HEBREWS 1
HEBREWS 1 - THE DEITY OF CHRIST
The book of Hebrews was written in the
early sixties of the first century after Christ. The church had no clear
understanding of Christ's mediatorial work, nor did they grasp the scope of
God's plan, which involved the passing of centuries and even millenniums before
the end could come. In view of the impending destruction of Jerusalem, which
Christ had foretold and which He had said would occur in their generation, it
was necessary that the people be fully informed regarding Christ's high
priestly work. A clear understanding of this not only would account for His
prolonged absence but also explain the abolition of the ceremonial law and the
cessation of the temple services. (1)
As these observances had been instituted
by God Himself and were considered sacred, only God could abolish them. If
Jesus, therefore, abrogated the ceremonial law, it was necessary that He be
shown to be God.
The deity of Christ
The deity of Christ was the great
stumbling block in the way of the Jews for accepting Christianity. Israel had
long prided itself on its monotheism. Other religions had many gods; Israel had
only One. "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord" (Deuteronomy 6:4), had been the challenge to their heathen neighbours for more than a
thousand years. And now deity was claimed for Christ! How could this belief be
harmonized with their Sacred Scriptures, which recognized only one God? Under
these conditions it became necessary to present proofs from the Scriptures of
the Old Testament that Jesus was indeed divine.
1. God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
God, who at several times and in different
manners spoke in time past unto the patriarchs through the prophets,
The emphasis is on God speaking – God is
presented as the One Who spoke in the Old testament. While the Lord spoke,
human lips framed the words and clothed them in human language. In visions and
dreams; in disasters and war; in suffering and famine; by direct voice from
heaven; by writing on a wall; by earthquake and fire; by the still, small
voice; by priest and prophet; by king and peasant; by dumb beast and apostate
prophet; by signs in the heavens and calamities on earth – through these and
other means God spoke. Whatever way He chose to deliver His message, it was God
who spoke. This places the writings of the Old Testament on a very high level.
2. Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
God
has now spoken to us, living in these last days by or through his Son. God has appointed His Son an heir of all
things that are His. Also, it was by His
Son that God made the worlds.
God
speaking to us through His Son, places Jesus in the prophetic line as one of
the messengers and prophets of God. As the Son of God, Christ is Himself God,
and as He is the Creator of all things; they are His by right of creation. Apart from this, God has appointed Christ,
His heir of all things. This appointment was simply the Father's acknowledgment
of the successful completion of Christ's work as the second Adam. The first
Adam had failed. The second Adam takes his place as man and is acknowledged by
God as the rightful heir to the dominion first given to Adam. As man unites
with Christ he also becomes "an heir of God through Christ."
Galatians 4:7. It was thus Abraham became "the heir of the world,"
and in like manner Christians become "heirs of God, and joint heirs with
Christ." Romans 4:13; 8:17.
3. 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 on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
The participle "being" is
an expression of eternal, timeless existence, and has the same sense as
"was" in John 1: 1, "In the beginning was the Word." The
Word is Christ. (Jn 1:14) He did not come into existence in the beginning. In
the beginning He was. Thus, Christ did not become the brightness of the
Father's glory. He always was. This constitutes the essential and eternal
ground of His personality. "Brightness"
is variously translated outshining, out raying, reflection. It has the same
relation to God's glory as the rays of the sun have to the sun. The rays cannot
be separated from the sun, nor the sun from its rays. The two are inseparable.
So, with the Father and the Son. The Son reveals the Father, is the outshining
of the Father. Through and in Him we see God. The glory of God is the
sum total of His attributes. (Exodus 33:18,19; 34:6, 7)
Man was created in the image of God, but Christ is 'the express image – of the Father'. As a seal impresses an exact image of itself upon the wax, so Christ is the exact counterpart of God. When Christ, therefore, is said to be the express image of God's person, we attribute to Him more than mere outward likeness. He is the exact expression of the very inmost nature of God; that upon which men may confidently build; that in which they may with full assurance trust. As is the Father, so is the Son, one in essence, one in character, one in mind and purpose. "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father." John 14: 9. "I and my Father are one" John 10:30.
The
word for "upholding" denotes more than merely sustaining
something so that it will not collapse. It means bearing forward to a
destination. While it includes the idea of sustaining, it has the added meaning
of movement, of guidance, of purposeful progress.
