousness and hated lawlessness. Therefore, God, thy God, hath appointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy companions.

[32:37] I only know of two places in Scripture where the Son ever referred to his Father as God. And both were cries out of the depth of his humanity.

[32:50] and the first was when he was on the cross, remember? He cried out, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

[33:05] And then, the only other occasion that I know of was at the empty tomb, the resurrection, when Mary discovered that he whom she thought was the gardener was actually Jesus, and she grabbed him.

[33:27] She embraced him in a hug when she found out who he was. And he said, Stop clinging to me, for I have not ascended to my God and your God.

[33:44] pretty heavy stuff. And, in verse 10, Thou, Lord, in the beginning didst lay the foundations of the earth.

[34:00] Who is this speaking? This is the Father speaking of the Son. They will perish, but thou remainest, and they all will become old as a garment, and as a mantle, thou will roll them up.

[34:14] As a garment, they will also be changed, but thou art the same, and thy years will not come to an end. This is all language attributed to the Son, by the Father.

[34:27] And, verse 13, But to which of the angels has he ever said, Sit at my right hand, until I make thine enemies a footstool for thy feet.

[34:42] Remarkable. Utterly remarkable stuff. While we're in Hebrews, I want you to come over to chapter 5. Verse 5, So also Christ did not glorify himself, so as to become a high priest, but he who said to him, thou art my son, today I have begotten thee, just as he says also in another passage, thou art a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

[35:21] This is all a quote from the Old Testament, and if you've got marginal notes there, it will tell you precisely where it came from, Psalm 110 and so on. In the days of his flesh, he offered up prayers and supplication with loud crying and tears to the one able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his piety.

[35:45] Although he was a son, he learned obedience from the things which he suffered. This means he didn't learn obedience in the sense that he was coming from a position of disobedience and had to learn obedience, it simply means he experienced obedience on every level of activity because this was the one who came expressly for the purpose of doing the will of his father.

[36:18] And every time he was confronted with a situation, his response was the same. It was an act of obedience. And having been made perfect, that is, complete or entire, in his humanity, and he was, and redemption capped that off.

[36:34] He became to all those who obey him the source of eternal salvation. Think of that. The source of eternal salvation.

[36:46] This is eternal life. This is precisely why Christians are insistent on the exclusivity of Jesus Christ for salvation.

[37:00] salvation. We don't have a choice. This isn't our idea. This is what God set forth. And anybody who wants to criticize Christianity because we see Jesus Christ as being the exclusive means of salvation and accuse us of being arrogant and intolerant and bigoted and so on, they just need to take up the case with the Father.

[37:27] He's the one that determined this. All we're doing is repeating what he said. If they don't like it, they need to appeal to him. He became to those who obey him the source of eternal salvation.

[37:46] Jesus, when he said, I am the way, the truth, and the life, that is a staggering statement for one who is a mere mortal to make.

[38:03] What would you think of anyone, however highly you regarded him, what would you think of him if he made a statement like that? If it was someone who walked among us, said, I am the life, I am the light of the world, what would you make of a person like that?

[38:24] Do you realize that this was common fair for Jesus to say things like this? I am the bread of life. Well, who do you think you are?

[38:35] God? Yeah, matter of fact, he was. So, as Josh McDowell has pointed out time and again, he is liar, a lunatic, or Lord.

[38:52] Take your pick. he has got to be one of the three. He just flat out lied and deceived everybody and succeeded in hoodwinking hundreds of millions of people for thousands of years as just a bald faced liar.

[39:15] Or, he really thought he was who he said he was, but he wasn't. In which case, he was delusional.

[39:27] Jesus was a lunatic. He thought he was the son of God, but he wasn't. Or, he is precisely who he claimed to be, and who the scriptures claimed him to be.

[39:43] And this being the case, how can we not say, Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life? No one comes to the Father but by him. We didn't make that up.

[39:55] It's not our idea. In fact, I wouldn't even vote for it if it were put up there. I wouldn't even vote for it. You know what I would vote for?

[40:05] Hey, everybody has their own preferences. Choose the way that's comfortable for you. That's the humanly logical way.

[40:17] To each his own. Live and let live. Just take your choice. Call it cafeteria religion. Just go down the line and take a little of this, a little of that, and leave this because you don't like broccoli.

[40:29] Leave that Buddhist stuff and take this and take that. That's what I would do. That's the way of human logic. There's an interesting verse in Psalm, I think it's Psalm 51, where is that?

