Tuesday: He Is the Radiance of the Glory of God
Read Hebrews 1:2-4. What are some of the things that this passage teaches us about Jesus?
In this section, we will focus on the portion that says, “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature” (Hebrews 1:3, ESV).
Read Exodus 24:16-17; Psalm 4:6; Psalm 36:9; and Psalm 89:15. How do these texts help us understand what the glory of God is?
Image © The Classic Bible Art Collection – Formerly Standard Publishing at Goodsalt.com
In the Old Testament, the glory of God refers to His visible presence among His people (Exodus 16:7; Exodus 24:16-17; Leviticus 9:23; Numbers 14:10). This presence is often associated with light or radiance.
Scripture informs us that Jesus is the light who came to this world to reveal the glory of God (Hebrews 1:3; John 1:6-9, John 1:14-18; 2 Corinthians 4:6). Think, for instance, of how Jesus appeared in the transfiguration. “And He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light” (Matthew 17:2, NKJV).
Just as the sun cannot be perceived except by the radiance of its light, God is known through Jesus. From our perspective, the two are one. Because God’s glory is light itself, there is no difference, in actual being and character, between God and Jesus, just as there is no difference between light and its radiance.
Hebrews also says that Jesus is the “exact representation” of the Father’s substance (Hebrews 1:3, NASB). The point of the metaphor is that there is a perfect correspondence in being — or essence — between the Father and the Son. Note that human beings carry God’s image but not His essence (Genesis 1:26). The Son, however, shares the same essence with the Father. No wonder that Jesus said, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9, NKJV).
| Why is that such great news that Jesus reveals the character and the glory of the Father to us? What does Jesus tell us about what the Father is like? |
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The lesson author discusses the glory of God; the light and the power. But, this passage of scripture is deeper than that. The emphasis is on the unity between God the Father and Son. They are bound together, not just from the incarnation but from the very beginning (if you have to think of it in temporal terms). They are welded together hip and thigh.
For the Jewish Christians, this is a paradigm shift in Messianic thinking. The Messiah is not just a being sent from God; He is God.
John 17:5 underlines your point about the depth of this passage in Hebrews 1:2-3:
The ultimate glory of the Father and his Son is their character displayed in their passion and at the cross. This is what draws all who see this glory to God. (John 12:32.)
And being joined together with the Father and Son, all believers (the body of Christ) are called by God to display the glory of his character. (John 17:22; Philippians 2:5-8.)
The glory of the Father and his Son is not a smoke and light show. It is their amazing character, which demonstrates their total commitment of love to us. It is this amazing love that calls us to be totally sold out to them.
Richard, that is exactly where I went, John 17. It says everything we need to know about why Jesus came to this earth. More than once Jesus told his disciples that “if you see me, you see The Father”. That to me is Gods Glory.
I very much agree. After all, when Moses asked to see God's glory, God actually described His character as He passed before him (Exodus 34:6). His glory is really His character and light is a great symbol of that.
He Is the Radiance of the Glory of God! What does this mean? Radiance means brightness yes?
Radiance means so much more than merely the brightness itself. Radiance is more about the activity that is going on that results in both the brightness itself and the perception of that brightness. Radiance is the action of emitting ('giving off'/radiating) - which is something that energy inherently does. We could therefore say that radiance is one facet of 'energy in action'. When Jesus described the water that He longed to give to the woman at the well in John 4:14 as a spring of (living) water that would well up from within to eternal life, Jesus was describing this same inherently and perpetually (eternally) emitting phenomenon. The focus of radiance (even though it is a noun) is the inherent 'giving-action' of the thing that is giving.
And just as the metaphor radiance is typically seen to narrowly because we don't go far enough beyond a literal interpretation/understanding, so too the metaphor of glory is typically seen too narrow. John 1:14 is a key verse in conjunction with Hebrews 1:3. In both instances the Greek word is doxa (noun) which is derived from the base of dokeo (verb). Dokeo means to form an opinion in response to observing something. To be more precise, it is not just to form any opinion that you like - it is to form an opinion that is an accurate perception of the thing you are observing. And even more precisely, it is forming an accurate opinion about the inherent worth, value and therefore significance of the thing you are perceving. And the ultimate perception would be that the thing you are perceiving is absolutely perfect/flawless as it is - it could not possibly be improved upon. Thus, the glory of something is its inherent flawlessness (ie its inherent worth and value) that is perceived as such.
