Jesus Christ: Authority, Integrity, Eternity & Victory

According to Guinness World Records, the best-selling book of all time is the Bible. It has been in print for centuries now, and continues to be translated into new languages.

Related to that, one particular Bible reading app reported that on January 5, 2025—the first Sunday of the year— there were 798,000 installations of the app and 18.2 million people engaged with it. I hope that leads to more and more people reading the Bible and coming to know Christ.

Now, for the sake of comparison, the YouTube video with the highest number of views was posted 9 years ago in 2016 and today has almost 16 billion views. That is 16 with nine zeros after it. One billion is a thousand million. That video is a version of the song “Baby Shark.”

The stats aren’t going to be conclusive, but to some degree, I think they do give us some insight into what people are paying attention to, and into what we are training the next generation to pay attention to.

Our attention and our focus has to go somewhere, right? And while I highly doubt you adults are going to spend 10 minutes a day watching a “Baby Shark” video, I’m fairly certain we spend much more than that, on average, in some other form of entertainment.

We watch other videos. We watch movies and TV shows. We watch sports. We scroll through social media. We read news articles about politics and technology and health and the economy.

It all sounds much more sophisticated than “Baby Shark,” but at its heart, and in the long run, how big a difference is it if all we’re trying to do is entertain ourselves?

What’s important to know is that entertainment is not neutral. It changes us for the better or for the worse. It adjusts our attention spans, our expectations, our priorities, our habits, and our values. What we listen to, and what we expose ourselves to, will change us.

The book of Hebrews was written with the aim of restoring and refocusing our attention on Jesus Christ. For the original audience, their temptation was to go back to the rituals and symbolism of Judaism. They weren’t going to stop being religious, but left to themselves, they were going to stop looking at, and meditating on, Jesus, the Son of God.

And so, the book opens up with a very direct and explicit message that nothing else they had ever been exposed to, including what they knew from the Old Testament, could compare to Jesus. Jesus was, and is, superior.

Now, the specific way this point is being made in chapter 1 is by pointing out Jesus’ superiority to angels. Jesus is not an angel. He is God. And so, He deserves, and even demands, our attention and our focus.

Jump over to chapter 2 with me. We’re going to be covering some theological truths this morning in our passage, but I want you to keep the application in mind as we do that. What is the point in the discussion of chapter 1?

Chapter 2, verse 1 tells us. This is the application—Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.

We need to pay much closer attention to Christ and His message. We need to work against the tendency to drift away. We’re all listening to something. We’re all putting our attention and our focus somewhere. But we need to make sure our lives are focused on Christ.

To that end, I want to direct our attention this morning to four attributes of Jesus Christ. They’re not going to be new for most of you, but I think being reminded of them will help encourage us to stay focused on Him, to have our hearts inclined to His truth.

The first attribute is His authority. His authority. Look at verse 7 with me. It says this—Of the angels he says, “He makes his angels winds, and his ministers a flame of fire.”

We talked about this a little in our last study. Angels are powerful and amazing beings. They are like wind and fire—fast moving, invisible, and potentially destructive. That’s how God made them to be.

But Jesus Christ is not an angel. He’s not a created being. Jesus has received His authority from the Father. This is a very different affirmation than what an angel gets. This is the contrast being highlighted. The author of Hebrews wants us to listen to what God has said concerning the Son.

And we know God has said it because it’s from the Bible. An appeal to Scripture is an appeal to God, and there is no greater authority.

Beginning in verse 8, the writer is quoting Psalm 45. It’s a psalm written as a praise to the King of Israel. He is handsome. He is wise. He is mighty. He is majestic and victorious in battle. That’s the Old Testament understanding of the psalm. But now we see that it’s not just the Israelites praising their king. This is God Himself, speaking by His Spirit, through the human author. This is God affirming His Chosen One.

And this is what God says. Look at it in verse 8—Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.

If we were studying the psalm, I’d dig into this a little more, but I don’t want to lose the flow of the argument here in Hebrews. What is he saying?

God the Father is affirming Jesus Christ His Son as the eternal King. He even refers to Him as “God.” And the imagery there is all about authority. The Son has a throne. The Son has a scepter.

What happens in this world whenever a king or a pope, or a president addresses the people? There’s news coverage, isn’t there? The authority of a position demands a certain attention, even if you disagree.

If the owner of your company walked up to you, and asked you to meet with him for 5 minutes, what would you say? What could you say? You have to say, “Yes,” don’t you? This is the boss!

Well, in the Scriptures, we have the One with all authority speaking to us. And when He speaks, we need to listen. If He gives commands, we’re supposed to obey. He should have all our attention. We cannot ignore His message. It comes with the highest authority imaginable.

