The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being.

Hebrews 1:3

Meditating on this first chapter of Hebrews, I sense the author’s intensity as he draws out a picture of God’s Son for the readers of his day as well as for us. Sixty years after His birth—how quickly the Judean Christians had forgotten who Jesus was. 2021—how the world has overshadowed the Son.  

Who then is the Son whom we celebrate, the One through whom God has spoken to us (1:2)? The above statement jumps off the page: The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being. 

Who walked with God and saw His glory? Adam and Eve, in the garden, and that only until they ate the forbidden fruit (Genesis 3). For the rest of time, until the birth of Jesus, even the prophets and righteous men “longed to see what (Jesus’ disciples saw) and to hear what (they heard) but did not hear it” (Matthew 13:17). As Jesus said, “No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God” (John 6:46). That would be the Son—heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe (1:2). 

What a gift from the Father to us—the exact representation of his being! The Greek word charakter tells us it is like a precise engraving on steel, a perfect facsimile of the original. When you see the Son you see the Father: in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form (Colossians 2:9).   

Theophanies (appearances of God) were spectacular, temporary, and predated Christ, such as on Mount Sinai (Exodus 19), to Isaiah from the heavenly throne (Isaiah 6:1), and the Ancient of Days (Daniel 7:1,9-10). 

One could say Jesus was the final theophany. Beginning with His birth, the glory of God shone through the Son because the Son was coexistent with the Father. As we can’t look at the sun directly or it would blind us, we can’t see God in all His glory with the naked eye. But we can look with eyes of faith through Jesus to the Father. 

Joy to the world! Ah, “the glories of His righteousness and wonders of His love!” 

Nancy P

All Scripture quotations are from the NIV 1973,1978,1984, unless otherwise noted.