“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.” - (Hebrews 1:3)
This verse constitutes one of Scripture’s most magnificent declarations of the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Let us examine the phrase “the brightness of his glory.”
The word for “brightness” is used only this one time in the Bible and means, literally, “out-radiating.”
The word picture conveyed is of the energy overflow from the sun.
The sun constitutes a tremendous generator of energy, more than adequate to sustain all processes on Earth.
However, these energies would be utterly useless for any such noble purpose if they could not somehow be transmitted from sun to Earth.
They are transmitted, however, through the remarkable radiant energy known as sunlight, or solar radiation.
It is this figure that the writer is using.
As the sun’s rays are to the sun itself, so is Christ to the Godhead.
He is “the light of the world” (John 8:12).
It is He whose “goings forth” have been “everlasting” (Micah 5:2).
His glorified countenance is “as the sun shineth in his strength” (Revelation 1:16).
The Lord Jesus Christ is the life-giving radiation of the ineffable glory of the eternal One, from whose face one day the very heaven and earth will flee away (Revelation 20:11).
“But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings [or ‘outspreadings’]” (Malachi 4:2).
And through this One who mediates God to us, we can enter boldly into His presence.
“For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6).
BY HENRY M. MORRIS, PH.D.
Days of Praise The Institute for Creation Research icr.org
What is the meaning of “not one jot or tittle shall pass from the law”?
Matthew 5:18 records Jesus statement that not even the smallest letter or stroke on a Hebrew letter in the scriptures will disappear before heaven and earth are destroyed.
"For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished." - Matthew 5:18 (NASB)
This is an extremely important principle to remember.
The jot or iota was the smallest letter in the Greek alphabet.
In the Hebrew alphabet it was the letter yod.
The Greek word kepaia referred to a small extension that would distinguish between the Hebrew letter beth from the word kahf.
Or, kepaia could also refer to an ornamental stroke added to a letter.
Not. the Smallest Letter and Stroke
Jesus’ message was that the Law will not change until the universe is destroyed, but to which Law did He refer?
In order to answer this question, we need to read Acts 7:53; Galatians 3:19 and Hebrews 2:2.
". . . you who received the law as ordained by angels, and yet did not keep it." - Acts 7:53 (NASB)
Why the Law then?
"It was added because of transgressions, having been ordained through angels by the agency of a mediator, until the seed would come to whom the promise had been made." - Galatians 3:19 (NASB)
"For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty. . ." - Hebrews 2:2 (NASB)
These three passages reveal that the Law was given through angels to a mediator which was Moses, while he was on Mount Sinai.
Hebrews 2:2 states that the word or law that was communicated would not change.
Now we can answer the question, “To which Law did Jesus refer?”
The Law Jesus referred to was the Law communicated to Moses through angels.
Then Moses made a copy of that Law which has been passed down through time.
The Law that was communicated by angels is what will not disappear.
That divine Law will not change.
Obviously, men might make mistakes in the process of making copies, but Jesus was not referring to the copies of the Law.
We can praise God that He has preserved highly quality copies of the Old Testament scriptures and the Dead Sea scrolls that support the accuracy of our copies.
The Old Testament scriptures are extremely accurate.
Conclusion:
When Jesus said that no jot (or stroke) or tittle (or smallest letter) would not disappear from the Law, He did not mean that errors would never occur in the copies of the Law that humans create.
He did not mean that errors would never occur when the Bible is printed.
He did not mean that errors would not occur when the Bible is read.
Jesus was referring to the Law that was communicated to Moses, and by extension all of Scripture.
The truths and principles of the Scriptures will never change.
Our purpose of NeverThirsty is to explain the Bible verse-by-verse and answer your Bible questions so that you may have eternal life and grow spiritually.
We desire to help every Christian know that God loves them and respond by loving God with all his/her heart, soul and mind (Matthew 22:37-39). It is our desire that each one knows God as two friends know one other (James 2:23). In John 7:37-38, Jesus said a Christian should experience “rivers of living water flowing on the inside” (NASB). That happens when one has a meaningful relationship with God.
Jesus implied that there is more to the Christian life than knowing your Bible, knowing doctrine, or simply attending church. There is more to the Christian life – there is Jesus. There is a deep personal relationship with Jesus through the Holy Spirit.
"For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." — 1 Timothy 2:5
Man’s condition demanded an Incarnation — man had become spiritually dead with no approach to God.
The Incarnation of Deity with humanity provided One who could stand as man’s Mediator.
Equal with God on one hand and united with man on the other, this One could assume the obligations of man’s treason and satisfy the claims of Justice, thereby bridging the chasm between God and man.
God created man in His own image, just a little lower than Himself; so nearly like God that it was possible for God and man to become united for eternity in one individual!
(When Christ became a man and took on a physical body in the Incarnation, He did so for eternity. Therefore, there is a God-man in Heaven today at the Father’s right hand as a result of the Incarnation.)
