Sermon: The Builder of All Things is God (Hebrews 3:1-6)

The Builder of All Things is God Sunday, August 30th, 2026 Fourteenth Sunday After Pentecost Christ Covenant Church – Centralia, WA Hebrews 3:1–6 Prayer O Father for too long we have gone our own way, we have wandered from You like lost sheep. We have done our own will, rather than submitting to Your will. Please forgive all our evil choices, our foolish timing, our impatience and ingratitude with Your Kind and Wise Providence. As we hear Your word preached now, we ask that you would give us ears to hear, and a heart to love You as You deserve to be loved. We ask for Your Holy Spirit now, in Jesus’ name, Amen. Introduction This morning we are pressing pause on our series in the Gospel of Luke. And for the next three months or so, I am going to be preaching on the theme of God Building His People. The title of this series is also the title of this morning’s sermon and that is: The Builder of All Things is God. As most of you know, on Novembers 1st, Lord willing, we will be moving from this building to a new building, or rather a very old building. On Novembers 1st, we will say goodbye to this wonderful location here on Seward Avenue, and we will relocate to the building presently known as RE Bennett. And so while there is a ton of good work being done there throughout the week, and even more work still to be done to prepare that building for us and Christ the King Academy, it would be the easiest thing in the world, to become a kind of Martha in this season, when Jesus wants us to be Mary. What do I mean by that? Well recall that Martha and Mary are both disciples of Jesus and close friends with him. Jesus famously raised their brother Lazarus from the dead. And in Luke 10:38-42 we read this, Now it came to pass, as they went, that [Jesus] entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word. But Martha was distracted about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me. And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art worried and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her. Do you know the one thing needful for you? Do you know what is most important in life right now, and in every season? Because according to Jesus, the one thing needful that Mary has chosen, is to sit as Jesus’ feet, and hear His word. What is the point of having a bigger building? Is it to give us more work and bills to be worried about? Is it just to keep us busy? Or is it so that we can have more room for more people to come in and sit at Jesus feet and hear His Word preached? Isn’t that what the church is for? Worshipping the Triune God, proclaiming the gospel, teaching Divine Truth. This is the one thing that Jesus says is most needful for us, because by it we obtain the salvation of our souls. What does Jesus say to Peter three times in a row in John 21? If you love Me, feed My sheep. What does the Apostle Paul say to Timothy in his final letter to him? I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. And so if my whole life as your pastor is to be taken up with this ministry of preaching the Word to you, well then your whole life is to be taken up with hearing, obeying, and applying this Word to your life and duties. The dishes need to be done. Laundry needs to be folded. Bills need to be paid. But what good is any of that work if it is done from a grumbling heart, or a discontented spirit? Everything we do is worthless if the grace of God is not animating us.This is the difference between Martha and Mary. So long before any of us forms an opinion about the color of the carpet in REB, or the paint on the walls, or the missing ceiling tiles, or the holes where the birds have made their nests, we must resolve to be a church that is hungry for God, hoping in His promises, zealous to see ourselves and our neighbors converted to the adoration of Jesus Christ, regardless of where we are. So how zealous are you for the salvation of your own soul? How much attention are you giving to knowing your own sins and growing in God? Martha was a true disciple; she really did love Jesus. But O how easy it was for her to complain to Jesus about her sister. Martha is busy. And busy-ness is good, but not when it is the busy-ness of an anxious and worried spirit. Mary is busy too. But she is busy with the contemplation of Divine things. She is busy with trying to obtain at all costs the peace that Christ alone can give. Mary is busy learning and worshipping at Jesus’ footstool. And Jesus says to Martha, Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her. So it is this good part, the good portion, the good gospel and Word of Jesus, that I want to keep before your eyes amidst all the busy-ness and labor ahead. There is much good work to be done. There are many good works that God has prepared in advance for us to do (Eph. 2:10). But none of them will actually be good works, if we are not good, if we are not sanctified and walking in love together. And so here in our text, of Hebrews 3:1-6, we have a fresh opportunity to hear about the greatness of Christ. For here the Apostle Paul extols the supremacy of Christ above Moses. Moses was a great man, even the meekest man on earth in his day. And yet Jesus far surpasses Moses in many ways. And so as we unfold this theme, that The Builder of All Things is God, let us first consider that Builder Himself, our Lord Jesus Christ. Outline of the Text Our text divides into two basic sections. In verses 1-5 we are told Why Jesus is So Great. And then in verse 6, we are told How We Can Become and Remain a House for Jesus. Why is Jesus so great? How can we become and remain Jesus’ house. Verse 1 – Why is Jesus so great? 1Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus; First note the audience Paul is addressing. He is writing specifically to Hebrew Christians. These are people who were familiar with the Old Testament law, but who do not yet understand how Jesus fulfills and surpasses all the types and shadows in the law. And so Paul writes them this 13-chapter meditation on how and why Jesus is greater than everyone else, and especially why His priesthood, His Apostleship, and His person, is better than every priest, king, and prophet in the Old Testament. And so he opens this chapter by calling them,holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling. This is another way of calling them saints and family members in the kingdom of God. When Jesus saves a person, He saves them into a new family, a new body, a new community and household of faith. And that is what the church is here on earth. Once you are baptized, you are now related to every other person that is also in Christ. And it does not matter if you like those people or not. You are now family, Jesus says you must now learn to live at peace with them. Moreover, this relationship goes both ways. You have to love and tolerate them and their quirks and their sins, and they have to deal with you. And so much of the New Testament is taken up with Jesus teaching us how to live as members of one another. God does not save individuals to leave them on their own. God saves us into a community of faith. And so here Paul reminds the Hebrew Christians of their new identity. Who are we? Who is Christ Covenant Church? We are holy brethren, and partakers of the heavenly calling. And that is a very high calling to live up to. How do we do this? Well, the next thing Paul tells us to do is consider something, that is think, ponder, observe, contemplate, go on a walk and consider this: consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus; This is where all wisdom and godliness finds its source, thinking about Jesus. Who is Jesus? First, He is the capital A, Apostle, The Messenger of God. Jesus is the Eternal Word in whom all truth is found. Whereas Moses was a human messenger, delivering the law from Sinai, Jesus is the Author of all Scripture according to his divine nature, and then according to his earthly ministry, He is the Apostle of Grace and Forgiveness. It says in John 1:17-18, For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. So Jesus has more than propositional truth to reveal (He has that), but He also has a new law of love to inscribe upon the heart. Whereas Moses could only teach the law outwardly to stony and rebellious hearts, Jesus has the power to go inside a person, cut out their heart of stone, give them a new heart, and make them want to keep the law. This is the New Covenant of which Ezekiel prophesied. Jesus is the Apostle who is sent from the Father to indwell the saints by His Spirit. Moses could never do that. No mere human being could ever do that. But Jesus the Divine Apostle has done that for all the saints. As Paul says in Ephesians 3:17, May God grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith. And in Hebrews 13:5 it says, Let your life be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. This is the Apostolic mission of Jesus, He is sent from the Father to be the very life of our souls. Second, Jesus is also our High Priest. That is, Jesus is our mediator, our go-between. Jesus represents us before God, and Jesus is God for us. St. Augustine says of Christ’s high priesthood, “Four things are to be observed in every sacrifice—to whom it is offered, by whom it is offered, what is offered, and for whom it is offered. The same one true Mediator reconciling us to God by the sacrifice of peace, was one with Him to Whom it was offered, united in Himself those for whom He offered it, at the same time offered it Himself, and was Himself that which He offered.” In other words, Jesus is the God to whom all sacrifice is offered, He is the priest who offers it, He is the offering, and He it offers Himself up for us. Later in Hebrews Paul will explain some of the benefits of having Jesus as our High Priest. Amongst such benefits is the assurance that no matter how much you have sinned, no matter how much evil you have done, no matter how foolishly you have acted, God is willing to forgive you, if you repent and confess your sins to Him. It says in Hebrews 4:13-16, And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account. Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Jesus is the Apostle and High Priest of Grace and Truth. And so whenever you fall short of the glory of God, whenever you fall short of the high and heavenly calling by which you are called, come to Jesus and come boldly to Jesus, because He already knows your sins. You cannot surprise Him with the contents of your confession. He is in heaven, just waiting for you to confess what He already knows you did. And He wants to forgive you. He wants to give you His mercy and grace to help you in time of need. Now so often God’s mercy comes to us in the form of painful discipline. But the pain of God’s discipline is infinitely less than the pains of eternal punishment, and that’s why we call it mercy. For indeed it is to save us from eternal punishment that God treats as His sons and makes us to suffer some temporal losses and pains. It says in Hebrews 12:6-11, For whom the Lord loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives.” If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. So as you consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of your profession, consider also all the good that He is working for you and in you. Not only by the many blessings He gives in hearing and answering your prayers, but also in disciplining you, so that you may share in His holiness. Now in verses 2-5, we see that Jesus is the one who builds us up as His House. Paul says… Verses 1b-5 – Jesus is the God Who Builds consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus; 2Who was faithful to him that appointed him, as also Moses was faithful in all his house. 