In the book of Hebrews, we find a lot of information in the area of Christology. Christology is defined as “the branch of Christian theology relating to the person, nature, and role of Christ.” Theology—Theos meaning God, and Logos meaning wisdom and knowledge—is a knowledge of the nature and work of God. Christology is a knowledge of the nature and work of Christ.
The apostle Paul wrote Hebrews as a treatise on Christology, one that is uniquely different from other testimonies about Christ found in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. These gospel writers build their Christology by narration—telling you what Jesus did. However, John shifts the emphasis more toward what Jesus said—a Christology by quotation. He builds his case regarding the nature and work of Christ by telling us what Jesus said about His own ministry, His relationship with His Father in heaven, and with us here on earth.
In Hebrews, Paul gives us a Christology by comparison. He sets up ten comparisons for us to examine, and there is a reason for this. Paul was by far the best educated of the apostles. Trained in the rabbinical schools and at the feet of Gamaliel, you might say he attended the Harvard of his time. He was extremely well-versed in the Scriptures and the teachings of the faith, with a much better understanding of them than any of the other apostles.
We all remember the story of Paul’s conversion on the road to Damascus. On his way to apprehend Christians and return them to Jerusalem to be punished, he was confronted by the Lord. Saul asked, “ ‘Who are you?’ Then the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.’ So he, trembling and astonished, said, ‘Lord, what do You want me to do?’ Then the Lord said to him, ‘Arise and go into the city and you will be told what you must do.’ ” Acts 9:5, 6. Blinded by the Lord, he did as he was instructed, waiting, without food and water, for three days. God sent Ananias to Saul. “ ‘Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.’ ” Verse 17, last part. Saul converted became Paul, and he went out and preached in the synagogues that Christ was the Son of God.
For this, the Jews rose up and sought to kill him; so he fled to the desert of Arabia and remained there for two years. While there, he was taught by Jesus Himself. “Jesus communed with him and established him in the faith, bestowing on him a rich measure of wisdom and grace.” The Acts of the Apostles, 126
At first glance, someone might think that the other apostles had the greater advantage over Paul in that they personally travelled with Jesus for three and a half years, and learned directly from Him. But the apostle Paul was not left out. Jesus privately communed with him. Because of his background, training, and understanding, the Lord knew that Paul would do a mighty work for Him once his mind was straightened out and he was established in the faith.
It is important for us to see that Paul understood some things better than the other apostles. He understood that the gospel was to be taken to the Gentiles which he went to great lengths to explain in Romans 10 and 11. (See Romans 11:16–21.)
Paul also understood the distinction between the moral and ceremonial laws. If the writings of Paul were taken out of the New Testament, there would be no way of knowing that significant parts of the ceremonial law were no longer binding. (Compare Romans 7, Hebrews 7, Colossians 2, and Ephesians 2.) While the other Bible writers may have understood it, they made no mention of it anywhere in the Bible.
But there was something very significant that Paul knew, and it was a burden on his heart. “He [Paul] knew that the typical ceremonies [the sacrifices and temple services] must soon altogether cease, since that which they had shadowed forth had come to pass … .” Sketches from the Life of Paul, 65
We today might say, “What’s the big deal?” But then, to the Jew, there was nothing in this world so dear to him as the temple—a marvelous building even by modern standards. The pomp and ceremonies performed there were magnificent, beautiful, and charming in every way. The temple was the very center of the Hebrew culture.
Paul knew that the temple and all the ceremonies and services connected with it were soon to be destroyed. The people would look for their priests, but would find none. They would look to make their sacrifices, but would be unable to make them. The very heart of their nation’s culture and everything associated with it would be destroyed. What would happen to the faith of the Hebrew Christian? So Paul wrote the book of Hebrews as a way to prepare them for this devastating future.
