This third verse of Hebrews 1 does not merely say that Jesus was like God, or that he was
a reflection of God’s nature, but it says He is the exact representation of His being. It is not
approximate, but the exact representation of His being. In other word, Jesus is exactly like
God. He is the greatest image of God we can have because we have in Jesus exactly what we
have in God the Father. Like Father, like Son, for they are closer in identity than identical
twins. When you see Jesus you see the Father. God had forbidden that His people ever
worship any idol that was built to supposedly represent Him. There is nothing on earth or in
heaven that can represent God, and so it was folly to ever have anything to be an image of
Him. But when God came into history in the person of His Son He was here in person. It is
now legitimate to have an image of God to worship when that image is the person of Jesus
Christ. To worship His is to worship God, for they are one and the same. It sounds like
heresy, but the reality is that we, as Christians, worship an image of God, and that image is
Jesus.
When you have a seal that can make a mark on paper, that mark is an exact copy of the
original seal. It may be a seal that is used to put its mark on clay or wax, but it is always just
like the original. The reason all our coins look the same is because they are made from the
same mold that stamps them as identical to the original. There can be nothing different
from the original in the copy. The point is, God is represented perfectly in the copy of
Himself, which is Jesus. There is no difference between God the Father and God the Son.
Any characteristic you find in Jesus will be a characteristic of the Father, and vice versa.
As Pink says, “All that God is, in His nature and character, is expressed and manifested,
absolutely and perfectly, by the incarnate Son.” In Col. 1:15 we read it again, “He is the
image of the invisible God…” All that we cannot see of God because He is invisible, we can
see in Jesus who is His image. We know exactly what the original seal looks like because we
have the image and impress of it. We know exactly what God is like because we have an
exact copy in Jesus. He is the visible manifestation of the invisible. J. B. Phillips put it,
“Jesus is God in focus.”
This is Christology at its highest level, for in essence it is saying that Jesus is God. Paul
spelled it out even more clearly in Col. 2:9 where he says, “For in Christ all the fullness of
the Deity lives in bodily form…..” Jesus is the fullness of Deity means that He is fully God.
Those who do not accept the New Testament revelation that makes clear that Jesus is God
are not New Testament believers.
Pastor Worthen writes, “The Greek word used for exact representation is
(charakter) which is where we get our English word character, which could mean a
symbol used to describe a particular letter of the alphabet. And so by inference
they're interchangeable. If I say the letter A, you think of the character which has two
slanted lines coming together at the top with a vertical line in between connecting the
two slanted lines. If I were to show you this character you would immediately think of
A. (One and the same).”
His point is, just as when you see the character A you know that it is A, so when
you see Jesus you know it is God you are looking at. He is the character that
represents God, for He is the image of God. All people are made in the image of God,
and this means that even though fallen with a marred image they still have some of
the characteristics of God that no other creature has. But Jesus has them all in
perfection and fullness. He is the exact representation of God.
What this means is that all the virtues, graces and attributes of God are combined
in Jesus in complete harmony. He is all that man was meant to be in perfection, for
He has all of the image of God in fullness and completeness. Every attribute of God
that we can study equally applies to Jesus. No one can compare with him - not
Mohammed, not Krishna, not Buddha and not Confucius. Not even Moses can
compare with Jesus. As with all of the other statements in these first three verses of
Hebrews, comparison is impossible, for there are no others in any of the categories
where Jesus is exalted. He is the ultimate and the greatest in every category, and this
is certainly true for this category of being the exact image of God.
Jesus was a character. We often say this about someone who is strange and
unusual in behavior. This certainly fits Jesus, for He was always doing something out
of the ordinary. He was not your usual personality. He was a character, for He was
God in human flesh. We would expect God to be somewhat unusual and different
from the average person. He loved people that others hated and wanted nothing to do
with. He healed people who others would just avoid and say they deserve what they
suffer. He befriended people that were rejected by society. He violated the legalism of
the religious leaders of his day. He spoke in private with a woman, and let women
follow him and even supply the money needed to keep his group in operation. He was
a radical in numerous ways, but when he had the power to escape from his enemies he
voluntarily went to the cross to lay down his life, and while dying forgave those who
nailed him there. He was a real character, for He had the character of God. God’s
character was stamped on Jesus’s very being, and so He had to be as different as God
is different from fallen man.
