“No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son [“The only begotten God.” New American Standard Bible], who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.” John 1:18.
“Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away. For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord [Jesus], and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him, God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will?” Hebrews 2:1-4.
The credentials of the Christ are not only confirmed by the disciples who knew Him and through the signs, wonders and miracles which God used to bear witness to Him but is testified to by the Scriptures.
This testimony comes not only from such passages as those in Isaiah 52-53 and Psalm 22; it comes also from the four gospels.
For instance, Jesus’ lineage is given in the four gospels as follows.
Matthew 1:1-17, which portrays Christ as the king of Israel traces His kingly line from Father Abraham through King David to Jesus’ birth.
Mark portrays Christ as a servant; no one really cares about the lineage of a servant, they just want to know if he can work, so His lineage is not given.
Luke 3:23-37 portrays Christ as a man, so His lineage is traced in reverse order all the way back to Adam the first man.
The gospel of John portrays Christ as God as a result His lineage is described in this manner:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.” John 1:1-3.
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14.
There is no lineage because Jesus Christ is the eternal One; God Himself.
Here we have Jesus’ credentials showing Him as both God and Man, God the Son, and as Man He is qualified to be a perfect sacrifice for sin and heir of all things.
“God who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.” Hebrews 1:1-4.
And as God the Son it is said that, through Christ, God the Father “made the worlds”; the word here is, made the ages, or the eons, which includes not only worlds, but time and space.
God, in Christ, made the Laws of Physics, mathematics, chemistry, biology, everything, setting all things in a balance which goes beyond anything we can imagine.
The ungodly portray God as a senile white haired old man who needs our help in maintaining a world He has lost control of. How does that balance out with, He “made the worlds”?
“…who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person…” Hebrews 1:3a.
This brightness is not a reflected glory but is the Glory of God shining out of Him, hidden though as it is by flesh.
Nevertheless, we are reminded of the Shechinah glory residing over the mercy seat in the holy of holies in the tabernacle.
To my knowledge, this glorious light was hidden within the tent coverings of the tabernacle, just as it was hidden in Christ while He walked this earth.
Still this bright glory could not be entirely hidden from those who ministered in the tabernacle in the wilderness. Or who sat at Jesus’ feet and listened or walked by His side in the way.
John said this, as quoted earlier.
“…we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14b.
And Peter gave this personal witness of things he saw with his own eyes.
“For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’ And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain.” 2 Peter 1:16-17.
See Matthew 17:1-13, Mark 9:1-13, Luke 9:28-36.
“…and the express image of His person…” Hebrews 1:3a, this is a thought that folks cannot seem to grasp; Jesus is not only God, but God the Father is just like Jesus. Jesus said as much during the last supper.
“If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him. Philip said to Him, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.’ Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?” John 14:7-9.
This statement may not impact you until you read what Jesus said of Himself.
“Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Matthew 11:29.
In the King James Version, the word for gentle is meek. Consider this carefully, the God seated on His throne in heaven is meek and lowly. Now if that does not just wreck every mental image you have of how a king or God should be, I do not know what would.
Yet think of how dangerous an omnipotent God would be if He were arrogant and self-centered like earthly rulers.
Suspend your presuppositions as to who God is or should be and look to Jesus to see Him as He really is.
People have got to let the little plastic god out of the box that they have crammed Him into and let Him be who He really is; men must conform to God, not God to men.
“…and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high…” Hebrews 1:3b.
The breathtaking statements within these verses in Hebrews 1:1-4 just keep coming, each more astounding than the other.
What does it mean when it speaks of Christ “upholding all things by the word of His power”?
There is a tendency to run right past this statement as poetic license or perhaps a reference to His healing powers, but there is a much better answer. Speaking of Jesus Scripture says this of Him.
“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.” Colossians 1:15-17.
The last phrase, “in Him all things consist”, could be rendered, “in Him all things are held together”; in other words, in Christ, the cosmos are held together.
For example, the nucleus of the atom consists of protons and neutrons around which electrons circle, somewhat like the planets circle our sun.
The electrons have a negative charge and the protons in the nucleus have a positive charge, because opposite charges attract, the fast-moving electrons are kept in orbit by their attraction to the positive charged protons.
However, the nucleus consists only of positive charged protons, and neutrons which have no charge at all; since like charges repel each other, it is impossible for the nucleus to hold together without exploding.
What holds the nucleus together? Science does not have the answer to this enigma. The answer is, “in Him [Jesus] all things consist”.
If Jesus were to release His hold on the atoms, do you think the results could be described as follows?
“But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.” 2 Peter 3:10-13.
Do the elements melting with tremendous heat and a great noise not sound a bit like an atomic explosion, which is what the disintegration of atoms is like?
Jesus, while He walked among us, when He was spat upon and struck, when He was scourged and mocked, while He was nailed to the cross, as He was enduring the wrath of God for our sin, and finally as He died, He was always, “upholding all things by the word of His power”.
Now that is omnipotence, and it deserves our worship and respect.
“…when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high…” Hebrew 1:3b.
There is no one else involved in our salvation, it is Jesus Christ only.
And when it says that He purged our sins, it means that they have been completely expunged, wiped out, and exist no more for the Christian. God put it in this perspective for all who believe.
“As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.” Psalm 103:12.
“And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.” Hebrews 10:11-14.
The fact that Jesus Christ sat down at the right hand of God has the meaning that His work of salvation was finished, there is nothing to add to it, either by Him or us other than our acceptance of His finished work.
“… [Jesus as a Man] having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.” Hebrews 1:4.
Mankind is lower than the angels in rank. However, angels say the following of themselves.
“And I [John] fell at his feet to worship him. But he [an angel] said to me, ‘See that you do not do that! I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.’” Revelation19:10.
“…I [an angel] am your fellow servant, and of your brethren the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.” Revelation 22:9b.
This refers to God the Son, not becoming an angel, but becoming a man who is a little lower than the angels.
“What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him? For You have made him a little lower than the angels, and You have crowned him with glory and honor.” Psalm 8:4-5.
Think of it, mankind is a little lower than angels, yes lower, but what an exalted position, especially since Christ did not become an angel, He became a man.
Satan continually attempts to rob us of this position so close to the heart of God in Christ by continually drumming the lie into man’s consciousness that he evolved from a blob of goo or space garbage.
Is there any wonder that our children live in the muck of despair and commit suicide or destroy themselves with drugs, alcohol, and reckless living?
But Jesus came to save that which was irretrievably lost. It was not nails that held Christ to the cross; it was love, and the love of the Father that allowed it.
This same Jesus came in the power of God, but He did not use it, rather He humbled Himself even to the point of being a servant. This One is worthy to follow, let us do so following in His footsteps.
“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a servant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:5-11.
The first four verses in Hebrews chapter one that we have examined here are all one sentence, one sentence that cannot be done justice.
Even if someone were to study the entire Bible for the rest of their life, it is unlikely that more than a fraction could be grasped. Would that everyone might try though.
The Word Became Flesh, Part 2 taken from godisrevealed.com posted on 11-12-15, updated on 12-25-23 ck.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version, copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission, all rights reserved.