God Has Spoken Through The Son
GOD HAS SPOKEN THROUGH THE SON
(Hebrews 1:1-3)
LONG AGO, AT MANY TIMES AND IN MANY WAYS, GOD SPOKE TO OUR FATHERS BY THE PROPHETS : Amos wrote, “A Lion has roared.” God has spoken. God spoke over a long period, and a variety of people heard Him. The message was always true and consistent, but always incomplete. That incompleteness made people search and enquire. The promise was there. But it had to be fulfilled.
but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son: The original text does not have the definite article and so the line reads ‘but in these last days he has spoken to us by A Son,’ but the identity of that Son is very clear. It was Jesus. The readers of this letter seem to be wavering in their faith. So the writer of Hebrews encourages them, telling them that the God who had spoken to them through the prophets has now spoken to them through the Son Jesus.
WHOM HE APPOINTED HEIR OF ALL THINGS: What Adam lost by carelessly listening to Satan, God placed in the hands of Jesus, the Second Adam. Like the little boy who bought the yacht that he had been his, we belong to Jesus twice over—He made us and He bought us. Adam and Eve lost a world through sin. But our Lord Jesus bought and redeemed creation. Not only has He inherited it all, but He is the very Creator.
THROUGH WHOM ALSO HE CREATED THE WORLD: We are not talking about an ordinary man but about the Creator of the universe. Jesus created everything. (Col 1:16) God spoke and nothing became something. Stars and planets, light and order, life and beauty appeared.
HE IS THE RADIANCE OF THE GLORY OF GOD: He is the brightness of God’s glory. Our eyes cannot bear the brightness of the Sun, but we can see its reflection. Moses’ face was so bright when he came down from the mountain; even the reflected glory of God was too much to bear. We do not see God’s glory with our physical eyes like Peter James and John saw on the mount, but we can see the essence. Benjamin Hanby wrote: “’Tis the Lord, O wondrous story! / ‘Tis the Lord, the King of glory! / At his feet we humbly fall, / crown him, crown him, Lord of all!”
AND THE.EXACT IMPRINT OF HIS NATURE: He is the exact representation of God’s nature. The coin is the exact copy of the pattern in the mould. Jesus being the image does not point to being a copy but that He is the EXACT representation. Paul writes about the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Have you seen the glory of God in Christ? Jesus said: He who has seen Me has seen the Father. The character of God was in Jesus. Charles Wesley put it this way: “The incarnate Deity, Our God contracted to a span, Incomprehensibly made man”.
AND HE UPHOLDS THE UNIVERSE BY THE WORD OF HIS POWER: He upholds all things by the word of His power. Have you ever wondered how things stay together. What makes iron hard, and what makes water stay together? What gives life to things? Why am I me? The power behind this universe is not an impersonal force like in the Star Wars movie. This Power is a Friend of those who love Him. For in Him we live and move and exist. The aeroplanes in which we fly do not drop off the sky, because God holds all things. Not one sparrow falls to the ground unless God allows it. The hairs of your head are numbered. This truth is foundational. We have confidence. The Psalmist says: Oh Lord, you have searched me. You understand my thought from afar. You know all my ways. Even before I speak you know what I am going to say. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me. Who can understand such a God who knows everything about us. Even what we would hide from others, He knows. Like Isaiah, we must say Woe is me, for I am undone.
AFTER MAKING PURIFICATION FOR SINS: Jesus knew that He had authority to lay His life down and take it up again. Jesus took our sins upon Himself, because He chose to do it and because He loved us so much. It was His choice to love those who the Father gave to Him. Jesus emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant and died on a cross. What a loving Jesus, who allowed Himself to be put to shame for us! Do you love Jesus? Can you say with joy that the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free? Charles Wesley wrote: “Amazing love, how can it be that Thou my God should’st die for me.” Jesus cried out: It is finished. What had finished?
HE SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF THE MAJESTY ON HIGH: The payment was made in full. One day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord. Have you bowed your knee to Him who is the Lord of Glory? On the mount of transfiguration, Moses and Elijah appeared with Jesus. They represent the Old Testament, how God had spoken in the past, but then a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” This is how God has spoken to us now—through His Son Jesus.