Jesus Better Than Moses
- Details
- Sunday Morning Service
- Jeremy Richards
- 05 July 2026
- Hebrews 3:2-6
We have begun to look at his physical nature lately. That he is our hero. That he was made like his brethren to be their high priest. And we also have seen his relationship regarding angelic or other spiritual powers. That he is superior to them, that they all worship him.
But now we're going to begin to look at his relationship to the law. To the law. You and I are individuals who were born under the law. Our conscience bears witness of the testimony of the law's work in our life. When you break the law, your conscience is a witness.
No one had to necessarily give that conscience to you. That conscience is still stimulated by breaking the law to convince you or accuse you as an evildoer. Individuals run hard. They want to escape the conscience influence. But they are not able to is a part of them that law.
You and I have a relationship with the law. But what is Jesus Christ's relationship with the law and us? So we're going to look at that we see stated in certain places. Even in his beginning, in his first message, he said, I didn't come to do away with the law. I didn't come to do away with it.
I came to fulfill it. And so we're going to look at that a little bit. In chapter three, we see that last week we talked about that Jesus Christ was made a man to be the apostle and high priest of our calling. He came to perform a certain position for you and I that could not be accomplished by anyone else. The apostle and high priest.
As apostle and high priest, he accomplished something. So in chapter three, verse two, we're going to look at his relationship to the law. It says in verse two, who was faithful to him who appointed him as Moses also was faithful in all of his house. For this one has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses. Inasmuch as he who built the house has more honor than the house.
For every house is built by someone. But he who built all things is God. And Moses indeed was faithful in all his house as a servant for a testimony of the things which would be spoken of afterwards. But Christ as a son over his own house, whose house we are, if we hold fast the confidence and rejoicing of the hope to the end. And so we see here, before we look at it, that you and I are a part of a household.
We belong to a household. We have a spiritual father. Every individual all over the earth, wherever you were born, are a member of one or two families. They're the only two families exist that no matter what religion you say you are a part of you are either under grace or you are under the law. If you are under the law, you are subject to laws and ordinances.
And as a subject to those things, have a relationship with those laws and ordinances, which is apparent by what you do to try to satisfy those laws and obligations as a series of works. But if you are under grace, you're a part of a different family, not by works, but one that has been given to you by the nature, the grace of God through Jesus Christ. So we're going to look at that. In verse two, it says this high priest, this apostle, was faithful to him who appointed him as Moses was faithful in all his house. Moses was called as an individual into a position within God's kingdom.
As an individual. We don't see anyone who is given more of a a position or an obligation to fulfill than Moses. Who would like to have the authority that Moses had. Who would like to go out into the wilderness with 6 million people where there's no water and no food. And you've been given the task to provide for these people, meld them into a spiritual nation, an army, a people that is going to be set apart from every other nation on the earth.
By the way, there are complainers. They're rebellious, they're hateful, they're deceitful, they love idols and adultery. And it's your job to meld them into a victorious people.
Having a few children is a big job. Having millions of children to be responsible is a bigger job. Moses was put in a position that should not be envious to you and I. He had something that he was called to do that he had to accomplish. There were steps along the way that he fulfilled that obligation faithfully that he was called at the burning bush to come into this ministry.
He was given a He was told to confront the most powerful leader of the land and to overcome him through the power of God. He was given the opportunity to tell to the Israelite people, hey, this is the Lord's Passover. And God is going to deliver you from burden of sin by placing over the burden of the destroying angel, by placing blood over the lintel of your house and on his doorpost. Led them out of Egypt and through the Red Sea, where they were transferred from the kingdom of Egypt, from the dominion of the strong man who once held them in slavery. And he brought them through the Red Sea into a new kingdom where God was their master.
He faithfully accomplished that. He faithfully provided or was the source of provision and the source of wisdom for this 6 million people in the desert, he faithfully did all these things. He faithfully delivered them the law and warned them of the consequences of breaking the law. All this Moses was faithful to in a similar way, but not exactly the same. Jesus Christ was faithful over a different house.
