He upholds all things by the word of His power (Hebrews 1:3)

The “word” in this statement simply means a decree. The decree, spoken word, proclamation, or announcement of God is what upholds all things. God’s proclamations are so powerful that they preserve the world. God’s simple statements hold the universe together and progress the universe where God wants it to progress.

Jesus preserves all things. The late great theologian Louis Berkhof defines preservation as “that continuous work of God by which He maintains the things which He created, together with the properties and powers with which He endowed them.” (Systematic Theology, pg170)

The first example of this is seen in Genesis 1:3 where God simply speaks light into existence. Psalm 33:6 also says, “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and all their host by the breath of his mouth.” Simply by His words, Jesus creates, preserves, and moves all things where He desires.

I don't know where you are today. I am a church planter of a three month old church which is working hard at creating something out of nothing. I am learning to trust Him for things I cannot see.

I have been proud of our little team for working hard at doing what we know we should be doing. Our group continues to grow and lives are beginning to be changed. I experienced a neat victory last night with the church. I have to give credit where credit is due. God is the one who creates, preserves, and moves all things where He desires. As Grace Community Church begins to become a reality, God is the one who is to get the glory.

He is the exact representation of His nature (Hebrews 1:3)

This word “representation” in the Greek means impression or stamp or duplication. Jesus is the same stamp or impression as the Father. Jesus duplicates the same nature as the Father. They share the same nature or essence.

When you look at a quarter you see the image of George Washington. When you see Jesus in the New Testament you see the Father. Even though the Father and the Son are two different people, they remain of the same divine essence.

Thus Jesus could say to Philip, ‘Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father’ (John 14:9).

When we see Jesus we see God, when we worship Jesus we worship God, and when Jesus tells us something to do (like go and make disciples) then God is commanding us to do that teaching. When you ask, “how does God want me to live?” The answer is, “the way Jesus lived.” Jesus is God and Jesus is our example. If Jesus was able to forgive Peter for denying Him, then we can forgive those who wrong us. If Jesus gave all that He had, then we can give all that we have. If Jesus gave so much of Himself that He died for others, then we can also die for others. Jesus is God therefore we should live like He did and take up our cross daily by denying ourselves for the sake of others (Luke 9:23).

He is the radiance of His glory

In the previous post of this series we looked at the first two verses of Hebrews One. Hebrews 1:1-2 teaches us that Jesus is the heir of all things. He completely God, but a different person from God-the-Father. He rules over all and preserves life. In Hebrews 1:3 we see five important descriptions of Jesus. The first description is that Jesus is the radiance of the Father's glory.

All things are to give glory to God. In fact the old reformers concluded in the Westminster Confession that “The chief end of man is to glorify God”. Our ultimate purpose, along with everything else, is to glorify God. We are to honor and glorify God because there is not greater to honor or glorify. God is inherently glorious.

Here is what an old pastor once said about Jesus being the radiance of the Father’s glory: “Radiance is light that streams forth from a source of light. As no one can separate the sun’s light from the sun itself, so also no on can separate the nature of Christ form that of his Father. Whether the radiance is seen as reflected brightness or inherent brightness, the thought is clear: in Jesus we see the essence of God.” (Stedman, pg22-23)

So here is the idea. Even though Jesus is a different person than the Father, they are of the same divine essence. Just like no one can separate the sun’s light from the sun itself, no one can separate the essence of the Father from the essence of the Son. If the Son reflects the same nature as the Father, then the Son is also to be glorified as the Father.

When we see the Son shining, then we see the Father shining through Him.

Greatness

Sorry, nothing witty to say, just the greatest picture I have ever seen!

The Heir: Hebrews 1:1-2

(1:1) God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways,

(1:2) in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.

God reveals truths about Himself in two ways. There is general revelation and special revelation. We are able to learn about God and His purposes for us through nature. We see beauty but also fallen-ness in nature. When seeing the power of nature, like Katrina, we instinctively know that there is a God and that He is much more powerful than us.

It is through the Bible that we know the particulars about God and his plan for us. Jesus Christ is at the center of revelation. All of the Old Testament looks in anticipation towards Christ. The center of all of history happens in the gospels while Jesus was physically on the earth. In the gospels, God Himself incarnates into a man and walks on the earth. The Kingdom of God was in our midst. It was the most incredible point in history. People were healed, storms halted, people walked on water, sins were forgiven, and God conquered death! Then the rest of the New Testament looks back at the gospels and tries to explain it all.

Before Jesus, God spoke to humanity through the prophets. These prophets came from varying backgrounds and had many different styles. Some were wild crazy guys, some were working class, and some were ruling class. God spoke through some of them in long poems, through some in short discourses, and some in strange prophecies. At the end of the day, the prophecies pointed to something better, to the promised Messiah, but the picture wasn’t completely clear.

But then came the Son who is described here as the “heir of all things”; which means that after His work on earth, the Son received the inheritance of His present exalted status. He sits at the right hand of the Father exalted above all others.

Philippians 2:8-11 says:
“Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus ‘every knee will bow’, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father”

Jesus is also described as being the one “through whom” the Father “made the world.” John 1:3 says, “All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.” Then John 1:10 says, “He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.”

So prior to Christ we have just glimpses of God. But in Christ we see God in all His amazing glory. Through Jesus all things were made. Strangely He lived within something that He created, was mocked by His creations, and His creations did not know who He was?! Jesus humbles Himself to become a mere human, suffers, is mocked, and then dies for the sins of humanity. This obedience and submission leads to His exaltation above everything else. He is now seated at the right hand of the Father waiting for the day when every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that He is Lord.

The Beauty of Jesus Encourages Us to Run with Endurance (Hebrews 1:1-3)

Beauty moves us by touching our hearts. History has countless stories of people being moved by beauty. The King Kong story is one about beauty. At the end of the 2005 movie King Kong by Peter Jackson, we see what the movie is really about. Kong has gone on a rampage through New York City and is hanging from the top of a building as airplanes swarm around shooting at him. After a valiant fight, Kong is fatally wounded. The giant ape holds on to life in order to stare into the eyes of Ann Darrow. Staring into Ann’s eyes, Kong’s fingers slip off the ledge. The giant ape falls to his death. The chaos has ended with the death of the giant ape. As he lies on the ground a policeman says, “Come on folks…it’s all over. The airplane’s got him.” You then hear the character played by Jack Black say, “It wasn’t the airplanes…it was beauty that killed the beast.” Kong is deeply moved by the beauty of a woman. He dreams of her, is calmed by her, and even kills and destroys for her. Beauty moves us by touching our hearts.

As a pastor, my number one job while teaching is to simply take Jesus and hold Him up for all to see His beauty. All I should be doing is explaining the Bible by telling you how great Jesus is. You see I can’t change you. I can tell great stories or fascinating little theological insigths, but that will not lead to lasting change. I can get up in the pulpit and entertain you, but only the Holy Spirit can really change you. Only the beautiful truths about Jesus can change you. It is only a love for Jesus that will ultimately lead to a changed life.

With that said, only loving the beauty of all that Jesus is will provide the endurance you need day in and day out. When Christ is not beautiful to us we won’t endure in the Christian life; but the beauty of Christ will encourage us to run with endurance.

Through this next series of posts I am simply going to hold up the beauty of Christ. We are going to look at five beautiful, inspiring, fascinating, powerful characteristics of the person of Jesus and then we will see what we are to do with these truths.

In this series we will be looking at Hebrews 1:1-3 as we look at the Beauty of Jesus. The series is titled “The Beauty of Jesus Encourages Us to Run with Endurance.”