It was because man is fallen they could not see who Jesus was. Paul says it in II
Cor. 4:4, “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they
cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” It
should not be surprising that there are so many who are not impressed with Jesus. He
is still despised and rejected by many who will not see Him as anything but a religious
fanatic. But for those who are enlightened, He is the greatest character that ever
walked this earth, and He is the greatest image of God because He was God in human
flesh.
One commentator adds to our grasp of what this means in these words: “Paul in 2
Corinthians 4:4 and in Colossians 1:15 says, "Christ is the image of God." And he
uses a different word, the word is eikon which means "an exact reproduction, an
exact image or a precise copy." So whether it's charakter or whether it's eikon, Jesus
is the stamp of God, the mark of God, the seal of God, the image of God, the
reproduction of God, the precise copy of God. And may I hasten to add that those
words even at their best come short of the reality of the truth because it's impossible
to express that He is in fact the very essence of God in any analogous way without
losing something. I think it's best expressed in Colossians 2:9 where Paul says, "In
Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily."
The Father and the Son side by side showing how Jesus is an exact reproduction
and representation of the Father. Some of the parallels are weak, but over all it is
clear that Jesus and the Father are one.
God is the only Savior in Isa. 43:11, and Jesus is the only Savior in Acts 4:12 and I John 4:14
God created the universe in Isa. 44:24, and Jesus created it in Heb. 1:10 amd Col. 1:16
God is the first and the last in Isa. 41:4, and Jesus is the first and the last in Rev. 1:17
God forgives sin in Psa. 103:2-3, and Jesus forgives sin in Mark 2:5
God is our redeemer in Isa. 63:16, and Jesus is our redeemer in Titus 2:13-14
God is the holy one in Psa. 78:41, and Jesus is the holy one in Acts 2:27
God is worshipped in Matt. 4:10, and Jesus is worshipped in Matt. 9:18
God is from everlasting in Ps. 93:1-2, and Jesus is from everlasting in Micah 5:
God is the I Am in Ex. 3:14, and Jesus is the I Am in John 8:58
God is the Judge of the whole earth in Ps. 94:1-2, and Jesus is the Judge of all in John 5:22
There are many more parallels, but you can see what Jesus meant in John 14:9 where he
said, “He who has seen me has seen the Father.” If God looked into a mirror He would see
Jesus, and Jesus doing the same would see the Father. They are identical, even though they
are two distinct persons. If you see Jesus full of compassion and love for those with any need,
you are seeing God responding to people with acts of love. If you see Jesus forgiving the
sinner, you are seeing the grace of God being expressed. Every good thing you see in Jesus is
a picture of the mind and heart of God. I have tried to say this in poetry.
Jesus is the exact image Of the Majesty on high.
He is the Lord of every age, But He stooped for us to die.
There is no one who is like Him, For He’s just one of a kind.
Victories like His none can win, Nor a better Savior find.
He’s exactly like the Father, No one can tell them apart.
To divide them do not bother, They are One in mind and heart.
Jesus is the visible manifestation of the invisible God. He is the paradox resolved, for God
cannot be seen, but we do see Him in Jesus. Jesus shows us God. Jesus explains God. Jesus
reflects God. Jesus reveals God. Jesus is God. And that is why He is the exact representation
of God, and why He is the greatest image in the universe. He, and He alone, is the perfect
image of God, and He alone is the perfect image of Man made in the image of God. There
can be no comparison with other great religious leaders and founders, for He is truly unique
and one of a kind. No one else is exactly like God, for no one else is God but Jesus. In Him we
see God, and I express it in poetry to end this message.
We cannot see God the Father;
The Holy Spirit leaves no trace.
These facts our faith need not bother,
For in Jesus God has a face.
God has a face that we can see
In both time and eternity.
He joined the human race just so
His heavenly Father we could know.
The eyes of man are so finite
There’s much of God in shades so dim,
But Jesus came to give the light
That we might get a glimpse of Him
You cannot see and live to tell
If God’s glory comes your way,
But Jesus came and bore our hell
And by it tore the veil away.
He let the light of heaven shine
On this dark world of sin and shame.
He took away your sin and mine,
To show love was his aim.
He came to show to our blind eyes
What can be found no other place.
He made it clear as sunny skies,
That God has a loving face.
God has a face and we can see it,
If we in his light will run.
God has a place and we can find it
If we say “Thy will be done.”
God has a grace and we can feel it,
If all evil ways we shun.
God has a space and we can fill it,
If we make Him number one.
God has a face and we can see it
In the person of His Son
