The Reality of the word Part 3
A quick overview of what we’ve seen so far is that the revelation of God’s word and his personality is domiciled in the person of Jesus. Our view of God’s character and revelation is not premised on dreams, assumptions or personal experiences. To know who God is, you have to know who Jesus is as he is the revelation of God to mankind.
In 2nd Corinthians 5:19 “To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.”
Paul wrote “God was in Christ……. It means there is no other way to know God except in Christ. 1st Timothy 2:5 “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;” Jesus is the mediator between God and man. He is the meeting point between God and man.
Paul further sheds more light on the revelation of God in Christ in 1st Timothy 3:16
“And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.”
It is not up for any debate that God manifested himself in the flesh in the incarnation. In Jesus, all misconceptions and assumptions about God has been debunked and dealt with.
God who was hitherto invisible to man became visible in the incarnation. Jesus gives visibility to the invisible God.
In Colossians 1:15 “15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:”
When you use the words image and visible together, they sound antithetical. God is invisible. He can’t be seen with the optical eyes. However, in the incarnation God became a man.
Back to Hebrews 1:1-3 where we stopped last time.
Hebrews 1:1-3
1“God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high:
Verse 1 refers to what was spoken previously. That’s why the phrase “in time past“ was used. It speaks of a period of time and not an experience. In time past will refer to the writings of the prophetic scriptures or what is commonly referred to as the Old Testament writings. The prophets spoke on God’s behalf as they were his spokespersons. However, what they spoke was in partial or incomplete revelation. They spoke in diverse forms and manners.
In verse 1: prophets, manners, times, fathers.
In verse 2 “who has spoken in his son….”
The book of Hebrews is a book of comparison. Here, the writer differentiates the prophets from the son who is the one the prophets spoke about.
In verse 1, the author used a relative pronoun ‘whom’. “By whom he made the worlds…” This means the message of the prophets in verse 1 has become a person in verse 2.
Verse 1 talks about the messengers.; verse 2 talks about the message. He is also called “…the heir of all things” An heir is an owner. A lawful owner or an inheritor.
In this context, he is the owner of the things the prophets spoke in sundry times and diverse manners. God never speaks in diverse forms and manners. It was the prophets who communicated what they heard from God to their audience in diverse forms and manners.
The word appointed means to occupy a position. It has to do with taking up a responsibility so as to carry out an action. Jesus took up a responsibility in response to the things the prophets spoke about. He has to fulfill the things the prophets spoke concerning him.
In verse 2 …by whom also he made the worlds. “Worlds” refer to circle of times, circle of activities. It doesn’t mean the physical world. There was a circle of activities of the prophets that is the prophesying of the prophets. God inspired the prophets to speak but he wasn’t the one speaking as he doesn’t speak in partial truths or revelation.
In 2nd Timothy 3:16 “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness”.
All scripture refers to the art of writing. God inspired men to write. He inspired men who documented the scriptures. However, the things they wrote were in human language which has a background of history and culture. The inspiration of the scriptures is in the art of the writing and not in all the events documented in it.
2nd Peter 1:20 – 21 “20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.
21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”
The prophets that Peter described as holy men of God spoke as they were inspired by the Holy Ghost. In their speakings, we will find out that they spoke in partial truths.
They spoke in a progressive revelation. But the one who owns the things they spoke about is the Christ. He is the one that brings to fruition what the prophets spoke about.
Confession: I believe the word of God. It is my reality. My revelation of who God is can only be found in Christ. God has been revealed to me in Christ. I only see God in Christ.
