We continue on from our introductory lesson in the epistle to the Hebrews, and select more key verses (Heb 1:1-4). Noticing the Hebrew writer's opening statements will again help to introduce and commend the letter to us, and make us aware of the main idea in the letter, which is the authority exercised by Jesus as our great High Priest.
Nine Beliefs About Jesus
Heb 1:1-4 In these theme verses there are nine statements made about Jesus. The epistle elsewhere makes further true statements about Jesus, but these nine, at the start, express the writer's understanding of Jesus, and underpin the main ideas in his letter. These nine points show...
THE ABSOLUTE AUTHORITY OF JESUS TO SPEAK AS GOD
1. God speaks to us by him. In times past God spoke through men, namely the prophets. But in the last days, God spoke through God, namely his Son Jesus.
2. He has been appointed heir of all things. The Son has the authority to speak, because the Father shares his whole estate with his Son, including the gospel by which we are saved.
3. He created the worlds. Not only does he share all things with his Father, but helped his Father create the entire material cosmos, all the heavenly realms, and all that is in them (cf Jhn 1:3).
4. He is the radiance of God’s glory. Christ the Son is subject to his Father, but is not inferior to him. He dwells in the same glory as his Father (cf Jhn 1:9,14 1Tm 6:14-16).
5. He is the exact image of God. Jesus said, "He who has seen me has seen the Father" (Jhn 14:9). Jesus represents his father exactly, and all that we see in Jesus Christ is exactly what we would see in the Father. There is not the slightest shade of difference.
6. He sustains everything by his word. In a similar list of points (Col 1:13-20) Paul says, "in him all things hold together". If not for the exercise of Christ’s authority, evil forces would tear heaven and earth apart and all things would cease to exist.
7. He alone cleansed our sins. Nobody, nobody at all but Jesus, could offer to God an acceptable sacrifice for all sin.
8. He sat down at God’s right hand. He shares the throne of God, to reign with the very authority of God granted by God the Father.
9. He became superior to the angels. We know that in the heavenly hierarchy, angels are above mankind, because man was made "a little lower than the angels" (Psa 8:4-6). We also know that there is a hierarchy among the angels, for the Bible mentions Michael the archangel (Jde 1:9). There is no hint in the Bible of any authority higher than the angels yet lower than God’s. If Christ is elevated above the angels, he therefore has the next highest authority, which is that of God himself.
