Hebrews 1:1-3
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…
(NKJV)
Dios, habiendo hablado en otro tiempo
muchas veces y de muchas maneras a los padres por los profetas,
en estos últimos días nos ha hablado por el Hijo,
a quien constituyó heredero de todo y
por medio de quien, asimismo, hizo el universo.
Él es el resplandor de su gloria y la expresión exacta de su naturaleza,
quien sustenta todas las cosas con la palabra de su poder.
Y cuando hubo hecho la purificación de nuestros pecados,
se sentó a la diestra de la Majestad en las alturas.
(RVA-2015)
Antigamente, Deus falou, muitas vezes e de muitas maneiras,
aos pais, pelos profetas, mas, nestes últimos dias,
nos falou pelo Filho,
a quem constituiu herdeiro de todas as coisas
e pelo qual também fez o universo.
O Filho, que é o resplendor da glória de Deus e a expressão exata do seu Ser,
sustentando todas as coisas pela sua palavra poderosa,
depois de ter feito a purificação dos pecados,
assentou-se à direita da Majestade, nas alturas…
(NAA)
The Complete Representation of God
The Christian who moves on from Christ is like a man who starts crossing a river and - halfway across - forgets what he set out to do and decides to let the current take him downstream.
I have been this man. We must begin to cross the river again.
If Christ is the ‘express image of His [God’s] person’, then I’m ready to draw some major conclusions:
- Everything that can be known about God, can be known in Christ;
- There is nothing about God that can be known apart from Christ;
These conclusions have big consequences, so let me share a few more scriptures and we’ll consider them together. You might recognize the style as an informal proof - a collection of true/false propositions attempting to ‘prove’ a logical conclusion.
I invite you to think critically about the logic.
“He is the image of the invisible God” (Col 1:15)
“For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell” (Col 1:19)
“For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (Col 2:9)
“Philip said to Him, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father;’” (John 14:8-9)
If Christ is the ‘image of the invisible God’,
and the ‘express image of His person’,
then Christ is a representation of God.
If- in Christ - ‘all the fullness [of God] should dwell’,
and ‘in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily’,
and ‘he who has seen Me has seen the Father’,
then Christ is a complete representation of God.
If Christ is a complete representation of God,
then everything that can be known about God can be known in Christ,
and there is nothing about God that can be known apart from Christ.
As Paul writes:
“Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Col 2:2-3)
What does this mean for us?
Anything that we want to know about God can and must be found in Christ.
Any genuine and successful quest to know God must begin with and never move on from Christ. He is the beginning, the end, and everything in between.
Every hair on His head, every little thing He ever did or said, everything about Him reveals God to us.
As I once heard a teacher say - “Jesus is not Christianity 101. He’s the whole thing!” There is nothing else.
The scriptures are just words on a page unless we encounter Him.
“You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.”
The gifts of the Holy Spirit - prophecy, tongues, miracles - are lifeless tools.
“Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?” And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me…‘”
All of our complicated eschatology (end-times theology) is understood in Him.
“And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.”
“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.”
For our own souls, for our families, for our nations, we must return to Christ.
