How many of us would use our drivers license photo for a portrait of ourselves? I can’t seem to get a picture of myself that I like - I look at it and say "that just doesn’t represent me very well." Now - in fact the photo is pretty accurate - it is my ideal of what I want to look like that I am not getting to.
We can use all kinds of methods to get our photos to look better - soft light, good lens, a little Photoshop magic - in fact, Photoshop now has something called a "healing brush." I sure wish Adobe would come out with one of those we could carry around with us and just heal our appearance when we’re having a bad face day!
Our cameras and technology keeps getting better - has anyone seen the new High Definition TV sets out there? They really are remarkable, with the detail they reveal. In fact, TV stars are now worried because they have to use extra make-up for fear that every spot and blemish will be revealed through this new technology.
In reality we don’t want to look like ourselves, because we are never satisfied with our appearance. What if there was a way to take a photograph that not only revealed your true appearance on the outside, but also everything about you on the inside as well? Would you sit for that portrait?
What I’m getting to is that such an image exists. People are always saying - "you know if God would just come down and show Himself then we’d be satisfied and give up on all these other religions and ideas and embrace Him." The trouble is all the world religious figures have flaws - Mohamed was a murderer, Joseph Smith was a swindler (http://www.fairlds.org/pubs/conf/2002AndR.html), The Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh was given to sexual immorality and on it goes.
But there was one person who represented God inside and out - through and through. And it’s as if God took a perfect Polaroid of Himself and sent it down to earth - that photo is Jesus Christ.
In the first two verses of Hebrews 1 we saw that God intended for Jesus to be the focus of all He did in the Old Covenant - that all that was preparation for the coming of the One - Jesus. But who is He? Why should we put so much focus on Him - why is Jesus so special that He merits such special treatment?
For those that already belong to Jesus we might say - well, He’s God and He’s the Savior and of course He’s special. But have you ever stopped to contemplate exactly what that means?
That’s what we have in verse 3 of chapter one - the answer to who is Jesus Christ really.
Verse 3
Hebrews 1:3 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.
There are five different things contained in this one verse - five things about Jesus that make Him so special.
The first is this: when you see Jesus, you see God.
1. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory
"Radiance" comes from two Greek words - "a ray of light" and "off" - so you could think of it as a source of light coming off of something or reflecting or shining. It can either mean a reflection, or a ray of light from an original source.
Both are accurate when it comes to Jesus Christ - He is both the reflection of who God is - but He is also God Himself.
The idea of "glory" can best be understood by looking at the story found in Exodus:
Ex 33:18-23 Then Moses said, "Now show me your glory."
19 And the LORD said, "I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. 20 But," he said, "you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live."
21 Then the LORD said, "There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. 22 When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. 23 Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen."
If you see God’s face without the salvation of Jesus Christ you will be obliterated. (Ex 33:20) But somehow Jesus represents God to us.
John 14:9-10 Jesus answered: "Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ’Show us the Father’? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.
So in a way, Jesus reflects the Father to us in human form. If God were to be a man, He would look like Jesus.
Colossians 1:15-17 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
Jesus was a way for the Father to become visible to us this side of heaven. The word "image" is the Greek word where we get "icon" - in fact that is a Greek word. It means "likeness". Icons are representations of reality - like a statue, or even a photograph.
2 Corinthians 4:5-6 For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
Jesus doesn’t just look like God - but we see just how wonderful the Father is by seeing what He is like in the Son - His character, what He feels and says and does.
And that’s both the suffering servant and conquering King. When He came the first time Jesus said "I am gentle and humble at heart" (Matthew 11:29). When He comes again He will ride a white horse, and wield a powerful sword with which He will slay His enemies with a word (Revelation 19:18).
Secondly - if you want to understand God, you need look no further than Jesus.
2. and the exact representation of his being
The English Standard Version says he is "the exact imprint of his nature."
The Greek word is: hypostasis - and it was a word used in ancient times to represent an imprint or an image - we might say a photograph or holograph. But more than a representation - He is the real thing - he makes God tangible to us.
John 1:1-18 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning.
3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
15 John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, "This was he of whom I said, ’He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’" 16 From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.
Everything that God wants to be known about Him He made known through the Word of God - Jesus Christ. No one can get to God apart from Christ because in order to know God we have to know Christ.
This is a sharp point of disagreement today - people have all sorts of ideas of who God is and how to approach Him. You only get one chance - contrary to those who believe in re-incarnation. You need to get it right the first time - so you pick from the only One who died and came back to tell us - Jesus Christ.
Third: All of God’s creative work started with, stays together through, and will end, by Jesus
3. sustaining all things by his powerful word
Colossians 1:16 For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
One day Jesus will let go - and the entire universe will come flying apart.
2 Peter 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.
Jesus holds the world together literally - but also in the sense that without His guiding hand, the world would dissolve into utter chaos. The part that blows me away is that He does it all by talking!
Fourth: We need look no further for anything we need - He’s done it all and now rests as God the Father’s second in command.
4. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.
These are the two main themes in Hebrews - Jesus Christ’s sacrifice and His exaltation.
There is no better sacrifice - in fact, no other sacrifice that can permanently remove the stain of our sin. Later the author will expand on this:
Hebrews 10:12-14 But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. 13 Since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool, 14 because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.
Jesus "sat down" which means the work was complete - there was nothing else He needed to do and nothing else we need to do. If His sacrifice is appropriated on our behalf - then our work is also done. There is still a process of renovation that we go through - but no more striving on our own will do anything. He will do it all for us.
What Did Jesus Do to Our Sins?
He took them away. -- 2:17
He forgot them. -- 8:12; 10:17
He freed us from sin’s penalty. -- 9:15
He removed sin’s power over us. -- 9:26
He offered himself as a sacrifice. -- 10:18
He offered himself as an offering. -- 10:18
He forgives our sins. -- 10:19
(from The Life Application Commentary Series copyright (C) 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2000 by the Livingstone Corporation. Produced with permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.)
Conclusions
In the grand scheme of Hebrews - this verse tells us one very important thing: Jesus is the real thing. (sorry Coca Cola). In a world filled with fakes and charlatans there is one sure way to know God, one sure way to find life, one sure way to have all the answers - and that is to seek the One who reveals God to us - Jesus Christ.
That’s why He’s better - better than any other covenant, better than any philosophy, better than anything you can get for yourself on this earth or figure out for yourself with your mind.
Accept no substitutes. Often imitated, never duplicated. He is the only real thing.
What about Us?
What does that say about us?
2 Corinthians 3:18 And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. NIV
My son David at one point wanted to do his own pictures. So I went down to a camera shop and negotiated for some development supplies. We got the chemicals and the trays and the enlarger and all that. So then we took the photos and pulled the negatives out and put them into the solution and then used the negatives to create photos. And it’s really cool to see the image resolve out of pure white onto the photographic paper. Now, our pictures didn’t come out very well - but when it comes to being a Christian, you are being developed into the likeness of Jesus Christ.
The way you do that with a photo is you take light sensitive paper and expose it to light shining through the image. So it is with us - as we expose our lives to the light of His character - through His Word, worship, prayer, fellowship - trials - and as our lives are light sensitive - in other words, the "chemical" makeup of our lives can be changed by the light - then we begin to resolve Him slowly - bit by bit.
One day we’ll be very surprised to see Him in the photos of our life. So my encouragement to you is 1 - be Light sensitive, and 2 - expose yourself to the light of Jesus on a regular basis.
For more Bible studies including an audio version of this study go to: www.CalvaryChapelNewberg.org
