August 3, 2020
FROM YOUR PASTOR’S DESK:
CHRIST, THE BRIGHTNESS OF THE FATHER’S GLORY
“Who being the brightness of His [the Father’s] glory.”
Heb. 1:3, A.V. (See verses 1-3).
“The third verse presents Christ as ‘being the brightness of His glory.’ 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. (Verse 14).
“He did not come into existence in the beginning. In the beginning He WAS. When He came to this world He BECAME flesh. He has not been previously flesh.”
“By way of contrast He 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,’ ‘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 invisible] Father, is the OUTSHINING of the Father. Through and in Him we see GOD.”
“As when we look at the sun we see NOT the sun but it’s LIGHT, so we see not the Father but the Son, God Himself being invisible, ‘dwelling in the light which no man approach unto; whom no man hath seen, NOR CAN SEE.’ 1 Tim. 6:16, A.V. “
“The glory of God is the SUM total of His attributes.” Andreasen, The Book of Hebrews, pp. 49, 50.
As apostle Paul says, what is seen is temporal, what is not seen is eternal; for spiritual things can only be discerned spiritually. It is the Holy Spirit that reveals “the deep things of God” to all who diligently seek the truth as “for hidden treasure.”
God bless you all. NMF