“The very priests who ministered in the temple had lost sight of the significance of the service they performed. They had ceased to look beyond the symbol to the thing signified. In presenting the sacrificial offerings, they were as actors in a play. The ordinances which God Himself had appointed were made the means of blinding the mind and hardening the heart. God could do no more through these channels. The whole system must be swept away.” The Desire of Ages, 36
The Jews deeply loved their culture, their traditions, and their nation. The destruction of Jerusalem would be a crisis they were unprepared for, so Paul set up these ten comparisons in the book of Hebrews to help them meet the coming crisis.
With this introduction, let’s begin in Hebrews 1.
Christ with the Prophets
First, we will look at the prophets.
“God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets,
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; 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.” Hebrews 1:1–3
To a genuine, spiritual Jew, a prophet was a revered person, highly honored and respected. But Paul is saying here that in spite of the great honor and respect the people held for the prophets, they needed to look to Jesus, because He is so much greater than the prophets.
Jesus with the Angels
Next Paul compares Jesus with the angels.
“Having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.” Verse 4
Then, to reinforce his argument that Jesus is better, higher, greater than the angels, he quotes from the book of Psalms.
“For to which of the angels did He ever say: ‘You are My Son, today I have begotten You’? And again, ‘I will be to Him a Father, and He shall be to Me a Son’?…
“But when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says: ‘Let all the angels of God worship Him.’ And of the angels He says: ‘Who makes His angels spirits and His ministers a flame of fire.’ But to the Son He says: ‘Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness more than Your companions.’ And: ‘You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands.’ ” Verses 5–10
The remaining verses of the chapter are filled with psalms exalting Jesus Christ, speaking of and addressing Him as one with God. There are two additional verses that provide a clear distinction between Jesus and the angels: “Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?” Verse 14. “For He has not put the world to come, of which we speak, in subjection to angels.” Ibid., 2:5. The world to come has been placed in subjection to Jesus.
Jesus with Moses
Paul’s third comparison is found in chapter 3. Other than Abraham, there is no other name so revered within Israel as that of Moses. Paul is comparing Jesus, with Moses as the leader, and establisher of the nation.
“Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus; who was faithful to Him that appointed Him, as Moses also was faithful in all His house. For this One [Jesus] has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as He who built the house has more honor than the house.” Verse 1–3
The Bible uses the word house in the same way that you and I would use the word family.
“… inasmuch as He who built the house [family] has more honor than the house [family]. For every house [family] is built by someone, but He who built all things is God. And Moses indeed was faithful in all His house [family] as a servant, for a testimony of those things which would be spoken afterward, but Christ as a Son over His own house [family], whose house [family] we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end.” Verses 3–6
Christ is greater than the prophets, greater than the angels, greater than Moses. And when everything else is swept away and gone, only Jesus Christ will remain.
Jesus with Aaron
Paul’s fourth comparison is found in chapter 5, verses 4–6, comparing Christ with Aaron.
“And no man takes this honor to himself, but he who is called of God, just as Aaron was. So also Christ did not glorify Himself to become High Priest, but it was He who said to Him: ‘You are My Son, today I have begotten You.’ As He also says in another place: ‘You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.’ ”
We see that Christ is like Melchizedek and not like Aaron. Paul’s evidence is found in verses 7–14. We will see this Melchizedek theme also repeated through chapter 7.
“Who in the days of His [Jesus’] flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear, though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him, called by God as High Priest ‘according to the order of Melchizedek.’ ”
Melchizedek is an interesting character in the Bible. We find no record of him—where he came from, anything about how he lived or died, nothing about him outside the comparison with Jesus.
Jesus with Abraham
In chapter 7, Paul enlarges on the statement that Jesus was a high priest after “the order of Melchizedek.” That Jesus is greater than Aaron, is supported by this comparison of Jesus being like Melchizedek, but then he actually makes a transition by bringing Abraham into the narrative.
“For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all … .” Verses 1, 2, first part
Verse 2, shows us that Melchizedek is a “king of righteousness” and as the “king of Salem” he is the “king of peace, without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, remains a priest continually.” Verse 3
Paul adds verses 4–7 to his basic argument that because Abraham paid tithe to Melchizedek, he [Abraham] is not as exalted as Melchizedek.