[40:47] Psalm 50 and verse 21. Really neat verse. God is speaking to a wicked man and he says, and this is the only time the word thoughtest, this is an old King James word from Elizabethan English way back, the only time thoughtest is used in all of the Bible.

[41:09] And God is speaking to a wicked man and he says, thou thoughtest that I was altogether such and one as thyself.

[41:19] big mistake. Big mistake. God says, you thought I was just like you. Well, I'm not.

[41:32] And we can be grateful that he isn't. Wonderful. The source of eternal salvation. This is why Jesus Christ could say, I am the way, the truth, and the life.

[41:46] And he's talking about the kind of life that doesn't end. Eternal life. And he's saying, I am the source of it. It is in me. If you want eternal life, you have to get it from the source.

[42:02] source, and there's only one source, and there are no competitors, he alone has this life to give.

[42:15] So that he that has the Son has life. life. And he that has not the Son of God has not life, but the wrath of God abides on him.

[42:31] If you have the Son, you have life as a gift of the grace of God. If you do not respond to God's grace, you will respond to God's justice.

[42:49] That's the wrath of God abiding on you. That's all there is. Life in the Son, or wrath without the Son.

[43:03] In Hebrews chapter 10, I'd just like to give you a couple of verses that reinforce this. This marvelous epistle to the Hebrews is just loaded with these things. For the law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things, can never by the same sacrifices year by year, which they offer continually, make perfect those who draw near.

[43:30] Because if they did, then there'd be no need to repeat it. It'd be over with. Otherwise, they would not have ceased to be offered, because the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have had consciousness of sins.

[43:46] But the writer of Hebrews is saying, but it doesn't work that way, does it? No, it doesn't. Because in those sacrifices, there is a reminder of sins year by year.

[43:59] There is no removal, for it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Then, why offer them?

[44:12] Why offer them? if they didn't take away sins, why offer them? They were offered to condition and program the people of Israel, the offerers of the value and the meaning and the connection with the sacrifice of the innocent dying for the guilty.

[44:31] This was designed to be an early on teaching tool for the children of Israel. Otherwise, sacrificial death of Jesus Christ would have no frame of reference and no context.

[44:42] But the animals, all these thousands and thousands of animals offered over hundreds of years, provided the very context for an appreciation of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

[44:57] It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Therefore, when he comes into the world, this is the son, when the son comes into the world, he says, sacrifice and offering, thou hast not desired, that is, animal sacrifice and offerings will never satisfy a righteous God, but a body thou hast prepared for me.

[45:31] Who is speaking? The son is speaking. To whom is he speaking? He's speaking to his father, and he says, you were not satisfied with the sacrifices of bulls and goats and so on.

[45:45] So you prepared a body for me so that in my body I could do what thousands of bulls and goats could never do.

[46:01] in whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast taken no pleasure. Then I said, behold, I have come in the role of the book it is written of me to do thy will, O God.

[46:21] And after saying above, sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast not desired, nor hast thou taken pleasure in them which are offered according to the law.

[46:31] Then he said, behold, I have come to do thy will. He takes away the first in order to establish the second. And this is the covenant.

[46:43] He took away the first covenant, the Mosaic covenant, and replaces it with the new covenant. By this, by this will, we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus once for all.

[46:59] And every priest stands daily. There's that priest standing, never finished, never gets to sit down. He's standing. The priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices which can never take away sins.

[47:17] But he, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time onward until his enemies be made a footstool for his feet.

[47:33] Where is Jesus now? Seated at the right hand of the Father. What is he doing there? He's still waiting for his enemies to be made his footstool.

[47:44] And the time is coming when they will be. And then these things will be brought to pass. The incarnation of the Son is so ingrained in the whole concept of the Trinity and their activity on that behalf.

[48:03] It is just a mind boggling thing. The greatest events to ever transpire in the history of the universe was when God became a man.

[48:17] Amazing. Father, we are so thankful and blessed and intrigued and in many ways perplexed about all that we've been reading and hearing about.

[48:34] Surely these things set forth a God comprised in such a way in your being that just utterly escapes us.

[48:46] Yet the language is there for us to absorb and to believe even though it transcends our human logic. We once again are reminded that we are but dust.

[49:00] You are the infinite God. Yet we are so grateful that you did not withhold the truth of your nature to us even though we do not have minds comparable to yours that enable us to grasp it.

[49:18] We can in faith believe it and accept it because you said it and we do and we thank you in Christ's wonderful name.

[49:30] Amen.