October 9, 2005

Cawson Street Church of Christ

Hopewell, Virginia

Mural Worthey

 

The Superiority and Greatness of Christianity

 

Introduction

 

   The theme of the book of Hebrews is the superiority of Jesus and the New Covenant over the carnal ordinances of the Old Covenant.  Jesus is greater than Moses, Levi and even the angels.  This book exalts the Gospel over the Law.   (Heb. 8:6.)  Our Lord has been given a name that is above every name in heaven, on earth and under the earth.  (Phil. 2:10.)

 

   There were good reasons for the message of Hebrews in the first century.  Many of the original reasons are not as important to our Gentile audiences today.  We have long accepted the superiority of Jesus and the Gospel over the types and shadows of the Old Testament.  But we face other comparisons today.  There are many attractive and inspirational things in our culture that seek to draw people away from the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Satan says, in effect, that these things are greater and more to be desired than the Gospel.  We find hints and references to these other things that are often contrasted wtih the truth of God in other books of the Bible.

 

   The Bible says that God’s Word and Way is to be desired more than honey and the honeycomb.  It is greater than silver and gold.  “More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold; sweeter than also than honey and the honeycomb.”  (Psalm 19:10.)  Precious things of the earth cannot measure up to the value and beauty of the Gospel of Christ.  In addition to these things—the Law, gold, honey and the honeycomb, I want to try to illustrate the greatness of the Gospel over all things cherished by men. There are many good things in life that touch our hearts and move us.  There are many temporary things that are good and right, but they cannot measure up to the glory of the Lord and eternal life.

 

Gospel is a Greater Story

 

   Songs tell a story, often a simple but moving story.  Poems are stories put to rhyme.  History is made up of many overlapping stories of countries, political leaders, military campaigns, and cultures.  Biographies are stories of individual lives.  Even false theories and philosophies are told in story form.  The theory of evolution is told in the form of a story.  The Animal Farm by George Orwell is a satirical story about totalitarianism and democracy.  Children and adults alike enjoy stories. 

 

   We listen when someone says, I want to tell you a story.  Harry Potter is so successful around the world because of the brilliant way in which J K Rowlings tells a story about a school boy wizard.  It has sold over 300 million copies in 63 languages.  The story has now reached its 6^th volume.  There is a short story, but this one is the long story.

 

   There are annual story-telling festivals held around the USA with some of the greatest story-tellers gathered.  Books are stories about people, places and ideas.  The Bible says that we live our lives as a story (tale) that is told.  (Psalm 90:9.)

 

   The story has always been a central part of our written and oral history.  Christianity is the most comprehensive story ever told.  It is made of many shorter stories about people, God and events.  This story begins with, “In the beginning, God. . . .”  (Gen. 1:1.) This story of all stories ends with, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.  The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.  Amen.”  (Rev. 22:21.)  Jesus is known as the greatest teacher because he presented his sermons differently than anyone else.  He told parables.  These are earthly stories with heavenly meanings.  Jesus told that famous story about the father with two sons.  (Luke 15:11-32.)  No one could ever improve on the story of the sower scattering seed upon four different kinds of soils.  The soils represented the hearts of men; the seed represents the Word of God.  (Mark 4:3-20.)

 

   There is no greater story than the story of God’s love seeking the salvation of his wayward children.  The story of Jesus’ birth, life and death never grows old.  It is told repeatedly in Bible classes and sermons every week around the world.  Walter Wangerin, Jr. retold the old story of the suffering of Jesus in “The Ragman,” in The Ragman and Other Cries of Faith.  We sing, “Tell Me the Story of Jesus, Write on My Heart Every Word.”

 

 

 

 

Greater Concerning Drama

 

   Many stories in our world are very dramatic.  There are intense conflicts and serious consequences.  Many of the events of our lives are normal, everyday events that are not filled with intense emotion or interest.  But then, suddenly, without notice, the calm moments change into a dramatic scene. 

 

   Do you remember the story of little Jessica McClure?  This little 18-month old girl fell into a small, well-pipe in their backyard, October 1987, in Odessa, TX.  During the dramatic rescue, the US attacked an Iranian oil drilling platform and Nancy Reagan had a mastectomy, but no one was interested in anything else but the rescue of this little girl.  Jessica is now 19 years old.

 

   The tragedy of the Titanic is a drama of immense proportions.  The British steamer sank when it struck an iceberg on the night of April 14-15, 1912, on its maiden voyage from England to New York City.  Experts considered the ship unsinkable.  It sank about 500 miles southeast of Newfoundland.  Several serious mistakes caused the tragedy.  The first was pride in something physical.  Secondly, the owners and captain were anxious to make it to New York ahead of schedule.  They were overrunning their ability to see ahead in the dense fog at night.  Before they left England, they made a deadly mistake by removing about half of the life boats because they detracted from the beauty of the ship.  Out of 2200 people on board, only 705, mostly women and children, survived.  The largest ship in the world in that day lay at the bottom of the Atlantic.  The wreckage was found by researchers in 1985.

 

   Life is filled with such dramas.  On September 11, 2001, terrorists flew planes into the twin World Trade Center towers causing them to collapse in New York City, killing nearly 3000 people.  A third plane crashed into the Pentagon killing about 200 people.  These are stories filled with drama, life and death, forces of good and evil opposed.  The recent hurricanes on the Gulf Coast are recent examples of real life drama played out before our eyes on television.  Space exploration, flights to and from the moon and the international space station, are events filled with wonder and intensity.

