May 29th, 2018

Jesus, the Representation of God

“The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.”  Heb. 1:3

Not only did God speak to His people by Jesus, whom He sent, and not only did God appoint Jesus as heir of all things.  Not only did God create the universe through Jesus, and not only did God have Jesus sit at His right hand after providing the purification for sins.  In addition to all these great and wondrous things, we read in this verse that Jesus, the Son of God, is the radiance of God’s own glory and the exact representation of God’s being!

The Greek for “exact representation” comes from the word charasso, which means to engrave or stamp.  One of our English words that come from this Greek word is character.  When the Book of Hebrews was being developed, an engraving on coins was very significant.  As such, this specific language would impact profoundly the hearer.  The hearer would recognize and connect the word charasso and the image engraved on a coin – usually that of rulers.  The author of Hebrews is claiming that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is the very image, character, and substance of God.
 

If we want to know God, we need to know Jesus.