January 3, 2023 - Hebrews 1:3

In this episode, Jori discusses with her listeners some of the attributes of the Lord Jesus as revealed in this verse in the letter to the Hebrews.

Scripture translation used is the English Standard Version.

Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture References:
Psalm 119:160
Matthew 7:13-14
Hebrews 1:3
Hebrews 13:22
Romans 10:4
Hebrews 12:4
Hebrews 4:12
Genesis 1:1
John 1:2
2 Timothy 3:16-17
2 Peter 1:21
John 14:6
John 1:1
John 1:14
John 1:5
Revelation 1:12-16
Exodus 33:19-20
Colossians 1:15-17
Genesis 3:14-15
Romans 3:23
Colossians 2:6

Email: awordforthisday@gmail.com

Podcast website:  https://awordforthisday.buzzsprout.com

A link to the transcript of this episode is found below. Please note, it is a word for word transcript of the show and will be different than if reading a book. Voice inflections, pace, etc. that are conversational in nature are lost in the transcription. Some words or phrases that may have been repeated within the audio recording may have been removed to make it easier for the reader to understand. 
AWFTD23Jan3.docx

Transcript

 Hello and welcome to A Word for this Day podcast. I'm Jori Shaffer, the show's host and creator, and I'm so glad you're here today. I want to welcome you. Welcome back to all of you regular listeners, and welcome to anyone who's found us for the first time. It is no accident that you are here, friends, and so I want to encourage you to stick around. Don't run off quite yet. Let's see what the Lord has for us today. I am just so thankful for you, and I love being on this journey with you. I want you to know that I've prayed for you. I continue to pray for each of you daily. I don't know who you are, but the Lord knows who all of you are. He knows your situations. He knows what you have just come out of. He knows what you're in the middle of, and he knows what you're going into. And we must but just trust Him, friends. He has it all under control. And the more we trust, the more peace He gives. The more He gives us the ability to walk through each situation with grace and to give Him the glory. And that's what it's all about.

  I would like to encourage you to share this podcast with friends, family, relatives, neighbors, strangers, just anyone who you think may want to come along this journey with us. Friends, because we are talking about God's Word, and God's Word is truth. The sum of all of God's Word is truth. And our world needs truth. That old devil, that deceiver, has put out this notion that everyone can determine their own truth and just follow that, and that there is no absolute truth. But friends, that is a lie. And we know that God's Word is true. And so we need to hold up everything that we come up against or that we are bombarded with to the standard that is in God's Word. And some people will say that's narrow minded. Well, yes, it is, because the way is narrow, few will find it. Scripture says the way is broad that leads to destruction, but the way is narrow that leads to life. And the Lord has made a way for us. He is the way, the truth and the life. But we must follow Him. We must follow Him, and he's been so gracious to give us His Word. So I'm excited for us to be in this word. I want to, like I mentioned, encourage you to share it and know that I love to hear from you. I love to hear what God's doing in your life. So if you feel so compelled, please send me a message at awordforthisday@gmail.com. I would love to hear from you.

 All right, our verse for the day, for January the third, 2023, is from the letter to the Hebrews, and it's from Hebrews one, verse three. And it reads as follows from the English Standard Version: “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. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.” Oh, friends, there is so much stuff here. We are continuing to talk about Jesus. It's about Jesus Christ. And so I'm so excited. Well, if you have been with me very long or been with “A Word for this day” podcast very long, you know that I think that it is wise for us to take the time to get a background and think about the background of the letter or the book that we are studying in which we find the verse for the day. Think about the authors, think about the context and get a little overview. And when we get that aerial view first and then kind of zoom in on our verse for the day, it helps us to better understand it. It helps us to have the appropriate context, it helps us to interpret it correctly and then it helps us to apply it to our lives and then to be able to share it, hopefully. 