He had something to accomplish. These things which he had to accomplish were similar in respect to that which Moses accomplished in the desert. He, of course, was called also. He was drawn into the desert and called by God, given the Holy Spirit, to accomplish a different work. We see that his life and death were also faithful representations of much of what Moses was accomplishing in the desert.
Jesus was faithful to that calling for the house that God gave him, in a similar way to Moses was faithful in delivering the law. Similar, but two different things. But we're going to see that there are differences between these two houses, between these two things. This says in verse three, it says, for this one has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who built the house has more honor than the house. Even though they had similar responsibility, one excelled the other in glory.
That which Moses accomplished was significant, was necessary at the time. But that which Jesus Christ accomplished was worthy of more glory than what Moses accomplished. There is a degree of glory that should be considered when we view one and next to the other. Now, as we look at this, I want us to remember, I want it to be apparent in our minds that you are a part of one or the other, one house or the other. This one, it says, this is the degree to which Jesus Christ is worthy of more glory.
It says, inasmuch as he who built the house has more honor than the house. Now, as an individual who, as a general contractor involved in building houses, this is a little bit flattering, right? Hey, we're building something, we're putting effort into it, but the individual who is actually building the house is worth more than the house is itself. I remember in college, you know, starting the architectural engineering program in Chicago, that we went. We went to church somewhere in the suburbs of Chicago, but we made it a point to go visit the houses of Frank Lloyd Wright.
I don't know if anyone knows who Frank Lloyd Wright was, but he was obviously from Chicago and designed as an architecture, many beautiful houses and buildings, right? And we would go buy these houses, and one particular is on the corner of the street. And it was a house. And it was like, yeah, it's a great house, beautiful house. But the reason that house had significance, most importantly was because of the individual who built it.
The house gained significance because it was a house built by Frank Lloyd Wright. And here we see something also that Jesus Christ is building a house. In verse three, it says, he who built the house has more honor than the house. There was. Moses was a part of a structure that was being built in those wilderness years that the law came about, given by God, given on tablets of stone, all sorts of a system of sacrifices and such was being built.
But there was an individual responsible for that building that was happening. There was a building being built in the wilderness, but someone was responsible for that house that was being built. Houses don't build themselves. Houses decay, they rot, all sorts of things. I was at a house this week and.
And just wanted to lift up the siding just to see what was behind it. And of course. Hey, hey. The tar paper's rotten here. And then the sheathing just rips apart like paper.
The beams are just coming out in handfuls, right? The house is of worth something, but the one who builds the house responsible for the house being built has more glory than the house. Here we see that there is someone responsible for that house being built. And this is saying that that person is Jesus Christ.
In First Corinthians, it says the rock that followed them. Let me just go there in First Corinthians, I hope I marked it. No, I marked something in Second Corinthians, but I'm not sure exactly what. But we see that if you remember, there was a cloud in the desert years, and that cloud was a picture of God's presence. It wasn't Moses building the house.
It was God's presence overseeing a work. First or Second Corinthians says it says that rock which followed them was Christ, that he is the builder of something happening there. There is something coming out of this experience in the desert for which Jesus is the responsible agent. This is saying that if he is the builder, if he is the one responsible for that, that he is worthy of more glory than the law. Now, it is hard for us to experience and understand the difference between the law and.
And the grace of Jesus Christ. But I have to try to push that. You and I are under one or the other. You either exist as a member of the house or belong to one who built the house. We're going to keep going in Hebrews.
Hopefully we're going to gather this together, For this one has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who built the house has more honor than the house. It says for every house is built by someone, but he who built all things is God. This is a reference to say that that individual who built the house in the devot the desert has divine nature. Divine nature. And we go.
If you remember, in Exodus, we get a picture in chapter 23 of this. So in Exodus, chapter 23, verse 20, it says, behold, I send an angel before you to keep you in the way and bring you into the place of which I have prepared. Beware of him and obey his voice. Do not provoke him, for he will not pardon your transgressions, for My name is in Him. But if you indeed obey his voice and do all that I speak, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries.