“Now consider how great this man was, to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils. And indeed those who are of the sons of Levi, who receive the priesthood, have a commandment to receive tithes from the people according to the law, that is, from their brethren, though they have come from the loins of Abraham; but he whose genealogy is not derived from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. Now beyond all contradiction the lesser is blessed by the better.”
Jesus with the Levites
The Levitical priesthood is introduced in chapter 7 beginning with verse 10 and continuing to the end of the chapter. Here he discusses the Levitical priesthood and that Christ is greater than the Levites.
A Better Covenant, A Better Sanctuary
In the middle of chapter 7, Paul introduces the subject he is going to expound on as we continue through Hebrews.
“By so much more Jesus has become a surety of a better covenant.” Verse 22
Some people feel that the word better is the key word in Hebrews. A better testimony, a better covenant; He is better all the way through. In chapter 8, Paul writes about the better covenant.
“But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.” Verse 6
The Old Testament covenant revolved primarily on the promises of the people. But this new, better covenant revolves around the promises of God. Following the better covenant, we find that chapter 8 also tells us about a better sanctuary. Paul has compared Christ with prophets, angels, Moses, Abraham, Aaron, and the Levitical priesthood. Now he compares Him to the covenants and the sanctuary.
“Now this is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man.” Verses 1, 2
The better sanctuary is the heavenly sanctuary. If we could just remember that things of the greatest importance are not of this world, then we would not be fearful when we see things happening around us that those without hope fear.
We see that the discussion of the better sanctuary picks up again in chapter 9.
“Then indeed, even the first covenant had ordinances of divine service and the earthly sanctuary.” Verse 1
Paul has compared the two sanctuaries—the earthly and the heavenly. Now he compares the two dedications of these sanctuaries.
“For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” Verses 13, 14
“Then likewise he [Moses] sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry. And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.” Verses 21, 22
Now notice a change: “Therefore it was necessary that the copies of the things in the heavens should be purified with these [that is, the blood of the earthly sacrifices], but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.” Verse 23
So, the earthly sanctuary was built and in order. Moses dedicated it by sprinkling the ark of the covenant and the vessels therein with the blood of animal sacrifices, but the heavenly sanctuary was sprinkled with the blood of Jesus Christ.
Next, we find Paul is really settling into his long comparison of the two sacrifices.
“For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.” Verse 24
Paul’s emphasis has been on quality all the way through the book of Hebrews. Christ is greater, higher, better, more glorious. And now he declares that the earthly sacrifices had to be made repeatedly, but Christ’s sacrifice was made only once, showing that Christ is all sufficient.
“Not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the most holy place every year with blood of another—He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.
“And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.” Verses 25–28
“For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect.
“For then would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshipers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sin every year.” Ibid., 10:1–3
Paul continues to reinforce that the sacrifice of Jesus Christ is infinitely greater than the sacrifice of animals. The animal sacrifices, which could never take away sin, were only a symbol of the more perfect sacrifice.
“But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God … . For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.” Verses 12, 14
Every day, morning and evening, the Jews brought their sacrifices to the temple; and every morning and evening the priest would present their offering to the Lord. But now, after the one perfect sacrifice, there is no other sacrifice, no priest to offer it, no lamb to be the sacrifice. The entire sacrificial system given to the Jews by God Himself was only a symbol of the sacrifice, the atonement, that Jesus would make on the behalf of all mankind.
“He bore the curse of the law for the sinner, made an atonement for him, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish. … Genuine faith appropriates the righteousness of Christ, and the sinner is made an overcomer with Christ; for he is made a partaker of the divine nature, and thus divinity and humanity are combined.” God’s Amazing Grace, 177
Mrs. White makes reference to this atonement at least 11 times.
