“In these last days God has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. 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.” (Hebrews 1:2-3)
Few New Testament books present such an exalted view of Jesus as does the Book of Hebrews. To demonstrate Christ’s superiority to the mightiest archangel, Hebrews tells us that He is the Creator (vv.2, 10-12), that God orders angels to worship Him (v.6), and that the Father Himself addresses Christ as God (v.8). But why is it so critical for us we have this exalted view of Jesus – that Jesus is superior to angels, to Abraham, to Moses, and to every other servant of God? First, it’s because in Jesus the Father has given the full and final revelation of Himself to humanity. “He is the radiance of the Father’s glory and the exact representation of His person” (Hebrews 1:3). He is the image of the invisible God (2 Corinthians 4:4; Colossians 1:15). Whoever beholds the Son, also beholds the Father who sent Him (John 12:44-45; 14:8). In other words, all that we need to know about the Father we can see in the Son. Every other messenger of God is inferior to Jesus. We must heed Jesus above everyone else.
A second reason for this exalted view of Jesus is because it explains the Son’s relationship to the Father. The Father and the Son are equal. The Father plans and the Son executes. The Father planned creation, redemption, and judgment. But it is the Son, not the Father who actually performs the work of creating, the redeeming, and the judging (John 1:1-3; 5:22-23; Colossians 1:16-19; Hebrews 1:1-3). It’s similar to the relationship of Solomon to his father David. If you recall, though David wanted to build the Temple and drew up the plans to do so, God did not allow him to build it. Instead, Solomon would be the builder of the Temple (1 Chronicles 22:6-16; 28:3-19). Nor was David permitted to execute judgment upon the murderous Joab or the slanderous Shimei. But Solomon was the one who executed David’s judgment on them (1 Kings 2:5-9). As Solomon carried out David’s will, so Jesus carries out the Father’s will.
A third reason why we must adhere to this exalted view of Jesus is that our salvation hangs upon it. Unless Jesus is true God, he cannot be the mediator between God and man (1 Timothy 2:5-6). He must be wholly God and wholly man to perfectly represent God to us and us to God. He must be infinite and eternal, as is the Father, if He is bear God’s unquenchable and eternal fire on our behalf (Matthew 25:41; Luke 3:17). And His righteousness must be equal to the Father’s if He is to satisfy God’s uncompromising demand for it from us (Romans 3:24-26; 1 John 2:1-2).
REFLECTION
- Have you ever noticed that the teaching of Jesus’ Deity is attacked more than any other by cults, religions and liberal theologians? Why do you think this is so?
- But the Father keeps exalting Jesus (Matthew 3:17; 12:18; 17:5; Hebrews 12:2).