 

   Dramatic portrayals in human stories and real life are temporary.  They soon end and we turn our attention to something else.  But the dramatic story of redemption is ongoing.  It involves real, serious consequences.  Moses said to Israel:

 

I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life that both thou and thou seed may live.  (Deut. 30:19.)

 

   We experience the intense drama of death today because of the disobedience of man against God.  “The wages of sin is death,” wrote Paul.  There was a life and death struggle going on until Jesus defeated Satan and his evil powers on the cross.  Jesus arose triumphantly over the grave with the keys of the grave and Hades.  There never has been anything more at stake than during Jesus’ life.  At the time, those around Jesus did not know what the outcome would be or exactly what would happen.  It was a story that the angels in heaven were intently interested in and watched closely.  (1 Peter 1:10-12.)  When Jesus was born, Herod tried to kill Jesus by killing little children in Bethlehem.  John reveals that the old red dragon, Satan, was the one behind his actions.  (Rev. 12:9.)  The Passion of the Christ, a movie by Mel Gibson, tried to portray the drama of the death of Jesus on the cross.  I believe that one of the reasons for the world’s outcry against this dramatic portrayal of the death of Jesus was simply because of the power of it.  This story when simply read or told orally has greater power, intensity and meaning than anything ever written, acted on Broadway, or filmed in Hollywood.  It has greater pathos and drama than anything the world has to offer.  The innocent died for the guilty; the just for the unjust that he might bring us to God.  (1 Peter 3:18.)

 

   Jesus was seemingly defeated, but on the third day he arose.  Man seems in this life to be defeated by sin and death, but he too will arise by the same power that raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.  The dramas of this world will pass away, but the second greatest event in human history is yet to come.  Jesus will return with a shout and all the dead will be raised.  We will enter into a new life in heaven.  We now await his coming.  The world denies it.  The drama is still unfolding.

 

 

 

 

 

Greater Inspiration and Edification

 

   There are many thrilling, inspirational moments in the events in our world.  The whole world watched and listened with awe when man first walked on the surface of the moon.  Man seemed to be lifted above the mundane toil of everyday life.  Something significant had been accomplished.  Songs and stories are inspirational and edifying, lifting the spirits of men.  When the worker finally emerged with little Jessica McClure in his arms, a spontaneous applause went up from those watching.

 

   In the field of sports, spectators watch hours on end waiting for that special moment when something thrilling occurs.  In football, Tom Dempsey, of the New Orleans Saints, kicked the longest field goal of 63 yards to win against the Detroit Lions in 1970.  What made the kick so remarkable was not only the extraordinary length of the kick, but that Dempsey was born with a deformed right foot (he had only half of his right foot) and no right hand!  That’s a special moment, an inspirational moment.

 

      Have you ever read a book or saw a movie that restored your confidence in mankind?  I enjoyed the movie, Walking Tall, about Sheriff Buford Pusser, of McNairy County, TN.  He fought against corruption and crime that had engulfed his county.  Wicked people were making lots of money by their illegal drug and whiskey operations. They killed his wife in an ambush and finally killed him. 

 

   Can you imagine how thrilling it was for a young shepherd boy named David to defeat old Goliath, the Philistine warrior, with just a sling and some stones?  That story would have been told over and over around campfires and in the homes of proud Jews for generations.  It is still told today by Jews and Gentiles.

 

   If you counted all the thrilling moments in the events of human history, all of them combined could not equal to the Gospel of the love of God and the death of Jesus Christ for mankind.  There are special moments in reading and hearing the Good News of man’s redemption through Jesus our Lord that lost men are motivated, uplifted and drawn to the cross.  Jesus said, “And I, if I, be lifted up on the cross will draw all men unto me.”  (John 12:32.)  There is drawing power in the Gospel to lift us up above the world of sin and disobedience.  Just as we are to let our lights shine in the dark world, the light of the Gospel has first shined in our hearts.

 

The dayspring on high has visited us, to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.  (Luke 1:78-79.)

 

The Gospel Story is True

 

   The gospel is not just another fleeting story with drama that draws us into the message or momentarily inspires us to become better people.  This story is greater than all other stories in everyway, but above all it is true.  This is the best part of the story of the cross.

 

   “For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when you received the word of God which you heard of us, you received not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually works in you that believe.”  (1 Thess. 2:13.)

 

   Jesus said, “I am the way , the truth and the life.  No man comes to the Father except by me.”  (John 14:6.)  “You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.”  (John 8:32.)

 

   I have visited and preached in McNairy County, TN.  When I was there, I learned something that is all too common and disappointing about movies and stories of the world.  About half the people who lived during the time of Buford Pusser said that the movie stretched the truth.  He was not quite as noble and innocent as depicted in the movie.  His wife and the sheriff often fought with one another.  Hollywood wants something that is touching and inspiring in order to sell tickets to the movie.  A little embellishment is even expected from movies.

 

   Have you ever noticed how fleeting the inspiration is from just earthly stories?  No matter how rich in drama and uplifting to the spirit, it soon fades away.  But the Gospel does not emphasize just the emotions and some temporary thrill.  It majors in truth.  Feelings and edification come from the truth of the Gospel—that lost men can be free from sin and live with God eternally.  This is true!  We will be raised from the dead.  There is a better world and life ahead.

 

   Paul wrote to the Corinthians that he did not come to them with enticing words of men’s wisdom declaring the testimony of God.  He was careful that their faith did not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the demonstration of the Spirit and the power of God.  (1 Cor. 2:1-5.)  That is why the Gospel is greater than all other stories.  It is of God!