 We're in this letter to the Hebrews which is found in the New Testament. The interesting thing about this letter is, unlike many of the other letters, or I should say probably all of the other letters in the New Testament, I think I'm saying that correctly. We don't know for sure who this author is. We have good indication with all the other letters and books within the New Testament who those authors are. But this one we don't know. There are a lot of people who think they do know based on certain things that were said, but there's nowhere within early church history that confirms it. There's really nowhere else in Scripture that confirms who this author is, but it appears that he was a Jewish man who had become a believer. We know that. And we know that he had such a desire to see his fellow brethren   believe in Christ and to hold fast to the hope that is found in Christ. I love that. We see at the end of Hebrews he gives a reason or, or what his purpose was in writing this letter. And we see that in Hebrews, chapter 13, verse 22, he says, “I appeal to you, brothers, bear with my word of exhortation, for I have written to you briefly.” So he was writing to exhort. And within exhortation there's encouragement, but there's also warnings. And so we see that throughout this letter. This is a very meaty letter. And so when I say that, that means that it is just jampacked full of information. These are not just very elementary things.   There's treasure after treasure after treasure here. 

But I'm so thankful for this letter because the writer was a Jewish man who had come to faith in Christ. He very well knew, it appears, based on his writing, the Old Testament, the Law and the prophets and the Holy Spirit gave him this understanding and this insight and this discernment about how Jesus was the end of the law and the prophets for all who would believe, just like the Apostle Paul talked about. But I love what we see in this letter about how Jesus just completed everything. The other thing that we see in this letter, and it is the thing that I think about now after having studied with my dear Bible study sisters last year, this book of Hebrews for a big part of the year was that one of the main themes is that Jesus is better in everything. He's superior. And as I've told you before, or I told you last year when we studied Hebrews, used to if somebody would say Hebrews, I would think, oh yeah, I like that book. That's where they have the faith chapter and where it says that God's word is living inactive. Those were the big things that popped into my mind when I thought about Hebrews. And those things are important and I love that. But there's so much more. And even after studying it, I realize how much more I don't know and how much more I want to know. I just love this letter. Of course, as you know, I love all the words and all the verses. I love God's words. But it is so neat to me how the writer of this letter goes back to the very beginning and he talks about how Jesus is superior to the angels. He was superior to Moses. He is the mediator of the better covenant. He is the great high priest. And that He gave with his life that one time for all sacrifice so that we could be right with Him, so that we could be right with the Father, and so that we could have eternal life. And I just love the way that he goes through and explains all of this. And we know that it appears, based on what the writer was writing, that many who were receiving this letter had not yet been persecuted, but persecution was coming. And so he was encouraging, or I should say, he says they had not been persecuted to the point of having their bloodshed, but he knew that this was coming, and so he's encouraged urging them throughout to hold fast, to hold fast to the hope that they had received. To run with endurance the race that had been set before them and just to keep on because there was that promise that was coming. And I love that. And I think he would say the same to us.

 Now, there's many who have read this letter over the centuries who have been persecuted to the point of death. And some of us may be at some point, even some who are listening now here and in other countries. But I encourage you to hold fast to the hope that you've received because God is faithful. He's so faithful. And we see that throughout Scripture from the beginning to the end. 

Well, where we are located today in this letter to the Hebrews is at the very beginning. We're here at the beginning of the year and because of the structure of how I chose these verses for this podcast, for the reference, the Scripture reference to match the date, we are going to be in the beginning of a lot of books this month and next month. And I just love that because it allows us to see over and over and over again just how living and active God's word is. We were in Genesis 1:1 talking about God being our Creator at the beginning. We talked about yesterday how Jesus was there in the beginning and we're going to talk more about Jesus today. So I'm going to back up and give us a little context of this letter to the Hebrews. We'll just begin at the first verse and it says in Hebrews 1:1, “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets. 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.” Didn't we just talk about that the last two days? I love that. I love how Scripture confirms scripture. And that is something that I want to encourage you in when you're studying. Go find other scriptures that match and that confirm the Scripture. And Scripture, this canon of Scripture that we have does confirm itself because it was written by well, I should say it was breathed out by God. And it is profitable for teaching, correction, reproof and training and righteousness that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. We also know that the Holy Spirit inspired men. God breathed it out through His Holy Spirit inspired men to write it. And I just love that. 1s But here is our verse for verse three today. It says, “ He”, and that's talking about Jesus, “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. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.” And that Majesty on high is God the Father. But don't you just love how the writer of the Hebrews is pointing everyone to Jesus from the very beginning? I love that because He is the only way, the truth and the life. It is only through Him that we can have a relationship with the Father. It's only through Him that we can be covered in his righteousness, so that we can one day be in the presence of God the Father and have eternal life.

