In was looking at a post on Facebook that was made concerning Hebrews 1:2. When I saw the content of the post, I was taken back in horror. In the thread of the message the one who posted said, “God spoke himself into existence in his own image” (referring to Jesus). I immediately went to Hebrews and read it, just in case I was ignorant of this fact. I always like to get a little context in a verse that someone quotes, so I started from the beginning.
“God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by 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, and sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high: Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.” (Hebrews 1:1-4)
Okay, now this does talk about God the Father, and Jesus the Son of God. This set of verses is more concerned with establishing the superiority of Jesus over the prophets. It is not a creation verse at all. God, is not speaking anything into existence. How could God speak himself into existence? I mean I know that we tell ourselves that God can do anything, but there is a definite law of logic being broken here. That being put aside, let us look at another aspect of creation. Genesis chapters one and two explain the events of creation. It never mentions God creating himself or his son. In addition, it says at each stage of creation and then at the final stage of creation that it was “good”. This means that it was pleasing and completed. But there is something else in this event that you may not be aware of. Turn to the Gospel of John. Starting at verse one it reads, “IN the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made.” (John 1:1-3) John 1:10 goes on to say concerning Jesus that, “He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.” So this means that Jesus was not created by God in the flesh, or that Jesus was a man who eventually became God. What this means is that Jesus always existed as the Son of God. It also reveals to us that Jesus is the one who created everything, by his word. He was the word of God who said, “Let there be light”… So what does this set of verses say?
First it tells how God has changed his messenger with mankind. It starts by letting us know that historically in many different ways (though laws, kings, judges, ceremonies) in different places (lands, wildernesses, mountain tops), God spoke to men through designated men, called prophets. These prophets are men like Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Jonah who God gave messaged to and signs to prove his message. However; now God recently chose to speak to us through his only begotten son. (John 3:16) This term, “in these last days”, refers to the time period between the birth and ascension of Jesus Christ. His Son (Jesus) was chosen as the beneficiary of all things, and was the creator of the universe and all that is in it. It was Jesus who revealed to us the nature of God the Father himself.
“Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake.” (John 14:9-11)
Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. (John 7:16)
What the Law and the Prophets could not do, in that they were limited both in time and ability, Jesus was able to commit and fulfill to mankind. You see Jesus came as a sort of ambassador of the Kingdom of Heaven, in order to reveal the love of God to mankind. He demonstrated this love in his message, his daily living, his miracles, and in his death, burial, and resurrection. Then he describes Jesus, he says “being the brightness of his glory”, this does not mean that he was a reflection, but rather an outshining light or radiance. This means that Jesus was an exact representation of God’s essence and nature. This is why Jesus said, “this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” (John 3:19) You see what Hebrews 1:1-3 is saying? Jesus, who is the very Son of God, came and directly revealed God to men. The ultimate authority in the universe. He could have come to condemn. He could have come, as the Greek and Roman gods were believed, to play cruel games with us. But Jesus did not come to judge us or to play games. He has all authority in the universe to do whatever he chooses; he chose to love us. God was not born a man, he became a man. He came to seek us out, and show us the way. “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” (Luke 19:10)
As Hebrews 1:3 says, he purged himself of our sins. Purging is a process of elimination. That means that he had to receive our sins in the first place. Once he tool our sins on him, he was judged for the sin and died. The penalty of sin is death. He took this penalty on for us. But he went much further, in assuming the responsibility for the sin, he removed it from us. Being God, he cannot die, so then he purged himself of our sin. This means that the sin that held us is permanently gone. We have been set free from that penalty, and the bonds of sin. Jesus now has taken his rightful place and is seated at the right hand of God the Father. Jesus is there in his throne, with all of his power and all of his authority. That is what the author of Hebrews is talking about.
I encourage you to look into the scriptures to see if what I am saying is true. It is my desire that you do not take my word, or anyone’s word over scripture. Test, and challenge what is said by your teachers, pastors, and myself. Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. (1 Thessalonians 5:21)
The Way of Christ Ministries 