Hebrews 1:1-4

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.  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. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

The most important question to answer it: Who is Jesus?  Man’s answer to that question determines his eternal destiny.  It was the question Jesus asked His disciples to answer, and it is the question that the Jewish people to whom this letter was written needed to answer.  The unknown author of this book is seeking to help them and us answer that question correctly.

JESUS IS THE REVELATION OF GOD: Since the fall of man recorded in Gen. 3 there has been an estrangement between our Creator and us, His image bearers.  There is a separation between us and God that makes our knowledge of Him incomplete and often inaccurate.  God’s plan of redemption includes His revelation of Himself to mankind in an effort to restore fellowship with us by remitting our sins and transforming our hearts through the work of Christ on the cross.  God’s revelation of Himself was done through prophets and priests who revealed truths about God to man.  However, the most perfect, accurate, and astounding revelation of Himself was when His Son became a man, taking on flesh, and became Jesus, a man, who is the perfect revelation of God because He is God.  The Scriptures that record the life and teachings of Jesus along with the Spirit who indwells us are the sources God has provided that we might know Him and be restored to fellowship with Him.

JESUS IS THE RADIANCE OF GOD: Jesus is the Creator of the world and everything in it.  He sustains the universe and all that has been created belongs to Him as the inheritance given to Him by the Father.  The glory of God is perfectly shown to us in the person of Jesus.  The very nature of who God is has been exactly imprinted on the perfect man who we know to be Jesus.  Jesus is the radiance of the glory of God.  The Father is a spirit and does no possess a body.  We cannot see Him with our eyes or touch Him with our hands.  However, He has been perfectly incarnate as a man in the body of His Son, Jesus who has forever taken on flesh and become a man so that we might know God in all His glory.

JESUS IS AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD: Jesus did not only come to represent God to us, but also to represent us in the presence of God.  The Lord Jesus took all of our sin upon Himself on the cross and He took the wrath of God in our place.  The Father demonstrated that the penalty of sin had been paid by raising Him from the dead.  He further demonstrated the restoration of fellowship for which we hope by having Jesus sit at the right hand of the Father in heaven.  He who bore all our sin is in perfect fellowship with the Father in heaven.  That is our destiny, hope, and the promise of the Father in our lives.

APPLICATION: Seek to know Jesus through the Word and fellowship in the Spirit so that we might know God.  Praise the Lord Jesus for the world He created and sustains and rejoice in the privilege we have of knowing Him.  Hope in the Lord as we anticipate the day that we too will enjoy perfect fellowship with the Father as we are welcomed into His presence because of the work of Jesus.

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