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On The Upper Room Discourse Re-Release For Lent 2024

Saturday, December 18, 2010

December 18

1Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, 2but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son,* whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the worlds. 3He is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being, and he sustains* all things by his powerful word. When he had made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.

Hebrews 1:1-3

From the Bible’s first page to its last, we see a wise and loving God intimately, passionately involved in the lives of people.  We see God at work in human lives, as theologians like to say, “preveniently.”  That is, God always acts “previous” to us, as he is always making the first move and reaching out to us.  Even before we seek God, he is seeking us.  He is ever the Shepherd going after lost sheep.  Even our desire, our impulse to seek God, comes from him, as he is ever drawing us and wooing us to himself.

Today’s text reminds us that it is within the very nature of God to reveal himself to us and make himself known. Here we see God moving preveniently to reveal his love and good will to us.  Our text says, that throughout history, “in many and various ways,” God has been speaking to us.  But in “these last days,” or in the fullness of time for God’s saving purposes, he has revealed himself to us supremely in his Son.

People often wonder and ask, “What is God like?”  In Christ we have the clear and definitive answer to what God is like.  The text says that the Son is “exact imprint of God’s very being.”  The “exact imprint,” were words used of the emperor’s image on Roman coins, as they gave a clear picture of how the emperor looked.  The words “exact imprint,” do not imply a vague likeness, but rather express an exact and faithful representation of the original.  In other words, in Christ Jesus God truly reveals who he is, and what he is like.  Or, as Jesus said, “He that has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9).   Jesus reveals to us the human face of God.

Today’s text says that the Son who “created the world” and “sustains all things by his powerful word” has come down to make God’s heart known to us.  Whether it is Jesus lying in a manger or hanging from the cross, he is the “exact imprint” of God.  He reveals to us the very heart and nature of God.

In addition, we learn from the text that the Son came not only to reveal God to us, but he also came to save us.  He came to forever deal with the sin problem that separates us from God.  We read that when the Son had “made purification for sins, he sat down.”  He sat down because his saving work was finished!   He washed us thoroughly clean from all our sin, and from the cross he proclaimed, “It is finished!”

Yes it is finished!  Let your heart be at peace!

 

PONDER

 

Read, Reflect, Respond, and Rest with today’s scripture text,
Hebrews 1:1-3, and devotional.

Today’s Moments of Diaphany

  • an answer to prayer
  • evidence of his love and care
  • evidence of his creative power and wisdom
  • his help to do his work

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