Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our Fathers by the prophets, in these last days he has spoken to us by his son, whom he has appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.
Hebrews 1:1-3
The advantage of age is wisdom (hopefully). Wisdom that realizes you don’t know everything and there is always much more to learn. I can’t think of this being more true than in my own personal relationship with my Heavenly Father, His son, Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit.
In the introduction to the book of Hebrews we find an expression of the Father and Son, that while we may know what the words say, the question we must ask is ~ how have these truths shaped me; spirit (heart), soul (thinking, choices) and body (disciplines)? What personal revelation do I hold from these words that have conformed me to Him.
“He has in these last days spoken to us by His son”
The word became flesh and dwelt among us....
The words I speak, they are spirit and life...
“Appointed heir of all things”
As the heir of all things, he has inherited me.
Radiance of His glory, Express image of the father.
As The sun gives off its benefits, so through Jesus we see the splendour of the Father.
The world created by God through Jesus (spoken word)
And God said....
Jesus upholds the universe by the word of his power.
His word holds all things in order, establishing their boundaries. By refusing any portion of this word, our lives default into chaos and confusion.
Jesus said eternal life was the fruit of knowing him and the Father and this must be our one daily pursuit; an ever increasing knowledge which transforms and conforms our lives.
Whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.
From G. H. Lang’s Epistle to the Hebrews, Lang writes, “It is upon the Person, offices, glories and supremeness of the Son that the writer now enlarges. The uplifted Son is God’s centre of attraction for all creation...”
And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.
John 12:32
To yield to that attraction is to be withdrawn from all that is not of God. This is salvation. To see Him as exalted is to overcome the world....to see him as the man in heaven is to have the heart detached from the earth and attached to heaven as its native, its eternal realm. Christ is Gods Saviour for us, His supply for every need, His reservoir of every blessing. All is in Him, nothing is apart from Him. To Him, the Writer (of Hebrews) points. Really to know Him will deliver the reader from every danger, and therefore he (the writer of Hebrews) expatiates upon the glories of the Son of God.”
It is these glories that we must come to know, to allow them entrance and preeminence in every sphere of our being so that we too might become a partaker of His divine nature, for we are to be found IN HIM, growing up in every way into HIM.
John wrote in his first epistle,
“Beloved, now are we children of God, and what we shall be has not yet been manifested; we know that if it is manifested we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” Darby’s translation
This thought is two fold; the press to become, is now limited to our perceptions and knowledge and then, when He is revealed, we see him as He actually is.”
Paul on the road to Damascus had no frame of reference for the Jesus He was to encounter. Was he Jesus the son of man, or was He Jesus sitting at the right hand of the Father. The answer could be either, but the presentation, the revelation, in the moment was designed and suited for Paul’s need. While Paul didn’t then hold a full knowledge he held enough to move him forward, seeking and separated.
Even so, our knowledge of Him and consequently our behaviour is shaped by what we know. To fulfill our destiny this side of heaven demands an ever increasing knowledge. As we feed upon the word, we must be mindful of always allowing Him to shape the reality of those words, knowing that we are limited by our own personal perceptions and knowledge. He holds an ever increasing revelation of Himself for those who pursue Him.
As I consider these few verses from Hebrews, I’m aware of what I do know, but I want to see what it is that is beyond my current knowledge and understanding, to be able to come up higher and see Him as He is.
May our hearts continually hunger to see and hear all He desires to reveal to us in these last days through His son.