He has spoken to us by His Son…
The epistle or letter to the Hebrews was written 68 years after Jesus’ death, two short years before the Romans destroyed Jerusalem. It opens with a profound statement about Jesus – “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through 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, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.” (Hebrews 1: 1-4)
Over a period of about 1,800 years, God revealed through Old Testament prophets His redemptive plan. The 39 books of the Old Testament are made up of 5 books of law (Genesis to Deuteronomy); 12 books of history (Joshua to Esther); 5 books of poetry (Job to Song); and 17 books of prophecy (Isaiah to Malachi).
The last days, as well as the Old Testament prophecies about Jesus began to be fulfilled when He was born. God first spoke through prophets, and then through His Son. Jesus is the heir of all things. Psalm 2: 8 referring to Jesus says, “Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your possession.” Colossians 1: 16 declares “For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.”
Jesus is the Creator of all things. Speaking of Jesus, John 1: 1-3 teaches “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.”
Jesus is the brightness of God’s glory. He is God and radiates His own glory. His glory blinded Saul on the Damascus road. Jesus said “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” (John 8: 12)
Jesus is the express image of God. He is a perfect representation of God’s nature, being, and essence in time and space. Jesus told Philip, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?” (John 14: 9)
Jesus upholds all things by the word of His power. John 1: 3-4 teaches “All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” Colossians 1: 17 tells us “And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.” Jesus alone purged our sins. He took the punishment we deserved for our rebellion against God. Titus 2: 14 teaches about Jesus “who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.”
After His resurrection and ascension to heaven, Jesus sat down at the right hand of God, which is a place of power, authority, and honor. Today He rules as sovereign Lord.
Jesus became much better than the angels. In His divine essence Jesus has eternally existed but was temporarily made lower than the angels in order to perform His redemptive work. He has now been exalted to a much higher position than the angels.
Jesus by inheritance has a more excellent name than the angels. He is Lord. Angels are spirit beings created by God to minister to Him and to do His work. We learn about Jesus from Philippians 2: 6-11 “who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
REFERENCES:
MacArthur, John. The MacArthur Study Bible. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1997.
Pfeiffer, Charles F. ed., Howard F. Vos ed., and John Rea ed. Wycliffe Bible Dictionary. Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers, 1998.
