Thursday, June 7, 2012

The radiance and glory of God

 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. Hebrews 1:3a ESV


Verse 3a of Hebrews chapter one testifies to the deity of Jesus. The writer is making his case for the deity of Christ in the first half of the verse. After making the statement earlier that Jesus is the Son of God and that God has communicated with us through Him, he now goes on to further explain the Son's deity.

Through Jesus all of God's splendor and praise-worthiness is made manifest. It shines through in the person of Jesus. When the world looks at Jesus, they are seeing God in all of His majesty. One of the purposes of Jesus coming to live among us was to give a face to the invisible God. (Colossians 1:15)

He goes on to explain that Jesus is the exact imprint of God's nature. In Jesus we see the vivid impression of God's essential qualities, the essence of God. All of Jesus personality traits, His compassion, love and concern are those of God. As we experience Jesus, we are truly experiencing God in the flesh. In Jesus, God exposes the essence of who he really is.

To further expound upon the “Godliness” of Jesus , the writer tells us that Jesus maintains the universe in which we live. When you look up at the stars and planets in the night sky, know that it is by the power of Jesus that they remain as they are. It is by His power and authority that the vastness of the universe is held in place. John 1:3 proclaims this as well. It speaks to the creative power of Jesus.

All of this information in just half a verse. The power of the WORD of God! The power to testify and witness to itself. Why would we ever question the all-sufficiency of scripture?

© 2012 Leo J. Woodman

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