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Unchangeable Things: Christ and His City

By Joe Boot/ November 3, 2013

Series  Hebrews and the High Priesthood

Context  Westminster Chapel Toronto

Topic  Apologetics

Scripture  Hebrews 13:8-14

God is building an eternal family, an eternal city, not made with human hands.

Scripture:  Hebrews 13:8-14

Sermon Notes:

  1. We live in a constantly changing world, but Christ and the gospel of His kingdom remain unchanged.
  2. God is building an eternal family, an eternal city, not made with human hands.
  3. The divine Word became flesh and lived among us (Jn. 1).
  4. Is there really an unchanging person?  Unbelievers will always seek a non-Christian explanation for Jesus’ life.
  5. Jesus defines Himself as the I AM, the self-defining eternal God; Jesus forgives sins, accepts worship, performs miracles, and lived a sinless life. 
  6. He is the very revelation of God Himself to the world.
  7. Our culture sees the church on decline as we have been carried away by strange doctrines.
  8. Many claim that all religions are only superficially different, but essentially the same.
  9. However, no other religion reveals a personal God who speaks into history in an infallible divine person declaring salvation and redemption for man.
  10. Unlike Buddhism and Hinduism, Jesus teaches continuity of personhood after death; He affirms the world and affirms godly desires.
  11. If Jesus is who He said He is, it affects everything; it is of infinite importance.
  12. Modern man is trying to work out his own salvation:  history is all there is; there is no design, no Creator, no God. 
  13. As mere material entities, with brains driven by chemistry, we lose our dignity as humans.
  14. Living consistently with materialistic premises, humanists cannot account for the very intelligibility of human experience.
  15. The humanist faces a meaningless world in which he must strive to create meaning.
  16. By contrast, in Christ we are called forth by a personal God.
  17. We accept a world which has meaning and purpose defined and governed by God.
  18. Hebrews 1 extols the superlative excellence of Christ, in whom we all have our being.
  19. We are all creatures receiving life from God; we do not animate our own bodies.
  20. All philosophers and gods pale when contrasted with Christ.

Application Questions:

  1. Who is the one permanent unchangeable person in the world upon which we may anchor our lives?
  2. Defend the divinity of Christ from scripture.
  3. What are the logical entailments of accepting the identity and person of Jesus as He is revealed in the Bible?
  4. What are the implications of materialistic assumptions for humanity?   What are consistent humanists forced to conclude?
  5. What is the meaning and purpose of the world and our lives as they are owned and defined by Christ?

Sermon Notes