“Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days
he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.
He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.”
Hebrews 1:1-4
I love how, every once in a while, God will stop me in my tracks. I turned to Hebrews with a goal in mind, but upon reading these first few verses, I found I could go no further.
At first, my attention was called to the beautiful reality that God communicates with us directly through His Son. Prophets and intermediaries are no longer necessary – the cross of Jesus Christ has brought us near to the throne of our Holy God (Ephesians 2:13).
The writer of Hebrews then moves to this captivating description of Jesus. And it brought me back to a place of wonder.
How often do I lose that? Jesus is a part of my everyday…but maybe it’s within that statement that we find the danger. Jesus Christ is not to be part of our lives. He is our life. He is the center. He fills every space, the fullness of God which fills all in all, within us and around us and throughout all the details of our days.
My Jesus is the radiance of the glory of God. However mundane a day may feel, His radiance does not diminish, and my wonder should not cease.
This One who upholds the universe by the word of His power is the One who has declared that He will “lose nothing of all that [the Father] has given me,” and “I will give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand” (John 6:39; 10:28). The whole universe is upheld by the word of His power – and it is His power which keeps us, saves us forever.
I pray that the God of heaven will captivate each of us today. That our hearts will be continually renewed with the wonder of who He is, magnifying for us the radiance of the glory of God that is seen in His Son. May we see His worth above all else, that we will say together with the apostle Paul, “Indeed, I count everything as loss compared to the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Philippians 3:8a).
This is our Savior, Jesus, “who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:6-11).
“And they sang a new song, saying,
‘Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals,
for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God
from every tribe and language and people and nation,
and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God,
and they shall reign on the earth.’
Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice,
‘Worthy is the Lamb who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might
and honor and glory and blessing!’
And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying,
‘To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!’”
Revelation 5:9-13
In Pleasant Places 