Christ
"by himself purged our sins." These words introduce
Christ as High Priest. The word "our" is not found in the best
manuscripts and is to be omitted. The reading therefore is that Christ "by
himself purged sins," or better, "made purification of sins.” By His
atonement Christ accomplished both the cleansing of sins and the cleansing
of the person from sin. The purging of sins was finished on the cross; the
purification of sinners is still in progress (the investigative judgment in
which the sins transferred to the sanctuary in heaven will be cleansed by
Christ) and will not be finished till the last soul is saved. The cleansing of
sins (2nd phase of Christ’s atonement – done on the cross by bearing
the sins of many). The cleansing of the
persons from sin (3rd phase of Christ’s atonement – done as a High
priest at the right hand of God). The 1st
phase of Christ atonement is the purging (or overcoming) of sins in His own
body - In the first phase He met sin face to face and conquered it. In not one instance
did He fail; not one stain of sin sullied His pure soul. His body temple was
holy, a fit place for God to dwell. This stage terminated before Gethsemane.
This
verse talks about the completion of the first 2 phases of Christ’s atoning work,
‘himself purged our sins’ after which Christ sat down on
the right hand of the Majesty on high to continue the 3rd phase of
atonement. "Sat down" does not here denote the mere act of sitting,
but is a formal seating, as in an inauguration or installation into office. It
is a word of delegated power; of investiture with authority; a formal
acknowledgment of the right to exercise office; a coronation. It marks the
beginning of activity, not the end.
"The right hand of the Majesty on high" is the seat of honour, or authority. This seat was given Christ after He had made purgation of sin. He had finished the work given Him on earth to do. He had succeeded (by not falling into any temptation and by being sinless) where Adam had failed and had won for Himself the approval of God and the right to speak and act for mankind.
The
first 3 verses contain a summary of the entire epistle. They present the
pre-eminent Son as the appointed heir of all things; the Creator; the express
image of God; the upholder of all things; the Redeemer; the Priest-King, seated
at the right hand of God. As prophet, He speaks for God; as priest, He purged
our sins; as king, He shares the throne of the Majesty on high.
4. Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.
This verse continues to talk about Christ and the rest of the chapter is devoted to a discussion of the contrast between Christ and the angels.
"Being made" here means "having
become", a condition resulting from the incarnation, a change from one
state to another, or in other words, being made a man (who is ‘a little
lower than the angels’ Heb 2: 7), yet He is so much better than the angels,
since Christ has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name. We are
not told here, what that name is. Since
many names are given to Christ in the Bible, we are inclined to believe that
"Jesus" could be the name meant. This was the name given Him at
birth; and as it was given Him in recognition of the fact that He should
"save his people from their sins”; and as the angel who announced the name
was only executing God's command, God in reality was the one who named Him. (Matthew1:21) It therefore seems likely that "Jesus" is the name here alluded
to. "Angel' means
"messenger," "servant", while Jesus" means "Saviour"
- in every way a more excellent name! (1)
Name stands for character in the Bible. The name 'Jesus' stood for the character of the purpose and mission for which He came to the earth. He came to "save his people from their sins" Matt 1: 21. His mission and the name excelled that of the angels.
5. For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?
Angels
were not begotten of God. They were created. But Christ is God in His own
right, not a created being. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was
with God, and the Word was God. (Jn 1: 1) The Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us… (Jn 1: 14) Christ was co-existent with God the Father. He was "declared to be the Son of God
with power." (Romans 1:4) The reading is not that Christ became the Son of
God, or was made the Son of God, but He was declared to be the Son of God. He
that was Son became flesh. (John 1:14) Jesus did not become God, for He was
already God. He was simply declared to be the Son of God.
When was the declaration made to man that Jesus is the Son of God? It was first made by the angel at the time of the birth of Jesus. "For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord." Luke 2:11. It was next announced by God Himself at the baptism: "Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.” Luke 3:22. And after the resurrection He was – declared to be "the Son of God with power.... by the resurrection from the dead." Romans 1:4. "This day have I begotten thee." According to Acts 13: 32,33, ‘this day’ refers to the time when Christ was resurrected from the dead. When He was raised from the dead and His work was accepted of God, He was the first man Who in His own right could claim to have fulfilled the condition of life laid down by God, which in effect is, "obey and live" (Deut 30: 20; Jere 38: 20).
