Chapter 1 tells us that in previous days, God spoke to man through the prophets, but in these last days (meaning the final age, the age of grace that was ushered in with the birth of Jesus, who is the Messiah, the Savior) God spoke to man through His Son, Jesus. And the beginning verses state that the Son is the same essence, the same “stuff” as the Father, and the Son is the agent through whom the Father created the physical world, and it is He who holds it all together. And the chapter concludes by explaining how and why Jesus is above even the angels.

The second chapter begins with a warning not to drift away from what we have heard from the Lord and confirmed by those who heard him, and reinforced by a variety of miracles that were witnessed by many people.

And then the chapter continues with explaining how the Messiah, Jesus, was born into the world as a human being so that he would have the legal authority to take on the sins of the world and bring forgiveness to those who would believe in Him.

Being a holy and just God, the Father had to make a legal and just way for my sins and yours to be dealt with. He loves us, but that love was not enough, in and of itself, to allow us to spend eternity with Him. We are and we were sinners. Sin separates us from God. Jesus became the bridge to reconnect us with God, but this could only be done through the perfect and sinless sacrifice of the Lamb of God that was Jesus.

Since this book was written to the Hebrews, they were very familiar with the legal system that was put in place by the Law, and in order for them to embrace the Gospel, they had to be shown how the Law was fulfilled in Christ. That is one of the main purposes for the book of Hebrews. As we go through the book, we’ll learn more of how Jesus fulfilled many of the Old Testament requirements for us.