For my angel will go before you and bring you in, to bring you into the Amorites and the Hittites, the Perizzites and the Canaanites and the Hivites and the Jezebetes. And I will cut them off. You shall not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do according to their work, but you shall utterly overthrow them and completely break down their sacred pillars. And so it goes on to explain the benefit of respecting this angel with a capital A, that this is the angel of God who will go before him. But that relationship which this angel has with this nation is based on whether or not the people keep the commandments delivered to them.
This house was being built, but it was built in such a way that it was dependent on whether or not people could obey the commandments that were delivered to them. If they obeyed, there was a benefit, there was a blessing. If they disobeyed, what happened? There was a curse that came upon their lives. What we see is that the best intentions, even under the best leadership, led to fearful consequences.
No one was able to keep that law. It existed. It was being built. It was built by God. It was not something that was negative or wrong.
It had a purpose. But all it did was show that no one could exist under it.
There was something else happening at the same time. Hopefully, I'm going to. In Exodus, see, we're given the account of Moses. Moses says, you know, if you will not go with us, leave us here. The Lord says, yes, I will go with you.
And Moses asks, show me your glory. He says, God says, I will be graceful to you. I will show you my grace. Here we see two different things happening. Number one, there was the angel who said, promised, if you do not keep the law, there's consequences.
And if you do keep them, there is a blessing. But we see here in Moses, having given the law, having existed under the law, participated in it, seen the experience of it. He asked for something different.
An individual who knew the law more than anyone else, knew the consequences of it, knew what to do in every circumstance when the law was broken. He asked for God's grace. He asked for a participation in God's presence that is not based on the law. He asks for a different relationship with God. And God responds to that and says, I will show you my grace.
I will show you my glory. In verse five, it says, for Moses indeed was faithful in all of his house as a servant for a testimony of those things which would be spoken afterwards. But Christ as a son over his own house, whose house we are, if we hold fast the confidence and rejoicing of the hope firm to the end. We're going to close with this. Just a reminder of what I said earlier.
There are two houses. God is the builder of that house which of the law. But Jesus came to present a new and a better house, A house worthy of much more glory than that which had built in the desert. That is a house that you and I are invited to participate in, invited to leave the one that's based on legal commandments in which you have to perform or face certain consequences. That you are invited to leave all your sin and failure behind and enter into a new house in which someone has built something much more glorious than what existed before.
It is a house that is built on grace, in which individuals are given the invitation or opportunity to leave that platform that they had based their lives on before a system of sacrifices. Unfortunately, oftentimes they look like excuses and blaming other people into a new and living way in which we confess and see our sins, forsake them, and turn to this author of a new house, the house built by Jesus Christ.
Sometimes in looking at this, it's important to recognize that what we see needs to be evidence based, not feeling based. It is so easy in our lives to feel wonderful when circumstances are all wonderful. It's nice. I may be feeling like a moron and I come into a place where upbeat music is playing and all of a sudden I begin to feel better, right? That's not evidence based.
That's a feeling based scenario. In our life, it's important to look at the effect of our nature rather than our feelings. Do the does the basis of our life prove that we are in one kingdom or the other? To look at the evidence of that is more important than we have your feeling. If the evidence proves that we're in one kingdom over the other, we should be motivated to move into the other kingdoms rather than suffer the consequences of being trapped in something that maybe feels appropriate to us.
If you or an individual are struggling with this or want to know or sometimes it's important to get a second perspective. Which kingdom am I in to have someone willing to work with you? What do you do when you sin? I would love to be a part of any individual who is struggling spiritually to recognize where you are, to point you to a place where there is an entrance into God's kingdom. We're going to close for now with this in this.
But the goal is there is a kingdom that is we are invited to to leave that which we have been raised in that is more glorious than the earthly one. Let's pray.