6. And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him.
1n this
proclamation He says in effect: "My Son has assumed humanity. Let no one
think that His Godhood has suffered any impairment. As He was God before, so He
is God now. 'Let all the angels of God worship Him.'
7. And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire.
8. But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.
“Thy
throne, O God”, the Father addresses the Son reverently, and calls Him God.
This is the climax in the apostle's argument on the position and dignity of
Christ. There can be no higher testimony to the deity of Christ than this of
the Father to the Son. In the most solemn manner Christ's Godhood is affirmed,
and this by God Himself.
The reference to the throne and the
sceptre is significant. It indicates actual possession of power. It indicates
that the kingdom is not only future but present and is in active operation. The
throne and the kingdom are everlasting; and the sceptre – the government
– is in righteousness.
9. Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
Christ
has ‘loved righteousness and hated iniquity:; therefore God ‘anointed
Him’. The man who hankers (craves) after
sin, who finds it alluring or interesting, has not yet attained to Christ's
standard. Man must learn to hate sin as well as to love righteousness.
God
anointed Christ with the oil of gladness above His fellows. This anointing
doubtless took place at the coronation of Christ, following His ascension, and
constituted God's approval of Christ and His work, as well as an ordination for
future service. It is to be noted that the name "Christ" means
"the anointed One."
The "fellows" here
mentioned are probably those who, like Christ, are anointed, whether prophet, priest,
king, or cherub. These were all thus dedicated to their specific work. Even
Lucifer was anointed. "Thou art the anointed cherub that covers," (Ezekiel28:14) God says of him! But of all these, Christ has the pre-eminence.
10. And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands:
“Thou
Lord”, here the Father addresses Christ as Lord. Jesus is both Lord and God.
Peter says that "God hath made that same Jesus, whom you have crucified,
both Lord and Christ." Acts 2:36. This is another tribute of God to
Christ's deity.
Christ
had laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of His
hands. Christ is the Creator of
earth and heaven. (Ps 102: 25)
11. They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment;
Heaven
and earth shall perish but Christ would ‘remain’. (Ps 102: 26; Isa 51: 6) This statement also
is in proof of the deity of Christ. As Creator, Christ existed before creation;
and after creation perishes, He would still remain. This argues the eternity of
Christ.
12. And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail.
This
verse further asserts the eternal nature of Christ; "thou art the same" asserts
His immutability, another attribute of deity. Paul quotes from Scriptures (Ps102: 26, 27) to reiterate the unchanging nature of God.
13. But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool?
The angels stand about the throne in an attitude of reverence and worship but have never been invited to sit at God's right hand. Christ holds pre-eminence above the angels. Paul quotes again from Scriptures (Ps 110: 1), a verse quoted by Jesus (Matt 22: 44; Mark 12: 36; Luke 20: 42, 43) also when He explained the eternal nature of Christ.
14. Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?
Angels are ‘messengers’, ministering spirits, ‘servants’, sent forth to minister to them who shall be heirs of salvation. "The heir, as long as he is a child, differs nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all; but is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father." Galatians 4:1,2. Man is now inferior to angels. But the time will come when he will grow up and claim his heritage.
The purpose in writing the book of Hebrews
required Paul to establish beyond a doubt that Christ is God. He intends to
show that the ceremonies that had been instituted by Moses at the command of
God had been fulfilled and abolished by Christ.
In this first chapter the apostle sets out
to prove the deity of Christ and he successfully accomplishes his task. This he
does, first by presenting Him as Creator and Redeemer, then by showing His
surpassing superiority over the angels, and lastly by presenting the Father
Himself as the chief witness to Christ's Godhood. As these proofs are all
substantiated by quotations from the Old Testament Scriptures, which the Jews
acknowledged as authority, the apostle has proved his point. Christ is God. The
Scriptures say so, and God confirms it.
*****
REFERENCE:
1. Andreason
M L. The Book of Hebrews. Washington D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing
Association; 1948. 190 p.
2. Barnes A. Albert Barnes’ Notes on the
Bible. In e-Sword - the Sword of the LORD with an electronic edge; 1847.
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