“… but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.”
We concluded our last discussion with John’s personal testimony about seeing with his own eyes and touching with his own hands the actual person of Jesus. Lets continue this same thought as we consider these opening verses of Hebrews 1.
“That which was from the beginning, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life – the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us – that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you may have fellowship with us, and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. … this is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is do darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.”
We know from scripture itself, Jesus was God given to us in flesh so we could see not only the glory of God through the eyes of John, James and Peter, on the mountain with Elijah and Moses, but also to see with our own spiritual eyes the glory of God within ourselves, our treasure wrapped in earthly flesh. The writer of this letter is asserting the physical reality of Jesus, God’s Son, the revealer of God’s truth, the final authority, our actual and virtual creator Himself, within us!
The diversity of this worldly system leads us into its wisdom of new and better things. When we rest in worldly wisdom with our own understanding, we are swept into this darkness. Did you know the Mormon Church is made up of 85% of people from our protestant church community? They use biblical language, interpreting it into new meanings for unsuspecting Christians. The evangelical community is vulnerable because we know words without the New Testament’s deep life meaning. Once a “Christian” is snared into an organized system, with people holding their hands, it becomes easy to start believing a “different” gospel without realizing it is not the truth. Mormon’s are really good at hand holding!
Paul faced this very same situation when the church was brand new. “I am astonished,” he says to the Galatians, “that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning into a different gospel – not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.”
Last GN we saw these Hebrews were drifting away under the influence of sects and other human authorities. It is much easier to rely on what is visible, what we can touch and feel. We come into faith as babes, actually born again but new in Christ Jesus, not really knowing who we actually are in Christ Jesus!
This is the point of this letter to the Hebrews.
It is the writer’s desire to show how Jesus is much greater than any past authority given to Israel or mankind. Jesus is God’s only Son and it is the Son of God revealed to us in the flesh of humanity, and as such, Jesus, in flesh, is the Son of Man as well. God’s final word to us, is Jesus, who is in fact The Word of God, heir to all things worldly having Himself been the creator of them! Jesus explains to His disciples several times, months prior, He is going to be delivered up to die. Our Savior, Christ and Lord Jesus is put to death so we can live. He did all this for us but more; He purchased us back, birthed us new in righteousness and sanctified us!
When we choose to use our physical eyes for God’s righteous truth, God rewards us by opening our spiritual eyes to grow and discern Spiritually. The writer of Hebrews is drawing attention to spiritual truth through the temporal tools of history and Jewish culture. As we discern, guided by God’s indwelling Spirit, we begin to “see trees as men walking.” In other words, God’s living portraits are in created life illustrating spiritual truth. Adam, in his created state, was able to see spiritually, with natural eyes, because he was in communion with a Spiritual person, God himself. Adam was created in God’s own image, a spiritual Person.
Hebrews is the finest piece of Greek literature we have in the New Testament. We can go deep theologically because the construction of Greek grammar easily takes us there. So while we don’t study theology in GN, we do want to acknowledge a few points that jump out at us because our English language glosses over them. One of these points is in chapter 2, v. 10.
So why bring it up now in the opening verses?
You might notice these opening verses are a little unusual for a letter. There is no greeting! The writer opens his letter as though he is delivering a dissertation rather than writing a letter. Yet, he closes his “dissertation” like a letter.
So, within his opening, we need to look at it like a dissertation, which it is, and examine it in its wholeness of thought. It’s about Jesus, the Son of God, and how this declaration of truth connects, by context, with our own relationship to God. This is the writer’s reason for writing this dissertation, to show Jesus as both the Son of Man, while at the same time, the only Son of God who, by the way, also created the world, and all we know and see! As such, we need to treat the message in its unity and not just serial parts leading us to a conclusion. Jesus is deity as both God and Man.
The writer makes a statement in Hebrews 2:10 that gives context not only to his letter’s theme but also to his statements about Jesus in these first few verses.
“For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exists, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.”
There are several things to look at in this 2:10 verse but we will wait till we get here except for the phrase, in bringing many sons to glory. Here we are speaking about the capacity to “bring” believers into “glory.” On first glance we may take this to means into heaven. That was always my initial take!