“He has made an atonement for us.” In Heavenly Places, 71
“Christ has made an atonement for the sins of the whole world.” Lift Him Up, 235
“Christ has made an atonement for you.” Medical Ministry, 44
“Jesus has made atonement for all sins. … Christ has made atonement for every sinner.” The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, Vol. 4, 1145, 1178
“He made an atonement.” That I May Know Him, 100
“On the cross of Christ, the Saviour made an atonement for the fallen race.” The Signs of the Times, December 17, 1902
“The precious blood of Christ was of such value, that a full atonement was made for the guilty soul.” The Signs of the Times, November 24, 1890
“A complete sacrifice to God by virtue of this atonement, He has power to offer us salvation.” The Faith I Live By, 50
“In every part, His sacrifice was perfect, for He could make a complete atonement for sin.” The Youth’s Instructor, June 24, 1900
“He [Jesus] planted a cross between heaven and earth, and when the Father beheld the sacrifice of His Son, He bowed before it in recognition of its perfection. ‘It is enough’, He said, ‘the atonement is complete.’ ” The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, Vol. 7A, 459
Then Mrs. White writes in the present tense.
“Our High Priest is making the atonement for us.” The Great Controversy, 623
“Today Christ is making an atonement for us.” The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, Vol. 7A, 481
“He will make an atonement for all who will come with confession.” The Ellen G. White 1888 Materials, 127
And finally, in Mrs. White’s rich understanding of the Christology Paul has presented in Hebrews, she introduces a new phrase—final atonement.
“The blood of Christ, while it was to release the repentant sinner from the condemnation of the law, was not to cancel the sin. It would stand on record in the sanctuary until the final atonement.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 357
“So in the great day of final atonement an investigative judgment.” The Great Controversy, 480
The first 15 chapters of Leviticus contain 18 statements that include, “the sinner comes and an atonement is made.” Eight of those statements add the words, “the sin is forgiven.” Leviticus 16 then talks about the great day of atonement, including five verses that tell us that even though sin is forgiven and an atonement is made, it is still necessary that a final atonement be made; that day of at-one-ment is described by Paul as: “… God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.” 2 Corinthians 5:19
Those who argue that there is no final atonement simply are not following Scripture.
“Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation [atonement] for the sins of the people.” Hebrews 2:17
“His work as High Priest completes the Divine plan of redemption by making the final atonement for sin.” Manuscript Releases, Vol. 10, 157
“As the priests in the earthly sanctuary entered the most holy, once a year, to cleanse the sanctuary, Jesus entered the most holy of the heavenly at the end of the 2300 days of Daniel 8, in 1844, to make a final atonement for all who could be benefited by His mediation and to cleanse the sanctuary.” Spiritual Gifts, Vol. 1, 162
The apostle Paul’s message was given to turn the people’s hearts away from buildings, the priesthood, the animal sacrifices, a ministry. He says that we should not fasten our faith on these earthly things because the day is coming when they will all be swept away.
Fasten your faith on Jesus Christ, the One who never changes. He was there for the children of Israel. He is here today. And He will always be here—every day.
A time is coming for every single one of us when all earthly supports will be gone. There will be no physical church, no conference, no preacher or teacher, elder or deacon. But Jesus is always on the job until His work is totally finished. We have nothing to fear except our own human weaknesses and inabilities, and the Lord can take care of those if we will let Him. We need nothing more than Him.
“The heaviest burden that we bear is the burden of sin. … He will take the load from our weary shoulders. He will give us rest. The burden of care and sorrow also He will bear. He invites us to cast all our care upon Him; for He carries us upon His heart.” The Faith I Live By, 105
Dr. Ralph Larson completed forty years of service with the Seventh-day Adventist church as pastor, evangelist, departmental secretary, and college and seminary teacher. Upon retirement, he continued his service, diligently working with and giving counsel to those within the historic movement.
“Time to go!” Mom called up the stairs to the girls. Twelve-year-old Angela sighed and picked up her black and white striped backpack. They were going on a trip to Ohio. Their family was planning to move to Ohio, and they wanted to visit the church that they planned to attend there.