Hebrews_1

Scripture:Hebrews 1:3³ The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. Observation:I liked this breakdown from Enduring Word’s commentary.https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/hebrews-1/

1. Heir of all things: This begins a glorious section describing Jesus, first as the heir of all things. This is the idea that Jesus is preeminent. It is connected to the Jesus’ standing as firstborn over all creation (Colossians 1:15).
2. He made the worlds: The ancient Greek word translated worldsis aion, from which we get our English word “eons.” It means that Jesus made more than the material world, He also made the very ages – history itself is the creation of the Son of God.
3. The brightness of His glory: Jesus is the brightness of the Father’s glory. The ancient Greek word for brightnessis apaugasma, which speaks of the radiance that shines from a source of light.
   1. In this sense, Jesus is the “beam” of God’s glory. We have never seen the sun, only the rays of its light as they come to us. Even so, we have never seen the God the Father, but we see Him through the “rays” of the Son of God.
   2. The ancient Greek philosopher Philo used the word apaugasmato describe the Logos, the being or intelligent mind who ordered the universe. The writer of Hebrews explained Jesus in terms that made sense to both first-century Jews and those familiar with Greek philosophy.
4. The express image of His person: The idea is of an exact likeness as made by a stamp. Jesus exactlyrepresents God to us.
5. Upholding all things by the word of His power: The idea behind the word translated upholdingis better thought of as “maintaining.” The word does not have the idea of passively holding something up (as the mythical Atlas held up the earth), but of actively
   1. In His earthly ministry Jesus constantly demonstrated the power of His word. He could heal, forgive, cast out demons, calm nature’s fury all at the expression of one word. Here we see that His word is so powerful that it can uphold all things.
   2. “The tense of the verb ‘upholding’ is significant of Christ’s constant work in relation to the world (Colossians 1:17).” (Griffith Thomas)
6. Himself purged our sins: From the previous description, we know that the Son of God is a being of great power and wisdom. Now we know He is also a being of great love, who purged the guilt and shame of our sins. He did this Himself, showing that no one else could do it for us and we could not do it for ourselves.
7. Sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high: This is a position of majesty, of honor, of glory, and of finished work. This position of Jesus sets Him far above all creation.

Understanding:I just love the picture represented in this verse – the visual of God’s radiance shining through Jesus.I love the character and expanse of Jesus.  This person – God incarnate, all God but in human form, all powerful yet wisely and selectively unleashing His power on Earth during His brief but eternity-bending time here. I especially love knowing that “His earthly ministry…constantly demonstrated the power of His word.  He could heal, forgive, cast out demons, calm nature’s fury all at the expression of one word.https://youtu.be/qKWi6vqFb-0And then, when the work was done (the work being purification from our sins…for generations to come), again taking his seat at the right hand of Majesty in heaven. It’s beautiful but a little crazy to wrap your mind around. Life Application: All I can do is sit in gratitude.  Gratitude for the love of our Father.  Gratitude for the choice that Jesus made to stay on mission, completing the task at hand.  Gratitude for eternity being made possible because of these choices.  Gratitude that we can still live and walk in power as children of God.Rei