3For this man was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who hath builded the house hath more honour than the house. 4For every house is builded by some man; but he that built all things is God. 5And Moses verily was faithful in all his house, as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after; So here we see that Jesus is the Divine builder of everything that is. If the world is a neighborhood, Jesus is the one who built that neighborhood. And if Jesus is the one who built the world, how much honor and glory does Jesus deserve? Well Paul goes a step further here and identifies the people of God, the saints, the church, as the particular house in which Moses was a faithful servant, but in which and over which Jesus is Son and Builder. Jesus is a Son over His own house. All human beings are made in the image and likeness of God, all human beings have sinned and defaced that image of God in themselves, and so the church is God’s remodel project. The church is God’s special house, who Jesus is rebuilding, renovating, expanding, and recreating by His sanctifying grace. And because of this twofold creation, the church owes to Jesus a two-fold honor. We honor Jesus as our Creator, and we honor Jesus is our Redeemer/Savior. Now there is great comfort in knowing that Jesus is the owner and builder of the church. Because what do you take better care of? The rental car, or the car you own? What you do invest your time, energy, and resources in, your neighbor’s house, or your own? Well, when it comes to the church, Jesus is both owner and inhabitant. He is both landlord, and resident. Jesus lives in the house, in the people He has built, and therefore He is jealous and attentive to take care of it. We are told in Ephesians 5 that Jesus cares for the church as man cares for his own body. It says in Ephesians 5:25-30, Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. So Christ’s love for the church is manifest in how He seeks your purity, your holiness, your cleansing and glorification. Where there are blemishes and sins, Jesus wants them removed. Where there are spots and wrinkles, Jesus wants a white robe of justice and truth. Where there is the ugliness of pride and perversity, Jesus wants the beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit. This is what it means to be the House God built, and the House in which the Holy God desires to dwell. It says in 1 Peter 1:15-16, But as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.” Notice it does not say be holy some of the time, in some of your conduct, when you’re in a good mood. No, be holy in all your conduct. Sunday to Sunday, Sunrise to Sunrise. Live like God in all your living. So what is your vocation, what is your work, and have you sanctified your labor and your leisure to the Lord? If your work is lawful, then it can become holy. Paul says in 1 Timothy 4:4-5, For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving; for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. So if you are a farmer, God says be a holy farmer. If you are a student, God says be a holy student. If you are a mother a homemaker, God says be a holy homemaker. Whatever your trade, whatever you stage in life, if you are a Christian, you are the one who has the Holy God within you, and by offering all your conduct in thanksgiving to God, that work becomes holy work. The perpetual refrain of a holy soul is thanks be to God. Finally, in verse 6, Paul exhorts to us persevere in the faith. Life is hard, life is painful, and so perseverance is most necessary for you to remain as God’s House, to remain within the Church. He says… Verse 6 – How do we become and remain a house for Jesus? 6But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end. Notice that the church here is called a house, and not a tent. Tents are temporary dwelling places, they might be fun for a weekend, but a house is meant to be a permanent living space. Well, when Christ founded the church upon His own sacrificial blood, He made us into His spiritual house. And that means, He wants to live permanently inside of us, and therefore we need to be permanent in our faith. And so against the many fears and sorrows of this life, we must hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end. This means trusting less and less in yourself, and more and more in the power of God. This means hoping less and less for mere temporal goods, and more and more for eternal goods. This means self-denial, mortification, taking up the cross and doing what is honorable even when it hurts. We are God’s House, but we are not the foundation of the House, thanks be to God. We would have cracked and broken a long time ago. Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith. Jesus is the foundation upon which all our faith and hope and rejoicing rests. Jesus rose triumphant over the grace, and He is the living stone upon which we as living stones are built. Conclusion It says in 1 Peter 2:4-5, Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. And so I charge you Christ Covenant Church, consider Jesus. When you are shaken, He is firm. When you are uncertain, He is confident. When you are fearful, He is joyful. For He is the one who has suffered everything for the sake of love. Jesus is the one who died to the world to save the world. Jesus knows what death tastes like, and he swallowed it up by His glorious resurrection. Jesus knows you and loves you, and calls you to trust Him, because the builder of all things is God. In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.