31/08/2018
Jesus ,the Revelation of God
In a bid to take a peep into or to understand the very nature of God, the Jews had to resort to the various ways God dealt with or spoke to their fathers in time past; be it the law, or through angels or human government,because the revelation of God in the Old covenant was in divers manners (Hebrews 1:1).
However, the writer of the book of Hebrews goes further to let us know that this is no longer the state of things; God is no longer dealing with us or rather speaking to us in these divers ways. What is the state of things now? God has spoken to us through His son. (Hebrews 1:2);
Notice that it didn't say 'is speaking to us through His son', rather it puts the action in the past; 'hath spoken to us by His son'. Meaning that everything God has to say about His character or nature, He has already said or revealed in the person of His son Jesus. Everything we will ever need to know about God and His will, is made manifest in Christ. In Hebrews 1:3 (NKJV), Jesus is refered to as the brightness of God's glory and the express image of His (God's) person.
To understand Jesus is to understand God, to know Jesus is to know God, to have Jesus is to have all of God, not just in fraction or portion,but all. Jesus is not just another messenger in the long line of messengers or another means to get to the father, He is the self-revelation of God, as one author puts it, 'His every act was invested with the very Being of God, and the very Being of God was fully operative in every act. The self-revelation of God in Jesus necessarily implies the oneness of His Being and act. Jesus is not the virtual reality of God'.
This emphasizes the singularity and superiority of God's revelation of Himself in Jesus, to any other revelation we may have of Him from any where. Jesus is God's last and final arrangement for man. That's why He is the way, the truth and the life,and no man can come to the father except through Him (John 14:6),He was appointed Heir of all things (Hebrews 1:2), He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life (1 John 5:12),For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us. (2 Corinthians 1:20)- they are affirmed,confirmed and fulfilled.
I like the way colosians pictures it, Col 1:15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
Col 1:16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
Col 1:17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
Col 1:18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
Col 1:19 For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;
He is the Alpha and Omega (Revelation 21:6), without Him was not anything made that was made (John 1:3). He was instrumental in the creation of the world (John 1:3), and was also instrumental in the birth (creation) of the New Creation (2 Corinthian 5:17).
It is important that we stay our gaze,at all times, on Jesus; not the law, not the prophets. Their prayer points in the old covenant , is our reality today in Christ Jesus. Christ is the reality of the types and shadows in the old covenant (Hebrews 10:1), no wonder Hebrews 10:12, tells us that after He has offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God. In the old covenant, the responsiblities of the priests were never finished.(Hebrews 10:11), but Jesus, having offered one perfect sacrifice for sins forever, sat down(Hebrews 10:12); He didn't seat because He was tired, He sat because the work was finished (John 19:30),and there remaineth no more sacrifice to be made for sins. As rightly pointed out by a wrter 'There was no place to sit in the Jewish temple because the job was never done, and this is true of religion in general as it requires ever-repititive rituals and exercises in an attempt to please God'. That is why we are seated with Him in heavenly places (Ephesians 1:20),resting from our works (Hebrews 4:3) and resting in His finished works.
These are not the days of Elijah, Moses, David, or any other old covenant figure, these are days of Jesus Christ, the self-revelation of God. He is the essence of Christianity; not the law nor the prophets, but JESUS. When this truth settles down in our heart, you'll realize that there is no need to call down fire, or to kill all your enemies, because He is the head of principalities and powers and we are seated with Him far above principalities and powers. The devil is no longer our mate,witches and wizards cannot be our problems, ancenstral curses do not exist in our domain, we are more than conquerors,we are not trying to win, we fight from victory, the devil already lost. Haleluyah!
Christ is the Message.