There are two things in this phrase giving us context for the opening verses of this letter. The first is the Greek for “bringing,” the second is the meaning of “glory.”
The word “beginning” in the Greek is an aorist participle. The English “brings” conveys the idea of continuously being brought or led into glory. This is not totally wrong but neither is it totally right. The Greek aorist conveys the idea of something already completed and whole. There is an academic discussion on how this verse is to be interpreted but what is clear is our salvation is complete although we are still experiencing inwardly the fullness of Christ. The aorist is also used referring to our righteousness, sanctification and redemption in 1 Cor. 1:30 which we discussed in earlier GNs. The same principle applies here in 2:10. The Holy Spirit indwelling us, guides us into the fullness of who we already are in Christ as we set our heart and mind in submission. In other words, we are already eternally sealed into holiness which our own soul’s experience has not yet realized. Lets jump ahead for a moment and then come back to this point!
The other point is the “glory” into which we are being led. This is the glory we spoke to last GN in comparing Moses to Elijah. It is the same glory the three disciples witnessed on the mount of transfiguration with Elijah and Moses. This is the same glory shining in our hearts giving the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. This is the veiled glory to those without spiritual eyes in 1Cor. 3. It is the unveiled glory of Christ’s life in us bringing many sons (and daughters) into glory! -(Heb. 2:10)
This is what Hebrews is about. If we are “born again” believers, like these Hebrew Christians, we have received God’s gift of life in us which includes the glory of God, the person of Jesus Himself. This is the mystery! We have become one with God in Christ but to experience what this means, we need to bring our body and flesh to death so that we can experience His gift of Life, or to put it another way, “knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ,”
“but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.”
The author of Hebrews is establishing who it is we are dealing with, the only Son of God who is also the Son of Man. This is deity in flesh so that He can gather into the unity of Himself redeemed humanity possessing His resurrection Life. Jesus is our mediator, acting on our behalf, to bring us back, reconciling us into right relationship with God. This is the reason for God appointing him heir of all things. God needs to appoint Him heir because Jesus (Savior, Christ, Lord) is now bringing to God’s table the humanity of man since we are born again in Christ!
“For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exists, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.”
So when we read these first four verses of Hebrews, it is in this context of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit executing a divine plan, which includes you and me. He is able to bring us into His glory because Jesus came into flesh Himself, to redeem, justify and sanctify. But more than that, He took on flesh and took it back with Him into glory … for us!
If we don’t get the Who of Hebrews, we won’t get the glory of His fullness and we will find ourselves in heaven complete but perhaps less complete than we might have been. There is a hierarchy in the kingdom of God consisting of us as fellow heirs because we are in Christ.
“ … whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.”
Jesus is God’s Son, why appoint Him heir? Jesus was part of the divine council meeting before our creation. He is our mediator and creator. The reason Jesus is appointed the heir is to deal with His/our humanity. He is God’s only Son providing ultimate authority but Jesus also became the Son of Man taking our humanity into heaven. All things we spiritually have flow out of our relationship with Jesus, the Son of Man. He is literally THE door and Shepherd; He is righteous structure and organic life, He is I AM!
Hebrews is about the glory of Jesus’ life maturing within us as we journey through our fleshly wilderness. Old Testament pictures of God’s relationship with Israel are images of wearing flesh without growing in grace and truth. Grace is “so much better” than law.
For while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved (in) his life.
How marvelous is this life when it is His Life in us. Jesus used the term “born again” and this is exactly what happens. God reconciled us back to Himself through the death of His Son Jesus. Hebrews is about Jesus, the Son of God. The message comes out of heaven itself into the form of human flesh. God has reconciled us back to Himself, saving us out of our sinful flesh by the resurrection life of Jesus. He places in us His Life, and oins us into Himself when we say, “yes!” Christ is in us and we are in Christ!
“ … through whom also he created the world.”
Born unto you is Savior, Christ, Lord. -Luke 2:11
They crucified the Lord of glory. -1Cor.2:8.
Jesus loves me, this I know, the Bible tells me so!
Draw nigh to God and He will draw nigh to you.”