It was possible for God and man to become united!
God can dwell in these human bodies of ours, God can impart His life and nature to our spirits.
That’s what takes place at the New Birth:
Spiritual death is eradicated from the spirit, and God gives man His life!
Confession:
Today at the right hand of the Father there is a God-man, our Mediator, Jesus Christ.
Jesus bridged the gap for me. He made it possible for spiritual death to depart from my spirit, and for God’s own life and nature to take its place in my spirit.
Therefore, God now dwells in my spirit. God lives in me!
From Faith Food Devotions by Kenneth E. Hagin
Kenneth Hagin Ministries (aka Rhema) is a worldwide ministry based on faith, prayer, and the healing truths in God's Word. Founded in 1963 by Rev. Kenneth E. Hagin, we are currently led by Rev. Kenneth W. Hagin with the help of his wife, Lynette Hagin, and son, Craig W. Hagin. As a ministry, we are dedicated to reaching people with the Good News of Jesus Christ.
"Nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." - Romans 8:39 NKJV
"For I am persuaded." - This denotes a full, and strong, and affectionate persuasion, arising from the experience of the strength and sweetness of the divine love.
And here he enumerates all those things which might be supposed likely to separate between Christ and believers, and concludes that it could not be done.
"Neither death nor life" - neither the terrors of death on the one hand nor the comforts and pleasures of life on the other, neither the fear of death nor the hope of life. Or, We shall not be separated from that love either in death or in life.
"Nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers" - Both the good angels and the bad are called principalities and powers:
- the good, Ephesians 1:21; Colossians 1:16
- the bad, Ephesians 6:12; Colossians 2:15.
And neither shall do it. The good angels will not, the bad shall not and neither can. The good angels are engaged friends, the bad are restrained enemies.
"Nor things present, nor things to come" - neither the sense of troubles present nor the fear of troubles to come.
Time shall not separate us, eternity shall not.
Things present separate us from things to come, and things to come separate and cut us off from things present but neither from the love of Christ, whose favour is twisted in with both present things and things to come.
"Nor height, nor depth" - neither the height of prosperity and preferment, nor the depth of adversity and disgrace nothing from heaven above, no storms, no tempests nothing on earth below, no rocks, no seas, no dungeons.
"Nor any other creature" - any thing that can be named or thought of. It will not, it cannot, separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
It cannot cut off or impair our love to God, or God's to us nothing does it, can do it, but sin.
Observe, The love that exists between God and true believers is through Christ.
He is the Mediator of our love: it is in and through him that God can love us and that we dare love God.
This is the ground of the steadfastness of the love therefore God rests in his love (Zephaniah 3:17), because Jesus Christ, in whom he loves us, is the same yesterday, today, and for ever.
Mr. Hugh Kennedy, an eminent Christian of Ayr, in Scotland, when he was dying, called for a Bible but, finding his sight gone, he said, "Turn me to the eighty of the Romans, and set my finger at these words, I am persuaded that neither death nor life,"
"Now," said he, "is my finger upon them?"
And, when they told him it was, without speaking any more, he said, "Now, God be with you, my children I have breakfasted with you, and shall sup with my Lord Jesus Christ this night " and so departed. - Matthew Henry
This affirms other places in Scripture, such as Acts 4:12 that adds,"And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."
The second place in the New Testament that mentions Christ as our mediator is Hebrews 9:15:
"Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant."
Here Jesus is presented as the mediator of a new covenant.
The first covenant (the Mosaic Law) provided a means for the condemnation of people.
The new covenant mediated or presented through Jesus offers this forgiveness of sins and presents us as just and right before God — something no person could ever earn through works.
It is a gift of God by grace through faith in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8-10).
The third place the New Testament mentions Christ as our mediator is found in Hebrews 12:24.
There, we simply read, "Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant …"
Affirming the previous mention of Jesus as mediator given in Hebrews 9:15, we again see Jesus presented as the One and only mediator of God's new covenant that provides forgiveness of sins and right status before God.
The Jewish readers of these verses would have understood the significance of Jesus as their mediator.
CompellingTruth.org is a network site of Got Questions Ministries.
The purpose statement of CompellingTruth.org is: "Presenting the truth of the Christian faith in a compelling, relevant, and practical way."
Our mission is to take the questions, issues, struggles, and disagreements that exist within the Christian faith and shine the truth of God's Word on them. We believe the truth of God's Word is compelling. God's Word does not directly address every situation we face in life, but it does contain truth that can apply to anything and everything we deal with.
“For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains.” - (Deuteronomy 32:22)
The Bible clearly teaches that the Lord will judge Earth with fire.
Isaiah did not mince words, warning repeatedly of fire to come.
“And the light of Israel shall be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame: and it shall burn and devour his thorns and his briers in one day” - (Isaiah 10:17).