And yet, because of our sin, we think, “That’s okay, I’ll let Him leave a voicemail, and I’ll call Him back when I have nothing better to do.” But the reality is that when you are confronted with the truth of Jesus Christ, there is nothing better to do than to listen and to obey because He has all authority.

Those who rebel, reject, or ignore His message make a mistake that will have eternal consequences.

Let’s move on to a second attribute of Christ that demands our attention. We listen because of His authority. Number two, we listen because of His integrity. His integrity.

This is what we see in verse 9, as the quotation from Psalm 45 continues. This is how God the Father describes His Son the King. Verse 9—You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness. Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.

What is that saying? It’s pointing to the perfect justice of Christ. It’s His intrinsic integrity, or righteousness, and it is His perfect execution of it.

Jesus is perfectly righteous, and He has perfect justice. There is no equal to Him on the earth. When the angels deal out justice, it’s because they serve Jesus the King. Jesus doesn’t just do what is right; He is the embodiment of righteousness, and we will see that perfectly when He comes again.

Jesus delights in righteousness. He loves what is right and true because that’s who He is. Righteousness is not some external standard that Jesus lives up to. The idea of righteousness exists because that’s what Jesus is. To be righteous is to be like Jesus.

The true expression of loving righteousness is hating wickedness. This is what verse 9 says. We generally hear that love is good and hate is bad, but that’s not entirely true. There is a kind of love that Jesus hates. Jesus says, “Do not love the world or the things of this world.” And there is a kind of hatred that Jesus commends. It is the hatred of sin and wickedness.

When Jesus comes back, the world will see His perfect integrity and righteousness. No one will say He’s being unfair or unkind. They will know that He is dealing our perfect justice. Everyone will see His holiness, and they will recognize their unworthiness. The world will bow before Him in submission—some in humility and love, and others in fear and trembling.

Are any of us righteous enough for Jesus to love us and save us? Not in ourselves, no. We all deserve His judgment. But the message and the mystery of Jesus is that if you will trust in Him, believe in His death and resurrection and authority and power—if you will humbly call out to Him for salvation, turning from your sin, He will save you. He will take His perfect righteousness and credit it to you. And your sin and punishment will have been paid for on the cross. That’s the message of Jesus Christ we cannot ignore.

This is the message we preach, and this is what we’ll be celebrating tonight as we partake of the Lord’s Supper and receive new members. We declare together that Jesus is worthy, and He has mercifully saved us and called us to Himself. We have been saved from eternal judgment.

In the second half of verse 9, the picture of Christ continues with the image of an anointing. An anointing was when someone got oil poured on them, and this was an Old Testament act done to kings and prophets and priests.

But in verse 9, we’re also told that it represents joy or gladness. Think about that. Jesus is not a reluctant King or a reluctant Judge. He’s not a somber Ruler. He is a mighty, triumphant, victorious conqueror. He will rescue His own and destroy all who oppose Him. And He will be glad forever with His people.

Isn’t integrity something that draws our attention. When we know that someone is crooked, or is perverting justice, we don’t want to listen. If you knew your boss was embezzling money, you’d have no respect for him. But if you have a coworker who may not have a very high title, but you know she’s a hard worker and she does things with a sincere and honest attitude, that opens your heart to them, doesn’t it?

If you knew a police officer, or a lawyer, or an accountant, or a doctor, who was involved in shady business deals, and you knew someone in the same profession who was a man of integrity, who would you listen to? Who would you turn to for advice?

Integrity and righteousness is a major factor in who receives our attention. And there is no one more righteous, more perfect, and more just than Jesus Christ.

Well, Psalm 45 emphasizes Christ’s dominion. And then immediately following, we get another citation from Psalm 102, and this brings us another characteristic of Jesus.

We listen to Him because of His authority. We listen because of His integrity. Number three, we listen because of His eternity. His eternity.

Beginning in verse 10, we get a citation from Psalm 102, and the emphasis is Christ’s eternal, unchanging character.

Psalm 102 has a heading at the beginning which is part of the original Hebrew, not something modern publishers have added. The original heading says, “A prayer of one afflicted, when he is faint and pours out his complaint before the Lord.”

The author of Psalm 102 feels helpless and hopeless. He’s wasting away. But he remembers God who, in contrast to him, is all-powerful and will show him compassion. God will bring restoration. God will hear our cries for help.

But again, as the psalmist looks to God, Hebrews now tells us that this psalm is talking about Jesus Christ because all that God is, Jesus is.

Look at the citation starting in verse 10. Here’s what God says about the Son—You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands; [11] they will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment, [12] like a robe you will roll them up, like a garment they will be changed. But you are the same, and your years will have no end.

Everything in this life is going to be thrown away. And a very vivid preview of that is all the stuff we throw away, or we should throw away. Your old phones, your old computers, your old shirts, your old socks, those ugly, old rubber spatulas or wooden spoons in your kitchen. The car sitting in your driveway.

