Thursday, July 2, 2009

Hebrews 1:1-3a "In His Image"

NOTE: Okay, took a little longer than a week. Jury duty took over my life. In the Word, but not online. (Read a lot from Proverbs.) I'm back now and ready to tackle a new book and learn many new truths.

Read Hebrews 1:1-3a.

"...he has spoken to us by his Son...." NIV

Here is the essence of the Old Testament versus the New Testament. In the Old, God spoke to the prophets, and they spoke to the people God's words. But now through Jesus Christ, we have direct access to the Father. That is just amazing to me. How blessed we are. We do not serve a distant God who like the mythological gods sat on their thrones far away and in their self-centeredness, dictated our fates. Our Father loves us so much that He became one of us and makes it possible for us to "draw near to Him and He will draw near to us." His dictates are not for His own gain, but for our good. His guidance is 24/7. He never sleeps or ignores us. Even when He takes His time to answer us, it is because His timing is perfect, and His ways are right. Out of His tremendous love, our Father makes Himself available to His children, and it is only possible through Jesus Christ -- the "perfecter and finisher of our faith."

I also love the first part of verse three. "The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word." All of God's glory could not have been contained in one human being. So Christ is the radiance of His glory -- a mere fraction to give us a glimpse of who God is. But in Christ's being, He is an "exact representation" of the Father. Everything we see and learn from the Word about Christ, that is God. His compassion, justice, understanding, knowledge, power, anger at sin, unconditional love -- these are all God's attributes. As God Himself, Jesus shows us in a human package, what our Father and Creator is like. And then to be told that we are made in His image. Wow. Stop and think about that a minute. I am made in the image of the Creator. I'm not equal with Him, nor will I ever be. But like a child resembles their parents in looks, I resemble my Father in my spirit. If I put away the sinful nature that wants to take over each day, I am truly designed for good. There is something very comforting in that truth. And powerful. By the power of Jesus Christ, I am in touch with my Creator whose character I am designed to embody.

I'm still human and will never be perfect. But, wow, what a leg up we have. We are designed for perfection. Now to just allow His Spirit to mold our hearts to match.

Further Thoughts:
  1. What other Scripture says that we were designed in God's image?
  2. What would Old Testament life been like?
  3. Has New Testament revelation made life to easy for us? Or at least, can we become lazy over Old Testament devotion?
  4. Does direct access to the Father make arrogance a temptation? How do we avoid that?
  5. Even though we are made in His image, we are still so small, and He is so BIG. Live in humility.

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