What is the absolute core, foundational attribute or characteristic of God that is flawless and therefore of infinite worth and value? No surprise that it is His nature and character of other-focussed, other benefiting love (beneficence) as per 1 John 4:8! So God's glory is the inherent worth and value of the flawless perfection of His beneficent love which 'lives to give' (radiate) life and blessing to His creation. It is so flawlessly perfect that there is no other alternative foundation that is capable of viably sustaining true ("abundant": John 10:10) life. Without beneficent love, life would not and could not exist. Hence, beneficent love - which characterises God - objectively and genuinely is the only Way, Truth and Life (John 14:6).
It may take a bit of reflecting to get your head around what I have outlined above - it certainly did for me because it stretches our mind beyond how we normally think/perceive.
Phil - Your insights always edify me. Thank you for sharing with us your understanding of the mysteries of the power of God's Glory, experienced as His Love.
I so very much hope that Christians would understand the tremendous importance of living to 'love one another'; expressing God's glorious Love. As the Father's Love radiates, shines brightly, it dispells all the darkess of this world and draws man to Himself. Christians are called upon to share the glory of His Love with others by loving one another; this is not an optional behavior.
Yesterday we considered Jesus as the Word,
today we think about what it means that Jesus Christ is the Light of God.
I found this interesting list of the properties of Light,
think how they describe the aspects of the character of the LORD.
What light does
PHYSICALLY and SPIRITUALY
Light dispels darkness
Light itself cannot be seen but reveals everything in its presence
Light cannot be grasped or held
Light fills all space available to it but will not invade space closed to it
Light can be everywhere at once
Light is never consumed or exhausted by anything in its presence
Light is illumination, enabling us to find our way
Light is communication by written words and symbols to our mind
Light is color, revealing incredible beauty around us
Light is warmth, giving comfort
Light is energy, producing power
Light is speed, from here to there in an an instant
Light is essential for growth and healing
Light fades the further we move from its source
There are no words adequate to describe light itself
Only descriptions of what light does
https://www.thinkersbiblestudies.com/bible-light
Jesus said: 'I am the light of the world.
Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.' – John 8:12
Homework: make a list of other passages and their circumstances where Jesus describes himself, or his followers, as light, to understand the meaning.
Beautiful!Thanks for sharing this Shirley.
on the word "purge" of Hebrews 1:3 this word is Greek "Poy-eh-o" and has the connotation of "fulfillment, purging, and securing." So to me there is more here than that Jesus just "made purification for sin," He Secured and fulfilled and also purged our sins at Calvary when He spilled His blood then and there 2,000 plus or minus years ago.
When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. (Hebrews 1:3b, NASB95.)
Pete’s comment about making purification for sin caught my eye this morning. Christians often use the phrase “the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” (1 John 1:7.) But what exactly does that mean? The root of all sin is believing lies about God’s character. (See Genesis 3:1-7.) This is what separates us from God.
The “radiance of God’s glory” is that through the gift of his Son to us (a propitiation), the Father and the Son demonstrate an exact representation of their character. They were willing to become flesh like us, to serve our needs in this war zone we call earth, and finally, to experience torture and death on the cross at the hand of the Adversary. (Philippians 2:5-8.) God willingly gave his life through his Son to prove his love for us.
By this display on the cross, God’s heart speaks directly to our hearts in these last days, obliterating all the lies about his love. By this, he has removed every barrier and impediment to his presence. By this, the blood of Jesus (his death) cleanses us from all sin (the Devil’s lies about God’s love for us and others).
I can’t think of radiating Gods glory without thinking of Mosses up on the mountain with Jesus for 40 days when he came down he radiated God’s glory to the event the people had him veil himself in Exodus 34:29- 35 because the skin of his face shone. When we any creature whether it be Jesus angels humans are in Gods presence we will radiate His glory. For by beholding we become like Him. His love penetrates our very being just by being with him. Radiating God’s glory is the natural result. By taking time to behold Christ to come boldly in his presence to his throne in daily bible reading singing meditating praying we also like Christ will express the character of God designed for that radiating glory. Sin can not exist in His presence. That is why sinners are changed. By being in His presence our faith will be strengthened on God and sin will no longer be desirable.