“Thou shalt be visited of the LORD of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire” - (Isaiah 29:6).
Those who reject these warnings will be caught willfully unaware when the day arrives “when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel” -(Romans 2:16).
For those who seek salvation, “ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire” but “to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant” - (Hebrews 12:18, 24).
"They also said, 'Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.'" - Acts 1:11(NASB)
How important it was that the Lord Jesus ascended into heaven at the end of His earthly ministry, for only then could He send the indwelling Holy Spirit as the seal of all God's promises to those who believe on Him.
How wonderful to realise that in returning to heaven He would take up His twofold ministry
- as our great High Priest interceding to the Father on our behalf and also
- our heavenly Advocate and Mediator between God and man;
a heavenly Saviour Who forgives all our sins.
No wonder the disciples gazed in utter amazement when Christ ascended into heaven, and how the reassuring words of these heavenly messengers must have rejoiced their hearts:
"Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven."
What an assurance to know that Jesus Christ would come again to deliver His people Israel.
Two thousand years have sped by, and now we are living in the time that many term 'the end times' - those last days prior to the glorious return of the Lord Jesus.
But of His Second Coming; that glorious day at the end of the Tribulation period when Christ shall come in the clouds of glory, and every eye shall see Him.
At His First Coming He was despised and rejected of men and became our precious sin-Sacrifice but at His Second Coming He will rule and reign in justice and peace.
And let us pray for the nation of Israel who, at the Second Coming at the end of the Tribulation period, will see Jesus return in the same way that He went, watch Him set His feet upon the Mount of Olives, and as a nation cry out:
"Blessed is he Who comes in the name of the Lord."
Praise His holy name.
My Prayer
I praise Your name, Heavenly Father, that Jesus will return to earth to claim His rightful position as King of kings and Lord of lords at the end of the Great Tribulation.
Thank you for the blessed hope I have, that I will partake in the Rapture of the Church before the Tribulation period begins when "the dead in Christ shall rise first, then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will ever be with the Lord."
May I live each day of my life in a way that is pleasing to You, a life that points others to the Lord Jesus as the soon coming Saviour of the world. In Jesus' name, AMEN.
While there has been much emphasis on the death and resurrection of Jesus, far less attention has been given to His ascension, or His return to the Father in heaven.
What is the significance of this event?
Acts 1:9-11 tells us what happened to Jesus after 40 days of appearances following His resurrection:
"And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.
"And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, 'Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven?
"'This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.'"
The other direct reference to Christ's ascension is made in Luke 24:50-53:
"Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them.
"While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven.
"And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God."
From these passages, several observations can be made.
First, the ascension clearly marked the end of Christ's earthly ministry.
What began in a manger in Bethlehem ended with His return to heaven.
Second, the ascension marked the success of His earthly mission.
Jesus completed all the Father had designed for Him to accomplish. His birth, miracles, teaching, death, resurrection, and appearances had proven His divine nature and had fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies of the Messiah's first advent.
Third, the ascension marked the time when Jesus once again enjoyed His heavenly glory.
During His time on earth, with the exception of the Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-9), Christ limited any expressions of the heavenly glory that He enjoyed prior to His earthly birth.
His ascension began a new period during which Jesus would once again reign without limiting Himself to His earthly role.
Fourth, the ascension marks the beginning of the time when Jesus is preparing a place for His followers.
John 14:2-3 teaches, "In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also."
Fifth, it indicated the beginning of His new work as
- High Priest (Hebrews 4:14-16) and
- Mediator of the New Covenant (Hebrews 9:15).
Finally, the ascension established the pattern for Christ's return.
As the angels in Acts 1 told the disciples, Jesus will return just as He left (see also Daniel 7:13-14).
Jesus Christ currently reigns in heaven.
His ascension marks the beginning of the time in which the Church actively communicates the message of Jesus to bring many to faith who will live with Christ for eternity in the place He has prepared for us.
Blessing and honor, glory and power Be unto the Ancient of Days From every nation, all of creation Bow before the Ancient of Days
Every tongue in heaven and earth Shall declare Your glory Every knee shall bow at Your throne in worship You will be exalted, oh God And Your kingdom shall not pass away
Oh, Ancient of Days Your kingdom shall reign over all the earth Sing unto the Ancient of Days For none can compare to Your matchless worth Sing unto the Ancient of Days
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Let us examine the phrase “the brightness of his glory.”.jpg)
However, these energies would be utterly useless for any such noble purpose if they could not somehow be transmitted from sun to Earth. .jpg)
As the sun’s rays are to the sun itself, so is Christ to the Godhead. .jpg)
The Lord Jesus Christ is the life-giving radiation of the ineffable glory of the eternal One, from whose face one day the very heaven and earth will flee away (Revelation 20:11). .jpg)
“For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6)..jpg)
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