Friday, April 29, 2011

This is MY Son

For to which of the angels did He ever say: “You are My Son, Today I have begotten You”? And again: “I will be to Him a Father, And He shall be to Me a Son”? But when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says: “Let all the angels of God worship Him.” And of the angels He says: “Who makes His angels spirits And His ministers a flame of fire.” But to the Son He says: “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your Kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of gladness more than Your companions.” (Hebrews 01:05-09, NKJV).
It is impossible to read the New Testament in its plain sense and not conclude that Jesus is God. I know some groups try very hard to deny the Deity of Christ, and attempt to justify their faulty conclusions from Scripture, but it is not logically possible.

Here, for instance, the Father Himself is declaring unmistakably that the Firstborn is to be worshiped, by angels, no less, and since only God is worthy of worship, it must mean that this Firstborn is God. But if that leaves you still unconvinced, the proclamation becomes even clearer a few words later, when the Father declares to the Son directly, "Your throne, O God…". 

Unequivocally, God the Father is calling His Son, God. Further, He is announcing the Son's right to rule His Kingdom. Don't miss that. He is granting the Son of Man sovereignty, and granting Him the Kingdom over which He is to rule.

The summary reason for this bestowal is the Son's immaculate and holy character, succinctly and brilliantly described as His having loved righteous and His having hated lawlessness. So much so that He voluntarily went to the Cross to establish the first, and abolish the second. The consequence? Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness more than your companions.

To be anointed with oil is to be publicly set apart for a holy and glorious purpose. Old Testament priests were anointed with oil when they assumed the mantle of the Levitical Priesthood. God sometimes anointed those men He ordained to be His prophets. Kind David was anointed by Samuel as heir to the Throne of His Father David. The very term Messiah is translated, the Anointed One. 

It is a symbolic affirmation of being selected by God for His purposes.

The phrase, oil of gladness, is a Hebraism signifying a soothing gift. Various plant oils were used in the ancient Middle East to soothe sun-ravaged skin, or to act as a barrier to irritations of the skin. It was both a protection and a comfort. Over time, the phrase came to be used as a synonym for being highly favored.

It is obvious then, that the Father is setting apart His Uniquely-begotten Son as more highly favored than other men, because of His superlative character, and His solemn work of redemption.

There is no question that Scripture portrays Christ as both the Pre-existent Second Person of the Triune Godhead, and the virgin-born, fully human, Son of Man. The Incarnation is both mystery and miracle made necessary by the depth of our depravity and the immeasurable cost of our redemption.

These profound truths align perfectly with the overriding purpose of the Book of Hebrews, which is the emphatic portrayal of the magnificence of the Savior.

Consider that when we mistakenly think that we contribute to our own salvation - that we can somehow satisfy God's righteous wrath against sin through some work on our part - we blaspheme the Son of God, and "trample Him under our feet." It is through faith in Him alone that we are accounted righteous; nothing else. There is no work of righteousness that we are capable of that could atone for our inherent fallenness. None.

Now while it is clear that we are not saved by good works, we are saved for good works - those purposes for each one of us prepared by God beforehand that we should walk in them.

I do not believe it is possible to overstate the goodness of our God.

I do not believe it is possible to exaggerate His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

He is, after all, the very definition of good and kind.

Every verse in Hebrews attest to these facts, and to the glorious majesty of His Son.