Hebrews 1:1-2 (ESV)
1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to
our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by
his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created
the world.
Here the apostle begins with a general declaration of the
excellency of the gospel dispensation above that of the law, which he
demonstrates from the different way and manner of God's communicating himself
and his mind and will to men in the one and in the other: both these
dispensations were of God, and both of them very good, but there is a great
difference in the way of their coming from God. [Matthew Henry Commentary]
Thomas Brooks was
an English Puritan preacher and author in the 1600s. Though he's best known for
his many books and theological treatises, we have several of his sermons in
print, some of which are funeral sermons. In one funeral sermon, Brooks reminds
his listeners that for the believer, death not only ceases to be our conqueror;
death actually becomes God's meek helper. He wrote: "Death is another
Moses: it delivers believers out of bondage, and from making bricks in
Egypt." He continued:
Remember this—death does that in a moment, which no
graces, no duties, nor any ordinances could do for a man all his lifetime! Death
frees a [person] from those diseases, corruptions, temptations … that no
duties, nor graces, nor ordinances could do …. Every prayer then [when we die]
shall have its answer; all hungering and thirsting shall be filled and
satisfied; every sigh, groan, and tear that has fallen from the saints' eyes
shall then be recompensed. That is not death but life, which joins the dying
man to Christ!
There is an importance to understanding The Gospel or
Good News of Jesus Christ. For the Gospel gives us Good News of an eternal
life; a life lived free from the problems of the world. This freedom came
through Jesus Christ, God’s son, who was appointed heir of all things.
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