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
