God Speaks Salvation (Hebrews 1:1-2:3)
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God Has Spoken
Time and time again we read in the Scriptures that God condescends to speak to His people. To Adam, he asks, “Where are you?” To Noah He says, “Build an ark.” To Abram He says, “Leave your country.” In various ways, bit by bit, God spoke through progressive revelation throughout history. But now, He has spoken in His Son, who is qualitatively and exponentially greater than any shadow, type or preceding prophet. God, in these last days, has spoken to us in Christ, who is our greatest need and most foundational longing. This is a much-needed reminder, because like the original audience, we too face the present danger of giving into cultural Christianity.
Not only does God speak, He also commands us to listen. He tells the three disciples on the Mount of Transfiguration: “This is my Son, My chosen One; listen to Him” (Luke 9:35). Because of who this One is, because He alone is marked by limitless inheritance, creative power, divine glory, orchestrating providence, and single-handed redemption, and because He is the perfect representation of God, we must listen to Him.
In His Son
The Appointed Heir: Out of commitment to His own glory and love for our greatest good, God has decreed that Jesus Christ be the appointed heir of all things. This is no developing, changing, readjusting plan. It has a definite, predetermined outcome: Christ being the rightful, deserving heir of absolutely everything! He alone is the goal of all things and everything is on track to honor Him (Col 1:16; Rom 11:36). If we are ignorant concerning the purpose of God in Christ, we will inevitably relapse into some form of ritualism or traditionalism.
The Creator: God created the world through His Son. As John puts it: “Apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being” (John 1:3). He is the beginning; the uncaused cause who created it all. Christ, the Almighty Creator, made heaven and earth and all things in them so that He might be glorified in all those things.
The Sustainer: Christ “upholds all things by the word of His power.” God, in Christ, has not spoken light into darkness and formed the heavens and earth only to then sit back and let nature take it’s course. Instead, He is actively sustaining the entire universe by the word of His power! Nature, history, and political affairs of men and nations, along with the personal experiences and destinies of people like us, all lie in His loving, mighty hands.
The Radiant Representation: Jesus is the “radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature.” He is the outshining of the glory of God. God had previously determined to dwell behind the curtain, within the inner chamber, but in these last days he has chosen to tabernacle among us, revealing HIs matchless glory to all who have eyes to see. Because the very essence of God Himself is robed in human flesh, John could say, “He dwelt among us and we saw His [God’s] glory” (John 1:14).
The Purifier: Jesus sat down at the right hand of God having “made purification for sins.” The Heir, Creator, and Sustainer, the One who is the radiance of God’s own glory, is also our Redeemer and Rescuer. He became our ransom for the sake of purifying us from our guilt and sin. He became our salvation!
- Why is it so important to “pay much closer attention to what we have heard” (Heb 2:1)? In what ways are we in danger of losing sight of Christ and giving into surrounding influences?
- God calls you to a life of discipleship, submitting your life to the kingly authority of Jesus Christ. Are you listening to what God has spoken in His Son? Have you received His gospel as good news and obeyed His gracious commands?