 And so he opens up his letter this way. I love how he starts it. He says, and I'm paraphrasing, in years past or in ages past, God spoke to us by the prophets. But now, in these last days, He’s spoken to us by His Son. And think about that, friends. We talked about His Son who was the Word in the beginning. Do you see that interplay of words   and ideas? Jesus was that living word! In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God, and the Word was with God. So the LORD spoke. The LORD God spoke to us through His Son by His Son, in His Son. I just love that His Son, who is the Word made flesh, came to dwell among us. And he goes on to say that God appointed His Son the heir of all things, and through whom He also created the world. And we talked about Jesus being there in the beginning and being an integral part of creating the world and everything else. And I just love that. But he goes on then from there to say  Jesus is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature. I want to just stop there on those first couple of phrases. Jesus is the radiance of the glory of God. And when we look up in the Greek what is meant by radiance there, the Greek transliteration of that word is apaugasma, and it means a light flashing forth, a radiation, a gleam. And it talks about, I think, in Strong's concordance. They describe it as a flash of brightness. And that is Jesus.

 So think about what else we've heard about Jesus in the Scripture especially in the gospel of John. When John says at the very beginning of his Gospel, he says, the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. And then I think also about what we read when John was allowed to   see what would happen at the end time, in the Book of Revelation, when he was told to write these things down.  Listen to this in Revelation, chapter one, verse twelve, and this is John talking. Remember, John was the apostle, one of the apostles who had walked daily with Jesus in his earthly ministry. But then he had been given these words to write. It says, “Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me. And on turning, I saw seven golden lampstands. And in the midst of the lampstands, one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his head were white like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire. His feet were like burnished bronze refined in a furnace. And His voice was like the roar of many waters. In His right hand held seven stars. From His mouth came a sharped, two edged sword, and His face was like the sun shining in full strength.” John had no other way to describe it. But do you see in his words he's able to say he was so bright? I'm paraphrasing that there and see how this matches what the writer to the Hebrew said. He, Jesus, is the radiance, that gleam that shining forth of the glory of God. And so, because it's hard for us, we don't understand, nor could we probably, I don't think, physically withstand that actual full glory of God, were we to be in His presence in our mortal bodies. I don't think we could physically withstand it.

 We read about when Moses had wanted to see more of God. God said in Exodus 33:20, he says, well, let me back up to 19, it says, “and he said, I will make all my goodness pass before you, and will proclaim before you My name the LORD, and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. But he said, you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.” I think that meant that we could not on this earth withstand the full glory of Him. But Jesus is that radiance of that glory. Jesus walked among us, and for those of us who are in Christ, who have accepted Him as our Savior, one day, I think we will be able to see God the Father,  God the Son in all of their splendor. When we are in the new heaven and the new Earth and our new bodies that are immortal, I think we will be able to do that. But I don't think that we could totally withstand it now. But he said, Jesus, Jesus is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature.   I think we were probably in Colossians the last couple of days because it is so key to understand and to confirm what we just read. We read in Colossians, in chapter one, verse 15, it says, “He”, that's Jesus, “is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.” And so God is so much bigger, so much broader. There aren't even enough words to describe how big He is. But Jesus is that image, He's that exact imprint. He's the radiance of His glory. That's the part of God that we can see, or that we will be able to see, the one that was made flesh, that came to dwell among us. 

And I love what we read further in our verse that says, “and He”, Jesus, “upholds the universe by the word of his power.” Back over in Colossians, just in that place that we had just read, it says, “for by Him all things were created in heaven and on Earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.” It's all through Jesus that there was interaction and creation of this world. And He is all powerful, He is almighty. The LORD God the Father has given Him equal authority. And it says, “He upholds the universe by the word of his power. ”That right there  should cause us to give Him our worship, our praise, our thanksgiving, for He is worthy, He is all powerful, just like God the Father. And then we go into this next part, which directly affects us. It affects our ability to  have eternal life, because this is what Jesus did for us. It says, “after making purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.” There is so much in that first phrase- “after making purification for sins.” That is the reason that Jesus came.

