[Christ] Who being the brightness of His [God's] glory, and the express image of His [God's] 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 is an amazing revelation to mankind! The Lord Jesus Christ is not only the brightness (or radiance) of God's glory, in that the glory of God is in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Cor 4:6), but He is also "the express image of His person".
This actually speaks of the character of God, since the Greek word is exactly that -- charaktér:
Strong's Concordance
Original Word: χαρακτήρ, ῆρος, ὁ
Part of Speech: Noun, Masculine
Transliteration: charaktér
Phonetic Spelling: (khar-ak-tare')
Definition: a tool for engraving
Usage: an impression, representation, exact reproduction; a graving-tool
The Bible says that no man has seen God the Father at any time. This is absolutely true since God is "a Spirit". Therefore God has made provision to fully reveal Himself in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. The character of God the Father is totally and completely found in, and revealed in, the Son. Those who deny the deity of Christ are wilfully blind to what is revealed in the Bible.
So what is the character of God? The Bible says that God is Light and in Him is no darkness at all. This is not simply speaking about the supernatural brightness or radiance of God, but it is speaking about His character -- He is absolute purity, absolutely holiness, and absolute righteousness. And that is precisely the character of Christ.
Jesus was -- and is -- fully God and fully sinless Man at one and the same time. That is because He is God incarnate, "God manifest in flesh", "Emmanuel". And Christ came to earth to reveal God to mankind. So every word and every deed of Jesus of Nazareth was an expression of the character of God. Not only was the love and compassion of God expressed through Christ, but also His hatred for sin and hypocrisy was revealed in Christ. Christ not only took little children and held them tenderly in His arms. He also harshly rebuked the scribes, Pharisees and lawyers for their deeds and teachings, and actually condemned them to Hell.
But we see the amazing character of God in Christ on the cross. The sinless Lamb of God did not open His mouth in His defense at any time. Though He could have called down legions of angels to rescue Him, He would not do so. He did not say a word when He was mocked, spat upon, beaten with a rod, whipped while His back was torn, nailed to the cross, and mocked continuously while He hung there between two criminals.
He even asked the Father to forgive those who hated and reviled Him. And all this was done for one sole purpose. That all of sinful mankind could be saved from the wrath of God. God the Father literally abandoned His beloved Son, His perfect Son, so that the full wrath of God would come upon the holy soul of Christ. And as a result the penalty for the sins of the whole world (called "the sin of the world" because it encompassed all sins) was paid in full.
But Christ did not remain in the tomb. Death was defeated and destroyed at the cross, Indeed the powers of sin, death, Hades, Hell, and Satan were all destroyed on Calvary (Golgotha, the place of the skull). He rose again the third day as He had prophesied over and over again.
Thus Christ not only revealed the character of God in His life, but He also revealed the power of God in His death, burial and resurrection. And those who fully and truly believe this are saved by grace through faith in Christ and His finished work of redemption. There is no more sacrifice for sins, because Christ declared triumphantly on the cross "It is finished!" It was by Himself that Christ "purged our sins".
Now God expects those who believe on Christ to reflect the character of Christ in their words and deeds. But they are not left to their own devices. God gives the gift of the Holy Spirit to all who believe on Jesus, and it is by the power of the Spirit that we can reflect the character of God and Christ.
This is an amazing revelation to mankind! The Lord Jesus Christ is not only the brightness (or radiance) of God's glory, in that the glory of God is in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Cor 4:6), but He is also "the express image of His person".
This actually speaks of the character of God, since the Greek word is exactly that -- charaktér:
Strong's Concordance
Original Word: χαρακτήρ, ῆρος, ὁ
Part of Speech: Noun, Masculine
Transliteration: charaktér
Phonetic Spelling: (khar-ak-tare')
Definition: a tool for engraving
Usage: an impression, representation, exact reproduction; a graving-tool
The Bible says that no man has seen God the Father at any time. This is absolutely true since God is "a Spirit". Therefore God has made provision to fully reveal Himself in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. The character of God the Father is totally and completely found in, and revealed in, the Son. Those who deny the deity of Christ are wilfully blind to what is revealed in the Bible.
So what is the character of God? The Bible says that God is Light and in Him is no darkness at all. This is not simply speaking about the supernatural brightness or radiance of God, but it is speaking about His character -- He is absolute purity, absolutely holiness, and absolute righteousness. And that is precisely the character of Christ.
Jesus was -- and is -- fully God and fully sinless Man at one and the same time. That is because He is God incarnate, "God manifest in flesh", "Emmanuel". And Christ came to earth to reveal God to mankind. So every word and every deed of Jesus of Nazareth was an expression of the character of God. Not only was the love and compassion of God expressed through Christ, but also His hatred for sin and hypocrisy was revealed in Christ. Christ not only took little children and held them tenderly in His arms. He also harshly rebuked the scribes, Pharisees and lawyers for their deeds and teachings, and actually condemned them to Hell.
But we see the amazing character of God in Christ on the cross. The sinless Lamb of God did not open His mouth in His defense at any time. Though He could have called down legions of angels to rescue Him, He would not do so. He did not say a word when He was mocked, spat upon, beaten with a rod, whipped while His back was torn, nailed to the cross, and mocked continuously while He hung there between two criminals.
He even asked the Father to forgive those who hated and reviled Him. And all this was done for one sole purpose. That all of sinful mankind could be saved from the wrath of God. God the Father literally abandoned His beloved Son, His perfect Son, so that the full wrath of God would come upon the holy soul of Christ. And as a result the penalty for the sins of the whole world (called "the sin of the world" because it encompassed all sins) was paid in full.
But Christ did not remain in the tomb. Death was defeated and destroyed at the cross, Indeed the powers of sin, death, Hades, Hell, and Satan were all destroyed on Calvary (Golgotha, the place of the skull). He rose again the third day as He had prophesied over and over again.
Thus Christ not only revealed the character of God in His life, but He also revealed the power of God in His death, burial and resurrection. And those who fully and truly believe this are saved by grace through faith in Christ and His finished work of redemption. There is no more sacrifice for sins, because Christ declared triumphantly on the cross "It is finished!" It was by Himself that Christ "purged our sins".
Now God expects those who believe on Christ to reflect the character of Christ in their words and deeds. But they are not left to their own devices. God gives the gift of the Holy Spirit to all who believe on Jesus, and it is by the power of the Spirit that we can reflect the character of God and Christ.
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