Everything goes bad. Something might last 1 year, or it might last 50 years. But one day, it’s going to be thrown away. Someone made it, and one day, someone is going to throw it away.

That exact same principle applies to the beach and to the mountains and the clouds and the sun and the moon. Someone made it, and one day, someone is going to throw it away.

Who made it? Jesus did! That’s what verse 10 says. In the beginning, He laid the foundation of the earth. He stretched out the heavens. They will perish, but Jesus will remain.

We understand the value of permanence on a small scale. You can find cheap, plastic bottles at Ross or on Amazon, but after you drop it a couple times, it cracks, and you throw it away. But if you spend more, and you buy a steel, double-wall insulated thermos, it might last you 10 years, maybe 20, if you take care of it.

A couple months ago, my family bought a large, steel thermos for water or coffee. And we got one that held 64 ounces. That’s 8 cups. And the brand is Stanley. It’s not one of the fashionable tumblers for women. This is the one you take camping. It’s like an army green color, and the label says, “Stanley: since 1913.”

Why do they put that on there? Because they know it instills confidence.

When you’re looking at two items on Amazon that look identical but one only has 27 reviews and the seller has only been around for 3 months, it doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence. And if the other one has 125,000 reviews and has been in business for 50 years, that gives you confidence. (It’s also probably going to cost a little more.) We value stuff with longevity. That wins our attention.

Jesus is eternal. Theologically, it means that He is unaffected by time. He created this world; He’s going to destroy it with fire; and He’s going to recreate it. He is eternal. And in all of that, His purpose, His plan, and His character will never change. The theological term for that is “immutable.”

His essential nature and eternal plan do not change. He never learns. He never gets old. He never gets tired or impatient. He endures forever. He is eternal, and He is worthy of our attention.

The final characteristic this chapter demonstrates to us is Christ’s victory. We listen because of His authority, His integrity, His eternity, and finally, His victory.

Look at verse 13. It’s a rhetorical question—And to which of the angels has he ever said, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”?

This is a quote from Psalm 110, which was very well known among the Jews. Jesus even quoted from it in the gospels proving His deity.

At the end of Hebrews 1:3, the author mentioned Jesus sitting at the right hand of the Father, and now he’s giving an Old Testament citation for it.

Psalm 110 was written by David looking forward to the promised Son of David who would rule forever. God the Father, gave to the Son, after His death and resurrection and ascension, the exalted position at His right hand. This symbolized a position of honor and power. He is seated because His work is completed. We’re just waiting for the final phases to be complete

The Father promised the Son a kingdom, and He will give it to Him. One day, the Son will come to take that kingdom for Himself, and God will give Him the complete victory. His enemies will be made into a footstool for His feet. This was a cultural image of total domination.

Can you imagine if a boxer today won a fight, and then sat on a throne, and used his opponent as a stool to rest his feet? It would be humiliating. That’s the image here of Christ’s victory.

All who oppose Him in the physical realm and in the spiritual realm—presidents and kings, Satan and the demons—all His enemies will be conquered forever.

Is there any place in the Scriptures where God says something like that to an angel? That’s the question Hebrews is asking. There is no one like Him.

Instead, what does the Bible say about angels? Verse 14. They’re “all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation”?

Angels are servants. They’re ministers. They serve Christ for our good. We Christians are the ones who are to inherit salvation. Angels serve us, but all of us serve Christ, the Champion and Conquer exalted by God.

When the Superbowl ends, or when a boxing match is over, who gets the interview? Who gets a microphone handed to them? Who gets to address the crowd? Not the loser. We hear from the winner. We hear from the one who won the victory.

What greater victory can there be than that of Jesus? He conquered sin. He conquered death. He will come to destroy every nation and king that stand in opposition to Him. He will come with fiery angels and deal out eternal judgment. He will triumph over everything!

This is the one who is speaking to us today through His word. And our responsibility, and our privilege, is to listen.

To our own shame, we need to recognize that the reason we value Christ’s word so little is because we think so little of Christ. We’re not impressed with Him anymore because our hearts have gone after the things of this world.

First Kings 10 tells us the story about the queen of Sheba travelling thousands of miles to hear from the wisdom of King Solomon. He was David’s Son and successor.

And listen to what Jesus says in the gospels. This is in Matthew 12 and Luke 11. Jesus says, “The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.”

Something greater is here.

Jesus also said, “The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.”

Again, something greater is here.

We need to have the heart of Simon Peter. He said some things we shouldn’t say, but he said some good stuff too. John 6:68. A large group of Jesus’ disciples were leaving Him. And Jesus says to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?”

Simon Peter answered, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”

Where else can we go, people? Where else can we go for eternal life and for eternal victory? There is no one else. There is no one better. There is no one greater. There’s no one more worthy than Jesus. We must pay much closer attention.