 Friends, we were created. People, humankind, were created. All the way back at the very beginning in Genesis. Unfortunately, sin entered the picture. The woman was first disobedient and believed the serpent, instead of holding fast to God's word and obeying what He had said, and then she caused her husband to do the same. And from there, that point on, there was a separation between God and man due to this sin that had entered, and it became part of man's nature. And God knew all the way from the beginning, and He knew before the foundations of the world what His creation that He loved so much would do. And we see all the way back in Genesis that He, even in Genesis chapter three, right after the Fall, he tells that there will be a remedy, there will be a punishment coming for the one who deceived the  ones that he loved so much. We see in Genesis, chapter three, beginning well back up to 14. This was after the Fall, after that serpent, that crafty serpent, the Devil had deceived the woman, and she followed him. I mean, it was her own free will. It was Adam's own free will to do it. But that serpent was in there causing the trouble. It said, “the Lord God said to the serpent, because you have done this, cursed are you, above all livestock and above all beast of the field. On your belly you shall go and dust you shall eat all the days of your life.” And then here is a prophecy of what's going to happen. “I will put enmity between you and the woman, in between your offspring and her offspring. He”, that's talking about Jesus coming, “shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” That devil is going to be crushed under the feet of our Lord Jesus. Now, the Devil bit his heel, so to speak. The Lord was crucified. He was tortured. But that head of the Devil will be, has been crushed.  God was saying from the beginning that He had a plan. And He knew that that plan would involve a perfect sacrifice of spotless lamb given to cover or to pay the penalty that we owed for our sins against a Holy God. We've talked about this before. Scripture says that “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” But Jesus came. He paid that price for you and for me. And all we have to do is believe that he did it and confess that he is Lord and follow Him. Turn from our sinful ways and follow Him. And He's so gracious, He’s so faithful, and He has made purification for our sins. He's taken care of it. 

See, the Hebrew recipients, or the recipients of this letter to the Hebrews would have known about that Levitical, that Old Testament sacrificial system in which they had to offer sacrifices over and over and over again to be right with God. But Jesus came, and it was all one time, once for all, because He was the greater sacrifice. He was the great high priest. His blood was the mediator of this new covenant in which we could be forgiven. And He did it. It's already done. And so after doing that for you and for me and for the whole world, He then sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, and that's where He is now. He's seated at the right hand of God the Father, and He's coming back. Scripture says, friends, that we need to be ready, we need to be ready for that. And the way that we will be ready is if we have put our faith in Him, if we have accepted Him as our Lord and Savior. And then  we can be assured that when that time comes, that He comes back, and then when there's the great judgment that even though we're sinners, we will be covered in the righteousness of Jesus, and we will be able to stand without  fear of punishment in the presence of a Holy God. That's what it comes down to. And all of us will go through judgment. All of us will have an eternity. And it's going to be in one of two places, one of two places either in heaven eternally with God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, or it's going to be separated from Him in hell and torment. And so I just encourage you to thank Him. If you have not made that decision to be a follower of Jesus, a Christ follower, a believer in Him, I encourage you not to waste another minute. Your eternity depends on it. And then let us thank Him for what He's done. 

Oh, friends, he took all of the sin and the punishment of the world on Himself, on that cross, and He did it for you and he did it for me so that we could have life. And may we just give Him all the praise and the glory and the thanks. May we worship Him for who He is. He is that exact imprint of God the Father. He's the radiance of the glory of God. And He came to this earth to make a way for you and for me. And oh friends, let us just pour forth our praise and our worship and our thanksgiving to Him and for all of you who are believers. Well, I'll close with this and if you're not a believer. O friends, as I mentioned, make this the day that you turn to Him. But in Colossians, chapter two, beginning in verse six, it says and this is my exhortation for you for the day. Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him, and established in the faith, just as you were taught. Abounding in thanksgiving. May we abound in thanksgiving to Him today, friends, blessings to you. Until next time.